Chapter 18
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: Erosion (1)
After devouring two bowls of ramen and five pieces of karaage all by myself, I headed to the dojo, wrapped up my workout, and made my way home.
A satisfying meal washed down with a good sweat.
I stripped off my clothes and immediately stepped into the bathroom, turning on the water.
"Eek...! It's cold..."
The water felt even chillier than usual.
I twisted the head to the left and tested the temperature with my hand.
Before long, the cold stream warmed to a comfortable lukewarm.
Confirming the right temp, I let the cascading water envelop my body.
"Haaah..."
The stifling heat and sticky grime that had plagued me all day seemed to melt away completely.
I stood under the spray for a good while before reaching for the shampoo to wash my hair.
"Ow...!"
But then.
A sharp jet of water from the high pressure stabbed right at my chest.
It didn't exactly hurt, but the stinging jolt made my body twitch involuntarily.
It had been over five months since the possession, but I still couldn't get used to moments like this.
Compared to a guy's body, these larger, more sensitive nipples.
And breasts that were annoyingly huge, bringing no end of inconveniences.
The weight pulling at the front was a constant nuisance, and they hurt every time I ran.
"They feel even more sensitive than usual... Am I imagining it?"
I adjusted the showerhead and continued washing my hair.
Soon after finishing up, I stepped out into my room and dried my hair right away.
Much longer than it was as a guy.
It was such a hassle to manage that I'd considered chopping it into a short cut, but weirdly enough, whenever I tried to head to the salon with that in mind, my feet just wouldn't move.
Even when I picked up scissors to cut it myself, my hands froze.
It was like some instinctive sense was physically blocking me. That was the only way to describe it.
Thanks to that, I spent about ten minutes every day blow-drying.
"Ahhh... My arms hurt..."
After ten minutes of unwittingly training my deltoids and forearms, I slipped into comfy pajamas and flopped onto the bed.
The leisure I could never enjoy while cramming for finals felt utterly sweet.
Lying there, I grabbed the remote and fired up the drama I'd paused midway through yesterday.
"Don't do anything stupid while we're living together."
"Ha! Don't worry, I won't lay a finger on you. I've got eyes too, you know."
"What did you just say? You done talking?"
"Nope, not even close. Soon as I find a place, I'm out. Let's just pretend the other doesn't exist."
"Ha! As if you're one to talk. Tell me when you find a place!"
The plot was straightforward.
A guy and girl stuck living together after a housing scam fall in love. Obviously.
It was so cheesy it made me snort just watching.
Especially the heroine.
"She'll be bawling her eyes out if the guy disappears for a single day later on, but here she is yapping away..."
Watching her act all prickly, I clicked my tongue and kept viewing.
I could see exactly how it'd play out, yet I couldn't stop. It was addictive, like drugs (never tried 'em).
Pervert Bastard: Bored.
A notification pinged from my phone.
Cha Ji-hyuk's text.
"What am I supposed to do about it?"
The random message caught me off guard, and I considered ignoring it.
But then yesterday's memory flashed through my mind.
'Don't push him away too much...'
I picked up the phone again.
What to even say?
Nothing clever came to mind, so I just sent my initial thought.
Me: What do you want me to do about it?
A bit snarky.
Imagining his dumbfounded face made me chuckle for some reason.
The little "1" by the message vanished soon after.
Then a reply came flying back.
Pervert Bastard: Now I know why you have no friends.
"Is he nuts!?"
The guy was launching personal attacks out of nowhere.
Irritated, I shifted position and hammered out a furious response.
Me: As if I have no friends, you psycho.
Pervert Bastard: Anyone in class besides me you actually talk to?
"The nerve on this punk?"
Me: Why wouldn't I? I could talk to anyone if I wanted.
Pervert Bastard: That's not a friend. You'd get awkward in under a minute, obvious as hell.
Pervert Bastard: That's just classmates, not friends.
Me: I've got Ah-young!
Pervert Bastard: Ryu's nice to everyone. Don't mistake that for friendship.
Me: Where do you live?
Pervert Bastard: Tell me and I might come over? lol
"Ughhh...!!!"
The more we chatted, the more damage I was taking—solo.
I knew cutting it short would be best for my mental health, but my emotions wouldn't let me.
Me: Think I can't track you down?
Pervert Bastard: Trying to sleuth out my address like this? Shady, real shady.
"Who's shady, you crazy bastard!!"
Heat rising to my scalp, I kept up the storm of typing.
Denying his slanders outright, ripping into him whenever an opening appeared.
And then.
Beep.
A notification popped up smack in the middle of the screen.
[Low Battery. Remaining: 10%]
"Already?"
This message usually didn't show up until past midnight...
Feeling dubious, I checked the phone's clock.
11:26 PM
"Huh...?"
Already eleven?
Our first exchange had been at 8 PM.
