Ch.35Taking Off Your Glasses Doesn’t Exactly Make You a Hottie (10)

Characters in creative works rarely change their outfits significantly. This isn’t simply because it’s difficult to redesign them each time. The designs of characters are deliberately created by the author with their personalities and individuality in mind. Everything from their daily hairstyle, necklaces and bracelets, shoes, and even the design of their glasses—all have reasons behind those choices.

So I thought I shouldn’t change Do Hamin’s glasses according to my preferences. If he accidentally became too handsome and the genre drifted into a harem, I might not be able to return to the original world.

“Ah, there you are. Is the eye exam finished?”

“Yeah, my vision has deteriorated a bit, so they said I need a slightly stronger prescription than before. It’s not a big difference though.”

“Hmm, I wonder what good things you’ve been looking at to make your eyes worse. Could it be because of me?”

“…I’ve just been using the same glasses for too long, that’s all.”

“Bwahaha. Don’t take it so seriously. Come sit here.”

Do Hamin hesitated for a moment, looking at me and the female employee sitting on opposite sides of the table, then carefully approached to sit next to me. He probably couldn’t bring himself to sit next to a female employee he was meeting for the first time today.

“Have some popcorn. You couldn’t eat any when we went to the movies last week.”

“Ah, yes. Thanks.”

“What would you like to drink? Zero Lime, right?”

“Well… I was thinking of getting black coffee…”

“…”

*Thud*

I put down the paper cup I was holding loudly on the table. The paper cup that had contained cola and was now completely empty.

“No, I’ll go with Zero Lime.”

“That’s right, that’s right. While you’re at it, could you get one for me too, honor student?”

“Okay…”

Do Hamin took the paper cup I had used and went to the drink bar to fill it, then returned to his seat.

“Fortunately, with your prescription, all the models we have in our store should be compatible.”

“Oh… there are so many types.”

“I already showed some nice frame models to your girlfriend… ah, no. Just your friend. Since you’re the one who’ll be wearing them, please look through them and let me know if you find one you like.”

“Th-thank you.”

Do Hamin accepted the catalog from the female employee with trembling hands and slowly looked through the models inside.

“Hmm… I’ll take this one.”

After briefly scanning through, Do Hamin chose a black horn-rimmed frame from a corner section without much deliberation. It was no different from what he usually wore—the exact same model I had just picked.

“Pfft.”

“Why, why are you laughing?”

“Nothing. I just knew you’d choose that one.”

“…Stop teasing me. I picked it because it looked cheaper and more durable.”

“Sure, sure.”

I knew you’d choose that one, Do Hamin. Of course. What happens when you carelessly change a character’s design?

“My goodness, your friend earlier chose the same one.”

“…What?”

“Hey now, miss. You’re saying unnecessary things.”

“Between that and what we talked about earlier, it seems like you two really are on the same wavelength. Are you sure you’re not a couple? It’s rare to be this in sync.”

“N-no! That’s not…!”

Do Hamin lowered his head, waving his hands and shaking his head repeatedly.

“But your friend here is paying, right? What kind of relationship do you have that such a pretty friend is buying you new glasses?”

“Th-that’s…”

“I’m paying compensation. I smashed his glasses.”

“Oh my! Then could this be school violence? I should call 177 right away…!”

The female employee urgently pulled out her phone. It seems that even in the webtoon world, the school violence hotline is 177. Though posting on a community board after graduation might be more effective.

“N-no! It’s not something to report as school violence! It was just an accident…”

“That’s right, I specifically targeted and broke his glasses, but it was an accident.”

“Anyway, that’s why we came together to get new glasses. Please refrain from saying such things as it might cause misunderstandings about h-him…”

“Ah, I see… Alright then. Since you both seem to agree on the model, I’ll adjust the glasses you mentioned and be right back. Please wait a moment, perpetrator miss and victim?”

The female employee left with the catalog, giving us a wink.

“Phew…”

Do Hamin sighed deeply, soothing his flushed face. He seemed worried that strange misunderstandings might continue to arise.

“Ah, I’m suddenly thirsty.”

Having let out a sigh of relief, Do Hamin reached for the paper cup on the table to quench his thirst.

“Looks like you were right about choosing cola instead of black coffee.”

“Of course, Zero Lime is divine and invincible.”

“Hehe, maybe you’re right.”

Do Hamin downed the cola in the cup in one go.

“Then I’ll also… Hey, honor student. Wait a second.”

“Huh? What’s wrong?”

“That cup you just drank from is mine.”

“…Eh? I don’t think so. I always mark my cup by biting it with my teeth.”

“I also mark mine by biting it with my teeth.”

