Seo Eunchae

"Ah. Must've been the underwear. It was a little uncomfortable."

"R-right... What do you like, Shinwoo?"

"Underwear?"

"...Y-yes..."

"These days I mostly wear boxer briefs. You got a preference?"

"...B-briefs. The triangle kind..."

"The ones that cling skin-tight?"

"...Yes..."

"Look at you, just coming out with it."

I let a short laugh slip at the embarrassment coloring Go Yewon's face, then leaned in and murmured.

"Want me to wear them next time?"

"...Really...?"

"Then will you wear whatever I ask you to, too?"

"Wh-what kind...?"

"I've got something in mind. Your size is about a 34C, right?"

Yewon's eyes went round at that, and she gave a small, quiet nod. Let's see—what to put her in. An open-crotch set or some barely-there lingerie would be nice, but somehow a bunny-girl outfit felt like it would suit her better. She'd said she liked rabbits, after all.

"H-how did you know?"

"Touch them and you get a rough idea."

"...That's amazing. You're the first man I've ever met who knows a woman's underwear size."

"Aren't I the first man, period?"

"...Th-that too, but still."

I liked lingering over talk like this, but we really did need to hurry. I stroked Yewon's hair and kept my voice low.

"If you'd rather Changsu or Rahee see you like this, you're ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠welcome to stay just as you are."

"I-I'll get up. I still have the dishes..."

"I'll do them. Go change."

"No! I'll do it..."

"Go on. I'm not an idiot."

"...I'll hurry back down."

"Okay."

She dawdled as if she hated leaving my arms, then tried to stand and her legs gave out beneath her. She grabbed the back of the sofa, and I caught her at once.

"Easy. You'll fall like that."

"...Okay. I-I'm embarrassed..."

"Funny. You weren't this shy when you were moaning like it felt that good."

"...Because it did feel good... And... th-thank you..."

"Hm?"

"...For... touching me..."

She whispered it while dodging my eyes, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠all shy—but Yewon didn't actually hide much from me. In that, she was a lot like Rahee. Rahee with the stubborn streak taken out, maybe. She got embarrassed, she got flustered, and I understood that well enough.

"I'll do it again next time. If you keep being this sweet."

"...Okay..."

At my words her eyes shone, damp, as if I'd moved her, and then she left the office. I watched her go—the pink leggings darkened and soaked between her thighs—and sorted through my own thoughts.

With a little more time, I could have sent her over using nothing but the Heat Haze.

But Yewon had been struggling hard. I could still see that desperate look, right at the threshold of climax and unable to quite get there. I glanced down at my hand. The wetness was already starting to dry, though the warmth lingering from my fingertips wasn't unpleasant.

...I think I've worked out everything that comes to mind right now.

I rubbed my hands together, got up from the sofa, and headed for the break room they were using as a kitchen. I was working through the piled-up breakfast and lunch dishes when Yewon appeared beside me, watching the way a cat watches the person who feeds it. This time the leggings were a forsythia lemon-yellow. Fair skin like hers—anything looked good on her.

"Got time?"

"...Not really. I just don't want to go."

"Keep showing it like that and the other members will notice."

"...It's the break room..."

"What we did in the middle of yoga yesterday was already a little risky."

"I'll be careful..."

"It's not that I didn't like it, so don't get the wrong idea."

"Okay."

We were passing the time like that when my phone rang. I checked the screen. Rahee.

"Looks like she's here. You feeling all right?"

"Yes. Much better than earlier. I'm fine now."

"If it hurts even a little, you tell me. Understood?"

"Yes... Thank you for worrying..."

"Listen to you. It's not just your body anymore. That's why."

"...Yes..."

I answered at once, Yewon's reply shrinking smaller and smaller.

I hung up, peeled off the rubber gloves, and handed them to Yewon.

"I'll be back, then."

"Okay."

She smiled as if she could finally relax. I headed down through the gym and found Rahee unloading flyers and banners from a truck, and a middle-aged woman who looked like the owner grinned the moment she saw me.

"Aigoo, is this the young man?"

"...Ah, yes. I mean, well..."

"I know, I know. Hello there."

"Yes. Hello."

"A thousand flyers to start, and five banners. Give them a look."

"Yes. One moment."

At her word I unrolled the bundled banners and checked them carefully. Typos and color bleed turned up often enough, and when they did, a shop stopped looking like a real business. Spend the money on promotion only to wreck your image—that wouldn't do. I let the flyers pass. Inspect every last one and I'd get labeled a nightmare customer for sure. A few bad copies were bound to happen.

"They came out clean."

"I checked the flyers. They took ten percent off to account for any misprints. And since you said you know this neighborhood, she even pointed out good spots to put them."

"Aigoo, don't even get me started, young man. That girl is something else."

"Is she?"

"Mm-hm. You should've seen her badgering me for a discount."

"Our Rahee's got a real knack for the practical side of things. I'd love to send more work your way."

"I'll say. A girl like that—this business of yours is going to take off."

"Thank you."

The owner finished unloading the flyers and banners, and I spoke to Rahee with the sound of the truck pulling away behind us.

"Then tomorrow—no. Tomorrow's my day at the café. Day after tomorrow?"

"I can do it alone."

"No. Doing it by yourself would be rough."

"I have to go running anyway. I'll handle it alone tomorrow, and the day after with you, Shinwoo. That should work."

Thinking it over, that did sound better. We already had enough members to stay afloat, but everyone who signed up from here on was pure profit, so I'd wanted it done as fast as possible. Was I rushing?

