Chapter 26.2
Chapter 26.2
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“We’ll let you out once you’ve reflected. Sorry, you know Dmitri’s temper.” A few seniors mumbled their excuses, shoved us into the dark room, and locked the door. It was a darkness so absolute that I couldn’t even see my hand in front of my face.
“Adeline.”
“…What.”
“Sorry.”
She scoffed at my awkward apology.
“Good to know. I thought you were eager to cash in on my punishment savings plan.”
“Are you okay?”
“Do you still think I’m a fourteen-year-old child?”
Her tough voice trembled slightly. I moved towards the direction of her voice. As her scent reached me, my body responded not with deprivation, but with heightened awareness. I mocked myself internally.
I reached out, then carefully lowered my hand until it brushed against the nape of her neck. I could feel her trembling. I gently tugged, and she whined in annoyance.
“You and your big mouth.”
“Objectively, he sounded like a delinquent pushing cigarettes.”
“No, not that. About… liking me. Why did you answer like that?”
“What was I supposed to say? ‘Honestly, I like you’?” My only thought was to divert her attention. I spoke without thinking, then froze. Silence descended. Adeline, who had been trembling, stiffened.
“…What?”
I cursed under my breath and raked a hand through my hair. This wasn’t how I intended to say it.
“Don’t… joke about things like that…”
“It’s not a joke.” I sighed. Calling it a joke now would make me a complete jerk. I frowned, trying to pierce the darkness and see her. Slowly, I repeated the words.
“I like you.” My voice, low and gravelly, rumbled out, amplified by the silence.
Adeline remained speechless, clearly shocked. My anxiety grew with the silence.
‘What if she’s furious that I pretended to be her friend all this time? What if she refuses to see me again?’
The fear of rejection consumed me. I could handle being rejected, even being told she hated me, but the thought of not seeing her was unbearable. It felt like I couldn’t breathe.
Just as I was about to speak again, she grabbed my arm and pulled me close, pressing her lips against my jaw.
I went blank. What was happening?
“What…”
“You won’t leave, right?”
“What?”
“Even if I tell you to go, you’ll stay by my side forever, right?”
My heart pounded as she nestled her head against my chest. My mind had already answered, but my actions were faster.
Guided by touch alone, I caressed her skin, from the nape of her neck to her cheeks. I bent down, and she wrapped her arms around my neck as if she’d been waiting. In the next moment, our lips met.
Once. And then again. Like we were consumed by a desperate thirst, we kissed again and again, leaving only the sound of our breaths between us. With our other senses dulled, the sense of touch was incredibly heightened. Soft moans echoed in the darkness.
“I’ll never leave. No matter what, I won’t leave you alone.” I murmured against her lips, a vow whispered in the dark. She laughed softly against my skin.
“My mom used to say, ‘Don’t believe everything a man tells you.’”
“Good.”
“What?”
“That means you’re giving me a chance to prove it.”
“…You’re always so positive.”
“So now I’m wondering if I should thank that idiot Dmitri.”
“That’s a bit much.”
I chuckled, and she buried her face in my neck. Her breath tickled my skin, and I held mine. A heat spread through my lower body, and I swallowed a curse. I was acting like an animal, not a human.
Oblivious, Adeline snuggled closer.
I sighed, trying to focus on anything else. I’d buy her favorite cornbread tomorrow. What should I get her for her birthday next week? White suited her, the opposite of this darkness. She’d look radiant in a white dress.
I learned for the first time that imagining someone else’s happiness could bring joy, and that I wanted to be a better person for someone else.
Everyone has a first confession, awkward and unforgettable.
Everything I experienced with Adeline was a first. And from that day on, it became my everything.
So, my vow to stay by her side forever? It wasn’t just a promise. It was a necessity.
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