I Woke Up… And Somehow Had a Girlfriend

Opening my eyes, I saw that the sky had turned completely dark.

I’ve always lived a life with my days and nights reversed, but usually when I wake up, I can at least catch the tail end of the sunset. Today, I didn’t see a trace of the sun.

I slept a bit late today, after all.

Usually, I get home around 8:30 AM, wash up, tidy a few things, and get to bed between 9 and 10. Then I sleep for about seven hours and wake up around 4 or 5 PM.

But today, I only went to sleep after the idiot left at noon.

When I got up and checked the time, it was already past 9:30 PM.

Not only did I sleep later than usual, but I also slept a bit longer.

Looks like I won’t be able to stream today. Who would be watching this late at night?

My audience is already pitifully small. If I went live and saw not a single viewer—not even one bullet comment—I’d feel pretty terrible.

So I might as well just skip it.

I got up, stretched, and pulled the curtains shut.

Why pull the curtains, you ask?

It’s a habit of mine.

When I sleep during the day, I leave the curtains open. My bedroom faces the sun, and the warm sunlight on my body feels great. Plus, it saves me the trouble of having to air out my blankets.

It’s not like I’m worried about someone peeping at me… Come on, who would be interested in watching some shut-in sleep during the day? Even some perverted voyeuristic woman wouldn’t bother looking at me, period.

So while most people get woken up by blinding sunlight, I sleep under it. If only I could photosynthesize in my sleep.

I don’t feel like streaming tonight, and I don’t feel like drawing either. I don’t have the motivation.

My mind is still on Kaori. I wonder how things went…

I’m not a prophet or a fortune teller. Who knows how things turned out? Until I get a clear answer, I’m in the dark.

The blind date should be over by now. I wonder how it went. Should I call the idiot and ask?

First, I need some water. My throat is dry from just waking up.

I opened my bedroom door and saw the idiot sitting in the beanbag chair.

He had his headphones on, playing a delivery game. When he noticed me come out, he took off his headphones and said,

“Oh, you’re finally awake, bro. You slept a long time today.”

Instead of rushing to talk to him, I poured myself a glass of water, wet my throat, and then asked,

“When did you get back…”

“After dinner, around 7 PM. I thought you’d be awake by then, but you were really out cold today.”

“I slept at the wrong time. My internal clock is a bit off.”

“A bit off? Your internal clock has been broken for ages.”

“Enough with the chatter. How did it go?”

What happened to Kaori in the end—that’s what I wanted to know.

The idiot put his controller back on the charging stand and smirked mysteriously.

“The result? Heh, for me, it was completely unexpected. But for you, bro… maybe not.”

He looked at me with admiration.

“Pretty impressive, bro. Did you already guess it would turn out this way?”

I shrugged. “More or less.”

“You’re a monster… How did you figure it out?”

“She didn’t tell me her last name.”

“That’s it?”

“What else? Kaori and I had just met. There weren’t any other clues.”

“What could you possibly guess from that? That’s just insane!”

“It was just analysis. She didn’t want to tell me her last name, a stranger she just met. That means she rejects her last name. But why just the last name? If she hated her family and therefore her name, she wouldn’t separate the two, would she?”

Kaori rejected her last name, but she didn’t seem to dislike her given name as much.

There was only one answer.

“Her given name is hers. Her last name isn’t. Meaning, Kaori might not be their biological daughter. She might have been adopted.”

“Oh…”

“I always found it strange. No matter how profit-driven they are, why would a family so readily marry off their own daughter? And why would Kaori obey them so completely?”

“Then I came to a conclusion.”

“Kaori isn’t their biological child. She was probably adopted, and from the very beginning, the purpose was to sell her off for a good price someday.”

That was about it.

Kaori never had any sense of belonging because she was adopted.

Since she had no sense of belonging, naturally she wouldn’t feel grateful to her family. The idiot could help repay the cost of raising her, and they’d be even. No debts, no ties.

I thought Kaori would choose that.

