Ch.133133. I Don’t Have an Armpit Fetish [Illustration]

—Click.

After the inexplicably seductive Hwa Nabi left the room, I, left alone in the bedroom, rubbed the back of my neck.

“…What’s going on?”

I’m not sure if “scheme” is the right word to use for a girlfriend, but anyway, not knowing what she’s planning naturally makes me tense.

Especially since she wants to show me her new clothes at this particular moment? I don’t know what she’s trying to do, but I should start by complimenting her new outfit. When in doubt, they say compliments get you halfway there.

Despite reaching that conclusion, I nervously fidgeted with my mechanical pencil. Seeing myself act this restlessly, I must really be nervous.

“Hmm…”

All sorts of thoughts enter my mind as I wait.

I keep seeing flashes of that bunny girl costume I saw before, and even memories from last night keep surfacing… I’m already losing sleep over those things, and I wonder if this will just become another reason for my sleep deprivation.

As I imagined, a smile naturally formed on my face, and I had to tap my cheeks a couple of times as the corners of my mouth kept trying to escape my control.

Right, let’s not think strange thoughts. Hwa Nabi might genuinely just want to show me her new clothes. If I build up all these fantasies and that’s not the case, I’ll only end up disappointed.

—Knock knock.

“Siwoo, can I come in?”

Though she asked that, while I was in the midst of various expectations, I heard a neat knock from outside the room. I cleared my throat once before answering.

“Yeah, come in.”

—Creeeeak.

Following that came the sound of the bedroom door opening, and I turned my head, pretending I hadn’t been eagerly waiting.

And then, I was startled.

“Siwoo. Are you thirsty? Drink this while we work.”

Hwa Nabi was holding two glass cups of orange juice, but such trivial details didn’t matter. What’s more important is her outfit.

Hwa Nabi, who said she’d change into her new clothes, was wearing something resembling a school uniform. But not an ordinary one—it had such a bold exposure that I wondered if it could even be called a uniform.

A sleeveless top that revealed her shoulders and armpits. The line from her neck to her collarbone and upper chest looked so white and smooth that it was truly artistic.

“Um, Siwoo?”

“Oh, yes.”

“Aren’t you going to drink your juice?”

“Ah… right, thank you.”

Even as I accepted the juice cup she offered, I couldn’t take my eyes off her. To think my heart would race this much over such exposure. Am I an idiot…?

No, it’s not that I’m an idiot; it’s Hwa Nabi’s outfit that’s wrong. This is clearly not clothing made to function as normal attire.

…It’s clothing made to seduce.

“Here we go.”

Passing by me as I stood like a statue, Hwa Nabi sat on a pink cushion and glanced back at me.

With half-lidded eyes and relaxed lips, she smiled playfully and patted the spot next to her.

“What are you doing standing there? Come sit down.”

I approached carefully and sat down, trying to suppress my pounding heart. The setup is no different from ten minutes ago, but why do I feel heat rising to my face?

Taking a deep breath without her noticing, I straightened my back and took a sip of my juice.

“Well then, shall we start again?”

“Start what… Oh, right, we should.”

I almost asked “Start what?” but stopped myself just in time. It feels like my inner thoughts are being exposed, which is somewhat embarrassing. I needlessly touched my beardless chin and picked up my mechanical pencil.

“First, look at this. About the first paragraph…”

I pointed with my pencil at the introduction of the report Hwa Nabi had written with my help, a paragraph describing why she chose Japan among many travel destinations. And just as I was about to continue explaining.

“Yes, what’s wrong with this part?”

I suddenly stopped mid-sentence because something kept catching my eye. The chest area of Hwa Nabi, who was sitting close to me with our shoulders touching, exposed by her outfit.

No matter how hard I try not to look, I instinctively glance at it. Men are such sad creatures…

“Um… well, that.”

Just as I was trying to say something, a droplet of water from who knows where rolled down her collarbone line and disappeared between her breasts.

After witnessing that incredible sight… I forgot what I was going to say.

“Is there something to revise?”

When she says “revise,” it somehow sounds lewd. Is it just my imagination?

…The fact that I’m having such deranged thoughts shows I’ve really gone too far. I realized this, but I couldn’t stop my various fantasies.

“Hmm, here. I think it would be better if we changed this sentence.”

“How?”

“Since the person reading the report outranks me, instead of using ‘I’ as the subject, ‘the author’ or ‘this student’ would be better.”

This is a small technique that uses human psychology. If two reports are of the same quality, people naturally want to give more points to the student who shows proper respect.

