You Were Stolen from Me, so I Will Live for Myself - Chapter 12

Flirting and Childhood Friend

“Another drink?”

With the sweet scent of perfume, the woman beside me leans against my shoulder.

“…thanks.”

I casually raise my glass and take a sip of my drink.

There is liquor on the table, and women in flashy dresses are around me.

They smile at me and talk to me cheerfully.

“Yuto-san, you must be really popular, right?”

“I wonder.”

“Are you tired of girls like me?’

“We just met, didn’t we?”

The woman chuckles softly, tracing the collar of my shirt with her slender fingers.

“You’re a strange person.”

“…why?”

“You have money, good-looking…but there’s something about you, like a shadow.”

“A shadow? What does that even mean?”

A shadow. I have never thought about it myself, but is that how I appear to others?

I should feel fulfilled. My job is going well. I have everything I want. There shouldn’t be any shadow in my demeanour.

And yet, for some reason, there is this quiet stillness that I can’t describe deep within my heart.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Holiday.

I spend the whole day with the woman I met recently and have dinner at a restaurant.

After finishing our dinner, we get into the car.

We drive down the night roads, heading towards the apartment where she lives. As the streetlights shines through the windshield, her profile is illuminated in the passenger seat.

“Today was really fun.”

The girl in the passenger seat smiles with satisfaction.

“You’re surprisingly easy to talk to, Yuto-san.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. I thought you’d be the cold and unapproachable type…but you’re actually really kind and a perfect gentleman.”

She laughs and playfully nudges my arm.

“Stop it, that tickles.”

I say so with a laugh.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In front of her apartment.

After parking the car, the woman in the passenger seat unfastens her seatbelt and turns to look at me.

“Hey…can’t we stay together for a little longer?”

Her slender fingers gently tug on my sleeve.

“You have work tomorrow, don’t you?”

I reply so with a wry smile.

“…I know, but I’m sad to be apart from you.”

She whispers so as she slowly leans towards me. Then, without hesitation, she wraps her arms around me, and presses her lips against mine.

Even though I’m surprised, I still accept her kiss. A warm, damp sensation. The sweet scent of her perfume is tickling my nose.

It’s just a short kiss, but for some reason, my heart is beating unusually fast.

“Good night, Yuto-san.”

She lets go of my lips and gets out of the car with a satisfied look on her face.

Suddenly—

Out of the corner of my eye, I catch a glimpse of a shadow.

The person standing there is—

Yuki.

She must be on her way to the apartment building’s entrance. She stops in her tracks and stares at our direction. Under the moonlight, I see her expression waver ever so slightly.

She looks surprised, confused, and…a little hurt. However, it lasted only for a moment.

Without a single word, Yuki quietly averts her gaze and walks past us as if she has seen nothing. The automatic doors slide open and she walk inside the apartment building.

I can only watch in silence as Yuki walks away.

So, Yuki lives here too…

The unexpected coincidence leaves me astonished.

I also feel a strange sense of unease deep within my heart.

…damn it, what a terrible timing.

We ran into each other at the worst possible moment, in the worst possible way.

It must’ve looked like I was showing off. What a mess…

The excitement I had just moments ago instantly fades. Just a few minutes earlier, I was kissing another woman, but for some reason, right now, I feel absolutely nothing.

…what the hell am I even doing?

I take a slow, deep breath to cool my head. However, the haze in my heart just won’t go away. I never meant to hurt Yuki like that.

It’s not like I still have lingering feelings for her.

She’s the one who betrayed me.

There is no reason for me to feel obligated.

However—

Hurting Yuki over something so trivial just…feels wrong.

“…that’s enough. I should stop.”

I mutter those words as I grip the steering wheel.

Flirting, distractions, those are just ways to fill the emptiness inside me.

That’s what I always thought.

However—

I never feel fulfilled at all.

I start the engine of my car and slowly drive away. The apartment’s entrance is reflected in the rearview mirror. Yuki is not there anymore.

…I’m such a fool, such an idiot.

I’m amazed at how much this coincidence is still bothering me. There was no way I could have avoided it.

While waiting at a traffic light, I look at the passenger seat.

Empty, of course.

However, strangely, it calms me down.

…this is fine.

Yeah, that’s right. I’m fine on my own.

With that thought in mind, I keep driving into the night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From that day on—

I stopped messing around with women.