(Transted/Edited/Slight Proofread: Snow)---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------After finishing his shower, Taeil checked his phone while drying his hair in the living room.

  [Ayane]: The food will be ready soon!

  [Ayane]: (Photo)

  [Ayane]: I also made Shin-chan’s favorite omelet! ╰(°▽°)╯

  [Me]: I love you, Ayane.

  [Ayane]: (/ω＼)

  Taeil chuckled to himself. ‘I should bring some chocote.’

  Almost instinctively, he recalled Ayane’s original traits, as if it were second nature.

  Although Ayane had changed in many ways, her tastes had remained rgely the same.

  One clear example was her love for chocote. She had always adored sweets, and chocote was her go-to snack. It even suited her fondness for the color bck, matching her aesthetic perfectly. In fact, in the original work, the voice actor behind her character had even starred in a chocote commercial.

  While Ayane enjoyed all kinds of chocote, she had a particur favorite—Ferrero Rocher. This preference stemmed from Izumi, the vocalist of BARD, whose favorite chocote was Ferrero Rocher. For Ayane, it had become more than just a snack; it was a small, endearing symbol of admiration—a way to feel closer to the star she looked up to.

  Even now, in the present, her favorite chocote was still Ferrero Rocher.

  "Huh?"

  A strange thought struck Taeil.

  ‘Why does she like Ferrero Rocher?.’

  His hand, poised to type a reply, froze mid-air.

  All thoughts of the succubus-like Iris and everything else that had been troubling him seemed to vanish.

  ‘When did Ayane first start asking for Ferrero Rocher chocotes?.’

  No matter how hard he tried to recall, he couldn’t remember.

  Instead of the casual message he had initially pnned, Taeil erased his reply and typed something new.

  [You]: Why do you like Ferrero Rocher chocotes?

  It was a sudden question, but nothing too out of pce between friends.

  ‘She’ll probably give me a simple answer’, he thought.

  Or so he assumed.

  [Ayane]: It’s a secret~

  Taeil blinked.

  His expectations had been completely shattered.

  And yet, strangely enough, the feeling of betrayal was oddly pleasant.

  "Could it be… that Ayane still admires Izumi from BARD?.”

  Taeil’s hands trembled with excitement.

  The possibility of reviving the original was no longer zero.

  A spark of hope—one he had thought had long been extinguished—had begun to flicker back to life.

  *************************

  Ding dong.

  The sound of hurried footsteps echoed as someone ran toward the door.

  Moments ter, the front door swung open, revealing Ayane’s bright smile.

  "Come in!" she chirped.

  A faint scent of shampoo lingered around her—fresh and clean, a sign she had just showered and changed into new clothes.

  Taeil, suppressing a small smile, wiped his nose absentmindedly and handed over a familiar golden-wrapped treat.

  "Yeah, here are some Ferrero Rocher chocotes."

  "Wow! Thanks, Shin-chan! But aren’t you running out of pocket money because of me?" Ayane teased, her eyes twinkling.

  "It’s fine. I get a generous allowance for a student."

  "It’s kinda annoying how confident you are about that. I’ll have to start asking for more chocote from now on."

  "Go ahead. That just means my food expenses will be easier to manage."

  "Or… you could just go to fewer live houses?."

  "I’ll be confiscating the chocote."

  "Ahhh! Stop…!.”

  Ayane, trying to recim her precious chocotes, hesitated. Then, as if suddenly struck by the fear of losing them, she swiftly unwrapped one, popped it into her mouth, and let out a satisfied hum—despite the fact that dinner was just around the corner.

  With a pleased sigh, she grinned and snorted.

  "Oh my. This is so good. But really, if you're low on money, you don’t have to spend so much on me."

  "You know that argument doesn’t hold up when you’re literally enjoying it in front of me, right?."

  "But this is a luxury food, Shin-chan. Ayane won’t die without chocote, you know."

  For some reason, outside of school, Ayane always seemed to be more straightforward about these things.

  Taeil rubbed the back of his neck, his expression turning contemptive.

  "No matter how close people are, they should still show courtesy to each other. When someone keeps receiving kindness, they start mistaking it for something they’re entitled to. And by the time they realize otherwise, it’s often too te to regret it."

  Once feelings are hurt, they don’t always heal like hardened ground after the rain. More often than not, the cracks deepen over time, making them harder to mend.

  Ayane tilted her head. "Has that ever happened to you, Shin-chan?."

  "Who knows?" he replied vaguely.

  Burying his past life deeper inside, Taeil reached out and pyfully ruffled Ayane’s hair.

  "Ahh! Shin-chan, I just dried my hair!" she whined, swatting at his hand.

  "Rex, idiot. Who showers at home and then puts on makeup again?."

  "Ugh, you don’t get it! These days, all high school girls do this!"

  The embarrassment of being caught putting on makeup, and the satisfaction of being noticed made Ayane’s heart swirl with conflicting emotions.

  "Are you still going?."

  "Yeah. I think I’ll be stuck te today—there are a lot of group reservations."

  The two chatted naturally as they made their way to the kitchen.

  Inside, Yuna Katsuragi, Ayane’s mother, was busy pting dishes with practiced ease.

  When Taeil entered, he greeted her politely.

  "Hello, ma’am."

