Chapter 89

Aris interrupts me mid-sentence.

I point to the special tonkatsu bowl.

It’s almost the only commoner dish this hotel serves.

Naturally, Aris, a girl from the countryside, prefers commoner dishes like gyudon, tonkatsu bowl, and ramen over fancy cuisine.

You actually like commoner food, don’t you?

Don’t pretend.

“No! I...”

Aris waves her hands in confusion.

She doesn’t want her ladylike facade to be stripped away.

“Since I want to eat it, let’s just order this.”

“If that’s the case... Alright, I’ll respect Kim Deokseong’s choice.”

Aris reluctantly accepts my suggestion.

I didn’t miss the way her lips quivered.

I order room service using the phone on the table.

“Room service has arrived.”

Before long, the doorbell rings, and room service arrives.

Two bowls of tonkatsu rice are placed on the table.

And for some reason, a bottle of champagne and two wine glasses are there too.

Champagne with tonkatsu rice?

What a strange combination.

I take a spoonful of rice and tonkatsu and put it in my mouth.

‘Delicious.’

Maybe it’s because it’s made by the five-star hotel’s chef, but it’s quite tasty.

I look around.

Clatter, clatter.

She’s quickly shoveling the tonkatsu rice into her mouth with her spoon.

Aris is supposed to act like a lady from a wealthy family.

Because of that, she can’t indulge in the commoner food she actually wants to eat.

In the original Volume 7, she showed this side when the protagonist took her to a ramen shop.

The dense protagonist didn’t even realize she was acting like a lady.

I know all the details about Aris because she’s my favorite character.

Our eyes meet.

“!!”

Aris’s silver eyes waver.

Thud.

She puts down her spoon.

She covers her mouth with her hand and coughs.

“Ahem. Hmm. Commoner food is surprisingly delicious.”

Her voice acting is awkward.

I saw her wolf down the food just now.

“Burp!”

Aris burps after receiving my gaze.

Her face turns red.

It seems she’s bothered by the fact that she keeps showing her flaws while trying to act like a perfect lady.

She might overeat and get a stomachache.

Actually, I’m more worried.

I can’t take it anymore.

“I’ll be right back. I need to use the bathroom.”

I decide to give her some space until she finishes eating, using the bathroom as an excuse.

I put down my spoon and head to the bathroom.

I wash my hands and face at the sink and look in the mirror.

Inside the mirror stands a black-haired delinquent with a somewhat familiar sleazy look.

‘Is it because of the bathroom mirror buff? This is actually not bad, right?’

Or is it not?

I waste some time with silly thoughts before leaving the bathroom.

“I’m back.”

The moment I say this unconsciously.

“Oh, you’re back! Kim Deokseong!”

A familiar Kansai accent rings in my ear.

Wait, Kansai accent?

I look up.

There, an empty champagne bottle and an overturned wine glass.

And Aris, her face flushed red from drinking.

“Did you drink alcohol?”

According to the official setting, she gets drunk from just one alcohol chocolate.

And she drank 10% alcohol champagne?

While I was away?

“Alcohol? This is just a drink, right? It tasted sweet, like grape juice? I only had one, just one!”

Hehehehehe.

Aris laughs like a fool, shaking the champagne bottle.

In the original, this is the only time she showed her drunk mode after accidentally eating an alcohol chocolate.

Her slurred Kansai accent flows smoothly from her delicate lips.

A completely different side.

While it’s cute to see her blushing and giggling, her silver hair tousled, it’s not like that.

Still, it’s a bit much.

My head hurts.

Aris’s large chest presses softly against mine.

She puffs her cheeks.

“What are you doing? Why are you always praised by the president’s sister? Hmph. Pfft.”

Pfft, pfft.

Aris taps my chest.

This is really difficult to handle.

“Please, let go for a moment.”

I try to push her away.

Please.

You’re not this kind of character.

Should I buy some ConXtion?

“······Uuuuu······.”

Aris puffs her cheeks and refuses to let go.

She uses an unexpectedly strong force to burrow into my arms.

“Where are you going? How can you push away such a cute A-chan? Really?”

“But that’s...”

“A-chan likes it here, it’s so soft and warm.”

Hehehe.

Aris laughs and refuses to let me go.

A-chan is her nickname from her hometown in the countryside, and I never thought I’d hear it here.

“I need to go to bed. President Senior.”

“Pfft. How can you leave such a cute A-chan?”

