Entrance Ceremony (1)
About thirty minutes of kneading Han Sora's chest while faking sleep with sleep-talk. When I decided that was probably enough, I stopped moving my fingers and drifted off just as I was, still wrapped around her—quietly clearing away the insomnia Suggestion I'd planted on myself in the first place to hold out for nearly two hours of sleep.
'A little disappointing, sure, but thirty minutes was plenty.'
What mattered was that I'd spent thirty full minutes touching Han Sora's breasts and observing her reactions.
It was an act of simple desire on my part, yes—but it was also a way of measuring exactly how much she cared about me, and how much trust she placed in me.
The fact that she hadn't woken me up in anger proved she trusted that I hadn't touched her chest on purpose.
And the fact that she'd swatted my hand away once, then let it wander right back, told me she had at least some feelings for me.
Until now I hadn't been able to confirm how fond of me she actually was, so I'd stayed cautious—but this should be proof enough.
Otherwise, no matter how bad her sleeping habits were, no woman would ever hand her chest over to another man like that.
'Once tonight is probably my limit, though.'
Human sleep cycles run on a ninety-minute rhythm—roughly an hour of deep sleep alternating with thirty minutes of light sleep.
Which meant that, pretending to sleep-talk, about thirty minutes was the maximum window I had to fondle Han Sora's body. Any longer than that, and even someone with a passing knowledge of how sleep works would find it strange.
So after enjoying her reactions for about thirty minutes, I simply went to sleep. I'd already accomplished my goal, after all.
With firm confirmation that I'd pried Han Sora out of Seo Woojin's grasp for good, my objective was complete.
'So that makes it... what, the third one?'
Excluding Min Yewon, three heroines had progressed as far as their chests, and one had already gone from fellatio all the way to sex.
Smiling to myself at how smoothly my conquests were unfolding even before I'd set foot in the Academy, I let sleep take me.
The night of Lee Seonho's sleep-talking breast-kneading passed, and morning came.
"Mmnh... aahh..."
Feeling a bit worn out from the night's events, Han Sora woke to her alarm—by which point Lee Seonho was already gone.
"What, he's already up...?"
If she'd woken first, she might have caught Seonho flustered and panicking.
After all, even until the moment she'd drifted back to sleep, she'd felt his hand resting right on top of her chest.
His hand wandering might have been an accident, but the way he'd held her while sleeping surely hadn't changed—so he probably would have scrambled, wide-eyed and unable to look at her, the moment he woke up.
Truthfully, she'd wanted to turn the whole thing into a fait accompli and lock in her relationship with him for good. Knowing the Seonho she was familiar with, there was a decent chance he'd insist on taking responsibility over a mistake that small.
'Well, thinking about it, it was just an accident that happened in our sleep...'
Demanding someone take responsibility for something they don't even remember would be way too shameless, anyway.
With those thoughts, Han Sora climbed out of bed and stepped outside—where Lee Seonho stood in the kitchen, an apron tied around his waist.
"Y-you're up early."
"...You're awake, Sora?"
"Yeah..."
Perhaps because they'd woken up in the same bed, his greeting came with a slightly awkward expression.
Han Sora was just as embarrassed. She'd had her chest fondled by Seonho's hand for a good thirty minutes in the middle of the night, after all.
But she'd learned the previous night that being shy got you nowhere, so clutching her pounding heart, she crept to his side, laid a hand on his shoulder, and asked,
"Making breakfast? What's on the menu?"
"...Scrambled eggs and toast. I pulled the bread out of the freezer."
"Wheat bread, not white?"
"...Well, I usually eat on a managed diet. Want me to make you something else, Sora?"
"No, I'm fine. Give me the same thing you're having, Seonho."
Every one of these hardworking little gestures of his looked charming to her now.
So she changed her mindset, stationed herself at his side, and quietly watched as he toasted the bread.
"......"
"......"
Best not to mention what happened last night, as expected.
Maybe I'll have to keep it a secret all my life, too. Even if I told him seriously, it's not a story anyone would easily believe in the first place.
