Chapter 32
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 32
“I… I found it…!”
A voice echoed from the other side of the room. The moment she spoke, she turned, a bright smile on her lips as she approached Dokyun. In her hand was a small pair of nail clippers.
“H-Hold on…”
“Yes.”
As Eun-ah drew near, Dokyun instinctively lifted his arm to make space for her.
Once the space was made, she settled onto his lap with her back against his chest, then began to fidget and squirm until she found a comfortable position.
…Wait a minute.
Dokyun narrowed his eyes, staring at the back of Eun-ah’s head. Just now, he had offered up his lap so naturally.
A wave of bewilderment washed over him. His body was getting used to her.
Ugh…
He had to escape, and soon. The way he was slowly being colored by her felt dangerous.
As Dokyun’s thoughts raced, Eun-ah placed the nail clippers in his right hand.
“H-Here…”
“Thank you. Now, let’s see.”
When Dokyun held out his left hand, Eun-ah’s own hand came to rest upon it. It was decidedly smaller than his—a thin, delicate hand.
Her skin was so transparent that the veins were visible on the back of her pale hand. As he gently lifted it, he felt her fingertips tremble.
Sensing the movement, Dokyun let out a small chuckle and said, “Why are you so nervous?”
“N-No, I’m not…” Eun-ah mumbled, ducking her head low. Since she was leaning against his chest, he couldn’t see her expression, but the tips of her ears had turned bright red, a clear sign of her embarrassment.
“I’m starting now, okay?”
“Yeees…”
Lifting her hand slightly, he peeked over her shoulder to examine her nails.
The ends were jagged and uneven—the same nails that had torn his skin. As Dokyun inspected them, his brow furrowed.
While I’m at it, I should cut them as short as possible.
That way, if another incident were to happen, she wouldn’t be able to tear his flesh the same way she did last time.
His fingers moved to hold the tip of hers. Beneath the nail, he could feel a hard callus.
Looking at the faint, irregular scars, he guessed they were from biting her nails.
He moved his right hand, bringing the clippers to her right index finger.
Click.
He began to clip, carefully trimming away small pieces from the edge. A heavy silence fell, filled only by the rhythmic sound of the clippers.
Click.
The scent of her shampoo, mingled with a faint, sweet smell of her skin, drifted to his nose. It was a comforting, almost addictive fragrance, and he found himself unconsciously focusing on it.
Click.
Strands of her hair brushed against his cheek, and now that they were so close, the sound of her shallow breathing began to circle in his ear.
Click.
One by one, as the nails were trimmed, her messy fingertips became smooth and neat.
Click.
After clipping the last nail on her thumb and smoothing the edge, he set her right hand down. She tilted her head back to look up at him.
As her head lifted, the hair that had veiled her face fell away, revealing her fair skin.
Her complexion, so white it was almost pallid, was now flushed a rosy pink, full of life. The way her eyes crinkled when she looked at him and the plump curve of her cheeks drew his gaze.
“Hehe…”
A dopey giggle ran through his ears.
I’m going crazy…
It felt like his mind was short-circuiting. Was this that Stockholm Syndrome thing? The way he was just staring at her, completely forgetting his own predicament, felt exactly like it.
He had to get a grip. He had to calm his heart, force a smile onto his lips, and deal with her with the utmost rationality, weighing every single word.
“Shall we see the other hand?”
“Yeees…!”
Her hand settled on his once more. The feeling of her soft, slender hand against his palm was ticklish.
Get a hold of yourself…!
He clenched his jaw and fought to steady his mind. Had he made a mistake? Was creating a situation where he had to be in contact with this woman a mistake?
All five of his senses kept chasing after her. His heart felt like it was being squeezed tight.
Focus…
Clip the nails. He had to focus on that. He moved his hand, bringing the clippers to her fingernail.
Click.
He had to cut them very short, so short she couldn’t even think of tearing his skin. He fixed his eyes on the tip of her nail and clipped it away.
As the jagged edge was trimmed, the rounded nail that took its shape was quite pretty. The straight, oval nail sitting neatly on her fingertip was rather cute.
Fuck…
His thoughts were straying again. Focus. He had to focus.
Click.
It was a battle against the worldly desires welling up inside him. He had definitely made the wrong choice.
Click.
He never should have created a situation where he was touching her, where he was this close to her.
Click.
The feeling on his fingertips was just too damn ticklish.
Click.
“Ah…”
A sigh tinged with disappointment reached his ears. When he came to his senses, he saw that all her nails were cut, leaving them smooth and shiny.
It was over. The crisis seemed to have passed. Dokyun let out a small breath and spoke to her.
“You did a good job staying still.”
“Mhmm…”
Her reply was lukewarm. He looked down at her and saw a somewhat sulky expression on her face.
“Hm? What’s wrong?”
“Ugh…”
Her eyebrows furrowed. Did he do something wrong? Did he accidentally pinch her skin? He checked her hand, but it was perfectly neat.
As he wondered, he felt a tugging at his sleeve.
“M-Mr. Honeybee…”
“Yes?”
When Dokyun looked at her, she fidgeted with her fingertips where they touched his and continued.
“M-My toenails, too…”
The face looking up at him was on the verge of tears. She looked like a rain-soaked puppy, and he felt an irrepressible urge to laugh.
“Should I?”
The words left his mouth before he could stop them.
