I Couldn’t Stop my Childhood Friend from Turning Into a Villain

Perhaps because it was daytime, the streets were crowded.

I even thought that if I looked away for a moment, I might miss Liel who’s right next to me.

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

In the midst of this, I almost bumped into a person coming from the front.

When I apologized right away, the other person also apologized to me and glanced at Liel.

You apologized to me, right.…?

“Lucy, come closer to me.”

Liel grabbed me by the wrist and said.

“Something wrong might happen, and you may be swept away by people, so let’s hold hands.”

Liel moved his hand that was holding my wrist, and this time he held my hand.

I didn’t bother to push his hand away, glancing at Liel’s hand, which was holding my hand tightly.

Drawing the line should also be done by considering the time and place.

Keeping my resolution here by refusing Liel’s consideration would just make me get lost in the crowd.

There should be no such inconvenience. Since it’s like this, I should keep my conviction from tomorrow instead.

Kururuk—

As they were walking side by side, my stomach complained of hunger.

I reflexively raised my freehand and touched my stomach. I was dragged out as soon as I woke up, so my stomach was empty.

“Are you hungry?”

I guess he heard the rumbling sound, too.

Since this is not the first time this happened in front of him, I nodded eagerly shamelessly.

“Let’s hurry up and go eat.”

Liel spoke in a friendly tone.

At the same time, Liel’s hand, which was pulling my hand, became stronger.

I felt that Liel’s hands were very big.

I’m not even his guardian, but why do I feel so proud of Liel’s growth?

I’m so silly, too.

꧁꧂

After eating and walking around moderately, the sun started to set. Nevertheless, the plaza was still crowded with people.

I noticed one very important fact while I was walking around with Liel.

It was the fact that the stares around me were very stinging.

There was more than one blatant look that was coming their way, to be exact, towards Liel.

Why did I notice this now?

I should have noticed from the moment the waiter glanced at Liel the whole time he took our order at the restaurant.

Suddenly, concerns arose about how much Liel, the party concerned, suffered during the year they were apart.

“Liel, aren’t you tired?”

I asked Liel with pity.

Fortunately, the eyes of those who were attracted to Liel were generally favorable.

In other words, they were looking at Liel because he is handsome.

Sometimes there were men who blushed at the sight of Liel. Of course, it wasn’t very shocking to me, who has an open mind.

“Lucy, are you tired?”

No, not me, but you.

The conversation with Liel often went off in this way. This still seemed to be the case, so I laughed without realizing it.

Instead of correcting Liel’s words, I have poured out concerns about him.

“Liel. I’ve been thinking about it while I’m with you all day, and I think you need to be moderately handsome.”

“……?”

He looked down at me with a confused expression.

Curiosity visible in his beautiful eyes.

“If you don’t understand, that’s fine. I just know you’re very handsome.”

At least, I thought it was fortunate that Liel has the ability to protect himself even if strange people come after him.

“…… Am I handsome?”

When they arrived in front of my accommodation, Liel hesitated and asked me the obvious.

“Of course, why do you ask? You’re handsome enough for my grandmother to admit it herself.”

As I entered the accommodation, Liel followed me as if it was natural.

“……I feel good to hear that you think I’m handsome.”

As I touched the doorknob to my room, Liel held it at the same time.

I was standing in an awkward position, unable to turn the doorknob because of Liel and I suddenly overlapping hands.

Liel’s chest touched behind my back. At the same time, I let out a deep sigh without realizing it.

I guess it’s Liel, not me, who should keep the line.

Of course, it wasn’t that I didn’t understand Liel’s behavior either.

It won’t be easy to change the habit we’ve developed since we’ve been close to each other since we were young overnight.

“Liel, get out of the way.”

I grabbed Liel’s wrist with my other hand and pulled it up and said.

Then Liel’s put strength on his hands.

“I’m in your way?”

What’s wrong with him?

With a puzzled expression, I pushed Liel’s chest with my weight on my back.

