Chapter 21

“…Are you serious?”

No, Noah is like a younger sibling, so I don’t have any strange thoughts about him.

Of course, even if she grows up more when she becomes a high school student and starts to look quite like a woman, a younger sister is still a younger sister.

Lying down together in the same bed would be…

“Really, I’m in pain.”

Sniffle sniffle.

Noah begins to sniffle.

If this was all an act, then there’s no fox quite like her.

But that can’t be. Noah is not a child who would come up with such tricks.

For some reason, whenever I see the kid Noah, my heart softens. Is it because it reminds me of how lonely I used to be?

“…Sigh.”

I don’t know.

I turned off the light and lay down on the bed.

Seeing me do this, Noah mumbled while turning his head away.

“No…I didn’t mean for you to lie down…but…”

“How about I get up then?”

“No…I think it’s fine if you stay as you are.”

Back and forth like this.

Girls’ hearts really are hard to understand.

‘…It’s narrow.’

My small bed was too narrow for two people. As a result, we couldn’t help but press our bodies close together.

Whoosh. When our hands brushed against each other, Noah jumped in surprise.

“Ahh!?”

“Oops, careful.”

Because of that, I instinctively held onto Noah to prevent them from falling, causing the kid to be even more startled.

“Ugh…Ah…Ah?”

Not working properly, it seems.

What can I do? I extended my arm to the side and cradled Noah’s head. It was the common “arm pillow” position.

“Unc…le?”

“I’ll lend you my arm, so just rest lying down.”

“…Okay.”

Noah seemed to really like this position, staying quiet for a long time. Maybe because the lights were off, I could focus on every single sound they made.

Then, as if suddenly remembering something, they spoke.

“…Uncle, has something like this ever happened to you?”

“What?”

“Someone you were really close to…someone who betrayed you.”

“…Yeah, there was.”

“Who was it?”

“The first person I ever liked when I was younger.”

There was a moment of silence before Noah spoke again.

“Can I ask you something?”

“You don’t answer my questions but want me to tell you things?”

“…I’ll tell you mine too.”

Noah proposed a trade: If I told them about my past, they would tell me about theirs.

It wasn’t a bad deal since I had nothing much to lose.

Besides, it wasn’t such a grand story anyway.

I recounted the same story I had once told another little one.

“I didn’t have parents. I was always alone and lonely.”

“…”

“Then I met a friend. She was a girl, and she treated me really well.”

My expression slightly furrowed. That d*mn girl’s smiling face came back to me.

To borrow Noah’s words, she was a thorn to me.

A thorn that pierced deep into my chest and left a lasting pain.

I took a breath and continued.

“That friendship became my first love, my first romance. And then, after seeing her fooling around with someone else, I finally realized…”

“I was just one among many guys for her.”

“…Uncle, are you okay?”

“Yeah. I’ve almost forgotten about it now.”

“Then…me too…”

Noah seemed to want to say something but closed their mouth instead, hesitating.

I pinched their cheek lightly and chuckled.

“Actually, it’s not easy to completely forget.”

“Huh?”

“Still, it stays in your memory. Whether good or bad.”

The sound of Noah turning towards me could be heard.

They seemed to be concentrating harder on what I said.

“What about you? This Tae-hwa kid.”

“…I don’t know. Definitely annoying…the one who hurt me…”

“Forgetting isn’t easy, is it?”

“…Yeah, it’s so stupid.”

Noah’s small body moved closer to me.

“Uncle.”

“Yes?”

“Can we stay like this for a bit longer?”

“Of course.”

The beat of Noah’s heart echoed for a while.

“That…it happened when I was in second grade of middle school.”

Noah began their story.

Noah had one very important friend.

The friend’s name was Lee Tae-hwa, a unique girl with eyes as blue as the sky and as shiny as gold.

They first met at a local children’s center.

One only had a father, the other had busy parents.

Over time, they spent a lot of time together and soon became inseparable friends.

“Noah!”

“Why, Tae-hwa?”

“Let’s be friends forever!”

“Sure! Sounds good!”

A promise made by intertwining pinky fingers. That promise broke when the girls were in their second year of middle school.

“Tae-hwa…is she alright?”

Noah was worried about Tae-hwa.

Her heart kept feeling uneasy. Ever since Tae-hwa joined the guidance committee, there were many critical gazes directed at her.

Too eager and rigid in her work, eventually leading to outright bullying.

Look at her.

“Hey, are you ready?”

“Of course, totally prepared. That b*tch Lee Tae-hwa is done for.”

“Just stop it already, you disgusting bastards.”

These were the delinquents who got punished by Tae-hwa.

Now, they planned to torment her.

Without hesitation, Noah reported this fact to the teacher.

Their despicable plan failed, but soon they found another target.

“Hey, you Noah.”

“…What?”

“What? Ha, look at this girl’s face, doesn’t change a bit. Nothing bothering you?”

“…Nope.”

That target was Noah.

Because someone overheard Noah talking about them.

A female student grabbed Noah’s hair.

Yet Noah maintained a blank expression without showing any reaction.

“No?!”

“…No.”

In response to her furious yelling, Noah gave a slight smirk.

“It’s natural for whoever sees trash to pick it up, right?”

“This!”

Crack!

Noah, having been slapped across the face, fell to the ground.

As the gang slowly approached, Noah resolved not to show any sign of pain, no matter what happened. Just as they made up their mind…

“Hey!! What are you guys doing over there!”

