And as I suspected...

Instead of packing up to leave, Rosemary is wandering around the school. Of course, I followed her. She seemed like she wanted to say something to me, probably to ask me not to follow her, but she seemed to give up.

Well, even if she had asked, I probably would have just agreed and followed her quietly. I knew it was very suspicious, but it was better than her exploding in anger here.

"Ah, did she meet him here?" I murmured softly.

"Hmm? Did you say something?" She glanced at me. It seemed like she heard me murmuring.

I shook my head.

"No, I was just talking to myself," I said to her.

Her eyebrows furrowed.

"You know, if this is boring for you, you don't have to follow me. Besides, this doesn't concern you," she said quietly.

"Who said I'm bored?" I replied.

"You don't look bored..."

"Really?"

I mean, what expression do you want me to have? Should I smile all the time? I'd look crazy if I did that, wouldn't I? Moreover...

Someone who smiles all the time...

The face of a male student briefly crossed my mind. It reminded me of that jerk. Just thinking about him gave me chills. Like I'd ever want to be compared to him.

"Don't worry, I'm one of those people with resting b1tch face," I then gave her a small smile.

She nodded quietly. We continued walking.

I looked around. The familiar scenery greeted my eyes. Like yesterday, we are heading to the library. Rosemary might think that Quinn might go to the library again today.

Oh, right. We visited Quinn's class earlier, but he wasn't there. We asked his remaining classmates, but no one knew where he went.

"Have you tried contacting him?" I asked Rosemary.

"I sent him a message, but he hasn't read or replied," Rosemary replied. Her face looked somewhat anxious. I felt uncomfortable seeing her worried because of that jerk.

"What about calling him? Maybe he'll respond?"

"Eh? B-but I only asked him to study together," Rosemary's face turned slightly red.

Ah, I knew she just felt awkward calling someone she wasn't close to, but I felt a little annoyed.

I know I shouldn't be like this, but...

I looked at Rosemary.

She then opened her mouth again.

"And if I call him, wouldn't I look too pushy? Wouldn't I look more suspicious then?" We locked eyes.

I chuckled softly.

"You're right, you seem to think about small things like that too, huh?"

"Your words yesterday made me more aware of small things like that, and besides..."

She stared at me unhappily.

"Am I that untrustworthy? I feel like I'm being underestimated by you!" Her tone sounded a bit harsher than before.

"Sorry, sorry. I think I'm worrying too much. I'm glad you're more cautious now," I grinned at her. She turned her face away.

Most people might not think about small things like that, but it's different with Quinn. He always considers everything. Even for him, small things might have certain implications.

If we want to go against him, we can't be careless. Well...

If possible, I don't want to go against him, but...

My gaze returned to Rosemary.

"She might start something..." I murmured.

"We're here," Rosemary said. She held the library door handle and opened it.

"I'll wait for you from a distance like yesterday."

Rosemary nodded and walked away. I followed her slowly.

I looked around. Unlike yesterday, there are more people in the building today.

Will Rosemary meet him today?

In addition to the interaction between me and Rosemary, overall, everything has been going as it is in the manga. At least the core moments in the manga are still happening.

If that's the case, she's definitely going to meet that senior today.

After walking for a while, my eyes immediately focused on someone. My steps stopped, and I slipped into the bookshelf row.

"There he is..."

I peeked from afar.

"Ah, sorry!"

"I-I, it's okay."

I heard Rosemary's voice, followed by the voice of a boy.

Rosemary didn't pay attention to what was in front of her because she was busy looking for Quinn and accidentally bumped into someone. The books carried by the person fell scattered. In panic, Rosemary helped pick up his fallen books.

I looked at the male student.

Wavy brown hair and glasses. He was short, slightly shorter than Rosemary. His movements were awkward.

He's the third potential love interest. Asher Solace, an upperclassman. From his appearance alone, you could tell he was a bookworm.

Because I was quite far, I couldn't hear their conversation clearly. Fortunately, because I've read the manga, I roughly know what they're talking about.

If it follows the manga scenario, they'll interact for a while. I grabbed a book and sat in one of the chairs provided in the library. I decided to read while waiting for them to finish talking.

There's no point in me watching them continuously. Besides, people might think I'm stalking Rosemary or something. Quinn's eyes might also be here; I don't want to be overly suspected.

