A Coin Toss Between Crescendo and Silence

I quickly pulled my head back. A confession was happening right behind the wall. And in a situation that I couldn’t possibly consider normal. After all, Sayuri and Ray were close. What did Sota have to do with this?

Had I really not noticed all this time? Did Sota like Sayuri?

Actually, no. I mean, unless they had been meeting up privately, they had only talked today. And they didn’t even seem that close.

What the hell was going on?

I looked around. There was no one else. The gray light filtering through the wooden windows gave the room a somber atmosphere. I realized my breathing sounded too loud.

Without thinking, I was hiding, listening in on this situation with a strange sense of curiosity.

Sota was a good-looking guy. In other words, compared to people like us, he had an automatic advantage when it came to relationships. And his courage only made that even more obvious...

What would Sayuri say? If she said yes, what would I tell Ray? What would I even say?

Ray had always kept his distance from girls. He never wanted to make anyone uncomfortable. He was an energetic friend who lived in his own world, and if his heart were to be broken, I would be one of the people most affected by it.

So what was I supposed to do in this situation? Was I going to do the same thing I did before to stop him from hurting himself? Would it work this time too?

I rested my head against the wall. I was so tense that I was practically holding my breath. Only a few seconds had passed, but it felt like minutes. Deep inside, I was terrified of the answer. I could feel my heartbeat in my throat in the silence.

"I'm sorry." I heard Sayuri sigh. "There's someone else I like." Her voice was calm but filled with meaning.

The moment I heard Sayuri's answer, it felt like the world stopped for a second. All my negative thoughts suddenly faded away. Sayuri…

…liked someone else.

And she had rejected Sota.

Was that good news or bad news?

I didn’t know.

But if there was one thing I did know...

It was that Ray still had a chance.

And for some reason...

That excited me.

I went up to our room. Ray and Yasu were busy playing on their phones.

"Ohhh, our guy’s back. Where the hell were you? We looked everywhere for you," Ray said, furrowing his brows and using a street-like tone.

"I was in the sauna, you idiots. How did you not see my clothes and realize I was in there?"

"The president told us. We thought that was the staff room."

"What would a staff room be doing inside the bathhouse?" I asked, frowning. Seriously, how did they even come to that conclusion?

Unintentionally…

I started laughing.

It was so stupid that even they realized it, and soon, they started laughing too.

All three of us burst into laughter.

"Shut up, dammit! Some of us are trying to sleep here!" Fuji, one of the seniors, yelled at us. After leaving the bathhouse, he had gone straight to his futon, trying to sleep. His sudden outburst made us flinch.

"Who the hell sleeps at this hour?" Ray muttered, looking slightly annoyed at Fuji.

"I didn’t sleep last night. Let me rest at least until dinner." Fuji suddenly calmed down, placing his hand over his head. It looked like he had a headache.

"Speaking of which, when’s dinner?" I turned to Ray and Yasu. I still hadn’t checked the time. I reached for my phone, which was lying on my futon.

"Exactly one hour from now." Yasu was scrolling through social media.

Sometimes, I really didn’t understand how this generation could be so absorbed in social media. Even I played games and watched videos occasionally, but this was on a whole different level.

Ray and Yasu slumped onto the empty chairs, wasting time.

"Psst, Yasu," Ray called out in a blank tone.

"What?" Yasu, on the other hand, sounded completely indifferent.

"Did they decide what we’re doing tonight?"

Without even lifting their heads from their phones, their voices came out monotone, almost robotic. Sometimes, I really thought social media was trapping people. These guys were practically in a vegetative state.

While they were talking, I took a sip from my water bottle.

"Hmm… I think we’re meeting in Sota’s room to play card games or something."

"Cough, cough, cough!"

I choked, nearly inhaling my water the wrong way. Just hearing the name Sota triggered all my internal alarms.

Oh, right.

I hadn’t told them about what happened downstairs.

"What’s wrong?"

"You okay, Yuta?"

Both of them were now staring at me.

I guess the only way to snap them out of their social media trances was to almost choke to death.

"I'm fine…" I said, still coughing.

Even though they were acting indifferent, what had just happened was actually really important for Ray.

I wanted to tell him about it.

But I hesitated.

"I'm gonna step out for a bit. Just gonna walk around." I needed time to kill. And time to think.

"Alright," Ray replied in a flat tone.

"Don't miss dinner."

I didn’t even need to describe Yasu’s response. It was predictable.

"Got it," I said and stepped out of the room. Walking down the corridor between the rooms, I let myself get lost in thought.

What was the difference between lying and hiding the truth?

If someone learned something and chose not to share it, and if someone learned something but shared something else instead—what did those two have in common?

In both cases, the truth wasn’t being spoken.

If I had to call one of them innocent, then… I’d choose the first.

Telling Ray about this situation would definitely crush his hopes and cause him to hold a grudge against Sota.

If I knew Ray, then the moment I told him, he would start keeping his distance from Sayuri. Because he never wanted to make a girl uncomfortable.

But there was also the possibility that Sayuri liked him.

And based on what I saw, I believed that possibility was very real.

After all, Sayuri had no reason to join the music club.

I believed Ray was the reason.

I knew I wasn’t great at observing people. I always missed extra details. I was terrible at reading people’s emotions. Maybe that’s why I had learned to suppress my own feelings. To treat them as fleeting things.

Did it work? I didn’t know.

But this was the best choice.

Let me be the only one who knows.

If Ray was meant to find out, he would find out on his own.

I reached the end of the corridor. I had somehow wandered into the most secluded part of the building. Through the window, I could see a garden—almost like a botanical garden, filled with vibrant flowers and plants.

"Whoa…" I whispered in admiration. Who would have thought a hot spring resort would have a place like this?

"Yuta."

A voice called my name from behind.

A familiar voice.

Why was someone calling for me here?

Had I wandered somewhere I wasn’t supposed to be? Or was this just a coincidence?

I turned around.

Aiko stood there, wearing a white yukata. It was one of the ones provided at the hot spring. Her wooden sandals creaked softly against the floor as she stepped closer.

Why was she here?

I tensed up.

I felt like a child who had been caught misbehaving.

And I had no idea how to act around her.

"What is it?" I asked, curiosity in my voice. The silence in the air made our voices subtly echo.

"We need to talk," she said.

Her face was serious, as if she was declaring that she wanted to confront something.

The usual cheerful and playful Aiko—

She only showed this side of herself to me.

Because I was the only one who had seen beneath her mask.

And I had no idea what was about to happen next.