And forcing the topic anyway, making Seonho feel burdened by her—that wasn't what she wanted at all.
If they became a couple like that, she figured he'd choose her purely out of a sense of duty, with no regard for what he actually felt.
Sure, her 'physical conditions' fell short compared to Cha Eunju or Kim Isabel—but she had a boldness and closeness with him that those two lacked, and that let her act more proactively.
...They say men, more often than not, prefer a woman who likes them over a woman they like. If she made the first move, Seonho probably wouldn't be able to say no.
"Here—nothing fancy, but eat up."
"Yay~! Time to dig in~!"
And so, deliberately acting as if nothing had happened, Han Sora accepted her breakfast with perfect composure.
"So, Sora."
"Mm?"
"Actually, there's something I did wrong, and I wanted to confess it..."
"......"
Seonho's words coming mid-breakfast put her slightly on edge, and she paid close attention.
"Something wrong?"
"...Last night, somehow, the two of us ended up sleeping in the same bed."
"Oh, yeah. W-we did."
"...I didn't notice while I was asleep, but when I woke up, I was wrapped around you."
"W-was I? P-probably... probably rolled into you by accident while I slept?"
"...Also, when I woke up this morning, my right hand was... s-squeezing your chest, Sora..."
"......"
Lee Seonho was voluntarily reporting the very incident she'd been willing to let slide.
Since she'd have been none the wiser, he could have swept it under the rug entirely—was there really a reason to confess like this?
Han Sora couldn't quite understand his behavior, and yet at the same time, she couldn't help feeling that it was so very like Seonho.
Being this innocent, feeling this much guilt over something so trivial—that was exactly the version of him she'd seen all along.
"I-I didn't touch you with any weird intentions, I swear. B-but, still, I felt I had to say something..."
"...I see."
"O-of course I know hearing this might upset you, but if something like this happened and I just let it slide without a word, the guilt would eat at me..."
"......"
"...What can I do to make you forgive me, Sora?"
Ahh, seriously.
Why does it always have to be like this, honestly?
Now I'm the one getting embarrassed over all my scheming about fait accompli and whatnot. Why does he have to take it all so seriously?
'Honestly, this guy's too earnest for his own good.'
If she told him she'd kneaded her own breasts into his hands with sleep-talk and even gotten her nipples pinched, his reaction was painfully predictable. She'd be lucky if he didn't collapse face-first onto the floor, pale as a ghost.
She judged that taking this too seriously would only make their relationship more awkward going forward, so there was nothing to do but let it pass with a light touch.
"It's fine, you don't need to apologize for every little thing. I was asleep too, so I didn't even know. Whatever."
"But, still, what I did was—"
"Ugh, I said it's fine. Then let's just call it even—you made a mistake on me last night too, so we're square."
"Huh?"
"Last night, when you were coming out of the shower, I... kind of saw you. On accident. You forgave me for that yesterday, so we just cancel it all out, right?"
"......Th-that works, I guess."
"......Yeah, so let's both pretend it never happened. No more being sorry or embarrassed over stuff like this. Deal?"
"...Thanks, Sora."
"That's what I said—knock it off."
A night where she'd seen him naked, and in turn, he'd touched her chest.
Neither of them had done it willingly, but either way, it had undeniably happened between them in a single night.
Thinking that, at this rate, she'd be the one to reach him first—well ahead of Cha Eunju or Kim Isabel—Han Sora carefully allowed herself to relax.
That morning, Han Sora and I washed our hair with the same shampoo and left the house together.
Unlike last night, when we'd slipped out through the back gate to avoid Seo Woojin, today the two of us headed for the Academy's main gate side by side.
There was almost no chance of running into Seo Woojin at the main gate first thing in the morning, and besides, word had come that Han Sora's mother was waiting for her there.
No harm in saying hello and making a good impression while we were at it. Might as well help carry some luggage along the way.
