Hotter Than the Color of Those Eyes
The body grew hotter than the color of those eyes. The flesh that had been chilled by fear only moments ago melted softly beneath Reina's warmth. Even with swimsuits between us, the fabric was so revealing that skin met skin. Though we floated in steaming water, her body heat stood out sharply against it. My heart raced at the word "love." I was still searching for something to say when she spoke.
“Uh, um… First of all… if we stay like this… I’m getting a little embarrassed too… If you like it, there’s nothing I can do, but… maybe we should pull out first?”
The instant I heard her, a twitch ran through me below.
“!?”
I had been thinking so seriously that I had forgotten our bodies were still joined. The moment the realization hit, something warm trickled from my nose.
“Y-Yujin!”
“Huh? Noona?”
Those were the last words I managed before my vision blurred. Only then did I remember my hemophobia—how the sight of blood made my whole body shake, sometimes even knocking me out. The image of red spreading across the water kept replaying in my mind. I had already been soaking too long, and the sight of her blood had triggered it. My heart pounded wildly; my fingertips turned cold and began to tremble.
― ♠ ―
The pure, timid boy was unbearably adorable. That thought lasted only a second. The moment Yujin collapsed, Reina cried out in panic.
“Yujin! What’s wrong? Stay with me! Yujin!”
Was it from overexertion? Guilt twisted inside her as she looked at him, nose bleeding, eyes closed. She hauled him from the bath at once and barked orders at her subordinates.
“Hurry! Get a doctor—call the nearest one!”
“B-Boss… it’s the middle of the night…”
“Shut up! Drag him here if you have to threaten him! Or I won’t forgive any of you!”
They fled the room with pale faces. A short while later an elderly doctor arrived and examined Yujin. He concluded it was simple unconsciousness and asked if anything else seemed off. Reina explained only what she could without mentioning the embarrassing details. Hemophobia, the doctor said—likely worsened by an allergic reaction that caused the nosebleed.
“He also shows signs of anxiety. Best to avoid whatever frightens him.”
After stating that rest would bring him around and no prescription was necessary, the doctor left. Reina ordered extra payment sent to his hospital, then dismissed everyone with quiet authority.
Time passed. At eleven o’clock that night, Yujin finally opened his eyes.
― ♠ ―
The black-canvas darkness of my vision blurred once more, and the first thing I saw was a beautiful silver-haired woman. Her face crumpled with worry; the moment my eyes opened she threw herself against me, clinging tight.
“Hwaaang! Yujin! I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!”
“N-Noona?”
I had clearly lost consciousness in the bath, yet now I lay in her bedroom, not the bathroom. On her bed, no less. I blinked up at her, confused. In a tearful voice she recounted what had happened.
‘Ah… right. I was with Noona…’
It hadn’t been a dream. I had truly joined with the lovely silver-haired woman before me and taken her first time. No—more precisely, Reina had given it to me. Heat flooded my face as the memory returned.
“I… really did it with Noona…”
I finally understood why those scenes were always mosaicked in manga and anime. They always cut the middle and jumped to the end, so I’d never known exactly what happened. Now that I had felt it myself, I understood.
“Yeah! We had our first night together! How was it? Did it feel good?”
“It felt good, but… first night means… that?”
She nodded eagerly. “Think of it as the night a bride and groom first become one. If I explain more—when a married couple mixes their bodies…”
“Eek! Y-You don’t have to say the rest! Aaaah!”
I yanked the blanket over my mouth. Reina laughed, bright and teasing.
“Your embarrassed face is always so cute! Hehe, Yujin!”
She leaned in suddenly. I braced for another tackle, but she only pressed a gentle kiss to my forehead, then drew back. My cheeks burned hotter; my heart thumped wildly.
“Um… Noona…”
“Yes?”
“Did I… send baby seeds inside you?”
“Huh? Well… y-yeah, you did!”
“What!? Then this isn’t the time to just sit here!”
I scrambled up, grabbing her hand. Somehow I was now wearing a T-shirt and shorts instead of a swimsuit, but that didn’t matter. Reina blinked, startled, then caught my wrist with worry.
“Yujin! Where are you going?”
“The hospital! I learned in sex ed that there are eggs down there! If sperm meets egg, a baby is born! So we have to get to emergency care right now!”
It was already late; we would need the emergency room. I wanted to be sure everything was fine, but Reina suddenly burst out laughing.
“N-Noona?”
“Puhahaha! Oh my gosh, you really don’t know anything!”
“H-Huh? What do you mean, I don’t know anything…?”
She gently pushed me back onto the bed and began to explain. Pregnancy wasn’t that simple. It usually took multiple times, and there was a specific ovulation window. Today wasn’t a dangerous day, she said.
“Th-then…?”
“Right. Today isn’t dangerous at all~ Pregnancy definitely won’t happen.”
“……”
She went on, patiently teaching me about cycles and “magic days” the way a sex-ed teacher might. The more she spoke, the more I realized how much I had overreacted.
“Hehe, but I was still really happy!”
“Huh?”
“You worried about me like that! You thought of me first! It’s so touching!”
Her expression grew a little sad. She said most men in these situations only blamed themselves and ran. Even if they weren’t married, they usually disappeared the moment a woman got pregnant. Women could be just as irresponsible. Hearing that, a quiet ache filled me—maybe that was why I had been abandoned.
Reina panicked at once. “I’m sorry, I misspoke! Not everyone is like that!”
“B-But…”
“Yujin. Not everyone abandons their child for that reason. Even the person who left you at the orphanage… at least thought it through a little.”
Most babies were left in bathrooms or empty alleys. I had been placed in the baby box in front of the orphanage. There had been CCTV, but the director never showed me the footage—only that the person who left me looked more like a girl than a grown woman. Reina reached out and stroked my hair.
“She thought of you until the very end.”
“R-Really?”
“Mm. Most minors would have chosen abortion. She didn’t want that, so she used the baby box because of her situation and money.”
There was no pity in her eyes—only quiet sincerity. I found myself believing her. Reina hesitated, then spoke carefully.
“Yujin… if you’re all right with it… I could try to find clues about your mother. Would you like that?”
What? I could find my mother? For a second my eyes widened, but my heart had already given up. I shook my head.
“No. Even if I found the person who gave birth to me now… I think I’d only resent her. I’ll just accept the thought.”
I thanked her politely. With her power she could do it easily, even in secret, yet she had asked me first. That mattered more than anything. At first she had seemed eccentric and a little foolish, but now she felt mature, steady, someone I could rely on.
Thump-thump. Even while the story stayed sad, my heart kept racing. She apologized again for her careless words, but I didn’t mind at all. If anything, the fact that she cared enough to worry about my feelings made me realize something. This wasn’t the affection I felt for a familiar noona or family. It had already gone far beyond that.
Probably… I was seeing Reina as a woman.