I Was Cheated on by My Girlfriend but My Devilish Junior Now Yearns for Me - Chapter 22

Chapter 22   Drinking Party 3

I forced my frozen hand to move, awkwardly bringing the snack to my mouth. Natsuki, who had just mentioned Reina’s name, didn’t seem bothered at all.

“How do you know Reina?” I finally asked. Natsuki closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them again, I thought I saw a hint of regret.

“We’re friends. Since university.”

Reina goes to a women’s college. I had assumed Natsuki was from the same university as me, but apparently, she’s from the same women’s university as Reina. As if to correct my thoughts, Natsuki continued speaking.

“Reina came to one of the recruitment events for this club. She didn’t make it through the selection, though.”

I looked around. The thought that Reina could have been here surprised me. The world is both vast and small at the same time.

“There are a lot of women’s university around here, right? Since there aren’t many clubs at women’s university, lots of girls apply to ours. So, the selection process is tougher for them.”

Maybe they preferred to accept people from our own university. I could understand that, but I thought they should have just said no from the start.

“Reina didn’t talk much in groups, but when it was just the two of us, she’d open up. When I got accepted into this club and she didn’t, I felt really torn.”

“She probably hated that. Stuff like that,” I said, the words coming naturally as I recalled old memories.

Natsuki nodded sincerely.

“She was a good person.”

From the tone of her voice, I realized she knew about how things had ended between me and Reina.

“Before I got to know you, I thought the reason she broke up was because of her boyfriend. I mean… cheating is obviously wrong, but still.”

Her comment made me smile wryly. It seemed like she wasn’t used to hearing about cheating often. When I was in high school, I used to think cheating was rampant in universities, but once I got here, it wasn’t as bad as I’d imagined.

Of course, some people do cheat, but the number of those around you depends a lot on the kind of people you associate with. I think most of my friends have been pretty solid. That’s why, when I got cheated on, my friends were considerate. Natsuki, sitting in front of me now, probably comes from a different environment.

“I got confused. You didn’t seem like a bad person.”

“How can you know that in two days?” I replied, and Natsuki blinked in surprise.

“Oh, did I make you mad?”

Her attitude struck me as a little ridiculous, and I let out a sigh.

“No, just making a point.”

“Oh, you surprised me!”

Natsuki laughed cheerfully and downed the rest of her highball. She was clearly tipsy.

“Don’t overdo it,” I warned.

“Relax, I got this. But I do need to hit the restroom.”

She stood up from her seat and made her way smoothly to the bathroom, stepping off the tatami mats with ease. It was clear she was used to drinking, probably from all the parties her club held.

However, after leaving the restroom, Natsuki didn’t come back to our table. Instead, she sat down at a different one and started eating with another group. I thought she glanced my way briefly, but after that, we didn’t make eye contact for the rest of the night.

◇◆

Later that evening, I was relaxing at home, walking under the sparse, flickering streetlights. There was a karaoke session planned for the after-party, but I declined. Even though Ayaka had invited me, and everyone seemed friendly toward me because of it, that didn’t change my mind.

After Natsuki moved to the other table, a few people joined me, probably to keep me company, which made the gathering more enjoyable. The alcohol must’ve loosened them up because I didn’t have to deal with any awkward small talk at the start. Conversations flow much faster at drinking parties. Whether that connection lasts once everyone sobers up is another story.

I’ve had times where, despite talking for an hour, people barely remembered me later.

In the end, I didn’t really talk to Ayaka. Big drinking parties are fun, but I think I prefer smaller gatherings. That’s why the only person I invite over to my place regularly is Shinohara, sitting right in front of me now. Well, rather than “invite,” it’s more like she invites herself over.

Despite my earlier text telling her to “go home,” she’s here in my house, thanks to the spare key I gave her. I regret handing it over in a moment of poor judgment, probably when I was feeling unusually generous.

After some hesitation, I ended up telling Shinohara about my conversation with Natsuki, spurred on by the alcohol. Shinohara, now doing the dishes, had said, “Let’s continue after I’m done with these.”

While she was in the kitchen, I laid on the sofa, almost dozing off. Eventually, I heard her finishing up, and I cracked one eye open.

“Take that!”

Smack! A crisp sound echoed as her hand slapped my cheek.

“Oww!”

“See? You’re not your usual self. Normally, you’d be yelling at me by now.”

Shinohara smiled as she rubbed the cheek she had just slapped.

“I’m drunk.”

“I can see that, and it’s clear from what you said earlier. You usually don’t talk about things like that on your own.”

I turned my face away, but Shinohara’s hand didn’t let go.

I sensed her presence close by, and I realized she was right beside me. My eye had closed without me noticing, and with my heavy head, I thought to myself how truly drunk I was. I was a bit anxious about whether I could explain my conversation with Natsuki in this state, but feeling Shinohara’s cool palm against my skin made those worries strangely fade away.

“Senpai?”

“…It feels nice.”

“Oh, right. I was washing dishes, after all.”

Now that I thought about it, Shinohara hadn’t eaten here today. That meant she had been washing only my dishes. Seeing me drunk, she likely anticipated that I would neglect chores again today and took it upon herself to help.

“Thank you.”

When I expressed my gratitude, Shinohara burst out laughing.

“This is typical for you. If you want to say thanks, you should do it more often!”

“Usually, I consider it in exchange for rent…”

“Okay, I get that part.”

Shinohara pinched my cheek lightly, then gently rubbed the spot she had just pinched.

A few seconds of silence passed. It wasn’t awkward; rather, the quiet felt comforting. Even though Shinohara was listening to my stories, she didn’t bring up the topic again. I didn’t mind either way, but just talking about it had lightened my heart.

“Are you staying over tonight?”

I blurted it out without thinking. Was it the alcohol, or had I genuinely wanted her to stay over for a while?

Hearing my suggestion, Shinohara looked surprised.

“I didn’t bring any change of clothes, though. If that’s okay with you…”

It didn’t take long for Shinohara to respond.