Chapter 85: I’ll Call You Tonight

“Um… Well, my phone broke.”

As I answered, I reached into my pocket and took out my new phone. My angel’s gaze shifted from my face to the device in my hand.

“I just bought this. I haven’t gotten my old number back yet, and your number was on my old phone. So…”

“So you weren’t ignoring me?”

“No. I couldn’t reach you.”

Her fingers relaxed on my arm. A smile slowly spread across the face of the girl who, just seconds ago, had been staring at me as though I were a prisoner who needed to confess his crime.

“Oh…”

She pressed her lips together as though she had thought over my explanation again, but she couldn’t hide her smile.

“You should’ve said so.”

‘I would have if you’d given me the chance.’

I kept that thought to myself. Watching the relief on her face, it was hard to believe she was the same girl whose eyes had flashed at me a moment ago.

“I thought I was bothering you with my messages,” she added in a quieter voice.

“No, not at all.”

Her smile grew a little wider when our eyes met. Then, as though trying to compose herself, she took her hand off my arm and turned toward the room.

“Your room is so cute.”

The sudden change of subject caught me off guard.

I was still holding my phone as my angel walked away from the bed and toward the shelves. Her gaze moved over the anime figures, then shifted to the plush toys at the edge of the bed. Finally, she looked up at the pink stars on the ceiling.

I looked up with her.

I had grown used to sleeping in this room, but having my angel examine everything made me feel strange. The teddy bear beside my pillow, in particular, looked far too pleased with what was happening.

“Um… Thank you.”

She leaned forward slightly to get a closer look at a small figure. Then she turned her attention to my computer desk.

My shoulders tensed involuntarily as she approached the desk with its monitors, microphone, and headphones.

“Are you into games?”

“I play sometimes. In my free time.”

That explanation made my life over the past few days sound quite innocent.

“What do you play?”

“I recently started Nexus Frontline.”

“Really?”

My angel suddenly turned toward me. I blinked at the excitement in her voice.

“Huh? Yes… I mean, I only just started. I’m not very good.”

“Who do you main? What rank are you? What’s your win rate?”

The questions came so quickly that I couldn’t decide which one to answer.

The girl who had been smiling at the figures in my room a few seconds ago was now giving me her full attention.

“I play the Chained Executioner.”

I decided to pretend I hadn’t heard the other two questions for now. I especially didn’t want to discuss my win rate.

Just remembering the six matches I had lost in a row against Caramel was frustrating enough.

“That one?” She tilted her head slightly. “That character is pretty slow, but the damage is really high. If you’re good at predicting your opponent’s moves, you can even end a match with a single hit.”

First, you have to land that hit.

I hadn’t been particularly successful with that part yet.

“You play too?”

“Yes.”

She turned back toward the desk as she answered. After glancing at the computer case, she reached for the power button.

“Shall we take a look? Maybe—”

I caught her hand before I had time to think.

Her fingers stopped just short of the button.

For a moment, we both looked at our hands. The hand in my palm was so soft that I began forgetting why I had stopped her.

‘The computer, Noctis. Think about the computer.’

If she saw the streaming applications and avatar files on my desktop, she would definitely have questions. I wasn’t ready for her to learn how I had been embarrassing myself online lately.

I let go of her hand.

My angel tilted her head innocently.

“Is something wrong?”

“No. It’s just…”

Trying not to focus on the lingering warmth in my palm, I grabbed the first excuse that came to mind.

“How about we get something to eat first? It’s getting a little late.”

“Late?”

Her expression suddenly changed.

Before I could answer, she went to the bed and picked up the phone beside her pillow. After checking the time, she scrolled through her notifications.

The smile slowly disappeared from her face.

“Ah…”

“What happened?”

Instead of answering, she scrolled farther down. When I moved closer, I could see missed calls from the same person.

Her father had called several times.

Her shoulders slumped.

“I’m in trouble.”

“Your dad?”

She nodded and checked the time one last time. Then she turned toward me, gripping her phone tightly.

“I have to go.”

“Okay…”

Before I could say anything else, she smoothed her hair with her hands and left the room. By the time I followed her into the hallway, she had already reached the entrance.

A few minutes ago, I had been thinking we could eat together. Now I was watching her hurriedly put on her shoes.

She placed a hand against the wall for balance as she slipped her foot into the second shoe. Then she straightened up and turned to me.

“Give me your phone.”

I unlocked the device I was still holding and handed it over.

Her fingers moved quickly across the screen. A few seconds later, her own phone began ringing. She ended the call and handed mine back.

“I’ll call you tonight.”

Despite the hurried look on her face, she smiled as she said it.

She opened the door and stepped outside. Just as I was about to say goodbye, she stopped, turned back, and wrapped both arms around my neck.

Caught off guard, I forgot what I was about to say.

This time, she was careful not to hurt me. Her cheek briefly touched my shoulder. When the faint scent of her blonde hair reached me, I couldn’t even think about where to put my hands.

“See you, Noctis.”

I could look at her face again when she pulled her arms away. Then she waved with a small smile and walked toward the elevator.

“See you…”

I wasn’t sure whether she had heard me.

After standing in the doorway for a few more seconds, I slowly went back inside. I closed the door, looked at the phone in my hand, and tried to go over everything that had just happened.

My angel had come to my apartment and slept in my bed. She had hugged me twice and said she would call me tonight.

I couldn’t stop smiling as I slipped my phone into my pocket.

Returning to my bedroom, I threw myself facedown on the bed.

When my head touched the pillow, that familiar scent reached me again.

It was the same scent I had noticed when we hugged earlier.

I closed my eyes for a moment. It almost felt as though she were still beside me. The pillow was still faintly warm, and thinking about her resting her head right here while she slept made my smile grow wider.

When I realized I had wrapped my arms around the pillow, I stopped moving.

I stayed like that for several seconds.

Then I lifted my head.

“Oii…”

She had only just left, and I was hugging a pillow because her scent was still on it.

I wanted to believe there was an innocent explanation for this, but the thoughts going through my head weren’t helping.

Sitting up on the bed, I lightly slapped both my cheeks.

“Get a grip, Noctis.”

After standing up, I glanced at the pillow once more. Then I left the room before I could change my mind.

First, I needed something to eat. Then I needed to get ready to stream, something I had been neglecting for the past few days.

I went into the kitchen and made myself a sandwich. As I placed cheese and sliced tomatoes between the bread, my thoughts drifted back to our hug by the door several times.

Each time, I tried to focus on what I was doing.

After putting the sandwich on a plate, I picked up the lemon soda I had forgotten by the entrance and returned to my room. While the computer started up, I took a bite of my sandwich and looked at the number I had just saved.

Angel.

I could reach her now.

I placed my phone beside the monitor with its screen facing up. Then I opened the streaming application and pulled the microphone toward me.

As I began getting ready, my eyes drifted to the phone once more.

I had no intention of missing tonight’s call.

—

Lemon, Lemon, Lemon, Lemon Lemon Lemon Lemon Lemon Lemon Lemon Lemon Lemon Lemon Lemon Lemon