Whose Chest Was the Best?

Whose chest felt the best?

Taste.

For human beings, it's a remarkably complicated territory.

No matter how small the detail, people can't help having preferences. Just thinking about it superficially, you could divide taste into endless categories based on looks alone. And it's not just the outside — personality carves out just as many. Someone with a fiery, passionate temperament, say, or someone small and skittish like a little animal, someone so mischievous they seem bound to cause trouble at any moment, or maybe someone motherly, the type who'd wrap you up in their arms no matter what.

In other words, taste comes in a truly dizzying variety.

And what happened today… was more than enough to create a brand-new category of it.

It was warm.

Whether it was Kim Hyewon or Han Sohyeon.

Their embraces had been incredibly warm and soft.

Honestly, I'd always thought of myself as the leading type — but the moment I was tucked into someone's arms and getting patted on the head, I couldn't gather my wits to save my life. So every now and then, it occurred to me that maybe this wasn't so bad either.

Of course.

"…What the hell am I even doing."

Thinking about it too long brought me crashing back to reality.

"…They're friends."

Kim Hyewon, Han Sohyeon, and Han Areum too.

They were my friends.

Maybe the first friends I'd made since starting high school, at that. And here I was, half seeing them as women, thinking these kinds of thoughts — no wonder I felt a wave of self-disgust. Was this the kind of person I'd always been? My relationship with Chaeeun had fallen apart barely any time ago, and already I was losing my head over other girls — over my friends, no less. A quiet sense of shame settled over me.

But my solitary self-flagellation didn't last long.

Vvvvmmm—

The smartphone resting on my desk buzzed. I wondered what it was and checked — a text message.

The sender was Han Sohyeon, whose number I'd exchanged just today.

For the record, that contact name wasn't my doing — Han Sohyeon had saved it on my phone herself.

I'm normally the type to keep things tidy, saving people by their full names, so I tried to change it at first, but she told ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠me to leave it alone. She even made me swear not to sneakily change it later, saying she'd check for herself to make sure I hadn't. So I had no choice but to leave it.

Really.

Vvvvmmm—

"Ah."

The moment I hit send, I regretted it. Too stiff, I thought.

And sure enough.

Wait.

Oh. She was talking about the hugging from earlier today.

Does this girl have no shame at all?

Times like this call for a careful answer.

That said, compared to texting Kim Chaeeun or Kim Hyewon, there was something about Han Sohyeon's tone that carried an inexplicable little tingle.

Ah — not that Hyewon didn't tingle anything, to be clear.

No. What am I even thinking about.

Focus, Seojun.

They're friends. Friends. Just because things fell apart with Chaeeun doesn't mean I get to waver like this. Let's not become a man with zero principles, Baek Seojun.

A man is one of two things. A complete fortress, or a complete Casanova with no principles at all.

I didn't say it outright, but I could hear her heart pounding loud enough through the call earlier. Not that I told her that.

Apparently that much was enough for her to get the message, though.

The conversation had turned casual before I even noticed. This was technically ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the first time I'd ever texted her, but somehow it felt comfortable. So this is what people mean by natural rapport?

…Did the definition of "refined young lady" change without my knowledge?

Shamelessness must be a talent of hers.

Han Sohyeon was no refined young lady. No matter how I thought about it, the word "demure" lived in a completely different universe from Sohyeon.

Her skin really was good, admittedly. I'd seen it up close today, and it was impossibly smooth and fair. Someone with skin like Han Sohyeon's had every right to sing her own praises.

Anyway, I spent a while trading idle nonsense with her.

And then.

Unable to hold back a snort of laughter at the sheer absurdity, I was still chuckling to myself when the next message arrived almost instantly.

Bored, huh.

I poked right back with the teasing.

Somehow it felt like I could get away with it, with Han Sohyeon.

Hmm.

A duo, then.

A read receipt appeared, and almost immediately the smartphone rang out. It was Han Sohyeon calling.

Before long, an online indicator popped up next to Han Sohyeon's ID.

Just like at the PC bang yesterday, we formed a duo and started the match. We dropped from the plane, farmed our loot, survived a few skirmishes with other players, then linked back up with Sohyeon, grabbed a car, and hit the road. She sat in the passenger seat, taking in the scenery on the map.

[Ahh, what a view.]

"……"

[By the way, hey, Seojun-ah.]

"Yeah?"

[This noona's sitting in the passenger seat — isn't there something you want to ask of me?]

"…Huh?"

Han Sohyeon paused deliberately for effect before continuing.

[I mean, come on. Isn't it every guy's romantic fantasy? You pick up a pretty girl, she's riding shotgun, and you just — you know. Do those kinds of things?]

…She says that with a completely straight face?

[Hmm? Be honest with me and only me. Hmm-hmm?]

Her character stared straight at mine. Han Sohyeon's avatar happened to be a bald man, which rather undercut the mood, but I decided to play along with her game.

"Well, first — unbuckle your seatbelt."

[Unbuckle it?]

"Now lean forward."

[Lean…? Why?]

"Who knows. The rest you'll have to figure out yourself."

[…?]

I could feel Han Sohyeon tilting her head in confusion on the other end of the call.

But then.

[…!!]

Before long, she'd pieced together what I meant, and her voice began to tremble.

[W-wow, so you like them bold, huh? I had no idea that was your type, Seojun. Hmm…]

"Huh? What's that supposed to mean? Bold?"

I charged ahead with maximum shamelessness. It was the only way to salvage a joke I'd fired off on pure impulse.

"I just meant some makeup might've dropped on the passenger-side floor, so you should pick it up."

[…Ah-hah? Is that so?]

"That's exactly so."

[Hmph. This round goes to you…?]

"Is it really something to win or lose? Hmm."

I genuinely had no idea.

At that, Han Sohyeon let out a laugh of sheer disbelief through the phone.

[I didn't know this about you, but you're pretty shameless yourself, aren't you, Seojun?]

"It's not shamelessness, it's confidence. Right?"

[Ahahaha. Right, right! Confidence!]

While we bantered back and forth, the match crept toward its final stretch without either of us noticing. So we were on the move, hunting for a position we could hold until the very end.

[Oh! Over there, that way!]

"Where? Did an enemy show up?"

I spun my mouse around in a hurry. But ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠no matter how hard I looked, there was no shape resembling an enemy player anywhere.

And sure enough.

[Nooo?]

"…Then what is it?"

[Don't those two mountains overlapping over there look exactly like a woman's chest?]

"……?"

That was complete nonsense.

[It's not nonsense, it's the truth? Look closer. Doesn't it look just like a woman's chest?]

"…Now that you mention it, I guess it kind of does."

[Right?!]

I hated to admit it, but she was right. Two mountains overlapping did form a shape that bore an uncanny resemblance to a chest. Especially the way the peaks jutted out ever so slightly… Hmm.

I'll refrain from comment.

[I knew you'd understand. If I said this to Hyewon or Areum, they'd never take it? Areum always gets all flustered and tells me to stop, and Hyewon just nods along with zero interest like it doesn't move her at all.]

That tracked, honestly.

[Which is exactly why I can't help but adore our Seojun.]

"Am I being loved right now?"

[Yep!]

Han Sohyeon's bright laughter drew an involuntary chuckle out of me.

Sure, her brand of teasing ran a little risqué at times, but so what? As long as neither of us made it weird, it was fine.

[So anyway, Seojun-ah.]

"Yeah?"

[Out of curiosity — whose chest felt the best today?]

…What?