《Exorcism 101: Where Love can Cure Ghost Possession》Episode 16 - Cross-dressing for the Popular Idol?
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After getting a chair and a desk in the storage room with Aimy, we immediately went back to the room. In there, Ms. Sarrah said, “Sir Larry said that all of you should go at the gym before eight. I don’t know why but it sounds urgent.”
“Yes, Ma’am,” Aimy and I replied.
So this is what will happen if I got here earlier in the last three worlds.
“Where do you want to line?” Ms. Sarrah asked.
“In the 1st column,” Aimy replied.
At my back, huh.
“Then, I’m going,” Ms. Sarrah said and left the room.
After the morning class, our classmates immediately surrounded her and asked her their questions.
Well, I gotta eat lunch. Just after I got out of the door, someone suddenly called me from the left side.
"Or, let’s eat lunch," Sheena invited with a smile.
Once again, my cross produced a red light and formed these words:
[Sure.]
[Sorry, I still have something to do.]
Sheena, huh.
"Sorry. I have something to do. Maybe next time," I said with a smile.
"Sheena, let’s eat lunch," two girls suddenly said after appearing behind her.
"Then, sure. Or, see you later," she said with a somewhat sad smile.
"Later."
In the real world that is.
After I bought my usual chocolate roll bread in the cafeteria, I immediately went to the rooftop.
"..."
I wonder how long since I enjoyed this zephyr alone.
Suddenly, the door of the rooftop opened.
"Orel?"Aimy reacted with a smile after spotting me.
"Aimy? What are you doing here?" I asked.
After she closed the distance between us, she replied, "I just want to eat lunch with you."
"What happened to our classmates that are surrounding you?"
"Well, running away is my specialty after all," she replied with a mischievous smile.
"But, how will you eat? It looks like you don’t have any food there."
"You’re right,” she said and chuckled. “All I could think of is how to escape after all. I forgot to buy a lunch.”
"Here," I said and threw my second chocolate roll bread at her.
Well, she somehow caught it clumsily.
"I am always buying two of that so you can have it."
"Then, thanks once again," she replied with a smile.
I then sat down even though I am eating while standing earlier. Because of that, she sat down next to me very closely.
You're too close! But…she smells extremely good. As expected to a popular idol.
"Hmm? Is something wrong, Orel?" she asked with a smile.
"I-it’s nothing,” I replied while trying to hide my blushed face.
After she finished eating, she suddenly stared at my half empty water bottle. Don't tell me...
"Are you thirsty?" I asked.
"Well…sort of."
"I’m going to buy a drink for you."
"But…this is the 5th floor you know."
Yeah. It will be an extremely hard work.
"That water bottle…do you still want that?"
"Huh?" I reacted, not expecting those words.
"There is still a quarter of it. If its fine to you, can I have that?" she asked with a smile.
“Well…yes,” I said with a reluctant face.
“Then,” she said and took the bottle from my hand.
"Wait…” I muttered, not so sure if I should really give it to her.
“Hm?” she reacted with a smile, waiting what I will say.
"Is it really okay?"
"Okay?" she asked with a clueless expression.
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"Nothing," I followed and averted my gaze.
What a straight-forward girl.
She then gulped all of its remaining content and asked, "Is this what they call 'indirect kiss'?"
"!"
What the heck should I say at a time like this?
"Anyway, it really is soothing here," she said after stretching her arms upward.
"Do you mean the wind?" I asked, trying to regain my composure.
"What I mean is this peaceful day. I don’t have to eat very fast right now after all."
"It looks like your schedule is quite hectic before," I commented with a serious face.
"Well, there is always a shooting of movies and TV shows, concerts, recordings and regular practice of my singing and dancing and many more. It is always quite busy every day."
"How about you’re sleeping hours?"
"Around five hours per night."
"Looks like really tough."
"Well, I am already used to it."
"Are you regretting it sometimes? You being popular and busy I mean."
Suddenly, a zephyr blew at our position.
She gave me a smile and replied, "Never. It is my own decision after all. And also, I feel alive from doing this."
"But the slump came, huh."
"Yup. I left my work for another work. Sounds funny, right?" she asked with a forced smile.
