Chapter 47
Chapter 47
The atmosphere had become incredibly uncomfortable.
Or should I say... comfortable?
......Comfortable yet uncomfortable. That was probably the right way to put it.
And no wonder, since I currently had girls practically glued to both sides of me.
Well, granted. This was all something I had asked for. I mean, the whole making-people-think-I've-been-up-to-that-sort-of-thing plan.
Honestly, a part of me wondered if we really needed to be stuck together like this even inside a café where there wasn't another student in sight, and frankly another part of me wished they would at least let go of one of my hands. No matter the circumstances, having to take every single bite of food directly into my mouth was mentally exhausting.
Physically, though, it was comfortable.
Right. My body was comfortable.
Because I didn't need to move.
"Um, well, I think I might be done eating soon."
I looked at the fork Shin So-hee was holding in front of my mouth and said so. The tiramisu she had brought to my lips was already the third piece. Even if the dessert was cut into small squares, eating too much would cause problems when it was time for dinner. Ye Sa-ra's stomach was still far too small.
"Hmph. Is that so?"
Shin So-hee pulled the fork back slightly.
"So what you're saying is, you don't want to eat what I give you anymore?"
"Huh, no...."
That's not it!
It's just a physical thing—my stomach can't handle it! Eating too much makes me feel bloated!
"Or what?"
Shin So-hee stared at me. Her face was expressionless. Whether standing or sitting, Shin So-hee was distinctly taller than me, and she simply looked down at me in silence. She usually showed a fairly wide range of expressions, so that blank stare was a little frightening.
It sort of, kind of felt like some past trauma might resurface.
"Oh, never mind."
"Right?"
Shin So-hee grinned immediately and pushed the fork in front of my mouth. The chocolate powder from the tiramisu dusted my lips lightly. In the end, I had no choice but to open my mouth and take the piece.
Right after that, Shin So-hee speared another cube of tiramisu, popped it into her own mouth, and chewed as if savoring it.
"......."
Sitting beside me, Lee Su-a pulled a handkerchief from her pocket and wiped the powder off my lips.
......Am I being treated like a baby right now?
I genuinely have no idea how this situation is unfolding.
"Uh, hey, you guys. So what I asked for was..."
Was for you to do this in front of other people—is what I was about to say, but the words never came.
"Don't you get sick of sweet things if that's all you eat? Here, drink some coffee with it."
A straw poked into my open mouth. Yu Ha-neul had held her coffee cup up to me.
"......."
I was left with no choice but to just suck on the straw.
It had a slight fruity aroma.
Did coffee made from high-end beans have this kind of scent?
*
I sat in the café like that for a long while before we finally made it outside. Considering how long we'd sat, not much conversation had actually passed between us. In fact, maybe there had been none at all. My head had been so overwhelmed by a rush of blood that I didn't properly remember much.
If I had lived intimately with women in my past life, or if I had at least been an actual woman, I might have been able to stay cool and composed in that situation. Unfortunately, past-life me had been a perpetual virgin who never once dated.
......Even winding up inside the body of a universally acknowledged beauty didn't seem to change that part of me.
"Oh, right. I just remembered something."
After walking in silence for a while, Shin So-hee clapped her hands together in front of a convenience store. The sharp sound startled a few passersby, who glanced over. Then they saw me and the two people hugging my arms, Ha-neul and Lee Su-a, and started murmuring among themselves.
......I mean, this wasn't the kind of effect I had been aiming for.
It felt like I'd become the bad guy without even doing anything bad. This world where people of the same gender casually date one another might be a more exhausting place to live than I realized.
"Gonna pop into the convenience store for a sec. That okay?"
Fortunately, the Shin So-hee saying this seemed far removed from the oddly prickly atmosphere she'd shown back at the café. I still didn't know what had made her so irritated there, but it was a relief that she didn't seem angry anymore.
I nodded.
"You three wait here, then. I'll be right back."
Shin So-hee dashed over to the convenience store. And as she'd promised, she came out quickly.
"Sorry. Had to buy one thing real quick."
I was about to shrug at Shin So-hee's words, but I became conscious again of the two people hanging onto my arms.
"......."
I probably could have walked without their support by now... but well, something told me they wouldn't let go even if I said so, so I gave up.
*
If today had been like last week, I would have asked these three if they wanted to have dinner together before going home. But it had been too tiring a day to stay out any longer.
The road to becoming an attention-seeker was long and arduous, and I had physically learned that picking the wrong target for your attention-seeking could lead to absolute hell. Since my past life was spent far removed from exercise, I had just experienced firsthand what happens when you aggro someone who works out, and I swore to myself I would never do that again.
Was this like that thing where if you emit a sleazy vibe at the gym they swarm you and turn you into a gym rat? Well, the intensity was definitely weaker than that, at least.
