Ch.186Mom, I Love You (9)

“Well, you certainly went out in a blaze of glory, huh? Thanks to you, I had quite the time cleaning up what you spilled on the floor.”

[Sorry… I should’ve just gone up to the room quietly to get it instead of coming out to the living room.]

“Hey, then you’d be the creepy guy sneaking into his girlfriend’s room to take something. Would that be appropriate for the model student Do Hamin?”

[It’s just getting my bag, nothing creepy about that.]

“What do you mean your bag? Everything about Do Hamin belongs to me, and everything of mine is mine. That bag is mine too.”

[Uh…?]

That evening, lying alone in the room that had been bustling with noise earlier,

I called Do Hamin, who had decorated our living room with a magnificent sea of blood before leaving.

Despite the mess he left behind, he regained consciousness quickly enough

that I could make an excuse to Dohami-chan that it just took time to find his bag.

Of course, I cleaned up the bloodstains left on the living room floor myself, as I was the cause.

I didn’t accept any help from my mom.

Obviously. The cause of Hamin’s nosebleed was Ban Doyoung’s panties that he likes so much.

My mom’s boobs had zero stake in this, so it was right for me to clean it all up myself.

Even if she had a stake, my handling all the cleanup would have nullified it.

“While I was busy wiping up the nosebleed you spilled, Scarlet-chan came back and was shocked to see me cleaning blood. She asked if I’d finally become the ‘Ban-murderer’ sister instead of the ‘Ban-thief’ sister.”

[The “finally” part is a bit creepy…]

“I wonder what that girl thinks of me. I wanted to smack her, but her body is as hard as full-body armored fighting spirit, so I couldn’t bring myself to hit her.”

[Next time something like that happens, I’ll clean it up… though it shouldn’t happen again.]

“Yeah, next time you see my panties, try to spurt something other than a nosebleed. If you collapse at this level of stimulation, when will we ever get to the main event?”

[I-I’ll try my best…! I’m not sure if I should be saying this, but… it was just that I saw it after such a long time, so I was a bit surprised. And, and there was that lady next to you…]

“…-10 points.”

[Huh…? What does that suddenly mean?]

“Did you really have to mention that my mom being there made you more surprised?”

You just had to add that unnecessary comment and reduce the affection points you’d gained.

You should have taken the hint when I told you I cleaned up your blood without my mom’s help.

That’s a -10 point penalty to your affection score.

[Whether I was surprised or not, the fact is I saw a scene of your mom that I shouldn’t have. So I’ll apologize to her separately later.]

“Oh really? Then when you meet my mom next time, apologize like this. Take notes if you have a pen.”

[Ah, wait a second…]

I heard the creaking sound of bed legs moving.

Hamin was probably lying on his bed like me, or at least using it as a sofa while on the phone.

I wonder if this could count as lying in bed together in a way.

It’s a bit disappointing that we’re under two roofs instead of one, though.

[Okay, I’ve got my notebook and paper out. You can tell me now.]

The rustling sound of paper being turned, the zipper of a pencil case being pulled down with a swoosh,

and the clicking sound of a ballpoint pen tickled my ear before Hamin spoke to me.

“Alright, then… ‘I’m truly sorry about the other day.'”

[I’m truly sorry about the other day…]

The scratching sound of a pen writing something on paper.

Like taking dictation, Hamin began to write down exactly what I said.

“That day, I unintentionally witnessed both mother and daughter changing clothes. I couldn’t withstand the stimulation of seeing your daughter’s slightly disheveled updo, the thin gray dress revealing sweat stains, and the pink panties that symbolized a hidden innocence amidst such a sensual atmosphere, causing me to lose consciousness on the spot.”

[That day, I unintentionally witnessed both mother and daughter… wait, what?]

Hamin seemed to sense something odd about what he was writing down,

as the scratching sound of his pen paused or slowed down at times,

but it seemed he had written everything I told him to write.

“Despite witnessing your magnificent I-cup purple bra right before my eyes, Doyoung’s mother, my gaze was drawn only to your daughter’s pink panties beside you, and for that I am truly sorry.”

[Doyoung’s mother’s magnificent… w-wait! This isn’t an apology letter!]

“It’s a truth letter.”

[How can I say something like this to your mom!]

“Hey, I don’t hear your pen scratching. Hurry up and finish writing that your eyes were drawn only to Ban Doyoung’s pink panties. You need to establish the facts.”

[N-no way! I’ll write my own apology, so you don’t need to help!]

-Rrrip

I could hear Hamin tearing the page from his notebook all the way from here.

Well, in my mom’s case, she didn’t think showing her bra to Hamin was that big of a deal.

At most, she felt embarrassed about revealing her flab to a boy.

