I Need the True Ending to Graduate - Chapter 51

“…Ruad?”

Lucia’s voice was calm, not at all like someone who had just been caught naked. She didn’t look particularly surprised, nor did she seem inclined to cover herself.

She stood there as composed and serene as someone who had lived her whole life unclothed.

The one who blushed and panicked instead was Ruad.

Realizing what he had just done, he hurriedly turned his head and lowered his gaze to the floor. His face, neck, and even his chest were flushed red.

“I’m sorry, Lucy! I didn’t mean to see you. You weren’t answering no matter how many times I called, so I was worried something might’ve happened….”

“….”

“I swear I didn’t have any lewd intentions! I’m really sorry. I only came to bring you some clothes I found. You can change into these. I’m sorry, Lucy. I’m really, really sorry.”

Without even checking Lucia’s reaction, Ruad blurted everything out in a rush, dropped the clothes as if throwing them, and closed the door.

A loud thud sounded behind him, followed by a wave of something—whether relief or embarrassment, he couldn’t tell.

Ruad sank to the floor and covered his face with both hands.

“Ah, what the hell did I just….”

What did I just do? What did I even see?

The questions he threw at himself never found an answer, because Lucia’s naked body still flickered vividly before his eyes.

‘It was so pale… so soft-looking….’

Her bare skin, always hidden under her uniform and seen for the first time, was whiter than he had imagined. Like untouched snow under clear sunlight.

With her bangs brushed away to reveal her forehead, Lucia looked far more elegant and sensual than he ever expected. Her breasts were modest and delicate, the perfect size to fit in his hand.

“Haa….”

He was fucked.

Swallowing the curse that rose to his lips, Ruad rubbed his face with both hands. His lower half was already swelling helplessly.

But the bigger problem was that he had no idea how he was supposed to face Lucia from now on.

‘Every time I see her, it’ll come back to me.’

Worse yet was the almost certain, uneasy feeling that it would show up in his dreams.

And his subconscious would take what he saw today, twist it however it pleased, excite him, and make him release in the end.

“Ah, damn it. I’m going insane.”

Ruad muttered to himself, swallowing down a bitter laugh that threatened to burst out. He pressed his hand against his burning forehead, then ran it back through his hair.

He hoped doing that might somehow chase away the naked image stuck in his mind.

But the heat wouldn’t fade, and the hollow, ragged feeling inside him stayed the same.

In the end, Ruad fled back to his room, feeling utterly pathetic. He told himself he’d apologize sincerely once Lucia finished changing and came out.

***

Not long after Ruad had rushed back to his room, Lucia knocked on the door.

Before he could even finish clearing his mind of the image of her naked body and prepare to face her, the door burst open.

“Lucy…?”

Ruad muttered in surprise.

He had expected her to come out neatly dressed in her uniform, but to his shock, Lucia appeared in a robe.

The water that had clung to her body was gone, and her damp, dark hair was now dry and soft.

But that wasn’t what made him freeze.

The front of the robe she wore was open deep enough to reveal part of her bare chest. There was no mistaking it; she wasn’t wearing any underwear beneath.

And her feet were bare, her shoes nowhere in sight.

‘What the hell is going on right now?’

Caught off guard by the completely unexpected situation, Ruad froze, unable to decide whether to move or speak, while Lucia entered the room naturally, closing the door behind her.

Her composure was so complete that Ruad had no idea what to say. After struggling internally for a while, he finally spoke with a cautious tone.

“Um, Lucy?”

“….”

“The clothes I left for you…. Why didn’t you put them on? And where are your shoes? Why are you barefoot?”

Lucia didn’t answer. She just silently looked around the bed, examining it from corner to corner, then turned back toward him.

Ruad had spent enough time with her to have seen many of her expressions, to the point he prided himself on being able to read her emotions.

But right now, he couldn’t tell what Lucia was thinking, or what kind of feeling lay behind the way she was looking at him.

‘Is she mad about me accidentally opening the bathroom door earlier?’

Even if she hadn’t reacted at the time, that didn’t mean what he did was forgivable. It was something that could easily have hurt and angered her.

Ruad was just about to open his mouth to apologize properly when Lucia spoke first.

“Ruad. Do you want to sleep with me?”

“What do you….”

Ruad couldn’t finish his sentence.

He didn’t need to ask what she meant because the answer was already right in front of him.

Lucia skillfully loosened the robe and revealed her naked body.

Just as he had guessed, she wasn’t wearing any underwear. She stood there as she had in the bathroom earlier, completely bare.

