Chapter 46: prologue

Like Anne-Marie said, Yuri always had her hair tied up when she was working. But she didn’t really care what hair tie she used, and it seemed Anne-Marie had been taking note of that.

No wonder she felt Anne-Marie had been watching her closely since she gave her that hair ribbon. It was a gift that felt like Anne-Marie.

Yuri looked up and said to her.

“It’s really pretty. Thank you, Anne-Marie.”

And hearing that, Anne-Marie’s face brightened up like she was relieved.

“Um…can I do it for you?”

But the words she said next as she slightly blushed were once again unexpected. She looked just as bashful as Hestia did, when Yuri gave her flowers yesterday. If someone saw this, they would think she was a shy girl giving a gift to someone she liked on valentine’s day.

“Yes. Thank you.” (Yuri)

There was really no reason to refuse, plus Yuri was grateful for the present.

Anne-Marie looked delighted.

Yuri turned around to show her back as Anne-Marie came closer with the ribbon. She could feel a careful touch moving delicately behind her. Then finally, Anne-Marie’s bright voice rang out.

“I’m done, Ms. Yur…”

“Hello, Ms. Yuri! Now I see you’re especially more dazzling at lunch!”

That exact moment, a familiar frivolous voice flew in, catching them unawares. The man with a mop of brown hair that was just entering the coffeehouse was Snow, as expected.

“Today, I’d like some lemona…”

Flap!

“Ack!”

And as usual, he was bombarded by birds. But today, it wasn’t bird droppings. Perhaps it decided to change its means of torment, because the crow dropped a worm on Snow’s head this time (who knows where it got it from).

Caw!

The crow that just bombed Snow for lunch sat down majestically on the roof on the shop, like it was performing a ceremony.

“Oh my god, are you okay?” (Anne-Marie)

Yuri frowned slightly and glanced at the crow, thinking it was doing the most.[1] Unsurprisingly, Anne-Marie who was behind her did not ignore Snow’s plight.

She approached Snow, who was scooping his hair with surprise. He didn’t seem to know that it was a worm dropped on him today instead bird droppings. Then again, the crow had only dropped dung on him so far, so it made sense.

Yuri watched the two of them get closer.

“Oh, are you the silver angel from the clinic?”

Snow called out the next moment, and the words made Yuri cringe terribly.

Did Anne-Marie have such a nickname?

It did suit her but hearing someone actually say it, made her ear bleed a little.

“Uh, if you don’t mind, I can help you with that.”

Anne-Marie took out her handkerchief and lifted her hand. It looked like she planned on wiping off the bug from Snow’s head personally.

“Wow, a beauty with a heart just a beautiful! But I’ll just appreciate the gesture.”

However, Snow refused.

“I can’t let Angel-nim use her handkerchief on this kind of thing.”

But if she heard this and stepped back here, she wouldn’t be the angelic heroine.

“No. A handkerchief is meant for this kind of thing.”

“It’s really fi…”

“Please stay still for a moment.”

With no time to stop her, Anne-Marie’s hand reached for Snow’s hair. Instantly, Snow flinched. And a sharp hand hit her hand.

Smack!

A sound much louder than expected rang out in the coffeehouse.

Yuri was a little surprised.

“Ah.”

Snow who had reflexively struck Anne-Marie’s hand also looked taken aback by his own actions. It was the first time Yuri saw his smile disappear from his face.

Anne-Marie’s handkerchief fluttered to the floor, leaving her porcelain-like skin which now had a slightly reddish tint to the back of her hand. She was staring at the person in front of her, with her lips slightly parted like she was surprised by this situation.

The gazes of other people in the coffeehouse also quickly focused on the two. Snow seemed to sense the frozen atmosphere and opened his mouth. But before he could say anything, Anne-Marie spoke first.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”

She quickly straightened her expression and calmly apologized to Snow.

“It’s become a habit taking care of my sister, so I unconsciously made a mistake. Sorry if I upset you.”

“…No. I was the one who overreacted.”

Snow replied a beat late and bent to pick up Anne-Marie’s handkerchief from the floor. And when he stood up again, his face had its usual silly smile.

“I didn’t expect such a beautiful person to touch me directly so I was way too surprised.”

He looked friendly, like he hadn’t just shot down Anne-Marie’s hand with a fierce attack. After seeing Snow react like this, Yuri was almost certain.

‘This guy, he’s really my favorite character, isn’t he?’

