Faint but Clear (1)
Again?
The words came out of Reed's mouth, but he couldn't understand them.
Phoebe occasionally came into the room, but only when she woke up later than scheduled or prepared clothes for special occasions.
She didn't usually look down at him like this, with her arms crossed.
"What's bothering you this time?"
Reed asked again.
Phoebe, who had been staring at him, opened her mouth.
"It's a protest."
It wasn't her usual languid tone.
Her voice, which was always lazy, was surprisingly sharp.
Sharp enough to make anyone tense.
But Reed's voice remained calm.
As if it were a familiar matter.
"What protest? Have I done something wrong to you now?"
"Because you won't keep your promise."
Promise.
Reed didn't know what that promise was.
But he knew his words and actions.
That's why all he could do was sigh.
"Sigh……."
"You know very well. Pretending to pity me, pretending to cherish me, and then leaving me."
Her hand, holding his strangely, squeezed tightly.
"You're talking nonsense again, Phoebe Astheria."
"Don't call me by my name. It makes me delusional every time you do."
She growled menacingly. But she wasn't really hostile.
It was just a threat.
"Just say it. You too, the reason you said that is because you just want to use me. Just say it."
"I have no intention of using you. You just want to believe that."
"I can tell. I can see how people think of me."
"Did you judge that with your great sense? Am I trying to use you?"
Phoebe closed her eyes tightly.
"I can't tell with you…… That's why I'm angry."
Reed snorted as if it was ridiculous.
"Do you think it'll be refreshing if I die with such a messy logic?"
"Well……"
"Then kill me. Do it again like you did on the first day."
The first day?
What happened on the first day?
The only certainty was that it was an unforgettable event for Phoebe and Reed.
* * *
Dream big tl dot com
[Original Source – dreambigtl . com]
* * *
Contrary to her seemingly hateful actions, Phoebe hesitated.
If she were to grab Reed's neck with both hands, his neck would snap like a twig.
Both Phoebe and Reed knew that.
Reed wasn't afraid, and Phoebe couldn't bring herself to do it in the end.
Reed released her hands and stood up from his spot.
Phoebe, who had been pressing down on him, backed away, and Reed stared at her straight.
Then Phoebe turned her head to avoid Reed's gaze.
The initiative that Phoebe had just a moment ago shifted to Reed.
"Did you sneak in here in the middle of the night just to say that?"
"……."
"It's not proper for a woman to casually enter a man's bedroom. Are all the half-dragons as dimwitted as you?"
"I'm not dimwitted!"
"Then recite exactly what I told you to memorize yesterday."
"That, that is……. that……."
Phoebe stuttered and fumbled her words.
She tried hard to recall it while darting her eyes around, but there was nothing in her head.
"Ten more pages are added. Memorize them all by tomorrow morning."
"What? You gave me too much! Adding ten more pages would make it double!"
"If you can't memorize it, go under someone else. I won't stop you."
Phoebe bit her lower lip with her teeth.
All she had to do was say she wouldn't, but she didn't spit out that single word.
Reed looked at her with a pitiful expression and pressed his finger on her forehead.
"And it's not you, it's sir. Call me Sir Adeleheights properly in front of others."
"Do you think I'll call you… sir?"
Her sharp voice echoed like an angry woman.
Reed snorted as if it was amusing, despite her voice.
"Where in the world can you succeed by only doing what you like? You have to do the things you dislike in order to find what you like."
Reed ignored Phoebe and lay back down on the bed.
"If it's really hard, try pretending to like it. If you keep pretending to like it, you might actually come to like it."
The bed rustled, and Phoebe got up from her spot.
Just as she was about to leave the room, she turned her head as if she had something left to say.
Phoebe's face, which had been hidden behind the tower's pillar, was revealed.
The woman who looked like a golden retriever was staring at Reed with the eyes of a fierce warrior.
"No one will ever like someone like you."
Phoebe left those words and went outside.
***
Phoebe closed the door, and Reed woke up from his dream.
It was such a strange dream that he couldn't even think of getting up and washing his face right away.
He unconsciously reached out to measure the size of the bed.
Even with both arms stretched out, he couldn't reach the edge of the bed.
That was natural.
"What is this?"
Reed muttered as he got up from his spot.
Why did he think he was lying on a smaller-sized bed?
Why was Phoebe on top of him?
What did that conversation mean?
He couldn't quite know for sure, but it felt so vivid.
It was too vivid to dismiss as a mere dream.
