Chapter 189: The Sea, the Professor, and Sunscreen.
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 189: The Sea, the Professor, and Sunscreen.
Despite several variables, the match ultimately ended in Professor Cathy’s victory.
Well, if Lee Yu-na had kept up her strange antics, the outcome might have been different, but since she also needed to win, she eventually started taking it seriously toward the end.
“Then let’s go, So-hyun!”
Claiming it was her right as the winner, the Professor immediately took my hand and led me along the beach. It might have looked like nothing special to an outsider, but it felt strangely embarrassing.
“Why do you keep trying to pull away? You’re going to make me feel hurt.”
Even if I wanted to run, her hand remained interlaced with mine as if she refused to let go. It was a strangely ticklish sensation.
Normally, it would be difficult to set the mood because of the others who would inevitably try to tail us, but strangely, no one was following us today. Because of that, the peculiar atmosphere between us intensified even faster.
“No one will follow us today, So-hyun. We agreed not to interfere with each other’s time, provided we don’t monopolize you for the entire day.”
Ah, I see. But are you sure you should be telling me that?
For a brief moment, the air threatened to turn awkward, but she spoke up immediately as if she wouldn’t tolerate any discomfort.
“Hmm, there are so many things I want to do with you, So-hyun. It’s a shame we don’t have enough time.”
This was a bit of a problem. No matter how I looked at it, she didn’t seem to have any intention of giving me an opening to escape with a joke today.
“I thought about what to do first, and I decided that if you’re at the sea, you have to start with this.”
The Professor smiled brightly and pressed a bottle of sunscreen into my hand.
“So-hyun, could you apply this for me?”
…Wait, isn’t this a bit too forward? Apply what? To whom? Me?
She was being incredibly aggressive.
Of course, it was questionable whether natural UV rays even posed a threat to a Superhuman.
“Um, can’t you just deflect UV rays with your Mana…?”
“How could I waste Mana on something like that? What if I can’t respond to an emergency?”
I’m pretty sure the light coating you usually keep around yourself would be more than enough.
The thought crossed my mind, but I decided not to point it out.
Fine, I could do this much for her.
It was obvious she was hiding her embarrassment; her face was flushed bright red.
She had probably never done something like this before and was only trying it because someone had egged her on. She’d likely get too shy and ask me to stop halfway through anyway.
The Professor spread out a mat, untied the strings of her swimsuit, and lay face down.
Naturally, the sight of those once-rounded mounds being slightly flattened and changing shape as she pressed against the mat entered my vision.
…So that’s how softly they spread out.
At this point, was this even a stray thought? It felt closer to a sense of intellectual curiosity or perhaps even… worship.
“So-hyun?”
“Yes?! Yes!”
“It’s embarrassing if you keep staring like that… No, wait. You can keep staring, but could you apply the sunscreen first?”
If you’re going to go that far, just admit you’re embarrassed. I’m embarrassed, you’re embarrassed—who exactly is winning here?
“Hurry up and touch me.”
“I meant to tell you this last time, but do you realize how strange that sounds?”
“I do now.”
Ah, I see. So you know, and yet you’re still doing it. Haha, well, there’s nothing I can say to that.
Let’s just empty my mind.
I squeezed some sunscreen onto my hand and began to spread it evenly across her back.
I considered closing my eyes for a moment, but if I actually did, I’d probably cause some kind of unforeseen accident.
Her body, which I thought would be nothing but soft, was surprisingly firm and possessed a strong elasticity.
There wasn’t a hint of excess fat, but I could feel the subtle curves of bone and muscle beneath her skin. Under the sunscreen, her smooth back began to take on a sleek, lustrous sheen.
“Hngh…”
The way she let out small, shallow breaths every time I touched her was strangely—no, it was just overtly provocative.
I didn’t think she was doing it on purpose, though.
At first, I wanted to get it over with quickly, but for some reason, I now found myself wanting to stay in contact just a little longer.
As the warmth of my hand and her back mingled, I felt a delusion that I was beginning to understand her, a feeling that she was affirming my existence.
“Hiuk…!”
When I stopped the simple, gentle stroking and applied a bit of pressure as if giving her a light massage, her body shuddered violently again.
Hiuk. She actually made a sound like hiuk. Oh, this is bad. It’s so cute I’m about to burst out laughing.
I had already applied enough sunscreen to her back, but I didn’t want to stop, so I moved my hands over her shoulders and down her arms.
