Ch.111Episode 23. Comic World (2)

*Knock, knock, knock.*

“Instructor! Please open the door.”

I sighed at the voice coming from beyond the door. Did she really come?

I got up slowly from the bed and walked to the entrance. When I opened the door, there stood Gu Yeonhwa in a black t-shirt and shorts, holding a uniform.

“Instructor, good evening!”

As Yeonhwa shifted slightly, a subtle scent of strawberries wafted through the air.

Hmm. Seems like she’s been listening to me after all.

“If you know it’s evening, why don’t you lower your voice?”

“May I come in?”

Regardless of how boldly she ignored my comment, the words tumbling from her mouth sounded urgent.

I looked her up and down with puzzlement. By the time my eyes reached the floor, I noticed her exposed white legs were trembling slightly.

“…How did you even make it here with those shaking legs?”

“Ah, if you already know, please let me in quickly…!”

She blushed, seemingly offended, and gave me a light shove.

I glanced at the uniform she was holding.

It was a black fabric uniform with gold buttons and patterns as accents. There was even something like a commander’s hat and even a black wig.

Having to stand in front of many people wearing this. Shit.

“Come in for now.”

I couldn’t just send her away like this.

If I did, she’d surely collapse on her way back. I had been particularly rough with her today, and she might feel the aftereffects until tomorrow.

I let Yeonhwa into the room and closed the door.

“Try to refrain from visiting at night in the future.”

I have no intention of claiming I didn’t take advantage of a student’s emotions, nor do I care about others’ opinions.

But I felt a slight aversion to letting a student into my room.

“First, take off your shoes and go sit on the bed.”

“What?”

“Quickly.”

She stood there blankly for a moment before removing her slippers and entering the room. She hung the uniform on the pull-up bar and sat on the bed as I instructed.

Unlike before, she seemed tense.

Her face was flushed, and she kept fidgeting, constantly brushing her hair back.

This was probably because she had started to see me as a potential romantic interest after our date.

While her romantic interest in me wasn’t entirely a good thing, the thought that she would train harder to impress me could create good synergy.

I sat down in front of Yeonhwa’s feet.

“…Instructor? Why are you sitting there?”

“I’ll massage your calves.”

If I worked on other areas, the atmosphere might turn suggestive.

“W-what?”

She flinched when I gently placed my hands on her calves. Unlike her hands, her legs seemed sensitive as she tried to avoid my touch, subtly shifting away.

But it wasn’t that she genuinely disliked it. If she truly did, she would have kicked me away.

She was just feeling a bit embarrassed.

“I-I’m fine.”

“The other students drank potions, but you didn’t. You need to train tomorrow too, and if you can’t perform like today, it’ll all be for nothing.”

While physical strength was important for the others as well, they prioritized improving their skill proficiency, so I allowed them to drink potions.

However, Yeonhwa needed to continuously build her stamina, so I had forbidden her from drinking potions.

Having pushed her to her limits for two weeks straight, plus daily exercise, it was only natural that her body was screaming with fatigue.

“Give me your leg.”

“B-but…”

“Yeonhwa.”

When I called her name gently, she visibly flinched. I could see her shoulders jump.

“Y-yes?”

“I won’t do anything. I’m really just going to massage your calves. If you don’t loosen them up properly, tomorrow will be really tough.”

“…Alright.”

“Good girl.”

“W-why do I feel like you’re treating me like a child?”

“Really? I’ve never thought of you as a child. If anything…”

“If anything?”

In response to her question, I smiled enigmatically, leaving a meaningful pause.

Yeonhwa’s eyes wavered, and her cheeks turned slightly red. I wondered what kind of fantasies were running through her mind right now.

Does she want me to see her romantically? Or does she prefer that I maintain the instructor-student boundary?

I’d have to ask her to know for sure, but I strongly suspect it’s the former.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t be so flustered by my touch.

“Shall I?”

I stroked her right shin as slowly as possible to avoid startling her, then gripped her leg with both hands.

“Hnngh…!”

Soft moans escaped her each time I pressed on her calf muscles.

With each manipulation of her tense muscles, she bit her lower lip harder.

“Haah…! O-oppa… that’s too hard…! Please be gentler…!”

I couldn’t help but chuckle at her form of address.

Since I had called her by name, she was now calling me “oppa.” It felt like we were sending signals to each other, creating a strange flutter in my chest.

“This is the right intensity. Bear with it.”

When I felt the right muscle had loosened enough, I placed my hand on her left leg. It seemed to accept my touch much more naturally than when I first touched it.

She was accepting my fingers naturally now, though she still let out faint moans with each movement.

Only after loosening both calves did I remove my hands from her legs.

I would have liked to work on her entire lower body, but that was still too high a hurdle for her. Even if she permitted it, she would clearly interpret it as skinship rather than a massage.

That would naturally lead to a suggestive atmosphere, so this much was just right.

“Feel better?”

“Y-yes…”

Her tone sounded somewhat regretful. She seemed to want more but was too embarrassed to ask.

I noticed but didn’t offer. I had no intention of crossing the line first. If she wanted more, that would be a different story.

“Make sure to stretch out the rest of your body. Focus on that instead of things like that.”