Having finally collected my thoughts, I shared various report writing tips I knew. Hwa Nabi noted down everything I told her in her notebook.

“Siwoo, doesn’t this remind you of the old days?”

“Huh? What old days?”

“You know, when we were in high school. You used to teach me how to study like this.”

“Ah… right, those times.”

Though “those times” were just half a year ago. Anyway, Hwa Nabi seemed to be reminiscing about past memories.

Then, tapping her notebook with her pen, she said to me in a subtle voice.

“I wore a uniform like this back then too.”

That comment naturally drew my gaze sideways. Her outfit was a revealing one with more exposed than covered parts.

…She wore something like this back then? That’s impossible. It would have been a disaster. If she had worn something like this when we were studying alone, I don’t know what I would have done.

“Is it because you’re wearing a dress shirt? It feels like I’m a high school student getting tutored by a college student teacher.”

This isn’t some adult video scenario… What high school student gets tutored wearing such a revealing outfit? I wanted to say that but held back.

“…Why am I so tired?”

Words I wanted to say rose to my throat, but I swallowed them and said something irrelevant instead. I was trying to change the atmosphere a bit, but Hwa Nabi’s following words and actions were something else.

“Since you mention it, I’m tired too.”

After saying that calmly, she suddenly raised both arms high and made a strange sound—”Ungh”—as she stretched. She extended her right arm toward the sky, and put her left arm behind her neck to grab her right elbow.

She maintained that pose for a few seconds, then folded her right arm as well, placing both hands on the back of her neck.

“……”

Her fair, smooth armpits were completely exposed. I momentarily forgot what to say and just opened and closed my mouth.

Perhaps because it’s an intimate area not often seen, just looking at it makes my heart flutter.

Feeling like I’d be caught if I kept staring, I quickly lowered my gaze. But the exposure below her navel was similar to her upper body. Her already short skirt had ridden up, almost revealing her underwear.

Of course, her thighs were completely exposed too. There was nowhere safe to look.

“Um, could you cover up a bit…”

It would be a lie to say it wasn’t pleasing to the eye, but looking at her outfit made me feel like I was doing something wrong, and my heart kept racing. I deliberately turned my head away and forced out the words.

But she’s no ordinary woman. Instead, she turned her upper body toward me as if inviting me to look.

“Teacher, isn’t it a bit hot?”

“Why am I a teach—”

I was about to respond when my breath caught. I had unconsciously turned my head to the side, and Hwa Nabi had her left arm pressed below her chest while her right hand was lifting the shoulder strap of her sleeveless shirt slightly.

Because of that, I caught a glimpse of her smooth skin and another indescribable body part… and that’s when I finally realized.

She’s been doing all this for me to see.

The shoulder strap of her uniform fluttered like an animal’s tail as she held it with her fingertips. That gesture was clearly an invitation, and having realized Hwa Nabi’s intentions, I gulped.

“Teacher, your face is red.”

“Why do you keep calling me teacher?”

I made a belated objection, but neither of us cared about such trivial details. I grabbed the wrist of her hand that was still holding the shoulder strap as if inviting me to look.

“Well… because you taught me various things.”

“Does teaching you a bit make me a teacher?”

“You taught me more than just studying, didn’t you?”

As I met her eyes while she made these suggestive remarks, I unconsciously lowered my gaze.

The sleeveless uniform that looked no different from wearing nothing, my eyes drawn to the folded armpit beneath her exposed shoulder.

“Oh, you’re looking at my armpit again.”

“…Didn’t I tell you I don’t have a thing for armpits?”

I just looked because it was visible, because it was the first thing that caught my eye, not because I particularly like armpits.

But as if she had no intention of listening to my explanation, Hwa Nabi gave me a strange smile and slightly raised her arm to show her armpit.

“Sure. Even though your eyes are fixed like this whenever I show them, you don’t like them.”

“…Ah, really.”

Feeling frustrated, I impulsively reached out. I put my arm around Hwa Nabi’s waist and pulled her wrist to bring her close to me.

In that instant of proximity, I tilted my face toward her ear and said:

“What I like is just you.”

Not something like armpits. I added belatedly and met Hwa Nabi’s eyes.

“…Really?”

“Yes, really.”

“Really really?”

“Yes, really really.”

“Okay, then…”

She held my gaze for a long time, then suddenly leaned her upper body slightly.

And whispered so quietly that no one else could hear.

“…Show me how much you like me.”