52. Early Summer Pranks (1)
52. An Early Summer Prank (1)
"......I see."
At the restaurant where they had come for lunch, Baek-seol told So-jeong about meeting her younger sister Ryu Baek-hwa.
"And she said it was a coincidence that she met you, Baek-seol?"
"There's no way it was a coincidence."
Baek-seol spat out with a grimace.
"Coming to meet a friend? Her? I've never even heard of her having friends, and she's not the type to make friends."
"Ahaha......"
So-jeong let out a low laugh at the rare sight of Baek-seol getting worked up.
Eager to meet Baek-seol quickly, So-jeong had prepared faster than usual. On her way to the meeting place a little earlier than the agreed time, she saw Baek-seol walking and called out to her.
When So-jeong called her, Baek-seol turned to look at her with her usual expression.
But So-jeong could instantly tell that Baek-seol seemed deeply shaken somewhere.
"Baek-seol. Are you okay? Are you hurt somewhere? You don't look well."
Only when So-jeong asked that did Baek-seol finally drop her fabricated expression.
Seeing Baek-seol's expression beneath it, which looked somewhat desperate, So-jeong could tell that something had happened with her family even without hearing the full story.
So-jeong already knew that the only times the usually emotionless Baek-seol showed her feelings so openly were always related to her father or younger sister.
"Damn it. I told her not to come anywhere near us."
While bringing Baek-seol to the restaurant, she seemed to have recovered from the shock of meeting Baek-hwa, but an emotion close to anger seemed to have taken its place.
"I need to take some measures to ensure she can't approach us again......"
"Hey, hey, Baek-seol."
So-jeong spoke, trying to calm her down.
"Don't think too deeply about it. Even if her story about meeting a friend is a lie, it might be true that she came here by coincidence, right?"
"That kind of......"
Baek-seol chewed her lip, forcing down the words that rose to her throat.
Despite having been bullied so severely, So-jeong always had a tendency to see the good in people around her.
Baek-seol wanted to say to So-jeong, who said such things even about Baek-hwa—who seemed like she wouldn't shed a drop of blood even if you stabbed her with a needle—'You see people too kindly,' but she couldn't bring herself to say it.
After all, wasn't Baek-seol herself someone saved by that very kindness?
So instead of pointing out So-jeong's overflowing kindness, Baek-seol sighed and calmed herself down.
"Okay. I won't think too deeply about it for now."
But even so, Baek-seol added one more thing.
"But still, be careful of that Ryu Baek-hwa, So-jeong. You never know what she might do. If she approaches you, don't even talk to her, just run away."
"Okay. I'll definitely do that."
So-jeong promised and then looked steadily into Baek-seol's eyes.
"......Have you calmed down a bit?"
"Ah..."
At So-jeong's words, spoken with a slight curve of her large, clear eyes into a smile, Baek-seol belatedly realized she had been clenching her fists tightly in anger without even realizing it.
"Sorry."
Baek-seol apologized in a subdued voice and unclenched her fists.
"I got too excited. And we're on a date."
"No. It's fine."
So-jeong shook her head slightly.
"I fully understand why you reacted that way."
"......Thank you."
"No. Actually, while I do understand how you feel..."
So-jeong leaned forward slightly, gently took Baek-seol's hand, and looked up at her face.
"...I just want to see you smiling more than frowning. You're prettier that way."
"......"
Baek-seol seemed speechless, just making eye contact with So-jeong for a moment without being able to give any reply.
Only after a long while did Baek-seol feel heat rushing to her face with a *whoosh* and averted her gaze.
"So-jeong, you...do you prepare those kinds of lines in advance?"
Baek-seol said, barely suppressing the heat in her cheeks, which felt like they were on fire, and the corners of her mouth that threatened to curl up on their own, but
"Huh? What?"
So-jeong just tilted her head, seemingly unaware of the impact of what she had just said.
"......Never mind."
'She just hits you out of nowhere like that sometimes...'
Baek-seol's heart, pounding as she covered her mouth with the back of her hand, didn't calm down easily even by the time their ordered food arrived.
***
After the food arrived, an ordinary mealtime followed.
"What should we do after lunch?"
From So-jeong's bright voice asking that, Baek-seol could feel So-jeong's intention to change her mood.
Not wanting to worry So-jeong any further, Baek-seol also tried to push Ryu Baek-hwa out of her mind and answered.
"Hmm... I don't have anything particular in mind. How about you, So-jeong?"
"I brought a book."
"Then shall we go to a cafe after this?"
"Yeah."
So-jeong answered with a clear smile again.
"Good."
After finishing their meal, So-jeong and Baek-seol stopped by a nearby cafe. The cafe on an early weekend afternoon was still quiet, and the space, heavily imbued with a wooden feel, was mostly filled with the rich aroma of coffee and calm music.
"Since you paid for lunch, I'll pay for this."
"Okay. I'll enjoy it."
