Chapter: 112
‘The world… is spinning…’
Noah blinked slowly as her vision swayed from side to side. Someone next to her was chattering away, but she couldn’t make sense of it all with her mind in a fog.
“Here – drink this!”
When a cold glass was handed to her, Noah, with a dazed expression, lifted the cup and gulped down its contents. As the cold water went down her throat, her mind began to clear up a bit.
“If I had known you were this bad with alcohol, I would’ve given you something lighter… I’m really sorry.”
“No, it’s fine. I’m okay.”
No one who says they’re “okay” after drinking is genuinely alright, but thanks to the cold water, Noah’s tone oddly sounded sober.
“But…”
“Anyway, I’m a bit tired, so I think I’ll head upstairs now.”
“Oh… okay! I’ll tell the chef to prepare some hangover soup for you tomorrow morning!”
Since it was a place that served alcohol day and night, one of the inn’s breakfast options was hangover soup. The bartender figured Noah would completely suffer from a hangover tomorrow, and his face was filled with a look of apology.
Noah didn’t catch the woman’s expression as her mind started to fuzz out again.
‘What was I planning to do? I’m sure it was… um…’
Her thoughts were sluggish and fragmented. Noah tried to sift through her darkened memories until she finally remembered what she wanted to do.
‘Right, I wanted to have a proper chat with Lian…’
“Ugh…”
With a flushed face, Noah made her way up the stairs. The way she staggered and the smell of alcohol were clear indicators she was hammered, so those coming down or going up instinctively avoided her.
“Ah, I’m almost there. Hic…”
Even with her boyish looks, her face was all cute and adorned with a silly grin. She hummed a little tune.
‘Wow, it really feels like all my stress is just flying away…’
Giggling, she opened the door and stepped inside.
“Ah, Noah! …You’re back!”
Lian was anxiously waiting. Even though he had just come out of the bathroom, Noah was nowhere to be seen. He looked like a dad waiting for his daughter to come home from a late night out.
Relieved to see her, but then quickly confused, Lian caught a whiff of alcohol.
“Uh, Noah?”
“Liiiaaann…”
With a dopey grin, Noah flung herself toward Lian, just like Jess would.
Instinctively, Lian sidestepped, his hands covering his chest like a startled maid.
Noah, now grasping at thin air, stumbled a few steps forward before stopping. Lian, his face a mask of panic, took a step back.
Thud.
His back hit the bathroom door, and he nervously glanced toward it.
‘I’ll get caught before I reach it!’
Lian trembled like prey on the brink of being hunted.
“Ugh… it’s hot.”
“Eek…!”
As if it couldn’t get worse, Noah tossed her robe aside and started unbuttoning her shirt. As three buttons came undone, fluffy white bandages appeared.
Lian pressed himself against the bathroom door as if molten lava were approaching, his hands covering his mouth.
Silently, he prayed Noah would just head to bed without noticing him. But fate wasn’t kind that day!
“Oh? It’s Lian… I had something to tell you…”
With a bright red face, Noah began walking toward Lian. He was trembling like a cornered mouse.
Creak.
“…!”
The sound of salvation! The bathroom door creaked open under some serious pressure. Lian hastily opened it and dashed inside.
‘Whoa! This is a dark fantasy world now!’
In a comedy land, there might’ve been a hiding spot like a cupboard to stash himself in, but here? Nothing!
Lian was just a poor little prey walking into his own doom. He shook like a mouse facing off against a cat.
“Liaaan…”
“Uh, Noah. Calm down. Let’s just, uh, breathe for a sec…”
Belly to the bathroom wall, Lian tried to reason with her. To his surprise, Noah calmed a bit.
Thud.
She clamped the bathroom door shut to avoid waking the others. Lian asked with a hint of hope.
“Noah, feeling a bit more sober now?”
“….”
“Noah? You alright?”
All of a sudden, Noah tilted her head down and crouched. Worried that she might be feeling sick, Lian cautiously stepped away from the wall and approached her.
