( when silence screams ars )
[Inside the room – Afternoon]
The door slowly creaked open. Haruki stepped inside.
"H… Hina," he said softly.
As his gaze moved forward, his heart seemed to stop for a moment.
Hina was sitting on the corner of the bed… tears falling from her eyes. Her innocent face looked sad, drenched in tears.
Haruki immediately rushed to her side, his voice filled with concern—
"Hina… what happened? Why are you crying?"
Hina turned her face to the other side. Her shoulders trembled slightly. Haruki's heart grew restless.
"Please… tell me. Why are you crying?" he asked, a little anxiously.
Instead of wiping her tears, Hina softly said—
"I'm… sorry…"
Those two words struck Haruki like lightning. He took a step back, unable to understand what she was apologizing for.
"Hey… what are you saying?"
Hina took a shallow breath, then sobbed—
"I hurt you a lot today, didn't I?"
Haruki immediately replied—
"That's not true."
Hina looked at him, her eyes holding a tenderness, and those tears… they tore Haruki's heart apart.
"Can you… forgive me?"
Haruki stayed silent. There was something in his eyes—maybe guilt, maybe something else…
Hina softened her voice—
"And… will you talk to me like before? From now on, I won't do such a thing again… I'll listen to everything you say, but please… forgive me this time."
Hearing that melted away Haruki's anger. In place of the anger, a strange guilt arose. He sank down to the floor, placing both hands on the ground… and slammed his forehead hard against it.
Thud!
Hina was instantly shocked—
"What did you just do?!"
Keeping his head pressed against the floor, Haruki could only say—
"Forgive me… I got too angry."
Hina quickly got off the bed, lifted his head in her hands—
"You've hurt yourself!"
Haruki wiped away her tears and said—
"It's fine… it'll heal."
But when Hina looked closely, she saw blood coming from his forehead.
"Blood…!" she said with a slight panic.
Haruki tried to wipe it away himself—
"What I did… this isn't enough to make up for it."
Slap!
Hina's hand landed on his cheek.
"Stop talking nonsense! Do you think an injury like this will just heal on its own?"
Haruki stayed quiet. Hina immediately grabbed a bandage from nearby and carefully wrapped it around his head. After tying the bandage, she lightly punched his head with her small fist—
"You're such an idiot!"
Haruki held his head—
"Now what did I do?"
Caressing his head gently, Hina said—
"You didn't even think once that you might hurt yourself…"
Haruki's voice grew emotional—
"When I saw you crying… I felt I was wrong to be angry at you. Because you… don't look good when you cry."
Hearing that, tears welled up in Hina's eyes. Without thinking twice, she wrapped her arms around Haruki.
"Huh?" Haruki was a little confused.
Hina simply said—
"Don't do this again… I don't want you to hurt yourself."
Haruki gave a faint smile, as if a weight had lifted from his heart.
"Alright… I get it. You can let go now."
That's when Hina realized she was hugging him. She pulled back quickly, blushing.
Moving aside, Hina said to Haruki, "But why were you so angry?"
Haruki, speaking emotionally, said—
"When you said you believed his words… I felt like you trusted him more than me, and… it hurt a lot."
Haruki lowered his head. Hina cupped his face in her hands and said—
"I don't trust anyone more than I trust you."
Smiling softly, she added,
"I'll be careful from now on to never hurt you, okay?"
"…Yeah, okay." Haruki smiled too.
---
[At the Café]
At the café, the manager, Jin Yun, saw Haruki and immediately said—
"Why are you so late?"
Haruki replied a little nervously—
"Sorry… Hina had something at college, so I got late."
The manager just nodded—
"Alright, fine."
And Haruki got to work.
---
That night, while walking Kazuki home, Haruki's thoughts kept drifting to Hina.
"Just like that… a whole month passed with Hina. I didn't even realize when I got used to her…"
---
[Hina's house – Night]
Haruki saw Hina standing, clearly angry.
"Looks like Hina's all better now…" he thought.
Hina asked sharply—
"Why are you so late today?"
Haruki smiled a little—
"I went to drop Kazuki home… so it took time."
Hina frowned—
"And who is Kazuki?"
"She's the girl who works with me," Haruki replied calmly.
A hint of jealousy colored Hina's tone—
"Oh… and she couldn't go by herself?"
Haruki explained patiently—
"She said she was scared to go alone today. And it was very dark… I also thought it wouldn't be safe for her to go by herself."
Hina stepped closer—
"Good thing you did that."
She brushed some snow off Haruki's hair and said—
"These days the snow's falling even heavier… take care of yourself, or you'll catch a cold."
Haruki's cheeks turned red—
"Yeah… thanks."
While eating, Hina casually asked—
"What are you doing this weekend?"
Haruki replied calmly—
"Cleaning the house, doing laundry… and buying some necessities."
Hina's eyes widened—
"You don't go out anywhere? And don't you get bored working all the time?"
Haruki thought for a moment and simply said—
"…No."
Hina lightly tapped her own head—
"Why am I even asking you…"
Haruki asked, confused—
"Hina… does your head hurt?"
Hina just smiled—
"No… I'm fine."
Then she spoke more seriously—
"Work is important… but there should be some enjoyment in life too."
With a spoon in his mouth, Haruki said, "Yeah, I guess there should be."
She tried to make him understand—
"Don't you think you should enjoy yourself a little too?"
Haruki gave in—
"Yeah… I guess so."
Hina's face lit up—
"So tell me, what should we do this weekend?"
Haruki thought and said—
"I want to play that video game."
Hina was shocked—
"Just a video game?"
"Yeah… I've never played one before."
Smiling softly, Hina said—
"Alright then, that's the plan—this weekend we play games."
After dinner, Haruki cleaned the plates.
Hina reminded him—
"We have to go to the doctor this weekend. Remember?"
Haruki nodded—
"Yeah… I remember."
A faint sadness passed over his face, like the pain of being apart from someone.
Putting on his jacket, Haruki said—
"I'm going now, make sure you lock the door."
Hina smiled—
"Let's talk for a while longer…"
Haruki said—
"It's already late. And I have to take you to college tomorrow."
Hina insisted—
"So what? Stay here tonight."
Maybe even Hina had grown used to Haruki's presence—she wanted to spend more time with him, though she wouldn't admit it.
But Haruki gently said—
"No… I'll come early tomorrow. Okay? Bye."
He closed the door as he left.
From behind, Hina muttered angrily—
"Idiot… fool… dimwit."
---
What next 👀👀
To be continued…