Time River (5)

Hwayeon’s explanation went on.

“If you were an E-Class instead of an F-Class, it would be a much uglier story. For an E-Class to raise their power with Phase Stones, you need stones from high-grade aberrants. Even the cheapest high-rank aberrant Phase Stone runs twenty-five billion won. Factor in the real distribution margin and it’s over forty billion, and the most expensive go for three hundred billion—closer to five hundred billion once the margin is included.”

“You’re saying it doesn’t pay?”

“Exactly. Spending hundreds of billions and a ridiculous amount of time to increase your Phase Power is worse than commissioning a large expedition, paying a reasonable fee, hunting aberrants, and absorbing the Phase Power that spills out afterward. The savings crush what you’d spend burning a stone worth hundreds of billions.”

The numbers had climbed from the hundreds of billions toward the trillions, but they felt so unreal that they didn’t hit very hard.

“Wouldn’t Phase Stones be safer, though?”

“If safety is what you want, you’d be better off cutting ties with the Phase World entirely. And if you absorb Phase Power from a stone, you have to account for the loss.”

“The loss?”

“To draw the Phase Power out of a Phase Stone, you strip the seal and then have to keep it in constant skin contact. Even then you only absorb about fifty-five percent of its capacity. Break that contact, and it drops as low as twenty percent. Out of three hundred thousand, in other words, you only get a hundred and seventy thousand.”

Strange. When I’d first obtained Franc’s Phase Stone, the absorption ratio had been one to one. What made the difference so huge?

A question I’d picked up while browsing the public skill shop came back to me, and I put it to Hwayeon.

“I’ve been wondering. What is TP? Looking through the skill shop, I kept seeing Phase Power and the letters TP. Phase Power I understand. TP?”

“Phase Power is the total amount of force you can bring to bear. And the numerical value of Phase Power is TP. Think of TP as the resource you spend to use an ability.”

“A resource?”

I tilted my head, not quite following, and my sister offered a hint from beside me.

“If you think of it like a game, TP is your magic points. Your mana. Spending it doesn’t touch your total Phase Power, and given time it recovers on its own.”

“Oh, I get it. Phase Power is both the upper limit of your TP and the experience you need to level up. So what’s inside a Phase Stone isn’t TP—it’s Phase Power?”

Hwayeon looked a little deflated and muttered under her breath that a game analogy and he got it at once.

“Right. Anyway, the Phase Power you can absorb from a Phase Stone is only 0.0002 percent of its total per hour. Drawing down a stone that’s completely full takes about 2,080 days, and with losses piled on a wait like that, nobody who isn’t a very low class bothers absorbing Phase Power from stones.”

“2,080 days… that’s over five years.”

“Hwayeon, hold on a second.”

Siha cut in and turned to her.

“When does the contract money come in?”

“If it’s five billion, it’ll be deposited tomorrow.”

“And the five hundred billion in seven months?”

“It’ll be deposited after the contract is renewed, seven months from now.”

“Hmm… can you only absorb one Phase Stone at a time?”

“If you’re carrying them on your body, the number doesn’t matter.”

“Then why not just keep several on him? A high-grade Phase Stone absorbs anywhere from 0.05 to 0.6 an hour at the low end, so if he carried a lot of them… set the average at 0.3 and hold only a hundred, and he’d take in thirty an hour. That’s 833 hours. Thirty-four days, and he could reach D-Class. Seoha’s talent is exceptional. Wouldn’t it be better to push him to D-Class first?”

At Siha’s suggestion, realization broke across Hwayeon’s face, and she looked from me to my sister and back again.

If I grew to D-Class, my Phase Power would rise, and if it rose I could spread the Mana Sieve more thickly through my whole body. A wider area of contact with Franc would be nice, sure. But they’d skipped the most important part.

“We don’t have the money, though. How are we supposed to buy three hundred of them?”

“No. I have the money, so that isn’t a problem. Seoha, what’s your Phase Power right now?”

“Huh? Around 3,700.”

“I see. Then another 21,300 and you’re D-Class. If I can get my hands on as many used high-grade Phase Stones as possible… I think I can manage it.”

21,300 Phase Power… 21.3 billion won. Factor in an eighty percent distribution margin and that was 37.8 billion?!

“Noona Hwayeon, you’re ridiculously rich! I think I just started liking you!”

“Oh, for— You really—!”

Hearing that shout, my sister pinched my cheek hard.

“You mercenary little brat!”