And besides, maybe because Ha-neul and Lee Su-a seemed intent on thoroughly helping me execute my plan for as long as they were with me, they stuck right by my side without any intention of peeling away. As a result, I couldn't even eat with my own hands during our meal, and back at the café there hadn't been a single food item I had eaten by myself. Whether dessert or drink, no exceptions.
......It was a lifestyle so luxurious I'd never even dreamed of it, but it still bothered me for some reason. Was the original core of me, being a grown adult and not a minor, feeling psychological discomfort from rubbing shoulders with minors like this?
Or more than that, it also seemed to have to do with how Ha-neul, Lee Su-a, and Shin So-hee had hardly said anything. That atmosphere had been oddly uncomfortable.
How had things turned out this way?
And so, I wanted to get home quickly and get some good rest.
That is, until the moment the mansion came into view in the distance.
......Yeah, I honestly don't feel great about going back there. At least these three were my equals, but that place was where servants who were worse than strangers were waiting for me. Unlike school, where pulling attention-seeking antics at least made me feel like grabbing their attention, I had no desire to do any of that with the staff there.
Still, the meals they put out were good... but well, that's a separate matter.
Regardless... whether I wanted to go there or not, the time to part ways was approaching.
"......."
Perhaps sensing that, the three of them stayed silent too. Even if I suggested we all go in and eat together, it would just be awkward in this atmosphere.
......Did I really do something wrong?
While I was worrying about that, we arrived in front of the mansion.
The front gate was already open, as if it had been prepared to swallow me whole. And beside the gate, a security guard in a black suit.
I had gotten used to it over slightly more than two months, but the atmosphere was so oppressive it would probably feel crushing to anyone from outside this mansion. That might have been the very reason the original Ye Sa-ra couldn't leave the mansion grounds.
Just as I had been able to leave last weekend, the original Ye Sa-ra likely had the authority to go outside as well... but if she had grown up seeing those people guarding the front door since she was little, just getting near them would have been terrifying.
Ha-neul and Lee Su-a, who had been at my sides, gently detached themselves from me.
I let out a small breath and turned around.
"Well, today was fun again. See you tomorrow."
At my words, Ha-neul flashed a bright smile. Lee Su-a ducked her head slightly as if a little shy, and Shin So-hee shrugged with a sullen look.
I smiled back softly at the three of them, then turned away.
And began walking slowly toward the mansion.
......But then, I heard the sound of someone's footsteps following behind me.
"......?"
I turned my head to find Shin So-hee brazenly following me into the mansion grounds.
"Uh...."
Before I could even react, the security guard abruptly blocked her path. Shin So-hee, who had been walking onto the estate, was stopped in her tracks.
One step.
Exactly one step past the iron gate that divided the mansion grounds from the outside world, Shin So-hee had stepped inside the estate.
Even with a security guard a head and a half taller than her blocking her path, Shin So-hee brought her remaining foot into the mansion grounds without a trace of concern.
Tap. She planted her foot on the ground as if making a declaration.
"This is private property. Outsiders are not permitted to enter without authorization."
Even upon hearing the security guard's low voice, Shin So-hee merely raised an eyebrow slightly.
"Whose private property is it?"
"......This place belongs to Miss Ye Sa-ra—"
"Oh, it's her land? Then I can just ask her."
Having said that, Shin So-hee tilted her head slightly to the side. Doing so made it look like her face was just poking out beside the security guard's arm. Her uneven blond hair, the color slightly faded at the roots, succumbed to gravity and fell downward.
Seeing that vivacious image, I thought fleetingly that Shin So-hee looked a little cute.
"So, can I come in?"
"......The young lady requires rest—"
"Hey, hey."
As the security guard moved closer, Shin So-hee made a noise like she was stopping him.
"You shove me or lay a hand on me here and I'll scream bloody murder, you know? You do know how many people walk around this neighborhood, right? And I've eaten a meal here before, yeah? Where do you get off talking to me like this now."
I almost burst out laughing at the sight.
"Well then, shall we invite her in for a meal?"
The moment I asked the security guard that in a teasing tone, Shin So-hee shrugged and took a step to the side. Fully hidden by the guard until now, she completely revealed herself. She was still wearing her school uniform shirt with around three buttons undone, looking profoundly lacking in any sense of modesty, and a short uniform skirt that revealed a great deal of her thighs.
She was like a cartoon delinquent. Though honestly, she was such a picture-perfect cartoon delinquent that she actually felt unrealistic.
"Well obviously I'm eating."
And true to delinquent form, Shin So-hee answered like that.
It was such a refreshingly straightforward answer that my gloomy mood from just moments before—
"I'm sleeping over tonight, too."
—had to go and vanish, taking my sanity right along with it.
"......Huh?"
"I said I'm sleeping over."
Shin So-hee flashed a grin at me, frozen on the spot.
"Why not? Friends do that sometimes, don't they?"