Ch.68I Don’t Even Like a Quarter of Someone Like You (5)

Hamin Do’s arms wrapped around my waist.

Since he was a guy with decent arm strength, Miss Ban Doyoung’s slender waist offered no resistance as it was drawn closer in an instant by Hamin’s touch.

I could feel the subtle trembling in Hamin’s arms and the sensation of his twitching muscles,

The texture of the veins slightly protruding on his forearms transmitted through the single layer of his t-shirt.

The feeling that he was trembling because he knew what he was about to do was something he had never done before,

Something the Hamin of the past could never have imagined doing,

When people do things they don’t normally do, their bodies naturally tense up.

There was worry that if he applied too much force, Miss Ban Doyoung might get hurt,

But also the desire to absolutely not fail despite that,

Both feelings were present in those arms that were forcibly hiding their trembling from tension.

And above all, I could see his face in my view,

Eyes tightly shut as if he was looking at something he shouldn’t see.

This isn’t the face of someone about to kiss, no matter how you look at it.

It’s the face of a little kid closing his eyes in fear of an injection, or opening their mouth with eyes closed when mom tells them not to be picky about food.

Given the height difference between Hamin Do and Miss Ban Doyoung,

If I tilted my head back slightly, no matter how hard Hamin pulled my body toward him,

Our lips would never meet.

But I deliberately didn’t tilt my head back.

Why, you ask?

‘I’m smiling.’

I could see my face reflected in Hamin’s glasses as he approached to kiss me,

Smiling with satisfaction.

‘A kiss under cherry blossoms shining in the moonlight on April Fool’s Day. How intensely youthful and romantic.’

I lowered my neck slightly, tilting my head downward.

It was so Hamin’s head could reach mine before the distance between us closed further.

If the distance closed any more, well…

More sensitive parts might touch.

For now, I’d offer my lips and protect my virginity.

I moved my arms behind me and gently leaned in,

Entrusting my waist to Hamin’s hands.

-Tap

A soft sensation touched my lips.

The familiar scent of soft-boiled eggs.

It was our second kiss,

But it might as well have been the first.

I had decided that only physical contact initiated by Hamin would count.

One month since possessing the body of main heroine Ban Doyoung.

It took a month, but we’ve made it this far.

You, Hamin.

And me too.

-Click

“…Hm?”

“Wow, the photo came out great.”

Cameras these days have such good performance.

Even though I hurriedly took it in the dead of night, it captured that brief moment so clearly without any blur.

Maybe it’s because it automatically applies face correction.

I like how soft and dreamy it looks.

Of course, Miss Ban Doyoung doesn’t need such corrections,

As she naturally has a filter in the eyes of all the characters anyway.

“W-when did you take out your phone camera…!”

“What kind of loser doesn’t take a screenshot on achievement day?”

Hamin, who thought we were tied again through the kiss as he called my name,

However, at the climactic moment, the camera flash that went off beside us immediately returned him to his usual self.

It hadn’t even been 10 seconds since he declared his resolve to be my equal and kissed me.

“D-delete it, hurry! Having something like that on your phone is serious trouble! What if others misunderstand!”

“It’s fine, because that misunderstanding is something you have to clear up, not me. If people ask about this photo, I’ll just cry. You do the explaining.”

“T-that’s not fair…! That’s mean, Ban Doyoung!”

“Ah, hehe. You called my name again…? It’s better than I expected. Can you say it one more time?”

“D-delete it, Ban Doyoung!”

“How could you! Are you asking me to delete this precious result that you and I created together…!”

“D-don’t say things that could be misunderstood and just delete the photo!”

Hamin extended the arm that had been around my waist to try to snatch the phone from my hand,

But freed from his restraint, I immediately took steps backward, creating distance between us.

Maybe in a confined space like a room balcony it would be different,

But on this open walkway, no matter how quickly he could stretch his arms,

Ban Doyoung, with her long legs that could create distance with fewer steps, had the advantage.

“Stop! Delete the photo, I said!”

“Hehe, I don’t want to! Why should I! How much will you pay me?”

“Seriously… why does it always end up like this!”

Sensing the danger of a photo that would have incomparably more firepower than [Mari★Hana], Hamin didn’t give up even as I created distance and ran away, lunging toward me.

-Thud

But after taking just a few steps,

Hamin collapsed on the walkway with a thud, not even making it a few meters from where he had been standing.

“Hey, hey! Hamin, what’s wrong?”