“Ow! Can’t you tell a joke from the truth?!”

“Some things you joke about and some you don’t! Just now your face was seventy percent serious!”

“Gyaaah!”

I was paying the price for fanning her temper with a careless remark when Hwayeon let out a soft snort of laughter.

“Anyway, Siha thought of something good. This method only works up through E-Class, but it’s exactly what Seoha needs more than anyone.”

“Mm. From D-Class on you’d need Phase Stones from peak-rank aberrants, and those aren’t on the market. The state manages all of them as strategic matériel.”

Hwayeon paused, looked at Siha, and nodded.

“I’ll gather Phase Stones as fast as I can. If they aren’t new—just remnants with barely any Phase Power left—they’ll be relatively easy to collect. Whatever’s left over, I can resell.”

“Even after you get a hundred of them, there’ll be a problem. To keep every one of them in constant skin contact, would he have to wear clothes with the stones set into them? That sounds miserable.”

Siha’s fine brows drew together, as if she were already imagining how the thing would feel. I pictured myself rolling around in the same outfit, and my lower back ached in sympathy for no reason at all.

Listening to the two of them, a question I’d been holding only faintly finally came clear. Franc’s Soul Stone had been over 3,850,000 when I first got it, which was why my Phase Power had been climbing by seventy-seven an hour. No wonder it had shot up without a hitch.

“Oh, but if someone’s aptitude is A+, is it certain they’ll grow all the way to A-Class?”

“You can treat it as certain. Historically, twelve ability users have appeared with A+ aptitude, and every one of them reached A-Class. But don’t get arrogant. That’s only how the odds have gone so far. It doesn’t mean it’s guaranteed.”

“Uh, yeah.”

“Because up through B-Class, growth is certain so long as you gather enough Phase Power. A-Class isn’t a stage you can reach just by accumulating it.”

“It isn’t?”

“Everyone ranked from seventh to twentieth in the world has stacked Phase Power all the way ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to the B-Class ceiling of 39,999,999. But as if some wall were blocking them, they can’t advance to A-Class. They’re stalled.”

“Huh… All right. I won’t get cocky. I’ll work hard.”

Hwayeon seemed pleased with that answer. Her eyes curved like crescent moons, and she smiled gently.

“So, Noona, what’s your aptitude?”

“I’m B+.”

“Hmm. Then there’s a chance you could become A-Class too?”

“A chance, nothing more. I consider my limit to be B-Class. Even reaching the upper bound of B-Class Phase Power is, in practice, a matter of luck, and I don’t know what my own ceiling is.”

“Ah…”

An A aptitude meant a Phase Power cap of at least 39,999,999. B+ meant a high chance of clearing that same number.

“There are quite a lot of ability users with B+ aptitude in the world. A rough guess would put them past a hundred thousand. Even A is over seven thousand. Anyway, my aptitude is on the common side.”

“Hmm. I see.”

“For reference, there’s only one A+ right now.”

One A+. Did that mean I was the only one? Judging by the way she was smiling, it seemed so.

“Noona. Is the gap between A-Class and B-Class that big?”

“Information on A-Class is treated as top secret by every country, so I don’t know much. I’ve looked into it, and every attempt failed. Mother told me not to take an interest. Based on experience so far, the best guess is that some kind of special ability appears. That’s all.”

“Hmm. Then I guess I’ll just have to reach A-Class myself and satisfy your curiosity.”

“Hmph. I’ll look forward to it.”

“Do. I’ll drag you up to A-Class with me!”

When I declared it with full confidence, Hwayeon stroked my head with the same gentle eyes as my sister.

Siha watched with a pleased look, and when she decided the conversation was finished she stood.

“If we’re done talking, we should get going too. It’s late.”

Oh. I’d almost forgotten.

“Anyway, Noona Hwayeon. There’s something I want to test on my own with the Mana Sieve, so like I said earlier, just get me one Phase Stone. The cheapest kind.”

“What grade?”

“Anything’s fine.”

Hwayeon looked curious about what I meant to do with the Mana Sieve, but she seemed to decide I’d tell her later and didn’t ask.

“Then come back to the Time River Building tomorrow. I couldn’t show you elemental and recovery abilities today, because of Madam.”

“Got it. I’ll come straight over after school.”

“Thanks, Hwayeon.”

“I’m the one who should be thanking you. When I think about you introducing Seoha to me, I feel like I ought to bow at your feet.”

“You’re exaggerating.”

