episode_0026

8. Aftercare (2)

I decided to leave the admiration for the camper van parked in the eastern parking lot of the settlement for later, and when I opened the door with the intention of going in quickly, washing up, and lying down, what I saw was…

Her hair, which had been tied up, seemed to have just come out of the shower, and was long enough to cover the nape of her neck. Her hair was wet and stuck to her skin, as if it had lost volume.

Perhaps because of that, his sharp and manly face was hidden by his hair, but his cheeks, flushed red by the hot water, were emphasized, making me look at him a little more.

The slightly sunken eyes had slightly downturned corners, giving them a gentle impression, but the long eyelashes made the eyes look gentle yet sharp.

The irony of his overall gentle appearance but occasionally showing sharp features was evident on his face.

Hyunseok, who didn’t even realize I was there because he was drying his hair with a towel, was wearing an unbuttoned shirt.

The body visible under the slightly wet shirt had firm abs and smooth skin.

For some reason, I felt like I had to let him know quickly that I was here… but I couldn’t take my eyes off him.

As if he noticed that I was silently watching him, he took the towel off his head and smiled faintly.

” Are you here? ”

Those words made my heart race without stopping.

” Huh… Huh?! Yeah, you were washing up? What about Yeonseo? ”

I quickly turned my head here and there to avoid his gaze by looking for Yeonseo.

I don’t know. I don’t know why, but I couldn’t keep watching him any longer, so I tried to pass by him.

Suddenly, Hyunseok’s hand grabbed my wrist, and my body was unable to move forward. As a reaction to the force, I leaned backwards toward him and leaned my back against him.

I was worried that he might hear my heart pounding ‘thump, thump’, but my body relaxed and became languid.

As I welcomed his warmth, I felt more lethargic and the thought of wanting to escape my control and stay like this… came to my mind.

I quickly jumped up and looked in front of me at the sound of something being printed with a ‘click’ sound and a ‘wheeing’ sound.

There was Yeonseo with her face and hands sticking out from between the curtains, looking satisfied like I had never seen her before.

” Hey~ Our Bulyeoshi. Are you so happy? Huh? ”

” Ah… That… So… This is… ”

Maybe it was because I got caught by a guy I shouldn’t have been caught by, but my head was burning hot and it was interfering with my thinking, and my mouth just kept repeating the same words.

While I was so confused and unable to make any excuses, Hyunseok’s words rang in my ears.

” It looks like Yeonseo has washed up, so Charlotte can go wash up too. The old man has separated the space well with curtains, so no one else will see, so don’t worry. ”

” N…yeah…yeah…! ”

I moved like a squeaky robot and headed towards where Yeonseo had stuck her face out.

*****

There, Yeonseo, wearing underwear, looked at me in the mirror and giggled.

” Heung~ Our Bul-yeosi, isn’t it completely taken over? ”

” Oh… No?! What on earth are you talking about, a fall… ”

He answered like that while fanning his heated face with his hand, but then he returned.

” Really? But after that, you were watching for quite some time? One of them drooling, umm, what should I say… Yeah, it was the expression of a hungry female? ”

” Ah… A female? How cheap…!? Ugh… Ah…! Anyway, I’m going to wash up, so close the curtains and go out!! ”

He shouted at Yeonseo, who was already fully dressed, and quickly took out some simple clothes and underwear to wear when he went to the shower room, so fast that a swish could be heard coming from his bag.

When I opened the door, I saw that there was a sink and shower room next to it.

When I looked closely, I saw that there was a partition with a handle on the side so that water wouldn’t splash out when I showered, so I put my clothes on the sink area with peace of mind and installed the partition.

I stood there for a while with my head against the wall, running cold water over my body through the shower.

As I felt the cold water cooling my heated body, my thoughts, which had been at a standstill, slowly began to move.

Thinking back to Yeonseo’s words, I don’t know how she could say something like that.

