Chapter 89
* * *
Splash, splash—
I walked along the water's edge carrying a watermelon in a net bag.
“Here?”
“Yeah. You can hang it there.”
The club president nodded at my question.
I submerged the watermelon in the water to cool it down.
Since I had secured it beneath a heavy rock, there was no chance it would be swept away.
“By the way, how did you find a place like this?”
“Nice, isn't it? There aren't any people around.”
I nodded. It was exactly as she said.
There were no people, and the breeze blowing between the trees was cool.
The sunlight was a little strong, but not unbearably so.
It was the perfect place to play.
‘···It's quiet.’
Since there were no signs of people, there were fewer sounds from the Minimis too, leaving the surroundings peaceful.
Rustle— rustle—
Only the sound of swaying branches could be heard. It was incredibly peaceful.
“Finished···!”
“Looks good.”
A noisy sound came from far away.
They had said they were going to set up the tent. It seemed to be finished now.
“···Oh.”
I let out a small exclamation as I looked at the completed tent.
A camping table and chairs had been arranged neatly.
They seemed to be things the club president had brought. She went camping often, after all.
“Not bad.”
Seeing it made the place feel much more like an outing.
“Right?”
— “I am pretty good at this.”
Since Shin Ayoung had made most of it, her Minimi raised its nose proudly.
“Hmm?”
As I looked around the tent, Isol caught my eye.
“Phew···.”
She was sweating profusely in the corner, patting away the flowing sweat with the back of her hand.
She seemed quite hot.
The weather was already hot enough as it was. Wearing a wig would only make it worse.
“···.”
I sidled over next to Isol and whispered softly.
“Are you sure that’ll be okay?”
“Huh? What?”
“The wig. Won’t it be inconvenient when you get in the water?”
Even though it had been secured with pins, it could come loose with vigorous movement.
“Ah···.”
Isol ran a hand down the ends of her hair.
“It’s fine. I was only planning to get my body wet anyway.”
— “···It’s not like I’m good at swimming to begin with.”
Her Minimi muttered while looking at the water.
“Really?”
Then that was a relief.
If that had been her plan from the beginning, I had nothing more to say.
I nodded and turned away.
— “It is hotter than I expected···.”
I slowed my steps slightly at the belated remark, then
“Seungho. Let’s go change.”
“Ah, okay.”
turned toward the club president's call.
* * *
“Sol!”
Ji Nuri came bounding over and lightly bumped my shoulder.
Her energy was higher than usual. Maybe it was because she was out having fun.
She was even livelier than she had been at school.
“Let’s go change too.”
“···.”
Isol looked at her for a moment, then nodded.
“Okay.”
The tent was serving as a changing room.
There was nowhere else to change, and there weren't any people around, so it didn't really matter.
Senior Minji slid open the tent entrance.
“Who wants to change first? I’ll go last.”
“Then I will.”
Isol quickly raised her hand.
There wasn't enough room for all of us to enter the tent at once.
We had to go in and change one person at a time.
‘I should change quickly.’
Swish— rustle—
I threw off my clothes and took my swimsuit out of my bag.
I was careful not to disturb the wig as much as possible.
Ziiip— Once I pulled up the zipper,
“Hmm.”
I twisted my body this way and that to check whether anything looked strange.
‘Done.’
It seemed fine.
“How is it?”
I walked out of the tent.
Senior Minji made a fuss at the sight of Isol.
“Wow, is that a new swimsuit? It’s really pret—”
Senior Minji's lips slowly parted.
Her gaze dropped, and her mouth fell open even farther.
“No, uh, what I mean is···.”
Senior Minji looked at Isol and couldn't continue.
After struggling to find the right words, she barely managed to raise her index finger.
“···What’s with the swimsuit?”
“Isn’t it pretty?”
“No, uh, I mean··· It is pretty, but···.”
Senior Minji continued speaking with her face an oddly flushed red.
“···Isn’t it a little revealing?”
“Really?”
“This zipper here is quite···.”
Senior Minji kept sneaking glances downward.
Apparently, the straight zipper on the front of the bottoms was bothering her.
“···.”
Isol looked down and fiddled with the bottom of her swimsuit.
Was it really that bad?
To be honest, she didn't think it was particularly revealing.
If you looked at it from that perspective to begin with,
‘They’re worse.’
Isol turned her gaze toward Ji Nuri and Shin Ayoung.
Just look at those curves.
“···.”
Isol's eyes naturally narrowed, becoming half-lidded.
She almost wished she could have some of that too.
‘Compared to that···.’
It was nothing.
Yes, this was nothing.
No, a swimsuit this revealing was necessary.
That was the only way she could compete, at least.
Besides, it only looked like this because of the design. In reality—
“It’s fine. It’s just the design.”
Ji Nuri crouched down.
Ziiip—
She pulled the zipper straight down. It was the zipper on Isol's swimsuit.
“It has an inner layer of fabric like this, so even if you open it, nothing shows.”
“···.”
Isol furrowed her brows and covered herself with both arms.
“···You pervert.”
