“Hahahaha… That was just a joke, of course.”
Kurosawa Shizuka watched Hoshino Gen’s stunned expression and shook with laughter.
“I was just teasing you.”
Seeing her say this, Hoshino Gen’s terrified expression softened, and he breathed a sigh of relief.
“I rarely get to talk to anyone this much. Come, we must toast to our preservation!”
Kurosawa Shizuka said excitedly, lifting her glass.
“Teacher, I really don’t drink.”
Despite her insistence, Hoshino Gen refused her firmly.
After finding out that she could not persuade him, Kurosawa Shizuka seemed to give up: “Fine. If you won’t drink, then I’ll drink it for you.”
She filled the glass in front of Hoshino Gen on her own, then picked it up and finished it in one gulp.
After a few glasses, Kurosawa Shizuka’s face visibly began to flush, resembling a mouth-watering red apple under the candlelight.
But the previous topic had touched upon her painful memories, and her mood became noticeably downcast.
Perhaps the reason she liked to drink was that alcohol could numb her brain, allowing her to stop thinking about those sad things.
Seeming to feel the alcohol going to her head, Kurosawa Shizuka felt her body heating up and undid the top button of her white shirt.
In this room filled with a hazy atmosphere, a bit of skin was faintly visible.
“Hoshino-kun, may I ask you a rather personal question?”
Hoshino Gen hesitated for a moment before nodding: “Please, Teacher.”
“Although you aren’t very old, you give me the feeling that you have the heart of a mature man. An older brother with as much sense of responsibility as you is rare.”
“You flatter me, Teacher. I think it’s hard for any older brother not to care about his younger sister.”
Kurosawa Shizuka didn’t buy it and insisted on praising him to the end: “You are too modest, Hoshino-kun. I am a teacher, after all. Many girls’ parents don’t care about them at all, let alone an older brother.”
Hoshino Gen stopped talking; it would feel pretentious to argue further.
Kurosawa Shizuka continued: “Hoshino-kun should have left school by now, what are you doing these days?”
Hoshino Gen laughed at himself: “I suppose I am an otaku now. My main task every day is to take care of my sister’s daily life and make sure she stays happy.”
Kurosawa Shizuka blinked: “Don’t you have any other hobbies?”
Hoshino Gen thought for a moment and replied: “If I had to say, I occasionally write light novels and post them online… though it’s only at an amateur level. No editor has reached out to me yet.”
“Wow, a light novel writer! I never imagined that Hoshino-kun was a writer!”
“I am completely clueless about literature. That is why I admire talented people like you.”
Kurosawa Shizuka looked very surprised, holding her reddened cheeks with both hands, her eyes filled with envy, curiosity, and a desire to explore this boy in front of her.
Her expression was like an inexperienced young girl, not a teacher.
Hoshino Gen could not handle such an open gaze and lowered his head, deliberately avoiding her eyes.
Kurosawa Shizuka drank two more glasses and asked: “Hoshino-kun, I just realized that we are both people who have experienced betrayal. Being betrayed by your first love must be painful. How did you move past it?”
“It’s simple. Find something else to do, deliberately avoid thinking about those things, and gradually you just move on.”
“Find other things to do?”
Kurosawa Shizuka murmured thoughtfully, her expression very sorrowful, as if the alcohol had triggered some bad memories.
“But I don’t know how to do anything else. That was the only thing I was good at.”
“I spent all my time and energy, my entire youth as a young girl, on that one thing. I have no interest in doing anything else.”
“I did well enough. I tried my best. Why did they choose to abandon me in the end?”
“I was clearly the best one before, but later I just grew a little older. Could they really abandon me and discard all those years of history?”
Kurosawa Shizuka reached out and grabbed Hoshino Gen’s collar, asking over and over again: “Why, Hoshino-kun? Can you tell me why they could be so cruel and heartless?”
“Teacher, you are drunk. Please, calm down.”
Hoshino Gen tried hard to break free.
“Who says I’m drunk? I am not drunk at all!”
Her tongue was clearly thick when she said this, but to prove she wasn’t drunk, she opened a new bottle of red wine, pulled the cork, and started chugging it.
Hoshino Gen rushed to snatch the bottle from her hands, but he was one step too slow.
Clatter.
The bottle hit the table, and red wine spilled everywhere, soaking Kurosawa Shizuka’s chest.
After finishing the drink, Kurosawa Shizuka wobbled back into her chair, her head leaning to one side with her eyes closed, as if she had completely lost consciousness.
“Teacher? Are you okay? Teacher?”
Hoshino Gen gently shook Kurosawa Shizuka’s shoulders, but she didn’t react at all.
Her white shirt was soaked with large wine stains, especially around the chest area, and the transparency of the fabric jumped from one percent to ninety-nine percent as it went from dry to wet.
The rich aroma of the wine blended with Kurosawa Shizuka’s natural scent, wafting into Hoshino Gen’s body.
Accompanied by the incredibly seductive scene, it made him feel restless, and his eyes began to wander uncontrollably over Kurosawa Shizuka’s body.
The buttons at her collar were still open, revealing a glimpse of purple lace.
Because of her ample assets, the leftover red wine gathered in the cleavage, forming a small pool.
If only I could have a sip…
Cough! Cough! Cough!
Hoshino Gen immediately put the brakes on the rapidly shifting thoughts in his head and hurried to call the waitress in.
“I’m sorry, sir, but we do not provide sobering services here.”
The waitress who entered replied.
This was a love hotel; most couples were here to indulge in their desires after drinking, and the norm was to perform indescribable things.
Why would they provide a service that would hurt their own business?
“There is a love hotel near our restaurant, very close. Why don’t you take this lady over there and check it out?”
Perhaps seeing that Hoshino Gen was young, the waitress added: “I will remind you that to check into a hotel, you must have identification to prove your age.”
Hoshino Gen felt a headache.
This crazy woman couldn’t hold her liquor, but she drank so much, and now it was a mess.
He was only 17 years old and not a legal adult, and he didn’t have any identification on him.
Leaving her at a hotel room by herself until she woke up was definitely not an option.
Leaving her here alone was even more impossible; it wasn’t right in terms of logic or morality.
As the night grew deeper, Hoshino Gen had to go home.
Even though his sister was coming back late lately due to combat, if she didn’t see him when she got home at night, she would certainly freak out and go crazy searching for him everywhere.
After thinking it over, there seemed to be no better way.
Hoshino Gen sighed, helped the slumped Kurosawa Shizuka up, and carried her on his back.
There was simply no other choice, and luckily, it wasn’t too far from his house.
He would just carry her back to his place.
As soon as he lifted her, she seemed to feel something and pressed herself tightly against Hoshino Gen’s back.
Her limbs wrapped around him until he could barely breathe, tighter than an octopus.
However, as Hoshino Gen walked out of the restaurant with Kurosawa Shizuka on his back, at an angle he couldn’t see, Kurosawa Shizuka’s eyes were still closed, but the corners of her mouth curled into a silent, triumphant smile.
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.