We hadn't talked that much, had we? Yet three hours had flown by...
It felt like time had been stolen from me.
I stared blankly at the screen for a while before letting out a small sigh.
The phone, still warm with the low-battery warning up, had clearly been gripped for ages.
"Uwaaa..."
Realizing that, I yanked the phone away from my hand in a panic.
Thinking it over, we hadn't exchanged anything meaningful.
Just scratching at each other, parrying, pointless jabs. All worthless banter.
Yet three hours had vanished.
A sticky unease started creeping in.
Why had I clung to it for so long?
Why had chatting with him been so engrossing that time slipped away unnoticed?
I got out of bed, putting distance between me and the phone.
After agonizing over it for a bit, the thought that hit me was.
'Isn't this just what friends do...?'
Killing time with idle chit-chat, bickering over nothing until the night deepens.
Not exactly rare, right?
Especially when you've got nothing going on, just chilling alone at home.
Yeah?
I crawled back into bed and grabbed the phone again.
The chat was silent.
No reply from me meant Cha Ji-hyuk had stopped messaging too.
"Probably going to sleep, huh..."
The abrupt end felt awkward, so after some hesitation, I decided to drop one last text.
Me: Gnight.
Sending it made me wonder if I'd overthought it.
I plugged the phone into the charger and was about to close my eyes when.
Pervert Bastard: Ew, why the sudden check-in?
"This jerk... I was being considerate!"
Flustered, I snatched the phone back up.
Thus began round two.
Pointless words.
Biting remarks.
Meaningless nitpicking.
I'd meant to sleep, but suddenly I was grinning, suddenly picking my replies.
Time flew by even faster than before.
...And when I snapped out of it again,
the clock was already pointing to 3 AM.
"Where you studying over break?"
After texting Cha Ji-hyuk late into the night, I'd slept through fourth period and now faced lunchtime.
Eating lunch with him, I looked up at his question.
"Huh? Same as last time... Oh."
I nearly said the library like before, but remembered that incident.
The time I'd tried to suplex this damn guy only to get misunderstood as flirting.
And that librarian who'd glared at us like we were trash and chased us out.
No way I was going back there.
"Argh, seriously...! Thanks to you, I got nowhere to study."
"How's that my fault? You clung to me outta nowhere."
Cha Ji-hyuk, incredulous, pinned the blame on me.
I set down my spoon and glared at him.
"Clung? You approached first. Lucky for you the librarian barged in—otherwise your back would've snapped."
"Snapped my ass. Where'd you learn that weird crap anyway."
After bickering for a while, we got back on track.
"So where we doing it? Any ideas?"
His tone was surprisingly serious, so I pulled out my phone to check a map.
Excluding the last place, the libraries were all pretty far from home.
"Ah... Library's out..."
Even the closest one had been brutal in the heat.
Going there three times a week? No thanks.
"Then a cafe nearby."
I hesitated at his compromise.
Ordering drinks or desserts meant worrying about saliva swaps.
Even if he showed no romantic interest, I had to stay cautious.
Seeing my pause, Cha Ji-hyuk sighed in exasperation.
"Fine, my place then."
"Absolutely not. Dream on."
"Then where? Everything sucks to you?"
I had no comeback.
I was the one shooting down ideas without better ones.
In the end, I accepted his suggestion.
"Here then..."
Muttering, I sent him the location of a cafe near the academy I'd scoped out.
Thinking it over, it wasn't impossible to prepare.
Bring a tumbler for drinks, skip the desserts. Done.
And if he was teaching me, we'd have to talk anyway—cafe seemed better than library for that.
"Not bad... Close too."
He checked the info I'd sent, nodded satisfied, then shoved his phone screen at me.
"What about here? Looks even better for studying."
I scrolled through the images on his phone.
Definitely spacious and clean, as he said. Tables well-spaced, bright lights—perfect for cramming.
"This one's good too. Location's decent— Eek!!?"
Right then.
My finger, flipping through his screen, accidentally—very briefly—brushed his hand.
An indescribable zing shot up from my fingertip, and a short, sharp yelp escaped me.
I yanked my hand back reflexively.
"...What? Static shock?"
Cha Ji-hyuk stared at me, baffled.
My fingertip still tingled oddly, so I clenched my fist in my lap.
"N-No... Just startled me..."
"Jeez, jumpy over nothing."
He shook his head and tilted the screen toward me again.
"Anyway, this one?"
"...Yeah. That sounds good."
"Cool. We'll hash out times later via text."
He pocketed his phone, grabbed his empty tray, and stood.
I followed, but that sensation lingered.
...Am I overly sensitive lately?
Just a fingertip graze, and this reaction?
Well, maybe 'cause it's that pervert.
'Just my imagination.'
Shaking it off, I trailed Cha Ji-hyuk out of the cafeteria.