NOVEL NEXT Chapter 51
No, what is this?
What the heck is going on here?
Yeah, it was easy to understand why Lee Soo-ah stepped in to dry my hair. It wasn’t like I had any idea how guys in my past life would handle situations with girls around; but somehow, the image of someone drying and messing with my hair seemed somewhat imaginable. Maybe it was just a scene I often saw in the anime I watched during my teen years…
However, the other two girls besides Lee Soo-ah—
“…You’re going to wear that?”
I asked, staring at Shin So-hee, who was hugging one of my uniform shirts as if she had no intention of letting go.
“Yeah, this is enough for me. I only wear a shirt at home anyway.”
…Only wearing a shirt at home? Does that even make sense?
Ah, of course, I can’t be sure since I didn’t have any sisters. But still, the image of someone just wearing a shirt with only underwear underneath came to mind, and it was more about those movie scenes where the heroine wears her boyfriend’s shirt after a steamy session than a casual daily outfit.
Of course, I’ve heard stories about girl group members just lounging around in their dorms without clothes, so if that’s what she finds comfortable, then sure, she might do it. There are billions of people in the world, and naturally, everyone can’t have the same preferences.
Yeah, Shin So-hee is a visual novel character. It wouldn’t be weird if her way of thinking leaned slightly towards a dating-sim heroine… I told myself as I tried to wrap my mind around the current situation.
I couldn’t figure out why she was looking at me so intensely instead of the heroine, though.
It was hard to believe that I had become someone who’d make her feel that way in just under a week… So I guess I had to just let it be and not dwell on it.
But, no matter how I tried to think a few steps back, there was something I just couldn’t wrap my head around.
“There’s no way that shirt is going to fit you, right?”
That’s right.
Ye Sara had “something” in her chest. But since she was a dating-sim character, I didn’t think it would be a tragedy like “her stomach sticking out more than her chest.” If she wore a thin shirt, it definitely showed she was a girl.
…Though maybe she had a figure that wouldn’t really need a bra, but either way.
And what about Shin So-hee?
Even in image-quality CG, it was easy to tell she was well-endowed. I mean, she could even be on the edge of “big” by certain standards. While she had a tall height and nice proportions without looking exaggerated, her size was definitely “big enough” to make me go, “wow, that’s sizeable.”
So comparing her with Ye Sara is just pointless.
Not to mention, it wasn’t just her chest; her height and build were different too. Honestly, I couldn’t imagine Shin So-hee wearing that shirt even if the cup size was the same.
“Well, it’s fine if it’s a little small. I’m pretty slim, you know?”
No, it’s not a matter of being slim… Whatever, since I figured she wouldn’t listen if I suggested lending her a different outfit, I decided to let it go for now.
Whirr— the hairdryer blew gentle air. Swish, swish. It was a different style from made-in-Yang Hye-in, but I enjoyed the feeling of Lee Soo-ah’s hands brushing through my hair without tangling or hurting it.
Unknowingly, I narrowed my eyes as Ha Neul spoke up.
“I’ll wear this!”
The clothes Ha Neul held up were the black T-shirt she had picked out for me on Saturday. Hmm… Yoo Ha-neul was about my height, but I was slimmer. Her chest size was noticeably bigger than mine.
But T-shirts are stretchy, so it shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Worst case scenario, it might just stretch out a bit in the chest area.
“And this too!”
“……”
However, this side of things had its own problem.
What Ha Neul proudly held up were rolled-up panties—Ye Sara’s panties.
Yeah. Panties.
Sky-blue panties.
“…Are you really okay with this?”
I asked once more. Is it really that natural for girls to share underwear? Do girls borrow each other’s underwear all the time? I honestly had no idea.
Based on my standards as a former guy, if my same-sex friend had asked to borrow underwear, I’d have freaked out. Sure, in military life you run out of supplies and some guys might borrow each other’s gear, but in society, there’s really no need for that. You can easily buy extras at a convenience store.
Even if it were a situation where finding extra underwear was hard, I could confidently tell my friend to just wear what they wore yesterday.
But what about girls—
Let alone, this wasn’t even the ordinary world I lived in; it was a dating-sim world. One where girl-on-girl relationships were more accepted.
So that made me ponder even more. Is it “really” common for girls to lend each other their underwear?
Look, even Shin So-hee was narrowing her eyes at Ha Neul. Plus, Shin So-hee had already bought underwear at the convenience store.
“I’m fine with it.”
But if she answered so confidently like that, I had no further arguments.
What can I do when she says it’s fine?
I had to accept that, considering the common sense of this world. Well… I really had no reason to feel uneasy. Anyway, I’d be washing them first.
“Sara, your hair is nice. Do you take care of it every day?”
Take care… I suppose? After getting up in a haze every morning and washing up, Yang Hye-in took care of everything. She seemed to be putting various products in my hair. In the evenings, it was just drying and combing it.
