Ch.156Season of Pure Love (10)

What I gave to Do Hamin wasn’t a real stopwatch timer, but merely a smartphone app.

Of course, when he pressed the start button, there was no clicking sound,

nor was there any mechanical ticking sound of a timer running.

Even if it had been an app that made sounds, I would have set it to silent before giving it to him.

The moment I heard that sound, I felt like my body would stiffen with tension without me realizing it.

I had been covering my eyes since the moment I handed over the phone.

Until Do Hamin first touched Ban Doyoung’s body, I couldn’t even know when he would start.

I said he had the right to do whatever he wanted with Ban Doyoung for one minute,

but from the beginning, I had already closed my eyes from the moment I gave him the phone.

It was structured so that I couldn’t precisely tell when Do Hamin pressed the button,

or how much time had passed, only approximately.

In other words, unless I sent a signal to stop,

Do Hamin could touch Ban Doyoung as he pleased, whether for 1 minute or 10 minutes.

Naturally, Do Hamin must know this fact too.

Why? A guy who gets 100 points in every subject and proudly ranks first in school shouldn’t be ignorant of such things.

Even Ban Doyoung, who got an overall average of 74 points on this final exam, knows this fact.

Of course, we’re talking about Do Hamin here.

Even with all control given to him, he was the kind of guy who would satisfy his wish with just a 1-minute hug. That was Do Hamin, the protagonist of “Half of Half-Do.”

Even if his favorite Marina-chan and the main heroine Ban Doyoung became one and lay defenseless on the sofa,

I didn’t think he would completely forget the rules we set and pounce like a beast.

After all, I knew what kind of person Do Hamin had been until now.

I just wanted, even if just a little bit.

Even if just for 10 or 20 seconds, it would be fine.

I wanted him to forget even the 1-minute time limit,

and become absorbed in the results he achieved through his own efforts.

I wanted to let him be a little more honest about what he likes.

“…I pressed it. I’ll start now.”

As expected.

Do Hamin kindly announced when he had pressed the start button.

He probably thought I might be tense not knowing when he would start since my eyes were closed, so he wanted to ease that tension.

I couldn’t help but snicker slightly at his endless sweetness.

If he had started without saying anything, he could have extended the time he could do as he pleased, even if just a little.

Do Hamin was truly Do Hamin through and through.

Since he announced with his own mouth that he was starting,

I couldn’t help but be conscious of the fact that 1 minute would now begin to pass, regardless of my will.

‘Well, this is what I expected.’

He’s the kind of guy who would draw tic-tac-toe on your forehead out of conscience, even when you close your eyes for a kiss.

Normalizing the initiative I had handed over wasn’t something new when living with Do Hamin.

It’s actually better this way.

If I know when he started, I can tell how absorbed he becomes with Ban Doyoung right in front of him.

‘…Here he comes now.’

Even with eyes closed, humans can sense when someone approaches.

Of course, Ban Doyoung is a cat right now, but being a cat made her even more sensitive to approaching presences.

I felt Do Hamin blocking the air conditioner’s breeze as he came toward me lying on the sofa.

Do Hamin naturally had a warmer constitution than Ban Doyoung, so the cool breeze that had been blowing toward my body soon changed to warm air through his body.

‘I can tell even with my eyes closed. Where Do Hamin is right now.’

The brightness of the ceiling light coming through my closed eyes dimmed.

It felt as if a thick, warm-emitting wall had covered over Ban Doyoung.

With my eyes closed, his breathing sounded even louder.

-Touch

‘Eup…!’

The first place Do Hamin’s hand touched was my right shoulder.

Since Marina-chan’s cosplay outfit exposed the shoulders and armpits coolly,

Do Hamin’s bare hand touched my shoulder directly without any cloth or clothing in between.

‘Ah, hot….’

Ban Doyoung’s body, which had been cooled by the living room air conditioner,

slightly furrowed her brow at the temperature difference felt as soon as Do Hamin’s hand touched her.

I knew he had a naturally warm constitution.

The temperature difference between our inherently incompatible bodies made Do Hamin’s large, rough hands

feel not just warm, but hot.

Especially since it was skin-to-skin contact without any fabric in between,

my shoulder stiffened in surprise without me realizing it.

“S-sorry. Did I touch too hard?”

“…”

He seemed a bit startled when the shoulder his hand touched flinched and hardened.

I bit my lower lip tightly without answering.

Then I relaxed the muscles in the shoulder he was holding as much as possible, as if to say it was okay to continue.

I didn’t want him to know. That I was startled just by the touch of Do Hamin’s hand.

“…Alright. I won’t stop.”

Do Hamin’s arm, as if understanding the meaning, put a little more strength into the hand holding my shoulder.

Though I flinched again, I offered my shoulder to him without resistance, just as he wanted.

After confirming that the tension in my shoulder had relaxed, Do Hamin gradually expanded the range of his touch,

slowly moving from the shoulder to the forearm, as if embracing Ban Doyoung’s body.

Do Hamin’s hand, which at first had been hot enough to make me frown, gradually became familiar.

It wasn’t that his hand had dropped in temperature. If anything, it had gotten hotter from the heat generated by our touching skin.

It was just that my body temperature had risen too, allowing Do Hamin’s touch to feel pleasant.

As I got used to that temperature, the tension that had stiffened wherever his hands touched began to melt away, and strength started to leave my body.

‘What is this… this languid feeling, as if I’m soaking in a hot bath…’

As the tension eased, my eyelids, which I had been forcibly keeping closed, began to droop on their own.

I had already tossed and turned last night thinking about executing this plan.

Of course, I couldn’t open my eyes to avoid drowsiness.