“Noah? Noah?”
Just a step closer—
“I’m fine… hic!”
“Lian!”
Noah jumped at him like a rocket, hugging his waist. He lost his balance and plopped down onto the floor.
Though a lovely girl was embracing him, his tailbone remained unscathed!
‘Noah, you always have it planned out, huh?’
It felt like a voice echoing that she fell just to spring into action.
“Noah?”
Crawling up him like a tree, Noah rubbed her crimson face against his chest.
‘Geez…’
Lian raised his hands in a surrender pose, his eyes darting around. Having lived in a universe where any shady business could land you as a lab rat in space, his reactions kicked in as instinctual survival.
‘Why isn’t anything happening?!’
In these kinds of situations, someone usually pops up to diffuse the tension, or the person involved would suddenly turn into a pizza-making machine to create some absurdity.
“Lian, Liaaan… hehe…”
But here? Nothing was happening! It was bizarrely calm.
That was because Noah had feelings for Lian, and guess what? Lian also had feelings for Noah! A little innocent skinship while crushing on someone? Totally acceptable! Even a unicorn would nod in approval!
‘Why is my mood so dark now?’
With the mood south, Lian regained his wits. He gently lowered his hands and held onto Noah’s shoulders.
“Uh, Noah… it’s late. How about we hit the bed and sleep…”
“No… no!”
“Yikes!”
Noah let out an adorable squeak as she nuzzled into his chest. If she’d worn decent clothes, it might have been a bit less chaotic, but with those bandages on full display, staying calm was a challenge.
Lian, seeing Noah in such a childlike state, reminiscent of Jess, could feel himself spiraling. His face was now just as red as Noah’s.
And that wasn’t the end of it.
“Sniff…”
“…?!”
Noah burst into tears out of nowhere. Lian froze up slower than a rock. Her teary voice pierced the silence.
“Lian… you’re so mean… you suddenly started keeping your distance…”
“Uh… yeah, sorry. That was quite mean of me.”
“Right? Totally mean.”
Noah nodded against Lian’s chest, rubbing her warm cheeks against him while looking unbelievably cute with that pout.
‘Aww, cute… so cute.’
Lian started viewing her like the cat who claws at him but now comes over purring and being all sweet. That was the only way he could maintain his sanity.
As if she sensed his thoughts, Noah looked up at him with twinkling eyes.
“Why did you do that?”
“Huh?”
“Why did you distance yourself from me?”
“Uh, well…”
Sweat began dripping from Lian’s face. Normally, Noah would’ve had a serious expression, but in her intoxicated state, she merely squinted.
“…Are you not going to tell me?”
Saying that, Noah’s eyes began welling up again. Lian’s vision started to swim.
Do you know what happens to a gag character who rejects the tears of a justifiably sobbing pretty girl?
They face a combo of physical and social demise. (Only when dealing with a good girl, though!)
As he looked at Noah’s tear-stained face, those beads of sweat turned into a waterfall down Lian’s forehead.
“Well, honestly…”
In the end, Lian confessed.
“After I saw you looking all cute in front of the bathroom… I couldn’t stop thinking about it!”
“…Did you start to hate me?”
Noah asked with her sorrowful eyes, and Lian shook his head furiously.
“No, you ended up being so cute, which was… oh no.”
The confession unwittingly spilled out like spilled water.
A moment of silence filled the air. Noah’s eyes went wide as she said,
“Cute? Me?”
She seemed genuinely shocked, her voice for a tick sounding somewhat sober, although that drunkenness was creeping back in fast.
“Yeah, you’re cute.”
It was like that feeling when a hamster, puppy, or kitten that’s obliviously cute suddenly asks, “Am I cute?”
“Super, super cute.”
“Hehe…”
Those sweet words got Noah all giddy.
“Then I’ll show you!”
“Wait, what?!”
And just like that, bam, the magic device was deactivated.
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