NOVEL NEXT Chapter 50
After a brief battle of wills, Yoo Ha-neul managed to secure the black t-shirt Sara had chosen, which was hanging in the closet. Holding the shirt tightly to prevent it from being taken, Yoo Ha-neul said:
“… Was this your goal all along?”
“What do you mean by ‘this’?”
Shin So-hee ignored Yoo Ha-neul and continued to pick clothes from the closet.
“W-well…”
Yoo Ha-neul found himself pondering the question posed by Shin So-hee.
Yoo Ha-neul liked Sara. Of course, he wouldn’t call it a perfect romantic feeling or say he wanted to be her boyfriend just yet. Having never dated before, he thought, “Dating is about being with someone you love.”
But he still had doubts about whether what he felt for Sara was love. It felt nice to be close to her, and her flustered reactions were cute. He admired Sara’s pretty face and her gentle personality. Yet, he still didn’t have the courage to say he wanted to date her.
So… if we had to define the feelings Yoo Ha-neul had for Sara right now, they could best be described as possessiveness. He wasn’t sure if it was love or affection, but he definitely wanted to be the closest person to Sara. Expressing such murky feelings to someone else, even though they had become friends, still felt too daunting.
Shin So-hee gave Yoo Ha-neul a quick glance before pulling out a shirt from the closet. It was Sara’s school uniform shirt, clearly too small for Shin So-hee.
She buried her face in the shirt and inhaled deeply.
“Ah, it smells nice. What kind of fabric softener does she use?”
Yoo Ha-neul’s jaw dropped.
“Ahh!”
“Since I’ve already taken it out, I guess I’ll wear it.”
Shin So-hee said that and buried her face in the shirt once more.
“Hey! That action you’re doing right now! That’s why you came here!”
Yoo Ha-neul yelled while pointing at Shin So-hee.
Then he covered his mouth with a gasp.
The three of them simultaneously turned their gaze toward the shower room. Fortunately, there were only sounds of water splashing coming from inside. It seemed the noise hadn’t penetrated to that extent.
“Yep, that’s exactly why I came here. What’s the problem?”
Shin So-hee said while looking down at Yoo Ha-neul, taking advantage of the height difference.
…
A brief silence.
“… Huh?”
In an instant, Yoo Ha-neul appeared confused by Shin So-hee’s words and tilted his head.
“Like I said, I came for this. I want to get closer to her. Didn’t you see me wrap my arms around her after getting permission earlier? You’ve been clinging to her since school!”
“Ah, I-I’m just a friend!”
“Hah.”
Shin So-hee chuckled lightly as if it was ridiculous.
“You’re just a friend, yet you walk around hugging each other, feeding her food nonchalantly, and bumping against her while wearing dresses on weekends?”
“We’re not bumping or anything…! And that dress was given to me by Sara!”
Upon hearing the phrase “given by Sara,” Shin So-hee narrowed her eyes even further. She glared at Yoo Ha-neul through those slits and said,
“… It wasn’t you who picked out the clothes?”
“…”
Of course, it was him who had picked them.
Honestly, he had chosen them with the idea of a date in mind, so he really couldn’t say much against that.
Sara, in her alluring dress, was just that attractive. He thought she could pull off anything she wore.
…But he couldn’t possibly voice that thought here. That would make things significantly worse.
“I—I mean…”
But even so, he couldn’t find an appropriate response to give.
Eventually, after some deliberation, Yoo Ha-neul shouted with a sense of resignation.
“I came here to protect Sara from you!”
“That certainly broke the mood nicely,”
Shin So-hee bluntly replied, leaving Yoo Ha-neul speechless once again.
“You… you….”
“Yeah, I wanted to do various things here, in this room, on that bed, just the two of us.”
That was a lie.
Shin So-hee didn’t have the courage to just leap on the girl she liked, being in the same room for the first time. If she had that kind of courage, she would have confessed to one of the girls nearby long ago.
What’s more, Shin So-hee harbored a fantasy that contrasted with the fierce image others had of her. If possible, for her first love, she wanted a sweet and tender experience.
Like the main characters of the love novels she read during childhood, she imagined that after they started dating, they would walk while keeping a distance, accidentally brushing shoulders, hesitating as they reached out to hold hands, and finally grasping each other’s hands, arms wrapped together…
That the first kiss would be innocent, merely brushing lips together…
… In any case, there was a certain stage she wanted to progress through. The thought of confessing after barely a week of knowing each other and straightaway jumping into bed was far from her mind.
Even though she was walking around with the buttons of her shirt undone because her chest felt tight, she completely ignored the gazes of the surrounding boys—of course, this was also due to her feeling sexual attraction only towards girls—but in terms of dating, she had developed a rather picky and particular set of beliefs since childhood.
