The Trap Composed by Our Own Hands

THE MOMENT HAD COME!

And of course, the question had to be directed at Ayame. Just my luck. Just like after the concert, when she had asked that drunken question, she had once again hit the nail right on the head. I was completely caught off guard.

Aiko’s eyes widened as she looked at me in fear. It was as if she was silently asking, What are we going to do?

Everyone in the room was now focused on me. Ray and Yasu, sitting diagonally across, were just watching. Even if I asked for help, those jackals wouldn’t lift a finger...

I only needed to answer one of the two questions. Luckily, I had that option. But the real question was—what else would they ask after I answered?

"Are they dating the assistant girl?"
"What’s Yuta up to with someone from the club?"
"Yeah, yeah. I mean, who in our club would even get a crush?"

The other drunk seniors were laughing and teasing.

Yeah, the most logical choice was to answer the question about Lyra.

“So? What’s your answer?” Ayame asked with a playful, curious gaze. She was sitting cross-legged, resting her head on her hand, her long red hair trailing down to the floor.

“The assistant girl you’re talking about—the one named Lyra—I’ll answer that question.” I paused for a moment. I was surprised at my own hesitation. Had we really seemed flirty? Was that why Aiko had been upset? Even so, I continued. “And no, there’s… nothing romantic between us.”

“Then how did you even meet a girl from the art school?” The club president had switched to his girlfriend’s side, as if they were trying to corner me from all angles. As if they had nothing better to do…

“Yeah, yeah!” The others chimed in, attacking from every direction. How had rumors from the art school spread this fast?!

“We met at Lyola’s concert. Also, Lyra has a boyfriend. You might want to be a little more careful when she’s around next time.” I said.

Should I have mentioned the boyfriend thing? Because now they could easily twist it into, "So if she didn’t have a boyfriend, would it be different?"

But instead, silence filled the room. I lifted my head from the patterns I had been staring at on the floor and looked at them. Everyone seemed to have frozen for a moment.

Still, what surprised me the most was Aiko, sitting cross-legged beside Ayame. She was staring at me, completely shocked. I hadn’t told her about this, had I? But even so, I hadn’t expected her to react like this.

I noticed Ayame looking at Aiko as well. Rather than caring about my answer, she seemed more interested in Aiko’s reaction. Then, a sly smile formed on her lips.

“We’ll be more careful,” came some grumbled responses from the others. And then, Ayame spoke up.

“So, you chose to dodge the first question?” she said with a grin. She was definitely about to connect this to what she had just observed and launch a new attack.

“…What?”

“I mean, the question you didn’t want to answer was the first one. So, can we take that as confirmation that you do have something romantic going on with someone from the club?”

Oh, come on!

She had tricked me…

Women are terrifying. Seriously terrifying. In just one glance, she had somehow grasped the situation in the room and understood my real intent instead of focusing on the main topic. Ayame was truly frightening.

No matter what answer I gave, she would find a way to trap me.

"Oh, for real?" – "But seriously, Yuta, who in our club would you even go for?" The others started whispering among themselves.

Then, they suddenly fell silent again.

Oh, great. They were starting to put the pieces together…

Being the center of attention and standing there without a reaction was exhausting. My heart was pounding wildly, and I was struggling to steady my breath. The last thing I wanted right now was for this situation to come to light.

“I—” Aiko stammered, her voice small and embarrassed. Just as she was about to say something—

“Guys, isn’t this round dragging on too long? Let’s spin the bottle again,” Yasu suddenly cut in. He had interrupted Aiko just in time. Aiko froze, looking at Yasu in surprise.

Good timing, Yasu!

“Yeah, let’s not push the new guy too much,” Sota agreed. Though, calling me a “new guy” was a bit much… Also, hadn’t he just gotten rejected? How was he still this cheerful?

“Yeah, yeah!” The others quickly jumped on board. They really just went wherever the heat was the strongest.

“Hmph. Fine, let’s go with that then,” Ayame said with a smirk, watching us. Drunk as she was, she was a total devil…

The bottle-spinning continued, with each person taking turns.

Finally, it landed on Sota and Ray. Sota was the asker, Ray the responder.

Of all people, these two were the last ones I wanted in this situation.

“Truth or dare?” Sota asked eagerly.

Ray hesitated for a second. The others immediately started chanting, “Dare! Dare!”

If there was one thing I knew about Ray, it was that he was way too easy to rile up. He looked around, then grinned.

“Dare!” he said. The first person to pick dare… and of course, it had to be my idiot friend.

“Hmmm…” Sota tapped his chin, thinking.

Just then, my phone rang.

I reached into my pocket and pulled it out.

Caller: Lyra.

I suddenly felt breathless.

Why was she calling me at this hour, on such an ordinary night, for no reason?

What was going on?

After all this time with no contact, for her to suddenly call like this—it was weird. There was no way it was an accidental dial.

I stood up.

“My phone’s ringing. I’ll be back. Keep going without me,” I said as I grabbed my phone and walked toward the door.

Just as I was stepping out, I faintly heard something from inside—

"Right now, go to the person you li—"

But I had no time to listen.

Because my phone was ringing.

Why was Lyra calling?