She smoothed her hair back with her hand, peered through the peephole, but couldn’t see clearly. Nozomi Sakura tentatively asked,

"Is that you, Kimiko?"

The woman outside, hearing her question, stepped forward and pressed her eye against the peephole.

"If it’s not me, then who else, Sakura?"

The slightly hoarse female voice startled Nozomi Sakura. Once she realized who it was, she quickly opened the door.

But as soon as the door opened, she froze, staring blankly at the person before her.

The Nozomi Kimiko standing there was nothing like the image Nozomi had in her mind.

Light blue fitted pants, a white short top, and short black hair.

Extremely thin, with only a bit of flesh on her face, her collarbones nearly protruded, like a bare tree trunk clad in a beautiful skin.

Noticing the girl’s surprised gaze, Nozomi Kimiko smiled, raised her index finger, and tapped Nozomi’s forehead, saying,

"What, don’t recognize me anymore?"

"Ah..."

The cool touch on her forehead immediately brought Nozomi Sakura back to her senses. She hurriedly stepped aside,

"Kimiko, you’ve changed a lot..."

"Hehe."

Nozomi Kimiko smiled, stepped inside in her black heels. When Nozomi closed the door behind her, Kimiko lifted the plastic bag in her hand and said,

"Auntie asked me to come check on you. I’m no good at cooking, so I just bought some food..."

"Thanks for the trouble."

Kimiko waved her hand dismissively, about to put the bag down at the entrance while removing her shoes. Her gaze shifted to Nozomi’s face with some curiosity,

"Nozomi, why’s your face so red?"

"Huh? Is it?"

Nozomi hurriedly touched her face and realized she was indeed quite warm.

Seeing her little sister flustered and awkward, Kimiko squinted her narrow eyes and asked with a half-smile, 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

"Sakura, you’re not hiding someone at home, are you? Am I crashing your fun?"

"Ah, no, not at all!"

Nozomi was stunned by the question but quickly explained,

"It’s just really hot today, and I just got back..."

She stomped her foot.

"Is it that hot?"

Kimiko asked with a hint of doubt. She glanced at Nozomi’s sneakers but said nothing. When she bent down to change her shoes, she glanced at the shoe rack, saw nothing unusual, then walked into the living room and peeked into the bedroom.

Noticing her actions, Nozomi finished changing shoes, threw the plastic bag onto the table with a pout, and teased,

"Kimiko, really, there’s no one hiding here. Stop looking..."

"Haha."

Hearing that, Kimiko couldn’t help but burst into laughter, her back arching with the force of it. The long-unseen awkwardness between them dissolved with that laughter.

After she’d laughed enough, Kimiko turned to the girl before her and said,

"Can’t help it. It’s Auntie’s mission. She said you haven’t called home in ages, maybe some bad guy tricked you, so she sent me to check."

"But honestly, Sakura, you’re at the age to be dating, right? Auntie said you’ve never had a boyfriend. You’re not seriously planning to stay single till graduation and then go to arranged meetings, are you? If you don’t start dating and gaining experience now, you might get fooled by some guy later, and then you’ll be the one suffering..."

Hearing this, Nozomi pressed her lips together, lowered her eyes, and whispered,

"I actually have been seeing someone."

"Huh?"

Kimiko didn’t catch that clearly and asked again.

"I actually have a boyfriend!"

This time, Nozomi’s voice was louder.

Since the conversation had come this far, denying it would be like Alan not being able to hold his own.

Besides, she still had a long way to go with him, and the family would find out sooner or later.

"Dating?"

Kimiko blinked in surprise, puzzled,

"You haven’t told Auntie?"

"No..."

Nozomi shook her head,

"Not yet."

She hadn’t figured out how to say it, hadn’t thought up how to explain how they met.

Of course, she still hadn’t figured it out. Thinking about her cousin possibly grilling her next, Nozomi hastily said.

"I just got back and was all sweaty from the heat. I’ll go shower first. Kimiko, can you wait a bit?"

"No problem. We’ll eat and chat after you’re done."

Seeing the strong gossip vibe in Kimiko’s eyes, Nozomi bit her cherry-colored lips and hurried into the bathroom.

Kimiko smiled, then turned to survey the room’s layout. Sitting on the sofa seemed too tiring.

So she went into Nozomi’s bedroom, sat on the tatami, set the long table with the food, and looked around the room’s arrangement.

Though a bit messy and small, it was still a girl’s room, radiating a cozy warmth. A trace of nostalgia unconsciously appeared in Kimiko’s eyes.

She instinctively reached into her pocket for a cigarette, but when she looked down, she suddenly noticed a piece of manuscript paper sticking out from under the bed.

She pulled the paper out casually, and her eyes narrowed.

Hmm...

.....

"I’m done showering. Wait a moment, I’ll change clothes."

In about ten minutes, Nozomi walked out of the bathroom wearing a yukata, then thought for a moment and changed into pajamas from the wardrobe.

