"Lynne? Are you home?" As Lynne walked down from the third floor, the muffled voice became much louder and clearer. She heard footsteps maneuver from the front door to the kitchen, skillfully avoiding contact with the piles of boxes along the way.
Lynne now headed down to the first floor where the little brother character was. She heard him open up the fridge as he let out another small shout, "Lynne?"
"Un," Lynne made it to the first floor and saw the back figure of a pretty tall teenager observing the inside of the fridge. He looked at each shelf, seemingly in deep thought, before taking out a cheese stick. When he heard Lynne's voice, he turned around with the cheese stick in hand, confusion apparent on his face.
'Wha—' Lynne looked at his confused face and stopped moving.
"Lynne! I'm home! How come you didn't pick me up today?" Lyle focused on ripping the wrapping enclosing his cheese stick that he was unable to see Lynne's unusual expression.
'He... he almost looks like another copy of my character!' Lynne slowly approached him and analyzed his appearance a little more closely, her eyes shining with curiosity.
"I waited at school for a little over an hour waiting for you! I only came home once Xeno came and told me you weren't picking me up today," He bit into his cheese stick unhappily.
'He looks like a younger male version of Lynne... Is this what having a sibling is like?' Lynne compared her own character's appearance and the one standing in front of her and realized that they shared a lot of the same features. The workings of genetics, even in stories, truly fascinated her!
"...Lynne?" Lyle's munches slowed as he noticed the strange expression on Lynne's face. Now that he thought about it, his older sister has been staring at his face for quite some time...
"Are... are you mad at me?" He awkwardly hid his face with his half eaten cheese stick. Seeing her focus so intensely on his face made him feel a bit self conscious.
"Little... brother?" Lynne asked quietly, no sign of rage or frustration. Just anticipation.
Lyle lowered his raised cheese stick and let out the breath he was unknowingly holding in. "Older sister?" He replied lightheartedly, feeling relieved. He didn't know what was going on with his sister today, but thankfully, she didn't seem angry at him.
"..."
Lynne revealed a small grin. "You... I like you," She patted his head endearingly and nodded her head in approval. Lyle was extremely baffled by her reaction.
"...I love you too?" He went along with the flow, allowing her to pat his head. He felt awkward feeling her hand ruffle through his hair so lovingly after such a long time. The last time she showed him this much affection was before the accident occurred, before she grew reserved and distant from him. But after seeing Lynne's smile widen, a warm nostalgic feeling stirred inside him, and he just accepted it. 'Well, at least she looks happy.'
Though... how come her pats feel as if she's stroking an animal rather than a human?
"I'm gonna head up to my room now," Lyle brushed aside that thought and waited until Lynne's patting slowed before speaking up. He's got work to finish after all.
Lynne watched him head up the stairs in silence, her expression a bit vague. When his figure disappeared completely, Lynne was pulled out from her mesmerized trance.
'Guess I should thoroughly explore Lynne's room now~' Lynne grabbed cheese stick out of the fridge and then headed up the stairs.
Taking a bite out of the cheese stick, Lynne reached her room and opened the door.
'Excuse my intrusion dear character~' She smiled in anticipation.
...
While exploring the house, Lynne did enter her room and take a glance at it. However, she didn't take an in depth look at all the furniture and personal belongings.
"Textbooks, notebooks, pencils, books, and a small plant. How boring. Was expecting more scandalous items," Lynne frowned at how normal the items seemed. Where was the teleporation device? The legendary ancient ice and fire dragon phoenix slaying sword?
"Oh? A letter?" Lynne rummaged through the desk and found a cute letter sealed by a heart sticker. She inspected the exterior and smelled a flower fragrance attached to it.
"Ugh fuck, who sprayed so much perfume on it?" Lynne sniffed the letter from an arms length away, but the smell was still extremely strong. She held her breath and inspected the letter more closely.
She opened up the sealed letter (in a rather brutal way) and took out the letter enclosed inside.
"Thank you for taking the time to read my letter to you. I just wanted to say that ever since I started my first year in high school, your kind and gentle attitude saved me from the depths of my despair. I understand that I am in no position to be confessing to you, but I like you..."
Before managing to even finish the letter, Lynne threw it back down onto the desk. She thought about the line 'I like you' over and over again and cringed.
'Kind?! Gentle?! I like you? Ugh fortunately, my character just wrote this letter down and didn't give it to second male lead. Imagine how shitty my transmigration life would have become if Lynne did," She felt her skin crawl as she quietly sealed the letter back into its envelope and hid it in the innermost corner of a shelf on Lynne's desk.