My sister waved her off, protesting that it was too much, and Hwayeon laughed, tangling her fingers with Siha’s in a playful knot. Watching that, I wanted in on it, so I teased Hwayeon.

“If you do, you have to call me. I want photos and video of Noona Hwayeon bowing.”

“What?”

“Pfft. Hehehe. All right. When Hwayeon’s ready to bow, I’ll call you!”

“Huh?! Y-you’re actually going to film it…?”

When Franc, the two of them, and I left the Redcon Hotel, the night was deep. Eight o’clock? We’d arrived around six, spent an hour eating with Madam, and another hour talking…

“We didn’t say anything about being late. Mom’s going to worry.”

“I texted Mom earlier, from the sky lounge.”

“Oh, that’s my sister. Not a gap in her anywhere.”

I’d been so spun around by Madam I couldn’t think straight, and she’d been composed enough to message Mom.

“You’re just too sloppy about everything.”

“I am not. I’m normal, okay?”

“Siha’s car is at the building, so shall we head back together for now?”

Hwayeon led the way into the private taxi waiting in front of the hotel, and my sister and I followed, still bickering.

“Welcome. Where shall I take you?”

“The Time River Building, please.”

Hwayeon on the inside, me in the middle, my sister on the left.

She could have just sat up front. Cramming into the back like this. The taxi was big enough that the rear seat wasn’t truly tight, but still.

I was looking around the lavish interior when the scenery outside began to slide past. A hotel counted among the finest in the country, so even the waiting taxis were high-end…

Oh. That was the Redcon Hotel emblem. A limousine taxi run by the hotel itself. For receiving distinguished guests, probably.

Hwayeon patted my knee and murmured.

“Sitting like this, I somehow keep thinking of ten years ago.”

“Me too. Whenever we went anywhere, the three of us always moved together, didn’t we? Seoha always sat right between us.”

Ten years ago…? Ugh. My head was throbbing again.

Their conversation felt like needles pricking the back of my skull. I frowned and rubbed my nape, and my sister turned to me, her brows drawing softly together.

“What’s wrong? Does something hurt?”

“No. Being with Noona Hwayeon, old things I forgot keep almost coming back. But every time they do, I can’t quite remember, and my head hurts a little.”

I said it while she pressed a hand to my forehead, and through the thigh pressed against mine I felt Hwayeon flinch again.

“Noona Hwayeon’s been flinching this whole time. Are you hiding something from me?”

“Wh—wha?! N-no. What would I have to hide from you?”

There was someone in this car even worse at lying than I was.

My sister looked back and forth between us, then seemed to remember something and quietly turned her head away. Hwayeon’s face had gone red enough that the panic was obvious at a glance.

“Your face is red. That settles it—you’re not hiding nothing! What are you hiding?”

Hwayeon said nothing.

As if exercising her right to remain silent, she clamped her mouth shut and turned toward the window.

“…Noona. You know something, don’t you?”

My sister stayed silent too.

Getting no answer, and not even a turned head, soured my mood. I straightened a finger and jabbed her in the side.

“Kya?!”

I sat the half-leaping sister back down and started tickling her ribs.

“Haaah! Stop, stop! Don’t—!”

“Confess! I said confess!”

I caught the arm she raised to block me and kept tickling, and she twisted her whole body, legs flailing.

“Ahahaha, kya! That tickles! Seoha, stop! Ahihit!”

“I said I’ll stop if you talk.”

“Hwayeon! Help me! Kyaaa~!”

Hwayeon had been watching my tormented sister with an envious look. At the cry for help she made a strange face that said what else can I do? and reached out.

Oh. Was she using her strength? The closer her hand came, the faster the vortex of Phase Power inside her spun, and I felt the danger.

“Come here.”

“Urk.”

I tried to endure by raising my physical ability with the Mana Sieve, but I was no match for Hwayeon’s strength. She wrapped both arms around me and sat me on her lap, then tangled both legs around mine and locked them in place.

Unable to move, back against her chest, I felt the plush weight of her breasts along my spine and the soft give of her thighs under my hips, and my face caught fire.

Uheh… breasts… thighs… Ack. This was not the time to be enjoying it!

“Noona Hwayeon, what are you doing!”

Flustered, I thrashed and looked at Franc’s face in the front seat—and contrary to expectation, she was smiling.

“Don’t pick on Siha for no reason. Sit still.”

