10 Regrets (1/2)

\”Well it does seem more ancient than ordering things with a tablet,\” I nonchalantly replied.

The food that came from the tablet probably tasted better and fancier than this restaurant. Plus, the food from the tablet would instantly appear after the order, which meant that there were no people involved in serving or making the food.

While Luke looked around the humble-looking restaurant, the server placed our food onto our table about ten minutes later. Even though the food didn't look bad, I could tell it was inferior to the food that came from the tablet. However, both Luke and I were starving after all that shopping that we gobbled up all the food to leave the restaurant shortly after.

I wondered what we should do next after checking off all the items on my list in things I could do. The only item left was going to the bookstore.

'There would be things like manga and light novels, right?' I thought while walking towards the map.

It seemed that the bookstore was all the way across the other side of the mall. I spotted the hours of operation on the bottom of the map.

'Four hours before the mall closed.' I concluded after I subtracted the time remaining.

It was enough time to look through all the books that I was hungry for after landing in this world. I quickly ran towards the bookstore while Luke was nowhere to be seen when I occasionally looked back.

'He is probably struggling with the bags,' I dismissed the thought of Luke.

Whenever I was in the bookstore in my past life, I wouldn't leave until the store closed as I got too engrossed in the books. My eyes tinkled as I entered the manga section hidden in the second floor near the back.

When I immediately picked up the familiar 'book' and I couldn't stop reading.

'It's been six years since I picked up a decent 'book' like this,' I almost cried from the thought.

Maybe that was why I didn't notice the marble that kept on vibrating in my pocket. When the bookstore announced that it was about to close, I ended up buying several interesting new 'books'. I pleasantly skipped out of the mall towards the same entrance I entered to catch the bus.

I frowned when I detected a young boy with panicked eyes with tons of bags in both his hands pleading for help to the people around him. Naturally, he was surrounded by a large crowd that couldn't ignore an beautiful child asking around if they had seen a young girl with red hair and unique orange eyes.

I instantly turned my gaze away from Luke with a great amass of guilt immediately after he spotted me outside.

\”Hey Luke!\” I nervously greeted him.

I forgot to contact Luke after I was engrossed in reading some manga in the bookstore. I did feel some faint vibration in my pocket, but I ended up ignoring it while telling myself that I would answer the call later.

Luke dropped the bags he was holding while he promptly sprinted towards me. He lightly pinched my cheeks while I pretended to wince in pain.

\”I'll hold the bags from now on?\” I asked cautiously.

I bent down to pick up the bags, as Luke let go of my cheeks after he relieved some of his former panic.

The crowd dispersed while some passersby sighed with relief.

\”Well, I'm going to go catch my bus now. See you next we - eekk?\” I was stopped from running to the bus stop after I picked up my bags.

Luke stood frozen in his spot while he grabbed onto my wrist.

The next time I blinked, I found myself standing in front of a large mansion.

\”Can you grab Rika's bags and deliver it to her house?\” Luke asked to the maid coming towards us.

Luke's mansion towered over me as I immersed myself into his other worldly life. I guessed rich people really did live a different life than my average room filled with cheap stuffed dolls and princess dresses from when I was four.

When the maid took my bags away, Luke grabbed my hand to drag me into a room that resembled a fancy living room with fancy leather couches and crystal glass tables. He signalled me to sit down as I silently sat down onto his couch.

\”Do you know why you're here?\” Luke angrily asked.

At this rate, it looked like Luke was going to start another lecture again. I knew when his eyes started to narrow with a certain smile plastered over his face, I was in for another scolding.

I made myself swell up some tears and started to knell down on the couch to make me seem more pitiful, \”I know it was irresponsible of me to behave this way, but when I picked up a book in the bookstore, I lost track of time.\”

\”Next time, I'll make sure to get your calls when we go out like today and I'll go shopping on my own to not get you involved,\” I added when Luke was still eerily smiling.

These lectures usually started when I slacked off too much in our study sessions together. I struggled to keep my focus up for long periods of time as I was tortured with preparing with the SATs every day in my former life. But even when I studied for the SAT, I would reward myself with tiny breaks by sleeping throughout the night.

However, I couldn't even have that small reward in this life due to the time-space rooms. It would feel like an eternity had passed by once I left the study room with great exhaustion.

Every time I felt like I was going to pass out from all the studying, my respect for Luke grew as he displayed no signs of exhaustion even though he was going through the same things.

\”I'm not mad because you called me out to go shopping together. It's because you ran off on your own and I had no way to contract you as you weren't getting my calls.\” Luke replied madly.

\”I told you that we should stick together. I read that the third district is dangerous because it's still underdeveloped compared to the second and first district.\” Luke added to support his initial message.

\”Well nothing happened today,\” I softly muttered.

\”I hope you figure out what you've done wrong in this room tonight. The maid already left a message for your parents that you'll be sleeping over tonight.\” Luke left me alone in the room.