Chapter 95
Time skipped forward quickly into the late hours of the night.
After finishing dinner, clearing the table, and taking a shower, Mineo suddenly realized a rather significant problem.
"Senpai, uh, where exactly am I supposed to sleep tonight?"
Hearing his question, Mai-senpai, who was sitting on the sofa watching television, immediately shifted her gaze toward him. Deep within her eyes, a faint trace of murderous intent was hidden.
"And where exactly does Mineo-kun want to sleep?"
"Well, I originally thought Senpai's place would have a spare guest room I could use to rest for the night. I didn't expect a big star like you to actually live in a studio apartment."
Mai-senpai's residence wasn't some sprawling villa, but a very high-end studio apartment. The kitchen, living room, and bathroom were quite spacious, but there was only one bedroom!
The sofa in the living room wasn't particularly large either; it was fine for sitting, but far too cramped for lying down. As for sleeping on the floor, the living room had cold tile flooring. Even though his physical conditioning meant he probably wouldn't catch a cold, sleeping on tiles felt a bit too miserable for a Traveler.
Mineo glanced at Mai-senpai, then reached for his backpack. Seeing this, Mai-senpai instinctively asked:
"What are you doing? Are you planning on going out?"
"Yeah, I'm planning to find a decent hotel nearby to book a room and get some rest..."
"Sit!"
Mai-senpai watched him for a moment before standing up and heading into her room. After a minute or so, she emerged carrying a rolled-up mattress.
"There's some bedding in the storage closet. This is a floor futon!"
"You can choose to sleep in the living room."
Looking at the items Mai-senpai brought out, Mineo felt a bit helpless.
"Uh, Senpai, I'm Chinese. I'm not really used to sleeping on the floor."
"Besides, the living room floor is tile. Sleeping here at night, even with a pad, makes it way too easy to catch a chill. It's fine, I can just go find a hotel and come back tomorrow morning..."
Hearing his words, Mai bit her lower lip firmly.
"What if... the futon is laid out inside my room? The floor in there is wood, and it has underfloor heating..."
"Eh? Sleeping in the same room as Mai-senpai? Now that is something worth considering!"
Mineo rubbed his chin, a mischievous smirk playing on his lips.
"So, what happens if I can't control myself tonight and try to tease Senpai a little?"
The moment those words left his mouth, a sharp glint flashed in Mai-senpai's eyes.
"If you have that kind of courage, you're welcome to try!"
"Sleep here or go to a hotel, decide for yourself! If you want to leave, you can go right now."
"I'm not going anywhere! Since Senpai invited me so enthusiastically, if I still went to a hotel, wouldn't that mean I don't appreciate you? A futon it is! Besides, I've never slept on a futon in my life. Today is the perfect chance to try it out!"
Mineo snatched the futon from Mai-senpai's hands and happily dashed into her room to set up his bed. Watching his joyful expression, Mai-senpai actually wondered for a split second if she had made a terrible mistake!
But since the words were already out, she wasn't about to take them back. Seeing Mineo spread his futon right next to her bed, a complex expression flickered in her eyes.
After changing into his pajamas and slipping under the covers, Mineo looked at Mai-senpai with curiosity.
"Senpai, it's time to rest! What are you daydreaming about? Don't worry, I'm a very honest person. I definitely won't bother you!"
"Do you even have the guts to try?"
Mai had been standing hesitantly by the bedroom door, debating whether she should just sleep in the living room after all. But upon hearing Mineo's remark, she bit her thin lip and walked into the room.
Once she was lying in her own bed, she could clearly hear the sound of Mineo's breathing. In that moment, her entire body felt incredibly tense!
"Senpai, are you asleep?"
"Not yet!"
"In that case, let's chat!?"
"I don't want to!"
"Hey, Senpai, if you refuse to talk every day, you'll end up feeling suffocated..."
"None of your business!"
"Not my business? I can't have that. Like I said, Senpai is my target for a girlfriend. If you're feeling suffocated, I'll feel bad for you!"
"Mineo, can you please shut up! If you don't stay quiet for even a second, I'll..."
"Is Senpai going to hit me?"
"I'll... I'll bite you to death!"
Mai-senpai's bedroom was fairly large, but she wasn't sure if Mineo had done it on purpose—he had laid his bed right next to hers. In the silence of the night, their breaths were clearly audible to one another. Staring up at the dim ceiling, Mai-senpai's gaze became a bit dazed.
Without realizing when it started, Mai suddenly felt her body becoming weak. It was as if a wave of exhaustion had completely sapped her strength.
"Eh, what's wrong with me...?"
She tried to struggle into a sitting position, but she found her body felt as heavy as a thousand pounds. A dizzy spell made her head feel leaden. Her breathing began to grow ragged and heavy.
Mineo had actually fallen asleep, but in the middle of the night, he was suddenly jolted awake by the sound of faint, short gasps.
"Senpai? What's wrong?"
Mineo sat up and looked over at her. She didn't answer, but her chest was heaving rapidly! She looked like she was struggling to breathe.
Instantly, Mineo flicked on the light. When he saw her, he was shocked. Why was Mai-senpai's face so deathly pale?!