“…R-really?”

Do Hamin frantically checked the cup he had been drinking from.

There were teeth marks on the edge of the paper cup, made to mark it as his own. However, on top of that, there was a clear pink tint mark, applied as if to further indicate the true owner.

He had put his lips exactly where I had just had mine.

“S-sorry… I didn’t know…!”

“It really is divine and invincible, Zero Lime.”

“Huh…?”

“It’s nothing. Just give me that cup back.”

Startled by the tint mark on the cup, Do Hamin extended his trembling hand and returned my cup to me. However, only tiny droplets remained inside, not even enough for a single sip.

“Tsk, you already finished it.”

“I’ll get you a new one… let me go get it.”

“It’s fine, there’s still some left. In your cup.”

“Yeah, okay… Wait, what did you just say?”

“I’m going to drink this?”

I took the cup that had been in front of Do Hamin instead of my own cup that he had emptied.

“A-are you sure? Is that okay? Shouldn’t we just get a new one…”

“I’d like to, but after refilling about five times while you were getting your vision tested, they started giving me looks.”

“I-I see…”

Even though there was cola left, even the great Ban Do-young was starting to feel self-conscious about going to fill a new cup. Ah, if only there had been a male employee at the counter, he would have brought it over. Unfortunately, a female employee was manning the counter.

“If I drink from the part you didn’t put your mouth on, there’s no problem, right?”

“Y-yeah.”

“Or would you prefer I drink from where your lips touched? I can do that if you promise not to get a nosebleed.”

“I-I don’t get nosebleeds from things like that!”

“Okay, okay. The cafe employee is watching from behind. Lower your voice.”

Despite his denial, you never know. If I were to dirty this clean tiled floor with Do Hamin’s nosebleed, the gentle face of that female employee might truly become angry. So I took a sip of the cola from Do Hamin’s cup, avoiding the part with his teeth marks.

“Do Hamin customer, your glasses are ready!”

“Yes, I’ll pay by card!”

And just then, Do Hamin’s glasses were completed.

…

“Thank you, customer! Please come again!”

“How’s the new view of the world, honor student?”

“It’s great. Thanks for coming with me.”

As we left the glasses store, Do Hamin’s nose bridge was adorned with his newly fitted glasses. Replacing the worn, greasy glasses he had used for nearly five years with clean matte horn-rimmed frames made his impression much neater.

Of course, only to that extent. Even through a heroine’s eyes, he didn’t look handsome—just neat. That was the limit.

“By the way, it’s a shame. I really wanted to see you in those red flamingo sunglasses they had in the store.”

“Who would walk around wearing such ridiculous glasses?”

“You never know.”

“I like glasses like these. They don’t fall off easily even when I move vigorously, so they’ll be comfortable during exercise too.”

“Oh? Not for studying?”

It was somewhat unexpected. I thought he’d say something like “Now I can solve problems better” or “I can write more clearly what was blurry before”—typical honor student talk. I never expected him to be fired up about physical training of all things.

“…You said you’d teach me. I don’t want to keep looking clumsy.”

“Sigh, when you put it that way, it sounds like I have to give lessons on weekends too.”

“I-if it’s difficult, we can start next week! I don’t mind!”

“I didn’t say it was difficult.”

And here I went and studied makeup tutorials on YouTube, only to have it all wiped away.

“Let’s go to my house.”

Just as I was about to head home with Do Hamin…

*Honk*

*Honk honk*

The sound of a car horn blared as if telling us to turn our heads toward the road. In front of the glasses store was a minivan that seemed somehow familiar. It was a yellow Carnival used for transportation at the dojo.

“Dad?”

“I thought you’d be finishing up soon, so I came to pick you up. How about that, perfect timing, right?”

Dad parked the car in the glasses store parking lot and got out of the driver’s seat.

“Wait, if Dad is here now…”

And following Dad, another person got out of the passenger seat—a woman with black hair who exuded an elegant and dignified aura.

“It’s been a while.”

“M-Mom.”

“What’s this, Do-young? Has it been so long since you’ve seen your mother that you can’t even greet her properly?”

“I-is that your mother?”

A face that looked only about 40… no, 30 years old. It was hard to believe she had given birth to three children, with the eldest already in the military.

However, her slender waist contrasted with her hips, and her chest—which suggested she had never let her children go hungry—made the setting believable.

Perhaps this is what Ban Do-young would look like as an adult.

“Do-young’s mom. This is Do-young’s friend who’s learning swordsmanship from Do-young this time…”

“D-Do Hamin. Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you, Do-young’s mom. I’m Chuk Jun-sook.”

Wow, my mom is awesome.