“Things like what…!”

When I pointed at the cosplay uniform, she puffed her cheeks and grumbled.

“I didn’t make it myself, but I commissioned it. With my own money!”

“You mean your mother’s money.”

“…Yes, with mom’s money… Hey! You’re the one who won’t let me work part-time!!”

She was about to agree with me when she suddenly shouted.

“Keep it down. Everyone outside will hear you.”

“You’re the one who called it ‘things like that.’ I specially commissioned it for you.”

“If it were you, you’d probably force me to cosplay too. Would you like that?”

“I would.”

“I was talking about my feelings.”

I sighed as I looked at her childishly grinning. I picked up the uniform hanging on the pull-up bar and spoke.

“Anyway, I just need to wear this on the weekend, right? I’ll just stuff it in the closet for now.”

She had been going on and on about Comic World happening this weekend at the training grounds, to the point where my ears hurt just remembering it.

“You say such terrible things so casually! Are you trying to get my attention on purpose?”

“…”

I stared at her blankly, at a loss for words.

Unable to withstand my silent gaze, she darted her eyes around and then started patting the bedspread for no reason.

“Say something! You’re making me embarrassed!”

“You’re raising dust.”

“Fine! Just try it on now!”

“…What?”

“I want to see how well it suits you.”

“See it on the day. You’ll be walking around in it anyway.”

The thought of walking around in this outfit in front of many people was starting to depress me. Wouldn’t I die of embarrassment?

How do real cosplayers do this?

“No way. You’re not used to cosplay. If you try it on the day of the event, I can already see you getting embarrassed and shy! It would be better to get used to it by showing me now.”

…Is that so? It somehow makes sense.

I scratched my head and let out what must have been my umpteenth sigh.

“Fine. Fine. I’ll try it on.”

Clothes are just clothes after all.

It’s not like I’m standing in front of her in just my underwear, and the uniform looked somewhat like those worn in overseas academies, so it was relatively less objectionable.

“I’ll go change.”

I went into the bathroom, took off only my shorts, and started putting on the uniform piece by piece.

After buttoning up the collar, I looked in the bathroom mirror. I looked somewhat similar to the protagonist from that witch anime I had seen.

I put on the black wig and pressed down the commander-like hat. It fit perfectly on my head. How did she prepare something like this so well…

I stared at my reflection in the mirror and let out a hollow laugh.

This isn’t even voluntary humiliation. I never thought I’d end up cosplaying in my life.

I took a breath that was either a deep inhale or a sigh and opened the bathroom door.

The moment she saw me, her eyes grew wider than usual as she sat on the bed humming a tune.

“Wow…”

She covered her gaping mouth in amazement. She looked genuinely surprised.

“The synchronization is amazing! Oppa! C-can I take a picture?!”

She hurriedly pulled out her phone from her shorts and shouted. The camera was already pointed at me before I could give permission.

“No.”

“Aw, why not? This needs to be preserved.”

Despite saying that, she hesitated to take the photo. She gave me a desperate look, seeking my permission. It seemed she wouldn’t do it without my approval.

“…Just one.”

“One isn’t enough.”

“Take it or leave it.”

“Ahhh, fine.”

She quickly agreed when I started to unbutton the uniform.

“Then please strike a proper pose.”

“What kind of pose?”

“Hmm. Could you grab the brim of your hat with your left hand? Just the edge. So your hand partially covers your face.”

I grabbed the brim of the hat expressionlessly and stared at her. After adjusting the camera angle, Yeonhwa said she was ready to take the photo.

Soon, the sound of the shutter was heard.

Click!

“Wow… this is insane. Really! Your proportions are amazing, and that indifferent expression is perfect. People really need to be handsome first.”

“…”

Yeonhwa kept chattering without taking her eyes off her phone. Meanwhile, I took off the hat and wig. The more I heard her compliments, the more embarrassed I felt.

“Hey, is this all you wanted?”

“Huh? Yes, that’s right.”

“Then you’ve seen what you came to see. Time to go.”

“What? We’re far from done! That was too short a time to take it all in. Let me take one more!”

“Get out now.”

I said as I forcibly dragged Yeonhwa out. I opened the door while kicking the backside of the struggling girl.

“Eek!”

With a cute yelp, she was pushed outside and rubbed her bottom. I threw her slippers into the corridor too.

“O… I mean, Instructor!”

“What.”

“I know it’s embarrassing, but that’s just because you’re not used to it. Once you get used to it, you might even be comfortable reciting lines!”

I sent a spark of energy at her as she frowned in pain but still had something to say.

“Eep!”

“If you don’t want to die, leave quickly.”

“Hmph. I’m not satisfied, but I saw something good today. It doesn’t matter since I’ll see plenty on the weekend! I’ll come pick you up then.”

Yeonhwa smiled and waved, unfazed by my harsh words.

“…Don’t come.”

“Oh, are you already staying true to the character? Hmm. The protagonist did have some tsundere traits—”

Slam.

I closed the door before she could finish speaking.

Leaning against the door, I stared down at the uniform and covered my face.

Having to walk around in front of many people wearing this on the weekend.

It seems the real hell was here all along.