My Childhood Friend’s Drinking Habit

She spent the night with her childhood friend. If there had been no feelings involved, it might have been fine. But for Iliana, who liked her childhood friend, Lucian, that night was filled with selfish emotions. She wanted to flee and pretend it never happened, but when Lucian came directly to her house, she realized she wouldn’t be able to avoid him. “Do you… not remember?” “Embarrassingly, no.” He said he didn’t remember. And on top of that— “You’ll help me fix my habit, won’t you?” He even asked her to help him fix his drinking habit. Where exactly was this one-sided love heading? Though she felt uneasy, Iliana couldn’t bring herself to refuse Lucian’s request. It was the defeat of someone in unrequited love. * * * “Did we… kiss?” Even though he didn’t remember, Lucian’s troubled gaze, which he couldn’t hide, stirred her heart. She thought she had already fallen as far as she could, but it seemed there was still further to fall. “Ah, no, um…” The drunken haze that had clouded her mind instantly cleared. Her fingertips trembled as she struggled to suppress the flood of words that she couldn’t even ask him to forget. Lucian’s gaze, which had been watching Iliana as she fumbled for words, narrowed. As Iliana desperately tried to get her muddled mind back to normal, she suddenly froze at the warmth she felt against her cheek. The leisurely touch of his hand was searing. “Should we try again?” “W-what…?” “The thing I can’t remember.”