Ch.195Episode 38. Someone to Rely On (6)

“…Why are you suddenly sitting here?”

As I move to the seat beside her, Bin Yoon asks warily. Despite having made up her mind, she seems afraid of advancing to physical intimacy.

But what can I do? Now that you’ve made up your mind, I have no intention of backing down either.

“I want to see your face up close.”

“W-what?”

Bin Yoon asks again, flustered. Judging by her stiff posture, she’s clearly nervous.

She seemed confused about what to do now that the distance between us had suddenly decreased.

I’ll be understanding since she has no experience dealing with romantic situations.

For now, let’s try to ease the atmosphere.

“I-Instructor, were you always like this…?”

“Hmm? I’ve always been this way.”

I replied nonchalantly while sipping my beer. Bin Yoon looked at me suspiciously but wasn’t curling up defensively like before.

“You didn’t seem like this at all at the Academy.”

“Of course I have to strictly separate work and personal matters at the workplace. This is how I am in private.”

“Really?”

“Are you disappointed that I seem too casual?”

“No, that’s not it…”

Bin Yoon holds her beer with both hands while glancing sideways at me.

“Isn’t it better to keep things light rather than making the atmosphere heavy?”

“I guess so… But still… eep!”

Perhaps it’s because we’re too close. She can hardly meet my eyes. Whenever our eyes meet, she blushes from her face to her earlobes and avoids my gaze.

She taps her glass nervously and repeatedly picks up and puts down pieces of squid for no reason.

Is she uncomfortable? Or embarrassed?

Maybe it’s both.

Either way, it was cute to watch her quietly.

“Yoon. You don’t have any experience with men, right?”

“Ugh! W-why are you asking that! Is that bad?”

“No. It’s good.”

I said, lightly flicking her pink hair. Because I get to be the one to draw whatever picture I want on a pure white canvas.

“Phew… J-just because I’m a bit drunk doesn’t mean I’ll… make mistakes! Don’t get any strange ideas.”

“Well, I wonder. Might that change once we get to a motel?”

Despite my deliberately nonchalant tone, Bin Yoon took a deep breath. Just as I was about to casually tear off a piece of squid, the server brought the chicken feet we had ordered.

“Enjoy your meal.”

“Thank you.”

“Ha, haah…!”

Bin Yoon waited until the server left before exhaling and pointing her finger at me accusingly.

“M-m-motel?! What are you saying!”

“Your voice is too loud.”

“How can it not be loud? How can you immediately think of going to such a place?”

“Isn’t it natural to want to go there when you like someone?”

Bin Yoon pauses at my words about liking her. She looks at me as if she can’t believe it, but she seemed pleased deep down. The corners of her mouth twitch.

“Even so, I-I’m a first-timer…! Don’t I need some mental preparation…!”

Despite her words, was it my imagination that her voice carried a subtle hint of anticipation?

If she truly disliked it, she would have rejected me with a look of contempt.

Either the mood wasn’t right for that, or she was exaggerating her reaction due to nervousness about her first time.

It seemed like I could keep pushing forward without any problems.

“If you don’t like that kind of place… we could go to my place.”

Since tomorrow is a weekday, I wanted to spend the night somewhere nearby, but if she didn’t like motels, I was perfectly willing to call a designated driver.

“…You have your own place, Instructor?”

She asked, seemingly surprised.

“Yes. I have my own home.”

“I didn’t know because you always lived in the dormitory. Did your parents provide it?”

“No. My parents aren’t around anymore.”

To be honest, I don’t really know how I came to have my own place. How can I explain that I just woke up one day and found I had a house?

“Oh… I-I’m sorry.”

“What’s there to be sorry about? I don’t even think about it anymore.”

“…Then doesn’t that mean you have no one to rely on, Instructor?”

“I do have someone I can rely on. Right here.”

I said, tickling the back of her hand that was resting on the table. She shuddered at the touch of my fingers.

“Eek! T-that tickles.”

She says that, but she doesn’t pull her hand away. With my chin propped up, I moved my fingers that had been tapping her hand to her palm and gently caught it.

I lightly drummed my fingertips on her palm before interlocking our fingers and holding her hand.

Now that I look at it, her hand was quite rough. Even though she doesn’t have combat-related abilities, her hands are calloused.

“M-my hands… aren’t pretty, right? I have some burn-like marks from potion splashes while researching.”

She says, as if feeling self-conscious. I caressed her rough palm.

“They’re pretty. I like them. Your hands are warm.”

“S-saying sweet things won’t get you any bonus points.”

“It’s not sweet talk, it’s the truth.”

