Male Lead, Please Dump Me Three Times - Chapter 34

“I also… have something I want to say to Ray.”

“Okay. What is it?”

Ray gently rubbed the back of my hand as he saw me hesitating.

“About that day. The day we encountered each other at Ruina’s mansion.”

“Okay.”

“I’m sorry for being harsh with my words.”

“….”

Suddenly, Ray’s hand, which had been rubbing the back of mine, stopped.

“I think you must have felt really bad… It seems I was in a bad mood that day. But still, I shouldn’t have….”

“Daisy.”

I lifted my head, which I had dropped, to meet his eyes. Ray was looking at me with a tender gaze.

“It’s okay. I wasn’t upset.”

Every so often, I thought Ray’s gaze was frightening.

Because of his bloodshot eyes and fierce look.

But at some point, the way he looked at me became warm.

It was the same right now.

“Really?”

“Yeah. But I was a little hurt.”

His voice was deep, low, and cool.

At some point, that voice, which had a sharp edge to it, became tender.

“Ah….”

“It feels like everything would be resolved if you just hugged me once.”

I was reassured by Ray’s playful tone.

I said with a pleasant smile, 

“Okay.”

* * *

Ray hugged me fully, just like the last time.

It wasn’t suffocating or claustrophobic-inducing, nor was it lacking; it was just the right amount of snugness.

Could there be a more stable position in the world?

It was so warm and comfortable that such a thought crossed my mind.

It was an ideal position.

“Daisy. Are you uncomfortable?”

“No. I’m not uncomfortable. What about you, Ray?”

“I’m not uncomfortable either.”

“That’s good.”

I lifted my head and showed a bright smile.

“Aren’t you cold?”

“No. It’s actually rather warm. Maybe we should remove the blanket….”

“It’s better to be warm than cold. We wouldn’t want you catching a cold.”

Ray firmly grabbed my hand, which was trying to push the blanket away.

“What the. Why ask if you’re going to do that…!”

I shouldn’t have said anything.

Now it’s gotten even warmer….

I grumbled as I snuggled into Ray’s embrace.

Ray’s soft laughter sounded above my head.

“Hmph. You’re not fun at all, you know?”

“Daisy.”

“Yes?”

“Can I hug you a bit tighter?”

“Would that help you sleep better?”

“Yes.”

“Then, sure. Do as you like. It’s not like it hurts.”

I giggled as I spoke.

Even while we were lying close together like this, it was somewhat funny that Ray would ask about every little thing.

“Ugh. Too tight…!”

I immediately understood why Ray had asked me.

He seemed intent on squeezing me tightly into his embrace, as if to lock my entire body within his arms.

“You said I could do as I like.”

“Agh, loosen it a bit, will you? I can’t breathe.”

At my words, Ray relaxed his grip slightly.

“But if you hug that tightly, you can’t breathe either, right? Or is it different… being hugged versus hugging?”

“I’m not sure. I’ve never been hugged before, so I don’t really know.”

“Then you’ve hugged before?”

“Yes.”

“What, really?! When? With whom?”

Surprised, I lifted my head towards Ray.

“Are you curious?”

Ray looked down at me with round eyes, a languid smile on his lips.

“Uh… um….”

Why am I curious…?

No, wait.

It’s natural to be curious!

Ray was definitely set up as a man of integrity!

“You hugged me last time. Have you forgotten?”

Suddenly, heat rushed to my face.

“Oh, that… Of course… I remember….”

“We agreed not to misunderstand each other, right?”

“What about?”

“That was the first time I ever held someone like that. I’ve never been this close to anyone before.”

“Yes….”

Dangerous.

Actually, from the moment I came to this office today, I felt strange.

My toes curled and my heart felt fluffy.

‘Is this really okay…? We agreed not to misunderstand each other. Am I doing something wrong to Ray…? It feels like I’m sullying him somehow… touching him….’

“Daisy?”

“Yes, yes?!”

“What are you thinking about?”

Ray propped his head with one hand and teased me while rubbing my waist with the other.

“That… You don’t have any pain recently, do you?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Just in case….”

I always wondered if Ray was just enduring painfully or if he was truly okay.

“You always ask if I’m in pain. Are you worried about me?”

“Yes.”

I thought it was just a meaningless greeting…

Ray remembered all of it.

He always said he was fine.

“Why?”

“Just… just because.”

I dodged the question and burrowed into his embrace, then quietly closed my eyes.

It was as warm and it smelled as good as always.

‘Ray… are you really okay…?’

As if knowing my worried heart, Ray gently patted my back with his broad hand.

And so, I slowly fell asleep.

* * *

“Ah…!”

A strange pain pierced through my skin, causing my body to shudder.

“Daisy? What’s wrong?”

Startled by my groan, Ray quickly got up.

“Ah, it’s nothing……”

I was fine until now.

Suddenly, the soreness in the wound on my leg intensified.

An unknown liquid, whether pus or blood, was running down my leg.

“Could it be.”

He murmured in a trembling voice.

