Ch.1919. What to Do After Putting on Couple Pajamas? [Illustration]

Thud,

I closed the bedroom door and let out a small sigh. Even though no one was watching, my face kept burning up. The reason was obviously because of what I had just said to the sleeping Hwa Nabi.

“What am I saying, ‘sleep well’?”

Maybe it was because Nabi was asleep, or perhaps the rain made me sentimental, but I ended up saying something cringeworthy. If we had both been awake, I definitely wouldn’t have said it.

“…”

Thinking about it, I was somewhat relieved. At least we wouldn’t have to kick each other under the blanket when we woke up in the morning. Though I’d be the one suffering instead.

“Phew.”

After one final sigh, I shook my head to clear my thoughts. Then I left the bedroom doorway and headed to the living room.

The floor table was cluttered with the workbook I had been solving earlier, stationery, and various snack wrappers.

Looking at the mess, a sudden urge to clean welled up inside me. My experience from years of living alone wouldn’t allow me to tolerate such a messy home.

“I should clean up before sleeping.”

With that decision made, I immediately looked for cleaning supplies. The table and the area beneath it were covered in crumbs. I could leave the workbooks and stationery as they were, but at the very least, I needed to clean up those crumbs for peace of mind.

However, as soon as I decided to clean, I hit a roadblock.

“Where are the cleaning supplies?”

This wasn’t my house but Hwa Nabi’s. I barely knew the layout of Han Siwoo’s house, let alone where things were kept in Nabi’s place, which I’d never visited before.

In such situations, asking the homeowner would be the quickest solution, but Nabi had already drifted off to dreamland. I couldn’t wake her up for something so trivial.

“Should I look for them myself?”

A vacuum cleaner or at least a broom would be nice.

Muttering such wishes to myself, I first checked the veranda behind the kitchen.

“Not here.”

Nabi lives alone, so the place isn’t very big. If I search likely spots, I should eventually find cleaning supplies.

With that thought, I searched everywhere except the bedroom where Nabi was sleeping.

But…

“No cleaning supplies…?”

For a moment, I made a chilling assumption.

Could it be that Nabi doesn’t clean at all?

But that didn’t make sense. Even living alone in a spacious house, skipping cleaning for just three days would be noticeable.

If she hadn’t cleaned for months, the place would be covered in dust and hair. So it was reasonable to assume she cleaned regularly.

Then where were the cleaning supplies? The bedroom was definitely out—I had just been there and could confirm that.

But I had searched everywhere else. Yet there was no sign of any cleaning tools.

“What’s going on?”

Where could they be? They must be somewhere in this house, but I couldn’t figure out where.

“Maybe they’re in some kind of storage room.”

Though doubtful, I decided to check the storage room just in case. I already knew its location.

The veranda behind the kitchen. Opening the sliding door there leads directly to the storage room.

-Slide.

“…There they are.”

As soon as I opened the storage door, I immediately spotted several cleaning tools.

An electric vacuum cleaner, a broom, and a dustpan.

Between the two, I chose the broom. The vacuum cleaner would make too much noise when turned on. So it was an inevitable choice.

Regardless of the reason, I had found cleaning supplies. Having achieved my goal, I was about to turn around and leave the storage room when something caught my eye.

“Is this…?”

Needless to say, what I saw was none other than a rabbit pajama set. The moment I saw the neatly packaged pajamas, I recalled our conversation from a few hours ago.

‘Would you like to wear one too, Siwoo?’

‘There’s a men’s set in the storage room.’

She had mentioned in passing that there was a men’s set stored in the storage room, and it seemed that was indeed true.

“Why is it this color?”

Just as she had described, it seemed to be a couple’s pajama set, and the color was blue. Since Nabi was wearing pink, it appeared that the women’s set was pink and the men’s set was blue.

“…”

I stood there with the broom, contemplating.

Didn’t Nabi say wearing couple pajamas was her dream?

