Episode 62. The world is still a warm place!(2)
A woman in menhera fashion and a teddy bear walk side by side in the park.
Of course, it was inevitable that people would notice. Contrary to what he was concerned about, Yuri didn’t pay much attention to his surroundings. She didn’t care and kept asking.
“Are you really a Friday angel?”
“How many times are you asking?”
“Ah! Sorry!!”
When she replied as if she was tired of repeating the same words, Yuri quickly apologized.
She spoke in a tone with a lively laugh because she didn’t want to be intimidated or scared again.
“Ha ha ha ha! Do not worry. What am I going to do to deceive Yuri Mental?”
“That… is that so?”
After that, Yuri didn’t particularly talk to her.
“Wow! It’s a bear! Look at that mom!”
“Hello~”
I waved at the children who occasionally talked to me and came out to a place where there were fewer crowds.
“Shall we sit down for a while?”
“Yes? Ah yes!”
Yuri was very nervous. After all, it was a sudden meeting.
After sitting side by side on her bench, a bright, youthful female voice spoke first.
“Hey~ If I said I was coming, I was expecting Yuri Mental to come too, but you did a good job summoning up the courage to ask!”
She laughed excitedly.
“Yes? I will come… Did you know?”
“I also asked what time we were going.”
At that, Yuri hurriedly shook her head.
Yuri’s face was flushed. Are you ashamed of something like this?
“I… “
Before long, Yuri carefully opened her mouth.
“Then did you dress like this on purpose for me?”
With that said, I mentioned the settings I had prepared in advance.
“Actually, I have social phobia!”
Yuri’s expression was ‘How can you say that you have antiphobia in such a bright tone?’
“Personal avoidance? But even earlier, he said hello to the kids and seemed excited to see me… Oh, sorry if I was mistaken.”
“It’s true that I was a little excited. It’s been a long time since I’ve come out.”
I looked straight ahead. And this time a serious girl’s voice came from her mouth, or rather from the speaker of the voice modifier.
“But without it, I can’t meet people.”
I said, putting the bear doll mask on my hand.
It was a bit hot inside the doll mask. I’m a bit worried that the voice modulator hanging around my neck and fixed will not be damaged by sweat.
Still, it’s a relief that this operation was carried out before the real summer draws closer.
My real purpose in wearing this mask is not just to hide my identity from Yuri.
It was a good excuse to start the operation without showing my face called ‘personal avoidance’, and it was because I needed a storytelling device to convince Yuri.
Rather than talking only through social media, having the courage to come to see you in person will give more resonance to the story you will be telling.
Perhaps the feeling of sympathy when meeting in person can increase trust even more.
From now on, I am a high school girl who is overcoming social phobia.
“I am still receiving treatment for social phobia. Oh, so you must never try to see my face!”
From noble mtl dot com.
“Yes, I understand!”
Even the attempt to find out my identity in advance was blocked. Yuri nodded her head as if resolutely determined.
“The reason I look lively is actually because I’m used to pretending to be bright.”
“Somehow… Oh no!”
Yuri took her words out of her mouth and covered her mouth as if it was something she shouldn’t have said.
“Ha ha ha! Are you okay! I don’t even want to hide it anymore.”
I shouldn’t laugh too loud like this. As the volume increases, the mechanical sound is mixed in a little, resulting in an unnatural sound.
“I just met the wrong person. I had no one to lean on at school or at home, and I was bullied.”
“……… “
Yuri bit her lip and looked at her with moist eyes.
“Me too… I know that feeling.”
Did you get empathy with this? Yuri nodded her head and grabbed her hand.
“I had a hard time with something similar.”
“I see.”
Of course. It’s a story made up by relating it to Yuri’s past setting.
But I never thought the response would be this good. I feel like a bad guy for lying for no reason.
Well, this is all to convince Yuri.
As I rationalized that, I smiled shyly. The gap between the bright and youthful girl’s laughter made the story look even more pitiful.
“Now I am training to fix it. I am also receiving psychological counseling.”
I took a break and spoke carefully.
“In fact, commenting on Yuri Mental’s post was part of healing. Oh, and of course the writing was really good.”
“Thank you. Thanks to you, I’m happy that we became friends.”
Fortunately, Yuri warmly accepted it. Perhaps because she felt a sense of camaraderie, she seemed happy even after hearing the reason for approaching Yuri.
“Whenever I was having a hard time, you cheered me on via chat, which gave me a lot of strength.”
A warm atmosphere flowed. Like the soft afternoon spring breeze blowing, the conversation flowed smoothly even when we first met.
Shall we open our mouth soon?
“Actually, there is something I want to say because of that.”
“Yes?”
“That’s why I thought it would be nice to meet in person.”
Then, where did her calm atmosphere go? Yuri’s eyes shook anxiously.
“Ah! Have I been so annoying and irritating? I won’t do that again!!”
“Calm down! Isn’t that the story?”
“Oh, isn’t it?”
Why is this happening all of a sudden?
Feeling oversensitive, I secretly looked into Yuri’s eyes.
“…… “
Maybe it’s because of my mood that it’s a bit cloudy, right? I think it’s because it’s hard to see because it’s inside the doll’s mask, but I need to be careful in the future.
Let’s calm down for now.
“You just look a little nervous.”
“…… “
Yuri listened to my story in silence.
“You said you wanted to cut ties with other people yesterday, right? I don’t know if it sounds strange if I say this, but I wanted to stop it.”
“That… is it so?”
Yuri let out a sigh of relief. Yuri’s eyes also seem to be back to normal.
