I am a teacher at a girls' school in Tokyo

"Behavior in dreams is uncontrolled and light."

"It was not until I woke up that I understood what happened in my dream."

"Moshu, you should understand how I felt at that time, right?"

"I came out of the bathroom and my stomach hurt so much that I couldn't walk."

"..."

As Tetsufumi Hirakawa spoke, Masaki Hisada naturally thought of that time, that summer vacation, when the dream that Tetsufumi Hirakawa had mentioned was shattered.

At that time, the teacher sitting opposite her curled up in pain.

"Resigning from Moriya, I think, is a true testament to my inner thoughts... What do you think?"

"..." Hisada Masu didn't say anything.

Tetsufumi Hirakawa looked at her and continued trying to explain.

"And after being with you and leaving Moriya, to be honest, even the thoughts in my heart are about to dissipate."

"The life of a teacher has left me, and the students I no longer see have almost faded from my memory."

"It wasn't until you were on a business trip and Shinohara-san appeared in front of me again that I remembered what happened before."

"I remembered what happened in my dream, and... the emotions that can no longer be erased."

"…I'm still sorry, but what happened between me and Shinohara-san happened before I was with you. I think this kind of emotion is not something I can control."

"Perhaps, the biggest mistake I made in this matter was that I failed to reject her properly."

"I thought it was just a girl's wilfulness, and everything would be over after the fun."

"Also, I was thinking that through this meeting, I could completely end my relationship with her."

"I failed."

"..."

At this point, Tetsufumi Hirakawa's speech slowed down and eventually fell silent.

At the beginning of the winter vacation, Hisata went on a business trip and Miss Shinohara suddenly appeared with the promise he had made.

Unable to refuse, he decided to take this opportunity to face her again and then completely forget about this young lady.

At the beach at sunrise, he once again rejected the young lady.

“But it’s a dream again.”

Hirakawa Tetsufumi suddenly spoke again, breaking the silence.

"To be honest, because the first dream happened so suddenly, I had no idea what the dream was."

“I have no idea what it is or how it is triggered.”

"So, when it came again, I had no defense at all."

"I just entered the dream inexplicably."

"I am a terrible person. I admit that I failed to handle many things well and failed to maintain the proper distance between myself and the students."

"But, at the beginning, I really didn't plan to be with someone else when I was already with you."

"So, please trust me about the dream, okay?"

"..."

"..."

As his long explanation came to an end, the sound of his words touched the walls of the living room, echoed, and dissipated into the air, leaving no sound behind.

Hirakawa Tetsufumi had already finished explaining, but Hisada Masaki had yet to speak.

What was she thinking?

Would you accept such a reason?

Will you believe him?

Tetsufumi Hirakawa lowered his head, he didn't know, he was waiting for an answer.

After a long time, the depressing silence was no longer in my ears, and a gentle voice floated in the air... Even in this kind of occasion and situation, a gentle person's voice is still very gentle.

Although this kind of tenderness has a completely different meaning from usual times.

"Zhewen." Hisata called his name.

Hirakawa Tetsufumi raised his head and looked at her.

"Are you sure what you said is true?"

"...Yes, of course." After coming to his senses, Tetsufumi Hirakawa quickly nodded.

"..."

"..."

There was a slight fluctuation in his eyes, perhaps he was thinking about something.

After a while, Hisada Masu's voice floated into his ears again.

Light and gentle.

"To be honest, Zhewen, I have no reason not to believe you."

As Hisada Masu said this, she continued to stare at Hirakawa Tetsufumi quietly.

He sat very carefully and straight, his usual laziness completely gone... just like a child who had done something wrong facing his parents.

She really had no reason not to believe it. Or rather, she had absolutely no reason not to believe Pingchuan.

"You have never lied to me about anything, even when we were on the school trip, you and that Ye Yue classmate..."

"If you don't tell me about that, I won't know anything about it."

"But you told me anyway."

"I have always, always believed in you."

"We have known each other for more than a year, right?"

"Although it's not particularly long, it's enough for me to get to know you."

Mosui Hisada still remembers the time more than a year ago when she and Hirakawa first met.

There's nothing much to say, it's just an ordinary meeting.

He had just started working and when they met on the road, he asked her where the staff office was. She took him there, and that's how they became colleagues.

Very ordinary, normal things.

After all, nothing strange, such as the dreams or the twists and turns between her and Hirakawa, had ever happened.

For more than a year, their relationship has always been dull.

The feeling of liking accumulates quietly in our daily interactions.

In this way, during their daily interactions, she also gained a better understanding of this teacher and her colleague.

Beneath the seemingly lazy surface, he possesses his own firm determination and unchanging principles.

This is the kind of person she knows deeply.

Hisada Moki nodded slightly to express her opinion.

"That's right, you won't deceive me about this kind of thing."

"Even if it was something that happened before you were with me, you just didn't tell me, instead of choosing to make up a lie to cover it up."

"Because of the way we get along and my understanding of you, I can certainly give you the greatest trust, Zhewen."

"What's more, when you came back that day, you took the initiative to confess the truth to me."

"Since this is the case, there is no reason to go to the trouble of deceiving me again."

"Stepping back, if it was a fabricated reason, you should have been able to make up a more credible one, rather than making up a so-called dream that sounds absurd to deceive me."

"That's it, isn't it?"

A gentle questioning voice.

But such questions do not need to be answered.

This is what Hisada Moki asked herself.

That's right.

Although it sounds ridiculous, no matter how you look at it, there is no reason why Pingchuan could deceive her about this matter.

In this case, no matter how ridiculous it sounds, it should be true.

"but……"

"..."

A "but" sounded in the living room and floated into Hirakawa Tetsuwen's eardrum, causing his heart to skip a beat.

Their eyes met.

A hint of sadness appeared in Hisada Masu's eyes.

"Zhewen, even if I believe you and what you said, even when you were facing Shinohara-san, you didn't forget me in your heart, it was just a dream."

"But is there really any point in discussing this?"

"..."

Hisada Moshu paused for a moment, with an increasingly intense sadness still appearing in her eyes.

"After what happened, you're going to tell me that you can't let go of Shinohara-san anymore, right?"

"..."

The words hit the nail on the head. Tetsufumi Hirakawa's body stiffened and he was completely speechless.

In front of this teacher, his thoughts had nowhere to hide.

"Answer me, Zhewen, what are your thoughts?"

"..."

While he was avoiding Hisada's gaze and staring at the floor of the living room with his head down, Hisada Masaki spoke again and asked him to answer.

"..."

Tetsufumi Hirakawa closed his eyes.

That's right, he came here today just to confess.

But if I could, I really, really want to escape.

Don't want to face it, don't want to choose.

Because the reality is that choice means hurt.

Choosing all is also a choice, and it actually hurts everyone.

Shinohara, Hisata, Hazuki, and himself... When faced with such a situation, the person he likes looks at him sadly, how can he not feel sad?

However, there is no way. Even if you choose one of them, the result of this harm will not change.

Whether it is Hisata, Shinohara, or Ye Yue, from the perspective of possible excessive self-awareness, once he chooses one of them, it will hurt the others.

"..."

Hirakawa Tetsufumi opened his eyes, raised his gaze from the ground, and met the deep and sad eyes of the person opposite him again.

He nodded.

"That's right, I can't let go of Shinohara anymore."

"No matter how much it is called a dream, it is not a dream..."

"I can't escape from the things that happened in my dream. I think I need to take responsibility."

"...So what?" There was a slight tremor in Hisata Masaki's voice.

"..."