Tae-hwa’s voice rang out.

She had arrived with other members of the guidance committee to disrupt the scene.

The gang fled under pursuit by the guidance committee members.

Only Tae-hwa remained, looking down at Noah who had fallen to the ground.

“Th-thanks, Tae-hwa.”

Noah’s legs trembled.

“Hehe…guess I was being too tough.”

A grimace appeared on Noah’s face as they continued speaking. Their inner fear showed through their expressions, and their heart raced.

All they wanted was for Tae-hwa to grab their hand right then and there.

Instead, they received an icy cold voice.

“…Who asked you for help?”

“Tae-hwa?”

“Sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong and making things worse…what an idiot.”

“Tae-hwa…why are you saying such things? I just wanted to help you-”

“Exactly! I never once asked for your help, so why did you do it? Why!”

Bang.

Noah felt a piercing pain in their heart.

Tae-hwa’s expression wavered with hesitation but quickly turned resolute.

“…Don’t interfere unnecessarily.”

“Tae-hwa…”

“Just suffer quietly.”

A thorn.

Noah felt like a thorn had pierced their heart. The thorn was called memories of Tae-hwa.

Joy, happiness, pleasure. All those things.

Now they had become sharp thorns tormenting Noah.

“…Then.”

“Huh?”

“If you leave, that’d be great.”

“…What…”

“Figure it out yourself. I won’t bother with you anymore.”

An unexpectedly cold voice, surprising even Noah themselves.

Unbelievable. Speaking such words to a precious friend.

A thick tear rolled down Noah’s cheek.

“…I’ll go.”

+++++

“I just…wanted to help…”

Noah continued speaking through sobs.

“Why did Tae-hwa get so angry? If I knew the reason, it might make me feel better…”

I started to get a vague sense of understanding.

Maybe the sight of Noah suffering triggered something in her.

But to truly understand, I would need to ask her directly.

“…Alright.”

“What…?”

“Uncle will help you.”

At my words, Noah wiped away their tears.

“Really?”

“Yeah. If we can reconcile, we’ll try. If not…at least we should ease the burden in your heart.”

Noah now laughed brightly.

“Thank goodness.”

“Because I helped?”

“Yeah. My heart has been so heavy lately. Because of this, I’ve been worrying about other things too…”

“Other things?”

“Ahhh! No, not at all!”

The flustered Noah pressed close to me again.

“Uncle, please give me a grandmother’s healing touch.”

“Where does it hurt?”

“My chest. Preferably in a clockwise direction.”

“I’ll end up in jail, you brat.”

While laughing, Noah grinned weakly.

I gave them a light tap on the forehead.

“Don’t pretend to be cheerful unnecessarily.”

“Waa~ You’re hitting a girl, shame on you.”

“Are you mocking me?”

“A little.”

Truly, I ruffled Noah’s hair.

“Uncle will help somehow. Got it?”

“…Yeah…”

“Seems like you’re sleepy, go to sleep.”

“Goodnight…sleep well…”

Noah gradually drifted off to sleep. I watched them for a while before trying to get up—

“How does such a scrawny kid have so much strength?”

—only to fail.

Even though she’s a magical girl, getting physically pushed by a high school girl is embarrassing.

Is it true that you need three tanks to take on three high school girls?

I ended up becoming Noah’s dakimakura (hugging pillow).

“…If you’re happy, that’s all that matters.”

“Hehe…”

While Noah muttered in their sleep, I organized my plan.

Listening to both sides’ stories. After all, that’s the basic duty of an adult mediating a children’s quarrel.

And as time passed, the next day came.

I sat idly in a café waiting.

Until a girl approached me. It was Lee Tae-hwa. Seeing her, I greeted her warmly.

“Hey, you actually came!”

“…Dad told me. That uncle came yesterday looking for you.”

“That’s right. I have something to talk about.”

“Where’s Noah? Didn’t you come with Noah-”

“Come on. Do you want me to let you two ruin things again?”

“Th-that…”

“Calm down and order something to drink. This is a café. One drink per person is common courtesy.”

With a groan, Lee Tae-hwa sat down.

When she decided on her drink and I was about to pay,

“I’ll pay for my own.”

“Alright?”

“I don’t like getting free stuff just because you’re an adult.”

“…You’ve got principles. Alright, consider it a gift for kids like you.”

I gifted her a drink.

Her expression soured.

“…Uncle.”

“Yeah?”

“Isn’t this wrong since Noah is supposedly your boyfriend?”

Ah, was that the setup?

“It’s fine, it’s fine. I’m not hitting on you or anything.”

“…”

“I’m doing this so Noah can get along well.”

“…Then you’ve wasted your money.”

“That’s something we’ll find out later.”

“Yesterday, you heard everything from Noah, right?”

Of course, I lied. Noah did cry but not enough to shed tears.

However, unaware of this fact, Lee Tae-hwa’s facial expression turned bitter.

“…I’ve been like that since I was young.”

“Since you were young?”

“Yeah. Even if I yelled and complained upfront, behind the scenes, I suffered a lot. I’m just not good at criticizing others.”

Actually, that detail didn’t matter much to me.

“What I want to know is why you did what you did.”

“…Is this it? Helping Noah and me reconcile?”

I nodded.

After contemplating for a while, Lee Tae-hwa began speaking.

Just as Tae-hwa was about to start her story earnestly,

Beep-

Ding ding…ding ding…click!

I made a call with the phone in my pocket.

So that someone could listen to this conversation.

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