A Practical Guide to Ending a One-Sided Love - Chapter 17

“You’re using too much force. When you hold the stem, it’s better to grip it a little more lightly than that.”

Leila seemed so focused on teaching etiquette that she did not notice his agitation at all. An odd heat bloomed where her hand had touched him, which was extremely troublesome.

Bjorn’s gaze, which kept trailing after her, was likewise outside of Leila’s awareness. Through that unguarded gap, he found himself stealing glances at her face again and again.

He had not realized it before, but Leila Bailey had skin so clear it seemed transparent, and delicately arranged features.

The sight of her small face, made to look almost burdened by her overly large glasses, tilting as she spoke to him or turning slightly in curiosity was something he felt he could watch endlessly.

Her amber eyes, which had always shone strangely behind thick lenses, looked especially clear today. Eyes that always turned toward him like a sunflower, yet could never quite approach, but never tired of following wherever he was.

Five years ago, when he finally rejected her confession, those eyes had grown slightly moist, yet without a trace of disappointment, she had simply pressed a rosary into his hands and turned away…

Enough.

Bjorn stopped his thoughts and clenched his fist tightly.

He had not arranged this meeting to dredge up half-baked memories. Today’s purpose was to sever Leila’s feelings, no matter what. He could not become a foolish man ensnared by his own schemes.

Ten years ago, five years ago, and even now, at this very moment. Bjorn had no desire for her, absolutely none. But it was certain that the unintentionally closed distance between them had done something strange to his head.

“…After seeing me like this, do you still not dislike me?”

If that was not the case, there was no way to explain why such a stupid question had slipped from his mouth.

At Bjorn’s words, Leila shook her head from side to side without a moment’s hesitation. That firm motion seemed to stir even his inner self, making his chest tighten.

It must have been because he had eaten too quickly. He forcibly dismissed the unsettling stir that way.

“No, actually, I was glad to see a side of you I hadn’t known before. I always thought you were perfect, but it turns out there are parts of you that aren’t, unexpectedly…”

The woman who shyly smiled and said she liked even his pathetic appearance seemed, frankly, beyond help.

She’s fine with that? No, she actually likes it?

To borrow Allen’s expression, Bjorn’s behavior just now was a disgrace enough to cool a thousand-year love without anyone being able to complain.

No matter how long she had liked him, was this not to the point where one ought to question her state of mind?

Even as he condemned it that way, Bjorn could feel his heart continuing to beat at a strange, irregular rhythm.

Still, he hastily defined it as disappointment that things were not going according to plan.

Yes, it was a bit bewildering, but it was possible that she simply had not lost affection even after seeing him eat so greedily. If she were the kind of woman who would give up that easily, he would never have had to pull such a ridiculous stunt in the first place.

Just in case the first plan failed, he, Allen, and Todd had prepared a second plan. That meant Bjorn had not come here with such a lighthearted mindset either.

‘At least that… will definitely be effective.’

Allen had been confident that everything would be resolved after just today, but for some reason, Bjorn had a bad feeling. Leila Bailey was a far tougher opponent than he had expected.

“Like this. If you cut the meat into bite-sized pieces, you can eat it neatly.”

As Leila demonstrated perfectly with her small, slender hands, Bjorn let out a heavy sigh. For the second plan, he first had to complete ‘Leila Bailey’s etiquette class’ and finish the meal.