Here is a confession the MC received in his past life:
“We were sitting together on the stairwell. Florian kept giving me this. . .concerned look, so I asked him what was wrong. He didn’t answer at first, but then he said. . .”
Nao paused for a moment, recalling that night.
Nao had sat on that step—higher up than Florian’s, yet still leaving him shorter than the other boy—looking up at his friend. Florian had looked at him with that tender, worried gaze, and only after Nao was about to ask a second time did he finally reach out and ruffle Nao’s hair.
“Nao-kun, you probably know already, but I’m in love with you.”
Nao had been startled by these words, but Florian had kept on talking.
“I know I’m not your guy, so I haven’t said anything. Even if we dated, it wouldn’t go anywhere. Still, I worry about you sometimes.”
“. . .In love?”
Florian had chuckled. “See, Nao-kun? You don’t even know what love is. You’re so. . .so pure and innocent, so gentle. I can’t help being scared that you’ll get yourself hurt someday. There are a lot of people out there who would use your naivety for their own gain. If you should ever meet one of them. . .I just hope you’ll be able to stay safe."
He’d laughed some more when Nao frowned, then hugged him; after that night, Florian never mentioned his love for Nao again, but Nao wondered now if he’d ever found his guy.
Nao wrapped up the story for Rin and waited for him to say something in response.
“. . .So you didn’t love him back?” Rin asked after a moment.
Nao laughed a little. “Rin-san, just like he said back then. . .I don’t even know what it means to be in love. But one thing I can say is that, although I cared for him a lot, Florian was never someone I wanted to be in a relationship with.”
Rin looked at Nao thoughtfully for a long moment. A creeping realization dawned in his gaze, and with it, a light flush swept his face. He turned away. In a voice packed with undertones Nao couldn’t read, he said, “. . .You’ll know when it happens.”
Nao pondered this. He supposed it was probably true.
And here's the MC's confession to his crush:
It wasn’t until they were both halfway through their breakfast that Nao finally broke the silence. He paused in his movements and asked, “Rin-san. . .what do you think it means to like someone?”
Rin blinked and looked up. “. . .In what way?”
Nao frowned. “What do you think it means to have a crush on someone, I mean.”
“. . .Oh.” Rin deliberated for a moment. “Well. . .It’s different for everyone, but I guess it’s like. . .like that person scratches an itch you didn’t realize you had. They take up a lot of space in your thoughts and you want to find reasons to get closer to them. Being with them is comforting. . .but also. . .sort of like a sugar rush.”
“Oh. . .” Nao’s frown deepened, and he rubbed his mouth. His cheeks and nose were faintly pink. “Rin-san, I think. . .”
A strange feeling sprouted in Rin’s gut. He strove to keep a neutral expression, though he was suspicious that Nao was about to start talking about some person in their class that he liked. Some tiny voice in the back of his mind wondered why Nao hadn’t chosen Wen Xulong to chat about this.
“. . .I might like you,” Nao finished in a quiet voice.
“. . .”
Rin’s mind was wiped blank. It was a long moment before he finally managed to say, in a dead tone, “Oh, is that so. . .”
Nao set down his chopsticks and put his face in his hands. “Sorry. . .”
Rin came back to himself and waved his hands, face reddening. “No, no, no. . .I. . .Uh, it’s actually fine, I also think I like you. . .”
He’d been rambling in an attempt to make Nao feel better, and now he fell silent, his hands also stopping. Nao peeked up at him; he wished he could disappear. He must’ve looked like an idiot, sitting there with his hands raised and his face red as a chili.
Nao put his face down again, and his shoulders trembled a little. After a moment, a tiny laugh escaped his hands.
Rin put his head down in his arms, pushing his plate to the center of the table. “Well, at least I have entertainment value. . .”
“Rin-san. . .” Nao continued to giggle. “Sorry, it’s just. . .You’re really cute.”
Rin willed himself to sit up, then rubbed his forehead with a sigh. “I apologize if I’ve made things weird at all.”
“No, actually. . .” Nao reined in his laughter and wiped his eyes. “I feel better now. I don’t have to hide anything, and I can understand you a little better. I feel like we’ve bonded more.”
