I Was Cheated on by My Girlfriend but My Devilish Junior Now Yearns for Me - Chapter 5

Chapter 5   Christmas Party

Christmas Day.

I found myself sitting at a stylish restaurant that Ayaka had reserved in advance—a place surprisingly devoid of couples, despite its trendy vibe.

“You really found a good spot. I thought chic restaurants like this would be completely taken over by couples at this time of year.”

Though not as fancy as yesterday’s restaurant, it had a lot more reasonably priced items on the menu, which suited me just fine. Whether she understood my thoughts or not, Ayaka gave me a smug grin and a thumbs-up.

“More than online surfing, nothing beats scoping out the place in person. When I’m in charge of organizing, I make sure everything is perfect.”

“That’s one thing you’re really good at.”

I complimented her earnestly, but it seemed that Ayaka wasn’t entirely satisfied with that.

“‘One thing’ I’m good at? You make it sound like I’m not dependable in general. For your information, I am very reliable.”

“Okay, sure. But let me ask you one thing, then.”

Sitting across from her at the table, I checked in with her directly.

“W-what is it, all of a sudden?”

“Why hasn’t anyone else shown up?”

At my question, Ayaka froze for a moment, her expression betraying her surprise.

“Y-you’ve stumbled upon the untouchable secret of this gathering, haven’t you?”

With her theatrical tone and expression, she looked like a full-on actress. My friends always said she was stunning, and her dramatic face only reinforced that.

But the stage of getting flustered over her good looks had passed for me back in high school.

“Cut the act. Why are we the only ones here, no other guys or girls?”

On the phone, she had clearly called this a group date.

“…I made a mistake.”

“Excuse me?”

“I gave you the wrong time! I told everyone else to meet two hours later than I told you!”

Ayaka dropped the dramatic tone instantly and started speaking in her usual way.

“Sure, I messed up, but you should’ve at least checked your phone! I sent you a bunch of messages, but you didn’t even read them!”

“What? Seriously?”

When I checked, I saw several unread LINE messages from her that had come in around noon today.

“Sorry, I told you the wrong time. The meet-up is at 8 PM.”

“8 PM! Don’t forget!”

“If you don’t reply, I’m going to have to adjust to that time, too!”

“At least mark it as read!”

“Fine! I’ll just show up if that’s what you want!”

…Yup, she’s right.

Most of the time, I’m at home with videos playing in the background, so I guess I didn’t notice the LINE notifications. Having my phone on silent didn’t help either.

“I was wondering why you didn’t respond, but you were probably just lonely, living alone, and had music blasting, right?”

Ayaka sighed, sounding exasperated.

“I didn’t want to leave you waiting at the meeting spot, so I came early, just for you.”

“Hmm.”

—Well, Ayaka was the one who messed up the time in the first place, but the way she took care of things afterward was so typical of her. I should probably thank her later.

“By the way, why were we able to get in an hour early?”

“They had space at this time, so they let us in early. We should thank them when we pay the bill.”

We passed about 40 minutes in lighthearted conversation while waiting for the others to show up. As much as it annoyed me to admit, Ayaka was the friend I felt most comfortable around. I couldn’t say it out loud because she’d definitely tease me, but honestly, this one-on-one time felt more fun than the actual group date.

◇◆

“Yo! Hey! Sup!”

With the classic three-part university guy greeting, the rest of the group date attendees arrived. As expected from Ayaka’s selections, the guys were good-looking. They’d score high if they’d just stick to normal greetings, but here they were with “Yo” and “Hey,” and what’s with “Sup”? If it’s a shorthand for “Hello,” it’s not saving any time, and besides, it’s nighttime.

“Good evening, everyone!”

Ayaka greeted them with a bright smile.

Watching her, I couldn’t help but smirk internally. Ever since high school, Ayaka had always had a lot of friends. As far as I knew, no one ever talked badly about her behind her back. The reason was her current behavior—being an absolute people-pleaser. As you got closer to her, her sharper, more blunt personality started to show through, but right now, she was playing the role of a friendly, upbeat girl for the guys she’d gathered.

