My wife believes me; how could I be a cuckold?

Then he added, "But don't worry, I won't tell Eriko about this. I'll stay here this afternoon to take good care of her—so you should go and get some rest."

When it comes to work, Yuta Yamada never procrastinates.

After receiving Asano Makoto's assurance, he didn't offer any lengthy thanks. Instead, he simply nodded and said, "Alright, then I'll trouble you, Asano-kun. I'll treat you to dinner when I have time."

After saying that, without waiting for Asano Makoto's nod in response, he went straight back to his room to sleep, without even planning to take a shower.

Asano Makoto couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief as he watched the door close.

This decision by Yuta Yamada is naturally a major benefit for him.

But I don't know if it's because I feel guilty, or because I'm reminded of the time I died from overwork at a ruthless company after working all night for a week straight.

Makoto Asano suddenly had a thought of helping Yuta Yamada.

Or I could start a company, hire him with a high salary, give him a time-consuming but not too strenuous position, and provide him with a single employee dormitory to live in at the company.

This way, he benefits, and things become more convenient for me...

Makoto Asano was serious about this idea.

In any case, his goal of taking Eriko Miyajima away will not change, so he might as well compensate Yuta Yamada in other ways.

After all, Yuta Yamada is a pretty good person in many ways, and he is also very sincere to his friends.

If it weren't for the system task, it would be nice to become close friends with him.

Thinking of this, Makoto Asano shook his head again, putting the idea aside for the time being.

It's too early to talk about these things right now, and he has other work to do as well.

After all, Yamada Yuta had already asked him for help, so he naturally couldn't let him down and had to take good care of the "sick" Miyajima Eriko.

With that in mind, Makoto Asano returned to Eriko Miyajima's bedroom, gently pushed open the door, and went inside.

Seeing that she was still facing away from the door, wrapped tightly in the blanket, Asano Makoto suddenly felt like playing a trick on him.

After opening the door, he didn't make a sound. Instead, he tiptoed to the bedside and gently placed his hand on Eriko Miyajima's waist through the blanket.

He originally just wanted to play a joke, to approach silently and then suddenly touch Eriko, who was pretending to be asleep, to scare her.

But to his surprise, the moment he placed his hand on her, Eriko Miyajima's body suddenly trembled, and she sat up abruptly, slapping his hand away.

He was completely dumbfounded.

When Eriko Miyajima saw that the person who had just touched her was Makoto Asano, she couldn't help but be stunned for a moment.

However, she quickly realized what was happening and instinctively put on an anxious expression, explaining, "Ah! Asano-kun, don't misunderstand, I thought the person who touched me just now was—"

She stopped abruptly after only saying half of what she had said.

But Makoto Asano still understood what those words meant—Eriko Miyajima mistook him for Yuta Yamada and rejected his touch.

In other words, the person Eriko Miyajima truly wanted to reject and subconsciously resisted was not him, but Yuta Yamada.

Chapter 172 Don't Come Back Tonight (3k)

After figuring out Eriko Miyajima's thoughts, Makoto Asano couldn't help but feel a surge of pleasure and satisfaction.

However, he didn't bring it up. Instead, he pretended to be embarrassed and said, "Um, Eriko, I'm sorry. I just wanted to see if you were really asleep. I didn't mean to touch you."

"No, no, Asano-kun! I didn't mean I didn't want you to touch me, I just... just..."

Eriko Miyajima tried to explain in a flustered manner, but in the end, she couldn't bring herself to say anything.

Because she didn't know why she had done that.

Or rather, she actually understood everything, but just couldn't believe the truth.

Finally, she had no choice but to change the subject, asking, "Where's Yuta? Why didn't Asano-kun go back?"

Makoto Asano paused for a moment, then answered truthfully, "He went to rest. He said he had to work overtime tonight and wouldn't be back, so he asked me to take care of you this afternoon since you're 'sick'."

He did not mention the layoffs.

In any case, he had promised Yamada Yuta that he wouldn't tell Miyajima Eriko, so naturally he wouldn't.

"That's it..."

Hearing this, Eriko Miyajima felt conflicted.

However, she wasn't thinking about Yamada Yuta; she was wondering whether or not to let Asano Makoto go back.

Although she wanted to stay with Makoto Asano and didn't want him to go back.

But now she's fine; she was just pretending to be asleep, not actually sick.

And now we're at home, and Yuta has already returned.

Therefore, she was afraid that if she continued to stay with Makoto Asano, she would lose control of herself and do something wrong again.

After all, we had agreed before that we would go back to being friends after we got back.

