Chapter 45.2

Holding my chin, I asked with a very serious face.

“Hey, have you ever felt like hugging someone every time you saw them?”

I knew that Arkhan didn’t like Noah sunbae, but I always seemed to pour out my worries to him. Must have been because I was comfortable when I was with him.

“Hmm, let me think……” he replied absentmindedly. He rubbed his chin as if in deep contemplation, then turned his head to me and stared at me with his deep, red pupils.

“Right now?”

“……huh?”

“Yeah, right now.”

I blinked in confusion at the unexpected answer.

If it’s right now, then he means me? Ah, what a  cute kid.

I opened my arms wide with a playful smile on my face. He was probably going to run away or be disgusted.

“Okay, do you want to hug me?”

“I do.”

“Huh?”

I had meant it jokingly, but Arkhan hugged me tight without giving me a second to hesitate. His red hair fluttered in my peripheral vision. I could hear the thud of his strong heartbeat through his body. Maybe it was because the kid practiced swordsmanship, but his arm strength was so strong it cut off my breath.

“ Cough. ”

As I coughed and hit him on the shoulder, those arms that had been wrapped around me like a constrictor fell off.

“How come you are so strong?” I grumbled, after extricating myself from that great strength. Arkhan, on the other hand, looked at his hands as if he had just discovered something mind blowing. Then he muttered.

“Now I understand.”

“What, how great your arm strength is?” I quipped, rubbing my smarting shoulders. But he didn’t even care what I’d said and laughed happily.

“Hahaha.”

What’s wrong with him?

I slowly moved to the side with my brow wrinkled. For a long time after, Arkhan continued to fidget with his hands while laughing, and I continued to wonder why he was laughing.

* * *

After saying bye to Arkhan, I walked towards the drill hall. As I got closer to the drill hall, I began coughing because of the thick dust in the air.

“ Cough, cough.”

“Oh, Kate, you’re here.”

“Yeah.”

Gloria sunbae welcomed me with a smile while wiping away that sweat that had gathered on her forehead. In the sunlight, her platinum hair, held together in a ponytail, shone brightly. It seemed she had been in the middle of practice. But why didn’t she have a sword?

“ Sunbae , are you practicing how to use aura?”

“Mhmm.”

No wonder I could feel the cold qi in the air. But then, it was summer, so the cold was a welcome relief from the heat.

Embarrassed, Gloria sunbae scratched her head, and pulled out a piece of ice that had been stuck in a tree.

“If something like that happened again, it would be embarrassing……” she murmured, crushing the ice with her foot. Sunbae seemed a little dispirited, as if she was recalling what had happened. Because of how hot it was, the ice soon melted, seeping into the dirt.

I cleared my throat and turned my head.

“That day, I remained still because I was flustered. If you do happen to explode like that again, I will use magic.”

Choose which magic circle seal you would like.

Sunbae laughed at my reply.

“In any case, I will try to control it……”

“You’ve got this, sunbae .”

I wiped off the dust that had settled on the bench, before seating. Gloria sunbae also sat down to take a small break.

“You were the one who dealt with the social club, right, sunbae?” I asked in a serious voice. Unexpectedly, Gloria sunbae answered frankly.

“Yeah.”

“I thought so……. Thank you sunbae .”

Sunbae ’s eyes grew round with surprise.

“That’s surprising.”

“Why?”

“I thought you would have said I was pulling dirty tricks.”

I blew on my scattered bangs and shook my hair before replying.

“I am not so nice as to take pity on people who dragged me around and threatened me.”

Everytime I thought of it, I was still royally ticked off. It may have been mean, but I was delighted [that they got punished].

“That’s the way to go. Good job,” said Gloria sunbae as she rubbed my head carelessly. I frowned and rearranged my messy bangs. I handed her some water to drink

“Thank you. Ah, that reminds me,” she said, rubbing her nose.

“I remember Noah was looking for you.”

“……Huh?”

My heart sank.

Oh no, oh no.

“Don’t tell him you saw me…… please keep it a secret,” I grabbed her hand and pleaded with a pale face. She looked at me with worry in her eyes.

“Did something else happen?”

“……uh.”

Every time I see him, I want to hug him. I can’t help myself.

I closed my eyes and spilled everything.

“Hahahaha! So because he hugged you, you find it hard to look at him? Because you want to hug him all the time?”

Gloria sunbae held her stomach and laughed. I felt my face flush as blood rushed to my face. I clenched my teeth and ground out my next words.

“……don’t laugh, sunbae .”

“Okay, okay…… haha!”

He burst out laughing again, her shoulders moving up and down. I glared at her coldly.

“What in the world…… Am I attending school or am I reading a romance novel?” she said, wiping away the tiny tears that had formed in her eyes.

“Do you know how funny you two are from an outsider’s perspective?”

“Who knows……”

After saying things that I couldn’t understand, she laughed again with a resigned face.

“Yeah, just do as you please. Then things will get interesting.”

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