Baek-seol would have liked to pay for the coffee too, but knowing well that So-jeong wouldn't allow it, she simply nodded and expressed her thanks.
Cold brew coffee and a warm americano.
It might seem like a simple menu, but carrying the two cups of coffee they most frequently drank, the two went up to the second floor and found seats.
Sitting by the window with a good view of the outside, So-jeong took out a novel from her bag, and Baek-seol took out her tablet PC.
"What are you going to do?"
"Hmm, just this and that."
Taking a sip of coffee, Baek-seol turned on the internet.
Seeing Baek-seol quickly focusing on the screen with a serious expression, So-jeong also opened her book to the bookmarked page and began tracing the letters with her finger.
What Baek-seol was looking at on the screen were various articles and materials related to the economy.
Although she had stopped helping with her father's company work, she hadn't completely lost interest in management.
Baek-seol habitually collected and organized economic trends and issues and tried to formulate corresponding management strategies.
She hated to admit what Ryu Baek-hwa had said, but it was an undeniable fact that management suited her well.
For her, management was like finding a red thread in a white ball of yarn.
"......"
So-jeong had said she wanted to do work that helped people after graduation.
Baek-seol hadn't thought concretely about her own post-graduation path yet, but she was thinking about wanting to use her abilities to help So-jeong.
It came from the thought that if she used her abilities for So-jeong, perhaps this work she once so despised could find some value.
Baek-seol blinked.
Without realizing it, her thoughts had once again drifted to So-jeong, and her hands, which had been skillfully organizing articles, had stopped at some point.
She glanced up slightly and looked at So-jeong sitting across from her.
She took a moment to take in So-jeong's picture-like appearance, sitting demurely with a slight smile on her lips as she always did when reading a novel she liked, and was about to return to her studies.
"......Ugh..."
But contrary to Baek-seol's expectation, So-jeong was frowning slightly and fidgeting uncomfortably.
"So-jeong?"
Baek-seol called her in a puzzled voice.
"What's wrong?"
"Huh? Ah, nothing."
So-jeong, who hadn't noticed Baek-seol's gaze, jumped slightly and shook her head.
But Baek-seol didn't miss how So-jeong was using her book to cover her groin area, and how something, unable to be fully hidden, was prominently rising beneath So-jeong's tennis skirt.
"So-jeong......"
Baek-seol swallowed dryly and called her again.
Her heart was pounding, and her lower abdomen suddenly began to tighten.
"That......has it gotten bigger?"
"......Ugh."
Realizing she couldn't hide it anymore, So-jeong blushed even more and spoke quietly.
"No. It's not that, it's not like I get like this easily anywhere......"
So-jeong, flustered over whether to hide her blushing face or her erect dick, glanced up at Baek-seol.
"A, a slightly steamy scene came up in the book, so I just......"
"Ah, I see..."
Baek-seol nodded as if understanding, but she thought differently inside.
'It's not that she doesn't get excited anywhere... I think.'
She knew the book So-jeong was reading wasn't an erotic novel but a simple romance novel. Seeing how it had grown so noticeably just from the expressions in such a novel showed how easily So-jeong got excited.
'Well, given how...potent it is, I guess it's natural for it to react like that.'
As she recalled the sexual prowess of So-jeong, which she had already experienced firsthand with her own body, So-jeong made a sad face and tried to stand up awkwardly.
"Sorry, Baek-seol. I'll just go to the bathroom quickly and calm it down......"
"No, it's fine."
Baek-seol stopped So-jeong and spoke.
She herself didn't know why such a thought had suddenly crossed her mind.
So-jeong had been the first to notice and worry about her complicated feelings after the sudden encounter with Ryu Baek-hwa. Perhaps she wanted to express gratitude for that.
Or maybe it was because So-jeong, fidgeting while erect, looked incredibly cute and sexy.
Or maybe it was just because Baek-seol herself was a pervert.
Baek-seol looked around the cafe again.
The second floor was empty except for them.
There was CCTV, but the spot where So-jeong and Baek-seol were sitting was fairly well hidden from its view.
"......"
Baek-seol swallowed hard, as if suppressing her suddenly wildly pounding heart, and moved seats to sit next to So-jeong.
"Baek-seol...?"
So-jeong looked at her, but Baek-seol avoided her eyes. If she looked into those pure, clear eyes now, she felt she would die of embarrassment.
So Baek-seol silently placed her hand lightly on the bare thigh revealed under the skirt, which was slightly lifted by the erect dick.
"Hyaah?"
So-jeong shivered slightly at the sudden touch, and the thing under her skirt twitched in response.
Seeing that scene, Baek-seol could no longer hold back.
"He, here......"
Baek-seol said in a voice slightly trembling with excitement and anticipation.
"I'll take care of it here."
A brief silence passed.
"......Ah, uh?"
Baek-seol pretended not to hear So-jeong's single syllable, uttered like a hiccup.