161. Swimsuit Festival (2)
161. Swimsuit Festival (2)
Swoooosh—
The moment I stepped out of the car, a bracingly cool view greeted me.
A wide-open horizon, the vast expanse of the sea.
The sand sparkled gold under the blazing sun, and the rushing waves broke into white foam.
It had been a very long time since I had seen the sea, so I was staring blankly at the blue ocean.
"Hehe, it's really nice to come out to the sea after so long. What about you, Jin Yu-ha?"
Just then, Shin Se-hee beside me asked with a radiant smile.
My eyes widened in surprise for a moment as I looked at her.
'She'd clearly said she'd be late because of work, that she'd come separately.'
"Ah, work finished a lot earlier than I expected. I got here a little while ago and was waiting for you, you know?"
Shin Se-hee was wearing an elegant white bikini with frills and a wide-brimmed hat that immediately caught my eye.
Under the direct sunlight, the curves of her figure were accentuated with shadows.
'......Whoa.'
Seeing what I'd always only watched on a phone screen in vivid 3D, the destructive power was no joke.
I thought I had gotten somewhat used to her, but I could do nothing but stare at her blankly.
"If you stare at me that hard, even I get embarrassed......"
Shin Se-hee said, blushing slightly.
I snapped back to my senses at her words and replied.
"Ah, s-sorry."
"Hoho, don't be. Jin Yu-ha, you should hurry up and change into your swimsuit too."
"Uh, yeah. Where's the men's locker room?"
Shin Se-hee pointed toward one side.
"It's in that building over there."
"Okay, I'll be right back."
*
That was the moment Jin Yu-ha had gone back into the building to change.
"......."
"......."
"......."
The party members, who had gotten out of the car and finished changing immediately, shot Shin Se-hee icy glares.
"......Flowerbed, you pulled a dirty trick."
"Oh my, why such harsh words?"
Shin Se-hee covered her mouth with one hand in mock surprise, replying to Kang Do-hee.
Shin Se-hee, who had set off alone under the pretense of having personal business on the festival day.
She had claimed she would be late, yet Shin Se-hee had arrived before anyone else, and in her full swimsuit at that.
There was no one here who didn't catch on to what she was thinking.
She intended to show off her swimsuit first and monopolize the attention while everyone else was changing.
After all, if they were all together, she'd likely blend in.
An uncomfortable silence fell between Shin Se-hee and the party members, and sparks flew from their exchanged glances.
It was Shin Se-hee who broke the silence.
"Well, really, this is just a light little joke."
She said with a shrug.
"Let me be frank, everyone. I have no intention of sharing Jin Yu-ha with any of you today, okay?"
"......What?!"
It was Lee Yu-ri who retorted.
The day before, upon hearing they were going to the beach, she had hurriedly bought a swimsuit. She was wearing a plain navy one-piece swimsuit from the Baekhwa store.
"The main event, the Haeundae Festival, starts at 4 p.m. But it's 12 noon now. Once the actual festival begins, we'll all have to move together anyway...... There are still four hours left until then."
"So, Se-hee hoobae, you're saying you want to spend all four hours alone with Yu-ha hoobae?"
Im Ga-eul asked, bristling.
No matter how much she cherished her junior, that was going too far.
Shin Se-hee shook her head.
"No. That wouldn't be right. I plan to monopolize Jin Yu-ha for just one hour. And wouldn't it be nice for the rest of you to take turns spending an hour each with Jin Yu-ha?"
Her proposal was quite attractive.
They could always all mob around together.
But in that time, even if only an hour, you could make memories just the two of you?
Of course, that would leave you with three hours on your own, but that was a price worth paying.
However, there was one flaw in her proposal.
The people present were Shin Se-hee, Kang Do-hee, Lee Yu-ri, Im Ga-eul, and Sofia.
Five in total.
But the time was four hours.
Meaning, if they divided it into one-hour slots, someone would be left out.
"Flowerbed, what are you thinking?"
Kang Do-hee tilted her head and asked.
"Well...... You're right. Excluding one person outright would be too much, even so. So, two people would have to share the one-hour slot. That's why I'm asking those two for their understanding."
"......Two people? Who are they?"
Shin Se-hee slowly turned her head.
"Aren't there two people here who secretly went on an operation with Jin Yu-ha behind our backs?"
At that, Kang Do-hee's and Lee Yu-ri's gazes also turned to one spot.
"......!"
"......!"
Shin Se-hee smiled deeply at their surprised looks.
This had been her aim.
Though everyone had pretended to be convinced by Jin Yu-ha's persuasion, she had caught on to the unspoken resentment toward Im Ga-eul and Sofia for going on that solo mission!
She used that to create a 3-to-2 majority vote scenario.
