Getting closer

As they jogged beside each other, Siddharth suddenly asked, "What are you worried about?"

"Huh? What do you mean, Mr. Siddharth?" Shweta asked, looking confused.

"First, how about you just call me Siddharth and in return, I will call you…" Siddharth drawled out at the end because although he knew her name thanks to the system, she hadn't told it to him yet. So, if he were to call her by name, that might sound suspicious.

Shweta looked conflicted because she didn't know if it was alright to allow him to call by her name instead of her title 'Mrs. Rai'.

But soon, she took a deep breath and smiled. "Shweta. You can call me Shweta. Just don't do it in front of other people… I don't want to rumors to fly."

As soon as she said this, another notification popped up in front of him.

[Affinity +20]

"I understand." Siddharth nodded, feeling happy. He then asked, "So, miss Shweta, if you don't mind, can you tell me what bothering you?"

"N-No. I'm not worried—" Shweta shook her head, smiling stiffly.

Siddharth interrupted her, "I can see it in your eyes. I know something is bothering you."

He then looked at her with a concerned look on his face and said, "You know, if we keep some things bottled up inside us, they can destroy us from inside without us realising it. Besides, whatever you say to me will stay safe with me. Don't worry."

Shweta's body trembled when she heard this and stopped running. Her expression became rueful while her eyes turned glassy.

She looked at him and smiled. "Mr. Siddharth, I don't know what happened, but you have changed. You are not like your usual shy and self-conscious self. It's really good."

[Affinity +10]

[Affinity: 50/100]

[Relationship: Neighbours, friends.]

Just as Siddharth was wondering if she would share her problem with him, or she would just go away after praising his change, he got another affinity increase notification and then noticed that he was listed as her friend instead of acquaintance now.

This made him want to cheer and celebrate because, from being just a neighbour and having only 10 affinity points with her, just in a short while, he managed to increase 40 points of affinity and became her friend.

Of course, he knew he didn't achieve it because of 'charm' or anything else, but because she was emotionally very vulnerable and really needed someone to talk to. If there was someone else in his place, maybe they would have also become her friend, just like him.

Therefore, he couldn't help but sigh. 'She is really pitiful.'

"Thank you." He said and then waited for her to continue.

Shweta sighed and pointed to a bench nearby. "Should we sit down for a minute?"

"Of course." Siddharth agreed, and they walked over to the bench.

Shweta was silent for a while, her eyes flickering with complex emotions.

She then took a deep breath and said in a low voice, "I married my husband when I was just 18. From a young age, I was taught to listen to my husband and do my best to keep him happy, and I did just that. We were happy and had two beautiful kids, my son and daughter—Maybe you haven't seen them because they had already moved out of the building when you started living there."

"However, after they were born, my husband stopped paying me any attention but things were still alright. But as years passed, we drifted apart. He wouldn't come home for many days and when I ask where he was, he would either ignore me or tell me to be a good housewife and stop bothering him with all the questions."

She paused and then shook her head, tears welling up in her eyes, "I-I don't know why I'm telling you this. These things aren't something I should tell others."

When he heard this, Siddharth frowned. Was the system somehow manipulating her into telling her all this? If it was, he didn't like it at all.

As though sensing his dissatisfaction, the message flashed in front of him.

[System alert: The system won't force or manipulate any living being into doing anything. It would—at most—amplify their feelings a little and motivate them to do what they really want.]

'Mm? So, it's capable of understanding my feelings?'

Siddharth's brows shot up at this and then he felt anger rising in his heart because when he previously tried to communicate with it in the other world, it hadn't responded.

Inwardly shaking his head, he purged these thoughts for the time being, since he needed to pay his full attention to the crying beauty in front of him.

Hesitating a little, he extended his hand and gently wiped her tears and said.

"Miss Shweta, don't cry and there is no need to feel ashamed. Aren't I your friend now? Between friends, there is no need to feel embarrassed. So, please don't hesitate and tell me whatever you've been bottling up in your heart. I'm here for you."

Shweta flinched when he touched her cheeks because in the Indian society, it wasn't deemed appropriate to be this intimate with someone other than your family member.

She, however, didn't move his hand away because she could feel he didn't have any bad intention and his touch and words give him the warmth and care she never received from her husband or her children in years.

'No. It's wrong. I should stop talking to him now and go home.' She thought, coming to her senses.

But…

She didn't move.

'Why? Why do I still want to talk to him more?' She thought, feeling conflicted. She had a few female friends in the neighbourhood but she never got this feeling, this sense of comfort she was feeling by sitting by his side and talking to him.

She took a deep breath, rubbed her eyes and continued telling him how her relationship worsened with her husband, and fights started between them which made her children to move out of the house and how she recently found out he was cheating on her with other women.

By the time she finished telling him everything, she was once again in tears and Siddharth was hugging her shoulders from the side, supporting her.

Although he was feeling bad for her, he couldn't help but feel happy as he saw her information.