* * *
I told Bati I remembered, but it’s been years, okay?
Honestly, it’s all fuzzy.
I became an adventurer at 22, met Bati at 23.
It’s already been 5 years just in this timeline, and if you count the time before I regressed, that’s 8 years ago.
Who could possibly remember the details of that?
Still, I don’t think I said anything rude.
All I did was introduce myself and say I wanted to work with him!
“Calm down.”
“But you said you were disappointed in me!”
“I’m not disappointed now, so calm down.”
Oh, right.
That’s true.
Bati gently patted my shoulder.
He likes me now, so it’s fine.
I let out a breath and snuggled into his chest.
His arm wrapped around me.
“What was the issue, anyway?”
“You’d only been an adventurer for a year, and yet you were already pretty well-known.”
“Ah, well. I am good-looking.”
People naturally like attractive faces.
Even babies prefer pretty ones.
Sure, my skills mattered, but my face definitely boosted my reputation.
I mean, if a client has to pick between equally skilled adventurers, of course they’d want the hot one, right?
“…I had the same qualifications.”
Huh?
He didn’t say it outright, but didn’t that mean—Bati thinks I’m handsome and he’s confident in his own looks?
I stared at him in surprise, and he ruffled my hair like crazy.
Ugh, he gets shy too, huh?
It felt like a quiet “Shut up,” so I kept my mouth shut and behaved.
“You’d only been doing this for a year… yet you were already on friendly terms with so many adventurers. I kept hearing your name everywhere.”
Even just one year in, my name had made its way to Bati?
I never imagined that. I honestly thought someone like me wouldn’t even register for him.
Back then, I ran around all over the place, working hard to build connections.
After all, being an adventurer isn’t the kind of job where work just falls into your lap for free.
You need to know other adventurers to even get a chance to be invited along.
Someone might recommend me to someone looking to hire a reliable adventurer—or maybe they’d just think I’m a handsome guy worth keeping an eye on…
Hmm. I should take better care of my face.
I smoothed out the hair Bati had messed up.
I really only ever want to show him my best-looking self.
“I was curious how someone could be like that,” he said. “It’s something I could never do.”
Ah. So that’s why.
He was drawn to me because I have the kind of sociability he doesn’t.
Bati, who lived among so many people at the temple and still managed to be lonely, was deeply betrayed by Gaspar—the one person he believed he’d finally connected with.
In all that, he must’ve wondered how other people manage to form such close bonds with others.
“But when I finally met you… you were no different from the rest.”
He’s saying I got all excited and jumped around like every other adventurer who met Bati.
So he got disappointed and left after just one comment?
Thinking I had the chance to get close to him from the very beginning but missed it—it really leaves me feeling empty.
But oh well.
What’s done is done.
No use clinging to the past.
Still… it’s kind of adorable that Bati decided he’d never team up with anyone ever again, but still secretly envied people with good social skills.
He expected something, got disappointed when it wasn’t what he imagined, and threw a little tantrum.
I guess he was just young—clumsy, but charming. Just thinking about it makes love bubble up in my chest.
I couldn’t resist.
I leaned in and gave him a quick kiss on the lips.
“You’re so cute.”
Bati raised an eyebrow.
“I don’t get it.”
“Hmm? What don’t you get?”
“Aren’t you the cute one?”
Wahh.
I lost. I trembled in Bati’s arms.
He called me cute. Bati called me cute…
What do I do? He really said I’m cute.
He thinks I’m his sly, adorable boyfriend!
The awkward, ticklish feeling blossoming in my chest is almost too much to handle.
“T-thank you…”
I mumbled.
“I thought… you didn’t like me… but I guess that wasn’t it.”
“I never disliked you. I just stopped caring after that.”
So blunt. So very Bati.
“…Actually.”
Huh?
“Bati?”
He started to say something, but his voice was too quiet.
“What?”
He pressed my head tightly against his chest.
It didn’t hurt or anything, but I couldn’t see a thing.
Is he embarrassed?
“When you helped me back then… at that time…”
“Mmph.”
Can’t even reply.
“I… thought I wanted to get closer to you.”
What?
“R-really?”
His answer shocked me so much I somehow summoned inhuman strength and pushed away to look up at him.
His cheeks were burning red—so this really was a deeply buried secret.
Adorable.
“…That’s not so strange, is it? You were kind.”
So he really saw me as totally different from our first meeting.
That’s one of my skills, I guess.
Using my easygoing nature to close the distance, acting like we’re already friends.
When problems pop up, I just laugh and play it off with charm.
I guess I’m good at reading what people like and making use of it, but I didn’t expect it to work on Bati.
Turns out he prefers being treated like a peer rather than being put on a pedestal.
Bati lowered his gaze.
“But… it had been so long since I had a real conversation with someone, I didn’t know how to do it.”
“So. Cute.”
“Do you want me to stop talking?”
“No.”
I will now shut up.
But seriously, isn’t he too cute?
He struggles to trust others, but deep down, he’s been quietly hoping to meet someone who fits his standards.
Just thinking about how he’s probably been lonely all these years after repeated disappointments makes me feel all kinds of things.
As I silently kept those thoughts to myself, Bati continued.
“I tried to act friendly, but I think it backfired…
Still, since we at least knew each other, I figured if I greeted you, maybe we could get closer.
But then you started avoiding me.”
…Wait.
Those sharp glares he used to throw my way—were those his version of saying hi?
I thought he was giving me death stares.
Like “if you blab my secrets, I’ll kill you” kind of vibes.
Let’s not tell him that.
If I did, Bati might get hurt.
“After that, I really gave up on everything.”
Silence fell.
Then Bati smacked me on the back.
“Ow.”
“You just suddenly…”
Right. I suddenly started clinging to him like I wanted to be close.
Yeah, from Bati’s point of view, it must’ve felt random and confusing.
He’d been trying to get close, and I ignored him. T
hen much later, I showed up acting all sweet, saying I wanted to be friends from the beginning.
“…You acted like you liked me, and that just… confused me.”
Huh?
“I kept thinking about it, wondering what it meant, and before I knew it…”
“M-me?”
Surprised, I blurted it out, and Bati’s whole mood shifted.
The relaxed, dreamy air we had after making love instantly turned cold.
“Don’t you remember what you said?”
“Uhh…”
What did I say?
I was so focused on getting on Bati’s good side that I must’ve pulled those lines from thin air, then promptly forgot them once the crisis was over.
“You said nothing was more important than talking to me. Why would you say that?”
R-right. I did say that!
It was true, though!
“And that you just wanted to be with me.”
…That’s also true.
“The first time we did it, you told me you liked me…”
Wait, hold on!
Did I really say that?
My brain was basically mush then—I don’t remember anything clearly!
Did I really drop a love bomb like that and then immediately forget?
I must be insane!
“Don’t tell me… you were just playing with me?”
For the first time since we reunited, Bati’s energy erupted.
One second we were enjoying sweet, fluffy pillow talk, and the next, a murderous aura filled the room.
I’m gonna die.
“N-no! It’s not like that!”
I had to say something—anything—so I mustered every ounce of strength to speak.
“I just… I came from the future…!”
Aaaagh.
I can’t believe I actually said something that ridiculous.
So pathetic!
* * *
