To You Who Never Loved Me - Chapter 6

Chapter 6

< The Beginning of the Story [6] >

I knew Michael was leaving today, but I felt even more real when I heard

the word from his colleague.

“Well, I don’t think it will be the last time with you.”

Pavice smirked, but I dismissed it as a little joke and went down to the

warehouse. The structure of the houses in this village was similar, so I was

able to find the warehouse somewhere at once.

“Michael.”

I found Michael in the warehouse. He was loading the items he had

received from the villagers in a wagon one after another to connect them

with horses.

“You woke up, Rose.”

“You said you’re leaving today?”

“It looks like you’ve already heard it. I wanted to talk to you in person.”

“Why didn’t you… tell me earlier?”

“Are you sad?”

I couldn’t say no, so I shut my mouth tightly, and Michael chuckled and

stroked my head again.

“If I told you goodbye before, you only felt sadness earlier.”

I touched my lips because I wanted to convey my heart to Michael. But I

couldn’t take it out of my mouth.

Take me.

Tell me to go together one more time.

But I was a weak person who didn’t even dare to ask and give up.

“Suddenly I remember the old days…….”

Michael, who was sweeping the dusty box carried on the wagon with his

fingertips, looked at me and smiled.

He was friendly and always smiled whenever he saw me.

“I had a cat in the past.”

“Michael has a cat?”

“I didn’t raise it because I wanted it. I found this guy in a village, and he

was dying so I gave him something to eat, then he was chasing me

somewhere behind the wagon.”

“…”

“One day, I couldn’t see him, so I thought he was eventually gone, but

when I unpacked at my destination, he was hiding in a box. Then I realized,

I have to take care of this little beast.”

Michael, who was holding the tip of my light brown hair and touching

them, spoke.

“It was pretty cute.”

“…”

“I feel like I’ll die if I don’t take it, you know?

“… I do not know.”

“It’s not a bad feeling.”

Michael, who let go of my messy hair, stroked my hair again.

“It would be nice if I could take care of Rose, too.”

“…”

Michael left me without regret and went out of the warehouse.

If I rely, on Michael, he will take care of me. But I don’t have the

confidence to say right away that I want to depend on him.

If so……

I opened the box that Michael had touched. There was no luggage inside.

In case I didn’t know, I opened other boxes, but the other boxes were full

of luggage. Only this box was empty. As if it exists for me.

If I don’t follow Michael, I might die. No, I will die.

But if I follow Michael, I can live. And really my heart wants to stay with

him.

Michael said. ‘If a very strong person protects you, you don’t need to hide

yourself.’

I really desperately want to follow him.

Just as Michael said earlier, I opened the surface of the box.

I decided to pull a little courage.

* * *

I folded my knees and bent my back to fit in, but the box was definitely a

cramped space for me, who was in full growth. Peeking outside through

the cracks of a small board, I can saw the villagers, Michael and his

colleagues greeting each other.

After a long wait, the horse began to move. Perhaps because I was sitting

in a box on the wagon, not on the saddle of a horse, the vibration of the

wagon was felt when passed the rough road. I felt like I was going to have

a hard time with my hips and neck.

“But Michael, what about a little girl?”

Becky first put my name on the topic.

“Oh, come to think of it, the kid named Rose suddenly disappeared

without a word.”

One of his colleagues, who was too quiet to speak, made a voice.

“Michael, you’re not kidding again.”

He was the one who didn’t show up when I was sleeping in their quarters

yesterday. I didn’t see him say a word every time I met him, but the voice I

heard for the first time was an annoying low-pitched tone. Michael did not

respond to any of their words, but when we arrived in a quiet place, he

started talking.

“Because the timid Rose has no courage except in this way.”

The box was opened. After curling up in an uncomfortable position, I

finally lifted my head. Michael’s face that covered in the sun was looking at

me and smiling as if he had been predicted it. It was a face shining like a

moon from the sky. He lifted me by putting his hand between my armpits.

Like lifting a very small child.

“There is a kitten hiding in the box.”

“Mi, Michael……”

When I barely called his name, an unnamed man asked, whose current

situation seemed to bother him.

“What are you going to do with her?”

“Well…….”

Michael gazed at me, and soon he took me out of the box completely and

put me on the floor.

“I’ll raise her.”

The words to ‘raise’ included words to dress, to sleep, and to protect.

When I saw Michael, who realized that I didn’t have the courage, he

allowed me to follow him, and now he was willing to take care of me,

sadness came to me. I held back my tears and looked up at him with my

red eyes, Michael placed his hand on my head. He just put it on top.

I rubbed my head clinging to his hand on top of mine. Touching, stroking,

timidly expressed in my own way.

He accepted my whining for a long time.

