"..."
It's done.
Yu Siwoo looked at the bracelet in his hand.
A pure white thread and a deep crimson thread that hadn’t been in the original plan.
The two colors contrasted sharply, glinting under the light.
"...Is this good enough?"
It seemed well-made, but...
He compared it once more to the materials Dorothy had worked hard to prepare for him.
Maybe because it was his first time making something like this, or maybe because he’d never paid much attention to accessories before—
he couldn’t tell if it was actually good or not.
It looked similar enough, though.
Is it... okay?
After staring at it under the light for a long time, Yu Siwoo finally set the finished bracelet down on the desk.
He still couldn’t tell.
Personally, he thought it was fine, but...
Then again, it was something he’d made himself—of course it would look good to him.
"I’ll just ask tomorrow."
Yu Siwoo decided to show the bracelet to Amelia and Dorothy once he went to the Academy the next day. He stretched his arms with a yawn.
As a superhuman, sitting for a while wasn’t enough to make his body stiff, but mood was a different matter.
Glancing at the clock, he realized several hours had passed in a blink.
What was Arte up to?
Just a few days ago, she’d looked so anxious when he wasn’t by her side that it was almost dangerous.
That was why he’d decided to give her a gift in the first place.
Maybe it would help, even a little.
Maybe if she wasn’t with him, she could stroke the bracelet and feel a little better.
It had been Amelia’s suggestion, but he’d thought it made sense, so he’d worked hard on it.
"Still, it’s good that she’s gotten a lot better lately."
But was Arte uncomfortable?
Did the fact that she needed him around hurt her pride?
She must be going through a lot.
He’d made it with those thoughts in mind, but halfway through, Arte’s symptoms had improved significantly.
A pang of regret hit him—had he made it for nothing? But...
He wasn’t about to throw away a gift he’d already finished. He might as well give it to her.
Tomorrow, after getting honest opinions from the two of them, he could pass it along.
"Arte. Are you out there?"
Still, he couldn’t help but worry. It hadn’t even been a few days since she’d gotten better.
So he called out to Arte, who should have been in the living room, but there was no answer.
"...?"
That’s odd.
Why wasn’t she responding?
"Arte? ...Is something wrong?"
He tried again, this time opening the door to look for her.
Still no answer.
There was no sign of anyone in the living room either.
"...Arte?"
A sudden wave of unease washed over him.
His intuition still told him nothing was wrong with Arte.
But there was no way Arte would stay this quiet if nothing was wrong.
She couldn’t have missed the sound of him calling for her.
Something had to be wrong.
That thought struck him.
"Arte, if you can hear me, answer!"
Had he been too careless?
Arte had seemed to be getting better little by little, and he’d trusted his intuition, so had he ended up neglecting her?
Suddenly, an image flashed in his mind—Arte gasping for breath as she searched for him.
Was she unable to breathe, unable to answer his voice?
Was that why she couldn’t come find him?
Stupid bastard. What was all that about not wanting to see her like that?
Arte still wasn’t fully recovered, and even if he had intuition, his ability wasn’t infallible.
Blame gnawing at him, Yu Siwoo hurriedly moved from one end of the house to the other.
Yet Arte still wasn’t anywhere to be seen, and he swallowed hard as he stood before the last remaining place—the laundry room door.
If she wasn’t here either…
If that were really the case, what the hell had he done?
Would this be how it felt to leave a child by the water’s edge?
Or to realize you’d forgotten a child in a sweltering car on a summer day?
Arte wasn’t a child, of course, but she needed his help.
And yet, maybe he’d been too quick to assume she was fine.
Maybe he’d made her that bracelet, promising to help, only to fail to actually be there for her when she was right beside him.
Those thoughts gnawed at him, and he shoved down his unease as he threw open the laundry room door.
If she wasn’t here, he’d even call the police.
"Arte! Are you—"
"…Ah."
Okay, stay calm.
Relief flooded Yu Siwoo at the sight of her, but before he could even process it, confusion hit him.
Arte was… burying her face in his clothes.
Like she was happy.
As if she’d never expected him to come, she stared at him blankly, unable to process the situation.
"Uh, so, yeah. You didn’t answer, so I thought… maybe something was wrong."
"A-ah. Uh."
"Sorry."
As Arte’s face flushed red with realization, he quickly shut the laundry room door.
She probably wanted to be alone right now.
