Mind break!

"Uh? Guy and gals? Why are we standing in the hallway? Everyone suddenly went quiet all of a sudden." Han's perplexed voice rings, cutting my thoughts directly. "Also, is it just me, or the atmosphere is colder than before? Like...Really, really cold! Chilling to the bone!"

Now that he mentions it. It really does feel cold. Is this what absolute zero is like? Plus, I think I am getting goosebumps. What the heck?

"Ah! Sorry!" Keeping her emerald eyes on me, Kurokawa immediately apologizes. Since I was lost in thoughts, I did not know when she turned to look at me straight from the top of the staircase. "Please don't bother staying down here so much. It's best that we go to my room to wait until Mother returns."

"If she really does return, though." Laura adds. Her eyes are filled with my reflections.

"If she doesn't, does it mean we're gonna have a slumber party?!" The voice of one happy blond-haired girl echoes in the hallway. "Sleeping with my girls. That's a first!"

"I am not your girl." Laura sighs.

"Please do not address me like that ..." Followed by Kuro.

Subconsciously, I feel a bomb has been defused. Rachel's lighthearted attitude contributes a lot to that, honestly. I feel relieved.

"I am not a girl, though?" Han, the man whose brain is as big as a pebble, raises his hand.

The world turns quiet for a second as everyone quickly looks at this world's favorite child, contemplating why such a big-brainer could have learned how to walk in the first place. Then, with eyes filled with resignation, they all breathe out heavily at once and move forward, ignoring him completely.

"What? I'm not wrong!"

Sure, pal. Whatever you say...

*Kachak*

After a quick stop on the stairs and a weird ass confession from Han, we enter Kuro's room. One thing I should say right away: it has none of the abhorent smell the room downstairs has. Just so that we are clear about this. The bookworm's mom may have a weird tick that caused her to live in filth. She is not the same.

"There's not much to see in here, though. I'm not much of a high-maintenance girl. I'm more of a low-maintenance girl, so I'd rather not put too much effort into decorating my room." Kurokawa softly invites us.

I do not know if you still remember what I said about the importance of the scenes and the efforts the creator would make to make them. If you do not, let me remind you a little. Everything related to our Han Som is always elaborated in great detail. Everything else will be depicted as simple as possible. The school and his seat in class are two prime examples of this.

Kurokawa's bedroom, unlike Han's mansion, is an exception. In addition, this exception correlates with the settings placed on her by the system. Although in the past, Kuro would soon come to live in Han's place to make things easier for the development of the main storyline, sometimes, there would be events outside that place to...change the air a little. Therefore, her room should have been decorated with various items.

"What can I say...it's...spacious...I guess." Laura is flabbergasted.

"Whoa..." Rachel can hardly keep her mouth closed.

As for Han, he has learned his lesson by not saying anything out loud about the circumstances of Kuro. Still, the look in his eyes clearly states that he is stunned.

The room is simple. Too simple, in fact. There is nothing that stands out, not even a single decorative item. The walls are bare; no paintings are hanging on them. In total, there are five pieces of furniture. A bed, a wardrobe, a desk, a chair, and one bookshelf. The rest of the space is empty as if it was not meant to be used. Except for the colors of the books on the shelf, everything else is monochromatic and metallic. It feels lifeless and without any characteristics.

If the space were smaller and the windows were replaced by metal bars, this place would have been nothing short of a prison cell. That is how depressed it looks. Anyone who has to spend their time day in and day out in such a place will sooner or later go insane!

Now that Kuro is looking forward to changes, we should start making this place a little more like a living space than a living hell. I have no idea what we should begin with. After all, I do not have experience in doing things like decorating houses. I live in a stick house, god damn it.

"You guys just sit on the bed. I'll go get some water." Saying that, the bookworm walks out.

Seeing that, Rachel runs after her. "Wawa, wait for me! I'll help ya!"

"No, stay back. You guys are the first guests in an eternity. You should sit down." The bookworm declines Blondie's offer.

Unfortunately, Blondie is...well...Blondie: "I go anyway!"

"Wait for me!" Perhaps looking forward to escaping such a depressed place or wholeheartedly wanting to help, Han follows the other two.

