Jaelinne had never been apart from Noel, not even for a moment. From as far back as she could remember, he had always been by her side.

“What are you wearing today?”

When Noel lifted the hem of her skirt and asked, Jaelinne couldn’t help but blush.

There was nothing they didn’t know about each other—each other’s families, friends, trivial habits, and even the most private sides of themselves that no one else could see.

“J-just whatever was in front of me…”

Noel glanced at Jaelinne, who was shyly covering her mouth, and willingly bent down to his knees. His determination to see with his own eyes was unmistakable.

He was always like this. When it came to anything about Jaelinne, no matter how trivial, he had to know everything to be satisfied. 

They were now twenty years old. Even now, after their coming-of-age ceremony, when they were no longer children, nothing had changed.

Today, too, he had waited in front of the classroom until she finished her magic theory lecture, and brought her to an empty classroom the moment she came out.

The first thing Noel did when he opened his eyes in the morning was think about Jaelinne.

‘Will she wear her hair down today, or tie it up? The half-up style was pretty too. And her socks?’

Since she always dressed neatly, she would surely wear white socks today as well. He got up and headed to the bathroom, continuing his thoughts.

‘…I hope she’s wearing the underwear I bought her.’

Throughout his early morning swordsmanship class, Noel was completely distracted thinking about Jaelinne. He wanted to see her quickly. He wanted to check her appearance from head to toe without delay—how she looked today. 

Until he saw her, he couldn’t concentrate on anything. Only after seeing her could he finally breathe easily and his restlessness would subside.

Noel lifted the hem of her skirt that reached her knees and confirmed the color of her underwear right before his eyes.

“White.”

The white lace panties shyly covered her most private parts. Though it wasn’t the new underwear he had bought her last time, it wasn’t bad either. For a while, Noel stared intently at the delicate lace before softly running his hand over her curves.

“Ah, Noel… What if someone sees us…?”

“……”

Noel straightened from his crouched position and stood tall, looking directly at her. Her blouse, buttoned all the way up to her neck, and the neatly tied ribbon seemed to reflect her reserved nature.

Every time he saw Jaelinne looking so prim and proper, Noel had to suppress the urge to completely unravel her.

“You wore your hair down today.”

Her golden hair, mysteriously tinged with red, swayed at her waist. It was a warm color. He ran his fingers through her hair once and brought it to his lips. The sweet fragrance seemed to awaken his dazed mind.

“Yeah. I was too lazy to tie it up.”

When she smiled bashfully, Noel buried his face in her shoulder and took a deep breath. Her scent always calmed him. He closed his eyes, feeling her hand gently patting his back. Indeed, he couldn’t live without Jaelinne. 

She was all he had.