“Probably, yeah. I don’t do it myself.”
“Oh, I see.”
Lee Soo-ah replied, looking a bit flustered. I mean, it’s rare for a wealthy family to keep a dedicated maid to do chores. Plus, Yang Hye-in was young and beautiful. To put someone like that to work… Oh, right, I’ve already heard Yang Hye-in’s salary, great.
Honestly, if the chairwoman were a man, my imagination would have veered off into some odd territory. Well, even being a woman doesn’t stop those thoughts from flooding in… But thankfully, I knew well that the chairwoman rarely came to this mansion. So there wouldn’t be any misunderstanding caused by “that” reason.
“Are you guys not going to wash up?”
When I asked, an awkward silence suddenly fell among the three.
They exchanged glances. Wait, was there no definite order for this?
Swish, swish.
Feeling the gentle sensation of my hair being stroked from behind, I squinted my eyes once more.
“Smells nice. Do you use something special?”
Lee Soo-ah asked as she brushed my hair. I didn’t turn around, worried it would interrupt the brushing.
“Um… I don’t really know the name. I guess I’ll ask the maid tomorrow?”
“Sounds good. I’d like to use the same. Then we’d have the same scent.”
“Uh, is that so…?”
Is this how you casually say you want to use the same shampoo…?
*
“Okay, I’ll wash up first.”
Shin So-hee said as she stood up.
Honestly, I felt uneasy as I stood up. With Yoo Ha-neul, who clearly had feelings for Sara, and Lee Soo-ah, who was pleasantly brushing my hair, stepping into the shower room made me feel a bit guilty.
Even Lee Soo-ah, who I thought showed no major interest, was still brushing Sara’s hair even after turning off the hairdryer. Sara, whether she realized it or not, merely narrowed her eyes like a cat being scratched behind the neck.
But Shin So-hee had seen it. Just earlier, she caught a subtle glimpse of Lee Soo-ah holding the brush involved with Sara’s hair up close. Sara didn’t know what was going on because she hadn’t looked back.
…She was completely relaxed.
However, Lee Soo-ah’s expression while doing that was not as overt as Yoo Ha-neul’s. So that brief moment of bringing Sara’s hair close to her face seemed like she was just genuinely curious about the fragrance.
But we had to consider that while Lee Soo-ah wasn’t as expressive, she was certainly from a wealthy family. Hiding her emotions would be easy for her.
…Though, it was fortunate that both of them didn’t share Shin So-hee’s courage.
Lee Soo-ah might be hiding her emotions, so I can’t know, but Yoo Ha-neul, despite openly showing her affection, didn’t have the guts to confess her feelings to Sara. She was merely engaging in physical contact, doing whatever came to mind.
If there was no certainty about their feelings, there shouldn’t be anything happening while Shin So-hee was in the shower… Hopefully.
Shin So-hee reassured herself. After all, she had to wash up. Eventually, her turn would come after the others were done.
…But still, I should wash up as quickly as I can.
Shin So-hee thought, glancing at Sara, who seemed to be enjoying Lee Soo-ah’s gentle touch.
*
“I’m done washing!”
Huh?
Did she really go in for just a few minutes?
Well, sure, you can wash up quickly if you want. But there’s usually a minimum time needed for that. Getting familiar with what’s in a new shower or adjusting to the water temperature can take time, plus, Shin So-hee’s hair was pretty long. Shampooing that would definitely take some time.
Since Shin So-hee entered the shower, nothing much happened. Lee Soo-ah continued messing with my hair, and Ha Neul watched her with envy. I was so lost in the soothing sensations that I didn’t realize the time passing until Shin So-hee suddenly burst out through the shower door.
“I’m all clean—Huh!”
I reflexively inhaled as I looked at Shin So-hee without thinking.
…To my surprise, she was wearing my shirt.
She was, in fact, “wearing it.”
It was clearly not fitting her properly.
Did she have an incredibly tiny waist or something? The buttons around her waist were barely holding, but the chest area was definitely struggling. The button just beneath her chest was hanging on by a thread, ready to pop off at any moment.
And naturally, she couldn’t button the top at all. It was far more risky than when I usually left a few buttons undone. It was, how should I put this? Squished from each side, making the area even more noticeable… basically, it was eye-catching.
Of course, since their heights were different, the shirt was substantially shorter compared to the male lead’s shirt from the movies. Hence, the underwear underneath was just openly on display.
But at least the underwear she was wearing was conveniently loose since it was from a convenience store.
“…Wouldn’t it be better to wear something down below too?”
No matter how I looked at it, it seemed she wasn’t wearing anything on the top, but I didn’t have the courage to point that out, so I said—
“I usually don’t wear anything down below while sleeping.”
Ah, yeah. There are plenty of guys who just wear boxers to bed.
“……”
In the end, I ran out of arguments and chose the option of just biting my tongue.