The days kept passing, and there is a person couldn't even stand or get up from their own mattress and blanket. There wasn't a single person in this house; they left maybe a few hours ago after making sure this pathetic guy's fever had gone down a little.
When was the last time I was sick...
Kai stared at the ceiling. He never expected he could get sick. Maybe because of yesterday's rain, or something else. But Kai was quite grateful; at least he wouldn't have to meet Lily for a few days.
BZZ... BZZ...
Kai reached for his phone lying on his nightstand, opened the screen and saw a message from his sister, Risa, who was really worried about his condition. He even remembered Risa wanted stay at home to take care of him.
⌈Have you taken your medicine?⌋
Kai sighed as his fingers tapped the phone screen. He answered as briefly as possible and reminded her not to play on her phone during class. Kai turned off his phone so Risa wouldn't contact him. He just wanted his sister to focus on her class.
"..."
Kai closed his eyes. This situation was so calm, no distractions or anything to think about. The perfect time to recover his mental state.
This wasn't the first time Kai got sick. The last time Kai remembered being sick was when he, Ryan, was still in middle school, and that time again it was caused by a girl, just like now.
⌈Words I've learned cut you like a knife. So before I unsheathe this knife... let me seal that mouth of yours with mine.⌋
Kai opened his eyes groggily, for a moment his memory as Ryan came back into his brain.
"Dammit..."
Kai got up from his bed, forcing his body which was still very like boiled vegetable to get out of bed, so that the words from his memory wouldn't come back in.
The words just now were dialogue spoken by "Lily" in the game, when Ren confronted Arthur.
In that scene, Lily kissed Arthur and it was witnessed by Ren. People called it an NTR scene. However, from Arthur's perspective, Lily was still his fiancée, while Ren? He was just a stranger who suddenly entered their relationship.
Besides, Lily in that scene seemed aware of what she had done. Even though in the end if the "player", or Ren, succeeded in raising Lily's affection, then Lily would fully become Ren's.
Everything had fallen apart.
Kai walked out of his room, went down to the kitchen to drink some water. Done drinking, he walked into the living room.
I need Arisa... I hope she's here.
Arisa, if she were here maybe she could calm his heart. That girl was like a natural magnet that could calm him down. If he remembered— Arisa was the only girl who never had any weird feelings toward him.
Ryan never dated girls, he was just friends with them. He didn't have any specific feelings. He was just a friend, no less and no more.
"Haa..." Kai sighed. He felt he had never been this lost and doubtful in his life. His decision to kiss Lily, it seemed, wasn't quite right. Only based on mood and impulsive feeling, that wasn't pleasant.
"What's the difference between me and all those characters I always call self-inserts like 'Ren' in the game. Moving around pretending to know, pretending to be an observer inside this 'villain' body," He mumble to himself, doubting about is his choose is right.
The first step, fixing his relationship with Risa, was already good. The second step, fixing his relationship with Chloe, was already perfect.
The third and fourth steps...
Failed. Daisy and Lily all felt so fast and meaningless. Maybe because he was too confident and expected the plot to run linearly, smoothly without obstacles.
"I forgot to give Chloe the part-time job application letter."
Kai, who intended to sit in the living room, changed his direction to keep walking up the stairs to the upper floor. Entering his room, he sat at his study desk and wrote a part-time job application letter.
In between writing, he thought about his own words when he spoke to Caleb that night.
Heart or feelings are the things that will never change.
But, if he remembered, he only said that for Caleb, not for himself. Truly ironic, for words spoken by someone who had never loved.
Love was such a common mistake, and yet even so, it was definitely love.
The pen tip stopped writing. He wondered why other people used to like him. Was it because he was handsome? Was it because he was a guy sensitive to girls' feelings? There was no definite answer, because a definite answer would be disappointing.
So I'm like this... a person who can have negative things too.
Lost in the maze he created. Kai laughed at himself. Deep down, he sure always felt he was always flawless but the truth is he is more like thoughtless. He's just a little lucky person.
"It seems this is the first time I've thought about who I am." Kai leaned back in his chair, head tilted up looking at the ceiling, a faint smile returning to his face. "I think I understand how Icarus felt... the feeling of flying is so worth the fall."
This world isn't made of lines of code. Everyone here isn't just a character, he isn't a "Villain" character, he is Kai Clove, the first child of the Clove family.
"And Risa's older brother."
Kai smiled, a sense of relief washed over him. It seems there's nothing to worry about anymore. Failure is an experience they say.
For a moment his eyes wanted to return to the job application paper he was going to fill out. His eyes went to the brooches given by Reca. Three flower brooches: red flowers like red poppies, kalanchoe flower, and chrysanthemum flower.
He didn't understand what they meant or what Reva's purpose was in giving them to him. However, every time Kai looked at them, these brooches were very odd.
Kai had a theory that these flowers were symbols of the hearts of the "capture targets". Kalanchoe flower for Chloe, Chrysanthemum flower for Risa. He reached this conclusion because he had long realization that the names of everyone in here are identical to flowers.
"Why did Reva give me these... who is she really? A reincarnator like me? Or someone else who knows more..."
Kai took the red poppies brooch, lifted it up with his mind still a little wild.
Reva was likely an "anomaly" just like him, but if he asked directly, of course Reva most likely wouldn't answer him.
"Why did she give me the red poppies brooch? Which girl is symbolized by the red poppy flower?"
Poppy... poppy...
Kai repeated the flower's name over and over. His thoughts weren't working at full capacity because of his sickness, but he forced himself to keep thinking.
⌈Yep... a shoe brooch. I'll keep the other side~⌋
⌈Hahaha~ not everything has to be a pair, right?⌋
⌈My name? Reva... Reva Rhoeas.⌋
Kai's pupils dilated as he recalled the moment he first met Reva when he had been living in this body for a few weeks.
"Reva Rhoeas... Poppy." Kai lowered the red brooch, looked at his palm, and clenched the brooch so tightly. "Papaver... Rhoeas..."