Ch.18 Reconcile Part-02

After lunch, the tension between Aurora and K remained the same. K acted as if nothing had changed, calm and indifferent as always. Whenever Amber tried to talk about K to Aurora, she deliberately changed the topic, pretending not to care—but deep down, she knew she had to do something.

After school, Amber called Fiora over. As they walked down the street, Amber led the way confidently while Fiora followed quietly behind.

“Amber-senpai… sorry, but can you tell me where we’re going?” Fiora asked, confused by Amber’s sudden urgency.

“The tension between those two is bothering me,” Amber said with a sigh. “I tried to talk to Aurora, but she keeps dodging the topic. I don’t want to, but I think the only thing left is to convince K to apologize to Aurora—so everything can go back to normal.”

“K-senpai… apologize to Aurora-senpai?” Fiora muttered, picturing the scene. The thought of K apologizing felt impossible. In her imagination, he’d probably scold her instead. Shaking her head to push the image away, she asked, “But where can we even find K-senpai?”

“I have a general idea,” Amber replied. “Let’s just hope he’s not in a bad mood.”

After a while, they stopped in front of a small burger restaurant.

“Here we are!” Amber said proudly.

“B-Burgeries?!” Fiora stammered, wide-eyed. “K-senpai works here?! But he gets frustrated so easily… how does he even survive dealing with customers?!”

Amber chuckled. “Yeah, it’s a bit surprising, but never mind that. Let’s go in.”

Just as they were about to enter, the door burst open and two people ran out screaming as if they’d seen a ghost. Fiora froze in shock. Amber, however, seemed unfazed—she already had an idea of what must’ve happened.

Evy stepped out, clapping her hands to dust them off. “Now don’t ever come back here, you morons! Geez, why are there so many troublesome customers these days? Don’t kids know basic manners anymore?”

Fiora blinked, stunned by the bold woman’s energy. Amber quickly saluted. “Boss!”

“Eh? Boss?” Fiora echoed in confusion, looking between Amber and Evy.

“Oh—it’s Amber,” Evy said with a grin. “One of K’s friends. And you are?”

Caught off guard, Fiora bowed hastily. “N-Nice to meet you, Boss! I’m Fiora!” she blurted, then winced as she accidentally bit her tongue.

“Fiora, huh?” Evy tilted her head, thinking. “That name sounds familiar…”

Amber chimed in, “Oh! Maybe you forgot—she’s the one who confessed to K. Remember? When I came here with Aurora, we talked about it.”

“Ohhh, now I remember!” Evy said with a smile—until realization hit her, and her expression twisted. “Wait… you’re his girlfriend?!”

“N-No! He just—” Fiora tried to explain, but Evy ignored her. She grabbed Fiora’s wrist and dashed inside, yelling, “K! Come here, right now!”

The customers looked up in confusion as Evy kicked open the kitchen door. “K! Don’t make me shout again!”

An employee tried to calm her down. “Manager, please! If you yell like that, the customers—”

“Shut up! This is more important!” she barked.

K appeared from the back, wiping his hands with a towel. Seeing the group, he sighed heavily. “Why are you here? Are you seriously stalking people now?” he asked Fiora bluntly.

Before Fiora could respond, Evy stepped closer, glaring at K. “K!”

“Don’t yell,” K said flatly. “I can hear you just fine. And if you’re going to ask something stupid again, I’m leaving.”

He turned to go, but Evy grabbed his arm. “Wait! Just listen!”

“I said I don’t want to talk!” K snapped. “And knowing you, this is going to be a dumb question.”

Seeing Evy and K argue, Fiora quietly bowed her head. “Sorry…” she mumbled, staring at the floor.

The customers, now fully invested, watched as if it were a live drama.

K groaned. “I knew you two were behind this!” he yelled. “Hey! Walking Trouble Machine! Glutton! Come out!”

Amber sheepishly peeked from behind the door, holding a half-eaten cookie. “Hey! I don’t eat that much!” she protested, crumbs on her cheek.