But when she entered the bedroom, she saw Kimiko already drinking a beer by herself, not even opening the disposable chopsticks.

Noticing Nozomi’s gaze, Kimiko raised her beer and shook it at her,

"Want some?"

After saying this, she realized Nozomi had just showered, her delicate face still glowing, and added,

"Oh, forgot you’re not twenty yet."

Nozomi pursed her lips, wanting to say she’d already broken that rule once.

But she didn’t want to drink now. After the last time with Akane Mia, she recalled how embarrassed she felt about what she’d said while drunk.

Noticing Kimiko’s mood seemed off, Nozomi pursed her lips and asked,

"Kimiko you don’t seem very happy. What’s wrong?"

"Don’t say that first. Your love life is obviously more important."

Kimiko reached out, opened the oden, and pushed it toward Nozomi, a gossipy smile on her face,

"Tell me what’s going on."

"Uh..."

Nozomi rubbed the smooth white skin of her neck, lowered her eyes, and shyly said,

"Actually, last semester..."

The story with Alan had already been planned out in the bathroom. Borrowing from a friend’s love story, it went like this: last semester, she was failing two classes badly, almost failing for sure, then met Alan in the library. He tutored her, and as they spent time together, she found him talented and grew to like him.

Very ordinary, very normal, nothing as miraculous as reality.

But Nozomi Kimiko calmly nodded and said,

"As long as you like him. But what does he look like? Is his character okay?"

"Uh, I’ve posted about him."

Nozomi didn’t remember blocking him. She avoided her cousin’s second question.

Because that jerk’s character...

She really didn’t know how to judge it.

"Oh? I haven’t logged into that account for a while. Wait a sec."

Saying that, Kimiko put down her chopsticks, took out her phone, switched accounts, and opened Nozomi’s recent post with a photo. She pursed her lips.

"Looks pretty honest. Not like a playboy."

"..."

Nozomi fought the urge to retort and changed the subject while eating,

"By the way, Kimiko, long time no see. How have you been lately?"

"I remember you said before you wanted to be a model."

"Hehe, I changed a lot, right?"

Kimiko knew exactly what she meant, swallowed a sip of beer, and said,

"But I guess it’s no good. Modeling isn’t that easy. Too competitive. I got rejected again yesterday."

As she spoke, a bitter smile tugged at her lips. She seemed to recall something, then shook her head and said,

"It’s tough out there. I think I might try going into acting next."

Hearing that, Nozomi Sakura froze for a moment and reflexively asked,

"Acting?"

"Yeah. I mean, there aren’t that many options in this industry, right? You either go behind the scenes—but I don’t really have the knowledge for that."

She paused, set down her beer, and looked intently at the girl in front of her.

"But enough about me. Nozomi, have you figured out what you want to do after graduation?"

"Uh..."

The topic had turned back to her—and to that topic, no less. Nozomi faltered, dropping her gaze to her chopsticks as she hesitated.

"Well, I think i have a talent in literature, so I guess I’ll end up doing something like screenwriting, or maybe teaching? I haven’t really decided yet."

"Oh."

Kimiko nodded thoughtfully, then smiled.

"As long as you stay out of the entertainment world, that’s good. Honestly, I already kind of regret it. But hey... if you do become a screenwriter and you’ve got a good role, don’t forget to cast me, okay?"

Looking at the downcast expression on Kimiko’z face—so different from the confident woman she remembered—something caught in Nozomi’s chest.

She’d been learning a lot about character psychology lately, and without realizing it, she slipped into Kimiko’s point of view.

At that moment, Kimiko looked to her like a candle shrouded in mist and soaked through. No matter how hard she tried, the flame just wouldn’t catch.

An overwhelming sense of suffocation surged over her, and the stubborn defiance deep inside Nozomi flared up. She couldn’t help blurting out,

"But..."

Ding-dong.

She had barely spoken when the doorbell rang.

Nozomi blinked, then stood up and said,

"I’ll get it."

"I’ll go, I need to use the bathroom anyway."

"Huh?"

Nozomi opened her mouth to say something, but stopped when she saw Kimiko already standing up and walking out of the bedroom...

Out in the apartment hallway, Alan frowned down at a string of missed calls on his phone. He pressed the doorbell.

His hand had just lowered when the door swung open, and a gaunt, unfamiliar woman appeared in front of him.

"Who are you?"

"?"

Alan blinked at the bony woman in surprise.

Then he glanced up at the apartment number to confirm it was indeed Nozomi Sakura’s place. Narrowing his eyes, he fixed his gaze on the woman and said coldly,

"Where’s Nozomi Sakura?"

He had barely finished speaking when a girl in pajamas suddenly appeared in his line of sight.

Their eyes met across the threshold, over Kimiko’s shoulder.

Nozomi opened her mouth and instinctively called out,

"Alan...?"