  "Oh my, Taeil! Welcome home." Yuna smiled warmly before gesturing toward the table. "Sorry to put you to work so soon, but could you help carry these dishes?.”

  "Ayane will move the chopsticks!" Ayane announced proudly.

  "This girl only wants to carry the easiest things!" Yuna shot back.

  "Ayane is so delicate that she has to use all her strength just to move chopsticks!"

  Letting out an exaggerated wail, Ayane fled from her mother.

  Yuna sighed, hands resting on her hips, before turning to Taeil.

  "Honestly, Taeil, aren’t you at least a little embarrassed that my daughter is like this.?"

  "No," Taeil replied simply.

  Though, truthfully, it felt less like a mother-daughter dynamic and more like two bickering sisters.

  Like many mothers in manga, Yuna Katsuragi was young and strikingly beautiful. When she stood next to Ayane, they could easily be mistaken for sisters rather than parent and child.

  ‘Moments like this feel weirdly anime-ish…’

  Taeil found himself recalling the original story’s cast, particurly the protagonist’s parents.

  One of them was Yuna.

  The other? Zenjiro, Ayane’s father.

  Unlike his daughter, Zenjiro had a stern and stubborn personality. In contrast, Ayane and Yuna were undeniably simir—both in personality and appearance.

  Yet that hadn’t always been the case.

  In the original story, Ayane had barely resembled her mother. Maybe it was because she hadn’t been raised as well. She had always seemed… smaller, more childlike.

  But with Taeil’s constant interference in her life, Ayane had grown into something beyond her original self.

  Now, she was practically a scaled-down version of Yuna.

  ‘Maybe the difference is the size of maternal love…?.’

  They weren’t identical, of course. But then again, Yuna was someone who had lived so long that she seemed to have ignored the passage of time itself.

  Considering how much money celebrities spent just to maintain a fraction of Yuna’s youthful beauty, her existence was downright unreasonable.

  Taeil’s expression turned strange as he thought of his own mother—aging naturally, with time flowing as it should.

  "I really don’t get why you didn’t become a celebrity," he mused aloud.

  Yuna ughed. "Because I was dating Ayane’s father~.”

  Taeil blinked.

  "Sir… did you save an entire country in your past life…?."

  "Ehehe."

  Ayane beamed as Taeil gnced at Yuna with thinly veiled envy.

  "Why are you ughing?" he asked.

  "Just!"

  Ayane held onto a firm belief—

  ‘Just wait and see. When I grow up a little more, I’ll be like Mom!.’

  A deep-seated conviction that one day, she would become an incredible woman, just like her mother.

  Taeil had always been drawn to mature, elegant women—like Yuna.

  ‘A textbook case of associative taste.’

  Though Taeil didn’t hide any sketchy magazines under his bed like she had read about online, Ayane, who had been his childhood friend for years, was absolutely certain that his preferences leaned toward older women.

  And she had proof.

  One childhood memory stood out vividly—

  "Ideal type? Hmm, well... If I have to pick from the people around me? Then it has to be Aunt Yuna."

  Taeil had said it without even a moment’s hesitation.

  Ayane, utterly convinced that her name would be his answer, had been blindsided.

  "I hate you, Mom! Shin-chan likes older women like you!"

  At first, her jealousy burned hot, but over time, she found soce in a realization—

  ‘In the end, my future self will be just like Mom.’

  With that comforting thought, her confidence returned.

  Of course, her anxiety never fully disappeared. She started mimicking her mother’s makeup, copying her hairstyles—subtle tricks to nudge Taeil's perception.

  The fact that Taeil now saw the resembnce between them?.

  That was all part of Ayane’s pn.

  Yet, even after reaching the end of her growth period, she was facing an unfortunate reality—

  ‘Why did you pass down every other good gene, but not that one!?’

  She secretly harbored a grudge against her mother for this tragic injustice.

  Meanwhile, Taeil, oblivious to her turmoil, was busy heaping praise on Yuna, practically spewing admiration with every word.

  "Ayane, you're blessed. You were born so beautiful thanks to someone as stunning as your mom."

  "Haha. Even if you ftter me like that, it won’t get you anything," Yuna replied pyfully.

  "Fttery? I’m just stating the truth."

  "Taichi, you’re still as smooth as ever, huh?"

  With a teasing smile, Yuna pced another piece of meat onto Taeil’s pte, letting out a gentle "ara ara"—the signature phrase of every doting, elegant woman in anime and manga.

  Ayane’s mood soured instantly.

  ‘Enough already!.’

  Without warning, she kicked Taeil square in the shin.

  "Ow! What the hell, Ayane?!"

  "Shin-chan, you idiot!."

  Sticking her tongue out, she spun on her heel and darted into the living room.

  Taeil groaned, rubbing his leg. "Why is she acting like that again...?."

  "Haha. Taichi, be patient. This is the age when jealousy is at its peak."

  "Jealousy?."

  Taeil frowned, genuinely puzzled

  ‘What part of that conversation could possibly make Ayane jealous?.’

  Despite Yuna’s knowing hint, he silently carried the pte, still lost in thought.

  Watching her daughter’s youthful innocence, Yuna rested her cheek against her palm and let out a slow, amused sigh.

  "Our Ayane… you're in for a rough time~."

  With that, she smiled leisurely.

  Married woman, ndslide victory!