One More
"......This feels too good."
"If commuting makes you this happy, something's wrong with you."
"Of course it does. I'm going with you, Shinwoo... You don't feel the same...?"
"I feel good too."
"......Shinwoo."
"Hm?"
"Isn't there anything you want to do? Something you want to have?"
"I always want to do it with you."
"......Ah, th-that, I mean, me too, but... th-that can happen anytime. Anyway, I didn't mean that..."
"That, huh. I wouldn't brush it off so lightly."
"......I-I know. Every day... every time I look at you..."
Rahi let the words trail off, but there was no way I could miss what she meant.
"Even now?"
"......Yes..."
I looked into the eyes she had turned on me, already damp, and slowly drew my hand along her thigh. She clutched my arm in a flustered rush.
"Hah... Sh-Shinwoo..."
"No?"
"......I-if you want to..."
"Don't say it like that. Should I stop?"
"......Please touch me..."
"You were a little unsatisfied, weren't you?"
"......This morning...? Or yesterday...?"
"Both."
"I-it was good, but... definitely... not as good as when you held me..."
"Same for me."
"......I'm sorry... What even is this, all because of my period..."
She grumbled, lightly bumping her forehead against my shoulder. When I kept quietly stroking her thigh, she eased her legs apart as if it were nothing, and I smiled before I could stop myself. This was the good part. She was growing used to my hands, yes, but it was also proof that she was starting not to care who might be watching.
"......Should I... take the pills...?"
"Those work as birth control too, don't they?"
"......Th-the chances of getting pregnant drop a lot..."
"What is it you want?"
"......What...?"
I tipped her chin up, met her eyes, and asked again.
At my words her eyes went soft and unfocused, and she stroked my cheek as she whispered. She seemed to have forgotten we were on a bus.
"......How could I not want it. I... I want to have your baby, Shinwoo..."
"Then we'll have to hold out, won't we?"
"......Yes."
"Medicine can't be good for your body. You'd be forcing your cycle. You said it was regular, right?"
"Yes. That's why I've never taken them..."
"Then don't. Your body comes first."
"Okay..."
Maybe it was the period, but her mood seemed to swing back and forth. Even so, this was getting off lightly. Girls who lost their minds the moment their period hit were hardly rare, and if words could settle her, I could give her as many as she needed.
"Let's just wait a few days. When it's over, I'll hold you. I promise."
"......Okay. I-I'm sorry... for whining..."
"You don't have to apologize. I told you, didn't I? Talk to me whenever you want. It doesn't bother me."
Before I had even finished, Rahi hugged my arm tight, and her chest flattened softly against it. The thud coming from the other side of that softness was loud enough that she might not have needed a run at all.
"Keep that up and your heart really will stop."
"......I'm prepared. If it feels this good, I can't help it."
"No. I'm not about to end up nursing you back to health."
"N-nursing...? It's not that bad..."
"I know."
"Honestly... couldn't you set the mood a little more..."
"How much longer do we have like this?"
"......About twenty minutes."
"Then we've got plenty of time to enjoy ourselves, don't we?"
"......Ah... hnn..."
I stroked her thigh in a slow, easy pass, and Rahi bit her lip, swallowing the sound. I set my bag across our laps, hiding the motion of my hand from the seats around us. It didn't cover the windows, but that had a thrill of its own.
"So what's the gym's situation, exactly?"
"Hah, th-the gym...? Nnh..."
"Yeah. Not a single member?"
"......None. Hah..."
"How is that even possible?"
"......When the old m-master was still there, there were at least a few... nnh... Striking just isn't in fashion anymore..."
"......Is that so."
"It's a pretty niche, mmn, kind of workout... And she, nnh... couldn't make up her mind fast enough, hah..."
"Does this friend of yours know anything about running a business?"
"......No way, hah... she doesn't. She's a dumb— no... mmn... she's an idiot, nnh..."
I knew perfectly well she had been about to say blockhead. A laugh slipped out of me before I could stop it, and while Rahi watched my face for a reaction, I went on caressing the inside of her thighs. I could feel the thick pad through the fabric, but that alone seemed to be enough for her.
"Ahh... Sh-Shinwoo..."
"Sensitive?"
"......Y-yes... s-so, gently..."
"Got it."
I hadn't touched her there all night, and the moment my hand landed she curled in on herself, clamping my hand between her thighs in one tight squeeze. We were on a bus. I couldn't let her get too loud, so I didn't tease her past what she could bear.
"Nnh, hah..."
"So, hypothetically."
"Y-yes, hnn... ahh..."
"If I offered some advice, would it sound arrogant?"
"......N-no... nnh... she'd probably... like it, mmn..."
"You think so?"
"Y-yes... hah... c-consulting, or whatever it was... aahn... she tried to get some and lost about eight thousand dollars... hahk..."
Then she might not believe me at all. If my plan was going to work, this friend of Rahi's needed to trust me at least a little. Well. I'll start by bringing it up.
Just then Rahi, who had begun to tremble in small, broken shudders, grabbed my arm again in a rush and held on. I felt her hand clench around me, watched her climb toward the edge, and kept my fingers moving.
"Hnnngh..."
She hadn't forgotten where we were. She shook, barely holding the moan in, and the sight of it was viciously stimulating. I had been holding back since yesterday myself, and my throat was going dry.
