Taking Off the Glasses Won't Make You a Hottie (6)
“Hey, chug some cold water and pull yourself together.”
“Ah, thanks.”
Do Ha-min, who had plugged his nose with a tissue from next to Dad's laptop, took the cup I handed him and gulped it down in a hurry. Should've at least floated a leaf in it for him.
“Feeling better now?”
“U-uh, yeah…”
“A guy's gotta tough it out over a single pair of tits.”
“…Well, it'd probably be fine between girls.”
Thankfully, the guy hadn't been out long before he snapped back to his senses. Not full-on unconscious—just a light bout of anemia, it seemed. He'd been bleeding a lot lately, whether he wanted to or not.
“Sorry about that, kid. My daughter's just so immature.”
“N-no, I'm fine…”
“Heard you're in the same class as her. I figured she told all her friends, but looks like there's still a new face.”
“Ah, hello. I'm Do Ha-min. This is my first time at a school around here, so you probably didn't know me. I only met her at the entrance ceremony too.”
“I see. Do-young, you should've mentioned if a friend was coming to the dojo.”
“How was I supposed to know?”
Do Ha-min showing up at the dojo was not in my plans at all. If I'd expected him to walk in here on his own, I wouldn't have been so pissed about him ditching me for evening study sessions instead of hanging out with Ban Do-young.
“She wasn't this bad before. Seems like she's getting less mature by the day.”
“Even if she's immature, she's got more iron in her than the guy who just nosebled and keeled over.”
“Cut the nonsense. You wearing your clothes properly?”
“Wanna see? Swapped the skin-tone bra for a sports one and shorts.”
“Quit messing around and tie your straps properly. The shoulder ones are showing.”
“Nyeh nyeh nyeh.”
While Dad finished first aid on Do Ha-min, who'd lost it for a bit, I couldn't take his nagging anymore. I headed upstairs, changed out of the sweaty underwear under my kendo uniform, and came back. From Dad's perspective, he didn't want his teenage daughter flashing damp undies to just anyone. Especially not a male classmate.
“Dad, give us a minute alone to talk.”
“You aren't gonna do anything weird to the kid, right? Like bash his head with a bokken to wipe his memory of what he saw. Hitting a glasses-wearing kid is attempted murder. No way I'm raising a criminal daughter. Can't even afford the lawsuit.”
“Ugh, what do you take your own kid for? And let's be real—if anyone's gonna do something weird with us alone like this, it's the perv nosebleeding over girls' tits, not me.”
“I-I've never thought like that!”
We're talking about the future here. Eventually, he'll go after Ban Do-young's virginity. Hell, not just go after—he'll take it.
“If you're worried about weird stuff, just play by yourself like before. Ka-mu-sa-ri~! You were having a blast.”
“Ch-cheater, bringing up when I was playing alone! Fine, go sit in the office and wait for the pizza!”
“Nyeh nyeh nyeh.”
Dad glanced at us, smirked, and headed back to the office.
“The discrimination against the second child in a big family is brutal.”
“Uh, yeah… I don't have siblings, so I wouldn't know, but that sounds rough.”
“Honestly, I have no idea either.”
“Huh?”
“So, why'd you come here? Scouting evening workout spots? What, you some work-life-balance corporate drone now?”
I asked why Do Ha-min had shown up at the dojo on his own. The very fact that he was here at this hour didn't sit right with me. From what I'd seen, he wasn't the athletic type anyway.
“Figured I need to build some stamina for studying ahead.”
“There it is again, the model student move. Ugh, so annoying.”
Of course it's studying. Heroes don't study, do they? This protagonist from a pure-love webtoon skips romance for cram sessions.
“Hah, a student's duty is studying. Classes are already behind what I expected—got enough worries.”
“As if. If you're building stamina, why not just pour all that time into studying? Why waste stats on strength when you need intelligence? Such a shame.”
“…If you think of it as HP instead of pure strength, it's not a bad investment. Plus, marking up workbooks with blood twice is kinda sus.”
“What? You nosebled during evening study yesterday too?”
I unconsciously reached for his face the second he mentioned bleeding just like today. Not out of some heroine duty. Not even straight-up concern as a fellow human, or maternal worry like a mom fretting over a kid by the water. More like fussing over a screw-up subordinate who keeps getting injured or causing accidents. Yeah, that nailed it. Don't fuck up and drag me down with you—shape up. That was the vibe.
As I stroked his nose to check if the bleeding had stopped properly, Do Ha-min's clumsy, awkward face filled my view.
“Th-that was yesterday, so today's fine. Nosebleed-level blood loss refills in a day.”
“You talk a big game. Sigh. Why push yourself when your body's screaming no?”
Looking at his dopey face—broken glasses taped up and jammed back on—I let out a deep sigh without thinking.
“So, whose tits did you see yesterday to start bleeding? An Seong-gyeong from evening study?”
“I told you that's not why…!”
“Kekeke, acting all gentlemanly.”
Do Ha-min covered his face with both hands, hiding his flushed eyes. Teasing a total screw-up subordinate is way more fun when you don't go too far.
“Y-you're back at it.”
“Huh? What?”
“Lately, you've seemed kinda off with me… Not biting on my usual jokes, so I wondered if I'd done something wrong.”
“…Oh. That? I got over it on my own, so don't sweat it.”
“You're not denying you thought I messed up, huh.”
“Duh, you shitty punk. Ditching for evening study like the only model student. If I'd had a real sword, you'd be dead.”
I pointed the bokken at him as I said it. My anger over him choosing evening study over Ban Do-young had mostly vented through kendo. Calling his name and smacking his head around 50 times on the training dummy helped.
“Anyway, you came here 'cause you don't wanna look like total fodder. Hearing you're out of stamina must've stung, huh? Scouting workout spots this late.”
“…Yeah.”
“What, so next time some punk like Lee Jeong-gyu picks a fight, you can fend him off with kendo? Your mindset's too webtoon protagonist.”
“N-not to that extent.”
“Then what sudden wind blew this way?”
“Just… I hate hearing you call me weak.”
“…Ho.”
This guy. Dropping protagonist mode out of nowhere.
“Weak, pathetic—I've heard it all before, and figured it'd never faze me no matter how much. But hearing it from you… yeah. That sticks a bit.”
“Heh. Did I scratch our model student's complex too hard?”
“Maybe. I always end up yelling without realizing it when we talk.”
“Or maybe I'm scarier than punks like Lee Jeong-gyu?”
“Definitely possible. This past week of silent treatment felt way scarier than getting grabbed by him.”
“What? Admitting all that makes me the total villain.”
Do Ha-min nodded with an awkward smile, agreeing to every probe. The conversation was going well, but the outcome? Not great. To him, current Ban Do-young had become a trauma—poking his insecurities and instilling more fear than any male delinquent.
“But from what the dojo master said, looks like I can't join here. My only free time is when there are no classes anyway.”
“Hmm.”
“And with fees, might as well just run around the school neighborhood.”
“How about I teach you kendo?”
“…Huh?”
“Dad can't make time, but I can. And I don't do evening study.”
“But time's fine—it's the money…”
Grrruk!
Right then, Dad came in from the office holding the delivered pizza.
“Ah, seriously. Can't order from Papakatsu anymore. Ordered two larges and no free cola service? What kinda place is this?”
“Pfft, perfect timing.”
Thwack.
“Hey, up.”
I tapped Do Ha-min's shoulder with the bokken and hauled him to his feet.
“Go buy cola. Zero Lime.”
“…Huh?”
“That'll cover your lesson fees.”