After closing the door, Yu Siwoo stood there in a daze for a long time before rubbing his face with his hand.
Right, she was fine. Of course she was.
He must’ve panicked for no reason when she didn’t respond.
He should’ve just assumed she hadn’t heard him.
"…! ……!"
From beyond the door, he heard Arte let out a muffled, wordless scream.
Ah. So that was it.
His hunch hadn’t been wrong.
Now that he thought about it, one of his clothes had gone missing. He’d wondered if he’d just forgotten about it.
But Arte had hidden it.
"…Haa."
This was a problem.
How was he supposed to face her now?
"…And?"
"That’s it."
"…"
Did this bastard even realize what he was saying?
Amelia wanted to smack the serious look off his face, but she forced the thought away.
…Right. He had no reason to lie.
She let out a small sigh.
"So you expect me to believe that?"
"…"
"You expect me to believe that Arte snuck into your house, stole your clothes, and was sniffing them behind your back?"
"…Isn’t it weird?"
"Does that even make sense?!"
She couldn’t hold back anymore and swung at his head, but thanks to his damn reflexes, he dodged in an instant, only making her more annoyed.
One day, she’d smack him so fast he wouldn’t even react—hard enough to knock some sense into him.
"…What pisses me off more is that it sounds like the truth!"
Unlike usual, Arte was far away from them, and Amelia glanced at her out of the corner of her eye.
Arte, who always kept watch over them.
But now, she wasn’t even looking their way—her face was buried in the desk.
"What do you want me to do about this?!"
"…No solution?"
"Like there’s one!"
Did this guy think she was some kind of answer machine?
I really didn’t expect him to react like he had no idea. That just pisses me off more.
"Haa…."
I grabbed my throbbing head and sat back down.
It wasn’t exactly the kind of thing to shout about.
Maybe because I’d stood up and started demanding answers, the attention that had been fixed on me began to scatter.
"Let’s go over this again. Arte depends on you, right?"
"Yeah."
"To the point of separation anxiety? That’s why you two live together, isn’t it?"
"That’s right."
"…I thought she’d been getting a little better lately, but turns out she was stealing your clothes to hug them?"
"Spot on."
"Haa…."
I sighed and looked at Arte.
Her earlobes were redder than usual.
She was probably remembering what Yu Siwoo had said about yesterday.
This is driving me insane.
Is she some middle school boy who got caught with porn by his parents?
"…Maybe she does it because it makes her feel safe?"
"Safe?"
Dorothy, who had been quietly listening, finally spoke up, as if she’d finished thinking it through.
"I mean… if she has Yu Siwoo’s clothes, it might feel like he’s nearby, right?"
"…."
"You said she gets anxious when he’s not around, so the opposite must be true—she feels safe when he’s close."
"Ah."
Now that she mentioned it, that made sense.
Yu Siwoo had suspected Arte might have separation anxiety because of her behavior.
So if that was the case, it was only natural she’d feel safer the closer she was to him.
"Since the separation anxiety started, has Arte ever clung to you?"
"…Once."
"Then that might be why."
Dorothy, are you enjoying this?
She’d looked like she was about to drop dead from exhaustion while researching how to make handmade accessories, but now her face lit up the second she heard Yu Siwoo’s story?
"That must’ve been the most comforting moment for her. She was wrapped up in your arms."
Dorothy said, not even bothering to hide her grin.
"She probably discovered by accident that your things make her feel safe too."
"…That’s just a guess, isn’t it?"
"No! I’m sure of it!"
I was certain.
She really was enjoying this.
Not that I wasn’t either, but the part about Arte hugging Yu Siwoo’s clothes still left me flustered.
Dorothy, on the other hand, seemed to think it was a good thing.
"Fine, let’s say your guess is right. Then how do we fix it?"
"Huh? That’s easy."
"Easy? …You know how?"
"I don’t, that’s why I asked you."
When Yu Siwoo and I both looked at her blankly, Dorothy smirked and said,
"Just find something even more comforting than a shirt!"
"…More comforting?"
"Hold her all night long!"
"I can’t do that!"
"Eeeh~…."
Dorothy pouted in disappointment before sighing and continuing,
"If that’s not possible… well, fine. Give her a heartfelt gift."
"A gift…?"
"Yes, that thing you brought with you. You made it well, didn’t you? Give it to her tonight! That should work!"
…Dorothy’s really into this.
She really loves stuff like this, huh.