'General rule of transmigrations: do NOT closely interact with any male leads. Otherwise, the female lead's unkillable presence + Mr. Plot will end your life,' Lynne took one last glance at the hidden letter before covering the entrance of the shelf with a tissue box.
She wasn't afraid of facing the female lead, but she was concerned about losing the enjoyment of her transmigration. Otherwise, what would have been the point of transmigrating here if it was just as chaotic as her previous life?
...
The next morning, when Lynne opened her eyes, she was greeted by an unfamiliar white ceiling. Her vision was slightly blurred as she tried adjusting to the bright light seeping in through her window.
Suddenly, Lynne pushed herself to sit upright on her bed, 'This isn't my room.' Her eyes narrowed, full of hostility, but her face remained emotionless as she calmed her beating heartbeat.
She reached underneath her pillow to wield the pen she always kept there, but ultimately found nothing. After rummaging through her entire bed and observing her surrounding more closely, Lynne finally realized her situation.
'Ah fuck,' Lynne flopped back down onto her bed in a relaxed manner, 'I forgot I transmigrated.'
Her eyes were a bit cloudy as she looked around her room again. 'Since the ceilings are so white, I momentarily thought I was in a hospital,' She snorted unhappily. Perhaps she should repaint it a different color?
"Lynne, are you awake? Xeno's outside waiting for you," A small knock dragged her out of her thoughts. It was Lyle (obviously).
'Xeno? Who's Xeno?' Lynne tried sorting out her messy thoughts, 'Fuck is he that potential third male lead I met yesterday?'
Of course, she just had to be right.
"Lynne!" The male student from yesterday greeted her happily the moment she left her house. He had his arms opened widely, presumably to give her a hug.
When Lynne saw this, she only had one thought: Troublesome.
'Ah, third male lead... Interacting so closely with any girl except for the female lead will lead the all mighty Mr. Plot to curse both you and me. Don't you know this?' Lynne ignored him as she inspected Lyle's rather laidback appearance: shirt half buttoned, no tie, loose shoelaces, messy hair. Was he going to school or was he going out to hang with friends?
"Will you pick me up after school today?" Lyle didn't want to wait another hour for a Lynne who would never appear.
Lynne was in a pretty good mood today, so after thinking for a moment, she replied, "Will. Be obedient and wait for me."
"Lynne, don't forget that we also need to go to school. Or are you going to stand in front of your house all day?" Xeno butted into their sibling conversation, feeling left out because Lynne ignored his hug. She also ignored him yesterday. He deliberately cleared his throat loudly and crossed his arms.
Lyle and Lynne: ...
"I should get going," Lyle broke off the awkward silence that washed over the atmosphere. He gave a bright smile to Lynne and Xeno before running off to the direction of his school. AKA leaving Lynne behind to deal with third male lead.
'That cheeky character. Who wrote him to be like that?' Lynne grumbled when she saw Lyle's back view disappear. Her mood worsened when she saw Xeno's dumb smile. 'Tsk, where's the seducing charm that all male leads should have? How come only this one seems so childish? So boring?'
"Good luck trying to get the female lead, third male lead," Lynne pitied his dim future for a split second as she headed to school, the third male lead following closely behind chatting endlessly to her.
...
"Ah, my head hurts because of the third male lead's endless rambling," Lynne massaged her aching head. From her house to the entrace of the school, third male lead's mouth never stopped moving even once. Of course, Lynne tried to ditch him several times, but as if fated to be together, Mr. Plot always found a way for Xeno to somehow catch up to Lynne.
Lose him in a crowd? Suddenly, the crowd would disperse and third male lead would find her. Run across a red crosswalk? Suddenly, the light would turn green and third male lead would catch up (and this happened MULTIPLE times). Tell him to stop following her? He would still walk several steps behind her unhappily.
Lynne expended a lot of unnecessary energy this morning, so her mood wasn't the greatest.
"Lynne?" A soft voice called out to her. Though to Lynne, it sounded extremely unnatural and too forced.
Lynne grumbled when she heard the antagonist call out to her. Lynne usually liked to silently watch these characters make a fool of themselves, but she currently had a headache. All she wanted at this moment was some peace and quiet.
She looked up to see antagonist and her useless lackey walk side by side with perfect synchronization. Lynne's headache alleviated as she grew amused with their comedic walking style.
What could the dear antagonist have in store for her? With her headache gone, Lynne was now eager to find out.
"Congratulations!" Amelia smiled widely as she suddenly clapped for Lynne.