"Oh my God, Kaoru." Joseph was already laughing when I sat down in front of him in the cafeteria.
I narrowed my eyes at him and dropped my tray onto the table. "I haven't even said anything yet."
"Exactly." He pointed at me with a grin. "You don't need to. That incident this morning has already become the main topic of conversation."
I sighed. Of course it had. I'd hoped the accidental kiss would disappear from everyone's memory after a few hours, but apparently the university had decided that my humiliation was today's entertainment. "I bet you don't even know the best part."
Joseph's laughter stopped. He leaned closer, suddenly interested. "What happened?"
"Kazuha saw it."
His expression immediately changed. "Oh."
I buried my face in my hands. "How am I supposed to recover from that? How did I accidentally kiss another cute girl directly in front of the girl I've loved for five years?"
Joseph stared at me for a second before his grin returned. "But you said she's cute, so it wasn't a complete loss."
"Well, that's a fact. Her lips were soft too, but her boobs were a little too small for my taste..." I paused, realizing what I'd just said. "Wait! That's not the point, you bastard!" I reached across the table and grabbed him by the collar.
"Hey! Calm down!" Joseph said, trying to pry my hands away from his collar.
Several students nearby immediately turned toward us. "Are they fighting?"
Joseph raised both hands while trying to pry my fingers off his shirt. "See? You're creating another rumor!"
I reluctantly released him and sat back down with a huff.
Joseph straightened his shirt before clearing his throat and lowering his voice, trying to draw the attention of the nearby students away from us before continuing. "So... Kazuha saw you kiss another cute girl and...?"
"Accidentally kissed!" I immediately corrected him.
"Right, accidentally." He sighed. "Geez, are you having high blood pressure these days?"
"Kazuha..." I lowered my voice, looking genuinely troubled. "She gasped and looked so heartbroken. What should I do now?"
Joseph gave me a half hearted smile. "You sure she cared that much about you kissing another girl?"
"Triple sure! She gasped, and I saw her face."
"Until what? She got heartbroken from that?"
I hesitated. "Well... maybe I exaggerated the heartbroken part."
Joseph raised an eyebrow.
"But she definitely gasped!" I quickly defended myself, raising both hands. "Like this!" I covered my mouth and widened my eyes, trying my best to recreate Kazuha's reaction.
Joseph stared at me for a moment before sighing. "That's probably not what she looked like."
"It was close enough!"
"Sure, Kaoru." Joseph sighed. "Whatever her reaction was, it already happened. You can't go back and change it."
I reluctantly nodded. He was right. Unfortunately.
Then Joseph leaned back with a thoughtful expression. "Actually, maybe this is a good thing."
I looked at him suspiciously. "What's good about it?"
"We got to see her reaction. If she was bothered by seeing you kiss another girl, maybe she's actually jealous."
My eyes widened. "Jealous...?"
I sat there thinking about it. Kazuha had gasped. She'd looked directly at me. Maybe... just maybe...
My heart started beating faster.
"Are you sure that's how it works?" I asked. "This morning you told me that Kazuha saying she was interested in me was basically a confession, and that caused another misunderstanding."
Joseph winced. "That was because you misunderstood what she was interested in."
I opened my mouth to argue, then closed it again. He had me there.
I sighed and poked at my food. "Fine. That was my fault."
Joseph nodded approvingly. "Good kid. Accept when you're at fault."
I frowned at him. "Don't talk to me like I'm five."
"Then stop acting like one."
Before I could answer, I noticed Kana walking through the cafeteria. She was carrying her lunch tray with both hands and carefully looking for an empty table. Her petite figure made her easy to spot, but what really caught my attention was how nervous she looked. She kept glancing around as though she was afraid of accidentally bothering someone.
Then our eyes met. Kana immediately looked away. I looked away too.
A second later, I glanced back and saw her nearly spill her soup when someone brushed past her.
I sighed and stood up.
Joseph looked at me in confusion. "Where are you going?"
I pointed toward Kana. "I'll help." I walked over before she could cause a cafeteria disaster.
"Kana."
She startled and looked at me. "K-Kaoru?"
"Give me that." I reached for her tray.
"Huh?"
"Let me carry it."
"You don't have to."