When I squirmed, Hwayeon only tightened her hold. The sensation against my back grew even more indecent. Ngh. The Neo Armstrong Cannon felt ready to elevate its barrel any second.

On top of that, sitting on a woman’s lap stung my pride a little. I huffed, grabbed her slender wrist, and strained to pry it loose.

Grr. It wouldn’t budge!

“That’s because you two are hiding something from me! From the look of it it’s a memory from when I was little, so why does my head hurt when I try to remember?! You did something to me, didn’t you?!”

Hwayeon listened, then buried her face in my shoulder and went silent. My sister, wearing the expression of someone who had just survived, pulled a pink handkerchief from her handbag and dabbed at the tears that had spilled.

“Honestly. The kid’s gotten so strong I can’t even stop him.”

“Don’t ignore me! I can see how red Noona Hwayeon’s face is! What happened to make you react like that?!”

When I spat the words out in a sulk, Hwayeon flinched again. Pressed together like this, the flinch came through in raw detail.

“Hwayeon, is it all right to tell him?”

“No! You mustn’t!”

“Oh, come on.”

“Oho. So Noona definitely knows something? Just wait till we get home. I’ll tickle you until you talk. If you don’t, don’t expect to sleep tonight.”

“Urk…”

“Khh…”

At my declaration of revenge, both of them looked troubled and flustered. So just confess already!

“…Hwayeon. Can I sleep over at your place tonight?”

“Yes. Do that.”

“You think I’ll forget just because of that? If you’re never coming home again, be my guest! Just know the tickle-hell gets worse for every day that passes!”

“Aish. When he digs in like that, he lasts…”

My sister didn’t know what to do with herself. Hwayeon, face still buried in my shoulder, sighed, and the place where her cheek touched me went past warm into burning.

Then, as if she’d decided to speak, she lifted her head and glared at the back of my skull with a resentful face. That face was extremely red.

“This is all your fault, Seoha.”

“Huh?”

She ground her chin into my shoulder, and it hurt—badly. This wasn’t some cute nuzzle. It felt like she was drilling a hole.

Gyaah!

“You were the one who caused it in the first place! Because of that, it went wrong, and your memory…!”

I’d ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠lost my memory because of something I did? Why? Because of what? Was that why my head hurt whenever I tried to remember? Amnesia, the kind that only happens to protagonists in novels?

Franc’s eyes went round at Hwayeon’s words, and she looked at me as if to ask whether it was true. Stare all you want. I still didn’t remember.

“We’ve arrived, guests.”

While we were making a scene, the taxi had pulled up in front of a building with lights scattered here and there. Hwayeon loosened her arms, and I climbed out with my sister, feeling oddly regretful.

Joy at being freed and sorrow at being freed, existing together. What a contradiction. I was getting sentimental.

“What did I even do? If it feels like something from when I was little, it was probably before I turned ten. What happened back then?”

I asked Hwayeon after we got out of the limousine. She blushed and turned away from me. Siha started to sigh, caught my gaze, swallowed, and coughed.

“Too bad.”

My sister flinched.

“Get a detection ability and the kid’s instincts only get sharper… Hwayeon, what are you going to do? If he digs in like that, I really can’t hold out.”

“Ugh. …Just follow me for now.”

Hwayeon covered her reddened face with one hand, sighed as if she couldn’t stand it, and went into the building. My sister glared at me and followed.

I looked up at the darkened Time River Building. Almost everyone had gone home; fewer than forty people remained.

Maybe because I’d be coming here often from now on, the glass throwing back countless lights looked strangely beautiful.

I’d been staring up at the building when I saw my sister beckoning from the front entrance, as if to say hurry up, and I started walking.

I followed them into the elevator and got off with them on the twentieth floor. On one wall of a cramped space smaller than a single pyeong, a heavy door of special material carried several kinds of locks.

They’d said the twentieth floor was Hwayeon’s living space. It looked as if they’d left only a narrow entrance and made the rest one solid piece.

Hwayeon opened the electronic lock and went in, and I followed into an interior that opened wide. Aside from the pillars holding up the floor, the entire story was a single room.

A room of nearly 350 pyeong—some twelve thousand square feet. Impressive, in more ways than one.

“You live here alone, Noona?”

“Yes.”

I examined the twentieth floor’s layout with Spatial Perception, and everything that ought to be there was there: bathroom, dressing room, shower, bath, bed, a work desk, bookshelves, exercise equipment, all kinds of appliances.

