Chapter 62

Chapter 62 Proposal

Who would come looking for me?

As she watched her cousin walk out of the bedroom, Takahashi Mio couldn't help but wonder.

Only a few people knew her home address—countable on one hand.

Naturally, her parents were out of the question. Even if they wanted to come, they wouldn't have sent Miki to check on her. Haruno Reika was working a night shift at the convenience store, and even if someone were coming, they'd have given notice.

So that left only—

At that moment, the girl's beautiful eyes widened, and she hurried out of the bedroom, only to find Takahashi Miki already opening the door.

Mio opened her mouth, then looked past her cousin at the boy standing in the doorway. Her red lips parted as she couldn't help but say, "Kiyoya?"

What she really wanted to say was, "Why are you here?" After all, even when he dropped her off downstairs before, he never came up.

But the words stopped on her lips. Asking so directly in front of her cousin would make them seem too unfamiliar with each other.

She opened her mouth again, then closed it—a look of hesitation on her face.

Shiratori Kiyoya caught the doubt in her eyes and lifted his phone.

"Look at your phone."

"My phone?"

Mio froze for a moment, then instinctively reached for her phone on the desk, only to find it wasn't there. She quickly dove into the bedroom, searching everywhere.

On the bed, under the desk, even shaking out the clothes on the tatami mat—still no phone.

Growing anxious, she kept asking herself silently, Where could I have put it? Maybe when I was tidying up, I stuffed it into a box?

Outside the room, watching her obviously flustered younger sister, Takahashi Miki couldn't help but smile. She turned back and glanced at the boy in front of her, smiling as she said, "I'm Mio's sister, Takahashi Miki."

She extended her hand toward the boy.

Shiratori Kiyoya glanced at the slender figure before him and felt a little surprised by her identity. He had never heard Mio mention an older sister before.

But he gave a calm nod, lightly clasped her hand, then released it.

"I'm Shiratori Kiyoya. Nice to meet you. Please take care of me."

Noticing his gesture, Takahashi Miki lifted her gaze and met his eyes. Something stirred inside her.

She had deliberately emphasized her identity—not quite like meeting the parents, but still the head of Mio's family.

No matter what, meeting the boyfriend's family—even with plenty of mental preparation—at such a young age, sudden face-to-face meetings would definitely make anyone nervous.

She'd been in relationships and heard friends say how ridiculous their boyfriends acted the first time they came home.

It was perfectly normal for both guys and girls.

But she didn't see a trace of panic or fluster on Shiratori Kiyoya's face.

People could fake expressions and movements, but not their eyes.

His calm gaze was like a deep lake, still and untroubled—no hint of fear or nervousness.

More than that, Takahashi Miki sensed a mountain-like steadiness in him.

She only felt this way when facing bosses, directors, or producers—important people.

Suddenly, her mouth felt dry, and she snapped out of her slight drunkenness from earlier.

Looking at his young face, she thought maybe she was overthinking.

Being calm in front of a lover's family didn't necessarily mean he was extraordinary; maybe it just meant he didn't love enough.

But then she recalled the look he gave her when he first opened the door—

After a moment's thought, Takahashi Miki smiled softly.

"Ah, I was just telling Mio about you. Didn't expect she'd be secretly dating— I even asked when I'd get to meet you, and here we are."

"That is a bit of a coincidence."

Shiratori Kiyoya smiled back and lifted his phone, showing the call log of numerous missed calls to Takahashi Mio.

"I called so many times, but she didn't answer. I was worried something happened to her alone, so I came to check."

Seeing the string of red "Missed" calls, Takahashi Miki blinked and nodded knowingly.

"So that's why. Mio really is the kind of person who makes you worry."

She glanced back at the girl bent over searching by the desk, smiled at Shiratori Kiyoya, and said, "Come on in. Don't just stand at the door."

At that moment, they heard Mio's surprised shout from inside the room.

"Oh! So it was here all along!"

"So, Mio, what was so urgent that you threw your bag into the crack of the desk and then completely forgot about it?"

The three of them sat around the long table. Takahashi Miki propped her chopsticks against her lips, teasing with a smile.

Mio bit her lip lightly. She'd just showered, her skin as white and smooth as egg whites, flushed with a rosy glow.

She whispered an explanation, "It's because I heard Mom say Miki was coming, so I wanted to come back early and tidy up. Otherwise, it was too messy—"

"Oh."

Takahashi Miki gave her a meaningful look, glanced at Shiratori Kiyoya, and kept her questions to herself, smiling.

"Good thing Shiratori was so worried, coming all this way. Next time, don't put your phone on silent, okay? Otherwise, it's hard to find you."

"I—"

Mio opened her mouth to explain that her phone had always been on ringtone, but ever since she started studying in the library every day, she'd switched it to silent.

But just thinking about how Shiratori Kiyoya had called so many times, worried enough to come see her, made her chest warm. A sweet happiness rippled inside her, and she couldn't help but squeeze her legs together.

He really cares about me, huh?

But before he came to see her, he seemed to have something else to say.

Mio recalled opening her phone and finding Shiratori Kiyoya had sent her a file on Lⅰe besides the calls.

She hadn't looked at the details yet since her cousin was still there, but it seemed to be a script or something.

Seeing her hesitation, Takahashi Miki didn't press her further and turned to chat casually with Shiratori Kiyoya.

Watching this, Mio's heart raced. She took a deep breath and tried to appear calm, though her heart pounded faster.

She had thought they might meet family someday, but never imagined it would be so soon.

And their relationship history was definitely too awkward to explain honestly.

No one would believe Kiyoya was really that good. Not her cousin, not her parents—

The girl bit her pink lips. The blush on her face spread down to her neck. Without anyone noticing, she slid her foot under the table to rest against Shiratori Kiyoya's leg—just in case he said anything wrong, she could remind him.

Fortunately, Takahashi Miki didn't ask any prying questions. Instead, she talked about university life and seemed quite nostalgic.

Mio breathed a sigh of relief and smiled gently at Shiratori Kiyoya's ease.

Unconsciously, she pictured the day she'd bring him home to meet her family.

Even her father would definitely like him, right?

Though loving someone and getting married are matters between two people, having your family's blessing is always better.

She had to work on it—at least start practicing how to meet Kiyoya's family from today.

Should be fine, right?

"Um, Shiratori, do you live alone now?"

Suddenly, hearing this, Mio snapped back to reality.

She was a bit surprised, wondering why her sister brought up the topic.

"Yes, I live alone."

"Oh."

Takahashi Miki nodded thoughtfully, then bit her chopsticks and smiled.

"If that's the case, why don't you two rent a place together?"