[TaroTre] My Blind Date is My Childhood Friend - Chapter 14

After finishing the meal, Taro went to pay the bill while Tregear and Taiga slowly stood up and wandered toward the exit.

“So, brat, did you get enough to eat?” Tregear asked, knowing the answer perfectly well.

“I’m full. And for the last time, I’m not a ‘brat.’ I have a name,” Taiga snapped.

“Heh,” Tregear let out a vague, ambiguous sound.

“You like my dad, don’t you?” Taiga suddenly asked, looking up at Tregear with an air of complete certainty.

“And what makes you think that?” Tregear crossed his arms, looking down at the boy.

“I wasn’t sure before, but now I am. You hate me because I’m the child Dad had with someone else, right?” Taiga narrowed his eyes.

“Brat, where exactly do you learn this stuff?” Tregear leaned down, his expression turning uncharacteristically solemn.

“Isn’t that how it always goes in dramas? The stepmother always hates the first wife’s kid.” Frightened by Tregear’s intensity, Taiga instinctively took a step back.

“Nonsense. What is there about you that’s even worth my hatred?” Tregear straightened up, his expression returning to a cool indifference. “I am an adult; targeting you brings me no benefit whatsoever. Besides… I don’t hate you.”

“Liar!” Taiga didn’t believe a word of it.

“Why would I bother lying to a little squirt like you?” With that, Tregear scooped Taiga up and began walking toward Taro. “I just happen to enjoy teasing you occasionally.”

“It’s not occasionally, it’s all the time!” Taiga corrected him, grabbing onto Tregear’s horns.

“Is that really something worth being so concerned about? Are you entering your rebellious phase already, brat? You’re becoming quite unlovable.” Tregear gave Taiga’s cheek a sharp pinch.

“I am not rebellious!” Taiga shouted, but he didn’t let go of Tregear’s horns, and Tregear simply let him keep his grip.

“Where to next?” Taro asked as they approached him.

Tregear checked his watch. “It’s officially past my working hours now. Anywhere is fine.” (As if he hadn’t already been doing exactly as he pleased during work hours).

“I want to go to the playground near the mall!” It was less of a theme park and more of a collection of rides, but since his parents were always busy, Taiga had never been. He had been asking to go for a long time.

“Is that alright with you?” Taro asked Tregear.

“Let’s go,” Tregear replied, carrying Taiga as they walked with Taro. Taro noticed Tregear was still holding the boy and reached out to take him, but Taiga showed no intention of leaving Tregear’s arms.

“It’s fine, I’ve got him,” Tregear said. He didn’t mind; after all, if he treated the brat well now, he’d have more opportunities to bully him later.

“Well, alright. If you get tired, just let Taiga walk on his own.” Since Taiga was unwilling and Tregear didn’t mind, Taro could only retract his hand.

Once they arrived, Taiga ran off to play while Tregear and Taro stood on the sidelines, chatting while keeping an eye on him.

“Taiga is having a great time,” Taro remarked sentimentally. “Since that whole business with his mother, I’ve rarely seen him this happy.”

“And what about you?” Tregear asked, turning his head.

“What?” Taro looked back. It was a bit noisy, and he hadn’t heard Tregear clearly.

“I asked about you,” Tregear repeated, watching him closely. “People are talking about her; even I’ve heard the rumors. Surely it has had an impact on you as well.”

“…” Taro’s gaze drifted for a moment before he offered a small smile. “I’m fine. Honestly, I rarely saw her. I was either working or on my way to work. On the rare occasions I went home, she wasn’t even there. Thinking back, I sometimes wonder if the person she was before we married and the person she became were even the same. Or perhaps the person I knew before was just a facade.”

“That’s why I’ve always said your taste in partners is atrocious. It’s a relief Taiga didn’t take after her.” Tregear looked away and caught Taiga waving at him; he offered the boy a faint, subtle smile.

“It’s not like I chose her on my own,” Taro said with a touch of grievance, looking back at Taiga on the rides. “I didn’t even know when she got pregnant. Once she was, I couldn’t exactly not marry her.”

“Tch.” Every time Taro said that, the words felt like a thorn to Tregear’s ears.

“Tregear… do you like me?” Taro suddenly asked, still watching Taiga play.

Shocked, Tregear whipped his head around to look at him. Taro still wore that same sunny, youthful expression completely oblivious to the weight of the question he had just asked.