"No," I replied with seriousness.
She then got surprised from my reply.
"You can devote yourself in your work. That might be the reason why you have so many fans. Because they know how amazing you are," I followed.
"..."
"Aimy?" I called with a wondering face because of her sudden silence.
"Want to work in showbiz?" she whispered.
"Huh?"
"Just now, you look extremely handsome. You are even more handsome than some of my acquaintance in showbiz, you know."
"Are you kidding me?"
"O-of course not. Those eyes…it is so cool you know."
What the heck is with this conversation?
"All of my acquaintance said that my eyes were scary. It is really squinty you know."
"Squinty? I think it is languid rather than squinty.”
“You really are strange.”
“But maybe my own feelings are affecting my judgment.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“N-nothing. Forget about that,” she said and forced a laugh.
"And anyway, I don’t have any interest in that field.”
A popular loner? What kind of joke is that?
"Well, only a few wants to be popular after all," she followed.
Wrong. Humans seek popularity. They want to be popular as much as possible just to boast. That is why social networking sites are invented. Those darn sites are invented for humans who want to be popular as much as possible. Well, the reason why there are only few idols is because of the low birth rate of good-looking people. Not all are good looking after all.
“I guess it’s time to start my mission,” I thought to myself.
I immediately stood up and looked at Aimy.
"Orel?"
"Want to take the first step towards the normal high school life?" I asked while looking down.
"Right now? Then, let’s start," she replied excitedly.
"That is…impossible," I followed, still looking at her eyes.
Because of what I've said, she got surprised.
"Why? You said that you will help me, right?"
"But there are things in this world that is impossible to achieve."
"Then, are you saying that…my efforts to go here…are all wasted?" she asked with a sudden sad expression.
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"Do you think that an extremely popular idol like you can experience a normal life? You can make the crowd go wild just from walking around, you know.”
"That is..." she immediately followed but looked down after a couple of seconds.
"..."
"I thought that I can do anything…as long as I don’t give up," she said with a face of a person who already gave up.
The logic of blessed and lucky people, huh.
"But…I can make the impossible possible," I continued, still with a serious expression.
"Huh?"
"I can grant that wish…if you will trust me."
I then offered my hand to let her decide.
She then gave me a smile and replied, "Then, I will trust you."
She then took my hand and stood up.
"Then, what is the first step, Orel?"
"The basic of a normal high school life, skipping class."
Aimy's problem is her popularity. No matter what she does, she can never avoid being surrounded by people. That is why we need to erase her popularity itself. Unfortunately, there is no reset button in life. You can never reset the impression that you've left to others. Then, what the heck should we do? The answer is...to make her popular in a negative way. There is no reset button in life. Therefore, all you can do is make yourself better or worse. To erase her popularity, she needs to be hated and not to be loved. That is what I am explaining to her right now.
"Does that mean that all of our classmates should hate me?" she asked calmly.
"Not just them but the entire school. I think all girls in the school should be the exact way of putting it."
"But…why are we here in my apartment?"
Well, right now, we are inside her house. For some reason, it is in the same apartment complex as Meryl. What a coincidence. Well, because she just moved here recently, all I can see are boxes here and there.
"Orel?" she called once again.
"You need to become an antagonist," I said with a serious face.
"Antagonist?"
"Here’s the plan. I will disguise myself as a girl and wait for you at the front gate of our school. Once you go out of the gate, I will act as a desperate fan girl and you will push me down. Just ad-lib the rest after that."
"With that, no one will ever approach me inside the school, right?"
"If everything goes according to plan that is.”
The problem is...will she agree on that proposal?
"Then, let’s prepare," she said with her care-free smile.
"Is it really fine?" I asked with a slight surprised face.
"I promised that I will trust you, right?" she replied with a bright smile.
Jeez. You are trusting people too easily. What if I just hate you and want you to lose your popularity?
"Orel?"
"I need to look like a girl. Do you have some wig and make-up here?" I asked.
"I didn’t know that you have an interest on that."
"You’re completely wrong! I am doing this to make the effect more successful,” I retorted, flustered.
"How so?"
"Didn’t you notice that there are more girls who approached you?"
