Ch.164Because It’s Summer (7)

Basically, most of what I could do with Ban Doyoung’s body followed her abilities rather than my own.

It’s like the realm of talent inherently installed in the physical body. Even in fields where I had neither aptitude nor experience in my original world, if Ban Doyoung’s body had the talent, I could easily pick it up after just a few practice sessions.

Ban Doyoung’s fancy handwriting flowing from her delicate fingers, her clear voice with impressive high notes, cooking skills that improved quickly after just one lesson, and the kendo classes we’ve been taking with Do Hamin—all were perfect examples.

Handwriting, singing, even cooking. Looking at her talents, Ban Doyoung surprisingly excelled more in artistic and domestic fields rather than physical activities. This was the opposite of Do Hamin, whose growth spurt had revealed unexpected athletic potential.

As expected of the unofficial Immortal Goddess Sister Ban Doyoung. You weren’t just the ultimate in external feminine charm but in internal feminine qualities as well.

This naturally leads to a question: if I could follow Ban Doyoung’s talents so easily, could I also utilize the skills and talents I possessed in my original world?

To put it simply, the answer was half yes and half no.

If I had an aptitude for something and Ban Doyoung also had an aptitude for it, then it was possible.

In this category, even if Ban Doyoung had no prior experience with the activity, as long as she had the latent talent for it, I could naturally draw it out.

The perfect example was how this body, which had never held a steering wheel before, could skillfully drive the dojang car based solely on my memories from my original world. Ban Doyoung would probably become an excellent driver when she grew up. At least she wouldn’t end up on Han Muncheol TV after getting into an accident while taking little Hamin to academy classes.

I’ll set aside subjects like studying, where neither of us had any talent. With both of us starting from scratch, there was no talent to speak of. The damage calculation formula for talent didn’t turn two negatives into a positive.

So far, so good. I could quickly master things Ban Doyoung was good at, and I could also implement skills I was good at in my original world.

The problem arose when I had both aptitude and experience in my original world, but Ban Doyoung’s body had neither.

In such cases, no matter how close to genius I might have been in my original world, those skills couldn’t be properly expressed. The phrase “my mind knows exactly what to do, but my body won’t follow” perfectly described this situation.

I could definitely do these things skillfully in my original world. With those memories still intact, the gap between knowledge and ability felt even more frustrating.

This disconnect made my body tense up and shrink back, ultimately creating a fear of performing those actions.

Huh? What kind of actions am I talking about?

“Blub! Blub! H-help me! I think I’ve got a cramp in my leg! I’m going to drown! Mom! Dad! Hamin! Ban Siyoung! Ban Solyoung! Teacher Miso! Choi Sahyang! Yu Hyerang, class president! Lee Jeonggyu! Original author! Help me!”

“The water only comes up to your waist here…!”

“Mmm-hmm, now you see why everyone from mom to brother failed to teach me, *mumble mumble*.”

“Scarlet, stop just eating bread and come help me out here!”

I should have realized it back when I fell into the lake during the school trip—that Ban Doyoung had a terrible lack of talent for swimming.

…

After wrestling with waist-deep water for about an hour, we took a break under a beach umbrella to escape the sun.

The first lesson of the so-called “Do Hamin’s Swimming School feat. Scarlet” had yielded poorer results than expected.

Hamin, who had come prepared to teach swimming systematically, had tried to help me master the basics one by one, but neither of us had anticipated such a lack of progress.

After all, Ban Doyoung had never shown any lack of athletic ability at school, and Hamin had demonstrated remarkable talent in teaching others.

Plus, I was equipped with heaven-sent natural flotation devices. We figured I’d be able to stay afloat no matter what.

With my experience from my original world, I thought we’d just splash around holding hands, pretend to be scared with a little “eek!” when waves came, maybe fall into Hamin’s arms once, make a comment like “you’re actually pretty fit” when our bare skin touched, and master swimming by the end of the day.

Unlike my expectations of a simple summer event to build affection, Ban Doyoung’s swimming practice couldn’t even get past the first step of “floating on water.”

Well, one part did float. It bobbed up above the water’s surface. The rest, including my head, remained stubbornly submerged.

“Ugh… salty.”