Such a thing clearly goes beyond the boundaries of friendship.

Not to mention that Yuta is only two doors away from here. If he really does it, then he will probably be discovered—no, he will very likely be discovered.

and so……

Seeing her conflicted expression, Makoto Asano knew that the girl was overthinking things.

He reached out his right hand and gently patted Eriko's head, smiling as he said softly, "Don't worry, don't think too much. I won't do anything. Just go to sleep. You've already had a tough day yesterday and today."

Once there's one, there's two, then there's three; Makoto Asano wasn't worried at all about not having the opportunity to continue developing the relationship.

Not to mention that after Yamada Yuta revealed that he wouldn't be coming back tonight, he already had a complete plan in mind.

[Phase 3: The host must engage in a two-person battle with another target in front of any target, making that target jealous and then appeasing them. Limited to fifteen days.]

He wanted to take advantage of the fact that Yamada Yuta wouldn't be coming back and complete the new stage of the mission that the system had unlocked when he had appeased Miyajima Eriko tonight and tomorrow.

"I……"

On the other side, Eriko Miyajima blushed immediately after hearing Makoto Asano's words.

In fact, every time she heard these things, even if Makoto Asano didn't actually mean to tease her, she would still subconsciously recall that day and night of passion, and then blush so much that she couldn't speak.

The same applies this time.

However, it was precisely because of Makoto Asano's words that she temporarily forgot her troubles.

She no longer considered whether or not to let Makoto Asano go back, nor did she think about whether or not to become friends with him again.

After all, Asano-kun said he couldn't do anything, so what was there to worry about?

Thinking about this, while relieved, Eriko Miyajima couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

After all, Makoto Asano's words meant that the last glimmer of hope she had been harboring had been shattered.

However, because this expectation was hidden so deeply, even she herself did not realize it.

Finally, she nodded and slowly lay down on the bed.

However, after lying down, she did not close her eyes immediately. Instead, she turned her head to look at Asano Makoto sitting on the edge of the bed and stared at him.

As she watched, she suddenly blushed, and then a sweet and lovely smile appeared on her face.

Makoto Asano was taken aback, then asked in confusion, "...What's wrong? Why are you laughing like that all of a sudden?"

"No, there's nothing there."

Eriko Miyajima slowly shook her head, but the smile on her face remained unchanged.

"what the hell?"

"hey-hey."

Seeing Asano Makoto scratching his head in confusion, she couldn't help but laugh again, this time even laughing out loud.

Makoto Asano was even more confused: "Laughing again... What's wrong? I already said no."

Eriko Miyajima shook her head again, her smile growing even brighter.

Realizing that she had no intention of speaking at all, Makoto Asano's expression turned somewhat helpless.

"you really……"

He slowly shook his head, sighed, and said, "Oh well, go to sleep and get some rest. Don't forget, you still have to help me clean tomorrow."

At this point, Makoto Asano paused for a moment, then a playful expression suddenly appeared on his face.

He looked at Eriko Miyajima and said meaningfully, "Speaking of which, we agreed that you would help clean twice a week, but now the third week is almost over, and you only came once at the very beginning."

Upon hearing this, Eriko Miyajima was stunned, and then subconsciously began to recall the words in her mind.

Then she was surprised to find that what Makoto Asano said was actually true.

Apart from the first time I went to his house and bumped into him collapsing in the entryway, I have never helped with cleaning again.

Upon realizing this, Eriko Miyajima couldn't help but show an embarrassed expression.

But then she started muttering an explanation under her breath: "I... it's not that I don't want to go, there are all sorts of reasons..."

This is true.

I don't know why, but every time it's housekeeping day, either she has a problem or Asano Makoto has a problem, and the cleaning just can't be finished.

Makoto Asano knew this, but naturally he wouldn't bring it up at this time.

He just chuckled softly, then said in a serious tone, "So in order to prevent those various reasons from happening again, you should rest now."

"Let's wait until tomorrow... no, let's just wait until you wake up and then go to my place to clean it together. It won't take long, otherwise I'm afraid there will be problems again tomorrow—and the house hasn't been cleaned in so long, it's almost uninhabitable."

After you leave, don't come back here tonight.

Makoto Asano didn't say those last words aloud, nor could he possibly say them.

On the other side, after hearing his words, Eriko Miyajima thought for a moment and then immediately nodded in agreement.

Asano-kun is right, I do need to rest now, since I still have to go clean the house tonight.

With that thought in mind, she obediently closed her eyes, preparing to get a good night's sleep and allow her body to recover as much strength as possible as quickly as possible.