"So if I pushed down a boy, they will not hate me that strongly?"
"Yeah. Also, average boys are shy to approach showbiz icons like you. Only boys with lots of self-confidence can do that and I can assure you that only few are like that in this school."
"And you are one of that few, right?" she asked with a sudden teasing smile.
“Of course I am. I have an amazing self-confidence because I really trust myself. You can only trust yourself in this world after all," I proudly stated.
"Is that supposed to be a trivia? Anyway, let’s start," she said with excitement.
Just like that, she placed a wig and make-up on me. Darn all of this. I am only doing this for Aimy's sake! After this, I will bury this moment in the deepest part of my memory!
For some reason it took quite a while before it finished.
"Don’t push yourself too hard. No matter what you do, you can never make me a beautiful girl. Just put some make-up, enough to make me an ugly girl."
"It’s…finish..." she whispered with a surprised face.
"Aimy?"
"I’ve created…a very gorgeous girl!" she commented with a very happy expression.
"Huh?"
"If you are not my friend, I will never realize that you are really a boy.”
"What the heck have you done to me?" I asked with widened eyes.
"It’s true. See for yourself,” she said and gave me a mirror.
"Don’t! I don’t want to see myself!" I yelled and closed my eyes.
“But why?”
“That will only help me remember this event from time to time!”
Suddenly, she gave me a smile and said, "Thanks, Orel."
"For what?" I asked after opening my eyes to see her.
"For your help. I know that you don’t want to dress like a girl but...you are still doing this for my sake.”
"..."
"You need a girl’s clothing, right? Is my school uniform, fine?"
"No. If we do that, they might find out that this is all just a show because there is no girl like me in that school. That is why I need a civilian’s clothing."
"What do you want? Blouse?Dress?Camisole?"
"T-shirt and a skirt. And also…can I ask you a favor?”
“What?”
“Can I borrow…two handkerchiefs and…” I muttered shyly.
“And?”
“A…bra,” I continued, now blushing.
“An artificial chest, huh. Okay,” she replied with a smile.
How fast!
Just like that, our preparation finished. I am now currently on stand-by, waiting for Aimy to pass the gate. When the class ended, Aimy finally appeared. Well, the students here are enough to make a scene. I just hope that the bodyguard will just watch our show.
"A...Aimy?" I said in a girlish tone. Jeez…I wanna die!
After she heard me, she immediately furrowed her eyebrows and gave me a mean look like she is staring at some garbage. She is really an actress alright!
"It’s really Aimy! Kya~! Can I have your autograph," I said and showed her a signboard and a permanent pen. This is too obvious. A girl with a prepared autograph materials, huh.
"Do you really know who I am?" she asked with a frightening glare and a scary tone.
"Aimy…right?" I asked nervously.
Hey, hey, hey! Her expression is really scaring me for real!
"So you really know me. Then, why the hell are you approaching me? Don’t you have a shame? Don’t talk to me, scum. Move!" she said and pushed me, enough to be knocked out completely.
I immediately cried and ran like a girl. Really, I wanna die!
Just like that, our little show finally finished.
"Are you okay?" I asked to her after we arrived at her house.
"I’m fine. But that really made me nervous. I didn’t know that acting like that in the public can make you extremely more nervous," she replied with a smile.
"We will find out what will be our classmates’ reaction tomorrow. Are you ready?"
"I’m ready,” she replied with a smile.
"Then, leave the rest to me. I will make sure that this sacrifice will not be in vain,” I followed seriously.
“Orel, can I ask you a favor?”
“What is it?”
“Can I take a picture with you while you are still dressed like that?” she asked with puppy-like eyes.
“Never!” I retorted with all of my might.
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[ COMPLETED ] "Excuse me, you forgot this?" Tay turned to the source of the voice. Behind him stood the figure of the man he love. Someone who unexpectedly appear in the pouring rain of whole city. "Te, let's go home."[ ENGLISH TRANSLATION FOR "Pulang • taynew" ]© daeyumbruh, 2021
8 152Threads
❝we are all searching for someone whose demons will play well with ours.❞quiet rituals and even quieter conversations; a collectanea.(© promethean 2013; cover by promethean)
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