Ch.172August Bride (3)

“Come on, stop crying, teacher. If you keep this up, I’ll get scolded by my mom and dad.”

“Sniff… sob. I’m sorry, Doyoung. But these tears… they’re not just from sadness. They’re more from gratitude and appreciation… closer to that kind of tears.”

“Still, tears are tears. Your makeup is smudging, so stop. Here, blow your nose too. At this rate, when will we ever get to try on all the other dresses? We need to try each one and pick an outfit that both you and our eldest son will be satisfied with.”

“Sniff, thank you, Doyoung. Boo-hoo…!”

I took a tissue from the box inside the changing room and gently dabbed at Teacher Miso’s eyes.

I questioned whether it was appropriate for a student to be wiping her teacher’s nose, but seeing her cute face making a “hmph” sound while drawing straight lines from her nostrils, I decided to let it slide.

“So that’s why there’s a tissue box inside the changing room.”

Teacher Miso crying while wearing a wedding dress.

And seeing this employee’s reaction, as if she was extremely proud of it,

I could understand why.

I thought the tissues were provided for self-cleanup after changing room sex.

My thinking was too dirty.

“Since this is a good opportunity, Doyoung, you should try one on too. I’m sure you’ll feel something similar to what I felt.”

“Hmm, I wonder. When I was your age, I never even dreamed about marriage.”

“Huh? What does that mean? From what you just said, it sounds like you’ve experienced being my age…”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Concrete thoughts about marriage probably only exist when you’re young.

Maybe I too once had a time when I innocently wrote down things I wanted to do with my destined partner who would someday appear.

I don’t particularly remember, though.

No, wait. Just as Ban Doyoung from <Half of Half Island> had Do Hamin,

I wonder if the Ban Doyoung from the original world also had such a destined partner.

“…”

Indeed, did the Ban Doyoung from the original world also have my Do Hamin?

Unlike Miss Ban Doyoung who met Do Hamin at the age of 17,

I in the original world never encountered such a connection.

A woman who wants to make her childhood dreams of marriage more vivid and concrete.

At least not until adding 10 more years to Ban Doyoung’s current age.

“If I go back, I should look for them too.”

“Huh…? Look for what?”

“My lover.”

“Where did Hamin go?”

“…Eh?”

“…Huh?”

Teacher Miso and I stared blankly at each other for a moment.

As if wondering what was strange, with question marks floating above our heads.

“…Pfft. That’s right. Both your lover and mine. What are they doing at such an important moment? Hehe. I hope they won’t regret not seeing this in person later.”

“I-It’s fine. They’ll have to see it one way or another when the actual ceremony happens, right?”

I let the momentary awkwardness pass with a light laugh.

Right, I’m not Ban Doyoung now, but Miss Ban Doyoung.

I don’t know when I’ll return to my original world, but I decided to think about everything else after I go back.

“Bride Ban Doyoung!”

“I’m not a bride yet, I’m still a virgin.”

“W-Well, brides are supposed to be virgins…”

“Not these days.”

“Anyway…! I’ve brought dresses that fit your size, so please take a look!”

After Teacher Miso’s dress, the employee now wheeled in a mobile rack with dresses that would fit Miss Ban Doyoung’s size.

From magical girl cosplay to bikini swimsuits,

and now a wedding dress.

At first, I didn’t think much of it,

but after seeing Teacher Miso’s emotional reaction when she put on the dress, I became somewhat curious.

Compared to when I first possessed Miss Ban Doyoung and couldn’t bring myself to wear any skirt other than the school uniform skirt,

wearing mostly shorts and jeans for casual clothes, this was tremendous progress.

Although I still preferred pants for everyday wear,

I no longer felt any particular resistance to wearing skirts.

I’ve come a long way.

It’s all because of Do Hamin.

“Well then, let’s try these on. Teacher, please take some pictures of me when I’ve tried them all on.”

“Alright, leave it to me.”

I handed my phone to Teacher Miso and followed the employee into the changing room.

By now, I could change into most women’s clothes with a double-click from my equipment window,

but no matter how accustomed I was to women’s clothing, wedding dresses were an exception,

requiring someone else’s help.

“Now, please spread your arms. That’s right, lift them up so I can see your armpits clearly…”

Like a child, I followed the employee’s instructions, lifting my arms and legs in various directions.

With my long limbs, it took even longer than Teacher Miso to fit into each piece of clothing.

“There, all done. Please open your eyes and look at the mirror.”

“Hmm….”

After about 20 minutes,

the employee announced that the fitting was complete and turned my shoulders toward the mirror.

