Chapter 106

 

TN: Thank Viiyen for the chapter.

“…”

It’s complete.

Siwoo looked at the bracelet in his hand.

Pure white with dark red crimson accents.

The two contrasting colors shimmered under the light.

“…Would this be enough?”

It seemed to be well-made.

He compared it once more with the materials that Dorothy had diligently prepared.

Perhaps it was because it was his first time making such an item, and he had never been interested in accessories.

He couldn’t tell if it was well-made or not.

It seemed to be made similarly.

Is it… okay?

After staring at it under the light for a while, Siwoo finally put the bracelet down on the desk.

He couldn’t tell even after looking at it.

Personally, it seemed fine, but…

He couldn’t help but think that it would look pretty in his eyes because he made it himself.

“I can ask tomorrow.”

Siwoo decided to show the bracelet to Amelia and Dorothy after going to the academy tomorrow, and stretched his arms.

His body wouldn’t get stiff just from sitting for a while as a superhuman, but there was something called mood.

Looking at the clock, he suddenly realized several hours had passed.

What could Arte be doing?

A few days ago, she seemed anxious enough to be in danger if he wasn’t by her side.

Siwoo decided to give Arte a gift because of that.

Hoping it would make her feel a little better.

Even if he wasn’t there, if she could caress the bracelet, perhaps she would feel a bit better.

It was Amelia’s idea, but he thought it made sense, so he worked hard to make it.

“Fortunately, she seems to be doing much better these days.”

Would Arte be uncomfortable?

Was her pride hurt because he needed to be by her side?

It must be hard for her too.

With that thought, he made it, but while making it, Arte’s symptoms improved significantly.

He felt a bit of regret, thinking he might have made it for nothing…

But it’s not like he would throw away a gift he had already made.

‘I might as well give it to her.’

Tomorrow, after receiving honest evaluations from the two, it should be fine to give it to her.

“Arte, are you outside?”

But he was still worried. It hadn’t been long since she improved.

So he called out to Arte, who should be in the living room, but there was no answer.

“…?”

Strange.

Why isn’t she answering?

“Arte? …Is there a problem?”

He tried to find Arte again and opened the door.

Still, no answer.

There was no sign of human presence in the living room either.

“…Arte?”

Suddenly, anxiety washed over Siwoo.

His Intuition was still quiet, meaning there were no problems with Arte.

But there’s no way she would be this quiet if nothing was wrong.

There’s no way she couldn’t have heard him looking for her.

Something was wrong.

“Answer if you can hear me!”

Maybe he was too careless.

‘Did I treat Arte too indifferently, thinking that she seemed to be getting better little by little and that it would be okay since I had intuition?’

Suddenly, the image of Arte gasping for air and looking for him came to mind.

Could it be that she couldn’t answer his voice because she couldn’t breathe?

So she couldn’t even come looking for him?

You fool. What do you mean you don’t want to see her like that?

Arte still hasn’t fully recovered, and even with Intuition, he isn’t omnipotent.

Blaming himself, Siwoo quickly moved his feet and searched around the house.

Still, Arte was nowhere to be seen, and Siwoo gulped in front of the laundry room door, the last remaining place.

If Arte isn’t here either.

If that’s really the case…

Is this how it would feel to have left a child by the pool?

Is this how it would feel to realize you forgot to leave a child in a hot car during the sweltering summer?

‘Arte is definitely not a child, but she needs my help.’

He was too optimistic in her recovery.

Would staying by her side have been more helpful than making a bracelet?

With such thoughts constantly coming to mind, Siwoo opened the door to the laundry room, suppressing his anxiety.

If she’s not here either, he plans to report it to the police.

“Arte! You’re here…”

“…Ah.”

Okay, let’s calm down.

Siwoo felt relieved to find Arte first, but he was perplexed before he could feel relieved.

Arte had her face buried in his clothes.

As if she was happy.

As if she hadn’t even thought he would come, she stared at him blankly, unable to accept the situation.

“Um, well, you see. You weren’t answering at all, so I thought. Maybe something was wrong…”

“Ah, ah. Uh.”

“Sorry.”

As Arte realized the situation and her face gradually turned red, he hurriedly closed the door to the laundry room.

She would want to be alone now.

After closing the door, Siwoo stood there blankly and put his hand on his forehead.

Yeah, she was fine after all. Of course.