*Kachak*

The door to Kurokawa's room closes in front of me, separating the world in front and behind that door into two. Thanks to that, now, there is just Laura and me left.

"I'll be sitting right here. You, too, C."

"Okay."

Without delaying, the class rep pulls me down on Kuro's bed. She then rests her head on my shoulder, placing a hand on mine. Some strands of her short brown hair tickle my neck, but I try to keep my back straight for Laura. Sitting like this, we are so close I can hear her breathing, which is relaxing and pleasant. And the body heat of her is warm and soothing to my soul.

*Badump*

Well...my chest is definitely beating faster...

"Hehe!" The strict class representative chuckles.

After a couple of silence, Laura tightens her grip: "You know, C. This is the first time we are alone."

"Ah..." I unconsciously make a sound. "That's right."

"I never thought our first private moment would be at someone else's place." She then pinches my hand lovingly, touching from the tip of each finger to the wrist. "Then again, it's better than nothing. With those two girls always around, it's difficult to find some alone time by your side."

"Sorry..." I mumble another apology. "This may sound pretentious. But if it makes you feel any better, I'm happy to be here with you. Even though our time has not been long, I never once regretted being your boyfriend."

That is the truth. Laura grabbing my hand has been the best thing that ever happened to me.

"I'm glad. Hehehe!" The girl next to me beams like a star. "It's so great having a boyfriend like you, C."

My mouth forms a smile. "Is that so..."

"I swear on my soul!" She proudly claims. "You understand me."

Thinking about something for a second, Laura turns to look in my direction. Her amber eyes shine brighter than ever, radiating lights of brown: "Hey, C! Why don't we play a game?"

"Of course!" I quickly reply. "What do you have in mind?"

"The rule is simple. I will ask you a simple question, and you will answer as quick as possible without thinking. It's a game to make our minds sharp!" The class rep explains.

"Oh? Interesting! Give me an example."

I do like a brain-teasing game!

"Like this! What does a dog say?"

"It barks!"

"What does a cat say?"

"It meows!"

"What does a fox say?"

"It...huh..."

What does a fox say?

"I got you!" Laura laughs.

"Alright, you got me good!"

What the hell does a fox say anyway?

Laura squeezes my hand: "Wanna go for another round? This time, we should put something on the table as a bet to make it even more fun! The loser has to accept one request made by the winner."

"...What kind of request?" I ask nervously, feeling like a prey stepping into the predator's trap knowingly while she is the predator.

"Anything." The class rep's smile has turned into something devilish. So this is what she has been aiming for all this time. "You will not reject your girlfriend's first game, right?"

Crap... It is not fair to say with that kind of tone! How the hell am I going to say no to my girlfriend's request?

Thus, no way of backing out, I need to face her directly: "You're on!"

"Nice!" The class rep claps her hands merrily. "Remember, no thoughts! Instant answers only! Let's go! What kind of person do you think I am?"

Afraid of losing, I immediately reply: "A strict but cute class rep!"

Beaming from ear to ear, Laura fires a second question without leaving me any time to rest: "What's my hair color?"

"Brown!"

"What's my eye color?"

"Amber!"

"What does a bird do?"

"Fly!"

"Good! Really good! You're getting the hang of this! Let's try something harder."

"Bring it on!" I am so into the game that I do not care about anything else.

"What's the sky's color?"

"Blue!"

"What's the sakura's petals' color?"

"Pink!"

"Do you like me?!"

"Yes!"

"What does a cow drink?"

"Milk!"

"Do you like Rachel?!"

"Yes!"

"Do you like Kuro?!"

"Yes!"

"Do you like them more than me?!"

"Eh? Huh...HUH?!"

What just happened? My brain went into auto pilot mode for only a second or two, I swear!

"And to think that I was the one who noticed you and confessed to you first, only to have those two finding their way into your heart." Laura lets my hand go to lie face down on Kurokawa's bed. Her voice is void of life.

Fuck me in the fucking asshole! What have I done?!

(PATREON!!! NOW!! If not can you do me a bit a review? Prewwy pwease?)