My Rental Boyfriend Is My Boss?! - Chapter 9

Chapter 9. You’re So Mean

Michiru tried her best to suppress the ticklish feeling in her chest and took the hand that was offered to her, and the slightly higher body temperature comfortably covered her hand.

“It’s still cold, as expected. Are you cold?”

“No, I’m fine.”

He stroked Michiru’s cold fingertips with his thumb. It was as if he could see right through Michiru’s stubbornness. Michiru, who had never experienced even such casual contact, jumped.

“If you’re conscious of the fact that you’re on a date, you’ll be too nervous to say anything.”

‘What do people usually talk about on a date?’

Michiru wondered if anyone thought it was childish to walk in the park.

When Michiru looked down, she saw a thin hoodie, jeans, and sneakers. It was neither sexy nor cute. Michiru wondered if she would be okay dressed like this. If it was a date, maybe she should have dressed up more.

She needed to say something, but Michiru couldn’t open her mouth because she had a feeling it would ruin the mood of the date.

Michiru hated her lack of experience. She was just going to walk through the park at night, but she was overthinking it, and within a few minutes she felt like she was caught in a slump.

“Do you come to the park often?”

“What?”

“You said you wanted to stop by, so I just figured you did.”

Kamijemori walked leisurely down the tree-lined path covered with buds. The park’s lights illuminated her profile and made her look picturesque, even though that was all she was doing. She was momentarily taken aback by his appearance, and Michiru hurriedly nodded.

“Oh, that’s right. I often go with… Kimitaka on the way home after a drink or something.”

She realized something after she said it.

‘He won’t be walking with me anymore, won’t he?’

He’s married now, so they couldn’t go out drinking alone or walk in the park together anymore. Kimitaka may have male and female friends that he can still be friends with after marriage, but he’s probably not that type of guy. He was that kind of man. And Michiru was that kind of person.

“I thought you two were pretty close the other day.”

“Yes, we bumped into each other at a movie theater during the summer break of our first year of high school. We wanted to see a movie that was only played in small theaters in Tokyo. That’s how we realized we had something in common.”

“I see.”

“It was a movie that my classmates were not interested in at all, so it was like we were sharing something that only the two of us could understand, and it was special. I thought that… would last forever.”

He was the first male friend Michiru ever had. It was strange that she noticed him in a crowded movie theater since she had hardly ever talked to him before, but their common interests led them to become best friends.

It was like fate had brought them together. They could almost be called soulmates.

It was Kato who understood Michiru more than anyone else, and Michiru understood Kato more than anyone else.

“I was the only one who thought so.”

Michiru’s small murmur was drowned out by a strong breeze. It was as if she had been told not to think that way, and Michiru held her tongue.

“I think it’ll last.”

When Michiru looked up at the words coming from next to her, Kamijemori lightly brushed his messy bangs and continued as if it was normal.

“He’s a special friend, right? I wouldn’t usually invite friends of the opposite sex to my wedding. The bride usually doesn’t like to have a female friend who is not a business associate. But if he still invited you and he wanted to invite you, then you’re a special friend to him too.”

“But…”

He had married another woman.

Michiru couldn’t tell him the rest. She felt like a woman who was still in love with him.

Michiru dropped her head down, and Kamijemori tilted his head.

“Was he special to you because he was someone you knew you’d date someday?”

“… Huh?”

Unsure of what he was saying, Michiru looked up at him again.

The strong glow of the street lights reflected in Kamijemori’s eyes. Michiru wondered why the normally domineering eyes looked so benevolent and soft just now.

“Can he no longer be your special friend if he chooses another woman? Are you going to pretend that the shared values that only the two of you understood never happened?”

“That’s…”

Michiru wanted to say that’s not true.

But right now, Michiru felt a pang in her chest that prevented her from truly congratulating the couple on their marriage. If not, then what were these feelings?

In other words, was Kamijemori right? Was it a friendship that had continued because she thought they would be together someday?

‘I don’t like that.’

Michiru didn’t know exactly how she felt, but somehow, it felt like she was being terribly dishonest.

‘I don’t want to… pretend this never happened.’

The answer was obvious.

“How… mean.”

“Maybe so.”

When Michiru muttered in anger, Kamijemori just innocently responded. Michiru didn’t mind though.

“It’s because you’re talking about other men during a date.”

When she looked at him in surprise over the words he continued to say, Kamijemori raised the corner of one of his mouths, looking completely unconcerned.

He usually didn’t say anything like that, but the innocent smile on his face that made him look like a child playing a prank left Michiru speechless for a moment.

She thought that his appearance was much, much more wonderful than his expressionless face. Feeling her ears heat up at once, Michiru turned her face away. It’s a good thing it’s dark, because Michiru didn’t want anyone to notice her blush.

Michiru hurriedly opened her mouth so that no one would notice anything unusual.

“Haha, Chief Editor… makes jokes too, huh?”

“I’m not Chief Editor right now.”

“That’s right, Minoru.”

“What is it, Michiru?”

They called each other awkwardly. The exchange of fake laughter was interrupted by a gust of wind. The surface of the lake shimmered in the wind, and the fine reflections of the streetlights scattered farther and farther into the distance.

“We should go back.”

“Oh, yes, we should. You’re right.”

” I’m driving today, so I’ll drive you to the station.”

“Sorry about that.”

“I don’t want you to be shy. Is that how you say no to your actual boyfriend?”

Michiru reflexively made a strange “Ugh” sound.

‘I should tell him my age is equal to my history of not having a boyfriend…? Do I really want to embarrass myself in front of my boss like that? But when you hire someone as a rental boyfriend, shame is a new thing.’

Michiru averted her gaze, making a bitter face.

“I don’t know. I’ve never had one… before.”

Michiru thought she would be ridiculed or that she would get another sneer to her face, but after a few seconds, Kamijemori simply replied in his usual emotionless voice. “I see.”

Then, after a short pause, he slightly withdrew Michiru’s hand from his.

“I actually have something to say.”

“What is it?”

Michiru stopped in her tracks, unable to imagine what Kamijemori would say in such a formal manner.

The light from the flowers casted shadows on his well-shaped face.

His serious eyes stared straight at Michiru, and his thin lips opened loosely.