Ah.
He should have refused, but his mouth had run away with him again. He should be feeling miserable, he should be angry.
“Hehe…”
But seeing her face light up made his stomach flutter again.
He forced the corners of his mouth up into a smile. Or was he even forcing it anymore?
“Oof…”
Smiling brightly, she got off his lap and moved to sit beside him. As the small patch of warmth that had been pressing against him disappeared, a sudden, hollow emptiness washed over his chest.
Onto his absentmindedly lowered hand, she placed her foot. It was so tiny, a small foot that fit entirely in his palm. When he moved his hand to hold it, her toes curled in an adorable way.
“Pfft!”
Was it ticklish? He heard a giggle from beside him.
Wiggle, wiggle.
Her toes were dancing.
“Ah,”
Again, his mind grew hazy. It wasn’t easy to keep a grip on himself. He gave his head a slight shake and opened his mouth.
“I’ll start now, okay?”
“Yeees…!”
He lowered his gaze and saw the tips of her toes. Unlike her fingernails, her toenails were neatly trimmed, with only a little bit sticking out. They don’t even look that long, he thought, but brought the clippers to them anyway.
Click.
Maybe this was a relief. Unlike when he was clipping her fingernails, the warmth and the sound of her breathing were fainter. It was easier to clear his head and focus on the task.
Click.
When his finger touched her, she would flinch slightly, but then relax into his touch like a well-behaved puppy.
Click.
Since her toenails weren’t very long, he had to be careful not to clip the skin.
Click.
Her toenails, like her fingernails, grew straight and had a very pretty shape.
Click.
He went from her pinky toe all the way to her big toe. As he was clipping it, a random thought popped into his head.
She doesn’t have ingrown toenails.
Blessed genes.
After he finished all the nails on her right foot, his eyes finally fell upon the top of her foot. Beyond her straight instep, he could see her ankle bone peeking out.
Without realizing it, his gaze traveled further up. He saw her calf, smooth and straight. It seemed so slender, yet when seen on its own like this, it was strange how it looked just fleshy enough to seem soft.
Higher still, his gaze passed over her round knee and fixed on her pale thigh. As he stared blankly, he saw the hem of her dress, which had been pushed down, resting lightly on her thigh.
Beneath the dress, he thought he could just barely see something, and as his eyes moved toward it—
Snap—!
C-Crazy!
He remembered something he had forgotten.
His gaze shot up to her face. Her cheeks were flushed red. Her eyes, slightly moist, were cast downward. Her lips were glossy.
“I-If you want to see…”
Her lips parted, and bewildering words came out. Her hand moved, and she began to slowly lift the hem of her dress.
Watching her, a flustered tone escaped Dokyun’s lips.
“N-No!”
“Yes…?”
Her face lifted again. Dokyun forced his twitching lips into a wide smile and continued.
“We still have to do the other side, don’t we?”
“Ah, ahh…”
Her flushed face gave a slight nod. A moment later, she placed her other foot onto Dokyun’s outstretched left hand.
Dokyun took it and began to clip her toenails, letting out an internal sigh of relief.
That was… fucking close…
That was truly dangerous. He had forgotten that she wasn’t wearing any underwear.
Not now. He couldn’t look now. His stomach was churning too much.
Probably.
I don’t think I can hold back…
He clenched his teeth. Right, he had to admit it. He couldn’t hold back right now. He couldn’t do it because he felt like he would be the one to start something.
All day today. No, ever since the first day, her actions had been sending him consistently positive signals, and it seemed he could no longer make rational judgments.
Dokyun’s thoughts screamed, sounding one alarm after another.
The fact that he kept thinking, what if, was definitive proof that his mind was no longer functioning normally.
Should I pull a trigger or something?
His condition was so bad that he was even considering deliberately provoking one of her episodes just to create some distance.
As he struggled to calm his churning insides, the toenails were all clipped. Just as he thought he could finally, at long last, end this bizarrely intimate situation, her mouth opened.
“S-So, now…”
“We’re done, right?”
“Nnngh…”
When Dokyun finished her sentence, she shook her head, denying it. A wave of confusion washed over him, and he asked, “B-But there’s nothing left to cut…?”
It’s not like he was going to shave her head.
“Y-Yours, Mr. Honeybee…”
“Pardon?”
“I-I’ll…”
She mumbled something. Dokyun waited patiently for her to finish.
“I-I’ll cut them for you…”
As she spoke, he felt her hands take his. Feeling troubled, Dokyun looked down at his own nails to check their length, then spoke.
“I think mine are fine. They’re still short.”
He had just cut them last week; there was nothing to trim. When he said that, a look of disappointment crossed her face, and she slowly nodded.
“Oh… you’re right…”
She had a pouty, displeased expression. Feeling his stomach churn again, Dokyun steeled himself and spoke, determined to bring the situation to a definitive end.
“Come to think of it, isn’t it about dinnertime?”
They had been at this for quite a while, so he was probably right. Her eyes widened slightly, confirming his guess.
Then, she reached out and undid the collar around Dokyun’s neck.
“S-So, shall we go eat…?”
“Yes, I’ll be in your care again today.”
“Yes, yeees…!”
He gave her head a gentle pat as he spoke. Radiating excitement, she nodded eagerly and walked quickly toward the kitchen.
That was a really, really close call.