Ep. 51: I'll Stay for Just One Night

The air conditioner exploded.

Not metaphorically—it literally went bang-! and blew up. Bang!

Fortunately, everything around it was fine, and judging by how only smoke was rising from the air conditioner, it seemed the noise was the only explosive thing about it.

That was at least a relief, but….

“...No, this isn't working at all.”

“Aaaah…. This is driving me crazy….”

Just as I'd expected, the air conditioner had completely gone kaput again.

When I saw the air conditioner break, I got so stressed that I nearly passed out clutching the back of my neck, but I decided to calm down first by drinking the iced tea Hyeonwoo had bought.

After I finished the sweet iced tea and calmed down,

I called the person responsible for this mess.

[Ah…. How could you turn it on right away….]

“Th-that’s because…. It was a little hot….”

After I called the dwarf who was my brother's friend and explained what had happened, he spoke in a very troubled tone.

[I barely managed to fix that thing, and I even wrote down that turning it on immediately at eighteen degrees without preheating it would break it…. Don't tell me you didn't read the manual?]

“...Haha. Was something like that written there...?”

[You little….]

Then he started chewing me out for not reading the manual properly.

“Seolhwa, I bought some ice cre—”

“Aaaah…. Hyeonwoo….”

About ten minutes later, when Hyeonwoo returned home with the ice cream, I went up to him and spoke through my tears.

“The dwarf chewed me out so badly…. His lecture lasted forever….”

After listening for ten minutes to a rap-like barrage containing every kind of nagging in the world, I still felt dizzy from the words ringing in my ears.

Hyeonwoo laughed as he looked at me, then placed his hand on my head and gently stroked my hair as he spoke.

“The dwarf did nag you pretty badly…. You must have been flustered too.”

Pat, pat.

Hyeonwoo's large hand stroked the top of my head, comforting me after I'd been worn out by the lecture.

As his gentle hand stroked my head to a steady rhythm, my body grew languid for some reason, and my mood gradually lifted.

“Ahh…. This feels so goo—Hup!”

“...W-wait, what are you doing!”

I nearly lost consciousness from how incredibly pleasant the stroking felt, but I came to at the last moment and knocked Hyeonwoo's hand off my head.

“Oh…. Sorry…. I didn't realize I was doing that….”

Hyeonwoo scratched his head and apologized with an expression that looked genuinely sorry.

But unlike usual, his expression seemed to contain a hint of disappointment…. No, more importantly.

“...I've been thinking this for a while, but don't you use that ‘I didn't realize I was doing it’ excuse too often…?”

Hyeonwoo often made the excuse that he had touched my cheeks without realizing it whenever he touched them.

At this point, it seemed as if Hyeonwoo couldn't properly control his own body….

More importantly, he'd never done anything like this to Haru…. Why did he only do it to me?

I knew my cheeks were softer than Haru's, but stroking my hair was….

...Could Hyeonwoo actually have a thing for someone as small as me?

Ugh…. That would be pretty creepy….

Even I had to admit it, but objectively speaking, I was much shorter than average.

On top of that, I looked a little young for my age…. Should I report Hyeonwoo…?

...No way. Surely no one could actually like someone with a body like mine. Hyeonwoo wasn't actually interested in me at all!

...But then, if he really wasn't interested in me, I'd somehow be angry about that too….

If he called me cute all the time but wasn't actually interested in me at all, and only touched me to tease me….

Uuugh…. Until just moments ago, the stroking had put me in a good mood, but those needless thoughts made anxiety and irritation well up inside me.

......

“...Huh? Why are you glaring at me, Seolhwa…? Oh, do you want some ice cream?”

I glared sharply at the cause of my irritation, but he didn't have the slightest idea why I was annoyed and stupidly handed me the ice cream.

That wasn't exactly why I'd been looking at him, but since he was offering me ice cream, I accepted it and ate it.

Munch, munch.

“By the way, what should we do…. We won't be able to sleep here tonight.”

I spoke while sucking on a hard candy bar and staring at the broken air conditioner.

“The dwarf said he'd install a new air conditioner tomorrow as long as I paid for it….”

Since I was his friend's younger sibling, the dwarf did give me a bit of a scolding, but he'd agreed to install a new air conditioner.

However, because I had to pay for the air conditioner, my wallet was forced to go on another diet….

There went my next gacha pull….

“...Why don't you sleep at my place?”