Again, Liel was adamant. What are we doing at the door of my accommodation?

“Liel, Liel?”

There was no answer when I called him, so I just moved my head and looked back, and I met Liel’s eyes to see if he had been looking at me.

Oh, he’s upset.

As soon as I checked Liel’s face, it was the first thought that came to mind.

I couldn’t help but notice when I looked at his frowning brow and darkened expression.

“Lucy, what did I do wrong?”

“What?”

“You’ve been avoiding me since yesterday.”

“Did I…?”

Didn’t we just eat and walk around together?

Moreover, it has been less than a minute since I told Liel that he is handsome.

“You even told me to get out of the way…….”

“Because I can’t open it…….”

“You told me not to touch your head, either.”

“…….”

He’s right that I’m avoiding him.

As I had nothing to say, I immediately closed my mouth.

“It’s been a long time since we saw each other, yet you didn’t even hug me.”

Liel enumerated all of my actions as I tried to draw a line between him and I with a somber look.

His words “I haven’t seen you in a long time” comes before me, so now it’s like I’m being hard on Liel.

But I also thought that this might have been taken like that from Liel’s point of view.

My eyes automatically lowered with an apologetic heart.

“Tell me if I did anything wrong. I apologize, and I’ll try to fix it.”

A desperate voice and its corresponding words pierced my conscience mercilessly.

Liel complained, but acted as if he was the problem, not me.

Finally, as Liel urged an answer, he leaned his forehead on the top of my head. I rushed out an excuse that doesn’t sound like an excuse.

“Liel, we met again after a year. What can you do wrong to me when we haven’t even met? It’s not like that.”

Liel made my head tilt forward as he pressed my head with his face.

I thought I would hit my forehead on the door if something goes wrong, so I firmly put strength on my neck and endured.

I couldn’t even tell him to get out of the way.

Even now, I made a mistake of saying ‘get out of the way’ to him.

I was groaning when I heard footsteps from the stairs.

When I rolled my eyes and looked at the stairs, my eyes met the person who was coming up the stairs.

“……?”

It seemed like the person next door.

A woman with red hair caught my eye, looked up and down at Liel and I, and rushed into her room.

My face was burning with embarrassment.

“Lucy…”

As I was calming down my embarrassment, I heard a watery voice.

“LIel? Are you crying? Liel, let’s go inside and talk. Don’t cry, okay?”

I was so surprised.

It’s been years since I’ve seen Liel cry.

Even on the day he saw off Dioletta unnie, it was not LIel who was crying but me.

At some point on, Liel no longer shed a single tear to the point where I suspected that his tear glands had dried up.

“Liel, I’m sorry! So don’t cry!”

I was already vulnerable to Liel’s tears from an early age.

At some point, a child who had not shed a single tear suddenly began to cry, and I couldn’t think of a way to soothe him except to apologize urgently.

“Why are you sorry, Lucy….?”

Why am I sorry?

I’m sorry I tried to distance myself from him for his future girlfriend’s sake who doesn’t even exist.

But I didn’t have the courage to tell Liel this.

I was the only one who went too far.

“T, that I pretended to be independent for no reason?”

“…….”

“That…… Actually, we are no longer children……. I did it because I thought it would have a bad effect on each other if we were too close.”

“…….”

“Uh… I mean. I’m so embarrassed to tell you this, but what would we do if people started to think of us as lovers later on? Especially me!”

Only then did the weight that was weighing on my head disappear.

I thought I’d live a little now.

When I turned my body back and looked at Liel, tears dropped from his amber eyes.

I guess it’s not over yet.

“Lovers?”

His words as he asked back were teary.

Without answering, I fixed my eyes on the crying Liel.

Tears fell again from Liel’s right eye. There was a slight redness on the tip of his nose and eyes.

Why does he have a pretty face even when he cries…?

In the past, when I cried, my whole face was covered with tears and snot.

“Lucy.”

“What?”

It was Liel’s low voice that brought back my momentarily lost thoughts.

“………lovers?”