Additionally, Sofia was a newbie who had only just joined, and Im Ga-eul didn't have a strong personality. She figured they'd be unable to refuse.
"Anyway, neither of you will be entirely left out from spending time with Jin Yu-ha, so you can give in this much, can't you?"
"......Hoobae, so that's how you're playing it."
"Hoho, we haven't said anything about it. Actually, if you had meant to let us know that day, couldn't one of you have contacted us? I heard it was originally a solo operation for Jin Yu-ha and the instructor."
Tremble tremble—
Im Ga-eul trembled at the flawless scheme.
"Please don't think I'm stirring up discord. I am merely pursuing 'fairness,' but you two were the first to start 'competition.' This is rather a way to resolve the party members' dissatisfaction, isn't it?"
Im Ga-eul couldn't say a word in the face of a scheme so carefully crafted from the start.
Honestly, if she thought Jin Yu-ha had taken another party member while leaving her out, she would have been upset too.
But the juniors had strangely kept quiet about it. And now they were using it against her!
A perfect checkmate.
There was nothing to say in rebuttal.
"And Sofia is still a 'newcomer,' so she needs a 'senior' to help her out, too."
Thus, when Shin Se-hee, who had previously kept her personality as subdued as possible within the Utopia Party, began playing politics in earnest,
Sofia and Im Ga-eul had no choice but to be helplessly swept along.
And Lee Yu-ri and Kang Do-hee, who harbored unspoken resentment toward the founding members, had nothing to lose, so they nodded.
Clap—!
"Then, shall we consider it decided?"
"......Fine, we'll let your little scheme slide this time. So, how are we doing the order?"
"Mm, I'll step back here. Kang Do-hee and Lee Yu-ri, you two decide. I'm fine with any time, you know?"
By conceding the final choice and excluding herself, Shin Se-hee put the final stroke on her perfect picture.
'Sofia, I'm sorry, but you're no match for me.'
Her oddly calm expression bothered Shin Se-hee a little, but she nodded anyway.
"Hmm, how do you want to do it?"
"Huh? I can decide?" Lee Yu-ri answered as if it were obvious.
"Yeah, I don't care about the order either."
"Then, I'll go first."
"Is that so? Then I'll go second."
"Yes, then I'm third, right?"
And so everyone's order was set.
Step—
* * *
'......Holy shit, is the men's swimsuit situation for real?'
I, who had headed to the locker room to change, gaped in disbelief.
I hadn't brought a separate swimsuit when coming here.
Because the VIP ticket my Master gave me included the right to pick and wear any of the swimsuits provided here.
So I came trusting only that.......
Blinded by the swimsuit event.
I had momentarily forgotten.
That this was a gender-reversed world.
Honestly, what was the swimsuit event, anyway?
It was an event where the female characters, who normally only ever wore cadet uniforms and training clothes, changed into different outfits, adding a sense of novelty!
And not just any outfit, but swimsuits!
In such a time, who cares about men's swimsuits?
Indeed, maybe the game knew this well, because there was no separate illustration for the male characters' swimsuits and no character implementation at all.
So in battle scenes, you could see the male character awkwardly fighting in his cadet uniform while everyone else fought in swimsuits.
'......Well, it wasn't just the male characters who wore the cadet uniform.'
Anyway, even so, a problem is a problem.
"What the hell is this......?"
I picked up one of the swimsuits hanging on a hanger and frowned.
A swimsuit with a V-shape, secured by strings on both shoulders.
Or else a clingy triangle swimsuit that emphasized the crotch. Or a full-body mesh type.
Truly, the word avant-garde was not wasted on them.
"Huh? This triangle swimsuit...... Is there padding inside? What the hell, damn......"
After rummaging for a while, I finally managed to pull one out.
'This seems like the only somewhat wearable one......'
It was a pair of black square-cut trunks with a luxurious-looking sheen.
But even those were a tight-fitting spandex type.
"......Hmm, and next to it is a cover-up? No need to bother wearing this too."
Rather than wearing something on top, it seemed better to just go out in the square-cut spandex trunks alone.
I changed and came out.
In the distance, I could see the party members dressed in their swimsuits.
Gulp—
My saliva naturally sliding down my throat.
......Honestly, it's no exaggeration to say I came here to see this sight.
The elegant Shin Se-hee in a pure white swimsuit,
Kang Do-hee in a bright red bikini and sunglasses,
Im Ga-eul, whose swimsuit seemed ordinary but had become risqué due to her large chest,
Sofia, flaunting a sizzling figure that made my eyes go wide.
They were all beauties so stunning I couldn't take my eyes off them.
If they had existed in my original world, they would have devoured the entertainment industry.
But the one who pulled my gaze the most was—
the plainest one, the black-haired girl in a one-piece swimsuit.
'......Gukbap, swimsuit pass...!?'