Ruad was so startled that he could feel his pupils trembling. He couldn’t understand why Lucia, of all people, was suddenly doing this.

And yet, he couldn’t tear his eyes away from her. His heart was pounding wildly, and his gaze slid helplessly along her white, smooth skin.

“Lucy….”

“If you want to, you can.”

At those words, the robe slipped from her shoulders and fell to the floor.

The soft sound of the fabric hitting the ground made Ruad’s heart feel as if it had dropped with it.

He had never imagined things would unfold like this. His face flushed a deep red, and he couldn’t hide his confusion.

“Lucy, this is too….”

“Why? Don’t you want to?”

“No. It’s not that I don’t want to… it’s just… it’s too sudden… we’re friends….”

Ruad stammered so badly he could hardly form a proper sentence.

The situation of Lucia suddenly standing before him naked, telling him he could touch her if he wanted, felt both thrilling and surreal. It didn’t feel real at all, like he was dreaming with his eyes open.

It would’ve been easier to believe that his brain had gone mad and was showing him a hallucination.

But Lucia stepped closer to him, as if to tell him this wasn’t a dream or illusion. She reached out and gently took his bandaged hand.

Then, as her fingertips softly brushed the wound on his palm, she whispered calmly, “Is it wrong for friends to do it?”

“….”

“Or is it because I’m your friend that it bothers you?”

Ruad clamped his lips shut.

Of course, there was truth in what she said. That thought did bother him. But more than that, it was because of his own pride.

Ruad didn’t want to say yes too easily. If he agreed without hesitation, it would feel like admitting that he’d been harboring lust for her all along, exposing that shameful truth completely.

And to make matters worse, his lower body was already swelling uncontrollably, perfectly proving that shameful fact.

Lucia mistook Ruad’s patient silence for hesitation and began revealing her feelings more openly.

“I don’t do this with just anyone.”

“….”

“And I stopped seeing you as just a friend quite a while ago.”

“…What? What did you just say…?” Ruad met Lucia’s gaze with trembling eyes as he asked.

Lucia smiled faintly and took his hand. “I’ve been thinking of you as more than a friend, Ruad.”

“….”

“Don’t you feel the same? To you, am I really just a friend?”

Ruad swallowed dryly. His vision spun, and it felt like his heart had risen to his head, making the world hum around him.

If this continued any longer, he felt like his soul would simply fly away to heaven.

‘What the hell is going on? Is this really happening? Lucia Even… she actually thinks of me as more than a friend…?’

At that thought, the emotion that burst inside him could no longer be contained. Ruad grabbed Lucia’s hand tightly.

And in that instant, whatever sense of reason or restraint he had left snapped completely.

He couldn’t think anymore.

“I… I like you too, Lucia. Not just as a friend. I mean, as a woman. I like you.”

Lucia smiled softly, her eyes curving gently like petals blooming under the sun.

“Me too.”

“….”

“Then, shall we do it?”

He didn’t need to ask what she meant.

Ruad immediately wrapped his arms around her waist, supporting the back of her head, and pressed his lips to hers.

Lucia’s lips were far warmer, softer, and sweeter than he had ever imagined. They felt so good that he thought he could stay like that, rubbing their lips together forever.

Holding her tightly in his arms, Ruad bit and sucked on her lips, sliding his tongue along her tender flesh.

As his tongue touched hers, Lucia trembled slightly but didn’t avoid it. Instead, as if pleased, she hugged his back tighter and pressed her lips closer to his.

“Haa, Lucy, you….”

At that moment, Ruad felt his sanity evaporating. His breathing grew rough without him realizing.

Lucia probably couldn’t even tell if she was with a man or a beast anymore.

But Ruad was too aroused to care about that.

He tilted his head and delved deeper into Lucia’s mouth, tangling their tongues. Every time they intertwined, Lucia’s shallow but ragged breaths tickled the tip of his nose. His hands gripping her back grew tighter.

Wet, sticky sounds of skin rubbing against skin echoed in the room repeatedly. The lewd sounds of lips locking, tongues tangling, and saliva mixing followed one after another.

Ruad’s mood rose higher and higher. He wanted to hold Lucia so tightly she’d break.

At that point, he didn’t care whether he uncovered Lucia Even’s secrets or not, or if she scored better than him anymore. He didn’t care if this became the worst mistake of his life.

As long as he could hold Lucia in his arms and kiss her like this, he thought he could live as a fool forever.

Pulling back for a moment, Ruad said quietly, “Lucy, can we move to the bed? Is that okay?”