"Let's do that. No need to be in a hurry."

"Okay. Then I'll carry the flyers."

"Go ahead. You weren't going to let me have them anyway."

"That's right."

Rahee's smile was bright and easy. I huffed a laugh of my own, cradled the banners against my chest, and followed her as she led the way with a stack of flyers in each hand. That was when it happened.

"...Why are you doing the work, hyung?"

A lovely voice. Calm, a woman's voice like jade beads rolling across a silver tray. And I knew it. I turned my head, and there she stood—exactly who I'd thought.

Still pretty, I'll give her that.

Years had passed, and the beauty hadn't. A slender figure, long natural hair falling all the way down her back, so well kept it practically shone. Neatly shaped brows, large eyes, and in them a clear chestnut gaze fixed on me. The cold in that gaze was the flaw, except the cold only made her more strangely compelling. A nose sharp enough to cut a ski slope, a jawline you could cut yourself on—anyone looking would have called her beautiful without a second thought. Those red, full lips added a sheen of sensuality on top of it all. The problem, if there was one, was that the icy look she turned on me hadn't changed in the slightest.

"Oh. Good afternoon. And a good afternoon to you too, Seo Eunchae."

"...Yes. It's been a while since I heard you say that."

"Of course it has. Even kindergarteners know you greet someone when you see them. Everyone except you."

"...Who is this?"

Rahee, who'd been ahead of us, stepped between Eunchae and me as if on guard. Probably because of what had happened with Song Gayeong. In that instant Eunchae's gaze shifted to Rahee, and she smiled softly. The frozen air changed all at once, like a spring breeze coming through, and she dipped her head.

"Hello. I heard from Senior Changsu that you were looking for a coach, so I came."

"Ah, so you're the one who was coming today. Welcome. Shall we head up first?"

"Yes."

And then, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, she snatched the banners straight out of my arms. Her hands came over my stomach and up across my shoulders so matter-of-factly that even I couldn't react in time. I flinched. So Changsu hadn't been exaggerating.

"...The building's nice. It's clean—not like what Senior Changsu said."

"Go inside and judge for yourself."

I watched Eunchae fall in behind Rahee, let out a dry laugh, and followed. Mid-twenties, maybe—that was why she hadn't changed at all. If anything, she felt like a plum blossom only now in full bloom. The figure was the same, too. Jeans that fit like a second skin showed off those clean lines of leg, and a backside on the smaller side, which only made the pretty curve of it better to look at, swaying softly with every step.

"I heard your doctoral thesis passed."

"Yes. Thanks to you, hyung."

"Thanks to me, my ass. Seriously, congratulations. So you're going the professor route?"

"No. There are hardly any openings these days. Even when a spot does open, people who studied abroad seem to get it. I'm thinking about a research institute."

"That should be fine. You've bought yourself some time—not interested in studying abroad?"

"No. I'm done studying."

"I get it. So how long can you do this?"

I'd tossed the question out casually, but Eunchae answered at once.

"I'm planning to do nothing but rest for at least a year. I might just take next year off, too."

"You've earned the exhaustion. What about the military?"

"I'm considering a defense contractor, but it's too long."

"Three years, wasn't it?"

"Yes. You still know the strangest little things."

"Still, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the pay's decent and you'd build a record. Not a bad option. Think it over."

"Yes."

Seo Eunchae glanced back at me, then went on quietly.

"...Why don't you come to the club meetups, hyung?"

"An unemployed guy whose company went under shows up, and all he does is kill the mood."

"...Who would say something like that?"

"Oh, so now that you've got a little seniority, you're grilling the kids?"

"I'm not."

"I get it. It's natural. One senior a few years ahead betrayed them—to the others, Changsu and I are bound to look about the same."

"...We don't think that. Do we still look like children to you?"

"To a fossil, all of you are fresh little rookies."

Eunchae, about to answer, closed her mouth and kept walking. It was the obvious thing. The rumor would have spread the same day, and I hadn't wanted to drag down the spirits of kids just stepping into the job market. If anything, it was surprising the club meetups were still going at all.

"Did that bother you, by any chance?"

"Being called a fossil? Well, it wasn't wrong."

"Then why did you take two years off?"

"...Don't ask. I might cry."

Who knew that beret, soaked ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠through with my blood, sweat, and tears, would turn into wasted time. The fact that those years had amounted to nothing but a leave of absence dragged my voice down on its own. At the gloom in it, Seo Eunchae's eyes went round, startled, and she changed the subject. Not bad. Act miserable and she pivots for you. From now on, those two hollow years were getting this treatment.

"...It might have been better if you'd just come to the meetups, hyung. I wondered if you were trying to cut ties."

"...What, was I supposed to make confession and grovel on my knees in their place? You that eager to torment an unemployed man?"

"Th-that's not what I meant."

"There must have been some who wanted exactly that."

"There weren't. I'm sure of that. If anything, the only ones were people worried about you and Senior Changsu."

"Then I'm grateful."

Rahee, already inside the gym, held the door so Eunchae and I could come in easily. Eunchae gave a small bow, stepped inside, looked around, and spoke.

"Where should I put these?"

"Behind the counter, please. We're putting them up first thing tomorrow."

"Yes."

Rahee, glancing around the place, met my eyes. I gave her a small nod and answered before she could ask.

"I'll take her to the office. You were going to fetch the director, right?"

"Yes. Then I'll leave her with you for a bit."

"Sure."

I watched Rahee step back outside, then turned to Seo Eunchae. She had set the banners down behind the counter and was looking the gym over.