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They say you should enjoy your favorite food to your liking. But in fact, I didn’t even have time to sip hot coffee gracefully. Ah, come to think of it, what time is it now?
It was nine o’clock when I left the dormitory. I took my pocket watch out of my pocket and checked the time. It was already 9:20.
It’s time for Mimosa to go to school soon. Spending quality time drinking tea in Damian’s personal laboratory was essential to increase his likeability. However, you shouldn’t be caught by Mimosa.
Mimosa would visit Damian’s personal laboratory on rare occasions. However, as soon as you got caught by Mimosa, the gameplay difficulty increased dramatically due to Demisa’s bullying.
What would happen if Mimosa found out that I drank coffee with Damian in his personal lab? Would it be that she misunderstood that I fell in love with Damian and was willing to compete with her, or that she would try to hire an assassin, or even ask if I came all the way here to bully Damian? Anyway, it seemed obvious that my life-and-death decision would happen either way. That’s troublesome.
I got up from my seat to avoid the death route. “Thank you for the coffee.”
“Oh, you’re leaving already?”
Damian looked very sad. If I didn’t know his level of likeability, I would have mistakenly thought he was holding on to me because he liked me.
I said as I lifted the book. “Because I have to read everything before my major lecture.”
I would be the one who got in trouble if Mimosa found out I was with him. At that moment, I felt strange. Wait, why do I feel like a cheater? It was true that the situation was similar, but I felt confused.
I left the lab with a bag and a book. At that time, despite being quite far from the stairs, pink hair with a clear presence caught my eye. It was Mimosa. My eyes widened to the point they couldn’t get any bigger. Why is she already appearing?!
[The Constellations watch the unexpected situation with interest.]
To make matters worse, Damian was coming close behind me.
“Then let’s go there together. I have a lecture soon too.”
It was time for me to go crazy. I turned around and pushed Damian’s chest back into the lab.
“Theresa? …What’s wrong?”
Damian was puzzled and gently pushed back.
“Hide!”
“Huh?”
“I don’t have time for this. Mimosa is coming!” I shouted in a suppressed voice and looked around.
“Ah… Mimosa.”
Damian nodded as if he understood my reaction only then. At first glance, one corner of his mouth seemed to lift slightly. That’s not important now.
“Is there no place to hide here? To a place that Mimosa would never touch.”
A place where nobles wouldn’t want to touch it, so a place like a warehouse would be nice…
It was then. Knock, knock, knock.
“Damian, are you inside?”
I got goosebumps as soon as I heard a sweet nasal sound. It felt like I read a school ghost story.
Ding!
[The Constellation ‘Question Mark Killer’ has sponsored 1,000 coins.]
[Is this a horror movie?]
Ding!
[The Constellation ‘Mad Mania’ has sponsored 1,000 coins.]
[No, no, it’s love and war ㅋㅋ. My blood boils for the first time in a whileeeeeee.]
There’s no place to hide… Over there! Equipment storage was located in the corner of the lab. It seemed that two people could get in if they squeezed their bodies in somehow.
In the game, there was no option to hide like this, so I didn’t know what the outcome would be. I dragged Damian there and opened the door.
“Can I come in? I said I’d give you a lunch box today, but you haven’t forgotten, did you?”
Go in! Hurry! I pushed the unnecessarily large Damian into there and entered through the remaining gap. It was too cramped for adult men and women to enter and hide, but it was not the time to argue about that. I got as close to Damian as I could, tucked my feet into there, and immediately closed the door.
“I’ll go in~”
Creak!
I heard Mimosa enter the lab. Thump. Thump. A heartbeat that didn’t know whose it belonged to rang throughout the body. Only then did I realize that I was close to Damian.
A cold light penetrated the crack in the door vertically as if it were separating us. Our upper body was barely separated by the book and bag I brought in, but our legs were too close in the shape of a crossing. Damian’s face was right above my head. It was a distance that would be very, very difficult if I lifted my head.
Gulp. Somehow, I swallowed my dry saliva.
Ding!
