Chapter 92
Chapter 92
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 92
Chapter Title: Straight to the Love Hotel
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Let's go, miss.
"I... I just wanted some attention from Sanghyeon too. W-wuwu."
Harumi trailed off, her voice breaking into sobs.
"Hey now! How many times must I tell you!? Acting on such petty selfish desires goes against the teachings of the ancient sages—it's downright unfilial...!"
"I don't know!! I don't care about that!!"
She shrieked and jumped to her feet, pointing accusingly at Ren and Saki.
"Sanghyeon... he's close with Ren and Saki...! And more than that... he hasn't done that with me...! That's why... that's why I tried to seduce him...!"
Hic
The room fell silent at her soft sniffles. Saki's eyes widened as she glanced between me and Harumi, then shrugged helplessly, as if she had no idea what to say. Ren blushed but quietly caught her breath.
Amid all this, one person alone couldn't grasp what was happening.
"Eh...! This is why you young folks these days...! What you're talking about must be 'dating,' right? Spending time together as lovers. You can do that anytime after calligraphy club! Or heck, you could even call doing club activities together like this a date, couldn't you?"
Harumi shook her head.
"It's not dating! It's... it's something way better that he's done with everyone but me!!"
Hudahara tilted her head, her pale purple hair cascading softly down.
"Something way better...? What could that be?"
Oh no, if she asks about that...
"Obviously! Sex!!"
Hudahara leaned forward, cupping her ear as if she couldn't quite believe what she'd heard.
"What... what did you say...?"
"Sex! Se-x! Making babies, schlick-schlick and buuuuust!!!"
Ren and Saki covered their faces and bowed their heads, and even I felt my cheeks burning. God knows what Hudahara was going through.
"He definitely did it with Ren and Saki! No doubt about it—I can tell as a woman. And a lot, right!? Those two, they meet Sanghyeon's eyes and shyly smile while clutching their lower bellies!! Sigh... sigh..."
As if a dam had burst after holding back so long, she clenched her fists and let tears trickle from her eyes.
"Uh, uh, uhhh... up... hup...!"
Hudahara froze in stunned silence, babbling incoherently as she clamped her hands over her ears.
"Anyway, I want to do it too!! Do it with me, give me a baby too! Giiiive it to meee!!"
I'd never realized it because she'd been so prim, but our miss Harumi was actually quite the spoiled princess deep down. She'd grown strong after her parents' tragedy, standing on her own, but she'd been raised as the pampered young lady of a wealthy family, doted on by her parents and butler since childhood.
Harumi screamed at the top of her lungs, shaking the calligraphy club room.
Hudahara shuddered violently and bolted out of the room.
"U, uuuu! I c-can't hear it! Th-this... this vulgar talk...! I n-need to wash my ears—!"
She was off to seisenji—washing her ears with water, apparently. What an old soul.
Now alone in the room with just the four of us, Ren and Saki quietly approached Harumi and took her hands.
"Harumi... I understand how you feel."
It was a calm voice.
"Harumi's just not great at expressing it, but your feelings for Sanghyeon are no different from ours."
Saki nodded too.
"Yeah. It's childish, but not incomprehensible."
"Hic..."
Harumi rubbed her eyes and hung her head in embarrassment.
"I... I just wanted Sanghyeon to see me as a woman too... S-so I tried to seduce him in my own way...!"
"Still, you can't throw a tantrum like that in front of Club President Hudahara."
"Ugh... s-sorry..."
Ren scolded her like a mother, and Harumi nodded meekly.
"Make sure to apologize properly when the president comes back."
"Yeah..."
Harumi looked dejected, and Saki and Ren shot me a glare.
"Yuu. I get that Hudahara's off-limits or whatever. But you can't just neglect Harumi!"
"Exactly, Sanghyeon. Sigh... This is making me anxious. You can't even give proper attention to your existing girlfriends... and expanding the fukuren so recklessly? I absolutely can't approve of that."
She had a point.
I pulled all three of them into a group hug and whispered.
"Sorry, everyone. I got too hasty. I'll be more careful from now on."