When Arte didn’t answer, he must have panicked without realizing it, thinking bad thoughts.

“AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH……!”

He heard Arte’s scream from behind the door.

Yeah, that’s right.

It wasn’t his imagination.

He thought one of his clothes was missing and went about his day.

But Arte had been hiding it.

“…Haa.”

This is troublesome.

‘How should I face Arte now?’

***

“…So?”

“That’s it.”

“…”

Does this guy even know what he’s saying?

Amelia wanted to smack the head of the guy, who was making a serious expression in front of her, but she erased the thought.

…Yeah, there’s no reason for him to lie.

She let out a small sigh.

“So, you want me to believe that?”

“…”

“You want me to believe that Arte stole your clothes in your house without you knowing and was sniffing the scent of those clothes?”

“… It’s strange after all, right?”

“Does that make sense!”

She couldn’t hold back and tried to smack his head, but he quickly dodged it thanks to that damn Intuition, making her even more irritated.

‘Someday, when I become faster than he can react, I’ll smack his head so hard that it peels.’

“…What pisses me off more is that it doesn’t seem to be a lie!”

She glanced at Arte, who was sitting far away from them, unlike usual.

Arte, who always watched over Siwoo.

But she didn’t even look at him and buried her face in the desk.

“What do you want me to do about this?!”

“…Is there no way?”

“What do you think I am!”

‘Does this guy think I’m a machine that gives the correct answer whenever he asks?’

She’s even more pissed because he didn’t even think about that.

“Haa…”

Holding her throbbing head, she sat back down.

It was a bit much to say this out loud.

Perhaps because she stood up and spoke loudly as if we were arguing, the gazes focused on them began to scatter.

“Let’s go over it again. Arte is dependent on you, right?”

“Yeah.”

“It was so severe that she had separation anxiety? That’s why you’re living together at your house, right?”

“That’s right.”

“…I thought she was getting a little better recently, so you felt relieved, but she was stealing your clothes and sniffing them?”

“Exactly.”

“Haa…”

Amelia sighed and looked at Arte.

Her earlobes, redder than usual, caught her eye.

She’s probably recalling yesterday’s incident that Siwoo mentioned.

‘This is driving me crazy.’

Is she a teenage boy who was accidentally caught with pornography by his parents?

“…Could it be because she feels reassured?”

“Reassured?”

Dorothy, quietly listening to the conversation, offered her opinion as if she had finished thinking.

“I mean… If she has Siwoo’s clothes, you know. It might feel like Siwoo is nearby.”

“…”

“You said she gets anxious when separated from him, right? Then conversely, it means she feels more reassured the closer she is to him.”

“Ah.”

Come to think of it, that’s right.

Siwoo had suspected that Arte’s behavior might be separation anxiety.

If so, it’s natural that she would feel more reassured the closer she is to him.

“Since she developed separation anxiety, has Arte ever clung to you or anything like that?”

“…Once.”

“That might be why.”

Dorothy, are you enjoying this?

She must have been looking so tired that she could die from researching how to make handmade accessories.

But as soon as she heard Siwoo’s story, her expression suddenly brightened.

“That must have been when she felt the most reassured, right? Since she was hugging you tightly.”

Dorothy said with a grin on her face, not even trying to hide it.

“She must have accidentally discovered it. That Siwoo’s belongings also make her feel reassured.”

“… Isn’t that just a guess?”

“No! I’m sure of it!”

Amelia was convinced.

Dorothy is definitely enjoying this.

She was perplexed by the fact that she was hugging Siwoo’s clothes.

But Dorothy seemed to like it.

“Okay, let’s say your guess is right. Then how do we solve it?”

“What? That’s easy.”

“Easy?… What do we do?”

When Siwoo and Amelia looked clueless, Dorothy smiled and told them.

“If something can make her feel more reassured than a shirt, it’ll be fine!”

“…Something that can make her feel more reassured?”

“Hug her all night long!”

“I can’t!”

“Aww…”

Dorothy, who expressed her dissatisfaction as if it was unfortunate, continued as if she had no choice.

“If that doesn’t work… Well, it can’t be helped. Give her a heartfelt gift.”

“A gift…”

“Yes, the one you brought today. You made it well. It should be fine to give it to her tonight!”

…Dorothy, you’re incredibly excited.

You really like this kind of thing.