While I was sucking on the candy bar and fretting, Hyeonwoo scratched his head and casually brought it up.

“Ah, I mean, I'm not saying you have to stay, but it would be more comfortable for you, and I can guarantee nothing will happen….”

Then, suddenly flustered by his own words, he began speaking hurriedly.

Hyeonwoo was acting much more flustered than usual, which made me feel that something was off, so I spoke to him.

“...You're acting really suspicious.”

“Urk….”

If I thought about it rationally, there was nothing wrong with Hyeonwoo's suggestion.

Since I couldn't sleep here, Hyeonwoo's place, where I'd stayed for a while, was the best place to sleep….

Still, his behavior was different from usual, and for some reason, it made me uneasy.

Usually, when someone acted like this, it meant they had some ulterior motive…. Or maybe they'd blurted out what they really felt and gotten flustered….

Hmm….

Well, Hyeonwoo should be fine!

I trusted my longtime friend completely.

There was no way Hyeonwoo was hiding anything from me, so it had to be fine!

“Okay, then can I stay one more day?”

“...Yeah, I'd love—... I mean, it's fine.”

Hyeonwoo said this with a slight wry smile.

Hmm…. He looked a little anxious…. Was he worried about his older brother?

“Your brother won't notice if it's only for a day. So don't worry.”

“Yeah, okay….”

I rose onto my tiptoes and patted Hyeonwoo on the back, telling him not to worry, but for some reason, he still wore a worried expression.

...Why was he acting like this?

======

“Hwaaah…! I told you, a bigger house is better….”

After returning to Hyeonwoo's house, I stretched as soon as I entered the living room, loosening up my tired body.

After staring at my tiny, cramped studio apartment and coming back to a house with a proper bedroom, I felt at ease.

Besides, after sleeping here for a while, this place felt more like home than my own did….

“Your air conditioner exploded, and you're acting pretty carefree….”

Hyeonwoo spoke with a slight wry smile as he watched me stretch in the living room.

“By the way, are you sure it's okay to leave all your clothes behind?”

“Hm? It's fine, it's fine. I'm only staying for one night, so what's the big deal?”

The women's clothes my older brother had brought me and the clothes I normally wore were all in my studio apartment now.

There were two main reasons for that. First, I hadn't had enough energy left to carry clothes under the blazing sun,

and second, I was only going back there after staying one night, so there was no need to bring new clothes….

“Whatever! Let's forget the little things and play a game. I'm bored!”

After everything that had happened since morning, I didn't want to think anymore, so I handed Hyeonwoo a controller so we could relieve stress by gaming together—but-

“Ah, sorry. I have an assignment due tomorrow….”

Hyeonwoo pushed the controller away with an apologetic expression.

“I want to play too, but…. If I don't do this now, my grades will be ruined…. I'll play with you when I'm done, so wait just a little longer.”

Looking troubled, Hyeonwoo went into his room.

“Oh….”

Once Hyeonwoo entered his room, I was left alone in the living room, still clutching the controller.

The soundproofing must have been good, because the only thing I could hear in the living room was white noise.

This was just like last time, when I was in my room….

“Uuugh…. I wanted to play together after so long….”

Even with someone nearby, I was left alone in the room again.

I'd come here partly because I wanted to spend time with Hyeonwoo, but his assignment meant I was about to end up playing alone again.

The one good thing was that Hyeonwoo had promised to play with me after finishing his assignment.

So I just had to wait until he came out, and then we'd play together….

“I'm bored….”

I sprawled on the sofa I often used and rolled around, singing about how bored I was.

I'd agreed to wait until he finished his assignment, but the time I had to wait felt impossibly long.

Even when I played a game, I kept sneaking glances toward Hyeonwoo's room and getting killed, so it wasn't fun….

Whenever I picked up my phone, I just wanted to text Hyeonwoo and chat with him….

“Haaah…. I'm bored….”

Because Hyeonwoo wouldn't play with me, I was suffering from unbearable boredom.

Ugh…. This was all Hyeonwoo's fault…. He was the one in the wrong….

I started sulking at Hyeonwoo for doing his assignment and passed the time by blaming him.

It wasn't entirely unfair.

I was bored because Hyeonwoo wouldn't play with me, so this boredom really was his fault.

“So….”

I rose from the sofa, put on a sly expression, and spoke in a small voice.

“...It should be okay to play a little prank, right?”