Chapter 39
After the incident in the mountains.
We hurriedly packed up the campsite and returned home.
Just as Hyeonwoo said, a mother wild boar might be hiding somewhere….
And there was no way to be sure there weren't other animals around, either.
For the record, the headlock Juhyeok had me in never let up the entire way home.
A few days after that camping trip.
“Ugh…. It's so bright….”
I was still staying at Hyeonwoo's house.
“Yaaawn…. Good morning….”
“Good morning.”
When I crawled outside, dragging my sleepy body along, Hyeonwoo was preparing breakfast in the kitchen.
“You're up early?”
"The sunlight was too bright…."
Normally, I would never get up this early, but today I had forgotten to draw the curtains, so the sunlight hit my eyes directly and forced me awake.
Ugh…. I still can't see properly….
“Yaaawn…. I guess the sun rises earlier now that it's summer….”
Just a few weeks ago, it would still have been too early for the sun to rise.
I could feel summer approaching even here.
"Is it summer already…. Seolhwa, are you going to be okay?"
Thinking of the approaching summer, Hyeonwoo worried about me.
As a Snow Woman, summer was the season I was most vulnerable to, so of course he would be worried….
“Well…. I'm preparing in my own way too….”
With the weather continuing to grow hotter over the past few days, I had started thinking that I needed to prepare somehow.
If I stayed like this, melting to death in summer might stop being a joke….
I even called Sunbae, but only got a message saying they were doing research.
When I called several times for fun, all I got later was a death threat from Sunbae promising to kill me….
...I might get killed by Sunbae before the sun.
[Ding-dong-]
While eating eggs and thinking about various things, the doorbell suddenly rang.
“Oh, it looks like my Rocket Delivery order arrived already.”
I pattered over to the door—dododo—and returned with the package.
“What did you order?”
“My special summer-prep item!”
I gave Hyeonwoo, who asked about the package, a vague answer and immediately went into my room.
“Hehehe…. With just this, I should be fine this summer….”
Once in my room, I began excitedly tearing open the box while humming.
Inside the box were the bottoms Haru had recommended yesterday.
A must-have for women during the sweltering summer!
They were supposed to be easy to wear at home and keep me cool anywhere, so I bought them.
At first, I thought Haru was trying to trick me into buying a skirt, so I was going to ignore the suggestion….
But this time, the name itself had “pants” in it, so they would definitely be fine.
“They were called dolphin pants, right….”
I muttered and took the clothes out of the box-
The moment I saw the clothes I had bought, I was shocked.
“Th-they're so short….”
Far shorter than the shorts I usually wore, these seemed like they wouldn't cover my thighs at all, no matter how I looked at them,
and they even had openings at the sides, making them incredibly revealing.
Even in the picture, I thought they looked short…. But these are way shorter than I expected….
“I shouldn't have trusted Haru….”
They were definitely easy to move in and looked nice and cool, just as Haru had said…. But of course, they exposed all my thighs!
“How am I supposed to wear these….”
I was still so uncomfortable exposing my body that I didn't have the courage to wear these clothes.
Honestly, in some ways, they seemed even more provocative than a skirt….
“I'll just put them away for now….”
I gently placed the dolphin pants deep inside my wardrobe.
Maybe someday, when the time was right, I could wear them….
But apparently, now wasn't that time.
After semi-permanently sealing away the dolphin pants, I quietly left my room.
“Huh? What happened to your summer-prep item?”
Since I hadn't brought anything out, Hyeonwoo asked me with a question mark floating over his face.
“...It was a little too early for humanity.”
“Too early…. What did you buy…?”
After hearing my explanation, Hyeonwoo wore a slightly dumbfounded expression.
Honestly, if I were alone, maybe, but I didn't have the confidence to wear those clothes in front of Hyeonwoo.
How could I wear something that exposed all my thighs in front of someone else…. How embarrassing….
“Forget it! Forget the item! It's still spring, so there's no need to prepare yet!”
“That contradicts what you just said.”
“I don't know!”
=====
After we finished eating, we had nothing to do, so we decided to play a game with chicken on the line.
Of course, since I'd improved by learning the game, we decided to bet on a different game instead of the fighting game that put me at a disadvantage.
The game was Mario Party!
Hehehe…. Hyeonwoo….
This game is more about luck than control….
So this time, I'll win and take the chicken!
“Great, I got Superstar. Game over.”