"Senpai, what happened to you!"
Mineo grabbed her shoulders. He felt that her entire body was freezing cold, yet her forehead was burning hot. This immediately reminded him of what happened earlier that afternoon when she had doused herself with cold water.
"Senpai caught the flu from that cold shower!"
Mineo instantly identified the root cause of her strange condition!
Chapter 98
Earlier that afternoon, during his journey to this world, Mai-senpai had stayed under the showerhead for a long time, drenching herself in cold water. Taking a cold shower like that when you're alone and stressed can cause the immune system to plummet. In a state like that, bacterial or viral infections can take hold very easily. It was exactly because of that stunt with the cold water that Senpai had caught a chill and fallen ill.
Mineo pressed his palm against her forehead and found it scorching. Under the electric light, her pale face was clear to see.
She had a fever!
And the temperature was likely quite high. Mai-senpai's consciousness was already starting to blur. Mineo quickly looked at the medicine cabinet nearby, grabbed a thermometer, and rushed back to her side.
"Senpai, I'm not trying to take advantage of you on purpose!"
Ignoring whatever reaction she might have, he directly undid a few buttons at the top of her pajamas. He slipped his hand inside her collar, tucked the thermometer under her armpit, and then pressed her arm down to hold it in place.
Five minutes later, Mineo checked the reading.
39.5 degrees Celsius! A high fever!
His first thought was to take her to the hospital, but after trying to call the emergency number and getting no response, Mineo realized a crucial problem.
Mai-senpai's "presence" was currently at an all-time low. Even if he called for help, the people on the other end might not even hear his voice. If he took her to the hospital, what if the doctors couldn't see her? As long as Mineo was by her side, he would be ignored by others too!
After thinking for a moment, Mineo returned to the medicine cabinet and rummaged through it. In Japan, many people keep essential medicines at home. Sure enough, he found fever reducers—both in powder form and cooling gel patches for the forehead.
After taking them out, he immediately applied a cooling patch to her forehead. He went to the living room, brewed the fever medicine, and then helped her sit up.
"Senpai, wake up, wake up! Can you hear me?"
"You have the flu! Hurry and drink this."
"Come on, open your mouth!"
With one arm supporting Mai-senpai so she was leaning against his chest, Mineo used his other hand to hold a small spoon, ready to feed her. However, no matter how many times he called her name, she didn't give any response.
"Cold..."
"So cold..."
Her face and lips had turned even paler. A soft murmur of "cold" escaped her lips. Mineo couldn't get her to take the medicine properly at all. Whenever he tried to feed her with the spoon, the liquid would just trickle out from the corner of her mouth before she could swallow.
Seeing her in this state, Mineo felt a headache coming on. He had no choice; at this stage, he was forced to "make a sacrifice." Mineo took a sip of the medicine into his own mouth and then immediately leaned in to kiss Mai-senpai. Since she couldn't take it normally, he had to use the most traditional method of administration!
To be honest, while Mineo usually enjoyed joking around with girls, it didn't mean he was the type of person who liked to take advantage of people or bully them recklessly. But right now, Mai-senpai was seriously ill. This was the only way to make sure the medicine actually went down!
Once she recovered, she could do whatever she wanted to him! What was that saying again? "If I don't enter hell, who will?" Mineo was currently treating her with that exact mentality!
After successfully getting the medicine into her system, Mineo intended to lay her back down so she could rest. Unexpectedly, in her hazy state, she reached out and clung to his neck. From her lips, she was still mumbling that she was cold.
The next morning, while Mineo was still fast asleep, he was suddenly jolted awake by a sharp slap to the face!
"????"
He sat up, completely dazed. He stared at Mai-senpai.
"What gives!?"
Mai-senpai was clutching the collar of her pajamas tightly. Her gaze looked like it was about to spit fire!
"You... what did you do to me last night!"
"You... you bastard, did you..."
Mai-senpai bit her lip so hard it looked like it was about to bleed. It was only then that Mineo realized he had been lying right next to her. She had clearly misunderstood something!
"Wait, Mai-senpai, listen to my explanation..."
"Get out!! Get out of here right now!"
There was a bone-chilling coldness in her eyes. She didn't want to hear a single word of explanation from him!
The moment she woke up, Mai-senpai found herself using Mineo's arm as a pillow. What's more, several buttons on her collar were undone!
In this situation, she immediately jumped to the conclusion that Mineo had done something to her last night!
Two conflicting emotions swirled in her heart.
Sadness—because she never expected Mineo to do something like this to her! The only friend she truly trusted had turned out to be this kind of person!
And rage—she was absolutely furious at what he had done!
She had been worried that he wouldn't be comfortable sleeping in the living room, so she called him into the bedroom, but... but was this how he repaid the trust she gave him?
Mineo wanted to explain himself properly, but the look in her eyes told him she wasn't in the mood for talking. Seeing this, Mineo felt a bit resigned. This felt exactly like one of those romantic dramas you see on TV.
However, Mineo had no intention of being the "misunderstood protagonist" of a soap opera! If the leading lady didn't want to listen, he would just have to handle it his way! He'd make her listen! Let's see if she still dares to be stubborn!
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