"Ahh, hah, hnn..."
"That one hit pretty hard."
"......Th-the stimulation, hah... it's too strong..."
Rahi lifted her head and glanced around, checking who might be looking. I stroked her thigh again as if nothing were wrong.
"Hah..."
"You were so shy in the alley. The bus is fine?"
"......I don't, mmn, care anymore. As long as I have you... that's all I need."
"......You pass."
"Hah?!"
My hand pressed in again, and Rahi clapped both hands over her mouth, staring up at me in a panic. I held that gaze and started moving my fingers once more.
"Nnh, hah, s-sensitive... I'm sensitive... hah..."
"I know. This much is just right, isn't it?"
"......It's too, too good... nnh, hnn..."
"I bet I know your body better than you do by now."
"Ahh... th-thank you... a-as much as you want... hah..."
She was thanking me, of all things, and for a second I had to swallow. Unfortunate for her, though, this was as far as it could go. The bus was pulling in, and the stop outside was crowded.
"Ah..."
"Too many people. We'll get caught."
"......Okaaay... hah..."
She swallowed, watching me with eyes gone desperate and wanting, and I met that look and murmured.
"Want to commute together every day?"
"......Hah, r-really...?"
"Isn't it hard on you?"
"I-it is... I feel like I'm going to lose my mind, but..."
She swallowed once. The face she turned toward me was still flushed with the afterglow, her eyes hazy and rapt as they held mine.
"Being happy is bigger than that... Someone like me, every single day, like this... You cherishing me every moment... I can feel all of it..."
"Mm. Pretty words today, too. You sure you can't just stay on your period every day?"
"......I don't want that. Absolutely not."
She shook her head fast, and I laughed under my breath and drew her in by the shoulders. People boarding the bus stared at us with wide eyes, but neither of us paid them any mind. We simply closed our eyes and stayed there, sharing the warmth of each other.
"......What's with this building?"
"I-is something wrong...?"
We had gotten off and arrived, before I quite noticed, at the gym Rahi worked at, but I had stopped dead and was staring at the building in a daze.
"......No. It's too nice. This place is practically new."
"The old master always dreamed of putting up her own building. She sank everything she had into this. So Yewon inherited it, but..."
"......She inherited the loan along with it, I bet."
"Yes. Once the taxes were paid it only got worse... So she has to keep this place alive somehow, or she doesn't get to live either."
It was a three-story commercial building. Not tall, but long, and it fronted the road, which meant the price couldn't have been ordinary. A for-lease banner hung on the third floor, but a market had already taken the first, and behind the building I could see a good number of apartment blocks. Across the street there was even an elementary school. In this world, a private school nearby was as good as saying the neighborhood was well-off.
"When you said it was run-down, I pictured something about to fall over."
"......You'll understand once you go in..."
"......Don't tell me. It's not, is it?"
We climbed to the second floor, and the moment I turned to Rahi in front of the glass door, she looked away.
"Now I see where you picked it up."
"......I-it's that kind of place..."
"Right. Of course it is."
She scratched her head, and when I laughed she opened the glass door as if embarrassed and slipped inside. I followed her in, and the smile left my face at once.
"......Is this a gym from the eighties?"
"......That's why I told you."
"Why didn't they replace the equipment?"
"She really did pour everything into the building. You can think of her as house-poor..."
"......It'd cost more to haul this stuff out than it's worth."
"Probably..."
I remembered there hadn't been a sign outside. I had taken that to mean they couldn't even afford one, but the interior was worse than I'd expected. Even I, who knew nothing about working out, could tell the machines were ancient. The square ring in the center looked like it had walked out of a Hollywood boxing movie from decades ago. Still, even a beginner could see the equipment had been carefully maintained.
No. Maybe this is better. A sleek, clean modern gym had its own appeal, but if you insisted on calling this vintage, it wasn't entirely bad. That was when someone poked her head out from one side of the front desk, smiled brightly, and waved. A mask hid her face, but the bright crinkle of her eyes was enough to guess at her looks.
"Oh, you're here? Hello. I've heard so much about you. Just a second."
A high voice, though it didn't come off as shrill. There was a little nasality in it, and it was pleasant to hear. The moment she finished speaking, her head ducked back around the corner, and something wet began to slosh. I knew that sound. She was wringing out a mop. Starting the morning with cleaning suggested a diligent sort of person. Looking only at the gym, though, the situation wasn't good. Twenty-four-hour gyms were everywhere these days.
The people who train in the morning before work are going to be hard to catch.
"Shinwoo. Would you like a cup of tea?"
"Ah. Sure."
"Yewon. We'll be in the office."
"Oh, okay! I'll be right there."
I followed Rahi through a door that looked like it led to an office, and the furniture inside, the sofa and the desk, was just as old. Photos, trophies, plaques, and medals decorated the wall, enough to give a sense of the late master's skill.
"She says she still can't bring herself to take them down."
"......Well. It hasn't been that long since she passed, has it?"
"Ah. It's not that she can't let go of her mother or anything like that. She says the wall would look empty."
"Ah. Right..."
She could say that, but there was no way a person stayed fine after losing her only family. Maybe she had put it that way so Rahi, her friend, wouldn't worry. She seemed diligent, and considerate too. Rahi brought tea from one side of the room and set it on the table, and I sat in front of it, quietly lost in thought.