Between Your Letter and My Reply

Chapter 81

[Translated By Divinity]

Damian, without hesitation, recited the address, and Lilliana stared at him with wide eyes.

“I’ve memorized the address. I even wrote it down and kept it, just in case.”

“Damian!”

“At least I was more rational than you at the time. I knew I should memorize the address.”

Lilliana looked at him with admiration.

“Damian! I really can’t do without you!”

She then hugged Damian’s right arm tightly.

Damian, who had no experience with someone acting so affectionately and clinging to his arm, was flustered by Lilliana’s sudden action and didn’t know how to react.

“L-Lilliana… Please let go…”

“Oh, sorry! Did it hurt?”

Lilliana quickly let go in surprise, and Damian covered half his face with his left hand and said,

“No, it’s not that… It’s just that I’m not used to people touching me…”

Damian’s ears were slightly red as he said that.

In reality, he couldn’t feel any sensation from the prosthetic arm, but Lilliana’s act of hugging his arm was too unfamiliar. If it weren’t for the weight on his right shoulder, he wouldn’t have even known someone was touching his right arm.

“It didn’t hurt, did it?”

“No, I’m fine. It’s not your fault. I’m just not good with people. My right arm is fine.”

But Lilliana couldn’t hide her apologetic expression and looked at Damian’s right arm.

“How’s the rehabilitation going?”

“It’s not bad.”

“Are you making progress?”

“Shall I show you?”

Damian slowly opened and closed his fingers, starting with his thumb and ending with his pinky. Then he rotated his wrist and said,

“I’m getting used to this much.”

“Wow, your movements are much smoother now! It’s only been a little over two weeks since you got the prosthetic! Before, it looked like you were moving a tree branch.”

Lilliana was impressed, and Damian lifted his arm.

“As Ms. Pascal said, I think I’ll be able to use it freely within three months.”

Although Pascal had said that, Lilliana was surprised by Damian’s incredible recovery, having regained a decent range of motion in his arm in just two weeks.

“But I still can’t feel anything with my hand… I can’t tell if my right arm is actually moving or if I’m holding something, or how much strength I’m using. They say I’ll be able to tell by instinct once I get used to it, but…”

“Really?”

Lilliana held out her hand to Damian. He wasn’t sure what she intended, but it seemed like she wanted him to give her his right hand, so he placed it gently on hers.

Lilliana carefully wrapped both her hands around his prosthetic hand.

“So you can’t tell even if I hold it like this?”

“No. Not at all…”

“Hmm…”

Lilliana tilted her head for a moment, then held out both her hands to Damian. When he placed both his hands on hers, her fingers intertwined with his, forming a clasp.

This time, it was Damian who was flustered. He had never held hands with anyone before. He couldn’t understand why this simple act felt so embarrassing.

Lilliana’s hand, felt through his left hand, was much smaller than his, and her fingers were slender and soft, unlike his rough ones. He felt like he might hurt her if he held her hand too tightly with his calloused hand.

He didn’t know what to do, but Lilliana seemed perfectly fine.

“Lilliana?”

Damian called her softly, and she looked up at him. Looking into her blue eyes, he felt a strange tickling sensation, even in his prosthetic hand that couldn’t feel anything.

His left hand, where their skin touched, felt even stranger. The contact, warm and soft, and slightly slippery from his nervous sweat, seemed to be getting hotter, and he wanted to pull his hand away.

Lilliana, oblivious to Damian’s feelings, said nonchalantly,

“Try squeezing.”

“What?”

“Apply the same amount of pressure with both hands, at the same time.”

Damian understood Lilliana’s intentions. As she said, he used both hands and squeezed her hand. He thought he applied the same amount of pressure, but Lilliana tilted her head.

“You’re not putting any strength in your right hand.”

It seemed he had unconsciously been too gentle. Damian mustered some courage and applied more pressure with his right hand.

“Whoa!”

Lilliana flinched and let out a small gasp, and Damian quickly released her hands as if flinging them away. He observed her expression and asked cautiously,

“Did it hurt?”

“It didn’t hurt, but I was surprised because you suddenly applied so much force. It actually hurt my feelings more that you threw my hands away like that.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I told you it didn’t hurt. But you do need to practice controlling your strength. Well, I’m sure you’ll get it soon.”

While Lilliana nodded to herself, Damian quickly wiped his sweaty left hand on his clothes. But Lilliana’s next question made him break out in a cold sweat.

“Why is your face so red?”

“What?”

“Are you hot? I saw your hands were sweaty earlier too.”

Lilliana stretched her arms and rotated her upper body, saying it was the season when the weather was starting to get warmer.

“Men have higher body temperatures, so they get hot and sweaty easily. Maybe you’re already feeling hot…”

She stopped moving when she saw Damian fidgeting.

“Th-that’s…”

Damian’s face was lowered, and his eyes were shaking slightly. Lilliana blinked and thought,

‘Look at this guy.’

Damian finally spoke, his voice strained.

“Lilliana… are you usually this comfortable with physical contact, even with men?”

“What?! Are you saying that because we held hands?”

Lilliana looked dumbfounded, and Damian shook his head.

“N-No! That’s not it.”

“You’re lying. It looks like that’s exactly what you’re saying.”

Lilliana teased him, and Damian’s face turned even redder. He quickly covered his face with both arms but still managed to say what he wanted.

“I… I’m fine, but… I’m not used to physical contact, even with men. You can’t imagine how…”

“What, Damian? It’s not a hundred years ago…”

“If you spent a month in a unit full of men, you’d change your mind!”

Damian tried his best to persuade her, but Lilliana only saw it as an overreaction.

‘What’s the big deal about holding hands?’

“I was just trying to help you with your strength training, and you’re thinking impure thoughts?”

“What?! No! That’s not true!”

“Then why is your face red, and why are you saying such things?”

“That’s…”

Lilliana found it amusing to tease Damian, whose ears turned bright red the more she teased him.

“Th-the tram is here. Let’s hurry and get on.”

Seeing the tram approaching the station with its horn blaring, Damian hurriedly ran towards it.

“Hey, Damian! Wait for me!”

Lilliana laughed and ran after him.

After that, Damian didn’t speak to Lilliana or respond to her attempts at conversation for the entire tram ride back to her boarding house.

***

“So this is Corot Apartments.”

Lilliana looked at the building with a slightly apprehensive expression. Damian scratched his head and said,

“I think I remembered the address wrong.”

“No. I remember the name Corot Apartments too. This should be the right place…”

The reason they were troubled was that Corot Apartments was an abandoned building. Located on the outskirts of the city, where development was relatively scarce, this apartment building was the only tall structure around.

The five-story Corot Apartments was covered in withered ivy, and the windows on the second floor were all broken. The upper floors weren’t in any better condition.

Some windows were boarded up, while others were slightly ajar, with dirty curtains fluttering in the wind, looking like ghosts might emerge at any moment.

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