Boyfriend acquired!

I dropped off the pretty girl in my apartment.

Okay, that sounds so weird and it feels like I'm bringing a fling alone in my room with the wrong intention so let me rephrase that.

After finding this runaway girl under the bridge, I decided to take her home so that I could treat her. She seems to be okay but I can't let her stay on that bridge or she'll catch a cold eventually.

I'm not sure if she's actually a runaway but I came to that conclusion when I saw her dress. She wore a frilly, majestic-looking dress that you always see from a wealthy family. Its design wasn't all that extravagant, but it's definitely clothing worth a lot of money. You wouldn't normally see a girl staying under a bridge while wearing these, right?

"Here you go, please dry yourself with this..." I took two towels from my cabinet and gave the other one to her.

We're pretty much wet even though I brought an umbrella because I had to support her frail body up until we got here.

"Your house sucks..." a good and kind comment from her after wiping her face.

"S-Sorry for the unsanitary view. I haven't had that much time lately to clean it because of some committee stuff." I respectfully replied.

"Committee stuff? Oh, so you're in the council. Are you the only one who's living here?" she asked.

"Yes."

"No way, that's like... really lonely but I kinda like it." she smiled.

Stop hurting my feelings...

"But why did you move here independently?"

"Well, umm... It's because SASMNHS is near. My parents lived in the province but I wanted to attend that school so I decided to move out and worked my way independently." I pretty much lied on that one but whatever.

"That's nice... Your parents are very supportive and you're free to go wherever you want..." I noticed a solemn look based on her tone.

"Umm... If you like, please use my Bath. I heated it a while ago so you should take a warm bath. I'll prepare something to eat afterward." I offered.

Taking a warm bath after being soaked in the rain is a good way to reduce toxins, bacteria, or any germs from your body. It also prevents you from catching a cold and helps you return your body to its normal temperature.

"You're a nicer guy than I thought, hah..." for some reason, I'm a bit offended. Does she find me that immoral because of my rugged room? "I'll be taking a bath then." she stood up.

"Ah, please leave your dirty clothes in the washroom, I'll try to clean them up later. Also, umm... I don't have that many clothes but is it okay if I just give you my P.E uniform?" I asked.

"I don't mind. Those are made for unisex so it's fine..."

Hmm?

"Roger that."

And so the girl took her bath while I dried myself with the towel. I'm pretty confident with my immune system so I don't really have to worry about catching a cold after being soaked in the rain.

***

After some time, she finally went out.

"Oh..." I accidentally let out a sound.

"W-What?" she stared at me.

"Ah! Sorry, I just didn't expect that you'd look good in my uniform."

"I-Is that so...? Well, I guess it's fine..." she styled herself in the mirror after that bashful reply.

My P.E uniform is a bit large so I'm worried that it'll be oversized for her but it fitted her nicely.

"Please wait here for a while, I'll be drying your clothes. Oh, and there's some porridge and coffee on the table so please help yourself..." I excused myself.

"Thank you and I apologize for letting you take care of me..." she apologized.

"It's fine, I'm the one who insisted to bring you here. Just relax for a while and then we can talk."

I'm so glad I learned how to serve guests. It would be pretty cringy and embarrassing if I couldn't treat them like a guest.

"Right then, let's just wait for it to dry for a while." I hang her beautiful dress on the rack near the window outside. There's no sun right now but I really don't have any choice but to preserve it here.

After that, I took a seat on the opposite side of her. "So umm... can I ask what your name is?"

"Oh, I thought you knew..."

What? Is she some kind of a celebrity and all of this is just a vlog so she could test my hospitality?

"Judging from your reaction, it seems like you really don't know me. Let me introduce myself. My name is Yvette. I'm a 1st-year college student from the same school you go in, SASMNHS."

Oh, so she's also a student, that's why she knew that information about the uniform. But why is she making a big deal of herself like she's implying I should know her?

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize that you're older than me. I apologize for my rudeness a while ago."

"No need to apologize, Nathan Sumirez. I'm far grateful for your deep concern and the hospitality you've shown me." she bowed.

Does she know me? Oh, wait. My name is on the uniform...

"No worries. So umm, Miss Yvette, if you don't mind me asking, why are you in such a place earlier?" I asked.

"..." silence followed after my question.

 "S-Sorry, I guess you don't want to talk about it. Let's just—"

"I ran away from home."

That single answer made me tense for some reason.

"I had an argument with my parents back home so I ran away."

"Can I ask why?"

"It's because... They've settled an arranged marriage for me. I am being forced to become a fiancée of someone that I don't want to be with." she answered.

Arranged marriage, huh? I know marriage but I have no idea how an arranged one works.

"Sorry, I don't know that much about the rich world. How does this arranged marriage work?"

"Well, to put it in simple terms: I'm going to marry someone from the other family consented and arranged by our parents. But that doesn't mean I love the person itself. We're getting married for the sake of business, nothing else." she explained.

I think I have heard a tale like this. So it's basically like a setup aging from medieval times wherein a noble person will marry another noble for the sake of a treaty or allyship between two factions or families.

But compared to the old ages, an arranged marriage in modern times seems to be pretty innocuous.

It's not like war would start if Miss Yvette were to marry that person, right? And if it is for the sake of their family, I'd say there's no reason to refuse. They could take the opportunity to know each other and fall in love. The only difference is that they've taken a huge leap into the process and it'll be set in stone once it started.

Unless if...

"If it is for the sake of your family business, does that mean that if you refuse, something bad will happen?" I asked, redirecting the conversation to the main point.

"I wouldn't say something bad will happen. It'll just sever our mutual benefits to each other. It's actually normal for wealthy people to connect with others as their prestige is handled the same way over the last generation."

"So it's a common thing, huh?" I heaved a sigh.

"That's right. And to disregard my feelings on the matter, I'd say it's pretty selfish. Would you like it if your parents suddenly forced you into a marriage to a person that you don't know?" she asked me.

"No, I would hate that..."

I couldn't imagine myself being happy if I married a different person aside from Autumn. All of us have our own partner we desire. If they're going to cut you that off then I guess it would make sense why Miss Yvette ran away.

"Well anyway, considering that I was born into a wealthy family, this kind of trope is pretty standard," she added.

"Well, if you don't like it, can't you just refuse them?"

"My parents insist. I have a feeling that if I don't follow their orders, I will get disowned."

A threat, huh? What kind of parents do you have, Miss Yvette?

"So umm, what are you going to do?" I asked.

"Well, if I can't refuse them in an orthodox way then I'll just find another option to keep their hands off me. Like..." Yvette paused for a second to think.

"..."

"Ah! That's right, you're in the public committee, right?"

"Y-Yes..."

"I have an idea..." she pointed her index finger to me.

"And that is...?"

"You. Become my boyfriend."

HUHHHH???!!!!