“…”

And when I opened my eyes, I met the gaze of Miss Ban Doyoung in the mirror, wearing a pure white dress.

“Doyoung! You look beautiful, incredibly so!”

The teacher began taking pictures of Miss Ban Doyoung in her dress from various angles.

These were photos to send to that guy Do Hamin later.

“How do you feel about wearing our shop’s dress for the first time?”

Once again, the employee proudly raised her shoulders, waiting for the reaction about to burst forth.

In one hand, she held a tissue box ready for the bride-to-be who might start crying at any moment.

“Well… it’s just.”

“Just…?”

“I don’t really feel anything special.”

“Eh? Really…? That’s your impression of this dress? Is something uncomfortable? Does the size not fit somewhere…?”

“No, not particularly. The waist fits, and the chest is a bit tight but seems to fit.”

“My goodness… to think there’s a customer who feels nothing while wearing our shop’s dress!”

The employee’s hand holding out the tissue box became awkward.

Standing in front of the changing room wearing the dress she had recommended, I felt nothing.

It wasn’t that I didn’t like the dress,

or that I was uncomfortable wearing an ill-fitting outfit.

I thought the dress itself was pretty. But that was it.

I didn’t experience the emotional overflow that brought Teacher Miso to tears.

If we’re talking about emotional reactions,

the Marina-chan★ cosplay outfit I showed to Do Hamin earlier was more intense.

“Really, no emotional change at all? Like… thoughts about your future groom. That kind of thing. M-Maybe you haven’t experienced true love yet? Do you have a boyfriend?”

“Yes, he’s the top student in our school.”

“T-Then try imagining becoming a family with that future groom…! You might feel something then!”

“Becoming a family… Well, that guy is only good at studying, his money-making ability seems zero, so if we get married, we’ll probably struggle with money issues. It would be fortunate if he at least keeps his job well, but if he accidentally gets fired… How would we pay for the kids’ tuition? We’d probably bicker about how the living expenses exploded again this month… Oh dear, our future Lime and Pine, how pitiful.”

“Doyoung. Please refrain from naming your future children after cola flavors.”

“At least I didn’t name one Mango.”

“This can’t be… to have no reaction at all while wearing our shop’s dress. Usually people cry profusely, or at least get misty-eyed from the new experience…”

Shocked, the employee fell to her knees on the white floor.

Her stockings were torn, exposing her bare knees, but she seemed not to care about such things.

“With such a pretty face… It’s as if you’ve never once imagined yourself as a bride in your life. That can’t be… unless there’s an old man inside this young lady’s body…”

“Hiccup.”

“I think an ordinary dress won’t move your heart! I’ll bring a dress that will awaken the bridal instinct deep within you!”

“No, I didn’t come here to try on dresses for myself, so let’s just focus on our teacher’s dress—”

“Please wait a moment!”

With those words, the employee jumped up and rushed off somewhere.

She seemed quite upset.

**

-SLAM!

With the rough sound of a door opening, the youngest employee urgently opened the storage room door.

“Senior…! We have an emergency!”

“Whoa, you startled me…!”

The senior, who had been enjoying a light break before lunch in the storage room, dropped her phone in surprise at the sudden entrance of her junior.

“Huff… huff… Senior…”

“W-What happened, junior? You look quite hot. Why are you running so urgently?”

“It’s appeared… after 25 years…!”

Whether because it was summer,

or because she had run frantically in her heels,

the junior wiped the sweat from her chin as she bent over and spoke.

“W-What do you mean by ‘appeared’…?”

“The dress that the owner made, displayed in the central glass case of our shop!”

“Oh, that one? The one the owner doubted anyone could ever pull off again?”

“Yes, that one…! The owner was so moved that she remembered that person’s measurements and even had a special mannequin made to those specifications, which she placed in the center of the shop.”

The junior nodded her head vigorously up and down in response to the senior’s question.

She knew her junior was always enthusiastic, but she had never seen her this excited before.

“Quickly… I need the key to open the glass case! And that dress too!”

“Open that? The owner said not to let just anyone wear that dress. She said if someone couldn’t pull it off properly, it would only hurt the feelings of brides-to-be.”

“I think we’ve found someone who can wear that dress!”

“That’s impossible. You’d need to be a Western-level supermodel to pull off that dress.”

“Her face and figure seem perfect based on the measurements I took! So please, senior, allow me to have her try on the dress in the central glass case!”

“You mean she’s in our shop right now? That Western-level supermodel body? What’s the bride-to-be’s occupation?”

“High school student!”

“…Huh?”