“Whyyyyyy!!”
But I lost.
Again.
“Grr…. I didn't account for the minigames….”
I hadn't realized that, unlike an ordinary board game, Mario Party required physical skill during the minigames.
As a result, the gap between our coin counts began to grow exponentially….
In the end, luck or no luck, I was helpless against Hyeonwoo's item rush.
Grr…. If only I'd won a few more minigames….
“I mean…. You can't even hold the controller properly, so of course you couldn't win the minigames….”
I looked at the hand gripping my controller.
A small, delicate hand that couldn't grip the controller properly.
No wonder I couldn't play properly.
On the other hand….
I looked at Hyeonwoo's hand as he held his controller.
Unlike mine, his hand was large and held the controller properly.
It made sense that he would naturally have an advantage over me in the game.
...Had our hand sizes always been this different?
Since my body had gotten smaller, it was only natural for our hand sizes to differ, but compared like this, the difference seemed pretty big.
Come to think of it, his fingers had been pretty big when I held one back then too….
A few days ago, while taking the test of courage at the campsite, I had unconsciously grabbed Hyeonwoo's finger and walked along with him.
It had been just his finger, but I remembered it being quite large and manly too.
...Thinking of that made my face feel hot for some reason.
"Seolhwa, are you hot?"
"Huh? Ah. N-no, it's nothing…."
Maybe it was because I was embarrassed about showing how scared I had been, but my body automatically radiated heat and my face turned red.
I had looked pretty pathetic then….
Well, that aside….
"Hyeonwoo, can I ask you a favor?"
"What?"
"Hold your hand out this way."
At my request, Hyeonwoo spread his hand wide toward me without a hint of suspicion.
...It really is big.
Up close, Hyeonwoo's hand really was huge.
It hadn't seemed so big before…. But now it seemed unbelievably large.
...I wonder how it compares to me now…?
Following that unconscious train of thought, I absentmindedly placed my hand on Hyeonwoo's.
"Oh…."
"It's big…."
Feeling it like this, I could tell that, unlike my now delicate hand, his was rough and manly.
So there really is this much difference in size….
"Uh, Seolhwa…?"
"Hm?"
I only came to my senses when Hyeonwoo called my name, his face slightly flushed.
And I noticed my hand pressed against Hyeonwoo's.
"S-sorry!"
Realizing what I had done, I hurriedly pulled my hand away.
“I-I just wanted to compare our hand sizes….”
“Ah…. Right, yeah….”
Hyeonwoo replied as though he understood, but his flustered expression made it clear he hadn't understood at all. He turned his head away and avoided my eyes.
“......”
“......”
Then came a deep silence.
...Th-this made things weird! Act like nothing happened!
At this rate, it was almost as if….
I stealthily turned my eyes toward Hyeonwoo to check his reaction, but-
Our eyes met.
“Eek…!”
The two of us hurriedly turned our heads away again when our eyes met.
What am I even doing….
W-we're longtime friends; our hands might bump into each other…. But Hyeonwoo's strange reaction made me conscious of having put my hand against his too.
Come to think of it, he'd gotten similarly flustered during the camping trip too…. G-good grief, this is why people who've never dated…
...Though I'm one too.
“......”
“......”
Since the atmosphere had turned strange and made it difficult for either of us to speak, an awkward silence continued.
Th-this won't do….
If I stayed here, I felt like the strange atmosphere would mess with my head.
“I-I should drink some water….”
I wasn't particularly thirsty, but I chose water as an excuse to escape, quickly stood up, and fled to the kitchen.
======
“Seolhwa, thanks. I'll enjoy this.”
“......”
That night, several hours after the game had ended.
Since I lost the game, I had to treat Hyeonwoo to chicken.
“...The chicken tastes like tears.”
My bank account, already drained from buying clothes I couldn't even wear, was driven to the brink of collapse by the chicken.
Sigh…. This is so upsetting….
Even while eating delicious chicken, I couldn't feel at ease knowing it was my money.
In that case….
I turned my eyes to the side dishes that had come with the chicken.
Two cans of beer we'd ordered along with it, figuring chicken alone wouldn't soothe me.
I didn't usually drink much, but….
Today, I think I need to drink….
I reached for the alcohol to soothe my troubled feelings, but-
“...This is a bit much.”
“Huh?”
Hyeonwoo suddenly took my drink.
What…?