Side Story.11

Ariel prepared everything she needed for a cool proposal to Noah, and from early morning she was busy without a moment to spare.

From dawn, she got dressed up by someone introduced by one of the members, put on a new outfit made by a designer, and arrived at the promised place right on time. It was a tight schedule, like a mission with no room for error.

Arriving just in time, Ariel saw Noah waiting, dressed smartly.

“Sorry, did you wait long?”

“No, not really. I came out early, so it’s not even the appointed time yet.”

Noah studied Ariel closely.

“By the way… that look…”

He didn’t say more, but his gaze was more intense than words. Ariel was wearing makeup she never used and a fancy outfit she wouldn’t wear even to formal events.

“What? What is it?”

“……”

“I just wanted to dress up today, that’s all!”

“…Let’s go with that.”

Ariel turned her gaze away from Noah’s long sigh, pretending not to notice, and led him to the reserved restaurant.

Inside, the staff greeted Ariel and Noah warmly and led them to the seats she’d reserved in advance.

“There’s no one here.”

“Huh? Oh, right. Hahaha, how strange. Isn’t it?”

“This place is always busy, isn’t it?”

“Uh, yeah? Maybe something happened today…”

Ariel kept making excuses, even asking the staff to agree with her. She had to avoid revealing that she’d rented out the restaurant for the proposal, no matter what.

Once seated, a staff member handed them menus. Ariel pretended to look at the menu while mentally reviewing her plan.

First, make conversation and eat naturally. Then, when the dessert cake arrives, read the prepared letter. The rings Lloyd gave her were already with the staff, who would bring them at the right time. Ariel would then give the ring to Noah and propose.

Ariel took a silent, deep breath to calm her nerves and reached into her pocket for the letter she’d worked on for days. But strangely, no matter how she searched, she couldn’t find it.

Panicking, Ariel checked her other pockets, but the letter was nowhere to be found.

She closed her eyes and tried to recall the morning. She’d been so nervous she couldn’t sleep, so she’d gone over the plan and imagined everything over and over. She’d read the letter dozens of times. Then, needing rest, she’d gone to bed…

The letter… left on the table… after sleeping…

Ariel was speechless at her own foolishness. She couldn’t remember putting the letter in her pocket after getting ready that morning.

Of all days, why did she make such a mistake on such an important day!

Of course, she remembered the contents of the letter. She’d poured her heart into every word, revising and rereading it hundreds of times. Forgetting it would be stranger.

But remembering and saying it aloud were different. Could she really convey the letter’s contents to Noah properly? Ariel couldn’t answer that question positively, no matter how much she tried.

“Is something wrong?”

“Huh? Oh, no. Nothing.”

Ariel snapped back to reality at Noah’s voice, looking forward as Noah studied her with concern. Ariel shook her head and hands vigorously to insist she was fine.

But that was all she could do. She couldn’t even tell if she was eating through her nose or mouth, and her conversation with Noah barely registered.

“…I’m trying to arrange the schedule, what do you think?”

“…”

“Are you okay?”

“Huh? What did you say?”

Noah’s expression grew serious as Ariel struggled to respond.

“Sorry! I’m really sorry. I’m trying to focus…”

“If you’re worried, you can talk to me.”

“Huh? Uh… that’s a bit…”

If it were anything else, maybe. But this was different—she couldn’t ask her proposal target for advice on proposing.

“…I see.”

Noah turned his attention to his food. Ariel felt a pang of loneliness. She wanted to explain, but clenched her fists and endured.

Anyway, the proposal was about to happen. After it was all over, if Ariel explained that this was the reason, Noah would surely understand.

“Th-that aside! Cake! I want to eat cake!”

“But you haven’t even touched the main dish yet.”

“…Ah. Ahaha. R-right?”

Ariel scratched her head in embarrassment, and Noah let out a short sigh before gesturing for a staff member and exchanging a few words.

“Why?”

“I asked them to bring the dessert right away.”

“What? No! Eat in order! I just misspoke…”

“Are you not interested in food today?”

Ariel wanted to deny it, but Noah was right. She hadn’t eaten anything since dawn because she was busy preparing for the proposal, but strangely, she wasn’t hungry. In fact, eating more would probably make her feel sick.

“Still, you should eat…”

“I’m not really hungry either.”

Ariel frowned and asked, 

“Why not? Are you sick? Is something wrong?”

Noah just sighed.

“Why? What is it? Why do you keep sighing?”

Ariel genuinely worried, but Noah stared at her for a moment, sighed again, and said nothing. As Ariel began lecturing him to speak up if he was sick or wanted something else, the staff brought out the cake to their table.

Noah picked up Ariel’s plate and naturally grabbed a knife. Ariel stopped him by grabbing his wrist. Noah looked at Ariel’s silent face for a moment, then set down both the plate and knife.

“Noah, to be honest, I don’t think our relationship is that great.”

Ariel began, bowing her head, almost closing her eyes as she tried to recall the contents of her letter.

The letter went something like this: Ariel and Noah were different in personality, thinking, and behavior. Neither one ever backed down, so they always fought. Finding common ground was hard, and until recently, Ariel couldn’t even imagine being with Noah.

But still, they came to understand each other and fell in love. She wanted to continue that powerful love until death and live happily together. So, she wanted to ask if Noah would marry her, ending with a proposal.

All of this was in Ariel’s mind, but nerves scrambled her thoughts until her mind went blank and she couldn’t remember the exact words from the letter.

With no choice, Ariel tried to keep the general flow and spoke with words that came to her in themoment.

“You’re too cautious, and I’m too impulsive. We think differently, prioritize differently, act differently. That’s why we’ve fought a lot, and we’ll probably keep fighting.”

When writing this part of the letter, Ariel had thought about their past. Back then, it had been frustrating and infuriating, but now it was softened by nostalgia.

“Sometimes I wonder if this is really okay… So… we… we…”

Ariel’s words faltered. She felt a disconnect between the letter and what she was saying.

‘This isn’t right… There’s something I’m missing…’

Ariel glanced up and saw Noah’s eyes had changed. Whether angry or sad, his blue eyes were filled with emotions Ariel couldn’t read.

It seemed the perfect proposal had failed. All the help and planning had unraveled the moment Ariel left the letter behind. With a sigh, Ariel said,

“So what I’m trying to say is…”

At that moment, Noah stood up and grabbed Ariel’s arm. Ariel stopped speaking, unable to get out the most important line, and instead blurted out a confused question.

“Huh? Why, what’s wrong?”

Noah just looked at Ariel in silence. After several deep breaths, Noah finally spoke.

“There’s somewhere I want to go.”

“Huh?”

“Would you come with me?”

“R-right now?”

Even though the plan was ruined, Ariel still wanted to give Noah the ring and say the proposal words. But Noah gave off a vibe that he was refusing to be refused.

As Ariel hesitated, Noah pulled her up by the arm. Naturally, Ariel stood and followed Noah toward the exit.

Ariel knew she should get the ring from the staff, so she called Noah’s name several times in confusion, but Noah walked out as if he couldn’t hear her.

Honestly, it would have been easy to stop Noah—Ariel could have planted her feet, resisted, and forced an explanation. Noah would have explained if she asked.

But Ariel couldn’t do it. Noah’s hand, holding her arm, was trembling ever so slightly—enough to make it seem like he was barely holding on.

Not knowing what was going on, Ariel decided to just follow Noah. Soon, she recognized the familiar surroundings. She could easily guess the destination.