My stepmother's burden is my ex-girlfriend.

Page 267

"—You're talking nonsense to me... Oh my god, ahh ...

--La ​​la ah~~! La la ah~~! La la ah~~...--

The voice was so loud that it echoed through the mountains, causing me to lean back and nearly fall off the top of the tower.

I covered my stinging, numb ears and protested to the junior student who was shrugding her shoulders and snorting angrily:

"No...don't scare me! It's dangerous!"

"Who cares! Just fall down! You cowardly senior!"

Ya Shuang strode closer, looking up at me from a distance where our toes were almost touching.

"I thought you had some excuse, but you said you're incapable of dating? Did you just say you can't date me because you're not the boyfriend I want? You're such a virgin, your misunderstanding is outrageous!"

"Huh...?"

"I don't want my senior to be my boyfriend! He has to be my boyfriend! He has to be the one!"

"...Huh?"

What's the difference?

Seeing that I was completely baffled, Ya Shuang sighed as if she had no way to deal with me.

"Listen up, senior? Even if we do start dating, I won't ask you to do anything different from before. I just want to chat with you, play video games together, and occasionally cook for you—nothing will be different from before."

"Uh, yeah..."

"What I like about you is the way you are normally! For example, even though you find it annoying, you still listen to me properly; you make an embarrassed face when you're playing video games; and even though you don't react much to the food I cook, you still finish it; I like these things about you!"

"Yes, really... I really admire that you're not embarrassed to say these things..."

"Since we've already laid everything bare, let's use a no-defense strategy! What 'little devil'? I can't keep up the act anymore!"

It was all just an act, after all.

"Do you understand now? I don't like the 'senior who becomes my boyfriend'! I like the 'senior' to an unbearable degree! I want this kind of 'senior' to sit in the 'boyfriend' seat! Sitting in the VIP seat where he can see me more than anyone else! Looking at me up close!"

...It's not that I'm going to become your boyfriend...it's that he wants me.

"I'm very happy to hear you say that."

"that's all?"

"Isn't that enough?"

"That's not enough. What I want to hear is your true feelings, senior. Your honest opinion."

...The truth.

"Senior."

Ya Shuang placed her hands on her chest and leaned closer to look into my eyes.

Please tell me how much you like me.

I stared back at Ya Shuang with a serious expression.

This is the only thing I can do.

It was as if she was holding me tightly, and I couldn't look away.

"...Is it only true that I like you?"

"You just said you don't dislike me."

"Not disliking someone doesn't necessarily mean you like them."

"But you're not completely indifferent to me, are you?"

"this……"

"You should be able to name some things you like, right? Please tell me what they are, like what I just said."

I have nowhere to run.

There are only endless mountain ranges on both sides. Unless I can fly, I can forget about escaping.

"...For example, surprisingly, he's quite considerate of his juniors?"

"What else?"

"Ah...you're a great cook."

"What else?"

"She's...she's very cute."

"Anything else!"

"Want more? Let me think... Once I decide to do something, I'll do it seriously..."

After giving this answer, Ya Shuang smiled with satisfaction.

"The fourth one... talked even more than me, senior?"

"You forced me to say it, okay?!"

Even so—there are still some things about me that you like.

...Yes, that's true.

Even now, I've never thought about it—

"Although I think you probably dislike just as much as you like me, you can gradually change that. After all, I'm serious—I'm fully prepared to become your boyfriend."

"...If I like hot girls, does that mean you have to become a hot girl?"

"It's a small matter."

"What if I were a control freak with an insatiable possessive streak?"

"I will delete all contact methods except those of my senior."

What if I were gay?

"I'm going to have surgery to become a boy."

Surely this can't be true—that's what I was thinking, but at that moment, Ya Shuang had a kind of charisma that made it impossible for me to deny it outright.

Ya Shuang tilted her head slightly and said:

"You've said so much, and it still doesn't work?"

When she asked me that, I thought about it.

Think about the parts I've never considered before. The deeper parts of myself.

"...No, that won't work."

The conclusion remains unchanged.

"No matter how much you try to please me, in short, I still can't handle it. Even if you ask nothing of me—I still can't... get anything out of you."

What should I ask of her?

Body? Self-esteem? Both are difficult for me to understand.

If I don't particularly want anything from her, then maintaining the status quo makes no difference.

"What does the senior want?"

What is it that I really want?

"I don't know... I haven't figured it out for a long time."

"Is that so? But I feel like I know what you want."

Ya Shuang walked around me from the front to my side, gazing at the view that stretched leisurely from the mountaintop.

"I was the star of an elementary school achievement presentation. That experience gave me a taste of the thrill of being the center of attention. From then on, I've spent every day thinking, 'I really hope someone notices me!'"

"...That's really deeply ingrained. Why don't you become an actress then?"

"Really, that's right. I did think about it back then. But... I just couldn't get into the seriousness."

Ya Shuang smiled slightly, a hint of self-deprecation in her voice.

"It's fun to be in the spotlight, yes, but the fun wasn't big enough for me to risk my life. I just had the desire, but no passion or talent—just a big fish in a small pond, which I found pathetic. I was so young back then, yet I didn't even dare to freely embrace my dreams."

"So..." she said.

Ya Shuang looked up at the pure, dust-free sky.

"I've always wanted something that allows me to be serious, without any distractions like wanting to be noticed."

Ah—suddenly, those glorious memories flashed through my mind.

During that period, I was completely obsessed with chasing the ball, with the rebound as my destination.

"Senior, I think I've said this many times already. I've found it."

I'm serious—Ya Shuang has said this countless times.

"Senior, shouldn't you be getting serious too?"

So blue.

So blue.

So blue.

A clear, sunny autumn day.

...Ya Shuang, you are really amazing.

You did not lose heart, did not give in, did not make excuses, and did not do things half-heartedly.

Straightforward like a layup, powerful like a dunk.

You brought me to this place.

You're amazing, really.

It's true, it's really amazing.

And I am your senior, this amazing girl.

I slowly raised my left hand.

Raise it from the bottom to the front, then from the front to the top.

It felt like being pricked by a needle, a stinging sensation.

However, the movement of the left arm did not become sluggish.

I already knew.

Pain is an illusion.

The memories are all in the past.

Nothing can bind me now.

—I stretched my left hand far out towards the sky.

At the top of the tower on the mountain.

The sky seems so close to me, yet I can't reach it at all.

-- Ah, yes.

Compared to this sky—the basketball hoop on the small basketball court is right in front of me.

"……Ha ha."

The phantom pain disappeared.

It's so close yet it was once so far away.

"Senior?"

I heard Ya Shuang's puzzled voice.

I clenched my left hand, as if trying to grasp that sound.

"I can't let you see me looking so pathetic again."