[The Constellation ‘Romance Pass’ has sponsored 1,000 coins.]
[Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!!]
“…”
In an instant, the strange tension that enveloped my body was shattered. Thanks to that, my panicked mind calmly subsided as if it had been hit by cold water.
Ah, come to think of it, Damian didn’t have to hide. When I saw Mimosa, who suddenly appeared, I panicked, took Damian, and hid in the storage.
No, this is better. Just in case, Damian might tell her where I’m hiding. I had no trust in Damian.
He’s not going to leave the storage suddenly, right? I wiggled slightly and grabbed Damian’s jacket with my hand, which wasn’t holding the book. With that, I raised my head and gave him a threatening look that I wouldn’t let him go if he did anything to get out of here. Damian then smirked.
Immersed in the darkness, Damian looked completely different from when he was exposed to light. His golden eyes, which were pretty as candlelight, were not terrifying like reptiles.
“Lululu~ …Huh? Why are there two coffee cups?”
Flinch!
Damian whispered as my shoulders trembled at Mimosa’s words. “If you move, we will get caught.”
Nod, nod. Then Damian laughed softly.  He changed his posture comfortably as if he had accepted the situation quickly.
I hugged myself precariously caught between Damian’s thick body and the cold wall behind me, but I couldn’t make any sound. My mind was filled with the bad ending from the male protagonist, who was the master of the assassination guild.
“Oh my. Is there a rogue mark on the cup? It must have been a woman who drank coffee with him.
Grit. I could hear the sound of gritting teeth.
“What kind of young lady seduced our innocent Damian? Doesn’t it seem like she’s not afraid of Demisa?”
If I get out of here, I will have to erase my rogue first. No, I would have to throw all the cosmetics to be used on my lips.
“Just try not to get caught. I will expel you at all costs!”
Mimosa stomped violently out of the lab and closed the door with a bang. I looked outside through a crack in the door. It was just in case Mimosa might have pretended to go out, just like in the horror games. Is this the feeling of the protagonist hiding in a closet to avoid evil spirits in a horror game?
There seemed to be no one outside. We couldn’t stay like this forever, so let’s go out soon.
“I think it’s okay now. Shall we go out?” When I asked in a slightly embarrassed voice, Damian opened the door first.
“Go ahead, Theresa. You could get hurt.”
“…Yes.”
Getting out was difficult because I forced myself into a narrow gap. I almost fell while trying to get my body out of the gap in an uneasy position holding the bag in my arms. Damian easily supported me and pulled me out with all his strength.
“Ah, thank you.”
“No. You had to hide like this because of me.”
That’s true. Ah, I need to wipe my lips. I took a handkerchief out of my bag and rubbed it on my lips.
Damian looked at me blankly and said with a strange smile, “But Theresa. If you’re going to hide in the future, you’d better not choose a place like this.”
“…?”
As I rubbed my lips and raised my gaze, Damian continued with a thin smile. “You will be caught in no time.”
Ding!
[The Constellation ‘Conspiracy Theorist’ has sponsored 1,000 coins.]
[Is this kid a bad guy?]
It was natural for the Constellations to feel that way. I didn’t know if it was someone else, but the person I was talking to was none other than a professional assassin. Of course, Theresa wouldn’t understand and would have been angry at him for pointing that out.
I thought Damian’s advice made sense. Anyway, it was advice from a professional.
“Really? Then tell me where you prefer to hide later. Hide there next time.”
So I just reacted insignificantly, but Damian seemed to interpret it differently. “Does that mean you will come again?”
…When did I say that?  Damian didn’t even give me time to say no.
“Theresa. I have a question?” His expression was quite serious.
What? What is he trying to ask with such a serious face?
Damian hesitated and opened his mouth as I also faced his eyes with a serious look. “You don’t hate me now?”
This was an unexpected development. I awkwardly nodded in affirmation. “…Uh. I don’t hate you.” It was you who hated me, not me who hated you.
Damian’s golden eyes flashed sharply for a moment. “Then what do you think of me?”