The Maid Costume
Dragged along by Haeun's grip, we arrived at a shop whose entrance was lined with mannequins sporting colorful wigs and grotesque outfits.
It was a cosplay specialty store selling cheap, ready-made costumes in various themes for enthusiasts.
"……"
The moment I checked the signboard, a chill ran down my spine at the instinctive warning bells.
'No way. It can't be.'
I took a step back and asked Haeun.
"Haeun. Don't tell me… we're here for that maid…"
"Yeah. That's right."
Haeun turned her head and answered brightly, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"So… we have to buy it ourselves?"
"Of course. Since I, the student council president, officially approved it, the budget for parts and costume rental has already been allocated from the student council funds."
Haeun answered crisply, then tilted her chin and trailed off strangely.
"But… I don't really know the boys' body types, you know?"
"……W-wait…!"
Before I could even brace myself, Haeun grabbed my wrist and dragged me straight into the flashy cosplay store.
Despite it being a weekday evening, the shop was bustling with couples on quirky dates.
"Oppa~ How about this? A nurse outfit!"
"Babe, that's cute too, but what about the one with bunny ears over there?"
On one side, a girlfriend was pressing a skin-tight costume against her body with a coquettish laugh, while the guy beside her ogled the women's costumes with a lecherous grin.
'Ugh… nothing but disgusting creeps.'
I frowned at the unsightly scene and shook my head.
How embarrassing. What were they even doing?
Of course, if it were Baek Haeun wearing one of those pretty costumes next to me, the story would be completely different.
While I was lost in my own ridiculous fantasy, grinning to myself, it happened.
"Woojin."
"……"
"Hey. Lee Woojin."
Only then did I snap out of it at Haeun's call.
"..Huh..huh? What?"
When I whipped my head around, Haeun tossed something straight into my arms.
White, fluttering lace frills.
And a pitch-black dress with a large ribbon attached.
Anyone could see it was unmistakably a maid costume.
"……?"
I stared blankly at the weight of this unwanted fate cradled in my arms.
Haeun scanned the other maid outfits hanging on the rack, then asked me in a bright yet chilling voice.
"Woojin, do you prefer short skirts or long ones?"
"……"
'Shit…. '
A long-forgotten, brutal trauma flashed through my mind like lightning.
[Woojin! Dad's buying our son his favorite pork cutlet today! Let's go!]
Back when I was only ten, I'd excitedly followed my dad, thinking we were going out for delicious pork cutlet together.
Instead, I'd been dragged into a urology operating room, pants forcibly removed, and given an anesthetic shot while screaming.
That damned memory of being tricked into "whale hunting."
[I'll buy dinner tonight, Woojin.]
The betrayal I felt now, lured in by Haeun's sweet promise of a tasty meal, overlapped perfectly with that day.
Just as I was about to lose it in the middle of the cosplay store, recalling that horrific trauma—
"Wait a second."
Haeun suddenly approached and wrapped both arms around my waist in a tight hug.
"……!"
A sudden embrace.
Her scent hit my nose as she fit perfectly into my arms.
My heart pounded like crazy.
"Hey… you. You said no earlier on the street!"
As I panicked and tried to push her away, Haeun tilted her head and slowly pulled something from my waist.
"What is it?"
It was a yellow measuring tape.
"..I just need to measure your waist to buy the clothes, that's all."
"……Huh?"
"Why? Did you think I was hugging you?"
A mischievous smile spread across Haeun's lips.
My face burned hot.
'Shit, Lee Woojin. What the hell are you doing, getting ahead of yourself…? Why are you so conscious of her…!'
I cleared my throat and quickly looked away.
"Ahem…! N-no. I was just saying we should hurry up, that's all."
"Hmm~. I see."
Haeun leisurely enjoyed my pathetic excuse, then snatched the maid costume I was holding.
"Got it. I'll bring back one that fits your size. Wait here."
"Y-yeah…"
As Haeun disappeared into the back of the store to find the clothes, I slapped my burning cheeks with both hands.
'Hey, Lee Woojin! What's wrong with you since earlier? Get a grip. Baek Haeun is just a pawn in my long-term plan. Why do you keep getting swept up in her pace!'
While I was brainwashing myself and forcibly steadying my mind, Haeun returned with the exchanged costume and approached me.
"Here. Try this on."
She held out the clothes wrapped in black plastic.
