Can I brag about my very devoted wife to you? - Chapter 0 Prologue Part 2

Prologue Part 2 : My lovely wife greets me with a warm meal

TL : Chaos

ED : Riciel

It was after 18:30 when I finally arrived home after finishing my part-time job at the movie theater. Even after a month of living here, I still couldn’t get used to the tension I felt when stepping out of the elevator on the seventh floor of my apartment building, which was a five-minute walk from Ofuna Station. On the contrary, I was even beginning to doubt whether this really was the reality.

“I wonder if that’s what it feels like to win the lottery…”

As I walked down the long corridor to the door of the innermost room, I found myself grumbling like this every time.

In the meantime, I arrived in front of the door of room 707 and rang the intercom of the door that I used to open by myself with my key until a month ago. I immediately heard a cute voice saying, “Yes, I’ll open the door now.”

I wondered why the sound of the door being opened by someone who was there to welcome me sounded so warm, while the door I opened by myself always made a heavy, cold sound. Hanae Riko opened the door in her casual clothes and apron, and smiled shyly when she saw me.

“Welcome back, Minato-kun!”

“I’m back.”

“T-this exchange is still embarrassing…”

“O-oh, yeah. You’re right.”

I answered awkwardly and Hanae Riko took the bag from my hand.

She didn’t listen to me at all when I told her that I would take care of it myself. Instead, I was treated like a husband from the Showa era. For some reason, she always seems happy to take my bag and carries it to the sofa in the living room, hugging it with both hands.

I felt bad for making her carry my bag, but her gesture was so cute that I couldn’t refuse her.

“The food is just about ready. The bath is ready too, do you want to go in first?”

The light in the room, the smell of delicious fried food wafting through the air, and most of all, Hanae Riko’s too-cute smile with slightly dyed cheeks. When you are given such a happy married life, you may also doubt if this is truly reality.

“Minato-kun?”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I was in a daze. Thanks for the food. I’ll take it first. Is that fried chicken I smell?”

“Yeah, since it’s Minato-kun’s favorite food… I was hoping you’d enjoy it…”

She fiddled with the hem of her apron with her fingertips and ended her words in a whispering tone. The teasing nature of her gesture hit the nail on the head for me, and I felt my heart throbbing strongly.

Moreover, she said, “I was hoping you’d enjoy it.”! What guy wouldn’t be thrilled to be told this by a beautiful girl?

… But something’s weird.

“Hold on, I’m not sure if I’ve ever told you that I like fried chicken.”

“…! I think I’ve heard that somewhere before…”

Hanae Riko quickly averted her gaze as if she was in a panic for some reason. I wasn’t very good at talking about myself, so explaining my likes and dislikes was quite a hurdle for me. But the fact that Hanae Riko knew about it meant that I must have mentioned it on the spur of the moment in some kind of conversation. There were a few times in the past month when I’ve been speaking too eloquently, which was unlike my normal personality, to prevent the conversations from dying out, so I wasn’t really surprised.

But I couldn’t believe that she remembered my favorite food just by me mentioning it in our chats.

Honestly, I was so happy. I wanted to thank her, until I realized I’ve been spacing out since our talk. 

……

Hanae Riko followed me in silence, half a step behind me as I headed for the living room. The flapping and pattering sounds of her slippers made me realize how narrow her steps were. I definitely couldn’t tell her about my thoughts, but the way she was following me around reminded me of a small dog. Like a Chihuahua or a toy poodle.

I didn’t have the courage to turn around and check on her, so I opened the door to the living room without thanking her. The warm smell of home enveloped me more gently than when I had opened the door from the outside. 

This is too much happiness for me, a modest, inconspicuous and unnoticeable high school boy…!

Hanae Riko, holding my bag, looked up at me curiously as I stood there in the living room entrance.

“Are you thinking ‘maybe this isn’t real’ again…?”

I didn’t want to lie, so I nodded at her words and Hanae Riko pouted a bit.

“Mouu~… I wonder when my husband will properly recognize me as his wife…”

I was startled by seeing her sulky face, which was just too cute.

That being said, I still couldn’t help but feel like that. Everything that has happened since the day I received that unbelievable reverse proposal until today has been like a dream.

At that moment, the memory of the day that had triggered all of this came rushing back to me.

It was January of this year, the day I had received the reverse proposal.