Just as I was about to tell the idiot my idea to confirm it, he cut me off.

“No, that’s not it, bro.”

“What?”

“The wish she told me wasn’t that.”

“Huh?”

No way! That can’t be!

“If not that, then what else?”

Did she really choose to give up?

“Can’t you guess?”

“Obviously not. Do you really think I’m some monster? I only had one reference answer.”

“True. Even I didn’t expect her to say this. And it’s not something I can help with…”

“Huh? Even you can’t do it? What kind of wish did she make?”

“Heh…”

The idiot let out another laugh, probably remembering what happened during the blind date. He made a fist with his right hand, put his left hand on top, and gave me a “congratulations” gesture.

“What’s that? So random…”

“Congratulations. You have a girlfriend, bro.”

“Huh…?”

What did the idiot just say?

…

“I want to become his girlfriend.”

“Huh…?”

Li Enhe froze. He didn’t even process it at first.

What did this woman just say?

Kaori repeated herself.

“I want to become his girlfriend. Can you do that?”

“Th-This isn’t up to me…”

Li Enhe never expected Kaori’s wish to be this.

So it was mutual affection?

Li Enhe felt pretty damn annoyed playing Cupid like this.

After all that, they both liked each other. There was no need for a middleman.

“Since you like him too, why not just confess? Why ask me?”

“Ming Qi…”

Even though it still didn’t roll off the tongue easily, Kaori had stopped using “san” and was calling him “Ming Qi” directly.

Li Enhe noticed that detail.

Did that mean her mindset had shifted somehow?

Then her next words made him spit out his coffee.

“He confessed to me first.”

Pfft—!

“What? You mean he confessed the moment he met you?”

Kaori nodded.

Li Enhe held his forehead. He had looked so fearless just moments ago, but now he was dumbfounded.

From that moment on, the initiative shifted.

“Oh my god…”

In an instant, countless thoughts ran through Li Enhe’s mind. In the end, all he could do was smile wryly.

He thought to himself: Bro, bro, you’ve really screwed me over this time.

“Heh… I take back what I said before. It seems you’re not some spineless woman. On the contrary, you’re much smarter.”

She had already won.

“Not bad. Impressive.”

Li Enhe clapped for a full ten seconds before speaking again.

“Whether you’re sincere or just using me, whether you’re here to use me or to use Ming Qi… this time, you really came out on top.”

Her wish was essentially a declaration: “I accept Ming Qi’s confession. I’ll be his girlfriend.”

And since she was now his brother’s girlfriend, how could Li Enhe possibly refuse to help her with all her troubles?

Just like that, she had turned the tables and bound him with the very network of connections. She was like a spider, silently weaving her web…

“I didn’t think about all that. I just finally understood what I wanted.”

What Ming Qi had said to her was truly etched into Kaori’s heart.

—People come together because of each other’s good points. Then, after they’re together, they start to understand each other more deeply.

No one said you had to know everything about someone before becoming boyfriend and girlfriend.

So Kaori wanted to become his girlfriend first, and then get to know him better.

“I hope so… Anyway, I’ll handle all your troubles. Your family, anything else. You don’t need to worry about it anymore.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me from now on. You’ve earned that right.”

“The right?”

“You’re my brother’s girlfriend. With that connection, I’ll do everything I can to help you.”

“…It seems I’m very lucky.”

“Yeah. Lucky enough to change your whole life.”

After that, Li Enhe acted swiftly. Using both money and influence, mixing threats with persuasion, he got rid of Kaori’s parents. He even had her registered under a new household, effectively “leaving with nothing.”

Sometimes freedom comes that fast. So fast it makes your head spin.

That day, Kaori officially became Ming Qi’s new girlfriend.

That same day, Ming Qi’s record of being single for as long as he’d been alive was finally broken.

And at that very moment, the person in question was still fast asleep, completely unaware, dreaming sweet dreams of Kaori agreeing to be his girlfriend.

Little did he know, his dream had already come true.