Heat rushed into her face.
She hadn't expected Ji Nuri to pull it down so openly.
Ji Nuri sprang to her feet in surprise.
“No, that’s not what I meant···!”
She waved her hands frantically.
“I was just trying to tell you!”
Though she shouted as if she had been wronged, that didn't change the fact that she had been caught in the act.
Ji Nuri was immediately restrained by Senior Minji.
“···I’ll go in and change.”
In the meantime, Shin Ayoung entered the tent.
After waiting a little while,
she emerged with hesitant steps.
“I’m all changed···.”
Shin Ayoung turned around with a slightly embarrassed smile.
She was wearing a pure-white one-piece swimsuit with short denim shorts.
The wide-brimmed hat on her head added to her innocent charm.
“Wow···.”
Senior Minji's mouth fell open at the sight.
“···.”
Isol said nothing.
They had gone swimsuit shopping together, after all. They both knew what outfits the others had chosen.
That was also why Shin Ayoung hadn't reacted much to Isol's zipper swimsuit.
“Did you buy that recently? The hair too—you’ve got great taste.”
Senior Minji gave her two thumbs-up. Her praise was lavish.
Shin Ayoung smiled faintly and hugged her braided pigtails.
‘···It was a one-piece after all.’
It was a choice Isol had never expected.
She had thought Shin Ayoung might wear something a little more revealing.
But Shin Ayoung had chosen a one-piece swimsuit.
She seemed reluctant to wear revealing clothes.
‘But she’s Shin Ayoung.’
Her figure was so good that this had a beauty of its own.
The beauty of concealment.
“···.”
The problem was on the other side.
That one was incredibly daring.
“Ta-da!”
By then, Ji Nuri had finished changing and emerged, proudly straightening her back.
The only thing she was wearing was a black bikini.
That was it.
Nothing else.
“···Wow.”
Senior Minji let out a short gasp.
It carried a different meaning from the one before. Her eyes looked lifeless.
“···.”
Isol said nothing this time either.
“How is it, how is it?”
Her eyes sparkled.
She looked like a child gazing expectantly at someone, hoping for praise.
“···.”
The more that happened, the farther Isol's expression sank.
‘···Does she have no shame?’
The amount of skin exposed by the swimsuit was unbelievable.
There was no outer garment, and she wasn't even wearing a pareo. It was simply a bikini.
Simple was best. If you had a good figure, you didn't need any tricks.
“Hmm···.”
Perhaps Senior Minji thought the same thing, because she began rummaging through her bag.
“Nuri.”
She handed Ji Nuri some spare clothes she had brought just in case.
“You’d better put this on, at least.”
“Huh?”
“Hurry.”
It was a matter of urgency.
No matter how much she trusted her boyfriend, this was not an appearance people could help looking at.
“Okaaay···.”
Ji Nuri put on the outer garment with a sullen expression.
“···.”
Isol quietly turned away.
If she stayed beside them, she was bound to be compared to them.
She moved away from Shin Ayoung and Ji Nuri and stood close beside the vice president.
It was better over here. More ordinary.
“···.”
Isol watched the two from a distance.
“Wow··· She’s really pretty.”
At Senior Minji's mutter, Isol flinched and her shoulders trembled.
It was because the exact same thought had burst from her mouth at the same time.
“···I know.”
She nodded. There was no denying it.
Height, proportions, and face.
They had the kind of appearance men liked. Ji Nuri and Shin Ayoung both did.
“It’s so unfair···.”
“···.”
Isol agreed.
‘···Seungho probably thinks so too.’
Lee Seungho was a man too.
Sometimes, she could tell where his gaze was headed.
She could even faintly guess what that gaze meant.
He probably preferred those two to her.
“···.”
Isol rubbed her arm, applying a small amount of pressure.
A little jealousy had risen inside her.
By her own judgment, it was not a very pleasant emotion.
‘If I were one of them.’
I would have started dating Lee Seungho ages ago.
“···.”
She stopped thinking for a moment.
She lowered her head and rubbed the back of her neck.
“···Phew.”
It was such a silly thought. Isol exhaled as if brushing it away.
That would never happen. It was something that could only happen in her imagination.
“Hmm.”
That was why she had changed herself.
Trying out a short hairstyle was part of that change too.
She had wondered whether Lee Seungho liked short hair.
‘···His reaction wasn’t bad.’
Acting without pause.
That was the only thing she could do.
Swish—
Isol reached deep into her handbag.
She felt something catch on her fingertips. Through a gap in the bag, she pulled out sunscreen.
‘Sunscreen···.’
Gulp—
As she looked down at it, her throat bobbed.
“···.”
Thinking about what she was about to do brought on a strange embarrassment.
She also worried about whether she could actually ask him.
But from what she had heard, that was how it worked.
‘···They say boys like this kind of thing.’
It was valuable information she had gotten from Chat AI.
‘Okay, let’s try.’
How to seduce a man.
The first step.
Make him conscious of me as a woman.
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(!Sign!)
(There's an AI illustration if you scroll down!)
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