164. Swimsuit Festival (5)
164. Swimsuit Festival (5)
"Heh-heh, have you been enjoying yourself?"
Shin Se-hee said, smiling with her eyes.
"Uh, yeah. Something like that."
"In that case, you'll have fun with me now too, won't you?"
"Uh, yeah. Guess I will."
I nodded and went along with what Shin Se-hee said.
But honestly, I was thinking a little differently on the inside.
I'd had an awesome time messing around with Lee Yu-ri, and I'd even gone swimming with Kang Do-hee so intensely we made a bet out of it.
Sure, since I go through hellish training all the time, a little fun like this wasn't about to drain my stamina, but how should I put it......
Felt like I wanted to catch my breath mentally?
'Umm, but I can't treat her any differently.'
Even in the game, blatant favoritism among party members tended to cause friction.
If you coddle just one and intentionally leave someone else out, their condition drops straight through the floor and the number of skill mistakes they make shoots up exponentially.
Which is why taking care of everyone with a certain sense of fairness is the Velvetsra way.
And even more so now, when this isn't a game but reality.
'And Shin Se-hee is particularly sensitive about that sort of feeling.'
"Well then, shall we go?"
I pulled my face together as if nothing was on my mind and spoke toward Shin Se-hee.
"Heh-heh, I was joking, Jin Yu-ha."
"Huh?"
"Well, I do want to get into the water and spend time with you, it's not that I don't......
"The thing is, there's something else I actually want to do, you know?"
"......What's that?"
"You're hungry, right? Would you like to eat together?"
Growl─
The moment I heard that, my stomach let out a sound as if it had been waiting.
'Ah, now that I think about it, it's way past lunchtime.'
I'd snacked on various things in the car on the way here, but after playing in the water twice in a row, it seemed like I'd burned through it all.
Once I became aware of my hunger, a fierce appetite surged up as if asking why I had only just noticed.
"You sure that's okay?"
"Yes. Just sitting here, looking at the ocean and eating together with you, Jin Yu-ha. That's what I want to do the most."
Shin Se-hee said this with a clear smile.
"Shall we go, then?"
"Erm, well, th-that being the case......"
Pretending I couldn't help it, I followed after Shin Se-hee, who was already walking ahead.
*
"......This place."
An uncrowded stretch of beach I arrived at after following Shin Se-hee.
A single, enormous glass box the size of a shipping container sat there by itself.
The material looked like glass, but it was impossible to make out the inside clearly from outside; it just looked whitish and indistinct.
"There was a place like this here?"
The structure was clearly out of the ordinary at a glance.
A building made entirely out of glass was in a place like this? It was a location that had never even appeared in the game, so I looked the building over, fascinated.
Shin Se-hee grabbed the door handle of the glass box and opened it.
"Now then, shall we go in?"
"......Whoa."
The inside of the box was even more dazzling.
Unlike how it looked from the outside, the inside was completely transparent looking out. The ceiling was wide open, letting the sunlight stream in.
Below it, there was a parasol, a waterbed, and even a fancy wooden table.
And the finishing touch was the dishes laid out on that table.
The food looked like it had just been made, steam rising in soft white wisps, and the drinks beside it were chilled cold, with droplets of condensation forming on them.
"......Did you rent this whole thing out?"
"Hmm, you could say that. Now please, eat first. You're hungry, aren't you?"
"Uh, yeah......"
With a baffled expression, I sat at the table and began to eat.
'.......'
Click. Clack.
I worked my fork and knife diligently.
Chew chew.
"H-How is it? Is it to your taste?"
Shin Se-hee, who had been pick-pick-picking at her own food in front of me, asked hesitantly.
"......It's delicious."
This wasn't empty flattery; the food was actually delicious.
Just at a glance, it was all beautifully plated, the kind of dishes that paid immense attention to decoration.
Normally I wouldn't have been particularly moved by food that was this typical and just pretty.
But these dishes, maybe because they were tailored to my tastes, tasted experimental yet harmonious at the same time.
Hah—
When I said it was delicious, Shin Se-hee placed a hand over her chest and let out a long sigh.
In that instant, my eyes narrowed.
"Shin Se-hee, your hand......"
Her fingers had band-aids stuck all over them here and there.
At that, Shin Se-hee flinched and hid her hands behind her back.
What could that mean?
"......Wait. Don't tell me. Did you make this?"
Startled, I asked her.
'She made all these dishes herself? Such high-level cooking? No, more importantly, Shin Se-hee is originally a girl who absolutely hates getting her hands wet by cooking directly herself......?'
"......Th-That is."
"Really?"
"Ngh, I-I didn't make it entirely by myself. I just helped a little on the side, and I had the help of a professional chef......"
Shin Se-hee spoke, hanging her head deeply as if embarrassed.
Food that was tailored to my tastes.
The fact that Shin Se-hee, of all people, had made this for me, even putting band-aids on her own hands, well, something about it struck a chord in my heart.
"Uh, th-thank you. First off, I really am grateful, but......"
"Huh? Is there something that doesn't agree with your palate......?"
"No, no, that's not what I meant. It's seriously delicious. It's food that fits my taste perfectly."
"And yet?"
Shin Se-hee wore a tense expression.
