A lot of the information that Shuraina had released to the general public today were pieces of information that Cory didn't know. Shuraina had been and was currently refusing to get in touch with anybody since she had failed the knight exam, so Cory was unable to get any information about her for a while. Nobody really knew how she was.
When he asked Hylli, he didn't respond. He just avoided his gaze and told him that Shuraina probably needed some time to think. So while more worries piled atop his initial worries, someone who knew about Shunivalen, no, Shuraina, appeared in the form of Michol.
From what Michol had to say, it sounded like Shuraina had cut everyone off and was currently working on a new product. He was elated to hear this as a Shunivalen fan, but he felt a bit bitter as he was usually the first one to know about this kind of thing from Shuraina.
He was, first, worried about what had happened for her to just focus on creating new magical devices and cut everyone off, wondered who this Michol person was that stood by Shuraina, and what Shuraina was doing right now. He just really wanted to see Shuraina. Our Shushu.
Cory tamped down his jealousy and worried about Shuraina. So, who was this Michol person anyway? They said they were a magician. Seeing how she had easily accepted someone like Eric before, there was a chance that Michol was Shuraina's new boyfriend.
Even within Shuraina's friend group, he thought that he was closer to her than the others. Shuraina confided her feelings and things she couldn't talk about to the others to him, after all. But this person named Michol knew more about her than him, her close friend. What was closer than a friend? A lover, that's what.
Armed with the perspective of Michol being Shuraina's prospective lover, every single action of his was annoying. Our Shushu couldn't suffer another heartbreak again. Seeing him talk about her tech and abilities like this made him nervous. What if he was someone suspicious?
Putting that aside, this person named Michol was definitely charming. Even he had been disarmed by Michol's strangely familiar aura.
Meanwhile, Shuraina was befuddled by Cory's question about her relationship with herself. What did she say? First, it felt like she needed to say that she was more than friends with herself if she didn't want Cory exploding on her. She usually did tell Cory about her new products first, after all.
"…..we're not lovers but I feel like we're closer than friends."
So, like, flirting. Shuraina said that Shuraina was currently almost in a romantic relationship with Michol. She smiled hollowly as she told him that she was currently almost an item with her own self.
Cory let out a sigh of relief as he heard that they weren't lovers, but stiffened when he heard that the two were almost dating.
He didn't like arguing with others, but Cory scowled as he spoke, voice bitingly angry.
"Is that so? I'm jealous."
Shuraina tilted her head at the word 'jealous'. Of what?
"But if you're not going to be serious about her, don't get close. That's a request."
Cory bit his own tongue after saying that. Ick. No. What right did I have to say that? Seeing how much information he was privy to, he had to be pretty important to Shuraina. Who was I to ruin a relationship that Shuraina found precious? If someone tried to the same thing to him, he would be so annoyed.
"Eugh. Never mind. Ick. Ack."
Cory buried his face into his hands, clearly miserable. He sighed as he rubbed his face into his hands. Was he thinking too deeply about this? He always had question after question when it came to Shuraina.
Meanwhile, Shuraina stared at Cory's baffling actions and scratched her head. She thought about running away, but Cory looked incredibly serious right now so she hesitated. Shuraina, no, Michol, just awkwardly stood in front of Cory and watched patiently as he looked miserable.
After thinking long and hard and asking if he had the right to act like this, Cory just raised his head. He looked at Michol, who was just staring at him with a dumb look on his face. Seeing Michol like this reminded him of the time that Eric had his arm around Shuraina's waist and left their club room with an annoying expression on his face. He couldn't do anything at the time because the two of them were already in a relationship. He remembered the despair he had felt as he watched Shuraina walk away.
At that moment, he could see Eric's face in Michol's. And just then, Cory's brows furrowed deeper as he stepped closer.
"No matter what your current relationship is, it doesn't matter. This isn't going to go any deeper. Sorry."
"…..why?"
Shuraina tilted her head in confusion, confused as to why Cory was stopping her from dating herself.
"I'm always sincere when it comes to her. Friendship. Respect. Or if it's…."
Cory inhaled deeply and spoke, voice solemn.
"Love."
Cory stood up straight and rushed a confused looking Michol to the wall. When he straightened his back, the scene changed a bit. Cory, who had grown a lot recently, tilted his head slightly and looked down at Michol.
"So I'm going to confess my love for her. Again and again, no matter how much it takes. Until I can't do it anymore."
His tone was casual, but his sincerity came through. Cory's eyes narrowed as he glared. A chilling light shone within them.
"I'm pretty desperate, so don't disturb me if you're just playing around."
His actions and words were quite threatening, so she probably should've taken it that way. but Shuraina just calmly blinked. This was a sudden confession from someone she hadn't expected, so she must've been slightly shaken.
Maybe it was because of how bold Cory's confession was compared to his usual self. Maybe it was because of the special air of his or his handsome face or all of the above. But her heart reacted minutely before turning back off. Shuraina inhaled. Cory, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. But this is so incredibly interesting. Sorry.
Shuraina didn't avoid Cory's gaze and just stared at him, dead on. Guilt simmered and boiled over in her mind, but this entire situation was so unbelievably interesting. She had no clue that Cory thought of herself that way. He was so comfortable in his actions towards her that she had completely assumed that he only thought of her as a friend. It didn't change her view of him too much, now that she knew his feelings. She just thought he was a bit cuter than before.
Cory threw a suspicious look at Michol, whose lips were shaking as if they were trying to stop themselves from laughing. He had assumed that Michol would get angry or refute what he had to say. But unlike his initial assumptions, Michol's face and ears turned a bright red as he tried to stop laughing. He was confused. Cory raised an eyebrow and tried to speak, assuming that Michol just didn't get it the first time.
"So, don't be disapp…..Aaaaah?"
He was about to add another comment when he froze at the sight in front of him. His mouth dropped open and his eyes grew wide. Shu, shu, shu.... Cory couldn't speak as he just repeated the same syllable over and over again, like a broken recording.
The threatening mood dissipated at once.
"….what? Keep going."
When Cory froze and couldn't finish his sentence, Shuraina tilted her head, confused.
Shuraina realized that her line of sight had grown a lot lower. If she had almost been as tall as Cory earlier, she needed to look up to see Cory's face. She grew a bit nervous as she grabbed one finger–it was a lot shorter than before. She saw her long, waist-length orange hair and belatedly realized that she was no longer Michol.
Her magic had been depleted towards the end of the festival, and the magic stone she had brought along had almost run out. But she had forgotten about it because of Cory. She was screwed. What was she going to do? Her pupils shook–but not as much as Cory's.
Cory's arm was still resting on Shuraina's shoulder, and his face was still pretty close to hers. He had put his face near hers to threaten her, but there wasn't a single drop of fear in the air right now.
A face that Cory really liked, no, really likes, is in front of his. He could see dreamy scarlet eyes and curly orange hair.
Cory thought that Shuraina was an illusion as he stretched his hands towards her features. Her eyes, nose, lips. Everything was real. He hadn't seen her face in months after graduation, so Cory looked at her face as if he was dying of hunger. Shuraina had grown even prettier in the time he hadn't seen her. He blinked. He tugged at her cheeks, still slightly soft with baby fat, before taking a few steps backwards. It was a dream, right? It had to be. But he didn't want it to be? But it had to be a dream.
"Fuck."
I'm fucked. Cory muttered before disappearing as fast as he could.