I took the tray anyway. "It's easier this way."
Kana stared at me for a moment before quietly nodding. "Okay..."
I carried her tray back toward Joseph's table while she followed behind me with small, hesitant steps.
Joseph watched us approach with a confused expression as I silently mouthed, 'Be nice!'
He raised an eyebrow.
I mouthed it again, more aggressively. 'Be. Nice.'
He finally nodded.
As soon as we reached the table, Joseph immediately put on his friendliest smile. "Hello! Nice to meet you. I'm Joseph."
Kana gave him a small bow. "Oh... hello. I'm Kana." She carefully sat beside me, keeping her hands together in her lap.
Joseph smiled at her, then glanced at me and silently mouthed, 'She's really cute.'
I tried not to grin.
Kana noticed our exchange and looked between us. "I'm really sorry about what happened this morning," Kana apologized again out of nowhere.
I gave her a reassuring smile. "Nah, it was an accident. Besides, you've already apologized like seventeen times today."
Kana blinked. "You're counting?"
Why did she sound genuinely concerned about that?
"No." I laughed awkwardly. "It was just a wild guess."
Kana gave me a small nod, but I could still see how nervous she was. Her eyes shifted toward Joseph, then back to me.
I smiled at her, hoping that would help her relax. Unfortunately, whatever was going through her head seemed to be getting worse.
"Did you..." She lowered her voice. "Make me sit with you because you wanted me to apologize to your boyfriend?"
I nearly choked on my food.
B-boyfriend?! My eyes slowly moved toward Joseph sitting across from me. I wanted to throw up.
"Boyfriend?" I repeated, hoping I'd somehow heard her wrong.
Kana nodded nervously.
Then, before I could explain, she suddenly turned toward Joseph and bowed. "I'm really sorry that I accidentally kissed your girlfriend!" Her voice came out much louder and higher pitched than before.
The entire table froze. I stopped breathing. Joseph stopped chewing.
So did several students around us. I could practically feel another rumor being born.
Kana slowly lifted her head, looking terrified.
"K-Kana..." I said weakly. "Wait. I think you misunderstood."
"Am I?" Her voice trembled. "Did you fight with your boyfriend because of me?"
"What?! No!" I immediately waved my hands. "There was no boyfriend! You completely misunderstood us!"
"I'm not her boyfriend!" Joseph protested at the same time.
Kana's tears stopped halfway down her cheeks.
She stared at us, then she blinked. "You... aren't a couple?"
"Of course not!" Joseph and I shouted together.
I pointed at him with disgust. "I'd rather never get married than marry him."
Joseph immediately pointed back at me. "I'd rather be gay than marry her."
Kana froze.
I slowly turned toward Joseph. "Why did you have to take it that far?"
Joseph shrugged. "I was joking." He chuckled as though he'd just delivered the funniest joke in human history. "Seriously, you two are so dramatic."
I sighed and dropped back into my seat.
Kana still looked completely bewildered, but at least she wasn't crying anymore.
I was about to explain everything properly when a familiar voice suddenly came from behind me. "What are you guys doing?"
My entire body stiffened.
Slowly, I turned around. Kazuha stood beside our table, looking between me, Joseph, and Kana. Her eyes finally settled on Kana, who still had traces of tears on her cheeks.
Kazuha frowned slightly. "Are you two messing with this girl?"
"No!" I immediately answered.
Joseph also shook his head. "Absolutely not."
Kana looked nervous again.
Joseph quickly gestured toward the empty seat beside him. "Uh... Kazuha, please take a seat first. We'll explain."
I stared at him.
Why would she? There was no way she'd agree. Kazuha wasn't the type to involve herself in our nonsense. She'd probably just tell us to stop causing trouble and leave.
Instead, she looked at the empty chair. Then she calmly nodded. "Okay." She pulled the chair out and sat beside Joseph. Joseph's eyebrows immediately shot upward.
I slowly glanced at Joseph.
He slowly glanced back at me.
Neither of us said anything.
Kana was sitting beside me, Joseph was sitting across from me, and Kazuha was now sitting right beside Joseph. Somehow, the four of us had ended up at the same table.
Why did this feel like the beginning of another disaster? I could already feel a headache forming.