It’s funny that the dark circles and empty eyes that have already come down are normal.
“I don’t know if it’s just meddling. I also suffered from social phobia and felt sorry for some of the relationships I cut off indiscriminately.”
“I know I will regret it too. But there are also a lot of kids who don’t fit in.”
“How about meeting only the right people? If you don’t want to go to a place where everyone gathers, refuse.”
“If I say no, won’t you hate me?”
I looked at the glass for a moment.
Lack of self-esteem, deep trauma, insomnia, depression, and delusions of persecution are also characters with the highest barriers among the heroines.
And this kind of character should not be taken care of by ordinary people alone.
After a moment of silence, I lightly opened my mouth.
“Are you having a hard time these days?”
“……… Yes.”
“I also had a hard time with social phobia.”
I pulled out a business card from my shoulder bag.
“So I wandered around, and this helped.”
Yuri received the business card, bewildered.
“Oh, it’s not a strange place, it’s a youth counseling center. It is organized by the city, so the cost is cheap.”
This was the purpose of trying to contact the glass mental today.
You can just chat on social media, but it was more persuasive to tell a story like this face-to-face rather than that.
Of course, receiving psychological counseling does not solve all problems.
Still, it’s better to have at least one more expert take care of me than to handle the Operation by myself.
Having at least one more suppressor would make it less likely that Yuri would become obsessed with someone or go berserk.
It was closer to a part of the operation than a solution.
I was really tired as soon as I got home yesterday, but I heard that I checked every single counseling center around the neighborhood.
I didn’t want to go to a strange place and get worse, so I searched all the reviews of various counseling centers based on the places with official licenses, and considered the price.
In the end, it was already late in the evening when I came to the conclusion that it would be cheaper and better to do it in the city administration than in the editorial.
Thanks to that, I was tired, so I reviewed the strategy again and immediately fell asleep.
But just in case, I even visited the site before coming to the park today. Of course, professional counseling is by reservation, so I couldn’t experience it, and I only skimmed it.
I received a business card and came out because the overall atmosphere and the condition of the people who came out after receiving counseling seemed okay.
The guide was so kind that he brought not only business cards, but also a lot of other things.
“Ah…… “
Yuri looked dazed as if he hadn’t even thought of it.
In fact, if you look at the contents of the game, Seong Joo-yeon recommends counseling to Yuri shortly after the second semester of the second year.
Then information comes out that Yuri suffered alone, but she did not try to consult with her somewhere.
“Don’t be afraid to ask for help if you need it. Everyone is kind.”
Yuri’s reaction was neither positive nor negative yet. Only she was perplexed.
“I will think about it.”
“Good!”
For now, should we keep an eye on the progress? Because Yuri might not go to her consultation.
Yuri nodded her head and stood up from her seat.
“Hey… Excuse me, can I go to the bathroom?”
“Yes, come back.”
I nodded and let it go.
“I’m not running away, so don’t misunderstand!”
“Yes?”
Scared to understand that, Yuri hurriedly ran.
“Are you running away now?”
————
Fortunately, she did not escape.
After a while, I got a text message.
Glass Mental: Friday Angel.
Yuri Mental: It’s in the second cubicle of the bathroom, straight ahead.
Friday Angel: Yes.
Glass Mental: Can I ask for a tissue?
Friday Angel: Me?
Glass Mental: Can’t we?
Ah, now I’m a high school girl just like Yuri.
I set it to a female voice to make Yuri less vigilant, but I didn’t know things would turn out like this.
Of course, it is difficult for me to enter directly. Entering wearing a doll’s mask, who wouldn’t find it strange?
When it is revealed that I am a man, Yuri is not the problem, I am socially dead.
“I need to get toilet paper first.”
After buying toilet paper at a nearby convenience store, I went to the bathroom entrance.
She looked around and called a woman who was about to enter the bathroom.
“Hey!”
“Yes?”
It is worth being wary of when someone standing in front of the bathroom wearing a teddy bear costume and holding a tissue in one hand calls.
“I’m sorry, but there is no toilet paper in the second compartment. Can you pass it to me instead?”
“… Well, yes.”
Even though she was hesitant, the woman gladly went inside with a tissue.
“Whew~ I somehow got over it with this.”
Now, when Yuri comes out, let’s pretend that she didn’t go in because she wouldn’t look at her strangely if she went in wearing doll clothes.
As she was about to turn around safely, her pockets rang. I think she has a call because she keeps vibrating.
Why are you coming at this timing?
She sat down on the bench and pulled out the arms of her doll clothes and pulled her phone out of her inside trouser pocket. She shoved her hand holding her phone inside the doll’s mask.
Um… A bit inconvenient to manipulate.
I got a call from my older sister in white.
First of all, I accidentally pressed her finger while trying to reject the call with an automatic text message asking me to call her later.
[Taeyang, did you go outside?]
The white sister’s voice was output through the speaker while being modulated.
[Huh? Why does your voice ring?]
“Sister… Call me later… “
[What? I can not hear you?]
I’ll hang up for now and tell you the circumstances later.
“I’m here.”
[Taeyang?]
“aaa!!!!”
At the same time as my sister’s words, I covered up the sound with a scream and quickly pressed the end call.
She shoved her phone into her pocket and hurriedly turned her gaze to Yuri.
“Friday Angel! Are you okay!!!”
Yu-Ri looked at my condition in amazement.
“… I… Did you hear the call just now?”
From noble mtl dot com.
I asked with a trembling voice.
“Yes?…… No. I didn’t hear anything!”
Did he say that to reassure me, or did he answer honestly?
Silence passed between us for a while.