NOVEL NEXT chapter 21
21: The Adult World
Time flies when you study, play, and exercise.
The period of being a first-year elementary school student passed, and before I knew it, I became a second-year student. And the second year also passed.
There was a class change, but Sheila still stuck with me, and we spent our third year together, exchanging hateful words. Finally, we crossed the halfway point of our elementary school years, becoming fourth graders. Sheila still followed me after the class change, as we approached fifth grade during spring break, a major event occurred.
“Lexus, when I enter the middle school level, I might not be able to come and play anymore.”
It was Anna.
Now, Anna was already a grown woman. She had grown taller, and her bosom had developed. A blonde, blue-eyed beauty… Well, my mom was even more beautiful, probably much more beautiful than most moms.
Our friendship still continued. The frequency had decreased, but Anna and Milim still visited my house regularly. I made sure to give them the best hospitality… We played games, watched videos, and even shared my precious snacks.
However, from her transformed beauty came the painful words of parting.
I was left dumbfounded for a while… Right, middle school. Anna was an adult and beautiful, while I was still a child. I had stopped watching superhero shows and could only drink a little black coffee, but in Anna’s eyes, I was still a child.
Just as children have their own world—
So do adults.
Anna moved on to the middle school level, entering the world of adults.
The battles there would surely be tough—since in this world, adults are stronger than children, adult Anna would likely undergo even more intense brainwashing education. It was expected to be an education so severe that maintaining one’s own identity would become difficult.
Come to think of it, Anna had always seemed to realize that she was being brainwashed.
So surely, this parting was also about that. She, being more and more brainwashed, probably didn’t want to be influenced by me… That’s probably it.
Anna. Even if we are separated, I will never forget her. I had never forgotten her before.
Anna… If I whispered her name in my heart with closed eyes, it would bring up bright and beautiful memories.
I was sad. But I endured. I tried to send off the smiling, grown-up her.
But Milim, who had been playing nearby, made a sad gesture… Her expression remained unchanged as usual, but she had tucked her fluffy black tail between her legs. This was her tail when she felt anxious or scared.
That’s right. The three of us had always spent time together.
Anna and me. Milim and me. It was a relationship that involved me, but as we spent time together, a relationship between Anna and Milim had also formed, unrelated to me.
Milim hugged Anna.
Anna also hugged Milim.
I… I also wanted to hug and become a group with them, but there seemed to be a world between the two of them, and I couldn’t innocently hug Anna lately, so I quietly watched them.
“In the long break or when I come to teach you.”
That’s how the conversation eventually settled.
Next to Anna and Milim embracing each other, I thought, “I should have hugged them amidst the confusion…”