“Yo, Ayaka-chan! Thanks for inviting me today.”

“No, no, thank you for coming on such short notice! I’m glad you could make it, Motosaka-kun!”

“Nah, I’d show up anywhere for an invite from you, Ayaka-chan.”

“Well, don’t expect anything in return for that flattery~”

Ayaka giggled, and knowing her true personality, I found myself holding back a laugh too.

As the group date began, the conversation between the men and women quickly heated up. Even though the gathering was put together in a rush, the guys were talkative, and all the girls were cute. There was no way the casual conversations wouldn’t be lively.

Despite initially being reluctant, I ended up enjoying myself for about an hour. We were seated facing each other, and I hit it off with the girl in front of me, as we both shared a love for manga, making our conversation bloom.

However, Motosaka, the guy sitting across from Ayaka, seemed to be more focused on hitting on her rather than actually participating in the conversation.

“Man, I really want a girlfriend like you, Ayaka-chan!”

“Motosaka-kun, you’re so good-looking, you’ll get one in no time!”

“I don’t know about that… I mean, someone like Ayaka-chan would be great, though, right?”

“Oh, stop it already!”

“Ahahaha!”

I could tell. This was one of those “pretending to be joking but actually serious” kinds of approaches. I may not have had a ton of experience, but I’d seen enough guys try to hit on Ayaka to recognize the signs.

Ayaka always said she wanted a boyfriend, but when push came to shove, she’d reject guys like him without hesitation. Sadly, most of the guys drawn to her looks were this type. In high school, it wasn’t as noticeable, but it became much more apparent once we entered university.

At one point, I had even asked her why she stayed friends with all these guys she didn’t like. “Why are you so friendly with everyone?” I’d said.

Her answer was, “It doesn’t hurt to be nice.”

Personally, I’d feel like it would just lead to more trouble, but maybe Ayaka’s skills and personality allowed her to handle things before they escalated. I never asked her in detail, so I don’t know for sure.

Still, this Motosaka guy was starting to get on my nerves. As the group date went on, he began downing drinks at an alarming rate, and his voice was getting louder. This wasn’t the kind of place where you could just be rowdy like at an izakaya, so our group was starting to attract attention. Eventually, he even started bringing up inappropriate topics with the girls, and even Ayaka was getting visibly irritated.

“Motosaka-kun, you’re getting a bit loud, and maybe these kinds of topics aren’t the best for people we’ve just met…”

“Huh? Why not? I’m just saying what all the other guys here want to ask! I’m representing everyone!”

Motosaka loudly argued back. The way he phrased it, it was as if he thought the rest of us were eager to join in his crude conversation.

“The girls look uncomfortable, though,” I said.

Motosaka shot me a look of pure displeasure.

“What’s with you? Why’s everyone being such a buzzkill?”

“It’s not about the vibe, man. Look at the mood right now.”

“It’s like this ‘cause you killed the conversation, though.”

“That’s not true, and you know it.”

“How can you be so sure?”

Motosaka glared at me, making no attempt to hide his irritation.

“Plus, the group dates I’ve been to were like this. Isn’t this normal?”

Hearing that, Ayaka opened her mouth to argue back.

“Sure, maybe there are group dates like that, but…”

Her expression practically screamed read the room, but Motosaka, completely oblivious, missed the hint and continued, “Well, whatever. Anyway, back to what I was saying—”

The girls sitting next to Ayaka, who had been awkwardly smiling at Motosaka’s remarks up until now, were starting to look visibly uncomfortable. Judging by the situation, it seemed like Ayaka had invited some friends she wasn’t too close with.

But, it was Ayaka who invited Motosaka.

She seemed to realize this, and with a determined look, she raised her head to speak. Just as she was about to open her mouth, a voice, far too cheerful for the atmosphere, cut through the tension.

“Oh, look! It’s you, senpai!”

Bursting onto the scene was none other than Shinohara, the university girl who had recently resigned from her job as a Santa.