<Chapter 42>
#5. Be Assertive in Your Advances (4)
Understanding Calix’s words at once was too much for Melty. With a puzzled expression, Melty blinked slowly. Even though the sentence wasn’t in a foreign language, he couldn’t comprehend it. His mind completely blank, Melty blinked slowly.
Thump, thump.
In the heavy silence where nothing else could be heard, only the sound of his own heartbeat was clear. His heart, which had been fluttering gently at first, began to race as if the engine was overheating. A step too late in fully processing what Calix had said, Melty’s face turned bright red for a different reason than before.
What had been a shocking, long moment for Melty was just a brief instant for Calix. Looking closely at Melty’s face, which had turned red and was trembling at the lips without being able to speak properly, Calix smiled.
“W-what did you just say?”
“I said I’m thinking about dating you. To put it more simply, I like—”
Instinctively moving forward, Melty’s hands covered Calix’s mouth with a muffled sound. Grinning at the tiny hands covering his mouth, Calix pursed his lips and made a kissing sound.
“Eek!”
As he expected, Melty quickly and swiftly pulled his hands back to himself. Seeing how genuinely startled he looked, Calix quickly regained his composure. He didn’t want to push too hard and end up chasing a frightened hamster running away like before.
“I know you’re lying. You’re just trying to tease me again, aren’t you?”
After staring down at his hands that had been thoroughly touched by Calix’s lips, Melty glared at him with determination in his eyes. Seeing the conviction in Melty’s eyes, Calix raised the corners of his eyes.
It wasn’t pleasant to have his heartfelt confession—though somewhat impulsive—treated as a lie.
“Why do you think it’s a lie?”
“You always treat me like a child, but I know better. If there’s no ring, it’s a lie!”
“…A ring?”
Calix’s raised eyes slowly returned to normal. It wasn’t difficult to understand what Melty was trying to say as he moved his small mouth energetically while chattering away.
‘That’s not a confession, that’s a proposal.’
With a small chuckle, a relaxed smile appeared on Calix’s face.
“Where did you hear that?”
“I read it in books. Books have everything in them, you know.”
His face full of an “I knew it!” expression, Melty spoke with confidence. Letting out a small laugh at Melty’s assertive statement, Calix stood up.
“If I give you a ring, will you accept it?”
“…Why are you asking that?”
Staring intently at Melty’s protruding cheeks that were filled with dissatisfaction, Calix let out a small laugh. Moving away, Calix went among the red flowers with black-tinged petals. He plucked some flowers and rolled them into a circle. Then, after weaving some Dolmaui flowers around the rolled circle, he walked back to Melty.
Suddenly standing up and then busily working with his hands in a corner of the flower garden, Melty watched Calix’s back intently. Curious, he moved his head this way and that, but due to their obvious height difference, he couldn’t clearly see what Calix was doing.
‘Should I just go closer and look?’
With eyes full of curiosity, Melty was about to get up when Calix suddenly turned around and their eyes met. Startled, Melty froze as Calix approached him with large strides and extended his hand.
Melty placed his hand on top of Calix’s outstretched one. With a broad smile at Melty’s bewildered face, Calix slid the flower ring he had made by weaving several flowers together onto Melty’s finger. Melty’s eyes widened at the unexpected sight of the flower ring on his hand.
Meeting his trembling brown eyes, Calix smiled brightly and politely bowed to kiss the back of Melty’s hand. Even while performing this gentlemanly action that seemed straight out of a novel, Calix’s eyes remained fixed on Melty, who hadn’t yet grasped the situation. Seeing Melty’s eyes blinking rapidly in confusion, Calix’s eyes curved into gentle lines.
“I told you. I’m not a liar.”
At Calix’s smooth words, Melty stared blankly at the ring on his finger. As if he couldn’t quite believe it was real, he even turned his hand over and wiggled his fourth finger where the ring was. Watching the cute movement of the finger fidgeting on his palm, Calix’s face filled with a smile.
“So now we’re dating, right?”
Calix’s words made Melty’s body jump in surprise. His ears standing straight up betrayed his flustered state. Calmly observing his obviously startled appearance, Calix kissed the finger where the ring was placed.
“I properly prepared a ring, confessed, and put the ring on you. So we’re dating now.”
“How does that work?”
“You let me put the ring on you. That means you accepted.”
At Calix’s words, Melty’s gaze fell on the hand wearing the ring. He hadn’t realized the fresh flower ring sitting prettily on his finger carried such a heavy meaning. Despite his best efforts to calm his fluttered heart by blinking rapidly, Melty couldn’t help but raise his voice.