‘A female… How can a girl be so vulgar… ‘

But at the same time, the image of Hyunseok that I saw earlier wouldn’t leave my mind, and the heart that had been calming down began to beat faster again.

” Ah… No… I…! My body is a woman, but my mind… is a man..”

I quickly washed off my uncomfortable body with shampoo and body wash, thinking that if I just stayed still, I would definitely feel strange and do something unexpected.

‘ By the way, why was the cloth I was wearing because of my period wet…? Ah, it must have just been stained with blood and sweat. Yeah, that’s definitely it. ‘

As I washed my body, which was soaked in sweat and blood, with hot water, I felt refreshed and the strange thoughts I had had until then seemed to disappear.

I came out wearing underwear, a thin blue short-sleeved shirt, and gray dolphin pants over it, drying off the water with a towel.

Hyunseok and Yeonseo were looking at me as they placed food on the table.

” Are you done? I got some food from the ladies on my way here. It’s quite a lot, but you can eat it for breakfast tomorrow. ”

Hyunseok was grilling seasoned meat in the kitchen while Yeonseo was sitting on the sofa with the table, fiddling with the device.

” Come and sit down quickly. I was so hungry waiting for you. ”

I was a little embarrassed because my stomach started growling at those words, but I was also really hungry, so I sat down next to Yeonseo and leaned against the sofa.

” Right, I didn’t even eat and walked around a lot today. ”

As I was stretching and thinking back on what happened today, Hyunseok, who seemed to have finished cooking, placed the meat and side dishes in a bowl on the table and sat across from me, picking up his chopsticks.

” Then shall we eat? ”

” Good! ”

At that moment, when I was about to pick up my chopsticks and eat, Yeonseo took my hand away from me, so I stopped picking up the meat and glared at her.

” Let’s take some pictures and eat. ”

‘Yeah, the picture is good. But you were the one who said you were hungry first..! ‘

Yeonseo took a picture with a Polaroid camera and printed it out right away, looking at me and Hyunseok with a satisfied expression.

He picked up the meat faster than anyone else.

” Hey! Where is that!? ”

” Since I took a picture, of course I have to eat it, right? Right? You too, hurry up and eat, you said you were hungry. ”

” Okay, let’s eat…sigh… ”

When I saw Hyunseok making a ‘Pheuht’ sound, I started laughing too, and Yeonseo also laughed out loud at that, and we started eating happily.

” Yum, yum, yum, so when are you both leaving? ”

While eating, Yeonseo asked the two when they would leave, who was drinking soybean paste stew.

” Hurrrup, huh, I’ll live. Huh? Us? Well… Hyunseok, when are you going? ”

I started eating the remaining food again while asking Hyunseok.

” Well? I was originally thinking of leaving right away, but after hearing the story earlier, there’s work to be done to restore the shantytown.

You also mentioned that you wanted to go to ‘Paris Park’ so I thought I’d help you with that. ”

At those words, he pointed at Hyunseok with his moving chopsticks.

” You’re such a sucker! Do you know? Do you know how long it’ll take and that’s why you’re helping me? You said you have to go back quickly and report it. ”

Yeonseo quickly crumpled up her expression as she ate deliciously and snapped.

” Haha, sorry. But I guess I should help you out since you might get attacked again while you’re recovering. ”

I sipped my soup, opened my eyes slightly, and looked at Hyunseok.

‘As expected, the kid is kind, isn’t he? I really like that.’

” What about Charlotte? Is Charlotte going to stay here? ”

Hyunseok asked with a slight smile while looking at me. At that sight, my heart seemed to beat slightly faster again.

” Me?! I, um, honestly, I don’t think I’ll be able to stay long, but I think it’s okay if I follow you guys. Is that okay? ”

” Heung~ You really want to go together with me? Huh? Tell me~ ”

” Stop it. ”

Yeonseo looked at me with a grin, but I avoided her gaze and glanced at Hyunseok to check his reaction.

