Chapter 35 – Person of Interest
Chapter 6, Part 2
Novel Title: 融愛~Melt Down~ (Melted Love ~Melt Down~)
Author：風結子 沙野 (Fuyuko Sano)
Illustrator：雅良 水名瀬 (Masara Minase)
Translator: K (@kin0monogatari)
Protagonists: 葉越海理 (Yougoshi Kairi -MC), 葉越翼久 (Yougoshi Tasuku -ML)
*Please read at Novels Space.space, the original site of translation. TQ*
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Tasuku raised his head and looked down at Kairi.
“Why are you surprised? You were the one constantly nagging me to quit.”
“Well, yeah, but I didn’t expect that…”
“I’m tired of making money off women. I don’t need that much money anymore. Plus, working nights means our schedules never match. I was just clinging to it out of habit. There hasn’t been any real point to it for a while now.”
“…I see. If that’s what you’ve decided, I’m glad,” Kairi said, smiling as he gave Tasuku’s head a light pat.
Tasuku smiled back, looking refreshed.
“I’ll get my act together, so we can keep living like this.”
***
They had sex to the sound of rain and dozed off. Kairi was awakened by the sound of the phone ringing. Since the answering machine was on, a few rings later, the message started playing automatically. The door to the living room, where the phone was, was opened. Kairi could hear the message clearly after the beep.
“Tsubasa… It’s me, Youhei.“
In his groggy state, Kairi thought the name sounded familiar.
――Right. He’s that useless host from ‘Blossom’ that Tasuku used to complain about.
Tasuku stretched out lazily beside him.
“Something big has happened. This morning, the cops raided ‘Blossom’ after they got a tip that someone was dealing drugs. They even searched the employees’ lockers, and… a bunch of stuff came out of Tsubasa’s locker.“
Tasuku’s outstretched arm froze.
“They said they’re coming to your place next. You’ve got to get out of there, quick!“
The call ended.
Kairi and Tasuku remained frozen, not even blinking. Forcing his stiff neck to move, Kairi looked at Tasuku.
“…Drugs?”
Tasuku blinked a few times before jumping out of bed. Without answering Kairi’s question, he hurriedly got out of bed, pulled on the jeans that had been discarded on the floor, and left the room. Kairi also quickly put on his slacks and followed him.
Tasuku went to the room with the training equipment. He grabbed a light green paper bag off the shelf.
“What is that…?”
Inside the bag were several types of drugs. Tasuku had said that an acquaintance had forced them on him, but the truth was unclear.
These could be Tasuku’s drugs.
Had he been selling illegal drugs to customers at ‘Blossom’?
At the very least, Aiko had mentioned that another host had tried to sell drugs to her.
And a large quantity of drugs had been seized from Tasuku’s locker at ‘Blossom’.
It was hard to completely rule out the possibility that Tasuku was involved.
“If they find out I have this at home, there’s no way I can talk my way out of it.”
Tasuku’s face paled with tension.
Kairi tightened his expression.
“Should I take that and throw it away somewhere?”
“…No, instead of throwing this outside…”
Tasuku left the room and rushed into the bathroom. He threw the contents of the paper bag into the toilet. The slightly large sheet of LSD and the paper bag were torn into small pieces and flushed.
“Tasuku—”
“Aniki, erase that message from earlier.”
“O-Okay, got it.”
Kairi’s legs wobbled as he made his way to the living room.
Even if Tasuku flushed the drugs down the toilet, drugs had already been found in his locker at ‘Blossom’. If the police caught him, Tasuku would be at a severe disadvantage. Should they try to escape before getting caught? Even if they fled, they’d probably be hunted down… Lost in this surreal reality, Kairi started erasing the voicemail.
Amid the confusion, one thing was clear—what Kairi felt was not a desire to seek the truth, but a desperate need to avoid losing Tasuku.
While Kairi was emptying the drawer in the bedroom that held their bankbooks and seals, Tasuku returned, having finished flushing the drugs down the toilet.
“Aniki, what are you doing?”
“Let’s run away. We can leave this life behind and start over anywhere.”
But Tasuku shook his head. His face looked stern.
“I’m not running away.”
“…”
Tasuku grabbed Kairi firmly by both shoulders and stared him straight in the eyes.
“I didn’t sell any drugs. But now that they found drugs in my locker, they’re going to treat me like a dealer. The cops won’t listen to anything a host who’s lived recklessly like me has to say. But I refuse to run away and live in fear, dragging you down with me.”
“But that way, even if you didn’t do it, you might be found guilty!”
“Even so, there’s something I want to protect.”
“Protect?”
There was a strong, unwavering light in Tasuku’s eyes.
“I want to protect the life I’ve given you. I don’t care how many detours I have to take to do it. I’ve taken plenty of detours up until now. I’ll keep taking them, no matter how many years it takes… But please, I need you to be there waiting for me at the end of that road.”
…Maybe Tasuku really wasn’t involved in drug dealing.
If that’s true, then he’s willing to sacrifice himself. He’s even willing to take on false accusations, just to protect the life they have now.
“Tasuku—”
The truth is Kairi was also willing to abandon everything and run away with him.
He’s Kairi’s only family… and more than anyone else, he’s special to him.
But this life he’s living now wasn’t built by him alone. In fact, its foundation was secured through the sacrifices Tasuku made.
He can’t let those sacrifices go to waste. He has to stay and protect this life.
Kairi’s heart feels like it’s going to break at any moment.
The intercom rings sharply. It is a sound that pierces through him. He feels his face growing hot with tears.
***
Kairi sat dazed on the floor beside the sofa.
Every drawer had been pulled out, and the contents were scattered across the living room floor. Restoring order didn’t seem to be part of the police’s search protocol. Even after turning the entire place upside down, they hadn’t found any illegal drugs.
Tasuku had been taken in as a person of interest.
…The police had found illegal drugs in Tasuku’s locker at ‘Blossom’. From the beginning, the detectives had treated him as guilty, approaching him with an obnoxiously condescending attitude. Even though Tasuku hadn’t resisted at all, they still treated him like a criminal, shoving him around and dragging him out. Kairi, enraged, had shouted that his brother wasn’t involved in drug dealing and lashed out at the detectives, only to be restrained from behind by another officer.
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*Translator’s Note: External conflicts, here we come… -K
*GLOSSARY:
- Onii-san / Onii-chan / Nii-san / Nii-chan / Aniki = (Big/Elder) Brother
☝🏻I’ll be using these throughout my translation.
Next update: 2025.01.30
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