Judging by how she spoke earlier, she seemed to want me to try them on, but somehow it had fizzled out.

No, it wasn’t “somehow.” It was entirely my fault.

“…Since I feel bad about it.”

Gulp. My Adam’s apple moved involuntarily. I’ve worn sleep pants before, but never an animal pajama set with ears attached to the hood.

“No, it’s not that I want to wear it, but I have no choice. I can’t sleep in my school uniform when I don’t have any pajamas…”

After making excuses to no one in particular, I slowly took off my shirt.

*

After finishing the cleaning, I laid out a blanket that had been stored in a corner of the storage room and lay down in the living room.

“I can’t sleep.”

After being used to a bed, trying to sleep on a blanket on the bare floor was hard to adjust to. So I turned to my side.

It was still uncomfortable, but suddenly my view changed. What I now saw in front of me was the door to the bedroom where Nabi was sleeping.

“Huh.”

I felt anxious, as if she might burst through the door at any moment. Maybe I should have just slept in my school shirt. The ears attached to the hood touching the floor were quite bothersome.

But I couldn’t just take off the pajamas either, so I eventually returned to my original position, lying flat on my back.

If I force myself to close my eyes, I’ll eventually fall asleep.

With that thought, I closed my eyes—

—and when I opened them, it was already morning.

“Is this for real?”

I muttered nonsense without realizing it.

It felt like I hadn’t slept at all, but seeing the light coming through the gap in the curtains, it was definitely not dawn. I turned my head to look at the wall clock.

Seven in the morning, definitely morning.

“Wow…”

I’m usually the type who can’t sleep well in someone else’s house, but considering I lost consciousness as soon as my head hit the pillow, I must have been extremely tired.

I got up, tidied the bedding, and looked around.

There was no sign of movement. It seemed Nabi was still asleep.

“I should go wake her up.”

If I were living alone, I could start getting ready at my own pace. But with two people, especially when one is a woman, things are quite different.

Even if it doesn’t seem like it, when rushing to prepare in the morning, our paths are bound to cross. Since we’re students, it’s not going to work but school preparation…

Anyway, I can say this with confidence based on my experience from when I lived alone.

I approached the bedroom and gently knocked on the door.

-…

There was no response from beyond the door. As I expected, she was definitely still asleep.

“Nabi, I’m coming in.”

Just to be safe, I deliberately made noise as I entered the bedroom. As I opened the door, the first thing I saw was,

“She has quite a bad sleeping habit.”

Hwa Nabi had kicked off the blanket I had pulled up for her last night and was sleeping in a fetal position in her rabbit pajamas.

“Are you a child?”

I sighed softly and approached the bed.

“Nabi. Wake up, it’s morning.”

I spoke from a slight distance, but there was no response. She seemed to be sleeping more deeply than I thought.

With no other choice, I moved closer and tapped her shoulder.

“Nabi.”

“…Mmm, I want to sleep a little more.”

“…”

She’s sleep-talking. For a moment, I was tempted to just leave her be.

But that wouldn’t be right. If it were the weekend, maybe, but today is a weekday and we need to go to school.

“You’re quite high-maintenance.”

I muttered a complaint and sat lightly on the edge of the bed next to Nabi. If necessary, I’d have to force her up, what else could I do?

With that thought, I whispered in her ear again.

“Wake up. We need to go to school.”

“School…?”

As expected, this is the immediate remedy for sleepyheads. True to the most sensitive keyword for students, Nabi immediately responded to the word “school” I had muttered.

She opened her heavy eyelids and looked at me with drowsy eyes.

“Oh, it’s Siwoo…”

“Yes, it’s me.”

“…But why are you here?”

But it seemed she had only opened her eyes, her mind was still elsewhere. There’s no way she could have forgotten last night, she must just be drowsy.

As I was thinking of what to say, suddenly Nabi’s gaze dropped below my neck.