” It’d be better if we went together. But is there a reason for that? ”

I put down my chopsticks, stood up for a moment, and took out a ‘pill’ from the clothes I had taken off.

” It’s because of this. ”

Yeonseo, who had been smiling slyly at the sight of the pill, and Hyunseok, whose expression had changed from relaxed to serious, began to focus on my story.

” This isn’t just any ordinary pill… right? What the heck is this? ”

As expected, Yeonseo seemed to notice quickly and asked me for the answer.

” This is the pill that was in front of Ara when I went to save her. As for the effects, well… Based on what I saw, yes, it seems to increase physical abilities. ”

” Physical ability? Do you know how much it increases? ”

Hyunseok crossed his arms and tapped his index finger as he asked me.

” Hmm, now that I think about it, do you guys have ranks? Mr. Doosik said he’s a B-rank? Something like that. ”

” Rank? Oh, you mean that? There is, but no one cares about that anyway. Rather, it’s only those who can’t use their abilities properly who get caught up in ranks.

Ah! I’m not talking about the bandit uncle. That uncle is an exception because he’s good in other ways besides his abilities. ”

Yeonseo’s remark was quite unexpected. Usually, when people come out with things like returnees or awakened people, there are many stories about evaluating them by rank.

But I felt a bit disappointed when he said that it was a meaningless evaluation.

” Really? Ahem, that’s a bit disappointing. ”

” What the~ If you measure the grade and get good results, who, who will look at it well? Huh? ”

” Oh… no?! Then what should I say?

Hmm, so if you evaluate it by the number of demons, it’s like lower level changes to middle level? I think it’s almost like going up a level. ”

” Hmm, it went up a level? Is that so!? So during the raid today, those guys suddenly…! ”

Hyunseok jumped up and opened his mouth, looking at me with sparkling eyes.

” Then what did those guys eat back then..! ”

” Yeah, I think so. And I felt it while fighting, but if the Awakened one eats it… ”

” Are you saying that you gain ‘another ability’ other than the ‘ability you had’? Is that why there was this guy who suddenly broke my ice barrier? ”

” So I’m going to take this to the Blue House? That’s where I’m going. So I want to move with you guys. Is that okay? I heard from Mr. Dosik that the direction to go back is that way. ”

Yeonseo and Hyeonseok looked at each other, nodded, and then looked at me.

” I don’t mind. I think there will be a lot of fun things to do if we’re together anyway. ”

” I’m okay too. It’ll be safer for Charlotte to move with me than to move alone. ”

” Hyunseok, why are you trying to protect me so much… I don’t hate you, but… ”

” Huh? Well, he’s ‘one year younger’ than me. And what else did he say? ”

” Ah… No?! What else? You’re saying I’m your younger sibling? Aren’t we the same age..? I thought that was because Yeonseo spoke so casually?! ”

” Oh, I see? No, I’m 23 and Yeonseo is 22, so I’m a year older. She’s just talking so casually. ”

It wasn’t as shocking as Ara had thought, but it was a little shocking to hear that Hyunseok was a year older than me.

‘ Of course, if you add up our ages, I’m older than you, but you wouldn’t believe me if I told you.. ‘

” So Charlotte, you can call me ‘brother’. ”

My thoughts stopped as Hyunseok spoke with a faint smile.

‘What?! What do you want me to call you?! Oh… Oppa?! What are you talking about?! No, considering your age, it’s true..! ‘

” Well… let’s just call Yeonseo if she calls. Yeah, it doesn’t really matter if we say it like this anyway! Right? ”

But, my heart ached as I saw Hyunseok’s gloomy expression.

‘Ah… no matter what, oppa… I feel like you’re crossing the line a little bit… I’m sorry, but… ‘

” Even if I do that, I still feel a little uncomfortable… so I’m… sorry…! ”

I quickly turned around and headed to the bedroom, and behind me I heard Yeonseo laughing and saying ‘Ahahaha’

And all that could be heard was the sound of dishes being cleared away without any energy.