Chapter 115: Dilemma.

Yuran’s brows furrowed for an instant—then immediately smoothed out again.

In the space of three seconds his mood had plummeted to rock bottom, yet the mask of a smile remained perfectly in place.

Gear had to admire the balance.

To Gear the boy was merely amusing.

To Yuran, he was on the same level of revulsion as vermin.

On the other hand, the visitor who had come to see Yuran—Mary June—stood there beaming with a smile delicate enough to scatter like petals in the breeze.

Whether one found that adorable or irritating depended entirely on personal taste.

Most people would probably call it adorable.

Unfortunately Yuran belonged to the minority—and to Gear the girl wasn’t even worth forming an opinion about.

Suppressing the urge to click his tongue, Yuran rose heavily to his feet.

Gear—apparently satisfied that his role here was finished—gave a lazy wave as he watched him go.

He had briefly considered forcing the issue and dragging Yuran into it anyway.

But that would only invite more stress—he could feel it.

“……Do you need something?”

Yuran spoke with deliberate calm, taking care not to let his disgust leak through.

As long as he could at least shape his mouth into something resembling a smile, the girl whose brain seemed stuffed with flower petals would happily mistake it for genuine cheer.

There was a risk she might misinterpret mere politeness as friendliness and create a vicious cycle.

Even so—he had no desire to sour the mood of Mary June, or by extension, her father.

Sometimes he thought about it.

How refreshing it would be if he could simply blow up the girl in front of him—along with her father and mother—all at once.

“Sorry to barge in like this. Actually…… I have a request for you, Yuran-kun.”

She offered the tiniest apologetic smile—yet the determination to state her wish was unmistakable.

The fact that she couldn’t even imagine the vivid scene playing out in the mind of the boy before her—his limbs torn apart—was exactly why he loathed her.

He gave no real reply.

He simply selected an expression from the category labeled “smile” and wore it like a sticker.

Even so, she pressed on without hesitation.

Clearly she equated any smile with agreement.

Whether her inability to read between the lines was proof of sincerity or simply stupidity didn’t matter either way.

“The exams are coming up soon, right? You always do so well, Yuran-kun…… so I was wondering if we could study together.”

“……Huh?”

The bare, unfiltered sound slipped out before he could stop it.

He felt a flash of panic at failing to mask the suspicion in his tone—but Mary June seemed utterly impervious to such subtleties.

She apparently processed both his voice and expression as nothing more than innocent puzzlement.

“I already understand how the tests here work. I was thinking of asking Big Sister, but since you’re in the same year, I thought maybe we could do it together……”

The smiling angel was steadily closing off his escape routes.

The moment Violet’s name fell from Mary June’s lips, the sheer terror of it struck him.

What she was saying…… the past exam papers had already been secured for Violet through Yuran.

Even if Mary June asked now, that arrangement wouldn’t change.

Violet would prioritize the promise she had already made to Yuran.

He knew that—and precisely because he knew, he wanted to avoid this at all costs.

（What a pain in the ass……）

Lately he had finally begun to see signs of his goal coming within reach.

Several contingency plans and trump cards had fallen into place.

He had dared to hope his chronic sleep deprivation might finally ease.

For Violet’s sake—for her happiness—he felt no hardship in scheming and acting.

No matter how many hours of sleep melted away, she was worth every second.

But that only applied when the other party was Violet.

When it came to anyone else—especially Mary June—the answer was a resounding no.

He didn’t want to waste even a single minute, let alone a second.

Even this very moment was already torture.

If it became a regular thing until the exams ended, he would have to refuse with the utmost courtesy and finality.

Yet the conditions were far too unfavorable for outright rejection.

“Yeah…… I’ll think about it.”

While dark clouds gathered over Yuran’s head, Mary June departed looking perfectly satisfied.

She probably wouldn’t think in terms of “I got his word,” but that was effectively what had happened.

There were choices in life where neither path led to improvement.

Each time, one could only lament their own powerlessness, compromise on whichever option inflicted the least damage, and endure the humiliation.

（I should at least tell Violet-chan.）

If Mary June went home and carelessly mentioned something in front of that father, Violet—wanting to spare Yuran’s feelings—might end up hurt if she knew nothing about it.

One option was to turn it into a group study session including Violet, the way they used to.

But if at all possible, he wanted to keep Violet and Mary June from having any more contact than necessary.

As for involving Claudia and the others—that would only raise Yuran’s personal hell level, so it wasn’t a choice he particularly wanted to make.

Pressing a hand to his aching head, he began mentally reorganizing the schedule that was about to be eaten alive by insects.