My Girlfriend Wanted an Open Relationship, So I Broke Up with Her and Found a Sweet Yandere - Chapter 35

[Haruka POV]

The sea was beautiful.

I remember thinking that the first day we arrived. The water was so clear that the sunlight seemed to sink straight through it, turning the surface into shimmering glass. The air smelled like salt and warm sand, and the breeze carried the distant laughter of people scattered across the beach.

It felt… free.

At least, that was the word Karen kept using.

“Freedom,” she had said with a grin, stretching lazily under the sun. “That’s what this place is for.”

Freedom.

At first, the word made me uncomfortable.

But now, four days later, I understood what she meant.

I sat on the balcony of the beach house, the wooden railing warm beneath my arms as I leaned forward. The ocean stretched endlessly in front of me, waves rolling against the shore in a steady rhythm. The sky had already begun turning orange with the rising sun.

Behind me, I could hear voices and laughter from inside the house.

The others were probably drinking again.

They’d been doing that every night.

Karen, Sana, Daiki-senpai, and the rest of the group… they were all so used to this kind of thing.

The casual flirting.

The late-night laughter.

The way everyone drifted from room to room.

At first it felt strange.

Embarrassing, even.

But by the second night… I had already stopped feeling nervous.

By the third, I barely thought about it at all.

And by the fourth…

Well.

I guess you could say I’d learned a lot.

I exhaled slowly and rested my chin on my hand.

Daiki-senpai wasn’t exaggerating when he said this trip would be “fun.”

Everyone here treated relationships so casually.

Sex wasn’t something sacred or complicated to them. It was just… another way of enjoying the moment.

Karen especially.

She had probably slept with more people on this trip than I could count.

And yet she walked around like it was the most normal thing in the world.

I still remembered how nervous I felt the first night.

How my heart kept racing.

How I kept thinking about Yuuta.

But each time, I told myself the same thing.

This isn’t cheating.

It’s an open relationship.

Yuuta agreed to it.

If he had really hated the idea, he would have said no.

He always tells me when something bothers him.

…Right?

A small smile formed on my lips.

Yuuta was probably worried sick right now.

That thought sent a strange little thrill through my chest.

My Smartphone was found.

Daiki-senpai told me earlier that his house help found it back in his apartment in Tokyo.

Apparently I must’ve left it there that night.

So it was safe.

I would get it back once we returned.

Which meant…

Yuuta had probably been trying to call me this whole time.

I imagined him sitting alone in our apartment, staring at his phone.

Wondering why I wasn’t replying.

Calling again and again.

The thought made warmth bloom inside my chest.

He must be so anxious.

Yuuta always worries about me.

Maybe he’s even sick with concern by now.

A quiet laugh slipped out of my mouth.

I shouldn’t enjoy that feeling so much… but I couldn’t help it.

Yuuta needed me.

He always had.

And honestly… I needed him too.

I looked out at the ocean again, the waves reflecting the fading sunlight.

These past few days had been… eye-opening.

I had experienced things I never would have before.

Different people.

Different emotions.

Different ways of being close to someone.

Some of it was good.

Some of it was even… great.

But none of it felt the same.

None of it felt like Yuuta.

With Yuuta, every touch meant something.

Every moment felt warm.

Safe.

Important.

Here, everything was just fleeting.

Fun, sure.

But empty.

I wrapped my arms around myself and leaned back in the chair.

Maybe that was the point.

Maybe this whole experience was necessary so I could understand that.

A small sigh escaped my lips.

I think… I’m done with this.

The open relationship thing was interesting at first, but it wasn’t something I wanted to keep doing forever.

I just needed to get it out of my system.

That’s all.

And now that I had…

I wanted to go back to Yuuta.

Back to the way things were.

Back to being his girlfriend.

My chest tightened slightly.

But there was one thing that still bothered me.

Yuuta.

What if…

What if he took the open relationship seriously?

The thought made my stomach twist.

Yuuta wasn’t like me.

He was a guy.

And guys…

Well.

You could never fully trust them when it came to things like this.

What if he had already found someone else?

What if he had touched another girl?

The idea made a cold feeling spread through my chest.

No.

That wouldn’t happen.

Yuuta wasn’t like that.

He wasn’t the type to jump at every opportunity.

He was shy.

Loyal.

He wouldn’t go looking for something like that.

Still…

I needed to go back soon.

Just to make sure.

Just to keep things under control.

Once I was back with him, everything would go back to normal.

I’d make sure of it.

I’d treat him better.

Spoil him more.

And after everything I learned here…

Well.

I could definitely make it up to him.

Footsteps approached behind me.

“Still brooding out here?”

Karen’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

I turned slightly as she stepped onto the balcony, holding a drink in her hand.

Her hair was messy from the wind, and she wore a loose shirt that clearly wasn’t hers.

She leaned against the railing beside me.

“We are leaving tomorrow, right?” she asked.

“Yeah,” I replied.

She smirked.

“Had fun here?”

I nodded.

Karen rolled her eyes dramatically.

“I am so happy that I wanted to stay couple more days!.”

“What do you mean?”

She shrugged casually.

“Kaito finally stopped calling me.”

Her voice sounded… relieved.

I blinked.

“Wait, your boyfriend?”

“Yeah.”

“And you’re happy he stopped calling you?”

Karen laughed.

“Hell Yeah, Haruka.”

I frowned.

“Then why are you dating him if you hate him so much?”

“I don’t hate him,” she said lazily.

“He’s just… useful.”

“Useful?”

“He’s a total simp,” Karen replied with a grin. “He’ll do anything I ask.”

She took a sip from her drink.

“I’ll marry him someday.”

My eyes widened.

“You’re joking.”

“Nope.”

“Why would you marry someone you don’t love?”

Karen shrugged.

“Because then I can keep living like this.”

She gestured toward the beach house.

“The trips. The parties. The fun.”

“All I have to do is tell him sweet things whenever I go back.”

She smiled lazily.

“Balance is important.”

I stared at her.

Part of me understood what she meant.

But another part of me rejected the idea completely.

No.

I would never do that to Yuuta.

Karen might treat her boyfriend like that…

But Yuuta was different.

I loved him.

I would never trap him in a relationship like that.

I just needed this one experience.

Just once.

After that, everything would go back to normal.

Karen stretched and glanced toward the ocean.

“So,” she said, “we should do it few more times before we leave…maybe the whole night.” She said cheekily.

I felt a small smile spread across my face.

“I am tired.”

Tomorrow I’d board the plane.

By evening, I’d be back in Tokyo.

And by night…

I’d be back in Yuuta’s arms.

My chest felt lighter just thinking about it.

Maybe I did regret some of what happened here.

Maybe I went a little too far.

But it was fine.

Right?

This was just a one-time thing.

Just curiosity.

Just experience.

Nothing more.

Once I returned to Yuuta…

Everything would be exactly the way it was before.

[A/N: Next Is Yuuta’s POV.]