I Tried to Take It Back… But I Meant Every Word

After saying that, I felt like slapping myself.

A direct confession… was I crazy?

I started off stupid and clumsy, then managed to turn things around, but in the end, I still self-destructed…

Well, it couldn’t be helped. She was just…

She was just… too appealing!

I couldn’t resist!

And her reaction after my direct confession was…

She completely froze.

Ugh… not good…

Damn, this reaction is terrible.

This is the reaction that spells game over!

Yeah, confessing right away like that has almost zero chance of success. I was way too reckless… practically throwing myself at her!

Think about it: we’re not even friends, we just met, I don’t even know her name, and I confess on the spot. That’s basically suicide!

It would be a miracle if that worked! I was dreaming!

I’m such an idiot!

Time to execute Plan B (just thought up)!

“Ah! I mean! I like your hair color!”

A classic trope in anime and novels—accidentally confess, then quickly add something to take it back.

No matter what she thinks, I didn’t actually confess!

It’s a bit of an ostrich move, fooling myself, but… it’s better than nothing.

Better than her bowing her head and starting her response with a “sorry.”

My first confession in life, ending in failure… Ah… I want to die…

If she rejects me, I’ll definitely be crushed…

Food won’t taste good… the lewd pics I draw won’t be lewd… I’ll lose interest in… you know… I might just become a complete waste!

So even if it’s running away, I don’t want to hear her answer right now.

I hope she says something like, “Oh, I see, I misunderstood,” so it’ll be like I never confessed.

But after hearing me, she snapped out of it, thought for a moment, and the first thing she said was—

“Thank you for liking me so much…”

Oh no, oh no, she’s not letting me off the hook!

Please, no! I’m begging you!

A start like that is definitely going to be followed by a “but”!

“But, Ming Qi-san doesn’t really know who I am yet, right?”

Huh?

She said “but,” but what followed wasn’t what I expected. There was no “you’re a nice guy.”

Maybe… not a complete rejection?

Maybe there’s still a chance?

…No, I can’t keep thinking “what if it works out.”

What’s there to work out? I don’t even know her name yet…

That’s what she meant by “don’t know,” right…

Might as well go all out. Throwing all dignity to the wind, I said directly.

“Of course I don’t know you. I didn’t know you before, and I can’t read minds. How could I possibly know who you are?”

“So, you’re just…”

“Getting to know someone starts after this.”

“…Huh?”

“Whether it’s a boyfriend-girlfriend or a married couple, nobody knows each other at the start.”

“Shouldn’t it be the opposite? Don’t people get together because they already know each other?”

“That depends on what you mean by ‘know.'”

She looked at me, a little puzzled, and asked.

“What do you mean by that…”

Every time she asked me something, I was more than happy to answer from the heart. Answering her gave me a sense of satisfaction.

“At first, people are attracted to each other’s good points. Maybe it’s looks, maybe talent, maybe personality, maybe family background, etc. That kind of ‘knowing’ is only superficial…”

I shrugged and continued.

“Well, that’s normal, though. Who would start by listing their flaws, right?”

“That’s true…”

It’s like selling a product: you only talk about the good stuff, not the bad.

Everyone wants to see the good side, the positive side. Nobody starts by getting to know the bad, the ugly. That’s only human nature.

“So, people come together because of each other’s good points. Then, after they’re together, they start to understand each other more deeply. They learn about each other’s flaws and everything else.”

After all, if you’re together every day, you’ll find out whether you want to or not.

“That’s when truly getting to know someone begins… Don’t you think?”

“Truly getting to know someone…”

She seemed thoughtful. After pondering for a moment, she tilted her head and asked again.

“So, Ming Qi-san, did you say you liked me because you wanted to get to know me more deeply?”

“Uh…”

Honestly, the best answer here would be “yes.”

That would show how gentlemanly and thoughtful I am.

But looking into those pure eyes of hers, I couldn’t tell a single lie.

Come to think of it, hearing the phrase “get to know me more deeply” from her lips felt kind of… suggestive… ahem…

I scratched my head, a bit embarrassed, and said.

“Nah… there’s no way I could think that far ahead at that moment. Reason and emotion are opposites. I was controlled by impulsive feelings—that’s the only reason I could say it…”

I regretted it right after saying it. I regretted it so much I wanted to slap my own disobedient mouth.

“Otherwise, I wouldn’t have the courage to say something like that… Confessing to a girl I just met is probably the first and last time in my life… hehehe…”

Looking dejected, I laughed at myself.

But she didn’t mock me. She just continued asking, a little confused.

“Then I don’t quite understand… Ming Qi-san, you clearly understand these things, yet you were still willing to say you liked me… Was it just to encourage me?”

“The reason I blurted out that I liked you is because I truly thought you were incredibly beautiful. I was deeply drawn to you.”

“Oh…”

“Me saying white hair suits you wasn’t flattery or encouragement. I genuinely felt that way. There’s no special reason. I just like it. Pure and simple. You could call it love at first sight.”

Falling for someone doesn’t require conditions or logic. It only needs a moment.

“Love at first sight…”

She didn’t have any particular reaction to my frank confession. Instead, she thought for a moment and then asked.

“So, does that mean… you’re captivated by my looks, so you can tolerate any flaw I have? Is that what you’re saying?”

“Why do you have to put it so extremely… Let me think… Hmm, rather than saying ‘tolerate,’ I’d say it’s more like ‘like.'”

“Like…?”

It felt like another question mark popped up over her head.

Were my words that hard to understand?

“If you truly like someone, you end up liking their flaws along with everything else… It sounds fake, I know, but that’s the feeling.”

“You end up liking their flaws along with everything else…”

She’d been repeating everything I said since earlier. Were you a cute little repeater?

“In other words, you like them, so you want to get to know them, and the more you know, the more you like them.”

Yeah, that’s right. Saying it like that works.

A heartfelt feeling like this is sweet, like eating candy. It should feel like enjoyment.

A joyful feeling welled up in my chest, making the corners of my mouth curl up involuntarily.

With that kind of smile on my face, I looked at her and said.

“I’m confident I can like you that way. Because that was a ‘like’ that blurted out naturally.”