The Devil in the Flesh

Yuu, who was reading a book quietly in the counter area, was startled before she saw him, who was smiling at her. 

"...." 

Yuu stared at him in silence, trying to say something in return, but was unable to do so before she let out a long sigh, wondering why he had become so handsome in her eyes.

"What's wrong? As an employee of this bookstore, shouldn't you greet an important regular with a bright and polite smile?" 

"....." 

"How is your driving school?" Yuu asked. 

"You are ignoring me?" Mizuto sighed helplessly, then saw that there were still many customers inside the shop. Still, he ignored them as he didn't know them, but those customers couldn't and kept staring at him. 

"You know, if you work here, I am sure that my mother will pay you well." Yuu, who watched the customers in her shop, could tell that as long as Mizuto was hired in this shop, the sales of her family bookstore would increase dramatically. 

"It isn't cheap to hire me." Mizuto shook his head, feeling that Yuu wanted to use their friendship to hire him for free, yet how could he allow her to do that? It was said that money would destroy a friendship, so if possible, he refrained from involving money in their relationship. 

"Oh, Mizuto-kun? Is that you?" 

Mizuto turned and saw Yuu's mother. "Aunty." This time, he didn't intend to explain the appearance of Yuu's mother since his relationship with Yuu's family was quite good, and he didn't want to cause trouble. However, unlike Yuu, who had a fanciful hair color, her mother had short black hair, which was normal. 

"Geez, you haven't been here so long, but you have grown up and become more handsome now." 

"Sorry, I have been busy, Aunty." 

"It's okay. You don't need to worry." Then, Yuu's mother stared at Mizuto for a while before she sighed helplessly and then suddenly remembered something. "Oh, right, you came for the French book, right?" 

"Yes, Aunty." 

"Are you going to stay for a night? Let's stay for dinner." 

"No, my stepmother will probably complain if I stay out late." 

"Now that you mention it, your father has remarried, right? How is it? Are you okay?" When Yuu's mother heard that Mizuto's father was going to remarry, naturally, she was worried that he might not be used to his new family. 

"I am fine. Thank you for worrying me. My stepmother and stepsister are gentle and kind to me." 

Still, as they talked, he glanced at Yuu, giving her a wink from time to time since he didn't want to talk about his subtle relationship with his stepsister. 

"Ah, Mom, I want to discuss homework with Mizuto first. Can I leave the counter?" 

"Sure." 

As the two left the house area inside the bookstore, Yuu's mother looked at the two and sighed helplessly at her daughter, but she didn't say anything since she could tell that it was definitely hard to keep such a young man in their house. Instead, she felt like it might be Yuu, who was stolen by him and would follow him no matter what. Sighing, she shook her head as she was probably thinking too much. As they were young, they might have made a mistake, but she believed in Mizuto's character, and frankly, if she was younger and didn't have two daughters, then probably—

"....."

Yuu's mother threw her thoughts away before she threw her thoughts into the corner of her head. 

---

Entering Yuu's room, he jumped into her bed directly and lay lazily like it was his room. 

"...you know, you are entering a girl's room. Shouldn't you feel embarrassed, shy, or hesitant?" Yuu closed the door of her room and felt slightly hurt. "Why did you jump into my bed as soon as possible?"

"..." 

"Wh-What is it?" 

"No, I didn't expect that you wanted me to treat you like a girl." 

"....." 

"What was that?!" 

Yuu was angry and jumped into him, trying to tickle him. 

"Ahahaha... stop, Yuu! It's ticklish!" 

"It's your fault for making me angry!" 

Still, Yuu somehow gulped when she saw his shirt was slightly pulled as she touched his waist to tickle him. Watching and touching the well-defined muscles on his body, she felt that her face was hot. 

"But, Yuu..." 

"Wh-What is it?" 

"Your pillow smells good."

"Pervert!" 

Yuu slammed him with another pillow with a cute blush on her cheeks. 

Still, the two didn't fight too long, and Yuu also took out the French book that he had requested. 

"He is a language introduction book and also a novel."

"Thank you." Mizuto looked at the novel that she had chosen for him. It was relatively thin, he thought. "Le Diable au corps? Raymond Radiguet? What is this book about?" 

"An affair between a young man and a married woman." 

"...why the hell did you recommend this book for me?" His expression became ugly, wondering whether she was teasing him. Moreover, why would she give him this book when he was about to go to the house of a housewife in the neighborhood?

What was this godlike timing?

Yuu let out a long sigh and said, "Mizuto, you should know that you are handsome, so handsome that many married women in the neighborhood often talked to you, you know?" 

Being too handsome definitely brought a lot of trouble, Yuu thought. While she never said it, two of her friends from middle school also often asked about him, which was amazing since one of them never had much of an interest in romance and the other had fallen with her upperclassman, yet even so, they still wanted to know about him. 

As his friend, she had to say, she was quite troubled. 

"Huh? Really?" He was dumbfounded since he had never heard such a thing. 

"My mother and grandmother often talked about this during dinner, thinking that those married women were all frustrated with their husbands and might wish to have an affair with you." 

"...then, you recommend this book to me? Do you want me to have an affair or something?" 

He might have had an affair, but he definitely wouldn't have announced it. However, suddenly, he remembered that every famous work of literature had never ended with a good ending.

"Does the ending..." 

"You should read yourselves later." Yuu gave a mysterious smile. 

"....." 

Still, somehow, he felt curious about this novel even if he knew the ending definitely wasn't a happy ending. 

"Le Diable au corps... what does it mean?" 

"I am not sure, but your pronunciation is perfect, you know? Did you learn French before you came?" Yuu asked curiously. 

"I am smart; you should know, right?"

"...." 

Yuu's lips twitched as she wished to beat this guy up, but she knew that she couldn't refute him since that was the fact. 

Nevertheless, Mizuto was glad that he had chosen the "Student" on his 2nd job as it made him learn a language faster. 

"So, what does the title mean?" Yuu asked curiously. 

"You don't know?" 

"Unlike a certain someone, I am not smart." 

"...can you not sulk at me?" He sighed helplessly, then took out his smartphone. "Let's see..." He opened the Google Translate app to check the meaning of Le Diable au corps. 

Yuu also lay by his side and looked curiously at the screen of his smartphone, waiting for the result. Still, she had to say his scent was pleasant, and once again, she felt like her chest beat so hard that it made her unable to breathe, but fortunately, that feeling disappeared when she saw the meaning behind this French novel's title. 

"The Devil in the Flesh...." 

They had to say that the title of this novel was too ominous.