As I walked alongside Han Sora, a huge backpack strapped to her shoulders on the way to the Academy, a brown-haired woman near the gate caught my eye—one who looked a lot like her.
"Hey, Sora~!"
"Ah, Mom!"
I'd thought they looked strikingly similar—turns out she really is Han Sora's mother.
She looked young enough that claiming a daughter in her twenties attending the Academy should have been hard to believe, but it didn't strike me as odd. Novels like this one always beautify their women all the way into middle age, as a matter of course.
Besides, as a former hunter, Han Sora's mother surely had an awakened ability of her own—and in this world, people who wielded abilities aged slowly. Everyone simply accepted it as fact.
'She is definitely pretty, being Han Sora's mom and all.'
Were her husband not in the picture, I might have seriously considered trying to seduce her from behind. Of course, if Han Sora caught me doing that, our relationship would be in total shambles, so actually attempting it was out of the question.
Chasing after Han Sora as she bolted ahead—no doubt picturing a mother-daughter threesome that could only ever exist in my imagination—I watched her get her head pushed down by her mother's fist from a distance.
"Soraaa~! How many times did I tell you to double-check your bags before leaving~!!"
"Aah, ow~! I said I'm sorry~!!"
"You're making me travel all the way to Seoul when I'm this busy?! Hm?!"
"Aah, I know~!! I'll be more careful next time~!!"
A mother disciplining her like a wayward child, and a daughter batting back the nagging with playful, affectionate replies.
It made for a decently heartwarming scene to watch, and then the mother's gaze landed on me.
"Hello, ma'am. I'm Lee Seonho, a friend of Sora's from the Academy."
"Oh, Sora's friend, is it? Well, how has Sora been settling in at the Academy?"
"Ah, Mom~! She hasn't even had her entrance ceremony yet, how would she know~!"
"I could still ask, young lady~!"
Apparently too embarrassed to hear an objective assessment of herself, Han Sora tried to cut the conversation short.
Ordinarily I'd have been happy to indulge her wishes, but this was my one chance to make a good impression on Han Sora's mother, and I couldn't let it slip.
"Sora's a dependable friend. We ended up taking the entrance exam together, and honestly, if it hadn't been for her, I doubt I'd have made it through the practical.
When we went to Neverland before, I owe a lot to Sora for getting me through some dangerous situations. With her skills, she'll do just fine at the Academy—so please don't worry."
"Oh my, so you were with Sora during that terrorist attack?"
"Yes, and things might have gotten genuinely dangerous without her. I've received a great deal of kindness from your daughter, in many ways."
She was scolding her daughter like that just now, but parents are parents—praise for their children never fails to delight them.
Still, perhaps being praised so lavishly embarrassed her, because Han Sora slipped back into the conversation at just the right moment, her face tinged faintly pink.
"I told you before—remember that dependable boy in the Support Department? This is him."
"Oh. So this is the one? The boy who handed the top spot to Sora."
"I didn't hand anything over—Sora did what only Sora could do, so I believe she earned the valedictorian spot fair and square."
"Hmm~. Do you really mean that?"
"Yes."
Han Sora's mother met my eyes with an odd gleam, as if testing me.
I didn't avert my gaze or back down—I held hers straight for a few seconds, and a small smile slipped from her lips.
"Good. Take care of Sora from now on, too. Sounds like she owed you one last night—just don't let her get too spoiled."
"Wh-what?! How do you know that?!"
"You smell like the same shampoo—how could I miss it? I met your father back when we were at the Academy ourselves, so I won't say anything. But you will use proper protection, you hear?"
"Wh-what are you even saying?! Me and Seonho—we're not like that!"
"Right, right. Keep your Preliminary Student ID safe and get inside~. And you, Seonho—take good care of Sora~."
"Yes, ma'am. Don't you worry."
"Okay, okay, hurry inside... I'm dying of embarrassment..."
With her mother walking away, treating me not as a friend but as her daughter's boyfriend, and Han Sora pushing at my back into the Academy, red to the ears—
Still, I'd say that made for a more than decent first impression.