22. Sorting Out Relationships (4)

I’d visited Seo Joo-ha’s house so many times that I could practically find it with my eyes closed.

It wasn’t far from the academy. You just went straight down the main road and turned into the third alley, and there it was: a gray house.

My steps felt unusually light as I left the academy gates today.

Maybe it was because I’d finally resolved a worry that had been weighing on my mind for so long. Or maybe it was because, even though it had been a while since I’d visited Joo-ha’s house, I wasn’t nervous at all.

“She’s probably home by now, right?”

Joo-ha-yang wasn’t the type to wander around after class. Usually, if she didn’t have anything going on, she’d go straight home and text me. So, there was a good chance she was home today too.

My tea time with Sanya-ssi had taken longer than expected, so it was already more than 30 minutes past dismissal time. That was plenty of time for Joo-ha to get home, take a leisurely shower, and even change clothes.

I carefully pressed the doorbell next to the tightly closed front door.

A light came on in the small camera installed in front, and then, just a few seconds later, there was a loud udangtang noise from inside, and the door burst open.

“Oh, hi! Ji-hoo-ya! Wh-what brings you to my house…?”

“Uh… of course, I came because I wanted to see you…!”

Scratch that about not being nervous.

I was so confident just a moment ago, thinking I could just act normal. But as soon as I actually faced Joo-ha, my mind went blank.

And it seemed like I wasn’t the only one. Joo-ha’s face was turning as red as a tomato.

What should I say?

Should I say I came to make up? But come to think of it, we didn’t even fight…?

Should I just cut to the chase and ask for sex? No, that might really ruin our relationship…

While I was stammering, thankfully, Joo-ha regained her senses first, grabbed my arm, and pulled me inside.

“Um… we can’t just stand outside, so, uh, do you want to come in? It’s hot out there…”

“Y-yeah, sure. Excuse me.”

Just act normal.

I thought it would be easy, but it’s harder than I expected.

Maybe it’s because the idea of being considerate of her is so ingrained in my mind now. But even when I think of something to say, I’m afraid it’ll just come across as condescending pity to Joo-ha.

“Did you really come to see me? Why can’t you look me in the eye? Ji-hoo used to not be like this…”

“No, it’s just, it’s been so long…”

“I’m just kidding.”

Even now, Joo-ha is trying so hard to act like everything’s normal, but what am I even doing?

I know that if I just keep my mouth shut, the atmosphere she’s trying to create will just fall flat.

Ah, I don’t even know what’s what anymore.

I need to say something before it gets even more awkward.

The simplest and most effective way to communicate in a relationship… is to communicate with your body.

“…Joo-ha-ya.”

“U-um? What?”

“Let’s hold hands.”

Of course, communicating with your body doesn’t always have to be about sex.

Joo-ha looked a little surprised and opened her mouth, but she soon took my hand and held it tightly.

Her warmth enveloped each of my fingers.

The air was chilled by the air conditioner, making my spine tingle, so Joo-ha’s hand felt warmer than ever.

That’s when my head started to clear a little.

I felt like I was finally sorting out what I wanted to say in my heart.

I held her hand tightly so she wouldn’t pull away.

And then, I slowly began to unload the jumble of words I had been burying deep inside.

“I haven’t been paying much attention to you lately, have I…? I think I haven’t understood your feelings enough until now.”

If we just gloss over the past conflicts and move on, we’ll never be able to resolve this issue.

We needed a process to reaffirm each other’s feelings.

To calmly talk about our past mistakes and accumulated emotions, to comfort each other’s wounds, and finally prepare to walk together.

That’s what you could call a true relationship recovery, right?

“I thought we weren’t awkward, I thought we were the kind of people who could openly share our feelings… but looking back, I think there was a big barrier between us.”

I always thought I was being considerate of the other person, but the large shadow cast by the barrier only made us shrink back.

