My Rental Boyfriend Is My Boss?! - Chapter 45

Chapter 45. There’s Something I Need To Tell You

Michiru wondered how much time had passed. Michiru was lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling in a daze.

The sun was shining, and all she could tell was that it was probably evening.

“Bzzt…. Bzzt… Bzzt…”

Michiru suddenly realized that her phone, which she had left in her bag, was ringing.

She wondered if it was a work call, so Michiru lazily got up and saw it was Kamijemori. As soon as she saw the letters, her calm heart began to stir again.

‘I should just keep quiet. If I don’t say anything strange, he won’t notice.’

Michiru took three deep breaths and answered the phone.

“Yes?”

“Oh, are you okay now?”

Michiru wondered if he had been on a date just then. The tone of his voice was so matter-of-fact that she felt an inexplicable mixture of emotions.

“Oh… yeah. I’m fine.”

“I’m actually in the neighborhood… If nothing else, how about dinner?”

“Oh, I’m…”

Yes, that sounds great.

Michiru tried to answer that. But something in her throat interrupted Michiru, and for a moment, her words were cut off.

This was not the time. Michiru told herself that and exhaled slowly.

“… I don’t want to force you, but…”

“It’s okay! I’ll be ready in a minute!”

Michiru hung up the phone and checked her appearance. She had been out earlier, so there was nothing unusual about her. Michiru just brushed her slightly disheveled hair when the doorbell rang.

When Michiru answered the door, she found Kamijemori there, looking exactly as she had seen him at lunch.

‘The clothes are the same…’

The man she had seen on the street was not a mistake after all. Michiru was disappointed to find that the small expectations she had held in her heart had been betrayed.

“What’s wrong?”

“No, no! Where do you want to go?”

“Yes. How’s your stomach now?”

“Well… normal?”

The truth was, she was not really in the mood to eat anything right now, but Michiru was trying her best not to let him know what she was thinking.

When Michiru gave him a safe answer, Kamijemori nodded.

“I see. Actually, there’s something I want to tell you before we eat.”

The scene from earlier flashed through Michiru’s mind as she heard his matter-of-fact words.

Could it be the woman from before? Feeling uneasy, Michiru quickly put on a smile.

“All right. Well, I’m not sure what to do outside, so please come in anyway. I’m not good at hospitality though.”

“It’s fine. I’m sorry to have come so suddenly myself. Were you out at…?”

Michiru followed his gaze, wondering why he said that as soon as he entered the room, and found the store bag she had placed earlier on the doorstep, still sealed. Michiru had left it unattended when she came home. She was so careless.

“Oh… well, briefly.”

“… I see.”

As Michiru struggled to speak, Kamijemori glanced at her and said only that.

Michiru prepared a bottle of tea from the fridge, set two glasses on the table and sat down opposite Kamijemori.

Unable to bear the strangely heavy silence, Michiru tried her best to act cheerful.

“I just got a call from Kimitaka, by the way.”

“Really?

“Yes, he did. So…”

“I’d be worried that I’d be dumped.”

Michiru shook off the words that came to her mind.

“When I heard about Nakamura… she was not the person I thought she would be.”

She didn’t really need to talk about this, but her mouth opened on its own, probably because Michiru wanted to postpone what Kamijemori wanted to talk about as much as possible .

“Is that in a good way?”

Michiru nodded quietly in response to Kamijemori’s calm voice.

“I’m glad to hear that.”

“Yes. I had always been self-consciously uncomfortable with her, but it seems that I was actually wrong… He told me to come visit her next time, without dancing or partying.”

Until then, Michiru had felt a sense of frustration, but now, as if reassured by the soft atmosphere of Kamijemori, her mind had become calm.

It felt strange to be alone with Kamijemori in a dimly lit room with the sun beginning to set.

The last time he had come, it had been late at night and he had been drunk. He left early in the morning, and at that time Michiru never imagined that she would be able to spend such a peaceful time with Kamijemori. 

“I see. You don’t always know until you talk to them.”

“That’s true, isn’t it…?”

Kamijemori’s simple words touched Michiru’s heart.

She couldn’t keep putting it off. Michiru took a small deep breath and turned to face Kamijemori.

“Well, that’s why we’re talking about…”

She realized that her voice was trembling.

If Kamijemori told Michiru that he was going to continue working as a rental boyfriend, then she would have to accept it.

It would probably be better for her if she didn’t make a scene.

Michiru repeated it over and over in her head, trying to convince herself.

‘Because that’s the way Minoru would want it…’

Maybe that’s the kind of woman he wants. With that thought in mind, Michiru glanced at Kamijemori, who remained silent.

For some reason, he was staring straight at Michiru. It was Michiru who spoke to him and urged him to talk, but strangely, his gaze seemed to be telling Michiru to talk.

“I want to be someone you can trust.”

That’s when it crossed her mind. Didn’t Kamijemori say that yesterday?

Michiru wasn’t sure what he meant. But if she kept quiet because she was afraid of being disliked, she would be the same as before. It’s the same as when Michiru was in elementary school, leaning against the wall and waiting for someone to ask her out.

She thought she had just learned that it was Michiru who needed to change.

“Oh, I just happened to see that… earlier today.”

Michiru’s heart was beating loudly. With a nervousness that threatened to burst out of her mouth, Michiru choked back her loudly beating heart and let out a few words.

“Right.”

“The truth is, I saw it… the other day.”

“I see.”

The fact that he didn’t look surprised or try to cover it up made Michiru nervous.

“So I know it’s… work. Really, I understand that…”

‘No.’

So it’s all right. Michiru found herself on the verge of saying that.

Michiru was afraid of Kamijemori’s calmness. Because she could sense that he was either angry that Michiru hadn’t told him what she saw, or that he didn’t find it funny that she was meddling in his rental boyfriend job.

So she quickly tried to pretend to be a good girl to avoid being disliked. 

‘But that’s not… good enough.’

Michiru was afraid that the person she liked might not like her. She was scared to death. But still, Michiru wanted to believe the man in front of her.

Michiru was sure her anxiety would continue to grow. No matter who it was, she would probably feel the same way, hurt and depressed. But if she wanted to have a future with Kamijemori, she must not look away from this.

“But I don’t like it.”

“I see.”

At the sound of his quiet voice, Michiru nodded her head. Unable to look at his face, she stared at her hands on her lap.