To Be the Perfect Childhood Friend - Chapter 74

“You’re crazy.”

“If I were you, I wouldn’t say that.”

“What do you mean?”

With a casual attitude as if he were the owner of the room, Rutger stepped into Anita’s room and glanced around naturally. Anita wanted to smack her past self for not cleaning her room today. Fortunately, Rutger didn’t seem very interested in her room. He quickly averted his gaze and leaned against the empty wall of Anita’s room, sitting on the floor.

“It’s your birthday today. I came all this way to celebrate, you know.”

In an instant, all the thoughts lingering in Anita’s mind vanished.

“How did you know?”

“How could I not know? Why wouldn’t I?”

It sounded more like a reproach towards Anita. For a moment, Anita thought she was dreaming. Perhaps her sadness at not hearing a birthday wish from him was just her own illusion. Rutger Baylan, sitting in her room with a playful smile. It seemed too unreal.

Anita loved his smile. Those dimples that formed when his mouth curved upwards or the cute crinkles at the corners of his eyes.

Anita Rodel always succumbed to his laughter.

“I brought a present for you… Oh, wait.”

“Why?”

Her lips, which had been lifted up as if she had something joyful happening, quickly turned downwards. Rutger touched his forehead and let out a long sigh.

“I left it in my room. I’ll go get it…”

“Wait! Just give it to me tomorrow.”

If Anita saw Rutger climbing up the ladder again to get the gift, she felt like her heart would stop beating.

“What were you doing?”

“I was just… uh…”

She didn’t want to say she was just doodling on a piece of paper. It was her birthday, after all. As she pondered for a while, Rutger grabbed Anita’s hand.

“Sit down and talk.”

It wasn’t because of his words that she sat down. Anita’s legs collapsed like a broken marionette. She felt ridiculous for obeying him immediately. She wasn’t even obedient like a well-trained dog.

There was a silence between them for a while. Anita rolled her eyes, trying to find something to say, and it seemed Rutger was doing the same.

Through the open window, along with the cold wind, the hooting of an owl drifted in.

“It’s snowing. Did you see?”

“Yeah. Mr. Muller said he had a lot to do.”

Anita glanced around her room once again. Just a moment ago, it was her cozy sanctuary, but now it felt different with just one person’s presence. The comfortable atmosphere that pervaded the room was replaced by an uncomfortable tension.

The second hand of the clock on the wall seemed to move slower than before.

“How’s school these days?”

Rutger asked, leaning against the wall and staring intently at his hand.

“What kind of parent-like question is that?”

Rutger chuckled. It seemed like a strange question even to me. When was the last time they actually sat down and had a conversation? While Anita was reminiscing about their last encounter, Rutger suddenly asked:

“Do you want a lemon candy?”

Anita’s expression hardened slightly. Rutger didn’t see her face as he took out the candy from his pocket. Anita still took the candy with a stiff expression and put it in her mouth.

The slightly rough texture of the candy and the mild sweetness spreading in her mouth weren’t as bad as she had expected.

“So, did you just remember it was my birthday now?”

It wasn’t meant to be sarcastic, but Rutger’s blue eyes flickered in surprise.

“No, not at all.”

Rutger’s lips, which had been about to say something, closed again. After a suffocating moment, he finally spoke again.

“Did you expect me to remind you? Would you have cried if I hadn’t?”

Well, maybe. Anita turned her head abruptly. Rutger Baylan’s First Law: There’s no way to be nice for more than five minutes.

“I’m not five years old, why would I cry? I’m sixteen starting today? Wait… now that I think about it, your birthday is in winter, right? I’m older than you now.”

Anita, who had been retorting because she didn’t want to be teased, remembered that her birthday was earlier and proudly exclaimed:

“Yeah.”

Her proud proclamation was met with Rutger’s bland affirmation, making her feel oddly deflated.

Thunk.

Anita’s heart sank to her toes for a moment. Rutger had rested his head on her shoulder. Anita just gaped like someone who had lost the ability to speak. The weight suddenly felt unreal, as did the soft strands of hair brushing against her neck.

It felt like all her senses were focused on her shoulder.

Surely Rutger didn’t realize he had leaned on my shoulder, did he?

That’s right. If Rutger were in his right mind, there’s no way he would do that. Anita cautiously lowered her head, just to check if Rutger had fallen asleep. Before Anita could execute her plan, Rutger’s hair tickled her cheek.

He emitted a refreshing scent reminiscent of a cool forest.

Anita stiffened like someone placing delicate glass on her head.

“I’m tired.”

If he’s tired, he could just go to his room and sleep. Why was he here in her room doing this? There were thousands of things she wanted to ask, but none of them made it past her lips.

“….”

Even swallowing saliva felt cautious. She wanted to scream and run out of the room, yet at the same time, she wished time would stop just like this, conflicting thoughts swirling in her mind.

After about ten minutes, Anita couldn’t bear it anymore and blurted out:

“It’s cold. I should close the window…”

As Anita tried to use the excuse of closing the window as an excuse to get up, she froze. Just by turning her head instinctively, her eyes met Rutger’s. His light lime-colored eyes didn’t shy away from her gaze, as if he had been waiting for her to notice him.

The lemon candy rolled in Anita’s tense mouth.

“Aren’t you cold?”