***

About an hour after they started interacting with each other. I looked at my watch. It's already 4:15 pm. 

"I knew they would spend some time, but I didn't think it would be this long..."

I sighed. My gaze returned to the book I took earlier.

Time passed again.

"Hey!" A girl's voice startled me. I turned to her.

Rosemary was already standing next to me.

"Oh, how is it? Are you still looking for Quinn?" 

She shook her head.

"No, he just replied to my message. He said he went home early because of something urgent."

"Is that so? Are you going straight home?"

"Well, I don't have any other plans, so I'll just go home."

I looked at her face; she looked a little tired. Did she not get enough rest last night? That's typical of her overthinking habits...

Ah!

Suddenly I remembered something.

"I forgot! Let me save your number, okay?" I grabbed my phone.

"Oh, okay..."

I opened the class group chat and searched for her contact, then saved it.

After that, we walked to our class. This moment reminded me of yesterday's incident. Fortunately, we were not awkward anymore. Shortly after, we finally reached the classroom.

After checking that there were no forgotten items, we headed towards the school gate.

"Hey, Rosemary!"

"Hmm?" She looked at me puzzled.

"How about we have some fun before going home? There's a shopping district nearby. Have you been there?"

"Um, occasionally. Just to stop by at the bakery."

Like in the manga, Rosemary likes sweets and pastries. There's her favorite bakery there.

"There are many cool places there; it's a shame if you don't take a look."

She looked hesitant.

"But... why?"

"Eh?"

I tilted my head, looking at her strangely.

"You can go there yourself or with your friends; you don't have to go with me," she said, lowering her head.

I don't blame her. We just met each other, it's kind of weird if we're already too comfortable with each other, especially hanging out together. Plus, with her less sociable nature, I understand why she acted like that. And also...

I know she's still wary of me.

"I told you I like you, right? That's why I want to take this opportunity to get a little closer to you," I smiled at her.

She looked up and stared at my face.

"I won't force you if you don't want to; I just want to get to know you better," I continued.

I say that, but my behavior yesterday contradicted that. I felt like cursing my contradictory statement from the reality so far.

"Okay... I actually want to look around there," she said softly. I could see her blushing shyly.

*Thump*

She looked cute.

Is this what they call the charm of the main character?

"B-but should you be like this?"

"What do you mean?" She looked at me puzzled.

"I'm glad you accepted my invitation, but aren't you too quick to trust someone?"

She fell silent. Her expression changed. She looked at me incredulously.

Ugh...

How many times has she looked at me like that? Well, it's my fault...

"What... do you want? Do you want to invite me or not? As you know, the main reason why I don't fully reject you is because of your family," her tone was a little annoyed.

"Ah, sorry. Forget what I just said. I genuinely want to invite you, okay?"

I stared into her eyes, her face still a bit annoyed.

"You looked so cute earlier, so I just blabbered..."

"Fwueh???" Her face turned red. Much redder than before.

"W-what's..."

She immediately turned her face away.

"Rosemary?"

She turned, pouting. Her face still had a slight blush.

"I just want to go home! Let's go there some other time!"

After saying that, she walked to her pick-up car without looking back.

I watched her figure walk away.

"Damn..."

Me and my cursed mouth. At this rate, how can we be friends? I made ours ituation awkward again today.

Reluctantly, I walked to my pick-up car, which had been waiting in front of the school gate.

***

When I got home, I apologized to Rosemary via chat. I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't reply. Outside my expectations, she quickly responded to my chat. We spent some time chatting. Of course, I didn't forget to ask about Asher.

As I suspected, they had introduced themselves to each other. And like in the manga, Rosemary might suspect Asher. That's why she chose to chat with Asher earlier. Moreover, unlike Quinn, both Asher and Rosemary like to read, so their conversation went much smoothly.

"Be careful with Asher," I typed. I then sent that message to Rosemary.

Like Quinn, I warned Rosemary.

"???" she replied to my message.

"I'll tell you tomorrow..." I replied.

I lay down on my bed. My mind wandered. I tried to remember what might happen tomorrow, but I couldn't remember. If my theory is correct, if I can't remember something from the manga, it means either the event tomorrow is unimportant, or the event is very important and potentially related to the perpetrator.

That night I fell asleep feeling anxious.