episode_0151

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“What were you doing to come back so drenched in sweat?”

“Well, it’s been a while since the second-years had such an intense sparring session.”

“Intense? Ah, now that you mention it, I saw a lot of injured people coming in earlier.”

“It happens sometimes. Roughly once a month? It’s easier to evaluate if we roughly sort out rankings by having similar types go at each other.”

“Hey, unnie, wait—”

At the same time as Seo Woo-jin’s voice, asking what she was doing climbing onto the bed all sweaty, something flopped down with a thud.

It was none other than the sound of my sister, who had belatedly entered the infirmary, rolling onto the bed and sprawling out.

In a way, it was as if she had flopped onto her own bed at home—her posture was that relaxed.

…Sigh.

Lee Ha-yoon.

Your gym clothes are hiked up, and your belly button is showing.

And what are you doing, lying there in gym shorts? Right now.

If you pull your knees up like that, the inside of your thighs will peek out…, …you idiot.

You can act like that at home, but we’re in public right now.

Just from the quick glance I took, I could already see up to your thighs.

What if even more gets exposed…?

…No, no.

I guess it doesn’t really matter if it does.

Unnie and Seo Woo-jin.

They’ve already gone as far as having sex when I wasn’t around.

Even though she’s only a year older,

she makes him call her…

…oppa,

in some ridiculous roleplay.

“Haaah… I feel alive again…”

“You’re covered in dirt and sweat. Get down, now.”

“Whyyy? You said there’s someone else who does the laundry. And I didn’t sweat that much.”

“Yeah, yeah. Got it. Switch places with Ji-yoon.”

“Huh? Weren’t you getting treated?”

“It just finished. It wasn’t anything that would take long anyway.”

After straightening out my wandering gaze and pretending to be nonchalant, I turned my head and locked eyes with Lee Ha-yoon, who had rolled onto her side, propping her cheek on her hand.

Honestly, I was a little worried she might’ve started suspecting something, but—

Seeing Ha-yoon’s usual innocent, clueless expression, it seemed she hadn’t noticed anything strange when she came in.

Well, given the layout of the infirmary, I had no choice but to sit with my back to the door, so it’s normal she wouldn’t have seen anything.

…And even if she had caught a glimpse of our hands touching, it wouldn’t have led to any weird thoughts.

I mean, she has to hold his hand for treatment anyway, right?

Though, I only just realized that myself.

“…Move. Let me sit.”

“There’s space at the end of the bed. Wait a sec. I need to put my shoes on.”

“Just hurry up and move.”

“Ugh… Fine, just sit already… And if the treatment’s over, why don’t you just leave?”

“…There’s not much time left before lunch.”

“…Oh, skipping class? Tsk… …Ow, why’d you hit me?!”

Maybe it was because of the sweat from sparring earlier.

When I smacked Ha-yoon’s sticky calf a few times, she grumbled and shoved her feet into her sneakers before plopping down in front of Woo-jin in my place.

Then, I took her spot where she had been lying down.

…Thankfully, the situation passed without any major crisis.

Now, all that’s left is to pretend to skip class, kill some time, and then go our separate ways.

Letting out a quiet sigh of relief in my head, I watched my sister, completely oblivious to my thoughts, smiling brightly as she chatted with Woo-jin.

“…”

Then, suddenly,

a thought crossed my mind.

…She’s kind of pretty, isn’t she?

Unnie.

“Where did you get hurt?”

“Baby finger.”

“Ah, your pinky.”

“I thought I could actually win this time, so I pushed myself a little too hard… But I couldn’t control it right away.”

“What were you doing to hurt this instead of your wrist or shoulder?”

“I don’t know!”

“…”

“I-I really don’t…”

Her long black ponytail, so different from my short, white hair, is pretty.

Unlike my perpetually sharp, rude-looking eyes in the mirror, her bright, cheerful eyes—like a country puppy—are pretty.

The slightly plump thighs peeking out from under her gym shorts are way prettier than mine, which were “used” for that purpose before.

“So, did you win, unnie?”

“…”

“Ah, if you’d won, your opponent would be here instead of you right now.”

“…N-next time, I’ll win.”

This feeling, crawling out from beneath the thought of “she’s pretty.”

I more or less know what this feeling is.

I’m not sure how to control it, but at least I know its name.

So, taking advantage of the two happily chatting, I quietly lay back on the bed.

“…”

…If I do this,

won’t the traces unnie left behind

be covered by me?

Such a

truly sinister thought.

151

The sudden three-way confrontation ended more anticlimactically than expected.

Ji-yoon, of course, clammed up the moment she heard her sister’s voice.

The ever-cheerful Lee Ha-yoon, oblivious to any subtle changes, kept chatting with me.

Then, a few injured students came into the infirmary, and we all scattered.

Nothing more interesting happened after that.

…What a shame.

Honestly, I wanted to try holding Ji-yoon’s hand behind Ha-yoon’s back,

or something like that.