“B-but you’re the one who put it on me!”
“Well, that’s true.”
Seeing Calix retreat with such ready agreement, Melty examined his face with a confused expression. He couldn’t tell anymore whether Calix’s actions were a joke or sincere.
“Then think about it.”
Calix smiled, poking Melty’s cheek with his index finger as Melty visibly racked his small brain.
“…About what?”
At Melty’s dazed question, as if he hadn’t heard anything, Calix let out a small laugh. Repeatedly poking the soft cheeks that seemed to draw his hand like sticky glue, Calix smiled brightly.
“What else? About dating me, of course.”
***
After delivering those shocking words to Melty, the rest of the schedule proceeded swiftly. Melty, frozen with his mouth wide open, couldn’t properly remember how he had returned to his room. What finally brought him back to his senses as he sat dazed in the middle of the room was Naru, who was wrapped around Melty’s wrist.
The movement of Naru climbing up his arm finally brought Melty back to his senses, and he hurriedly placed Naru on the desk. Even after that, Naru tried hard to catch Melty’s attention as he repeatedly stood there in a daze, unable to shake his concern.
“Oh, oh. I’m fine.”
Startled once again by Naru’s movement, Melty patted his body gently while offering empty reassurances. Suddenly, Melty’s gaze shifted to the ring on his hand.
– Then think about it.
– What else? About dating me, of course.
As soon as the memory of that face smiling after those words appeared vividly in his mind, Melty’s face flushed red. It must have been Calix who had guided his senseless self back to his room, but even then, he hadn’t had a chance to collect himself.
Just recalling the situation made his face burn and his heart pound. Calix’s face kept invading his thoughts unexpectedly, like a serious illness.
‘The flower is pretty though.’
The flower still sitting firmly on his finger maintained its fresh form. His gaze kept being drawn to the flower ring made of red flowers with black-tinged tips and transparent yellow Dolmaui flowers woven together.
“Come to think of it, aren’t Dolmaui flowers extremely valuable?”
To so generously pluck such precious flowers to make someone else a flower ring—he really was a strange person. Even as Melty grumbled, adding unnecessary criticism about Calix, his reddened face and slightly twitching ears wouldn’t stop. Cupping his cheeks that kept burning hot regardless of their owner’s feelings, Melty took a deep breath.
Not understanding his owner’s sudden change in behavior, Naru rested his head on the chair, staring at him. Melty’s eyes slowly lowered and met Naru’s clear, innocent eyes.
“…I’m absolutely not concerned about it.”
Rolling his eyes, Melty mumbled as if making an excuse. Despite his unconvincing words, Naru merely tilted his head slightly to the side. Turning his head away from Naru’s gaze, Melty let out a loud, forced cough.
“Really, I’m not.”
Even as he repeated the words for emphasis, Melty knew his own words were a lie. He fidgeted with his disheveled hair and shifted his feet back and forth, remembering how Calix had brought him to his door. His heart, which had started pounding belatedly, seemed particularly loud.
“I must have been really surprised.”
Otherwise, Calix must have cast some strange spell on him. Otherwise, there was no way Calix’s face would keep floating around in his head like this. Staggering toward the bed, he collapsed onto it.
The soft bed rippled gently, wholly accepting Melty and his troubled mind. Fumbling inside his clothes, Melty pulled out his clan’s necklace that was hidden there and fiddled with it absentmindedly.
“I miss my brothers and sisters.”
He felt like his brothers and sisters would definitely give him some good advice. Once he started thinking about them, the faces of his family members floated more and more clearly in his mind. When he had first received the blessing and gift, he had thought he would quickly earn a large sum of money and return to his family. With both hands full of gifts, his brothers and sisters would smile brightly and…
“Ahhh!”
With a scream, Melty shot up from his sprawled position and slapped both his cheeks forcefully. Then he shook his head vigorously from side to side. He couldn’t understand why, when recalling his family, he also envisioned Calix calmly following him with a tower of gifts stacked in his arms. Covering his face with his hands while kicking his feet wildly, Melty finally rose with determination.
“This won’t do at all.”
He couldn’t just let Calix walk away peacefully after turning his formerly peaceful hamster heart into chaos. With the resolve to settle this once and for all, Melty rolled up his sleeves and looked at Naru, who seemed to have given up and was now quietly stretched out on the desk.
“Naru. I’m going to confront him.”
After clenching his fist to demonstrate his determination, Melty got up energetically and ran out of the room. Naru, who had been watching his owner disappear like the wind, frantically tried to follow him, but Melty was already gone.
