[Kyaaaaaah! No way! No way! Unbelievable! Kyaaak!]
I could hear the author’s frantic voice in my head, along with the warmth of the person embracing me.
Right. Before I knew it, Yu Siwoo was holding me.
…Hah. I’m such an idiot. It was just a normal comment—*maybe I’ll fall for someone someday*—and yet I went off like a broken record, spouting all kinds of nonsense.
At least Yu Siwoo didn’t seem to understand what I meant. The author had been rambling about dates and whatnot, so maybe he only caught half of it.
I really need to reflect on how worked up I got.
Maybe the amusement park messed with my head—those stuffed animals looked almost human for a second.
As if that could ever happen.
I guess I get emotional sometimes. Useless thoughts, all of them.
"Hah. This is embarrassing. You didn’t have to go this far."
"…No, it’s fine. Sometimes just having someone there is enough to help."
That’s what I’d said earlier.
Siwoo repeated my words back to me, then pulled me into another hug.
Being comforted like this by someone else… it was strange, a little embarrassing, but there was something else bothering me even more.
[Hii, hiieee… So cool. The protagonist’s warm embrace and comfort, it’s too good…]
…The author’s nonsense was unbearable.
I wasn’t some middle-aged woman squealing over a morning drama. What was this?
If he wanted to hug someone like this, he should’ve done it with Amelia over there. Why did *I* have to be the one feeling this weird?
But Siwoo showed no sign of letting go, so I just stood there, stiff, until the Ferris wheel gradually began to slow.
"…Uh, it’s getting pretty hot. The ride’s almost over, so… can you let go now? I’m really fine."
"Oh, r-right. Sorry."
Siwoo finally released me.
Ugh. It felt like hugging a giant teddy bear in the middle of a summer night. I almost died from the heat.
[How long are you going to hold her?! Kyaak! This, this is—! Uhe, uhehehe!]
Shut up, author.
I grumbled to myself in my head. Not like the author could hear me anyway—it was a pointless complaint.
Maybe it was because he’d been holding me for so long, but when I looked at Yu Siwoo’s face, it was bright red.
Wait, he was hot too, so why was he hugging me like that?
Was this some “the protagonist never abandons his friends” thing?
"Hah, sorry about that. But thanks to you, Siwoo, I feel a lot better. Really, thank you."
"Uh, y-yeah… Good."
Still, he’d done it out of concern for me, so I should at least express my gratitude.
Where had that manly demeanor from earlier gone? Now the protagonist couldn’t even meet my eyes.
I wanted to ask what was going on, but I couldn’t bring myself to say a word.
Because the author was still shrieking inside my head.
[Heh, hehehe… Ehehehehehe…! Th-that was amazing. So good, so, so good…! He should’ve just kissed her right there! All sticky and—]
Ugh, damn it. My head hurts.
Kiss? Are you insane? Like that would ever happen.
You should tell Amelia to do that kind of thing.
If you do that to me, someone who isn’t even the heroine, and people call it a “redistribution,” what are you going to do then?
Ah, maybe it wouldn’t be redistribution. After all, I’m planning to stay single for life.
"…Ah. It looks like it’s about to end."
Ugh, what a shame. The view outside was so beautiful.
That feeling of looking down at scenery I’d never seen before from high up in the sky.
I’d ruined the mood all by myself at the highest point, so I hadn’t been able to enjoy the view properly. That was the real regret.
And on the way down, I’d been hugging her, so I hadn’t had time to look around.
"Huh, where did Amelia… go?"
"Who knows? Maybe the bathroom?"
Was her stomach still hurting? …Did she eat something bad?
As the waiting time stretched from 10 minutes to 20,
just as Siwoo was about to call her, Amelia appeared from a place no one had expected.
Because the person stepping off the Ferris wheel was none other than Amelia.
"…It was kind of underwhelming. Hah."
"Amelia?! Why are you coming from there?!"
"I told you to go ahead without me. I rode by myself. But it wasn’t as fun as I thought."
"…O-oh."
Now that he mentioned it, had she said that? Told them to go first.
He’d assumed it was just something she’d said offhand, but she’d actually gone and ridden alone. Impressive.
I don’t think I could ride something like this alone. It’d feel too awkward.
"Hmph, so where to next?"
