4★town | DDLC au | PLEASE READ THE INFO CHAPTER!

{Act 3} Second Day (Part 2/2)

Tw: mention of čvțţ1ñģ

I quickly retrieve the book that I had put into my bag. "Alright...it's fine if I sit here, right?" I slip into the seat next to Taeyoung's. "Ah...! Yeah..." "Are you sure? You seem a little apprehensive..." "That's... I'm sorry... it's not that I don't want you to! It's just something I'm not very used to... that is, reading in company with someone" "I see... well, just tell me of I end up distracting you or anything" "A-Alright..." I open the book and start the prologue. I soon understood what Taeyoung means about reading in company. It's as if I can feel his presence over my shoulder as I read. It's not a particularly bad thing. Maybe a little distracting, but the feeling is somewhat comforting. Taeyoung is in the corner of my eye. I realize that he's not actually looking at his own book. I glance over. It looks like he's reading from my book instead- "S-Sorry! 🅘︎ 🅦︎🅐︎🅢︎ 🅙︎🅤︎🅢︎🅣︎ 🅑︎🅐︎🅣︎🅗︎🅘︎🅝︎🅖︎ 🅘︎🅝︎ 🅣︎🅗︎🅔︎ 🅕︎🅡︎🅡︎🅛︎🅘︎🅝︎🅖︎ 🅞︎🅕︎ 🅤︎🅞︎🅤︎🅡︎ 🅑︎🅞︎🅓︎🅨︎ 🅗︎🅔︎🅐︎🅣︎ 🅣︎🅣︎🅣︎🅣︎🅣︎🅣︎🅣︎🅣︎🅣︎🅣︎🅣︎🅣︎🅣︎🅗︎🅔︎🅐︎🅣︎ 🅔︎🅐︎🅣︎🅣︎🅣︎🅣︎🅣︎🅣︎🅣︎" "Taeyoung, you really apologize a lot, don't you?" "I...I do? I don't really mean to... sorry... I mean-!" "Ahaha. Here, this should work, right?" I slide my desk until it's up against Taeyoung's, then hold book more between the two of them. "Ah... I-I suppose so..." Taeyoung timidly closes his own copy. Once we each lean in a little bit, our shoulders are almost touching. It feels like my left arm is in the way, so instead I use my right hand to hold the book open. "Ah, I guess that makes it kind of difficult to turn the page..." "Here..." Taeyoung takes his left arm and holds the left side of the book between his thumb and forefinger. "Ah..." I do the same with my right arm, on the right side of the book. That way, I turn a page, and Taeyoung slides it under his thumb after it flips to his side. But in holding it like this... we're huddled even closer together than before. It's actually kind of distracting me...! It's as if I can feel the warmth of Taeyoung's face, and he's in the corner of my vision... "...Are you ready?" "Eh?" "To turn the page..." "Ah...sorry! I think I got a bit distracted for a second..." I glance over at our eyes meet. I don't know how I'll be able to keep up with him... "Ah... that's okay you're not as used to reading, right? I don't mind being patient if it takes you a bit longer... it's probably the least I can do... since you've been so patient with me..." "Y-Yeah... thanks" We continue reading. Taeyoung no longer asks me if I'm ready to turn the page. Instead, I just assume that he finishes the page before me, so I turn it by my own volition. We continue the first chapter in silence. Even so, turning each page almost feelsblike an intimate exchange...My thumb gently letting go of the page, letting it flutter over to his side as he catches it under his own thumb. "Hey, Taeyoung... this might be a silly thought, but... the main character kind of reminds me of you a little bit" "E-Eh?? N-No, I don't relate to this character at all! Definitely not!" His face looks a bit surprised at what I said and he sounds nervous. "Really...? I was just thinking the way she second-guesses things she says, and all that..." "A-Ah... that's what you were talking about... sorry... I thought you meant...something else about her" "Something else...?" "N-Never mind! We didn't even get that far yet... so I don't know why that came into my head... ahaha!" "Taeyoung, are you feeling alright?" "Eh-?" Taeyoung's been a little fidgety ever since we started reading... "You can rest if you're feeling sick or something your breathing is a little..." "My breathing...?" Taeyoung puts his hands to his chest, as if to feel his heartbeat. "I-I didn't...even notice... anyway, I'm fine! I just need some water...!" "Alright...don't push yourself" Taeyoung stands up and practically rushes out of the classroom. "What on Earth was that about...?" "Z? Did something happen just now?" Jesse says to me "Eh? I have no idea...Taeyoung was acting a little strange, I guess..." "So you don't onow anything..." "Sorry, I can't say I do are you worried about him?" "Oh...no, not really I was just making sure that you didn't do anything to him" "N-No, nothing!" "Ahaha, don't worry...I believe you, silly Taeyoung just does this sometimes, so it's nothing alarming" "Alright...if you say so" "Anyway, why don't we start sharing our poems with each other?" "Eh? Shouldn't we wait for Taeyoung?" "Well, he might be a while, so I just figured we'd get started without him is that okay?" "Yeah, I was just asking..." I stand up. I make a mental note of where I left off in the book, then I slip it back into my bag
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{Who should I show my poem to first?}