“So…hyun?”
From her arms to her neck, from her neck back to her back, following the lines further down until I saw her buttocks hidden by the swimsuit and the slight swell of flesh peeking out.
For a split second, I felt the urge to give in to my desires and just knead them, but no, that would be crossing the line.
So, I reached further down.
“Hit…!?”
Her soles. Contrary to my expectation that they would be hard since she used them as weapons, the texture of her feet was soft.
“So-hyun! Wait, just a second…!”
How strange. Even though she was desperately asking me to wait, I felt nothing but an impulse to tease her even more intensely rather than stopping.
I lightly massaged her soles and meticulously applied the cream and sunscreen from her Achilles tendons upward.
By the time I finished and moved to rub her calves and thighs, her protesting voice had vanished completely, replaced only by small, involuntary twitches.
She looked like she was enduring something.
This should be enough, I thought, while simultaneously wondering, What would happen if I pushed just a little further?
The moment I saw Professor Cathy’s eyes as she cautiously turned her head to see if I was finished, my mind tilted instantly toward the latter.
— Are you really okay with this?
Huh?
It was as if a bucket of cold water had been dumped over my head. My senses returned instantly.
What the hell? What was I about to do? Further than this? I’ve already covered her entire back. How far was I planning to go? Am I insane?
“Are you okay? You’re okay, right?!”
Come to think of it, Seo-ha once told me that my sense of pressure control was terrible and that I should never give anyone else a massage.
“Why.”
After panting for a long while, she finally spoke, looking at me with a dazed expression.
“Yes? Why what?”
“Why did you stop? There are still places you haven’t applied it.”
“That’s… well.”
I mean, technically, there were. I hadn’t done her stomach yet, and the entire front was untouched. If we were being pedantic, I hadn’t done her buttocks either.
But you can do the front and your backside yourself, can’t you?
Regrettably, I wasn’t stupid enough to say that after seeing her unfocused eyes.
A strange silence fell, and just as the answer began to form in my mind—
“I’m sorry…!”
Her face turned as red as an apple, and she bowed her head first.
“I’m the one who said it, but it’s too embarrassing…!”
Fortunately, it seemed my opponent’s defensive power had bottomed out before mine.
* * *
Two nights before the trip, Cathy had been summoned to meet the Academy’s infirmary professor, commonly known as the Doctor.
“…You think a past trauma might be at play?”
“Yes. I suspected as much after reading the reports that have come in so far, but seeing his reaction during the recent contact with the Villain confirmed it.”
The words that came out of the Doctor’s mouth were quite shocking, though they were also something Cathy had partially anticipated.
“I have my own reasons—or rather, interests—so I did some research on the reports you all submitted, the cadet evaluations from classes, and how those around him perceive him. The results were quite fascinating.”
The Doctor spoke with a detached tone, as if discussing a laboratory specimen, but Cathy, knowing this was simply due to her poor social skills, listened quietly.
“To put it simply, he shows a severe emotional deficiency. Most notably, he lacks ‘self-love.’ He seems to have learned to mimic the idea of not causing worry to those around him, but fundamentally, he is a wreck who is ready to throw himself away at any moment.”
The Doctor quietly showed Cathy a summary of his actions.
“Normally, humans learn. This applies to negative things as well. What we commonly call trauma or PTSD is a form of learning.”
“What do you mean by that…?”
“A normal person cannot immediately laugh and chat as usual after being pushed to the brink of death by a High-tier Species monster. It’s normal to tremble, unable to escape the fear. Nor would they forgive someone who put a hole in their stomach just because ‘I can survive even if I almost die.’ At the very least, it’s normal to show some level of resentment.”
The Doctor looked at Cathy with a complex expression after stubbing out her cigarette in the ashtray.
“Naturally, one cannot fall into the heart of a Nightmare World—which could leave a severe trauma—and return without any impact on their personality. Yet, the cadet you love shows no collapse of personality, not even a change, after experiencing all of those cases. Do you know what that means?”
“It doesn’t just end with ‘So-hyun has an incredibly strong mental state,’ does it?”
“Right. Well, honestly, I won’t say that possibility is zero, but frankly, I don’t think that’s it. It’s the opposite. For that boy, being in a tattered, broken state is his default setting. Because he’s already broken, because being wounded is his baseline, he doesn’t even react to most things. He likely experienced a significant event in his past.”
