I Planned My Escape Because I Knew Her Secret - Episode 2

Since entering university, neither of them joined any clubs.

Because I didn’t feel the need to join, and Madoka also wanted to prioritize spending time together.

At university, we took the same classes and always spent time together while at school.

Outside of university, both Madoka and I started part-time jobs.

I worked four days a week at the local family restaurant.

Madoka started working part-time as a tutor two to three times a week.

It seems like there are a lot of student part-timers at family restaurants. I’m a bit worried.

“Hmm, even if you say that, it’s close to home and convenient, so I don’t want to change it now.”

“I’m not planning to go that far, but…”

I was told about some concerns or minor complaints regarding the part-time job, and I felt a bit irritated, so I expressed a little bit of my own concerns about Madoka’s part-time job.

“Even Madoka, when she’s tutoring, it’s just her and the student alone, right? They say she’s in middle school, but I’m worried.”

“My responsibility is only with the girls, you know?”

“Huh, really?”

“Yeah. I requested it like that, and they did it for me.”

“I see.”

When we were in high school, we hardly ever fought.

There were times when Madoka was in a bad mood, but I was usually aware that it was my fault, so I would apologize right away, and Madoka never held a grudge afterwards.

However, when I entered university, I gradually started to change.

Madoka started expressing her dissatisfaction towards me, and I, on the other hand, began to feel a bit jealous of her.

Madoka was popular, no matter what.

During high school, perhaps because everyone knew that she was dating me, no boys approached Madoka. However, now that she has started wearing makeup and has become even more beautiful, all sorts of men have been flocking to her.

And now that we’re in college, my existence as her boyfriend has become completely useless.

During my time on campus, whether moving around, before classes, or at lunchtime in the cafeteria, I was frequently approached by men.

One after another, they kept asking, “What department are you in? Should I lend you my notes from last year for this professor? Which club did you join? Are you from around here? Why don’t you come check out our club sometime?” as if they didn’t even notice my existence as her boyfriend.

No, they were ignoring it on purpose.

Implicitly, they were probably conveying, “We’re having more fun than this guy.”

At first, Madoka was bewildered by those men and tried to refuse them, but eventually, she seemed to get used to it and started ignoring anyone who spoke to her unless they were acquaintances. The expression on her face during those moments was one I had never seen before—a cold, condescending look that made me shiver inside, realizing that this was what she looked like when she was genuinely angry.

***

During the summer vacation of my first year, I was the only one who got a driver’s license.

During the approximately one month I attended driving school, the time I spent with Madoka decreased, but she didn’t particularly complain about it.

After getting my driver’s license, I often borrowed my parents’ car on weekends and went for drives with Madoka.

Since I started earning my own money and got a car as a means of transportation, the range of places we can go together has expanded, and we’ve also been going to love hotels more often.

In that way, I was able to spend my university life without any particular problems.

Neither of us ever failed any credits and were able to advance every year. With the money we earned from our part-time jobs, we would go on trips together during long breaks. We spent every year together on her birthday in April, my birthday in May, Christmas, New Year’s, and Valentine’s Day, and we even went to our coming-of-age ceremony together when we turned twenty.

Even after two or three years, I had absolutely no complaints about our sex life.

I had only experienced it with Madoka, but I never got bored with having sex with her, and no matter how much time passed, I was always captivated.

I think it was surely because of Madoka’s thoughtfulness and effort.

When we were teenagers, we were both curious and, despite being shy, we tried and got into various things.

Once I turned twenty, instead of trying out new things, sex that is slow and relaxed became the main focus.

But it wasn’t just a matter of falling into a rut out of habit; Madoka prepared some mature-looking lingerie that was different from usual, and among them were some quite provocative and sexy pieces.

This, too, had a gap between her usual serious and pure image, and just wearing it made me very excited.

It seems they buy them through online shopping, and according to them, they said, “I’m trying hard too so things don’t get monotonous.”

Madoka’s thoughtfulness resonated deeply with me, and I cherished her and expressed my gratitude regularly, showing no interest in other women.

However, there was something that bothered me.

I continued my part-time job at the family restaurant, and Madoka kept tutoring, but it seemed like Madoka, who worked fewer hours than me, was doing better financially. We never disclosed our monthly salaries to each other, but it was obvious she had several designer bags and famous brand cosmetics that were clearly out of reach for a student.

The first time I asked Madoka, she said her parents bought it for her, and I was surprised, thinking, “Madoka’s family is amazing. There’s no way my family would buy me something that expensive.”

***

By the time you reach your third year of university, you start thinking about employment and what comes next.

We had never actually said it to each other, but we intended to get married after graduating, once we got used to our jobs. I think we deliberately didn’t say it out loud because we thought it was a given.

Regarding employment, we were indeed considering separate paths.

Madoka was primarily job hunting in the local manufacturing industry.

On my side, I had been working at the family restaurant for a long time, and it was decided that I would be scouted by the area manager and hired as a full-time employee.

Madoka was busy running around every day for job hunting, while I was just leisurely working part-time.

Even in the midst of all that, Madoka continued her part-time job as a tutor.

The number of days had decreased to about once a week, but she said, “There’s a student preparing for exams, and I don’t want to quit halfway for their sake,” so she goes to that student’s house every Friday. I was impressed by Madoka’s seriousness and cheered her on.