episode_0219

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Day 3.

After enduring the long 72 hours of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, the embarrassing days had finally come to an end.

Unfortunately, contrary to Hayoon’s wishes, the phrase “come to an end” didn’t include the relationship between Woojin and Jiyoon.

“….”

Somehow, her bedroom felt unfamiliar, as if she hadn’t been alone in a long time.

Hayoon, who had let her hair down and sprawled on the bed, blankly stared at the ceiling.

Her initial plan had clearly been to help Jiyoon detach her feelings from Woojin…

But somehow, they ended up rolling around together. …And in the end, she even kissed Jiyoon right in front of Woojin.

That was why, even though it was past midnight, sleep refused to come.

…Well.

To be fair, Woojin had briefly stepped out yesterday, and then the three of them—

…had sex until the early hours of the morning. That was probably part of the reason too.

Anyway, clutching the edge of the blanket tightly, Hayoon left only her nose poking out as she pondered what to do next.

Let’s just accept that the three of them did it together. Because Woojin liked it.

And even the sloppy exchange of saliva with Jiyoon—let’s just accept that too. Because Woojin liked it.

But if things continued like this, far from her little sister giving up and moving on as originally planned, she’d probably cling even more shamelessly.

She didn’t seem to mind watching them have sex in front of her,

and she even took it a step further by joining in without hesitation…

“Ugh….”

Of course, if Hayoon had spat out something like “Don’t act like you know me anymore” with a bit more venom,

she could’ve put an end to this whole 〈Lend Me Your Boyfriend, Unnie.〉 incident.

But she didn’t really feel like doing that.

Jiyoon would definitely twist her words into something weird, but that wasn’t what she meant.

It was just…, …how should I put it?

Because she knew Jiyoon had drifted through high school without any real friends?

Because if she drifted apart from Woojin too, she’d probably just rot away playing games again, wasting that precious talent of hers?

…Ah, of course, the fact that she had sex in front of Jiyoon like some kind of show-off was definitely not the reason she was hesitating……, …absolutely not.

Anyway, to sum it up, it was something close to pity. She wasn’t sure what exact word to use, though.

But was that really a good enough reason to share her boyfriend with her little sister?

First of all, he’s mine…

As Hayoon continued her silent staring contest with the ceiling,

“Hayoon, you awake?”

“Eek…?!”

The door opened without a knock, drawing her gaze.

The ghostly pale figure peeking through the door almost made her heart drop, but thankfully, the familiar voice stopped her from hurling a nearby plushie.

Staring at Jiyoon—dressed in pajamas—with startled rabbit eyes, Hayoon hissed in a low voice, mindful of the sleeping neighbors.

“Hey, why are you here…?!”

“What do you mean, why? Is this someplace I can’t come? It’s not like I snuck in while you two were having sex or anything…”

“It is a place you can’t just barge into…! Who said you could enter someone else’s room without permission…?!”

“Then I’ll ask for permission now. I came to talk to you.”

“…Talk? About what?”

“You know. …Woojin.”

“….”

Woojin.

At that name, Hayoon fell silent, staring straight at Jiyoon, who let out a soft Hmm— before casually walking over and perching on the edge of the bed.

For some reason, the way she used her legs like a backrest was irritating, but since it was a common occurrence, Hayoon just sighed and slowly sat up.

“We’ve got a week left, right? That… legal sex thing.”

“…Calling it ‘legal’ just makes it sound weird.”

“It’s not wrong, though. Illegal sex is way more thrilling anyway.”

“What kind of psycho talk is… Ugh… So, what?”

“Can’t we extend the deadline?”

“….”

Are you out of your mind?

That was her first thought.

But it didn’t immediately leave her mouth.

Let me say it again—it’s not because showing off in front of Jiyoon while having sex felt incredibly good, and the afterglow was still lingering. Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely not.

It’s just that…

Jiyoon must have a reason for coming here in the middle of the night and saying something like this.

She just wanted to hear that reason first.

“…Why?”

“You already know. …I want to keep having sex with your boyfriend.”

“….”

Maybe, like a proper lady, she should’ve just ended the conversation and knocked some sense into Jiyoon with a flick to the forehead.

But since she missed her chance, she just clenched her fists on the blanket. Oblivious, Jiyoon smirked and continued.

“Of course, I’m not asking to extend it for free. I thought of something you’d like…”

“…Me? What would I… Eek…?”

Thud.

Climbing onto the bed.

…Climbing on top of Hayoon.

Pushing down on her half-raised upper body,

forcing her to lie back down.

Thud.

“Hey, you… crazy… I don’t even like this kind of…”

“Huh? Really? You seemed to really like it yesterday morning, though?”

“Th-that was… Woojin was… …pounding me so hard…”

“That’s exactly it.”

“…?”

“Unnie, you really enjoyed the threesome with me and Woojin, didn’t you?”

“….”

“Even though you grumbled, you still ended up coming to my room to sleep together… You even soaked the bed, didn’t you?”

Despite rarely ever smiling before,

Jiyoon—who had suddenly started smirking a lot lately—

…Grin.

Pulled up the corner of her lips and whispered.

“If I don’t help, you won’t get to have sex like that anymore… right?”