They all broke into happy smiles at my words.
"I believe you. But hurry up and... do it with me too, okay? Yeah? Pretty please?"
Harumi bounced between Ren and Saki, reaching out her arms. How could I not hug her like that?
I scooped her up by the butt and lifted her, and Ren and Saki stepped back a bit, showing they understood for now.
"Got it. So after school today... Understood?"
"Y-yeah!!"
Mwah mwah mwah♥
Just like always, Harumi showered my neck with bold kisses, and it seemed Ren and Saki were okay with it. Strictly speaking, doing it with Harumi before full fukuren approval had its risks... but Ren and Saki knew how deep our bond and trust ran, so they decided to look the other way.
Girlfriends who even forgave a "cheat sex" (not really)... They're the best.
That's when Shizune returned. The shoulders of her hakama were soaked from water dripping from her ears.
"I-if you're going to talk such vulgar nonsense, get out!!"
Harumi scampered over and bowed deeply before her.
"Um... sorry. It feels like all the other girlfriends are getting closer to Sanghyeon, and I'm the only one falling behind... Sorry..."
"Huh...?"
Shizune's expression turned strange for a moment.
"Ah...? Come to think of it... last time, Yuu-kun and his girlfriend... eh...? Girlfriends'?"
She'd finally caught on.
"No way...! This is the fukuren...!?"
I nodded.
Shizune pointed at me in even greater shock than before.
"Wh-what depraved custom is this!? The Three Bonds and Five Relationships state that husband and wife are one body—how can your actions not defy the sages' way?!"
"President Hudahara, but this is an officially recognized custom and system by the state, right? Plus, advanced nations worldwide facing population issues are all adopting it."
Irrefutable logic.
"Th-that's... true... I suppose..."
Stumped by my rational counter, Shizune stared at her inkstone, cheeks flushing. Her archaic speech continued amid quickened breaths.
"Hoo... Come to think of it, ancient Joseon texts like the Gaerye mention cases where men took concubines separate from their principal wife. Confucius's disciples often had concubines besides their wives, and even sage kings kept multiple consorts..."
She covered her mouth with the back of her hand, fumbling her words. The blush spreading across Shizune's face grew deeper.
"S-so... this isn't so different from the ancient sages' customs... One man... with several women... Haa..."
Her face stayed stern, but her ears were beet red. A complex mix of bewilderment, embarrassment, and subtle envy.
"N-no! That's just the ancients. In today's world, it could be seen as promiscuous... B-but the state approves it... U, uuu!"
Even as she spoke, her eyes darted between me and the three girls. Her knuckles whitened gripping her brush, but she was already crafting her own rationale.
"As the ancients said, 'That which is above form is called the Way; that which is within form is called the vessel.' If Way and vessel align, differing customs share the same essence..."
Vessel? What was that? Probably from the I Ching. I'd studied hard, but these obscure references kept coming. How much had she read?
"In other words, if hearts are true to each other... having many women doesn't defy the Way..."
Exactly.
We'll soon share true hearts anyway, so it's great she's warming up to the idea early.
Finally, she set down her brush and bowed her head. Her nape trembled, flushed red. Just witnessing polyamory got her this excited? Total bookworm.
"Uuu... How am I rationalizing this bizarre custom...?"
Yet her fingertips carefully stroked the inkstone.
"A-anyway! Just focus on writing! Today's theme is 'Cultivate Self, Rule Others.' If you can't master your own heart, how can you master others?!"
It was meant as a shout, but Shizune was the one trembling.
.
.
.
"Kyahaha, Club President Hudahara was hilarious, right?!"
She was.
"Yeah, she was. Haha."
With Ren and Saki's permission, I walked home with Harumi.
Passersby smiled warmly at us, like a big brother with his little sister due to our height difference—but reality was quite different.
"So, where to? Straight to the love hotel? There?"
This fearless miss's eyes brimmed with anticipation. She absolutely couldn't tolerate others having what she didn't—her desire would burn fiercely until satisfied.
Then I'd better fill it quick.
"Let's go, miss."
Gulp
"Y-yeah...!"