"Here…?"
"Yeah. We have to buy it today."
Haeun stared straight at me with empty eyes.
Under the silent pressure that allowed no refusal, I let out a deep sigh.
"Haa… Fine. Just don't come into the fitting room no matter what."
"Okay."
Haeun nodded obediently and stood quietly in front of the fitting room.
"......"
I felt uneasy, but soon drew the curtain and stepped inside.
Inside the narrow fitting room.
Grumbling, I tore open the black plastic bag Haeun had given me.
"....Bunny ears?"
I frowned at the stiff bunny-ear headband that had fallen out along with the clothes.
"Do maid costumes these days come with this stuff?"
Muttering, I stripped off my school uniform and threw it aside.
Then I squeezed myself into the black outfit from the packaging.
It felt like there was far less fabric than the maid outfit I'd seen earlier, clinging tightly to my body, but I forced the zipper up anyway and looked at the full-length mirror.
"……What the fuck."
The reflection wasn't a neat maid outfit with frills.
It was a leather bodysuit with a deep neckline and fully exposed leg lines.
Just in case, I picked up the packaging from the floor and checked the label.
[Sexy Cutie Bunny Girl Costume (Unisex)]
"What?!"
My brain froze for a moment.
With the bunny ears on, I would be the perfect—
Hideous bunny girl.
'Shit… I need to take this off quick and tell Haeun she brought the wrong one.'
Just as I panicked and tried to pull down the zipper on my back—
Swish-!
The tightly closed fitting room curtain was pulled aside, and Baek Haeun slipped inside.
"Huh…? Hey, you, you…!"
My gaze locked with Haeun's in midair as I stood frozen in the half-removed bunny girl outfit.
"The clothes are wrong… No, more importantly, I told you not to come in!!"
I shouted in shame, face bright red, trying to cover myself, but Haeun didn't even blink.
Instead, she slowly picked up the bunny-ear headband from the floor and approached me.
Thud-!
Haeun pushed me hard against the fitting room wall.
"H-hey… Baek Haeun. M-move…!"
She placed one hand on the wall, completely blocking my escape, then used the other to firmly place the bunny ears on top of my head.
"What?"
Haeun whispered into my ear as I stood trapped against the wall, unable to move.
My face was already flushed bright red, ready to burst.
"Hey… stop messing around…. Hurry… bring the original clothes…."
I spoke in a trembling voice, eyes lowered in shame.
"What? I can't hear you."
Haeun grabbed my chin and lifted it, smiling mischievously.
"S-so… bring the maid outfit… instead…."
"Maid outfit, what? You should say 'please bring it' properly."
"……!!"
Haeun cut me off, and my sanity began to slip away.
'Shit… shit… shit…! Something's seriously wrong here.'
Why the hell was I letting Baek Haeun push me around like this in a cramped fitting room while wearing a bunny girl outfit?!
"Just… bring it….! Before I really… change and go home…"
I pushed Haeun's shoulders away in shame and anger, threatening her.
Though momentarily startled, Haeun grinned.
"Go home? Hmm… do whatever you want. But you know, Woojin."
Then Haeun leaned in close to my ear and whispered.
"If you just leave, I'll tell the others you couldn't buy it because of you. You don't mind, right?"
"……What?!"
Blackmail.
A flawless threat that instantly erased the option of refusal.
"....Damn it.."
Better to swallow my pride here than have rumors spread about me whining in a bunny girl outfit in front of the whole class.
'..Haa, fine… I can't let myself get shaken by her pace anymore. I'll endure it just this once.'
I took a long, deep breath, squeezed my eyes shut, and killed my own soul.
"Huu… It looks like the bunny girl outfit was what came instead."
"Yeah. So?"
"Please… b-bring the original clothes… instead…."
Tears threatened to spill from the shame.
Only then did a bright smile bloom across Haeun's lips like a flower.
"Okay! Got it, I'll bring it."
Haeun patted the bunny ears on my head in satisfaction, closed the curtain, and leisurely left the fitting room.
Alone in the narrow, dark fitting room.
In the bunny girl outfit, I glared at my miserable reflection in the mirror and bit my lip hard enough to draw blood.
'Shit… Baek Haeun. You'll pay for this later….'
That desperate vow to repay this brutal humiliation tenfold shattered into pitiful fragments against the sight of my wretched self in the mirror.