"W-what?! You’re still planning to keep playing?!"
"Of course. We’ve got time. Did you think we’d only ride a few things and call it a day? Come on, let’s go! Time’s passing!"
Amelia was really into it.
She’d been complaining that it was boring, not fun, but I could tell.
She was more excited than usual. Maybe just spending time with friends was fun for her?
Given her backstory, she didn’t have any friends she could truly open up to. Maybe she really did see us as her friends now.
…My mood sank again. Right. This was all just a puppet show.
Even if the protagonist and those around him couldn’t be easily tampered with due to setting errors, they were still puppets in the end.
Amelia, Teacher Claire, Spirado, Lira.
Even Investigative Officer Iha Yul, who I hadn’t touched the strings of yet, would be…
I shook my head. Thinking about this just gave me a headache, so I shouldn’t.
"…Alright. Let’s go."
I decided to follow her and enjoy myself too.
Since we’d come all this way, it’d be a waste not to.
"Ugh. I’m exhausted."
As soon as Siwoo returned to his room, he collapsed onto the bed.
Maybe it was because Amelia had been so worked up that she’d dragged them around for hours afterward?
Even as a superhuman, he felt like fatigue had piled up.
"…She’s here again today. Aren’t you tired?"
Just in case, he peeked through the curtains—and sure enough.
There she was, watching him again today.
When he’d first realized she was watching him, he’d been so scared he’d cried into his pillow.
Looking back on it now, maybe that was a memory worth cherishing.
Now, far from being afraid, all he felt was, Oh, she’s here again today.
Fearful things weren’t so bad after the first few times. Since she was always watching me and never actually harmed me, I gradually stopped being afraid.
No, it went beyond that—I even started playing a game of spot-the-difference, wondering where she might be hiding to watch me.
“Today it’s behind the utility pole, huh. That’s a rare spot.”
Normally, she’d hide behind a tree or on the power lines.
Maybe she was getting tired too? She was observing me from a spot that was easier to notice than usual.
At first, the way she’d appear and disappear had only made her scarier.
But at some point, had I gotten the hang of it? Or had my intuition sharpened?
It became easier to find where she was.
“You changed back into your school uniform, huh.”
Her casual clothes had been nice.
It was just a plain outfit, but on her, it felt fresh.
Just a T-shirt and jeans, but maybe it was her figure—her physical features stood out even more than in her school uniform, giving it a new impression.
She’d always worn her school uniform when stalking me in secret, so I’d assumed she didn’t own any casual clothes.
Or maybe she just didn’t like wearing them?
“…Ah, damn it. There I go again.”
I hastily drew the curtains and flopped onto the bed.
Thinking about her kept bringing back today’s events.
When I’d calmed down the unstable Arte, I’d hugged her.
It wasn’t the first time we’d had physical contact. During the Chameleon Villain incident, she’d hugged me too.
For a while after that, the memory had lingered so much that the bad parts had faded into the background.
…But this was on a whole different level.
She hadn’t hugged me from behind. *I* had hugged *her*. Face to face.
At first, I’d done it in a panic to comfort her. But as time passed, I realized something.
It had been an extremely dangerous situation.
I didn’t want to think too hard about *why* it was dangerous. I’d nearly died socially.
But there was no denying it had been dangerous.
The soft sensation from the back-hug. The scent I’d picked up when I snuck into the women’s locker room.
Her silky hair, her slightly cool body temperature.
Before I knew it, I was facing a massive crisis.
“If someone had caught me hugging her to comfort her… *Phew.*”
A chilling thought struck me, and I shook my head.
Luckily, no one had seen, but if they had…
“Calm down, Yu Siwoo. Think about something else. Calm down, just calm…”
Siwoo repeated the words to himself, desperate to forget the sensation, the scent.
But as the saying goes, the more you try not to think about something, the more it haunts you.
The more he tried to suppress it, the more vividly the scene burned into his mind.
“…Sigh. Guess I’m not sleeping tonight either.”
Siwoo had a feeling.
Tonight, a good night’s sleep was out of the question.
Siwoo briefly wallowed in self-loathing, wondering if this was all he amounted to.
But even that thought was swiftly erased by the memory resurfacing once more.
…And, just as he’d predicted, Siwoo tossed and turned all night.