* * *

The sound of a horse’s hoof, the wheel of a car, and the sound of leaves

rushing in the wind were all the sounds heard in the quiet forest.

I secretly followed them, but I got scared while riding on the same wagon

as them.

Can I really leave with Michael? What if this is a dream? You’re not trying

to trick me right now and secretly send me back to town, right?

However, this is the road to the other side of the village. If Michael wants

to take me back to town, he has to go to the other side.

“Don’t keep flickering.”

In Becky’s arms, I was stiff as a statue at her words. It was because I didn’t

want to cause shes and her party even a little nuisance. Becky then

pinched me until my cheeks turned red, saying I was cute.

“Becky, don’t bully little kids.”

“I haven’t bothered her. She was pretty.”

“It’s a bully for a kid when you’re pretty.”

Pavice and Becky had a scuffle on their horses, and in the meantime, I

noticed Michael, who was ahead. I wanted to be in Michael’s arms, but I

guess that’s greed, right?

“Both be quiet.”

The fight between Pavice and Becky ended immediately after Michael said.

And one of the reasons is that we arrived at the village where we were

going to rest on time. We slowly entered the village. The villagers who

spent their daily lives kept looking to see if outsiders were unfamiliar, but

at that time, a child much younger than me approached us.

“It looks exactly the same as the hero who defeated the monster in the

western town!”

Once the boy’s words were finished, people began to mumble. Michael

laughed instead of answering, and that smile was a sign of affirmation.

Somehow, what happened in the village where I lived seemed to have

spread farther than I thought. The crowds flocked in an instant, and I just

watched Michael, who was surrounded by people and laughing, from a

distance.

* * *

Thanks to this, we got the best accommodation in town, and we were able

to unpack, eat dinner, and immediately relax in luxury.

“It’s nice to be treated, but there’s nothing to see in this town.”

Pavice, lying on the long chair, grumbled.

“If we stay for a long time, they will begin to say, ‘Oh, my husband went to

cutting down the trees and won’t come, Can I ask you to find him?.’

“Don’t worry, Pavice, I’m leaving this town before that.”

When Michael spoke firmly, it was then that Pavice stopped complaining,

as if relieved.

“I’ll check the geography of the village, everyone is resting here.”

Unlike other colleagues who unpacked and prepared to rest, Michael

prepared to go out alone.

“Let’s go together!”

I was tired too, but I didn’t hesitate and said I would follow Michael

immediately.

“Rose, if you’re tired, you stay and rest.”

“I’m not tired at all!”

“…”

“I, really.”

Michael shook his head as if he were dealing with a whining child.

“Then do whatever you want.”

But in the end, with permission granted, I went after Michael.

Not only today but also afterward, I always follow Michael. When he didn’t

talk to me, I stood nearby to see if he had anything to think about, and

when he talked to me, I ran happily and didn’t fall off.

It seemed like he was used to being followed by me, and Michael didn’t

dare to stop me from following him anymore.

“I’m sorry.”

“Be, Becky…….”

“When you are sharing a bed with me, but you always chasing only

Michael every day, and you were already like my little sister.”

Becky was sad, hugged me, and didn’t let me go. The intensity of pinching

the cheek was also stronger than usual.

“Becky, don’t bully little kids?”

Pavice intervenes, but Becky looks even angrier, and tugs at my cheek a

little longer.

“Ah, it hurts!”

“You only like Michael? Right?”

“No!”

At first, it was right that I followed only Michael, and Michael is still the

best, but……

“I also like Becky…….”

Becky, who always takes care of me, was also good.

As I confessed my heart while she rubbing my cheeks, there was a moment

of silence.

“What, what?”

“I also like Becky…….”

Suddenly, my body was pulled. Becky hugged me harder and rubbed my

face on my cheek.

“I wish my mother give me only one younger sister like you! You like me

better than Michael, right?”

“Not as much as Michael, but I like Becky too.”

“Yes, yes. I’m better than Michael.”

“It’s not that…….”

While the two of us having a conversation, suddenly I heard an “Ahem!” a

cough came out. I turned my head, Pavice was looking at us with his fist

covering his mouth.

“Ahem, Rose?”

“Yeah.”

“You know that this brother served your meal the most, right?”

“…Yeah.”

“Do you like this brother too?”

I tried to answer, but I couldn’t answer because Becky made a loud noise

instead of me.

“What kind of brothers are you guys not even mixed with blood!”

“We just need to be brothers and sisters!”

“Without Rose’s permission, what!”

But the fight between the two didn’t end as usual. Because someone else

came out from the room.

“Pathetic people.”

Seed, the last one I knew his name because he was the quietest in the

group, shook his head when he saw Becky and Pavice then came out from

the room.