He was most likely Genos Sheldon, from the looks of things. In the novel, there was a scene similar to this one. And if her guess was right, the hair on Snow’s head right now was a wig.

She had always had that thought somewhere in the back of her mind so now, it simply made sense why she usually felt something was a bit unnatural about Snow’s hair.

In addition, in the novel, Genos Sheldon had an extreme distaste for other people’s touch. Although as the story progressed, he was gradually healed by the heroine, Anne-Marie.

And if you add last time when he told her to be careful of birds…

Her favorite character had a weak power of foresight.

And while Yuri was looking at Snow with suspicion, Snow was shaking the handkerchief he picked up vigorously.

“Ahh, I even made you drop your handkerchief by mistake, I’ll shake it clean for you.”

“No, it’s fine.”

“No, no! I can’t give Angel-nim a dirty handkerchief.”

“Rather than that, the thing on your head…”

“My hair is fine…I’ll just go home and soa…I mean, wash it!”[2]

Anne-Marie looked flustered by Snow’s fussiness.

Yuri clicked her tongue under her breath and walked up to the two.

“Mr. Snow.”

Then Snow looked at Yuri with exaggerated surprise all over his face.

“Gasp, Ms. Yuri showed interest in me first, did the sun rise from Carnot today?”[3]

Yuri ignored his words.

“There’s a bug on your head.”

Snow didn’t seem to understand what Yuri meant right away. A moment later, his hand moved stiffly to feel around on his mop of brown hair. At last, something wriggling was caught between his fingers.

“Urgh!”

Snow shuddered and threw the bug away. Anne-Marie looked at him with pity in her eyes. Yuri clicked her tongue again then she asked Snow.

“You ordered a lemonade, right?”

“Yes…please make it strong.”

His reply was filled with an air of depression, maybe he was shocked to have touched the worm with his bare hands, or maybe he was embarrassed about the disturbance caused because of the bug.

The kind-hearted Anne-Marie felt sorry to see Snow like this and gently offered her handkerchief.

“Um, would you like to clean your hands?”

“Thank you…”

This time, Snow did not refuse.

“If you want to wash your hands, I can bring you some water.”

After watching the two of the like that, Yuri turned around.

If this guy was Genos Sheldon, then the heroine and the sub-male lead were just getting to know each other for the first time. Even in the novel, Genos Sheldon was subconsciously cold to the heroine, then from the on, he gradually began to care about her.

Like that, Yuri moved to enter the store.

“Huh? Ms. Yuri’s head…”

Snow seemed to discover something on Yuri and said. Yuri unconsciously raised her hand.

‘Is there a bug on my head too?’

She was momentarily suspicious due to what happened to Snow earlier so she checked her hair but found nothing. Thinking he might be playing a joke on her, Yuri’s expression cooled.

“Ah, Ms. Yuri! The ribbon looks great on you!”

But thanks to the Anne-Marie’s cry that came soon afterwards, Snow’s innocence was proven. Anne-Marie seemed to have just remembered what she forgot to say.

‘Oh, come to think of it, Snow came just as I put on Anne-Marie’s gift.’

Snow also looked a little surprised for some reason and began to speak again.

“Yeah, Ms. Yuri. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a nice hair band…”

“When I saw it at the store, I thought it would fit Ms. Yuri perfectly but it is really so pretty!”

“As expected, everything suits Ms. Yu…”

“Her hair is as beautiful as the night sky; how can anything not suit her!”

However, Snow’s words were crushed to pieces by Anne-Marie. Snow seemed a little broken-hearted that the silver angel of the clinic was eating up all his words.

Anne-Marie pushed Snow’s behavior aside and followed Yuri while continuing her generous praise.

“Thank you. It’s because you have a good eye, Anne-Marie.”

“Not at all! It’s because Ms. Yuri is so pretty! Oh, the ribbon is a little crooked. Let me fix that a bit.”

Translator’s Corner:

[1] Doing the most: an American slang which I thought would fit this perfectly. The literal translation is: it was doing everything and anything. Basically doing all sorts of nonsense.

[2] Go home and soa…: In Korean, the word for ‘washing hair’, and ‘washing clothes/other stuff’ are different. So basically he was starting to say the word for washing clothes first, then switched it.

[3] Did the sun rise from Carnot: Carnot is in the west…You know the whole, ‘the sun rises in the east and sets in the west’.