To Be the Perfect Childhood Friend - Chapter 69

The girl rushed towards Rutger, as if finding a new toy and being delighted to play with it.

“Hello?”

Not only that, Anita even extended a narcissus brooch to him. To be honest, it was uncomfortable. What if he accepted it and later Anita’s parents felt awkward about it? What would he do then?

Feeling annoyed by her persistent behavior, he said a word, and the girl pouted, then turned and left. Her face, twisted as if holding back tears, strangely kept coming to his mind. Unable to fall asleep until late at night, Rutger suddenly got up.

Maybe it’s better to just ignore her.

That would be more comfortable.

“Hello?”

At the familiar greeting, Rutger grabbed his head. It was her again. The girl next door. What was so fascinating about him that she observed him like she was watching a zoo monkey every day?

Throwing encouraging words like throwing bananas into the cage, she would look around as if she didn’t know anything. As if checking his reaction. She seemed oblivious to the incident a few days ago when he was chased away.

“Go away.”

“… Do you hate me that much?”

The sympathetic look was irritating. But, grabbing onto that to say he hated Anita wasn’t entirely true. Everything was just annoying. Rutger himself didn’t even know what he wanted to do or how to live forward.

“It’s not that I hate you; I just need some time alone.”

“Then when do you want to be together?”

Anita’s black eyes stared through him. What was the obsession, considering they had just met two days ago?

“I don’t know. Just go.”

“Alright. But do you know that your parents are coming to our house for dinner tonight? You should come too.”

Rutger had no desire to sit at the table with Heindel Baylan and play a happy family scene. However, children’s opinions are often ignored by adults, so Rutger impulsively blurted out.

“Hey, wanna run away?”

As if she had never heard the word “run away” before, Anita blinked her eyes and asked innocently.

“Run away?”

“Yeah. Wanna go? If you don’t want to….”

“No, I want to go!”

Rutger and Anita pushed the gate and fled to the street, using the shrubs and rose bushes in the garden as cover.

Anita, who had lived in this neighborhood all her life, should have been the one to guide him, but for some reason, Rutger confidently moved forward, and Anita followed him, glancing back at him every minute.

“But where are we going?”

“……?”

“I don’t know. Just go wherever our feet take us. We won’t get lost in this small and sparsely populated neighborhood, right?”

Rutger trusted Anita in his own way. It wasn’t a bustling city or densely populated area; there was no chance of getting lost in this small town.

“Wow, I’ve never done anything like this before. So, are we going to take a train to the neighboring city and find undercover jobs now?”

“What?”

Anita blushed and clutched the book she was holding more tightly. ‘The Truth of the Red Feet.’ It was the same book she had yesterday.

“What is that?”

“This? Are you interested in detective novels too? In this book, gruesome murder cases happen every time, and the culprit leaves unique traces. After cutting off the victim’s legs, they dip them in blood like ink and leave red footprints at the scene…”

As Anita got excited and started to explain, Rutger’s forehead wrinkled. Why did he run away with her? He was too impulsive. Anita hadn’t stopped talking for a moment. If only she had told interesting stories, he might have played along, but this girl suddenly shifted from murder stories to space stories and now was explaining the working principle of trains.

“I’m not interested. Anita Rodel. Do whatever you want with that.”

It was genuine. Although Rutger often held his mom’s hand and used various steam engines and trains, he had never been curious about their workings even for a moment.

Rutger’s words were spoken without much thought, but they seemed to shock Anita Rodel. She stumbled over her words.

“H-How can that not be interesting? Then you…”

Rutger just blocked his ears. This girl was too weird.

“Who’s this? Aren’t you Anita Rodel?”

The sound of footsteps behind him ceased, and Anita, who had been following him with a book, froze. Ignoring her, Rutger continued walking, but a strong arm grabbed Anita’s shoulder, forcing her to turn towards him.

Trey’s face, fierce as a rabid dog, or perhaps a bulldog, filled Anita’s vision.

“Anita? Why are you wandering around there… What’s going on with you?”

When Anita’s hesitant footsteps behind him stopped, Rutger, who was ahead, turned around.

‘Shouldn’t have come to 4th Street.’

Anita’s regret came too late. Trey, that short guy, still holding a grudge for that incident, was glaring at me.

Anita closed her eyes tightly, preparing to block the incoming punch with her thick book held like a shield.

Anita stayed like that for a long time. Why wasn’t anything happening?

She cautiously opened her eyes. The familiar back of the person was in her sight. It was the back of Rutger, the back she’d spent nearly half a day watching and walking.

“Who are you?”

“I’m the one who should be saying that! Who are you to interfere?”

Trey, his face turning red up to his neck, was bravely confronting Rutger. Watching this scene from behind Rutger, Anita, who had been hiding, whispered to Rutger.

“Let’s just run away. He’s big, so he’s slow when running.”

Although Anita meant it as a joke, Trey must have heard her because he shouted angrily.

“Anita Rodel! You’re dead today.”

“Anita…”

Rutger rubbed his forehead as if he had a headache. Of course, Anita herself realized that she had made a mistake, so she stayed silent.

“You just stay put, I can handle this guy.”