“…Are you threatening me now?”

“Yeah. Otherwise, you’d just tell me to get lost, wouldn’t you?”

“….”

A long silence.

A long deliberation.

A long weighing of options.

Eventually, Hayoon was the first to break eye contact, turning her head away with a grumble.

“…If it starts feeling no different from just the two of you, I’m kicking you out immediately…”

“…And if it does feel different?”

“….”

“If it feels different, what then?”

“….”

“….”

“…I don’t know.”

—

219

Lately, the daily routine of the academy’s health teacher could be summarized as follows:

Wearing the academy uniform to school to humor the principal, who lived for the thrill of cheering on young men his son’s age.

Covering the uniform with a doctor’s coat the moment she arrived at the infirmary.

Strolling around the academy while scanning the faces of potential heroes she might recognize.

Drinking vending machine coffee and politely acknowledging greetings from people pretending to know her.

Enduring the long, sticky small talk from teachers who seemed oddly eager to strike up conversations—whether because someone nearby was sick or not.

And.

“That’s a pretty deep cut. You’d have needed stitches if you’d gone to the hospital.”

“Ugh…”

“Are you okay…?”

Lately, she’d been treating an increasing number of frequently injured students.

“Hey, if you’re free, could you hold this student’s wrist for me? He’s too heavy for me to lift alone.”

“Ah, sure.”

In the middle of Dueling Arena No. 3, located right next to the gymnasium inside the academy.

Having rushed over upon hearing about the injury, I clicked my tongue and began treating the heavily muscled male student.

Judging by the sword strapped to the female student’s waist, this was probably her doing…

Even if it was a duel, shouldn’t they at least control their strength a little?—I swallowed those words before they could leave my throat.

It was late April.

The academy’s midterm evaluations were just around the corner.

“There, all better?”

“…Yeah. Phew… This is crazy awesome… Ah, sorry. I’ve got a bit of a foul mouth…”

“It’s fine. I’ve dealt with much worse.”

From what I’d heard, only those who excelled in the midterms and finals could intern at decent agencies during the holidays.

It wasn’t really my business, but they must’ve wanted to push themselves as hard as possible now.

If they didn’t train their bodies to the limit now, when else would they?

On the other hand, I wondered just how badly Hayoon must’ve screwed up her first-year evaluations to end up in remedial classes all winter break.

After briefly entertaining that thought, I advised them to avoid injuries and not overexert themselves—phrased as diplomatically as possible—before returning to the infirmary.

“……?”

There was a guest waiting inside.

An unwelcome one, at that.

The moment I opened the door, my gaze locked onto the long, pale-blue hair. Clearing my throat, I walked over to my seat.

“What are you doing here? Are you hurt?”

“….”

Baek Seoyeon.

In short, Yozora’s friend.

She didn’t answer, just stared at me blankly as I sat down in my chair.

Now that I thought about it, she could’ve at least turned around when she heard the door open, but I didn’t ask.

Mostly because I couldn’t be bothered.

“Where are you hurt?”

“….”

“Or did you come here to talk about something else?”

“….”

But her silence was starting to get frustrating.

If she was worried about being overheard, she could’ve at least written something down.

With that in mind, I subtly slid a pen toward her, but Seoyeon only glanced at it briefly before looking away. No real reaction.

She just kept staring at my face.

Then, slightly lowering her gaze.

After a few sighs,

and a series of incomprehensible actions,

“…My wrist hurts a little.”

She finally spoke.

Softly.

This made me wonder why she hadn’t just said so when I first asked if she was hurt, but I kept that thought to myself.

Maybe she was still feeling the effects of that high fever from yesterday.

Or maybe, as student council president, she was just exhausted.

Either way, as long as I treated her properly, she’d leave the infirmary without any trouble.

Tossing the awkwardly offered pen onto the desk, I carefully took hold of Seoyeon’s wrist.

“Which one? Right? Left?”

“…Left.”

Left, huh.

Maybe carpal tunnel syndrome or something.

Hesitantly, I held her outstretched wrist in one hand and examined the inside.

“….”

“….”

But contrary to her words, there was nothing wrong with her wrist.

Thinking it might be something else, I checked her entire body, focusing on the wrist, but still found nothing unusual.

Which meant Seoyeon had lied to me about her wrist hurting.

Why?

“Hey, did you really come here because your wrist hurts?”

“…?!”

What reason would Baek Seoyeon have to lie about visiting the infirmary?

At best, she might’ve wanted an excuse to rest for a bit.

But when I called her out directly, her shoulders jerked up in surprise.

Whatever the reason, she was lying.

I also realized she was terrible at lying.

“…I really came because it hurts.”

“Stop lying and just admit it. I can tell the difference between someone who’s actually hurt and someone who’s faking.”

“….”

“So why this lie…, …Ah.”

No matter how I thought about it, the only reason to fake an injury was to skip something.

But as I pressed further out of sheer curiosity, Seoyeon abruptly pulled her wrist from my grip—

And without another word, bolted from the infirmary.

A dumbfounded sound escaped my lips.

“….”

At 22 years old, faking an injury is honestly a little embarrassing to admit.

That was the only thought I was left with.