“You swallowed quite a bit of seawater. Are you okay? Your eyes are all puffy.”

I wiped away the saltiness that had lingered in my mouth for the past hour. I couldn’t tell if it was from the seawater or from the tears I’d shed while flailing about in the water.

If it was seawater, that was humiliating in its own way. If it was tears, that was equally humiliating.

“I thought you’d be able to float with just a little practice since you mentioned you’d tried learning from the director and Solyoung before… I’m sorry. I think I was too hasty.”

“My mom and dad might seem strict, but they’re actually quite soft-hearted. They’ll scold me sharply for being lazy or half-hearted, but they never force me to do things I’m genuinely afraid of or can’t do. Same with Solyoung.”

Siyoung wiped away the yakisoba bread seasoning from the corner of his mouth as he spoke.

He had agreed to help with the swimming lessons as an experienced assistant, but knowing the history of failed attempts to teach Ban Doyoung how to swim, he wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about this swimming class.

He was just there to help pull me out if Hamin couldn’t manage it on his own.

After all, I needed to succeed at floating before moving on to the next step, and there wasn’t much need for demonstrations.

Though he’d been paid with just one bread, he was doing exactly that much work—no more, no less.

“Sigh… I know in my head that I need to relax here, but why can’t I do it?”

“Well, you’re still learning. It’s normal to struggle at first.”

“But it’s not my first time. I used to be good at this.”

“Huh?”

“…Ah, that’s not right. It is my first time. Complete virgin here.”

“Uh, okay…”

It truly was a first for Ban Doyoung. Unlike the reverse situation—where I gained abilities I never had in my original world after possessing Ban Doyoung—this was a case of losing an ability I had been perfectly capable of in my original world.

A sense of helplessness invaded my mind faster than I’d expected. For the first time since realizing the absence of [導迎高趨] below my waist, I truly felt the loss of something.

“Here, have some Zero Lime. It’ll help clear your mouth and settle your stomach.”

“Thanks…”

Hamin took out a can of cola from the cooler he’d brought and handed it to me. As I reached to take the drink, I bypassed it and instead wrapped both my hands around his.

“What, what’s wrong?”

“I… I don’t know. I don’t know why my hands are suddenly doing this.”

Hamin asked nervously, feeling the trembling through his hand. I didn’t immediately understand why I was shaking so much either. It wasn’t cold, and there wasn’t a harsh wind blowing under the umbrella.

It seemed that Ban Doyoung was more afraid of deep water than I had realized. This hadn’t happened when entering baths or hot springs. Perhaps she had developed some trauma after falling into the water during the school trip.

“Still… I think you need some warmth right now.”

My throat was parched. I had a strong urge to gulp down the ice-cold cola, but that was my desire, not Ban Doyoung’s.

Ban Doyoung’s body wasn’t reaching for the Zero Lime to quench her burning thirst—she was grabbing onto Hamin who was holding the can.

And as soon as she felt Hamin’s warmth, her trembling body gradually began to calm down, starting from where their hands touched.

If my desire was seeking the Zero Lime, Ban Doyoung’s body was seeking human warmth.

Or more precisely, it wanted to feel Hamin’s body heat. Quite desperately, at that.

“Um, Doyoung. If you keep holding onto me like this, the drink that’s been nicely chilled in the cooler is going to get lukewarm. You always said you hate it when I hold your Zero Lime too long and it gets warm.”

“It’s okay if it gets warm now. I have to make a concession. My body is desperately seeking you right now.”

“W-what do you mean ‘desperately seeking’?”

“Just do it for now. I think this is the only way my body will relax enough to get back in the water.”

If this was the first time Ban Doyoung’s true body was yearning for Hamin, I couldn’t interfere with this moment.

“It’s okay, your body’s just a bit shocked. Stay like this for a moment and you’ll feel better.”

“…”

Just as I was trying to find comfort in Hamin’s touch…

“If you’re going to say you’re desperately seeking me, you can come closer.”

“What…? W-wait!”

Hamin pulled the hand I was holding and sat me down on his lap.

“…Is this what you wanted?”

“M-maybe…?”

One step away from my back touching [夏旻高趨]. Hamin, enhanced by the summer memory bonus, was more aggressive than I’d expected.