Book 3, Chapter 93 - The Pain of Secret Admiration

[Harry is not Brother Bing’s first man.]

Sis Ming You was so direct.

All this while, this matter had been a secret that hadn’t really been secret from anyone.

However, before Sis Ming You admitted it officially, we’d only been able to make wild guesses. Now she had finally admitted it, and in front of Harry no less.

I was in awe of Sis Ming You’s courage. If it was me, facing the guy that I liked... I might not have had the courage to speak up. Because... I would have been worried that I would be rejected.

All this while, it had always been me rejecting others.

Hence, I was afraid to be rejected. It would definitely be embarrassing.

Harry turned around, bearing some of Uncle Mason’s steadiness during his serious moods. I had never seen such an expression on Harry’s face before. If it wasn’t for him facing Sis Ming You directly now, I would never have known that Harry had his mature moments too.

He didn’t run away nor did he reveal a light-hearted expression and laugh it off. He didn’t make a joke and run away.

He could have totally done that because that would have been like the usual Harry.

But now, he looked so serious and solemn. He faced Sis Ming You maturely and gave off the charm of a mature adult who dealt with his problems instead of running away.

“Sis Ming You, I’m sorry. I...”

“I know, you don’t like me that way,” Sis Ming You said it herself. As if she didn’t want to hear it from Harry’s mouth.

Harry quieted, only watching Sis Ming You with concern.

To Harry, the girls in Noah City were all his sisters. He treated them gently and fairly, and he never wanted to hurt them.

Now, Harry definitely wasn’t feeling good. That was why he had kept running away and avoiding.

Sis Ming You must have been very important to Harry. There were actually many girls who liked Harry, like Xiao Jing and the others. Harry would only pat their heads and walk away as he chuckled.

Yet, he was now serious as he faced Sis Ming You.

“Harry, let me tell you everything that I’ve been holding in. After this, I won’t disturb you anymore.” Sis Ming You turned aside, as if she was unwilling to give in to herself.

Harry stared at Sis Ming You with a complicated expression, then lowered his head. “Mm.”

Sis Ming You became quiet. Seemingly panicking herself, she took a deep breath and blurted, “Actually, the one I was interested in at first was Military Officer Mason!”

I was surprised. Not just me, Harry’s eyes were also wide open in shock. His dumbfounded expression seemed rather complicated.

“But I knew it was impossible. Besides, I was also worried that Sis Ceci would beat me up. So, I started looking for traces of Military Officer Mason in you...” Sis Ming You continued with her head hung low. As if she knew Harry’s expression would be drastically changing with her words, and she wouldn’t be able to continue saying what she had to if she looked up at him.

Harry was gawking, his expression complicated. He clearly felt awkward and also a little distressed.

Harry must have been distressed to have been his dad’s replacement. So many people had confessed to him before but this was probably his first time being his dad’s substitute.

Somehow, I felt entertained as though someone had pulled a fast one on him.

Sis Ming You resolutely didn’t look at Harry. “So, I’ve been waiting for you to grow older. You were immature, childish, always chasing after novelties, always addressing every girl as your wife! You are fickle and you have no boundaries!” Sis Ming You gritted through her teeth in the end.

Harry pouted and said in distress, “I...” He looked like he wanted to defended himself.

“Shut up!” Sis Ming You shouted, seemingly having lost all control. She clenched her fists while Harry stood dumbfounded. I popped my head out and Harry’s eyes widened when he saw me. I quickly gestured at him: Don’t talk back when a girl is reprimanding you.

Harry looked aside in distress and furrowed his eyebrows. He seemed to have given up on explaining and was resigned to accepting all punishment and reprimand.

Since Sis Ming You had been hanging her head low, she didn’t notice Harry spotting me.

Taking a deep breath, Sis Ming You tried hard to calm herself down. “What’s so great about you?! Besides the fact that you look like Military Officer Mason, you aren’t stronger than him in any aspect!”

Harry instantly turned to face her in indignance, full of desire to refute. I quickly signaled at him with my hands again; only then did he hold back his urge.

“But... I realized that... I’d gradually fallen for you... You can complete all the missions. You bring back resources for everyone after every trip. You protect your brothers and you even defeated the Day Monster. You keep all of us safe...” Sis Ming You’s voice was shaking. “You make people feel safe... You are becoming more reliable... You’re now the strongest man in Noah City...”

Harry lowered his head, heartache surfacing in his complicated expression. He hesitantly extended his hand towards Sis Ming You’s shivering shoulder, only to slowly drop it back to his side in the end, his eyebrows tightly knitted.

“You seem light-hearted but you are actually very responsible. You appear fickle but you actually know nothing about romance. Hence, I waited... I waited for you to learn about romance. But... but-! You fell for another person!” Sis Ming You suddenly broke into tears and punched Harry’s chest over and over again.

Harry stood there without moving an inch, letting Ming You punch him.

“Why did you have to fall for another person! Another person! You only know to fancy the new and forget the old! You are fickle! Go ahead and fall for another person, but why do you have to be so intimate with Raffles! I really don’t know if you like guys or girls now! What do you want?! What do you want!! Tell me! Who do you like?! So that I can give up entirely!” Ming You roared at Harry as she roughly wiped away her tears.

Harry took a deep breath. Then, he lifted his chin to look at Ming You. When his eyes happened to meet mine, he stiffened, but he quickly covered it up by blinking. He looked at Ming You and asked, “Can you keep a secret!?”

“Yes!”

Harry leaned down and said something.

“Woo.” Sis Ming You suddenly cried. “I give up. Thank you...” Sis Ming You was gasping for air as she cried. That made my heart ache too.

Harry extended his hand and hugged Sis Ming You gently. He let her lean against his shoulders to cry, to release her stress of admiring his dad and himself for so many years.

I had never secretly admired anyone nor had I fallen for anyone. Hence, I couldn’t truly understand her pain. I was only able to feel that it would be embarrassing to be rejected but I couldn’t empathize with her pain.

But looking at how badly Sis Ming You was crying, her heart must have been aching!

If liking a person would end up causing me to hurt that bad after being rejected, I’d rather not like anyone. I didn’t want to be in pain. The way Sis Ming You cried looked very, very painful.

Sis Ming You cried for very, very long...

From wailing in tears to soft sobs, in the end, she let go of Harry’s shoulder and wiped her tears dry. “I can only blame myself for waiting. I didn’t know that a person’s heart isn’t something I can win just by waiting, that I can’t hold onto someone just because I like them...” Sis Ming You’s voice had grown hoarse from crying.

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