I thought I had tamed the villain

I thought I tamed the villain Chap 10

There was only one person I can go now to. Decided, I headed to the clinic.

[Ms. Hailey]: Iris. I think you were still too young to say that.

Ms. Hailey replied steadily, keeping her eyes fixed on the thick book. Still, it was a good thing that she didn’t ignore what I was saying.

[Iris]: Does Ms. Haley have any friends?

[Ms. Hailey]: Yes. I knew children see me as something other than human, but I was embarrassed to be asked that.

Ms. Hailey replied with an unmotivated face.

[Iris]: Well, for me, it was not that I didn’t think I have friends. We were just throwing in topics to open up conversations.

Note: The conversation above confuses me so pls forgive me for any inaccuracy

When I said that, Mrs. Hailey’s expression changed strangely.

[Ms. Hailey]: You keep saying strange things. I didn’t think you were the kind of kid I knew before.

[Iris]: Children grow up every day.

I replied casually. I shifted my gaze to the teacup she was drinking.

[Iris]: Can I have a cup of tea?

[Ms. Hailey]: Sure

Ms. Hailey shrugged lightly, as if she didn’t care anymore. She prepared tea for me.

[Ms. Hailey]: So, what was wrong with Iris, who grew up every day and has become so comfortable that she has a casual conversation with her teacher over thirty?

[Iris]: My friend avoids me all of a sudden.

[Ms. Hailey]: I was glad it was a concern that didn’t surprise me anymore.

[Iris]: But you know, I was not a kid who doesn’t grasp the thoughts of kids my age, do I? But I just didn’t know why he was desperately avoiding me.

Ms. Hailey listened to me as she tied up her scarlet hair. She gave me the usual answer.

[Ms. Hailey]: Well. If you were talking about a friend, I think you were talking about that kid who was a little weird, but he was not an ordinary kid, was he?

[Iris]: Yes. So was there some other particular reason?

[Ms. Hailey]: Usually, I think about the last conversation or the situation.

[Iris]: If it was the last conversation we had….

I looked at the tea in the teacup and thought about it.

[Iris]: I told him that when we were old enough to leave the orphanage, we would have to say goodbye.

[Ms. Hailey]: Good. I think your concerns have been resolved.

Ms. Haley nodded lucidly. He quickly lifted his quill, trying to get back to his business.

[Iris]: Wait a minute! But I even told him that it wouldn’t change that we were friends.

[Ms. Hailey]: I see. That was exciting.

But the teacher already seemed less interested in my concerns. She sipped her black tea and teased her hands busily.

[Iris]: But it can’t be helped, right? I and Theo can’t be together forever unless we get married.

[Ms. Hailey]: ……Iris. I think you just set fire to a ten-year-old boy’s heart.

Ms. Hailey said calmly to me as I was spitting out a fever.

[Iris]: What do you mean by that?

[Ms. Hailey]: I mean I just saw a head with black hair running. I think he was listening to our conversation.

[Iris]: Oh, my God.

I heard her and jumped up from my seat. Mrs. Hailey looked at me squinting.

[Ms. Hailey]: Your ankle seems to be perfectly healed. So now you to come here…..

I ran away without listening to her until the end.

[Iris]: Theo!

I shouted, and the black-haired boy came to a halt.

[Iris]: Had you been thinking about that all this time? How could we stay together?

I inched in steps, as if approaching a frightened wild animal.

[Theo]: Yes, that was right.

Theo didn’t look back at me. I tried to anticipate what Theo would look like.

[Iris]: I was like, too, I didn’t want to break up with you. No matter what happens.

‘Gotcha!’

I crept over and grabbed Theo’s hand, whispering to myself.

[Iris]: Theo. Didn’t think too badly of a breakup.

[Theo]: I didn’t want to do that. If you don’t break up in the first place, you won’t have to suffer and see each other again.

‘What’s that nonsense?’

I barely swallowed the words that had risen to the top of my throat and remained silent.

[Theo]: I kept thinking. And I decided to experience what it would be like to be separated from you.

[Iris]: That was why you avoided me?

Fortunately, not all of my predictions were wrong. I felt bad for my cute friend. I was the first friend he had ever made since he was born, so I knew how special I meant to Theo.

[Iris]: Don’t worry, Theo. Nothing like your concern was going to happen.

[Thep]: You know what I was worried about?

Theo said so and slowly turned his head towards me.

[Iris]: Uh.

And I had no choice but to slowly shut up. When I saw Theo’s face, I realized.

[Theo]: After all, I can’t be apart from you, Iris. I mean, you have to marry me, no matter what.

It was not that I caught Theo, it was that Theo was holding me.

[Iris]: ……Huh?

I muttered. If you were told this by the average ten-year-old, most would just laugh it off. He was still young, so that was fair enough. When friends feel like everything in life. And I did.

But I couldn’t laugh at Theo’s words in that way.

For Theo’s possessiveness, standing before my eyes, and calmly holding in my hands, hardly belonged to an ordinary ten-year-old boy. Theo’s feelings for me weren’t just regrets that he didn’t want to break up.

It was an obsession to hold on no matter what.

It seemed similar, but it was a distinctly different feeling.

[Theo]: Iris you said so. You and I can’t be together forever unless you were family.

[Iris]: Yes, that was correct.

[Theo]: So the good side was that when you become a family, you can stay together all the time, right?

I was speechless.

That was right! But…..

[Iris]: Theo, we were still ten.

Didn’t you think we were still too young to talk about that?

[Theo]: That was not that important. What really matters was whether you decide to did it or not.

I frowned and looked at Theo. To be honest, I didn’t fully understand what Theo was talking about.

[Iris]: So you mean it was important for me to decide to marry you? It doesn’t matter what actually happens.

[Theo]: That was right.

I bit my lip and was in distress. I didn’t know where to start or how to explain it to Theo.

[Iris]: Theo. I think you were mistaken about something…. Marriage wasn’t like that. People who love each other….

[Theo]: I love you

[Iris]: What?

What was he talking about?

Theo’s red eyes were staring only at me. There was no sort of naivety or cruelty in him. On the contrary, it revealed feelings darker and fishier than those of adults.

[Theo]: I know that much. Marriage was a vow between a man and a woman who love each other to be together for the rest of their lives.

I took a step back from Theo. But then, Theo’s face instantly hardened when he saw me step back.

[Iris]: ……!

[Theo]: Why were you running away?

It was hard to meet Theo’s eyes as he stared at me. Theo stepped closer to me and grabbed my wrist.

[Theo]: Were you scared of me?

[Iris]: It was not that….

I hurriedly shook my hand in embarrassment. Theo closed his eyes and laughed at my awkward laugh.

[Theo]: Right? It was not. But why were you trying to run away?

I felt like I was choking. Theo’s face lit up when I was forced to answer no. I felt as if I had faced a side of Theo that I had never seen before.

No, maybe this was Theo’s original form. It was something I had forgotten for a moment.

That Theo was no ordinary child.

‘This was more than swearing or punching….’

I felt more reluctant than when I first met Theo and heard harsh words from him.

[Theo]: When we turn fourteen, let’s make a covenant between the two of us. No, it would be better now. And as soon as you were an adult, we can have a wedding.

[Iris]: Theo. You need to calm down.

Theo came closer to me.

[Theo]: Why? You didn’t like me?

[Iris]: I didn’t mean that.

I was perplexed. I felt that I wasn’t even able to express my feelings by saying I was embarrassed. Somehow nervous, it was hard to know how to define this feeling of fear for Theo, who was still a child.

[Theo]: Iris you lifted me off the floor.

Theo furrowed his brow as I continued to react negatively, seemingly hurt.