After her gaze lingered there for a moment, she met my eyes again.

“What?”

“Siwoo has become a rabbit.”

“…Didn’t you ask me to wear it?”

I retorted, feeling absurd. But Nabi just smiled at me.

“I didn’t think you’d actually wear it… Anyway, how was it? Pretty good, right?”

“It was fine.”

This wasn’t just empty words to make Nabi feel good; the comfort level was genuinely nice.

Despite being thin, it was surprisingly warm. I even thought it would be perfect for sleeping in winter.

The only problem was that it came at the cost of the user’s dignity. I forced myself to wear it because no one was watching, but if someone had seen me, I would have died of embarrassment on the spot.

Whether she knew my inner thoughts or not, Nabi slowly got up from the bed.

And with a voice still tinged with drowsiness, she asked me,

“What time is it?”

“We still have time, it’s 7.”

Chungha Highschool’s attendance time isn’t that strict. Even if we take the bus, we can arrive on time if we don’t dawdle.

“Ah… Then I should start getting ready. Do you want to shower first, Siwoo?”

“No, you go first.”

As a guy, I can get ready in ten minutes. But Nabi, being a girl, would probably take longer.

-Yawn.

Having just woken up, Nabi opened her mouth slightly and yawned. Then suddenly, she glanced at me, seemingly checking my reaction.

“…Did you see that?”

Is she asking if I didn’t see it? I didn’t bother pointing it out. People can yawn when they’re tired.

“Go wash your face. You have sleep in your eyes.”

“Uh… really? Where?”

It was a lie to get her to wash up, but she kept rubbing her eyes, so I just forcibly got her up and pushed her back.

“Go get ready.”

-Okay.

At least she responds well. Right after Nabi’s drawn-out reply, I heard the rustle of clothes being removed and the sound of the shower running from the bathroom.

“Ahem.”

She’ll manage fine. Since it would be awkward to eavesdrop on her showering, I went to the kitchen through the living room.

Then I opened the kitchen cabinet doors one by one to look inside. I was checking if there was something light to drink.

“Coffee, black tea…”

I felt like I might find more if I searched further, but it seemed inappropriate to thoroughly inspect someone else’s house, so I stopped.

Black tea seemed a bit much for the morning, so coffee would be more suitable.

So I made two cups of coffee.

“But does she even like coffee?”

I always start my day with a cup of coffee, so I made it, but thinking about it, there’s no guarantee Nabi would be the same. I’ve never asked, so I wouldn’t know.

The box was opened, so she probably enjoys it, but if she doesn’t drink it, I’ll just have to finish it myself.

Just as I was thinking that,

“Siwoo, I’m done.”

I didn’t need to ask what she meant. She must have finished showering. But I was surprised at how quickly she had finished.

I definitely heard the shower running, but it took less than ten minutes for her to complete everything.

“Alright.”

Well, it was good for me if she finished quickly.

I entered the bathroom as if trading places with Nabi, quickly finished my shower, and came out.

“Ah.”

But only after coming out did I realize. I hadn’t brought my school uniform to change into.

Which meant I had to go out wearing this rabbit pajama again.

“Ah well.”

I couldn’t go out naked, so there was no choice. I put on the rabbit pajama again and went to the living room.

Just then, Nabi, who was sitting on the sofa enjoying coffee, looked at me as if I were some cute creature.

“You must like it?”

“As if.”

I brushed it off and made myself a cup of coffee before sitting on the sofa.

“Ah, sorry for opening the coffee without asking. It’s okay to drink this, right?”

“Yes, it’s not even expensive.”

“Really? How much is it?”

“Twenty packets for 20,000 won, so about 1,000 won per cup.”

…That’s expensive? But I didn’t bring it up. It wasn’t something a third-generation chaebol would say.

Sip,

So I silently sipped my coffee, and Nabi next to me also enjoyed her morning coffee.