That’s why I looked Joo-ha in the eye even more and said,

“So, let’s get rid of the barrier now. I like considerate love, but I also like love that’s much hotter and more passionate. We’ve been so careful with each other until now, so wouldn’t it be okay to change a little? So we can see each other from closer.”

That was the best confession I could come up with.

I forced my brain, which still wasn’t working properly, to spit it out, but I was also worried that my expression was too rough and might backfire.

But, contrary to my worries, it seemed like my sincerity got through.

Judging by the way Joo-ha’s face was spreading with a faint happiness as she listened to my words… I must have said something pretty close to the right answer in her book.

“Yeah, okay…”

Joo-ha nodded her head enthusiastically.

She gave a short answer in a low voice, and just as I was starting to get flustered by the sudden silence, tears started to trickle down from Joo-ha’s distorted eyes.

I was taken aback.

“Uh, d-don’t cry…”

“I was only worried about how I looked… I didn’t think about your feelings at all and just whined… hic, so…”

As if she didn’t want me to see her crying, Joo-ha covered her face with her elbows and sobbed.

“Heeuk… Ji-hoo-ya… I’m sorry, no, thank you… heegeuk, heuk… Thank you for telling me…”

Seeing Joo-ha cry made my own heart feel heavy.

But if I lost my own composure here, we’d probably end up collapsing from exhaustion before we even got to sex. So, instead of answering, I just hugged Joo-ha tightly.

Joo-ha’s body trembled slightly, probably surprised by the sudden warmth of my embrace.

I kept my left hand tightly intertwined with Joo-ha’s, and slowly stroked her back with my right hand.

Joo-ha’s sobbing gradually subsided with my gentle touch.

“Why are you crying? I came here to cheer you up.”

“Heuk, heeuk… I won’t cry… I won’t cry… heuk… heuaaang…”

…I guess not yet.

I continued to pat Joo-ha’s back over and over again until she had let out all her sadness.

It was 20 minutes after Joo-ha had burst into tears when she finally stopped crying and looked up at me with her red, swollen eyes.

“Heut… Don’t look at me… My eyes look weird…”

She wiped away the remaining tears with the back of her hand, but she kept glancing at me. It was cute.

If I were to compare Joo-ha to an animal right now… it would probably be a rabbit.

The way she keeps twitching her ears and rubbing her face against me, and the way her eyes are red from crying so much… the more I think about it, the more similarities there are.

Ha-yul-nyangie, Seol-ah-meongie, and now Joo-ha-tokki… if this keeps up, I might end up creating an animal harem.

“I’m going to go wash my face in the bathroom for a bit…”

“Take your time. Calm down a little too.”

Joo-ha ran to the bathroom to erase the traces of her crying, as if she couldn’t take it anymore.

Now, I think it’s really time to start preparing.

Sex that absolutely cannot be postponed today. The process of resolving our accumulated emotions went smoothly, so if we keep going like this, the sex will end successfully without any major obstacles.

But it can’t just end ‘successfully’.

Tonight’s sex has to be deeply ingrained in her mind, an unforgettable memory, so I need to make some special preparations.

And luckily, I have a simple but very effective preparation.

I always keep it in my bag for times like this.

“Rose oil… she’ll like it, right?”

Unlike men, who are easily aroused by visual stimuli, women are more sensitive to stimuli related to hearing and touch.

Especially in Joo-ha’s case, with her thin skin and large breasts, she’s likely to feel it even more easily than the other heroines in her sensitive areas.

Aroma oil will play a role in further enhancing those sensitive reactions.

It will first approach the most sensitive sense, smell, to create a subtle and romantic atmosphere, and the sticky and soft texture of the oil will make her already aroused body even hotter.

“I’m almost done…! I’ll be out soon!”

Joo-ha’s voice echoed from inside the bathroom.

While waiting for her, I decided to put some hot water in a container to warm the oil.

The boulder that had been weighing on my mind has finally disappeared. Now, I’m starting to get excited about the intimate sex I’m about to have with Joo-ha.