Honestly, it was a shock.
Cathy knew he had scars, but she didn’t want to believe that the boy who always smiled and was the first to do good was broken to that extent.
“But the reason I say it’s fascinating starts here. Usually, people like that lose their sense of purpose and become literal wrecks, living in addiction to gambling or drugs, or they choose suicide. But this boy shows no sign of that.”
Adding that it was a clear anomaly, the Doctor began to write down hypotheses.
“First hypothesis: He is simply enduring it because his mental strength is that high. It’s the most hopeful hypothesis, but as I said, I don’t think it’s likely.”
She erased the first hypothesis from the chalkboard.
“Second: He doesn’t realize he’s broken. More accurately, he’s experiencing selective amnesia as a defense mechanism and has forgotten his own past. I actually thought this was the most accurate until recently, but looking at the reports of his recent observations, that doesn’t seem to be the case either.”
She erased the second hypothesis as well.
“So, the hypothesis I think is most likely is this: He found a new purpose to pursue—one so strong it forces him to ignore his trauma—and he has become unconsciously dependent on it.”
“A new purpose…?”
“I’m an infirmary professor, not a mind reader, so I don’t know the exact details. But I suspect his excessive kindness toward certain people and his hypersensitivity in specific situations are related to this.”
It was heartbreaking. Cathy felt like she wanted to find him and hug him right that second.
“Well, so the conclusion is, be careful if you’re going to have sex with him.”
…What is this person saying all of a sudden in such a serious atmosphere?
Cathy wondered if it was a joke to break the tension, but the Doctor still looked dead serious.
“I forgot to mention, but he clearly shows signs of affection deprivation. As evidence, he can’t easily push away people who approach him. In cases like this, regardless of gender, they tend to give their bodies easily in sexual relationships, but their obsession becomes even deeper. If he experiences it even once, he will try to continuously satisfy the affection he never received through sex.”
“…Did you do all that build-up just to say this?”
“…Of course? Why else would I have given such a long-winded explanation if I wasn’t going to say this?”
Cathy wondered if the Doctor was actually, truly insane.
“Dating that type has a high probability of eating away at you, so I’m telling you to give up if you can. Since we’re somewhat like friends.”
“…I’m sorry, but I have no intention of giving up.”
“Right, I figured. So I’m going to give you some advice. In case you think you can fix his deficiency with infinite love. Simply pouring affection into that kind of void is like pouring water into a cracked jar. So, if you aren’t going to fix the jar itself, there are two ways.”
“What are they?”
“First, you control every act leading up to the relationship. You make yourself the object of his obsession and lingering attachment, controlling him so he doesn’t engage in dangerous behavior. In other words, it’s a way to protect yourself while continuing the relationship.”
For a brief moment, the image of him climaxing inside her flashed through Cathy’s mind, and she thought it wasn’t a bad idea, but she immediately shook her head to deny the thought.
It felt wrong, like holding affection hostage against a child who craved it.
“…And the other?”
“You probably can’t do this alone, but it’s filling the water faster than the cracked jar can leak it.”
“…Huh?”
“Meaning, instead of one large presence, there should be multiple people who constantly remind him that he must restrain himself and cherish his own body.”
“…In other words?”
“If you don’t think you can handle him alone, share the load. That’s what I’m saying.”
* * *
That was it.
The reason Cathy had been so aggressive today was partly due to the summer setting, but it was also because she had learned from her consultation with the Doctor that he was in a considerably dangerous state and needed someone to accept him.
That was why she had studied.
She learned from books how an older woman seduces a younger man, and she even used the seduction techniques she had learned during her consultations with Leilan and Park A-ram—the ones she had been too embarrassed to ever consider using—all to grow closer to him.
However, there were two variables.
One was that she was a virgin for whom this was her first crush, let alone a relationship. And the other was…
‘Why does this feel so good…?!’
His touch was so incredibly good it almost drove her crazy.
She had known from the start that his scent and touch were special, but it hadn’t been like this back then.
But how should she put it?
It felt like his emotions were flowing into her through his fingertips, and she simply couldn’t bear it.
Honestly, her curiosity about moving to the front had been piqued, but she simply couldn’t find the courage to face him like that.
…She had originally planned to ask him to apply it to her front as well today.
Leaving both her and Kang So-hyun with a lingering, unsatisfied sensation, their first incident at the sea came to a close.