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Andrew didn't bother checking out her phone too much—he just entered his number, called his own phone, and then saved it under his name before handing it back to her.
And that was that.
The two of them fell silent again.
Mahiru Shiina finished her burger, hesitated for a second, then gathered her courage and looked at him.
"Give me your burger box. I'll wash it for you while I'm at it."
Andrew didn't argue. He thanked her and handed it over.
Looking at the box, completely clean inside, warmed Mahiru's heart a little.
With a slightly cheerful feeling, she walked off to clean it.
And somehow, as if guided by fate, she found herself wandering back to the flowerbed where they'd just been.
She spotted him sitting in the shade, typing away on his laptop, and for some reason, she felt a little happy inside.
After thinking for a moment, Mahiru nervously sat down again. Holding her hand over her chest, she had no idea what to say.
Honestly, she was a little anxious.
Was she being too forward by coming back like this? Would he get the wrong idea?
But if he didn't get the wrong idea, somehow that felt even worse.
While she was caught up in all that inner turmoil, Andrew's voice broke the silence.
"Come closer. If you wanna look, just look."
"O-Okay."
Mahiru replied softly and scooted over like a good girl.
Her eyes landed on his screen. Watching lines and lines of text pop up, she couldn't help but look surprised.
"You writing a light novel?"
"Yeah." Andrew nodded, his fingers still flying across the keyboard as he quickly brought the story in his head to life.
"I'm broke as hell right now. I can't just keep shamelessly mooching off your lunches forever. And I still owe you a pair of black tights, too."
At the word tights, Mahiru's mind instantly brought up the image of that torn-up, crumpled black pair from that day. Her face flushed bright red and she shot him a mortified glare.
"You just had to say that, huh? Perv!"
She couldn't help but ball her hand into a fist and punch him lightly. Then her eyes drifted to his neck.
She remembered the mark that used to be there—she had left it. But now, it was completely gone.
Andrew glanced her way and gave a small grin.
"What's wrong? Missing the mark you left on me? I've got great healing powers. Must've been all that energy from your cooking."
As he said that, he boldly grabbed her hand and placed it on his neck.
"Go on. If you wanna leave another mark, I'll let you bite me again."
"Mmmph—y-you perv! What the hell are you even saying? I'm not biting you!"
Mahiru yanked her hand back like she'd touched a live wire.
"And my cooking doesn't do anything like that!"
Andrew just shrugged with a smile and wrapped up his writing for the chapter. Then he handed her the laptop.
"Wanna read it? This is the first step to me becoming a real light novel author. Once I make it big, I can take care of you."
"As if I need you to take care of me." Mahiru rolled her eyes at him, but her heart skipped a beat anyway.
She took the laptop and started reading seriously.
But before long, she pouted and frowned.
"Why are there so many female leads? And they're all cute?"
Andrew just spread his hands. "Honestly, all guys like to fantasize about having a bunch of cute girls falling for them. That's how you sell books."
Mahiru narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "You sure it's not your personal fantasy?"
Andrew just smiled without answering.
Which pretty much meant yes.
Mahiru instantly felt annoyed.
After all the stuff he's done to me, he's still thinking about other girls?!
What a jerk!
She glared at him, slammed the laptop into his lap, and stood up.
"I'm leaving! Go daydream by yourself, you perv!"
But before she could storm off, a certain someone quickly grabbed her hand.
And just like that, she was pulled into his arms.
"Mahiru, I admit I'm a perv, but it still kinda hurts when you say it like that."
"W-What are you doing? This is still school, you know?!"
Mahiru panicked when she saw the heated look in his eyes. She nervously glanced around, worried someone might see them.
But Andrew just leaned down, kissed her quickly on the lips, then let her go.
"I know, I know. That's why it was just one little kiss. Alright, you can head back now."
"You… shameless jerk!"
Mahiru covered her lips, completely at a loss for words.
"You keep getting closer to me even though you know I'm bad. Are you trying to make me take responsibility or something?"
Andrew grinned.
Mahiru's face turned red as a tomato. She stomped on his foot with her little shoe. "In your dreams!"
Then she turned and bolted off like something wild was chasing her.
Andrew licked his lips and watched her run, the corners of his mouth lifting into a smile.
Mahiru actually came back to talk to me herself…
Doesn't that mean she doesn't hate me?
Nice. Looks like I'll be leveling up soon.
"Mahiru, your face is all red. Are you okay?"
Yuigahama Yui looked at Mahiru, whose face was flushed and even cuter than usual, and couldn't help but ask.
"Oh, it's nothing. My lunch was a little spicy."
Mahiru smiled while replying, but her heart was still pounding like crazy.
She didn't know what was happening to her.
Just being near that troublemaker Andrew made her feel like her whole body turned to mush.
When he pulled her into his arms earlier, her first instinct wasn't to push him away. Instead, she had this weird urge to lean into him and act all clingy.
Just like that night… she wanted to rest her cheek against his chest.
She knew better.
He was bad news. If she got too close, he'd definitely take advantage of her again.
And yet… she still went back to him.
She couldn't help it—he had her so curious. She wanted to understand him. To figure out what kind of person he really was.
Why did he make her feel so embarrassed all the time?
Back at her desk, that same guy strolled into the classroom all chill and relaxed. He even smiled at her.
Mahiru immediately looked down, not daring to meet his eyes.
Just then, her phone buzzed.
It was a message from Andrew.
"Let's head home together after school. And you better wait for me, or I'll have to suffer through a crappy part-time job just to buy you a new pair of tights."
Mahiru stared at the message, her head practically overheating.
She gritted her teeth and fired back:
"Fine, I'll wait, okay?! You perv!"
Ugh…
He's actually really sweet… but why does he have to say stuff like that all the time?
Is teasing me really that fun for him?
Speaking of teasing…
Mahiru thought about last night again, and her heart started pounding even faster.
She muttered under her breath, lips curling stubbornly:
"…Like hell I'm happy…"
"..."
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