Not like I’d gain much from it, but Ji-yoon would’ve loved it.

She’s a hopeless pervert who gets off on her sister’s boyfriend, after all.

Who knows? Just holding her hand in secret might’ve been enough material for her to use later.

“Will there be another chance…? …Huh?”

Since I also want to slowly rebuild my relationship with Han Su-ah, I’d love to show her Ji-yoon getting dominated by Ha-yoon as soon as possible.

While packing up to leave, still disappointed about how the day went, my phone on the desk buzzed insistently.

Given how few people contact me, it wasn’t hard to guess who it was.

The principal, who weirdly adores me,

Yozora, who’s been subjected to a pseudo-neglect play (not that she wanted it),

Ha-yoon, who’s always messaging me,

or Ji-yoon, who might be itching for some illicit sex after today’s events.

…Or,

[Han Su-ah]

– Teacher.

Han Su-ah, who started avoiding me after we had sex just once.

Seeing her name after so long made the corner of my mouth twitch up.

It feels like just yesterday she asked if we could drop formalities since we’re the same age…

Counting on my fingers, I realized just how much time had passed since then.

If Su-ah had been a little more proactive, we could’ve been tangled up all this time.

By now, I might’ve had her cosplay some famous anime character before taking her,

or even started collar training.

What a waste of time.

[Seo Woo-jin]

– What?

[Han Su-ah]

– No reason.

No reason.

Just because.

I wonder what she really means by that.

Slinging my crossbody bag over my shoulder, I mulled it over.

Messaging first and then saying “no reason” doesn’t add up.

Contextually, the conclusion is probably something like “I want to have sex with you again,” but that’s not something you can just ask outright.

She’s been avoiding me for over a week after that one time—how am I supposed to bring it up?

Now that she’s turned from a lion-like carnivore into a mere herbivore, she should act the part.

Making herself small, saying “I’m not dangerous,”

slowly building intimacy with treats herbivores like,

or tiring her out with pet toys bought online—that kind of thing.

So, after considering a suitably harmless response, I settled on something a kind teacher might say.

[Seo Woo-jin]

– Are you hurt somewhere?

[Han Su-ah]

– No, no. I’m not hurt or anything.

– ……Um…

– I was wondering if you had time to talk later.

But the reply was frustratingly vague.

A question that could imply anything from a positive to a worst-case scenario.

Though, judging by how into it she was last time, the worst-case seems unlikely…

Sitting on the infirmary bed, I exhaled lightly and typed.

[Seo Woo-jin]

– What about?

– Is it serious?

[Han Su-ah]

– Uh…

– Serious…

– I don’t think so? Hmm.

Relieved it was nothing major,

but then again,

isn’t sex talk kind of serious?

Tilting my head, I sent:

[Seo Woo-jin]

– What is it?

A roundabout way of asking if she wanted to have sex.

[Han Su-ah]

– …I’ll tell you in person.

– When are you free?

[Seo Woo-jin]

– Any time after tonight.

– I can adjust my schedule if needed.

If it’s you, Su-ah, I’ll make time. That’s what I was really saying.

[Han Su-ah]

– Ah, then tonight…

– Around… 8?

[Seo Woo-jin]

– Tonight?

– Wait, today?

…Hold on.

Genuinely caught off guard.

[Han Su-ah]

– Yes. Do you remember my address?

[Seo Woo-jin]

– Yeah.

– I think so…

[Han Su-ah]

– Message me before you arrive, and I’ll come down to the lobby.

Dumbfounded.

Literally dumbfounded.

I stared at my phone.

“Good… Huff… work… Senior…”

“Yeah.”

“Ugh… Damn… That was brutal…”

“…”

…Idiot.

After briefly acknowledging Yoo Si-woo, who had collapsed on the ground, Baek Seo-yeon swept up her blue-white hair and sighed.

Why does someone with no stamina keep following me on my walks?

Summoners, not much different from mages, don’t even need to exercise.

They could just hide behind their summons and play emperor all day.

Instead of struggling to keep up with a mutant transcendent’s pace, why not just stay out of the way?

…The sound of her panting is so annoyingly frivolous,

I want to strangle her.

If not for black boxes and CCTV,

I might’ve actually done it.

“Senior… Help me up…? I can’t even talk…”

“Use your talking energy to get up yourself.”

“Come on, basic communication is necessary…!”

“I have no interest in communicating.”

“You’re the student council president! Huff… You’re just gonna leave me here?”

“Yes.”

“Wow, I’m totally impeaching you soon…!”

“Go ahead.”

“Senior! Senior…!”

Seo-yeon, who had been fiddling with her ponytail, tightened the loose hair tie and took off along the riverside with the other night walkers.

She kept going for a while.

On her way home after a long, stress-relieving walk,

she spotted a familiar face.

“……?”

Seo Woo-jin.

The guy who’s been on her mind lately was walking alone at night.