She didn’t really care whether someone treated her as a person or not, but she wanted to experience the feelings in a way that felt like first love for both parties.
Even just having not seen each other for two whole days over the weekend felt like a rapid advancement compared to those two, who would have taken their time otherwise.
… If it were hugging tightly while sleeping, that might have happened, but still.
In fact, the act of burying her face in the shirt and sniffing it was also an action that required courage, risking the embarrassment.
Attending a different school, she had fewer chances to get closer to Sara than the two of them, and at least outside of school, she had to make the most of it.
So, it was only natural that she didn’t think of having her first experience at a friend’s house.
Of course, she didn’t feel the need to explain herself to Yoo Ha-neul in such detail.
“…What do you think of Sara?”
Eventually, Yoo Ha-neul asked that question.
“I like her?”
…
……
Silence.
The bold declaration left Yoo Ha-neul and Lee Soo-ah dumbfounded.
Of course, from Shin So-hee’s perspective, it was a complete bluff.
She wouldn’t have the courage to make such a declaration in front of Sara. After all, she could get rejected or find out that Sara had no interest in girls. She had already made some plans to break out of the current situation by walking around with Yoo Ha-neul and Lee Soo-ah while hooking arms.
But if she wasn’t directly involved—
At least, if it were in front of potential rivals, she could state it so confidently.
“Uh, so that’s a romantic feeling?”
“Why would you say something like ‘romantic’? She’s a girl, just like me and you. For a girl to like another girl, how can that be seen as a purely heterosexual perspective? I just happen to be homosexual.”
With a rapid succession of bombshell declarations, Yoo Ha-neul was once again at a loss for words.
No, if he said the wrong thing here, it would be a total disaster.
Even in a world where homosexuality was openly accepted, and occasional scandals occurred in idol groups, there were still people who regarded homosexuality with suspicion. And those were usually individuals with severely biased views on matters of thought.
Usually, such people weren’t very welcome in society. Even if it was a tiny group.
Most importantly, the three people present here already held feelings towards Sara that were more than mere admiration. Although one was firmly convinced of their feelings, if the other two crossed that line, there would be little difference from Shin So-hee.
“…So that’s how it is.”
Ultimately, left speechless, Yoo Ha-neul could only mutter that much.
“Then I’ll wear this—”
“…Oh, by the way, I need to borrow some underwear.”
Shin So-hee tried to make a bold declaration, but Yoo Ha-neul suddenly interrupted her, kneeling down and opening the drawer below the closet. It was probably filled with colorful underwear that Sara would wear.
Seeing Yoo Ha-neul casually reaching toward the drawer left Shin So-hee in shock.
“No, borrowing underwear is—”
“It’s okay since we’re both girls.”
“No, even if we’re girls—”
“It’s okay because we’re ‘girl friends.’”
Hearing the same phrase repeated, Shin So-hee lost her words.
This girl was definitely not normal.
She was similar to how Shin So-hee used to be, not long ago. Though unlike Shin So-hee, who pondered over her sexual identity over time, this girl seemed not to have fully accepted it yet.
… So perhaps, she was even more reckless in some ways.
Seeing these aspects made Shin So-hee a bit anxious.
No matter what, she wouldn’t have the courage to insist on wearing another’s underwear. Most importantly, the sizes clearly wouldn’t match. Given that Yoo Ha-neul and Sara had similar builds, it was hard to tell how it would fit, but Shin So-hee probably wouldn’t be able to get it past her thighs.
In the midst of her contemplation—
Click, the sound of a lock being released could be heard.
The shower door opened, and Sara cautiously stepped out. Having already gone in with clothes, she had changed into pajamas after her shower. Shin So-hee, who was hoping she’d at least come out in a bathrobe, let out a tiny sigh. Well, rich people wouldn’t necessarily act like the ones in movies or dramas.
As Sara wrung her long hair with a towel and stepped out, she paused when she noticed the two rummaging through her closet.
“Um….”
Seeing the confidently held shirt in Shin So-hee’s hands and the boldly opened underwear drawer by Yoo Ha-neul, Sara’s face turned slightly red.
“Ah, Sara!”
At that moment, Lee Soo-ah, who had remained quiet until then, called out to Sara as if she’d been waiting for this.
In her right hand was a hair dryer, and in her left hand was a brush.
“I’ll dry your hair for you!”
!!!
A question mark appeared above the heads of Shin So-hee and Yoo Ha-neul.
“Uh, right….”
Sara, who had been at a loss for words while watching the two, hurriedly walked towards Lee Soo-ah.
Lee Soo-ah smiled at Shin So-hee and Yoo Ha-neul.
“…”
… Just because they looked calm didn’t mean they truly were.
The two exchanged glances at Lee Soo-ah and held that thought in their minds.