I’d thought the whole floor was one room, but beyond the right-hand wall, in order, were a storage room, a cleaning closet, a dressing room, a bath, a shower, and a toilet, while along the windows the furniture of daily life occupied one corner atop a large carpet.

Everything else was empty enough to feel bleak. If someone told me to live alone in a place like this, I didn’t think I could.

Franc didn’t seem able to settle here either. She quietly climbed onto my back.

I went to the window and looked out. Yeouido Park and the Saetgang Ecological Park lay below, and beyond them the cityscapes of Yeongdeungpo and Gwangmyeong. The view, I decided, was good.

Ah. I could see that from here too. A hundred-story building that would have suited a huge red eye mounted on its roof.

While I was looking around the twentieth floor, the two of them went into the dressing room and started undressing. So my sister meant to sleep here tonight.

I watched the two beauties strip down to their underwear for a moment, then finished circling the room.

On a custom-made wool carpet of about twenty pyeong—top grade, large enough for a generous living room—sat an absurdly huge bed that could have held five people, a reception sofa and table set, a solid-wood desk for official work with a luxurious executive chair, and off to one side a clothes rack and a large refrigerator.

Then I noticed something pale under the bed and picked it up to see what it was.

…Th-these were panties? If they were here, they were Noona Hwayeon’s…

I swallowed and spread them out. From the place that would have touched her, a strangely pleasant scent rose.

Uwaah! I-I’d forgotten about Franc!

“Ah, no, I just wondered what it was!”

I hastily crumpled the pale sky-blue panties and tossed them back where they’d been, but Franc’s sulky expression didn’t ease. Ngh. I’d just lost points with her.

On the living-room cabinet against the wall sat a frame holding a small photo, along with a few potted plants, and above them a hundred-inch flat-screen television took up one wall.

The several small frames held many people, but among them there were a lot of pictures taken with my sister, and pictures of my sister herself.

Aside from the carpet, exercise machines stood scattered through the rest of the space, and beyond that it was bare—until Spatial Perception picked up countless faintly impressed footprints in one corner.

Judging by the size, they were Hwayeon’s.

When I walked over to them, Spatial Perception began marking her footprints for me. Eighty-four of them, left and right in pairs. From the first print to the last, about thirty meters.

“Yeah. Noona Hwayeon’s footprints are stamped here. What is this?”

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Franc studied the marble floor I’d indicated, but to her it seemed to be nothing but a flat floor.

“Spatial Perception is detecting the traces and showing them to me. Similar strides keep connecting at regular intervals.”

I said nothing, and tried following the footprints.

My body lurched this way and that. I couldn’t even manage six steps before my legs tangled and I flopped over.

Ngh. Embarrassing myself in front of Franc!

“I-is this even a proper way of walking? I can’t follow it at all.”

“Mmm. In martial-arts novels you just look at footprints and copy footwork and movement techniques like it’s nothing… Turns out that was pure nonsense.”

I sat there grumbling, and Franc looked down from the air, smiling as if I were cute. She was so pretty that I quietly focused the Mana Sieve into my hand and stroked her cheek. Franc gently caught my blue-glowing hand and smiled back.

“Seohaaa~!”

She’d gone into the dressing room—when had she gotten into the bath? My sister opened the door a crack, stark naked, and stuck only her face out to yell at me.

“There’s a shower in the room next door, so wash there for now! We’re going to bathe and then come out!”

“Got it!”

I quietly sensed inside the bath with Spatial Perception. There was Hwayeon, legs stretched out in a grand marble tub, submerged to her shoulders.

Her face, flushed from the heat of the water, was truly bewitching.

Women take a long time to bathe, so I decided to move a little more before washing. I took off my school blazer and tie, tossed them aside, and slowly tried walking Hwayeon’s footprints again.

“Wah—whoa!”

Just as Franc had said, you apparently had to move the lower and upper body in prescribed postures. Moving only my legs along the carved prints made me stagger this way and that, and I simply couldn’t walk the whole length.

“Fine!”

If slow didn’t work, I’d try fast!

Pat-pat-pat—thud!

“Kgh!”

I broke into a run, but on the seventeenth step my ankle folded. I spun in a gorgeous circle and went down flat.

“…You laughed, didn’t you?!”

“Liar! I saw you go pfft! Your face is still twitching!”

“Now that I have Spatial Perception, I can see you by sensing you, too!”

“Heheh. This morning I even saw you rolling around on the bed because you were embarrassed.”

