To Be the Perfect Childhood Friend - Chapter 81

She repeated the same words. She tried to ignore the uncomfortable feeling of the intense gaze from the side of her head and looked straight ahead.

“It’s a red light, Finian.”

Anita said in a deliberately calm voice, pointing at the traffic light. A police officer standing next to the light was watching the passing vehicles with a stern expression.

“Hm…”

Finian responded with an indecipherable hum and continued to grip the steering wheel.

“Wait, why aren’t you stopping?”

The car, which was approaching the pedestrian crossing, showed no signs of slowing down, which caught the attention of the police officer.

“Finian?”

As if he hadn’t noticed the changed signal, the police officer inside the booth pressed the button several times. The red light above them started to flash.

“What are you doing?”

“…….”

“Finian, it’s a red light! We need to stop!”

Anita couldn’t understand Finian. Was he in a situation where he had no license and would have to pay a fine if caught by the police? Despite having a father who is a bank president, Finian, who surprisingly had a poor sense of money, tended to spend extravagantly. Why would he escalate something that could be settled with a minor fee into such a big issue?

A screeching noise filled the car.

“Anita.”

“What?”

When Finian turned to her, Anita was startled. His face was pale, and his lips were trembling. A bad premonition hit Anita.

“…It looks like the brakes are broken.”

“What?”

“Yeah. It seems like that’s the case.”

“……”

“I guess we’re screwed.”

Finian’s face was a mask of helplessness as he repeatedly slammed the brake pedal. The screeching noise of the friction material grinding against the floor filled the car, and the body of the vehicle creaked, but the speed didn’t decrease at all. Soon, the smell of burning began to fill the cabin.

“Are you joking?”

“……”

Anita hoped against hope that Finian would laugh it off as a prank, but his expression was unusually serious.

“Isn’t there any solution? You’re good at studying, after all.”

Finian shook the steering wheel back and forth as if it was the root of all their problems. Anita wanted to say something, but her gaze was fixed straight ahead, unable to move. Even though she wasn’t the driver, she felt like any moment her eyes would need to be glued to the road or they’d crash.

“Look ahead! That’s the city hall building!”

In a moment of panic, Finian abruptly swerved the wheel to the left. While they avoided crashing directly into the building, the street ahead was filled with too many obstacles to avoid.

Anita still couldn’t believe the reality she was facing.

Anita felt like she was on butter sliding on ice, as if she was floating in the air despite being firmly on the ground. She couldn’t even scream, holding onto the seat with a stunned expression.

“Turn right.”

“What?”

“The lake! There’s a lake.”

She wanted to explain further, but her mouth refused to form any more words. She uttered vague instructions and then clamped her mouth shut. Fortunately, Finian seemed to understand her, and he swerved the car to the right.

In the distance, it seemed like there were police officers on horseback trailing behind them, but they didn’t seem likely to be of much help.

Pedestrians crossing the street and other vehicles and carriages ahead cleared out of the way of the frenzied car.

“Should we start praying?”

Finian glanced at Anita’s pale, corpse-like face and spoke, though he himself was hardly in a better state.

“…I’m not religious.”

“Damn it. You’re still thinking about that now?”

The car had already left the city and was heading toward the outskirts. As they turned onto a rough, uneven road, the vehicle rattled and shook uncomfortably.

“Unbuckle your seatbelt.”

“Why?”

“Do it now!”

When Anita suddenly yelled, Finian flinched but complied. She unbuckled her seatbelt and kicked the car door open.

“Jump out!”

As they leaped from the car, it crashed into the lake. Cold water surged around Anita, engulfing her body. She tried to swim to the surface, but it felt as though something was pulling her down from below.

Her soaked dress clung to her legs like a rope.

As Anita began to sink despite her desperate struggle, a strong arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her upward.

The moment she could breathe again, Anita’s eyes flew open.

“W-What’s happening…”

She struggled to speak, but someone continued to pull her. Exhausted from the accident, Anita collapsed into the arms of the person who had rescued her, feeling their steady embrace.

“It’s okay. It’s all okay.”

She could feel a reassuring hand gently stroking her back, infused with urgency and relief.

“I’m just glad you’re not dead…”

Anita blinked dazedly, her mind too foggy to focus on who was holding her. Even though it was a warm summer day, she felt shivers running through her body. Seeking warmth, she buried herself further into the embrace of the person holding her.

The person continued to mutter something softly, but it was lost on Anita for the moment. She wrapped her arms around his neck, feeling the gentle, reassuring strokes as he soothed her. The comforting touch was a small anchor in the midst of the disorienting aftermath of the accident.