He began to touch and examine me here and there.  

“Ah…!”

A moan escaped me as Ray’s touch reached the wound.

He carefully lifted the dress.

Ray’s brows furrowed deeply.

Startled, I finally got up and quickly grabbed Ray’s hand that was lifting the dress, stopping him.

“It’s okay. Really. I just scraped it a bit when I fell earlier.”

Ray ignored my words and lifted the dress even higher.

The outer fabric of the red dress was stained with blood.

As expected, there was also a palm-sized bloodstain hardened on the sofa.

“Ah, what do we do… The blood got on the sofa. This was just replaced recently, wasn’t it…?”

I bent down to wipe the blood off Ray’s sofa with my sleeve.

But the hardened bloodstain did not come off easily.

Ray firmly grabbed my wrist and said,

“The sofa is not important right now. Let me see.”

Ray once again lifted my dress up to my thigh and examined the wound.

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I really was okay until now… It didn’t hurt at all……”

“You should have told me. The blood is flowing like this.”

“……”

Ray looked down at the wound with a serious gaze and quickly got up.

“Ray, where are you going?”

“We need to treat this. I’ll contact the infirmary.”

“Wait a minute! Just treat it yourself, Ray.”

“No. I’m not a doctor.”

“Can’t you just treat it? Just disinfect it a bit…, just apply some medicine……”

“I said no.”

“Come on. It’s not that serious. The blood is already clotting, so it seems like it’ll be fine… Just disinfecting and applying a bandage might be…… okay, right?”

“Daisy. Please.”

Ray ran his hand through his hair irritably. Then he looked at me with a serious gaze.

Ray’s gaze became cold again.

“I don’t want to show my leg to others…… I have to lift the dress up to my thigh……”

It was actually a lie.

What if I have to get an injection?

I hate injections.

Especially if pus were to form, they would certainly try to dig out the wound.

The thought of the pain burrowing into my flesh made the hairs on my body stand on end.

“You’re just going to get treated.”

“Ray can do it too… Are you just being lazy?”

“Do I look like I’m being lazy right now?”

I sat there like a scolded child.

Was it really something to scold so fiercely about…

I felt a bit hurt.

I didn’t want to meet his sharp gaze, so I lowered my head.

‘I hate injections… I hate the idea of them digging into the wound with cold metal too…’

I even hated getting preventive shots and ended up catching a cold every year.

“……”

When I didn’t say anything, Ray turned back and approached me again.

Then he knelt down, met my eyes, and said,

“What if it leaves a scar?”

“It’s really not that serious… You’re overreacting.”

“Daisy.”

“Okay, I get it. But I really want Ray to treat it. Honestly… I hate injections… What if you have to dig into the wound… I hate pain…”

“How can someone who hates pain endure this?”

“I didn’t get hurt because I wanted to…”

Feeling unjustly sad, I lowered my head again, my lips pouting without me realizing.

“Okay. Sorry, I misspoke.”

I slightly lifted my head to gauge Ray’s reaction to my words.

It was me who was hurt.

But his expression looked as if he was the one hurt.

“It really doesn’t hurt as much as it looks. You know I can’t lie.”

“Still, if you were hurt, you should have told me. What if the wound gets worse?”

“I didn’t want to unnecessarily worry you. I also didn’t want you to blame yourself, Ray… I wanted to let you rest comfortably for once, but it seemed like worrying you about it would make me even more anxious.”

Ray let out a light sigh and said,

“Just wait a moment.”

“Okay…”

* * *

Ray carefully wiped away the bloodstains that had flowed down and then hardened on the wound.

Then he gently blew on my wound and evenly applied disinfectant over the area.

“Does it hurt?”

The cold disinfectant stung where it touched.

But fearing that showing pain would make Ray look scared, I bit down hard and endured it.

I shook my head at his question and said,

“It doesn’t hurt. It feels cool.”

Deep wrinkles were still furrowed in Ray’s brow.

I stroked his brow with my fingertips and said,

“Don’t frown. You look good even when you’re frowning, but you look better when you’re not. No, maybe frowning looks better…? It’s really hard to decide…”

I tilted my head, pondering.

It was a battle of the ages.

Expressionless Ray, frowning Ray, smiling Ray, hurting Ray — they each had their own charm…

“Daisy. If you keep this up, I’m going to call a doctor.”

“I’ll be quiet.”

Ray let out a deep sigh.

Really.

Even I thought I seemed like someone who couldn’t grasp the situation.

“But I acted like it was nothing because it wasn’t that bad. If it hurt, I wouldn’t have been wondering which Ray is the best…”

“……”

Ray’s hand hovered in the air for a moment. Then he looked up at me with a sharp gaze again.

“I’ll stay still.”

He soon sighed lightly again and said while applying a gauze,

Ray’s hands, treating the wound, were skilled.

Given his profession, he seemed to have quite a lot of experience with this kind of thing.

“Daisy.”

“Yes?”

“Even if you say you’re okay, don’t hide things like this. Because I’m not okay with it.”