Startled by the unexpectedly loud noise,

I changed direction and quickly returned to Hamin.

“M-my legs gave out…”

Hamin’s body, which had been tense from doing something he normally wouldn’t do, collapsed right in the middle of the walkway as soon as the tension released.

.

.

.

It would take about 5 minutes to walk home,

But Hamin’s legs were trembling, unable to support him as if they couldn’t walk on their own.

With no other choice, I helped him up and sat him down on a nearby bench.

Normally, one would instinctively move their body defensively when falling,

But Hamin, whose balance collapsed as his tension released, couldn’t do that, resulting in some scrapes on his right knee and forehead.

Fortunately, his glasses weren’t damaged and remained intact.

They said at the optical shop that while they were sturdy, they weren’t popular because of their bulky design,

That turned out to be true.

Even now, blood was faintly flowing from his forehead,

But there wasn’t a single scratch on his glasses.

“Are you okay?”

“Th-thanks. My legs just… gave out suddenly.”

“That’s what happens when you do something you’re not used to. You were already exhausted and sleeping earlier.”

His pale bare legs collapsed like a paper doll.

Despite being a 16-year-old male who had lived for that long, Hamin’s legs were surprisingly smooth without a single black hair.

‘This guy… hasn’t hit puberty yet?’

I wonder if the hair elsewhere is also safe.

‘Well, he did push himself too hard today.’

Was it a reaction after his whole body had been on high alert?

Or was it because he had just been newly born as the protagonist of <Half of Ban>?

Hamin’s legs were struggling on the ground like a newborn foal unable to control its strength.

Well, from what I could see, 100% of the energy he could muster today had already been squeezed out.

He had been face-down on the table earlier, exhausted from pulling an all-nighter.

He probably tried to act normal to avoid causing me trouble,

But fatigue had been accumulating in Hamin’s body without him realizing it.

He must have tried to hide his exhaustion until we reached home,

But in the end, his body had reached its limit.

“Your arm strength seems to have improved, but your legs are still weak.”

I lowered myself, made a fist with my right hand,

And lightly tapped Hamin’s thigh.

Rather than feeling a firm sensation with impact bouncing back,

It felt more like it just sank in softly.

I thought his legs would have decent muscle from walking 4-5km round trip daily,

From the train station to school and back. But come to think of it, last time when I pressed his thigh, he couldn’t move at all.

His large hands, disproportionate to his build after just a few weeks of kendo,

Had quickly become strong enough to grab and subdue Ban Doyoung’s hands.

Maybe his small stature is the issue.

“Hmm, softer than I expected? These legs.”

“I-it’s because my strength is gone…”

Hamin bristled at the comment about his legs lacking strength, desperately denying the fact.

Still trying to act manly, sheesh.

“Even with your strength gone, there’s barely any muscle, and not much fat either. You’re too scrawny.”

“W-well… I only started walking that much after entering high school. In middle school, the school wasn’t that far away, so I didn’t have to walk much.”

“I bet you never exercised at school and just read novels and watched anime all day. You never properly played soccer with the other kids, did you?”

“I-I did until elementary school.”

“So that means you didn’t in middle school.”

“…After I accidentally handled the ball once, they started refusing to let me play, saying they’d lose if I was on their team.”

“Ah, I can relate. I’ve been there too. So petty, seriously.”

“G-girls play soccer together too? Did you handle the ball too, Doyoung?”

“Yeah, when playing ball games with friends, you can try practicing a Ganymede Proton, right? They wouldn’t let me play soccer for a whole month just because of that one thing. Such petty jerks.”

“G-Ganymede Proton…?”

Thinking about it again makes me angry.

They laughed it off when kids did Fire Tornado and God Hand.

Why couldn’t they accept Ganymede Proton?

“Your legs are weak, and your knees are scraped, so it’ll be hard to walk properly… Ah. Hehe.”

“W-why are you suddenly laughing… like that.”

I lowered myself in front of Hamin, who was sitting on the bench, and turned my back to him.

“I’m only doing this once.”

“W-what are you doing…”

“Get on my back.”

“G-get on your back…! What nonsense…!”

“Come on, you fell because of me, so I should take responsibility. Hurry up and get on.”

“I-I’m fine…! I can walk again after resting a bit…! So-“

“Should I send that photo to the class group chat?”

“…”

After I waved my phone in front of him, it didn’t take long before

Hamin’s weight settled on my shoulders.

“Oh, I just touched Hamin’s butt.”

“…I want to get down now.”

I didn’t let him.