Rather, what my mom told me after Hamin left was closer to gratitude.

Because a momentary mistake that could have become an irreversible black history was somehow safely overcome.

“Come to think of it, Hamin. Mom told me you weren’t even wearing your glasses that morning.”

[Yeah, I lost my contacts while washing my face. That’s why I couldn’t recognize her right away and got confused for a moment.]

Well, even I thought for a moment that Ban Doyoung had returned through some isekai portal.

How much worse must it have been for Hamin with his blurry vision?

Though, I knew since the beginning of the semester that he had enough discernment to appreciate Ban Doyoung’s beauty without glasses, so I naturally believed he could easily distinguish between my mom in a school uniform and me.

But I shouldn’t withhold praise for doing what should be done.

“Let’s see… Recognizing my mom right away even without glasses, 10 points. Covering it up so Dohami-chan wouldn’t find out, another 10 points. And pretending to be stimulated only by me before fainting, 10 more points… Hmm, would 30 be enough?”

[Um… what?]

“Mom told me to give you lots of kisses as a reward. So I’m trying to give you many. If one point equals one kiss on the cheek, would 30 be enough?”

[W-was that not a joke?]

“Sheesh, what kind of mom would joke about telling her daughter to give kisses? Of course it’s all sincere!”

[P-please don’t smear my face like last time… My mom teased me so much when I got home…]

“Come on, I can’t break a promise I made with my mom, can I? I’m a good daughter who embraces my mom’s embarrassing moments too.”

[….]

Hamin fell silent on the other end of the phone.

I wondered if he had fallen asleep without realizing it, but that wasn’t the case.

It wasn’t the sound of sleeping breaths.

[Then… just do it on my lips.]

“…Oh?”

[T-the lips have thin skin so the blood vessels show through, making them red… no matter how much you kiss there, it won’t be that noticeable…]

“Hehehe….”

My lips curled up involuntarily at Hamin’s direct request.

“I see. So Hamin can no longer be satisfied with kisses on the cheek.”

Well, what can I do?

If the protagonist wants it, what can a mere heroine do?

I’ll just have to do as he asks.

“Then make sure to brush your teeth well before we meet next time. Just in case, wash your face thoroughly too! And clean between your legs properly!”

[I-I know that much! And I’m always diligent about those things! Regardless of expectations!]

“Heh. The fact that you mention ‘expectations’ means you were hoping for it, weren’t you?”

[T-this is just… it’s getting late, so I’ll hang up now.]

“Ah, wait, wait. If we end like this, I’ll just be the mean girl who teases you and hangs up. Let me say what I originally wanted to say before we end.”

[What you originally wanted to say…?]

Though the conversation had shifted to my usual teasing of Hamin midway,

the purpose of this call was to check on Hamin and thank him for what I couldn’t fully express earlier.

I couldn’t openly say “thank you for not exposing our lie” with Dohami-chan right there.

“Thank you for today. For becoming an unfilial son who lied to your beloved mother for me and my mom. It must have been shocking enough just seeing my mom in a school uniform, but you acted for our sake even when I wasn’t there.”

[…Anyone could have done that.]

“Anyone could have, but you did it. So I should thank you. Especially since our Hamin was a mama’s boy rather than a Ban Doyoung fanboy until recently, it must not have been easy.”

[I can do more than what I did today. I’ll work to be able to do even more. Because you’ve done the same for me, Doyoung. Of course I should be able to do the same.]

“Ohoho… that was kind of cool just now? Like a manga protagonist.”

Hamin’s line just now was quite impressive.

Well, he already has protagonist vibes even outside the world of <Half of Ban>.

[And I don’t think what your mom did today was strange or embarrassing at all.]

“T-that’s unexpected? You bastard… you’re more open-minded than I thought.”

[Haha, no, I wouldn’t say I’m open-minded…]

-Creak

While Hamin was still talking, I heard the sound of his door opening through the phone, followed by the pitter-patter of dainty footsteps.

“Son! Look at this! I can still fit into my middle school uniform! I tried on my high school uniform before, but I never thought my middle school one would still fit!”

[Moms trying on their old uniforms for nostalgia is extremely common.]

“Huh…?”

Apparently, today’s incident wasn’t something unique to our household, at least in this world.

“If I hadn’t seen Doyoung’s mother challenge her school uniform after 30 years today, I would never have known! I should suggest a uniform date with Doyoung’s mother sometime!”

[Mom… if you noticed all along, you could have given me a hint instead of keeping it secret by yourself.]

“When you and Doyoung were working so hard for Doyoung’s mother, what could I say? Even if I knew, I had to pretend not to notice.”

“…What did you just say, you two?”

Today was the day our household suffered a complete defeat to the Do family.