I moved my hand to interlock our fingers. I inwardly giggled as I watched her, unable to take her eyes off our hands.

Eventually, she slowly inserted her fingers between mine.

“You don’t dislike it, do you?”

“Am I a child? Holding hands… is something you can do with anyone.”

“But you can’t interlock fingers with just anyone, can you?”

“J-just let it be.”

“Alright.”

As I felt sweat gradually seeping into our palms, Bin Yoon raised her index finger and admonished me:

“Anyway, n-nothing beyond hand-holding today…”

Doesn’t that mean she’ll let me do everything later?

But I was a greedy and impatient person. There was no way I could be satisfied with just holding hands.

“…Yoon.”

I called her while wiggling my fingers.

“W-what is it?”

“Every time I carried you on my back, you’d say ‘Instructor feels good too,’ right?”

“W-what?”

“Can I do something I really like?”

“T-that was just something I said— Eek!”

Before Bin Yoon could finish speaking, I released our interlocked fingers and placed my hand on her waist, pulling her toward me. Some beer spilled in the process, but that was the least of my concerns.

I chose this secluded spot for exactly this reason.

Our seats were positioned at an angle where others couldn’t see us unless they deliberately tried to look.

“Uugh…”

Now completely in my arms, she hunched her shoulders and kept moving her mouth nervously, even though there was no food.

“You’re not used to this despite being carried on my back so often?”

“W-well, being carried means I’m holding onto you… This is…”

“Me holding you.”

I applied just enough strength to my arms so she couldn’t escape. Bin Yoon tried her best to break free from my arms, but it was a futile attempt.

“O-okay, please let me go now…”

“You know that once I grab hold of someone, they can’t get away. Why not just give up?”

“…I’ll scream.”

“Really?”

“…Yes. R-really…”

Did she hesitate for a moment?

I knew she was just saying that, and at this point, her playing hard to get was only cute.

“If you really don’t like it, I’ll let you go. Do you really dislike it?”

“That question is… a bit unfair, don’t you think?”

“I’m just asking what you want.”

I smiled and tapped her side.

“Eek!”

Startled by my touch, she flinched and quickly grabbed my hand.

Good reaction. She must be ticklish.

“Do you really dislike it?”

“It’s not fair when you ask with that smile… If only you were ugly, I wouldn’t have to say anything…”

Looking at Bin Yoon as she grumbled, I thought this was going to be easier than expected.

That’s not to say Bin Yoon was an easy woman. This too was a behavior stemming from her lack of experience.

Cooped up in her lab every day without meeting other people, she’d hardly had any opportunity to meet potential romantic partners.

“If you don’t dislike it, that’s fine. Shall we continue drinking?”

She stares at the beer glass I offer before slowly clinking her own glass against it. We drank our beer while listening to the gentle clinking sound between us.

The important thing was to ease the tense atmosphere. It wasn’t just about rushing physical intimacy; conversation needed to accompany it. And nothing was better than alcohol for loosening up the atmosphere.

Afterward, we continued drinking beer and talking until we had nearly finished the chicken feet. I didn’t forget to occasionally drop subtle sexual hints to Bin Yoon.

“Mmm… I’m full… I think I ate too much. I’m going to turn into a pig. Haha!”

The alcohol seems to have put her in a good mood.

Even as she stumbled, unable to control her body properly, she smiled broadly and clung to me.

“Pull yourself together. We should head back to the Academy soon.”

“Already…?”

Already? It’s almost midnight.

“…Why? Want to drink more together?”

“I am full, but…”

“Or do you want to stay with me longer?”

She seems to want to stay together, even if physical intimacy makes her nervous.

She looked confused, not knowing what to do with her feelings.

“I’ll call a designated driver.”

“…Let’s have one more drink.”

Bin Yoon responds to my words as if she’s made up her mind. I was about to give up for today, but this is unexpected.

“Where should we go?”

“…Anywhere else.”

She mumbles with her head bowed low.

“Hmm? What did you say?”

“A-anywhere but a m-motel is fine…”

Since it’s her first experience, she probably wants it to be somewhere other than such a place. Well, a motel does lack the right mood.

Maybe a love hotel would be better for the ambiance?

Of course, knowing that Bin Yoon wouldn’t even have the chance to adjust to that atmosphere, it was out of the question.

“Then… shall we go to my place?”

She rolled her pink eyes around before nodding very slightly.

I should praise her honesty in bed later.

I called for a designated driver on my phone.

While waiting for the driver to arrive, we sat on a nearby bench and talked, holding hands with interlocked fingers the entire time.