Grace was sure she knew what would happen. After admitting it so openly, Koleda would scold her, or maybe just sulk, run off, and ignore her for a bit.
But unexpectedly, the other party's answer was quite surprising.
"Really? That's great!" Koleda said happily, practically glowing.
"Huh?" Grace could only stare at the excited Koleda, her mind going blank as she tried to understand what she was seeing.
'Why is Sweet Pea so happy after hearing that I like Wise too? Isn't she supposed to be upset?' Grace thought, tilting her head in confusion.
Then Koleda spoke again.
"Sis, you know... I actually really like Wise..."
Hearing this, Grace subconsciously nodded. She already knew that much.
"Wise and I are already boyfriend and girlfriend, the kind that sticks together no matter what, and we're definitely getting married someday."
That made the black-haired girl pause in confusion. It felt like Koleda and Wise's relationship had already gone way further than she realized, and she somehow missed all of it.
But the biggest shock was still coming.
"I was kind of worried about you before, sis, but now that I know you and Wise like each other too, I feel relieved. That way, we can all be happy together in the future!"
When Koleda said 'we', she meant Ben and Anton too, like they were all one big family.
But since she didn't explain it clearly, Grace ended up taking the words the wrong way. To her, Koleda's meaning sounded completely different.
'Wh-what does she mean, now? She's relieved that Wise and I like each other too? Does Wise like me as well?'
Grace's heart pounded wildly, but what unsettled her even more was the latter half of Koleda's words.
'So sweet pea wants the three of us to live together? But is that really possible? Wouldn't it be a little… No. If my younger sister can be that open-minded, then if I hesitate as her older sister, it would just be unfair.'
But before anything else, she needed to ask one last thing.
"Sweet pea, do you feel even a little dissatisfied with my relationship with Wise?"
Grace resolved that the moment Koleda showed even the smallest doubt, she would immediately step away.
"Huh? Dissatisfaction? Why would there be any? I'm glad you and Wise get along so well. I don't even have room to feel dissatisfied," Koleda replied, unable to understand why her sister would ask such a thing.
"Are you sure about that?"
"Of course! You know what I'm like, older sister. Honestly, you're acting kind of strange today. Why all the questions?"
Hearing Koleda say this, Grace fully confirmed the other party's meaning, a quiet sense of happiness rising within her.
"No, it's just a little hard to accept at first. But don't worry, I'll definitely get used to it after a while, and… I'm actually quite happy too."
"That's normal, sis. I spent a long time thinking about how to bring it up. Besides, relationships like this aren't rare anymore."
'She probably just can't accept that Wise and I moved so fast.'
With that assumption, Koleda didn't dwell on it and focused on reassuring Grace instead.
Grace was a little startled by that.
Had she really fallen behind the times? Young people were more open these days, sure, but had it gone this far already?
"Not uncommon? I guess that explains why you waited so long to tell me after Wise left."
"Uh… sis, I just remembered I still need to take a shower, so I'm heading back first!"
After saying that, Koleda dashed off with a red face, clearly flustered, like she was scared someone would notice what she'd just done.
Though Grace was equally puzzled, she simply told her to slow down and be careful, then began thinking about how she would face Wise later on.
Meanwhile, Wise had already gone back to the video store. After showering, he was on the phone with Nicole.
"Hello? Sorry for making you wait."
"You really did make me wait quite a while," Nicole remarked with a hint of annoyance.
"So, Nicole, have you gotten in touch with Rain?" he asked curiously.
"Hmph, naturally. Leave it to me and wait for good news."
Nicole's confidence made Wise hesitate to question her. She was usually dependable once money was involved, even though he hadn't paid her this time.
"Fine. When this is settled, I'll reduce part of your debt and suspend the interest for now."
At his words, Nicole immediately shot back, her tone full of disbelief.
"Hey, hold on! You were actually charging me interest all this time?!"
"Of course. Charging interest on debt is normal, isn't it? I just didn't do it before because we're close."
Wise was half-joking, yet his words also served as a gentle reminder, hinting that she should repay a bit when she could.
"Okay, okay. Then why don't you think about what I told you before? No matter how you calculate it, you wouldn't be losing out, right?"
"Huh?"
Hearing that confused sound, Nicole figured Wise thought the price was too steep. After a moment, she made up her mind, grit her teeth, and kept going.
"If not, then how about this? We won't settle everything at once. Each time, we'll clear one-fifth… no, one-tenth of the debt. How about that?"
"Uh… Are you sure that's really okay with you?"
Wise wanted to make sure she wasn't forcing herself.
"Of course it's fine, completely fine. And Wise, you actually want this too, don't you? After all, every time we meet, you keep staring at my—"
"Ahem. We'll discuss that later."
Wise immediately interrupted Nicole and redirected the conversation to the monster Belobog Industries had discovered.
He wasn't just changing the subject randomly. He was worried Nicole would say something even stranger, especially with Belle now standing right beside him.
If she found out about that 'transaction,' he would probably be nagged nonstop.
"Hmm? Brother, did you already tell Nicole about the monster?"
Just then, Belle, who had overheard Wise and Nicole talking, walked over.
"Yeah. She figured the incident in the square was related to us, so I told her everything."
Belle nodded after hearing that. Nicole was someone they could trust, so it wasn't a big deal if she knew.
Realizing that she hadn't heard his earlier talk with Nicole, Wise relaxed a little. Then, another matter surfaced in his mind.
"Let's leave that for now, Belle. There's something more important we need to take care of. We should make time to go to the Public Security."
"Oh? Are we going to turn ourselves in?"
"This isn't a joke. If we mess this up, an officer could really stop us, since our driver's licenses are about to expire!"
- - - -
To gain access to more than 30+ chapters and an exclusive novel written by me, go to:
[-p -a -t -r -e -o -n . com/DysFiction.]
To make a don@tion go to [ ko - fi .com /dysfiction ]
- - - -