21st Century Necromancer

Jounouchi Hiromi's confession caused Chen Yu's expression to become odd. He glanced at his fiancée, touched his forehead with his fingers, tilted his head as if pondering something, and then picked up the medical record that mentioned Yuiko Tsuina. After a glance at the photo, he looked up at Jounouchi Hiromi and said in a strange tone, "So, this is your... ex-girlfriend?"

"Yes..." Jounouchi Hiromi bit her lip, lowering her head, afraid to look at Chen Yu's expression at the moment, and could only acknowledge with a slight hum through her nose.

Although Japan is not intolerant of same-sex relations, and even has a great acceptance of transgender individuals—with many television celebrities being drag queens or transgender individuals who have undergone sex reassignment surgery—lesbian love between women remains a rather taboo topic.

Or more precisely, Japanese society has a high level of acceptance for men in such situations, but for women... not so much.

Moreover, Jounouchi Hiromi knew that Chen Yu was Chinese. In her impression, while Chinese people didn't have a negative image, they were nonetheless seen as quite conservative. So in her eyes, it was very likely that Chen Yu could not accept the fact that his girlfriend once had a girlfriend, especially when that person was now appearing before him, in need of his life-saving assistance.

In Jounouchi Hiromi's view, even if Chen Yu turned hostile immediately, it would be understandable. After all, the situation looked like being cheated on, especially by another woman.

However, at this moment, Chen Yu's facial expression looked like he was holding back laughter, yet there was also a trace of being moved in his strange expression.

Looking at his fiancée who was bowing her head, Chen Yu thought for a moment and then reached out to lift her face, making her eyes meet his own.

Although Chen Yu lifted her chin, Jounouchi Hiromi's gaze still darted around avoidantly. She didn't dare to look straight into Chen Yu's eyes, as she felt this was an area where she was indebted to him.

"Hiromi, do you understand now how I felt back then, when I kept the fact that I'm the Necromancer from you?" Chen Yu was neither angry nor mocking. Neither did he comfort Jounouchi Hiromi, but instead, he spoke words she did not expect.

Jounouchi Hiromi had considered that Chen Yu might be angry, and she had also thought that he might forgive her, but she never expected Chen Yu to be so calm, as if he didn't care. This made her feel even worse.

At this time, she would rather have Chen Yu lash out in anger, even be willing to take a hit, but Chen Yu's indifference made her feel as if she was hurt, causing a deep discomfort in her heart.

Anger is due to caring and valuing; forgiveness comes from a deep love that can accept everything. But indifference is truly just that—indifference. Because one does not care, therefore they can disregard what happened. Jounouchi Hiromi understood this deeply, which is why she felt wounded.

However, Chen Yu, upon seeing her face suddenly turn pale, laughed and said, "Hiromi, you couldn't be feeling bad because you think I don't care about you, could you? How could that be? If I didn't care about you, why would I share all my secrets with you, and why would I propose to you, agreeing to marry you?"

"But why aren't you the least bit angry?" Jounouchi Hiromi looked at Chen Yu, tears welling up in her eyes, "If you really cared about me, then why are you so calm? Shouldn't you be angry or jealous?"

"Why should I be angry? Just because you have an ex-girlfriend? I have ex-girlfriends too, more than one, Hiromi are you angry?" Chen Yu looked at Jounouchi Hiromi, his face a mix of bemusement and incredulity.

Sometimes women are so unreasonable. One minute they are worried you will be angry with them, the next second they think you don't love them because you're not angry.

"I..." Jounouchi Hiromi, hearing Chen Yu say this, wanted to assert that she would be angry, but didn't know how to be, and yet she felt a blockage in her heart as if pretending nothing happened would let Chen Yu off too easy, leaving her at a loss for what to say.

"So there you go, that was just your ex-girlfriend from high school. Who hasn't had their wild days when they were young? It's been over a decade, Hiromi, do you still have feelings for her?" Chen Yu asked Jounouchi Hiromi half-jokingly.

"How could that be possible! If it weren't for Yuuko showing up today, I wouldn't even have remembered this!" Jounouchi Hiromi knew she was lying; what happened in high school was her secret forever, but she wasn't entirely dishonest either.

She truly no longer loved Yuiko Tsuina because now her heart belonged wholly to Chen Yu - Yuiko Tsuina was just a pleasant memory of her high school days, and that's all it could ever be.

For Jounouchi Hiromi, she was very content with her life as it was. She didn't want anything unexpected to disturb it or change anything. If something threatened her current life with Chen Yu, she would protect it at all costs.

"That's just it, Hiromi. You can hardly remember it, so why should I be angry with you over such a thing?" Chen Yu's fingertip glided across Jounouchi Hiromi's eyes, brushing away a teardrop about to fall: "You once told me that you love every part of me and would accept all of me, so why shouldn't I accept all of you?"

"I'm sorry!" Jounouchi Hiromi didn't know what else to say, but facing Chen Yu's forgiving and gentle gaze, all she could think of was to apologize.

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"Hiromi!" Upon seeing Jounouchi Hiromi with a medical chart entering the hospital room, the woman lying in the bed, who appeared her age but with a gentler demeanor, immediately lit up and gave her a radiant smile.

"Yuuko..." Looking at the woman who was smiling brilliantly at her, Jounouchi Hiromi's eyes were filled with a complex expression, but recalling the tenderness and understanding her fiancé Chen Yu had shown her in his office, her eyes steadied and she offered a polite smile, asking the woman, "Yuuko, how are you feeling?"

"I'm okay; when the illness doesn't pain me, it's bearable, but when it does, it's unbearable." Yuiko Tsuina leaned on the hospital bed's pillow, looking at Jounouchi Hiromi who was smiling at her, feeling a tinge of regret, yet quickly concealed it with a smile: "Hiromi, didn't you say you were going to have someone look over my medical file? How does it look? It doesn't matter if there's no hope.

Being able to see you again in the last part of my life, I have no regrets."