“Amber-senpai…” Fiora sighed in embarrassment.

“Geez, can’t you all just leave me alone during my part-time job?” K muttered, exasperated.

“Forget that!” Evy said, folding her arms. “Answer my question.”

After a bit of chaos, they explained everything—how Fiora had confessed and been rejected, how Aurora had been upset since then. Evy finally sighed in relief.

“So that’s what happened. You should’ve told me earlier,” she said, patting Fiora’s shoulder with a laugh.

“I tried, but…” Fiora started, before Amber interrupted. “Anyway, we’re actually here to talk to *you*, K.”

“Me?” K pointed to himself. “Why?”

He noticed Aurora wasn’t there and frowned. “Where’s the walking trouble machine? She’s not with you?”

“That’s what we came to talk about,” Fiora said softly. “It’s about Aurora-senpai.”

Evy looked concerned. “Did something happen to her?”

Amber waved a hand. “No, she’s fine. Just upset.”

K shrugged. “She’s the one who gets mad over every little thing. She’ll be fine.”

“You should at least listen,” Evy said seriously. “They clearly came here because they need your help.”

K sighed, defeated. “Fine. But you have five minutes. Then you leave.”

Amber clapped her hands. “Perfect! That’s all we need.”

She grinned. “Alright, K! We’ll keep it short and simple.”

K leaned against the counter, arms crossed. “Make it *very* simple.”

Amber nodded at Fiora. Fiora took a breath. “K-senpai… Aurora-senpai’s still upset about what happened yesterday.”

“I figured,” K said, uninterested. “And what does that have to do with me?”

Amber frowned. “Everything! You were too harsh on her—and on Fiora, too! You practically threw verbal daggers!”

“I wasn’t harsh. I was honest,” K replied.

“But honesty can still hurt if you say it too coldly,” Fiora said softly.

“You’re making this a big deal,” K muttered.

Evy leaned on the counter. “Big deal or not, you made the girl cry. That’s on you.”

“I didn’t tell her to cry,” K said.

Amber slammed her hands on the counter. “That’s exactly the point! You don’t understand how people feel!”

The customers jumped at her outburst. Evy quickly waved her hand. “Keep it down! We’re still open!”

Fiora stepped closer, her voice quiet but firm. “K-senpai… Aurora-senpai doesn’t hate you. She just doesn’t understand why you acted that way. If you talked to her properly, it would clear everything up.”

K looked away. “She’s the one who glared at me like I insulted her ancestors. Why should *I* apologize?”

“Because sometimes the one who can fix things has to take the first step,” Amber said. “You’re older. Act like it.”

K scoffed. “That’s not how life works.”

Fiora tugged gently at his sleeve. “Then don’t apologize… just talk to her. Please. Let her know you didn’t mean to hurt anyone.”

For a moment, K’s expression softened, though he quickly turned his face away.

Evy smirked. “K, come on. You’ve got two girls begging you to make things right. You’d look a lot cooler if you just swallowed your pride.”

Amber grinned. “Yeah! Imagine K, the mighty storm cloud, actually being nice. The world might end.”

“Not helping,” K muttered.

Amber shrugged. “Wasn’t trying to.”

The restaurant went silent again—only the sizzling from the kitchen filled the space.

Finally, K sighed. “…Fine. I’ll talk to her.”

Amber blinked. “Wait, really?”

“Yeah,” he said quietly. “But don’t expect me to apologize. I’ll just… explain my side.”

Fiora smiled in relief. “That’s more than enough, K-senpai. Thank you.”

Evy chuckled. “Look at that. My grumpy part-timer finally acting like a human being.”

K glared at her. “Don’t make me quit.”

Amber laughed. “Too late. Boss already heard you.”

Evy waved it off. “He quits at least once a week. I stopped counting.”

K groaned. “Stopped it whenever I tried to quit your non-stops message me.”

"Hey!" Evy Said