Liar's Lips Fall Apart in Love - Volume 1 Chapter 1.3

The Spring When I Met You 3

So I realized, entering a girl’s room is actually a first for me in my life.

While I was searching for cockroaches, I took the opportunity to look around the room.

There wasn’t much in the way of decoration inside, but on top of a small TV, there was a cute cactus placed there.

A huge closet and clothes hanging on a rack were taking up quite a bit of space in the small room.

The bookshelf was packed full of reference books. On the low table in the center of the room, there was a large square box with a mirror attached to it—

Probably contains makeup or something. Then, I saw something black creeping out from under the bed.

I raised an old magazine and slammed it down. After crushing it, I collected it with a tissue, and turned back to Nanase who was outside.

“Got it. I’ll wipe the floor later.”

“…! Ah, thank you very much!”

Nanase, who had been crouching and trembling, suddenly raised her face.

The moment I saw her face, my brain became confused, not understanding what had just happened…

…Who exactly is this girl in front of me now?

“…Na, Nanase?”

What stood there was not the Nanase Haruko that I knew.

She had a plain, modest face that one might forget the moment they passed by her.

With red-rimmed glasses, dressed in a navy tracksuit, her chestnut-brown long hair casually tied into two.

I saw Nanase’s face blink and turn pale, losing color.

“Sa, Sa, Sa, Sagara-kun…”

She was opening and closing her mouth like an oxygen-deprived goldfish.

The moment I saw her face— A certain memory resurfaced in my mind. I almost let out an “ah,” but I managed to hold it back just in time.

“…Sa, Sagara-kun. Wha, wha, why are you here?”

Upon further reflection, for her, a guy from the same seminar she wasn’t close to suddenly barging into her room must seem like an emergency.

Even if it was an emergency, it wouldn’t be strange for her to mistake me for a stalker.

Before she could call the police, I hurriedly explained.

“Ah, no, I… I live next door to you… Then I heard a scream, so that’s why.”

“Ah!? So, that was it? I had no idea…”

“I also only noticed today.”

“Sorry. It must have been loud, right?”

Her voice was weaker and less confident than when I see her at university. Usually, she seems a bit more assertive.

“Ah, um… Thank you for helping me, Sagara-kun.”

Nanase said that and bowed her head deeply. I was taken aback by her straightforward thanks.

Of course, I hadn’t told a single lie, but the way she easily believed my story made me think she was a bit too naive.

Anyway, I should leave this place quickly. I had no intention of getting involved with her any further.

“…Well, I’ll be going then. This apartment seems to get a lot of bugs, so you might want to buy some insecticide.”

With that, we can both go back to pretending not to know each other.

Starting tomorrow, Nanase and I will continue living our lives as strangers without any interaction.

My comfortable solo life is safe.

“Wait!”

As I was about to leave, the hem of my parka was grabbed.

“Um… Were you surprised?”

“About what?”

“My no-makeup face… It’s totally different from usual, right?”

Nanase asked anxiously. I thought it would be a lie to deny it, so I nodded.

“Yeah.”

The woman standing before me now hardly seems like the same glittering beauty from the seminar.

She’s not ugly by any means; each facial feature is well-shaped, but she gives off a plain and simple impression.

She lacks the usual glamour. Makeup sure is powerful.

“…Don’t tell anyone, okay?”

It seems she’s worried that I might blurt out to others how plain she looks without makeup. That’s an unnecessary worry.

“I won’t say a word. I don’t have friends anyway.”

At my words, Nanase’s eyes softened, relieved. She seemed calmer and kinder than when she wore makeup.

“That’s good. Really, I don’t want anyone to know… I was really plain in high school, kind of like I made a debut in college.”

“Yeah, I know.”

I blurted out before realizing that I shouldn’t have.

“…Huh. How do you know?”

Nanase looked puzzled as she tilted her head. Resigned to my fate, I decided to reluctantly come clean.

“Nanase… you’re from Koryo High School, aren’t you?”

“W-what?!, how, how do you know!?”

“…I, I went to the same high school as you.”

When I saw Nanase’s plain face, what came flooding back into my mind were memories from just a few months ago, from our high school days. A plain and serious librarian sitting at the counter in the library, studying.

Nanase Haruko was my classmate in high school.

However, it’s not like we had the kind of relationship where we could reminisce about the old days, and that wasn’t my intention anyway. After all, from Nanase’s perspective, it might just feel creepy to be remembered by someone she didn’t know.

“Ah!? U-uh, no way!? Is, is that even possible…!? I-I can’t believe it…”

Nanase was astonished. Honestly, I felt the same way. To have attended the same high school, to have gone on to the same university in Kyoto, and to even be in the same seminar and living next door… The odds of such coincidences are astronomical.

“Just to be clear… I’m not a stalker or anything.”

“Uh? U-uhm, I know.”

“I didn’t know Nanase’s name, and you’ve changed so much I didn’t recognize you.”

“I’m sorry. I… I don’t remember you, Sagara-kun…”

Nanase looked down dejectedly. It’s only natural she wouldn’t remember a plain guy who was just always there in the library. So I wish she wouldn’t look so apologetic about it.

“…We never interacted anyway. Plus, I’ve changed my last name since high school. It’s normal not to remember. I won’t bother you at the university, so don’t worry. See ya.”

With that said in a rush, I left without looking back.