Kneeling down, he opened and shut cabinet doors, checked every inch of the fridge, and finally grasped something carefully in his hand.
“I can’t find the rice paddle. Do you remember where you put it yesterday?”
“Oh, Maa-kun, you silly forgetful thing! The rice paddle is in your hand!”
“What? Oh, you’re right.”
“As he said that, Maa-kun began scooping the white rice as though nothing had happened.
But I knew. The faint redness on his earlobes—this meant only one thing: he was embarrassed.
‘Oh my, oh my~♪ Clumsy Maa-kun is still as charming as ever!’
‘…It’s nothing. I was just a little groggy from waking up.’
‘Hehe, you’re such a shy one~♪ You little—!’
When I playfully pinched his cheeks from behind, Maa-kun hunched his back, looking slightly annoyed.
Honestly, I wasn’t quite satisfied, but since he seemed genuinely uncomfortable, I decided to let him off with just a hug—for now.
When I released him, he gave a small sigh of relief, his expression softening ever so slightly.
‘Fine… I’ll let you off for now, but you owe me lots of cuddling when you get back home tonight, okay?’
‘Alright, alright, I got it.’
With that, he grabbed the bowl of rice he’d served and started to leave the kitchen.
‘Maa-kun, what about the side dishes?’
‘…Ah.’
Of course, my clumsy Maa-kun had forgotten. He was about to eat plain rice, leaving behind the stir-fried vegetables I’d made last night.
‘Oh my, oh my, oh my~♪ Playing the “clumsy character” is so out of style these days, you know?’
‘L-look, stop hugging me already…’
This kind of exchange happens every single morning, but strangely enough, I never get tired of it.
Maybe it’s because he always shows me new sides of himself, or perhaps it’s the power of love. I’m not entirely sure.
But there is one thing I can say with absolute certainty:
‘Hehe, I love you, Maa-kun~♪’
‘You’re full of energy this morning…’
Being able to stay with the person I love—there’s nothing more blissful than this.
Unapproachable? Indifferent? Honestly, who in the world could say something so shallow? If only they could see how expressive Maa-kun truly is, I’d love to have a word with those poor, misguided souls.
Having such a kind and wonderful boyfriend… Ah, how lucky I am.
* * *
‘…Hey.’
As I basked in my dreamy happiness, I heard Maa-kun’s low voice, tinged with a serious tone.
He wasn’t looking at me but stared downward, his expression unusually grave.
‘Huh? What’s wrong, Maa-kun?’
‘Just… something I want to talk about. No, never mind.’
‘? …Alright.’
For a moment, I felt a strange sense of unease.
But for some reason, I didn’t push further.
Seeing him return to his usual calm, silent demeanor, I thought it must not have been anything important.
And so, I went about my day as usual: seeing him off to work, focusing on my remote work, and enjoying my regular routine.
…Until I saw the message on my phone screen that froze me in place.
“Tonight, we need to have an important talk.”
The ominous atmosphere from this morning and this message—“an important talk”…
‘Wait, no, this can’t be happening…’
Even I knew what these words usually meant.
But I couldn’t think of any reason for it. He had never shown any sign of disliking me—not even once.
Not during our good morning kisses, not when I fed him bites during breakfast, not during the goodbye kisses at the door before he left for work, not even when I texted him every thirty minutes to check on him during work.
…Okay, maybe I did have a few ideas.
Now that I think about it, isn’t this… kind of a red flag? No, not just a red flag—a full-on flashing alarm?
Why hadn’t I realized this before? Of course he’d notice. Anyone would.
‘Aaaahhh, no, no, no! I don’t want to break up!’
I buried myself in the comforter, rolling around in despair, but it didn’t change reality.
The only future I could see was him breaking up with me.
‘I don’t want this… I don’t want to lose Maa-kun…’
I started crying.
Of course he’d grow tired of someone this clingy and heavy-handed. But I couldn’t help it.
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