I said it with a sleazy grin, and Franc let out an adorable shriek and flailed. Truly mortified, she covered her face with both hands and wrung her body, then flew over in a rush and clung to my back.

“Even if you flee out of my line of sight, I can still see your lips moving and your chest bouncing.”

Franc looked ready to cry and covered her breasts and her sex with both hands—but as if those small, cute hands could hide a goddess-class chest.

“Yep. I’m a pervert. But you pretend to cover your eyes and watch everything when I shower and wash, too. Oh my. So Franc was a pervert as well?”

Unable to bear the shame, Franc made a tearful face, clenched a fist, and patted my back. I was fooling around with her like that when the two of them, washed in a flash, found me sitting on the floor and asked what I was doing.

“I told you to wash. What are you doing?”

“Huh? I can see Noona Hwayeon’s footprints on the floor, so I was trying to follow them for a bit.”

My sister’s face went blank.

“…You can see those?”

At my words she scanned the floor and put a question mark on her expression, while Hwayeon narrowed her eyes slightly and looked at my legs.

“Yeah. What are these footprints, anyway? No matter how I try, I can’t make it to the end.”

“That is a movement art called Sihwa Yuseon, the Flowing Immortal of Temporal Blossoms, which I paid a great deal of money to learn at Dalin Temple in China. It was made for female physical-reinforcement users, so it would be unreasonable for you to learn.”

“Ahh. No wonder I kept falling over.”

I scratched the back of my head and looked up at them. The two of them, skin moist and fair, wore bathrobes and sheep-shaped slippers, their hair wrapped in towels.

Through the robes I could tell they weren’t wearing anything underneath. Hwayeon especially—without the bra that had been compressing and covering her chest, the majesty pushing out the robe was enough to drag a sigh of admiration out of me before I knew it.

…Women hazardous to a man’s health.

I stood and dusted off my backside.

“It hasn’t even been thirty minutes since you went in, and you’re already done? I thought bathing would take forever.”

“We washed simply. You go wash quickly too.”

“Even if I wash, I don’t have underwear to change into.”

“Follow me. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I’ll give you underwear and a change of clothes.”

I followed Hwayeon toward the dressing room and asked, half suspecting.

“You’re not going to give me women’s underwear, are you…?”

“Hmph. Do you want to wear it?”

“No!”

“If you want to, just say so anytime.”

Hwayeon snorted and smiled in circles. She was teasing me, right? Then I had to hit back.

“If I say so, will you give me ones you’ve worn?”

“What?! What is this idiot thinking…!”

What!

“Who’s an idiot! You said to tell you anytime! I heard you don’t even like men, so it was weird that there’d be men’s underwear in your room, that’s all!”

Siha, following behind, heard that and asked in surprise.

“Hwayeon, did you get a boyfriend?”

“I do not have a boyfriend! And it isn’t men’s underwear!”

“Kehk. Then you’re really giving me your underwear? No thanks!”

“What are you saying! It’s just unisex sports innerwear!”

Face red, Hwayeon unwound the wet towel from her hair and started smacking me with it.

Whish—thwack! Whiiish—smack!

“Kghak! Noona, wait! The towel’s wet, that actually hurts—gyaah!”

The towel-whip hurt about as much as Mom’s back-smash. I ducked behind my sister in a hurry, and Hwayeon trembled, face scarlet, then dashed into the dressing room, brought back new underwear that hadn’t even been unwrapped, and threw it at me.

“Look! It’s a brief cut, but it’s perfectly fine to wear as men’s underwear!”

So this was the same type she wore? I’d never once seen her in it yet… Auu. That stung.

The places the towel had hit throbbed, and spite rose in me. I smiled lewdly and looked back and forth between the underwear in my hand and the lower line of her belly, and the reaction was immediate.

“Wh-what are you looking at!”

Understanding the meaning of my gaze, Hwayeon blushed to her ears and kicked my backside with a solid thump. Then Siha, too, started indiscriminately delivering the back-smash she’d learned from Mom.

“Don’t do anything weird, and get in there and wash! You little—!”

“Kgh! O-okay. I said okay, so stop hitting me—gyaah!”

I fled their violence into the shower, and from beyond the door I heard them sigh.

Rubbing my kicked backside and listening to their sighs through the closed door, I thought maybe the joke had gone a little too far.

“Tch. It was a joke, and they just hit me however they pleased.”

Franc, who had come into the shower with me, only pouted.