If I opened my eyes now, I would end up making eye contact with Do Hamin, who was currently massaging Ban Doyoung’s body transformed into Marina-chan.

-Touch

‘Eup…’

After slowly relaxing both arms, Do Hamin’s left hand rested on Ban Doyoung’s lower abdomen.

A normal cat would hate having its belly touched,

but Baek Dan-ttoyoung, whose whole body had already been half-relaxed by Do Hamin, couldn’t offer any resistance toward him.

Both arms had already been conquered.

‘Ok. Ok. O. O o….’

Do Hamin pressed down on Ban Doyoung’s belly with slight pressure.

With warmth rising from below in lumps,

I ended up letting out short, low breaths, cutting them off abruptly.

Clearly, the navel area wasn’t even a place where bare skin touched, so why?

Maybe because it had been cooled the most.

In that brief moment, Do Hamin’s hand, which had grown even hotter, touched it,

making it feel like the shape of his hand would be imprinted right on my lower abdomen.

‘1… 1 minute… hasn’t it passed yet? Ah, no? Is there still some time left?’

I don’t know.

From the moment my mind became languid, I couldn’t grasp how much time had passed.

But I didn’t ask Do Hamin about it.

If I mentioned it, these touches would stop here.

‘Ugh… No. If my consciousness flies away now…’

-Slide

At that moment, Do Hamin began to slowly stroke with his right hand, which he had placed on my belly,

allowing the warmth centered there to spread throughout my body.

‘Hiyuuu….’

Slowly, and with a regular rhythm, as if rubbing the belly of a sick child.

Like a deflated, limp balloon, my entire body, through which warmth had spread following that flow, began to sag.

“…Phew.”

Even long after Do Hamin’s hand left Ban Doyoung,

I couldn’t open my eyes that had been closed.

.

.

.

“Eh.”

When I opened my eyes again, I was lying in Ban Doyoung’s room on the bed.

The reason for opening my eyes was utterly ordinary.

It was because the evening glow shining through the window under the bed was dazzling.

That’s why the current situation made even less sense.

The sky was definitely blue the last time I closed my eyes.

And the place I had been lying wasn’t my bedroom, but the living room sofa.

“Are you awake?”

I turned my head toward the sound, squinting my eyes.

Do Hamin was sitting quietly in my desk chair, waiting for me to wake up.

“…Do Hamin. Did I fall asleep?”

“Y-yeah. For about two hours. You must have had some accumulated fatigue. Seeing how you fell asleep not long after receiving the massage I usually give to my mom.”

“Massage… I even cosplayed as Marina-chan and let you do whatever you wanted for 1 minute, and all you did was… a massage. Ha. Hahaha.”

A short laugh came out of my mouth, sputtering like air escaping.

When something is absurd, people laugh bitterly. Haha.

“Did you do anything to me while I was asleep? A kiss? Rubbing cheeks? Fondling my chest?”

“I didn’t do anything. You had finally fallen asleep, and doing such things would have woken you up.”

“You didn’t do anything… haha. Nothing at all… I specially borrowed Marina-chan’s appearance so even virgin Do Hamin could react… and you did nothing.”

As if quickly tightening the space where all laughter had drained away, my throat choked up.

My trembling hands became wet with tears.

“…Don’t you think you’re being too cruel?”

“…Doyoung?”

“I said I would grant your wish! Would it hurt to pounce on me like you’re dying of excitement? I want to create good memories with you too! Why do you keep pushing me away and making me feel miserable!”

There was a sound of movement from the floor below.

It meant that Mom and Dad had returned home while I was asleep.

They probably didn’t know what I was wearing since I was sleeping under the blanket.

“We promised together! That if you ranked first in school, I’d grant your wish! Then you should also cooperate so I can grant your wish too, right? I was happy too, that you were trying to keep your promise with me! So I wanted to give you what you wanted somehow! Why do you try to compromise even with what you like? You’re my boyfriend! If there’s something you want, ask for it!”

If I raise my voice like this, Mom and Dad who were on the second floor would come up.

Despite knowing this, I couldn’t control the emotions I was pouring out toward Do Hamin.

“If you like something, say you like it… Don’t make me feel like I’m not enough for you… Marina-chan combined with Ban Doyoung should be invincible to Do Hamin… But why are you so good at holding back.”

“…Doyoung.”

“Or what… are you saying that even becoming Marina-chan can’t overcome virgin Do Hamin’s chastity-“

-Grab

Do Hamin’s arms wrapped around Ban Doyoung’s waist.

The disheveled cat ears and white twin-tail wig became even more tangled and fell off.

“…!”

“…”

Do Hamin’s breath completely engulfed Ban Doyoung.

It was the first kiss between the two on an ordinary day, without borrowing the power of a school trip or April Fool’s Day.

“Uwup… Puha! W-what are you doing now! When I was Marina-chan, all you did was massage and that was it…! What difference does it make doing it now?”

“…Sorry, I felt like I shouldn’t do it when you looked like Marina-chan.”

“What do you mean you shouldn’t?”

“If I did, you might think I like Marina-chan more than you, Doyoung.”

Saying that, Do Hamin completely removed Marina-chan’s wig and cat ears that had been hanging on my clothes.

Marina-chan, who had been Do Hamin’s favorite, returned to her original form,

Ban Doyoung, in his arms.

“My wish can only be granted by Ban Doyoung. Not Marina-chan.”

“…Then you should have done it when we were in the classroom.”

“…Sorry, let me be more precise.”

Do Hamin, with his arms tightly holding Ban Doyoung’s waist, said to me.

“My wish can only be granted by Ban Doyoung who is over 18 years old.”