Aris, drunk, puffs her cheeks and rambles.

I can smell the alcohol on her breath.

The moment I try to firmly push her away.

Ding-dong.

The doorbell rings.

The intercom screen turns on, and a familiar voice sounds.

[President, are you there? It’s Nagamine. I have something to report, so I came despite the late hour.]

Nagamine?

Why is he here now?

“Nagamineeeeee...!”

Aris, hearing the familiar name, slurs her words and starts to act drunk.

“A, stop it.”

I hold her and cover her mouth with my hand.

There are still a few months until the cultural festival, her main event.

Her true identity can’t be revealed now.

Nagamine might not reveal her secret since he’s a fanatic, but there’s no guarantee he’s the only one outside.

What if someone else hears her accent?

I don’t even want to imagine it.

“Mmm! Mmmmmmm!”

There’s no choice.

I have to send Nagamine away.

Instead of struggling Aris, I press the intercom with my chin and respond.

“President Senior is sleeping.”

[You, you are?! Kim Deokseong?]

Nagamine’s expression hardens the moment he hears my voice.

[What are you doing here with the President at such a late hour? Don’t tell me you’ve laid a hand on her? Black delinquent...! Now you’re even reaching for the President after the cute girls in your class?]

“Mmm! Mmmmmmm!”

Aris, ready to speak in her accent.

Nagamine, spouting nonsense about a black delinquent.

My patience is wearing thin.

“I’m here for the preliminary inspection of Meijin Academy. And don’t you think it’s rude to call me a black delinquent in front of the President? Nagamine Senior, what are you imagining? You’re the pervert.”

[That’s...]

Nagamine stammers, taken aback by my strong response.

You’re just a flea.

“Anyway, the President is tired and sleeping. Talk to her another time.”

Click.

I turn off the intercom and remove my hand from Aris’s mouth.

“Phew! Ah... Ahhhh...”

Aris gasps for breath and wobbles, pointing at me.

“Kim Deokseong, you... were bad earlier... Burp! How can you treat such a cute A-chan so carelessly? I never imagined this in Wakayama... Burp! Hehehe...”

There’s no sign of her sobering up.

I can’t go out to buy a hangover remedy now.

If I leave, the drunk Aris might wander out of the suite.

“She’s very drunk. Let’s go to bed. President Senior.”

Aris shakes her head vigorously at my words.

“A-chan isn’t drunk... I don’t want to sleep... Burp! I can’t sleep without Kuma-chan...”

Kuma-chan must be the large teddy bear she hugs every night.

I remember it from the original.

“Will you sleep if I find it?”

“Pfff...”

Aris pouts instead of answering.

She’s really acting like a child.

I sigh and search the hotel room.

There must be a teddy bear somewhere.

‘Where did you put it?’

As I search, frustration starts to build.

“Kuma-chan!”

Aris’s cheerful voice comes from behind me.

Oh? Did she find it?

I turn my head.

“I found it!”

Thump.

Aris, now wearing a thin, airy negligee, latches onto me.

The smell of alcohol hits my nose.

“Please, just...”

“Kuma-chan. Let’s go to sleep with this big sister...”

What?

Who and what?

What are you trying to do?

Aris, with her superhuman strength, drags me to the bed.

I end up lying down with her.

Aris turns off the lights.

The dark room.

The lights of Kyoto’s night scenery shine through the window.

“Let go...”

“Mom... Where are you going...”

Squish.

Aris pulls my head to her chest.

Warmth.

The soft sensation touches my face.

“You can’t go anywhere... A-chan will listen to mom now... I’ll be a good girl...”

Aris, drunk, calls out to her mother.

I recall the original setting.

‘Her mother is ill.’

Aris’s mother is in a coma, long-term hospitalized.

She’s particularly obsessed with perfection, and she’s the breadwinner of her poor family.

‘...Like me.’

I think of my parents.

My mother lying in the hospital, my father always with a gloomy face.

I need to go back for my family.

Like Aris, I’m the only one who can support my parents.

“A-nywhere... don’t go...”

Aris’s voice trails off, and she falls asleep.

Softly.

Her quiet breathing can be heard.

Her beautiful sleeping face is visible.

‘A similar situation.’

That’s why, in the original world, I liked Aris the most.

I’m not sure now that the setting has become reality.

But I know very well the pressure Aris carries.

And the Aris in front of me is no longer a character in a book but a living, breathing person.

‘A living, breathing favorite character.’

I let out a hollow laugh.