"Jun, dinner's ready."
Takayanagi Yuki, wearing oven mitts, emerged from the kitchen carrying a pot of soup. The meatballs in the soup bounced adorably as she walked.
It was a meatball soup with a little cooking oil, and the slight oil stains on the meatballs made their yellowish hue particularly noticeable.
"It's ready. Please try my cooking."
Takayanagi Yuki took off her oven mitts, bent down, and sat on a small stool. Clasping her hands together, she clapped and said, "I'm eating."
The movement wasn't large, but for Hoshino Jun, who was sitting opposite Mrs. Takayanagi, it was certainly not small.
Hoshino Jun silently noted in his heart: Good custom of the island nation, part two: clasping hands before eating.
"X-Jun, aren't you eating?"
It seemed Takayanagi Yuki noticed Hoshino Jun's attention was fixed on her body. Thinking back to what had just happened, she awkwardly bent her legs.
Her summer jeans were probably a small size, making it quite a struggle to contain her fair, tender legs, creating an indentation on her thighs that resembled a boundary line.
Above were denim shorts, and below were her legs.
"I usually eat slowly; I'm used to it."
"Oh, okay."
Hearing his answer, Takayanagi Yuki breathed a sigh of relief, a smile spreading across her face.
She thought to herself that she had indeed misunderstood; Jun had only asked for a hug earlier, so why would he keep staring at her now?
Her charming face, with her eyes curved into crescents, looked even more like the fox spirits often seen in mythical stories.
Mrs. Takayanagi was a bit of an airhead.
She didn't seem to know that the more she made such expressions, the more alluring she became.
The afterglow of the setting sun wove through the gaps in the clouds, and the twilight rays passing through the window elongated the figures of the young man and the beautiful woman.
The evening breeze stirred the young man's dark hair on his forehead. Takayanagi Yuki secretly observed Hoshino Jun's cheek while he ate.
He was truly handsome.
In terms of appearance, it had to be said that although her own Jo wasn't ugly, he was far inferior to Jun.
Neither of them spoke, as if time had frozen at a certain point.
"Jun, did you and Jo have a fight?"
Did she finally realize?
They hadn't interacted for a year and a half, and she was only now discovering that her child had quarreled with Hoshino Jun.
Suddenly, the sound of a key turning came from outside the door. Hoshino Jun's lips curved slightly, and he stated frankly:
"Yes, because the girl Jo-kun liked confessed to me. Although I rejected her because of Jo-kun, Jo-kun still came to hate me because of it."
Since enmity had already been forged, let the storm rage even more fiercely.
Upon hearing this, Takayanagi Yuki lowered her head slightly, her smooth toes curling in shame.
The Takayanagi Family's coffee table was made of transparent glass, and all the scenery fell into Hoshino Jun's eyes as he lowered his head to eat.
"How could he do that?"
Takayanagi Yuki said, "Is Jo an idiot? How could he hate his friend because of a girl who doesn't even like him?"
At this moment, the front door had already been opened, and Takayanagi Jo, who had just entered the house, happened to overhear the conversation between his mother and Hoshino Jun. His face immediately turned ugly.
"Hoshino Jun, how could you be so despicable, telling my mom about our private grievances!"
"Heh heh." Hoshino smiled faintly and said nothing; someone else would deal with him.
"Takayanagi Jo!"
Takayanagi Yuki reprimanded him, a look of displeasure on her face.
Her curved willow-like brows furrowed, and the beautiful woman stood up from the small stool, moving her plump long legs to stand in front of Takayanagi Jo.
At this moment, Takayanagi Jo panicked and wanted to explain something, but Hoshino Jun had already told Takayanagi Yuki the evidence of being framed today.
She was too lazy to listen to Takayanagi Jo's explanation at this point and directly reached out to Takayanagi Jo's face, giving it a hard twist.
"Mom works hard to earn money to send you to school. Is this how you learn?"
"How good Jun is to you! He even rejected a girl's confession because of you, and you actually resent him for it!"
"And today you even learned to frame Jun for stealing money, making Mom—"
Takayanagi Yuki's words abruptly stopped. She almost blurted out the fifteen minutes she had spent hugging Hoshino Jun, and she twisted Takayanagi Jo's face with even more force.
Takayanagi Jo cried out in pain, not noticing anything amiss in his mother's words, only glaring at Hoshino Jun with hateful eyes.
"Mom, I'm sorry, please stop twisting."
It must be said that Takayanagi Jo, having grown up in a single-parent family, did possess filial piety.
Even though his mother was scolding him in front of an outsider, he had no intention of resisting.
After twisting for a while, Takayanagi Jo's face was almost swollen, and only then did Takayanagi Yuki release him, pointing at him and saying,
"Go apologize to Jun immediately."
Takayanagi Yuki, who was gentle and soft in front of Hoshino Jun, displayed an unusually high maternal authority when facing Takayanagi Jo. Her commands were like imperial decrees to Takayanagi Jo.
Despite his extreme reluctance, Takayanagi Jo obediently lowered his head, concealing his gloomy eyes.
"I'm sorry!"
"Okay, I accept Jo-kun's apology."
Hoshino Jun felt it was enough. He stood up and walked over to Takayanagi Jo, who was a few centimeters shorter than him, and placed his left hand on Takayanagi Jo's shoulder.
A cornered rabbit will bite; one cannot push the prey too hard, lest an extreme incident like a cornered dog jumping over a wall occurs.
One must maintain a proper balance.
What Hoshino Jun wanted was a money-making machine, not a desperate madman.
"Tch." Takayanagi Jo muttered to himself, "Who wants you to accept? You're just a petty person who only tells teachers and parents."
Today, he not only had to squat in the office and write a two-thousand-word self-reflection but also had his face twisted and swollen by his mother. The more Takayanagi Jo thought about it, the angrier he became.
He couldn't help but whisper a threat, "Hoshino, I won't forget what happened today. Just you wait."
Ding!
"Detected threatening remarks from Takayanagi Jo!"
"If you choose not to pursue, you will acquire a D-rank Debt of Friendship."
Do not pursue.
"It has been determined that Takayanagi Jo is unable to repay this Debt of Friendship. The debt has been automatically transferred to his mother, "Takayanagi Yuki."
"Reminder: Please collect this person's Debt of Friendship as soon as possible. You will receive a reward upon successful collection."
"Hmm, I'll wait for you."
And also for Mrs. Takayanagi.
Hoshino Jun smiled, bypassed Takayanagi Jo, and walked towards Takayanagi Yuki, extending his hand.
Now was not the time for collection; he would wait for a private meeting.
"Aunt Yuki, I've finished eating. It's time for me to go home now."
"Okay, Jun, get some rest early when you get back." Takayanagi Yuki nodded busily, taking Hoshino Jun's hand.
Suddenly, the young man tickled the beautiful woman's palm, and a faint blush instantly spread across her cheeks.
Jun, what is he doing?
He's making Aunt Yuki feel tingly.
Releasing Takayanagi Yuki's hand, Hoshino Jun looked back at Takayanagi Jo, who understood nothing, and his lips curved slightly.
The handsome young man would not forgive his idiotic pig-headed friend.
Foolish Takayanagi Jo, hate me to your heart's content, and then take your ugly revenge on me.