“…”

An untimely silence flowed between us, and as I drank my coffee, I glanced at Nabi sitting next to me.

But she was also glancing at me at the same time. In other words, our gazes awkwardly collided in mid-air.

“Why are you looking?”

“What about you, Siwoo?”

Hwa Nabi was wearing a pink rabbit pajama. That alone would catch one’s eye, but adding to that, her pink hair was slightly peeking out from under the hood.

So, it’s impossible not to look. Anyone would naturally shift their gaze.

“It’s interesting.”

“What a coincidence. I find it interesting too.”

“What’s so interesting?”

“Look in a mirror. You’ll understand right away.”

“……”

I understood what she meant immediately. I had a pretty good idea of how I looked. I must look ridiculous.

A blue rabbit with sharp, slanted eyes that make me look quite mean, and silver hair. That’s me right now.

“…Shall we go to school?”

“What? Already? We still have plenty of time.”

“Students are supposed to arrive before the school start time and be prepared for class.”

That’s a lie. Not to brag, but I’ve never done that in my school days. I was late more often than I arrived on time.

The reason I said this was obviously because I became self-conscious about my appearance and felt embarrassed.

“Wait a moment. Then let me take a picture, just one.”

I didn’t have time to stop her. Nabi, with her phone that she had grabbed from somewhere, took pictures of me, click, click. Her hand movements were almost faster than light.

“Wait, who said you could take pictures?”

“What can we do about pictures already taken? Ah, this one turned out well. I should save it.”

“No…”

What kind of pushiness is this? While I was dumbfounded, Nabi slowly moved closer to me.

Then she snuggled up next to me and held her phone up high. You know, like those selfie poses you often see on SNS.

“Are you taking a picture?”

“Yes.”

“What?”

-Click!

“Hey…”

“Heh, Siwoo looks really weird. Want to see?”

“I’d rather not…”

My timidly expressed opinion was ignored.

Nabi thrust her phone screen at me, and there we were, side by side—me with my mouth open and Nabi making a V-sign with her fingers.

Of course, since we were both wearing rabbit pajamas, my sense of shame was doubled.

“…You’re going to delete that, right?”

“Why? It turned out well. Can I post this on my Instagram?”

“What the hell?”

Is this what they call public humiliation play or something? I was horrified and tried to stop her. But Nabi had already hopped away from my side, just like a rabbit.

“Wait, you’re not really going to post it, right?”

She must be joking. But to my ears, it sounded like a death sentence was about to be handed down.

“It’s already too late.”

“What… did you say?”

Ding, ding, ding.

Then came a series of familiar notification sounds.

Nabi looked at her phone with a grin, and then held it out to show me.

==========================

[Title: First thing I saw when I woke up♡]

[Photo of a man and woman wearing rabbit pajamas]

Wore couple pajamas!!!!!! Totally my style!!!!!!

#daily #healing #dontWantToGoToSchool

[The pajamas are cute. Is that your boyfriend?]

[Unnie, you’re so pretty!! Your boyfriend is so handsome too ;-;]

[The ears on the hood are so cute lol You look like a web drama lead]

==========================

All sorts of gushing comments were pouring in real-time on the screen, but they didn’t register in my eyes at all.

That’s not what’s important. What’s important now is that an unspecified number of people have seen my embarrassing appearance.

“Oh my god.”

I rubbed my forehead, feeling dizzy. …They say SNS is a waste of life, and that’s truly the case.

“Shall we get ready for school now?”

“You really…”

What’s making her so happy? Seeing her just smile at me, I couldn’t even scold her.

So I just gave up and smiled back.

“Heh, Siwoo, shall we try different pajamas next time?”

“…What are you planning now?”

“We’ve done rabbits, so this time… dogs?”

I’m not sure why we’re moving from rabbits to dogs…

Does that mean she wants to spend another night together like this?

Of course, Nabi probably said it without any awareness.

Suddenly, my heart started racing.

…I’m such a fool.