(BL) Mafia Love; He who falls the hardest loses Chapter 44: Double unrequited love

He could feel that the woman had feelings for him on the first night they t and that made him hesitate before picking up the call. "Hello. Have you eaten dinner?" the lady was very direct with her question as expected.

"No," he responded truthfully having no reason to lie.

"Could we have dinner together?" she went straight to the point once again.

"Sure," he agreed without hesitation.

"I’m waiting downstairs. There is a nice restaurant a friend recomnded. Let’s go together."

He got his things settled and changed his clothes with a plan to clock out for the day after eating dinner. She had agreed to stay out of his way since she was late the last ti they t and seeing her dressed very prettily when he got downstairs, he knew she was not willing to give up on him or . . . perhaps he could be overthinking.

"Hello," he waved to her when she t his gaze. He noticed her eyes brighten and he could not but admit that she was a very pretty lady.

They exchanged so small talk on the way to the restaurant which was about ten minutes away from the hospital.

"You look tired," she said when they finally got a seat in the busy restaurant.

"Yeah, I am tired both ntally and physically," he murmured sincerely. First, it was Haruki then it was his brother and both of them ant a lot to him causing him to think a bit too much.

"Any progress with the person you fell in love with?" she asked directly. From the little interactions he had with her, he knew she was courageous and her beauty and intelligence seed to heighten it as she had no reason to hesitate.

"No, rather it seems I would not make any progress for a while," he responded just as the al was served. He murmured and the interaction with the waiter must have prevented her from hearing and that was the only reason he had responded that way to her question.

"Can I still have hope then?" she asked.

He felt himself sigh warily from the fact that she still heard what he said. He looked down at the appetizing dish and reached for his chopsticks.

"You don’t want to answer ? Why?" she asked when he began eating.

"I don’t think you should have any hope. I think I am hopeless myself," he replied placing his chopsticks down after humming in appreciation of the taste of the food.

"Hmm," she also humd nodding after her first bite. "This tastes good."

"I don’t think I need to make any progress with the person I am in love with. To be able to see the person I love and speak with that person is all I desire. I might never make progress but as long as the person is assured of my love, I think that makes satisfied."

The feeling of voicing all his overwhelming thoughts was very relieving. These were words he had played several tis on his mind and these were words he found a bit hard to accept. Miyoko had not forced him to speak and he could hold back from admitting it but each word spilled out of his lips without reservation as he equally ca to terms with his deepest desires.

What was wrong with being one of Haruki’s lovers? This was the first ti he was falling in love as soone who never imagined he could fall in love. All his empathy usually cos from a place of obligation but the empathy and warmth he felt towards Haruki all ca from his heart, it was almost as impulsive blinking.

"What if I don’t want to give up on you too?" she asked.

Hiroshi did not miss the sadness in her eyes when she asked that question and he wondered if she truly liked him maybe a bit as much as he liked Haruki or if was it a simple interest like many of the won he had rejected in his life.

"I think it would be unwise. You are a very smart lady and remaining stuck with a man like myself, might be a very bad decision for you to make when there are a lot of n who like you," he tried to advise her to be rational in her desire to keep chasing him.

"How about this?" she stopped eating and watched him as he began eating again. The noise from around seed to beco nonexistent in the face of such a gentle and handso man. He only glanced at her when he noticed she had stopped eating and when she remained silent and unmoving, he was forced to stop along with her and t her gaze with his light-colored eyes questioning her.

"What do you want to suggest?" he asked when his gaze did not do enough job of asking her what she wanted.

"I want to try to forget you but can you help make that happen?" she asked him satisfied that she finally got his attention.

"Okay. So, how do you want to do that?"

"Let’s be friends."

"You are soone interesting, handso, and successful in our field. It would be a waste to simply let go of you because you have feelings for soone else. I don’t want to do that and it will hurt more to simply let go but if I have you around as a friend, that will make it acceptable to and I might heal from this heartbreak faster."

Hiroshi was hungry and he wanted to continue eating and knowing he wouldn’t be able to respond imdiately as he needed to weigh the pros and cons, he responded, "Let’s keep eating."

"Hmm."

They continued eating. He saw nothing wrong in being friends with her but what if she falls even deeper in love with him? The problem did not lie with him. She might end up loving him more if they decide to be friends just like most of his female friends in college that was just how charming he was.

"I think I know what you worried about," as expected of Miyoko’s confidence.

"So what is it?" he asked giving her the chance to state it out for him as they began eating their dessert.

"You are scared that I might fall even deeper if I decide to be friends with you, right?" she asked him seriously.

And as expected of her intelligence, she was right. He did not bother hesitating as he nodded.

"Don’t worry, I won’t. People deal with heartbreak differently and I am telling you how I deal with mine. Are you going to help out?"

"Okay, if that is what you want. Then I guess we are friends now."

If by a very slim chance, he falls in love with her in the process then, that would save them both a lot of pain especially himself and what lay ahead of him with the feelings he had for Haruki.