"......Is there nothing you want? This was all for me, not for you. When we get to spend time together like this for the first time in a while, me being the only one receiving is a bit......"
"Haa, what a relief. You don't dislike the food, then."
"Yeah, of course I don't. The food today...... honestly, it's the best thing anyone else has ever cooked for me."
I nodded as I spoke seriously.
"Heh-heh, Jin Yu-ha."
"Huh?"
"You just gave me what I wanted the most."
"......What?"
"You said the food I made was the best. To me, that's the greatest reward."
'She really leaves me speechless.......'
I looked at Shin Se-hee, who was laughing so purely, without a single shadow, as if she was truly happy.
Among the Utopia Party members, the one whose image has changed the most from the start really would have to be Shin Se-hee, wouldn't it.
No, actually, maybe she hasn't changed in a single moment from the very beginning.
Because even in the original game, she was a character who remained an absolute ally, at least for those on her side.
Maybe Shin Se-hee had only been fighting desperately to survive in that suffocating family.
In a place without the shadow of that family, maybe she was always a girl who could laugh this brightly.
It seems that all the things she'd shown me in the game up until now
were just something that had still been heavily clouding my vision.
'Still, just receiving everything like this doesn't add up.'
"Shin Se-hee."
"Yes?"
"Is this really it?"
"......Uh, um."
Shin Se-hee rolled her eyes, seemingly flustered by my words.
"We've filled our stomachs now, and there's still quite a bit of time left. What's after this? Besides just lying down and resting."
"......."
Shin Se-hee touched her lips with a serious expression, as if she hadn't thought about that part.
'Her favorite things are definitely alcohol and massages, right? But alcohol is for when she's pissed off...... So I guess a massage would work.'
True to her rich-girl character, Shin Se-hee goes for regular beauty and spa treatments.
I can't compare to the touch of the top-tier aestheticians she usually gets.
But even so, when it comes to understanding muscles, I've learned more than my fill through training in grappling.
Where things get stiff, where knots tend to form often, that sort of thing.
'She's a precious party member who works herself to the bone behind the scenes at a desk every single day...... I can at least give her a massage.'
If I infused a little Mana into it and kneaded her muscles, that would probably work out any knots in no time at all, though I couldn't say for certain.
"Ah, Jin Yu-ha, I-I'm sorry. I didn't really think properly about what we should do after the meal...... The only thing left is to just rest comfortably here......"
"Really? Then, can I do something I want to do?"
"Something you want to do, Jin Yu-ha?"
"Yeah."
"Of course! Please, tell me anything!"
"You clearly said anything, out of your own mouth. Right?"
I asked with a grin.
She seemed to feel something ominous about that, but she didn't take back her words.
"Then, lie down over there."
"......Excuse me?"
"Over there, I said lie down on the waterbed."
* * *
'Wha— What? He wants me to lie down on the bed?'
Shin Se-hee was taken aback by Jin Yu-ha's sudden words.
"Me? That was made for you to rest, Jin Yu-ha......"
"Quickly."
When Jin Yu-ha pressed her a second time, Shin Se-hee got up from her seat with an uneasy expression and lay down on the waterbed looking up at the sky.
'......Laying me down here. What is he planning to do?'
Just then, Jin Yu-ha's voice came through again as if that wasn't what he meant.
"You can't lie down like that."
"Th-then?"
"You need to flip over."
She couldn't figure out what Jin Yu-ha wanted, making her thoughts grow complicated, but she followed his command and turned her body over for now.
Squish─
She felt the cool texture of the waterbed against her chin.
Splash─ Splash─
Following that, a strange watery sound reached her from behind, as if someone was slapping their palms together.
Gulp─
'What is this......?'
Her thoughts started drifting further and further in a strange direction. Surely not. There's no way.
"Shin Se-hee, first, could you undo your top strap a little?"
"......My t-top strap?"
"Yeah. I, uh, feel a bit awkward touching that myself."
'......Huh, is this for real?'
Shin Se-hee's pupils lost their way.
Her heart raced, pounding hard.
But at the same time, her hands honestly went behind her back and unfastened the strap.
She had only undone one single top strap, so why did she feel this embarrassed?
She even felt as if she was showing her bare body directly in front of Jin Yu-ha.
And then, a heavy weight settled onto her back.
Jin Yu-ha, sitting on her back.
At that unfamiliar sensation, Shin Se-hee screamed internally.
'Eek!?'
What on earth was this situation right now?
She certainly held affection for Jin Yu-ha.
But this quickly?
Shin Se-hee had, the previous day, constructed this glass structure for Jin Yu-ha, and today she had summoned professional chefs two hours prior to prepare and serve food suited to his tastes alongside them.
She had only been thinking that since the others must have completely drained Jin Yu-ha's energy, she would fill that space with a unique kind of healing and appeal to him...... Honestly, the moment he told her, 'Out of all the food I've ever been served, this is the best,' she had already been completely satisfied.
She definitely had been, and yet.
'Did I put something weird in the food today?'
She was so confused that she was even beginning to suspect she might have pulled some kind of trick without even knowing it herself.
Splash!
Then, a wet hand touched her shoulder.
Goosebumps shot up all along her spine.
And then.
Squeeze—!
"Aah—♥"