The curse of having my childhood friend comeback while having a beautiful girl around me.

As I contemplated what had just happened, Alisha suddenly came up behind me and asked,

"Alfred, I know you're troubled about rejecting Angel's request—especially since you already agreed to have a small lunch at your house."

"Well, I won't lie... I felt happy that you chose me over her. But I'm not heartless. I also know how it feels to be rejected, to be left out... like you're just a secondary option."

"So Alfred, promise me—if we ever meet her again, let her have fun with you. I'll be fine. Ehehehe~" she said, trying to lighten the atmosphere as she hugged me from behind.

"Okay, Alisha... but, umm, you're hugging me quite hard right now. Why do you like hugging me so much?" I asked, glancing at her embarrassed face.

"Umm... ummm... 'cause I... just want to hug you. I feel comfortable with you—that's the reason," she said in a flustered tone.

"Okay then... I assume you'd feel comfortable with this."

I hugged her back.

"I also want to embrace you for a moment... because when I'm with you, my mind feels at peace—as if I'm just a carefree kid whose only worry is finding a new game to play."

Alisha, hearing those soft words, tightened her embrace around me and said,

"I'm glad to hear that from you..." she whispered, her smile as adorable as ever.

Seeing her like that, I couldn't help but blush as I embraced her too.

Then—click!

The sound of a photo being taken snapped us out of the moment.

We turned and saw Marianne, my sister, standing there with a wicked smile, holding up her phone.

"Big sis! Did you just take a pic of me and Alisha!?"

"Yeah, so what? I'm not gonna blackmail you with it or anything. I just wanted to capture an adorable moment between two lovebirds."

Alisha, hearing the phrase adorable moment between two lovebirds, instantly understood the implication and began to blush hard as she stammered,

"Senior Marianne! It's not like that! I'm just... fond of your younger brother, that's all!"

The way she tried to clear up the misunderstanding was so cute that Marianne quickly took another snap and laughed mischievously.

"Okay, okay~ you're fond of him, which is just another word for—"

Before she could finish and unleash another wave of teasing, I immediately covered her mouth and muttered,

"Sis, please stop... it's too embarrassing. Look around—we're being stared at by a lot of people..."

"Okay, okay," she said, finally noticing the attention around us. She then quickly added, "Let's just keep walking back home."

Hearing that, both Alisha and I sighed in relief and continued walking towards our house.

After a few minutes, we arrived.

I turned back and gestured for Alisha to enter.

"Alisha, don't be shy. You're our guest."

She nodded and slowly stepped inside our humble home. Almost instantly, her eyes were drawn to a portrait on the wall—it was me, Marianne, and Angel, all smiling while wearing silver medals from a contest when we were younger.

Caught by curiosity, she asked,

"Um... Alfred, what competition did you win there?"

"Oh, that... that was a national mathematical quiz bee. Though... it's a shame—we lost by just one point. If not, we would've been the champions. Ahahaha..."

"Oh, you're really smart, Alfred... that's why I..." she mumbled softly.

"Hmm? What was that, Alisha?" I asked, curious.

"Oh—it's nothing. I'm just amazed by how smart you are," she replied quickly.

"Now that I think about it... the champion team who beat us back then—one of the girls looked kinda like you. Though she didn't wear glasses and had shorter hair... Could it have been you, Alisha?"

"Um... I'm certain it wasn't me. But why did you think I was that girl?" she asked with a serious, yet unintimidating tone.

"Well... you're pretty smart. It was the first time Angel switched schools that someone managed to match her in recitals."

After hearing my reason, Alisha's expression changed.

She suddenly asked in a more intense tone,

"So... you and Angel were classmates back then? You two always hung out together, especially in school?"

Caught off guard by her sudden change in demeanor—and the pressure that radiated from her as she spoke about Angel—I was momentarily speechless.

But as if she could sense the tension, Marianne called out to us from the kitchen.

"Hey! You two, help me cook this chicken I marinated this morning!"

As if she knew Alisha would be here for lunch...

That small, perfectly timed act gave me a breath of relief and bought me precious time to think about what I should say to Alisha—and what I definitely shouldn't.

But just as I was walking towards Marianne...

Alisha suddenly grabbed my hand.

She looked at me again—with a face like a jealous girlfriend—filled with emotion and silent accusation.

And then she spoke—

Words that, depending on how I answered, could decide the entire mood of her day.