Chapter 34
Chapter 34
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: The Inescapable Outsider
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◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ On the way out of the fusion café, a plastic card stuck to the payment counter caught my eye by chance.
-CCTV in operation for crime prevention. Couples, please refrain from excessive displays of affection.-
Did nuisance couples who actually engage in PDA in places like this really exist?
No matter that this was a room-style café, the rooms weren't soundproofed at all, and the entrances were just covered with curtains—an open space, basically.
What's more, there was a monitor at the employee's station displaying the CCTV footage from inside the shop.
While I was stunned by the fact that such weird people existed, the employee at the counter spoke to me.
And in a hushed, secretive whisper, too.
"Customer... did you have any issues during your stay?"
"...Pardon?"
Issues? Did something happen in the room we were in?
There were all sorts of random things to do in there, but since I'd just slept the whole time, I had no idea.
Then the employee dropped a somewhat suggestive comment.
"Ah... I saw on the CCTV while you were using the room, but the lady..."
"Yes? Did you call me? Is there a problem?"
But the employee's words were cut off by Yoo So-mi's sudden intervention.
"Ah... well..."
"There isn't. Any problem."
"..."
A chill seeped into So-mi's voice.
At the same time, her expression turned a bit scary, thickening the air of the 'delinquent student Yoo So-mi' we often saw at school.
The employee, locked in awkward eye contact with her, finally forced a smile and said,
"Yes... yes! Yes! No problem at all, customer. Haha! Have a good one~!"
...
Watching the scene from the side, I started to get a little worried about what might have happened while I was asleep that So-mi wasn't telling me about.
"Yi-an! Let's head out and talk while we walk. Where do you want to go next? I think the department store in Sinchon would be fun!"
But my attention got pulled elsewhere in the next moment, so that minor doubt quickly faded from my mind.
Yoo So-mi had latched onto my left arm again.
"So-mi. I'm not saying I hate it, but if you cling to my arm this tightly, it draws a bit too much attention from people around us. Okay?"
Even more intensely than she had outside earlier.
It was beyond just touching now—it was fully pressed against me. Her chest was so mashed in that I could feel her sternum despite its volume.
"...Hmph. You were hugging me tight and sleeping just a minute ago..."
"Yeah, sorry about that! But if you don't at least let me bend my arm a little, the position gets awkward. Can I put my hand in my pocket?"
"No way. If there's nowhere to put your hand, I'll just hold it like this, so let's go? Or... do you not want to be friends with me anymore?"
I felt Yoo So-mi's fingers slipping between mine on my left hand.
She was trying to interlock them.
I've noticed it lately, but Yoo So-mi's idea of 'friends' or 'besties' seems a little different from everyone else's.
It might not faze the actual high schooler Yoo So-mi, but for me—a 35-year-old guy in a teenage body—this full-body contact with a high school girl felt precarious...
Honestly, it was exhausting.
Just meeting a friend for a meal and a café visit, yet having to worry about every onlooker's gaze—it was downright depressing.
Sure, my current body was an unremarkable high schooler, and walking arm-in-arm with a girl my age probably didn't look weird, but...
Feelings aren't something you can control on a whim.
If I were a real high schooler, could I enjoy this without the burden?
As I paused, lost in complicated thoughts, Yoo So-mi looked up at me with a slightly stiff expression.
Her fingers, still trying to wedge between mine, trembled faintly like she was scared.
Come to think of it, she didn't really have any friends besides me and Han Si-a.
I didn't know why she was so obsessed with physical contact, but...
For her to close the distance this aggressively with a loser like me must have taken real courage.
Compared to me, who'd given up on making friends just a month into high school, it was impressive.
Yeah. We'd already hugged and slept together in the room—what was I fussing over now?
So-mi just had a unique way of gauging closeness; she wasn't doing this with bad intentions.
Being stuck together like this outside was tiring, sure, but since I'd just woken up, I decided to push through a bit longer.
I relaxed my left hand, which had been clenched into a fist.
Immediately, So-mi's fingers intertwined with mine.
I accepted them, then gripped her hand firmly, sizing it up.
Feeling the strength in my grasp, she beamed at me.
"Yup! Holding on this tight means you can never escape!"
I didn't quite get what she meant, but she looked satisfied, so that was good enough for me.
.
.
.
Having gotten plenty of sleep at the fusion café, it was already 4 p.m. by the time we left.
We'd planned to meet for lunch, but So-mi still wanted to do more and suggested the department store.
"But I don't have anything I need to buy there... Do you, So-mi?"
Department stores are expensive. And since my parents bought most of what I needed, high schoolers rarely had reason to go.
But Yoo So-mi didn't seem to think that way.
"You don't need something right now to go. Even if stuff's pricey and you can't buy it, you can still window-shop and see what's there, right?"
Oh. Was this the famed window shopping?
As a lifelong outsider even before regressing, I'd never considered hanging out at a department store.
Come to think of it, I had browsed high-end gadgets at electronics stores when shopping for a phone or laptop—stuff I'd never buy due to the price.
If window shopping was just that extended, I figured I could enjoy it.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ June's sun still hung high in the sky even at 4 p.m., and after waking from a cool room nap, the outdoors felt even hotter today.
Especially with So-mi plastered to my left arm despite the heat—it made me desperate for any air-conditioned indoor spot.
I had to admire Yoo So-mi-nim's foresight in suggesting the department store. Honestly, anything indoors beat being outside.
About five minutes' walk brought us to Sinchon's department store.
Stepping through the entrance, the blast of cool AC made me smile involuntarily.
Weekends at the department store were packed.
People heading in, shoppers coming out, folks just passing through for the connected subway or other facilities—it all tangled into a crowd.
Glancing at the displays, the first floor was mostly cosmetics.
"Yi-an, do you use lotion or sunscreen?"
"Lotion, yeah. Otherwise my skin gets dry. But sunscreen? Only if I'm planning to be outside a lot, like today."
"I always do sunscreen too. The lotion you use doesn't have added fragrance, right?"
"Nope. As long as it moisturizes well, I don't care about the rest. How'd you know?"
At my question, So-mi blushed faintly before answering.
"It's a bit embarrassing to say here..."
...
Ah. She must've noticed while we were stuck together sleeping earlier. Close enough to distinguish the lotion scent from my face.
But why bring up lotion scent out of nowhere?
Was she hinting I smelled and should buy something scented?!
As an outsider my whole life, I'd never paid much attention to my body odor.
"...So-mi."
"Yeah, Yi-an?"
"Do I smell? I swear I shower clean every day..."
"Hmm... smell?"
Yoo So-mi went quiet for a few seconds, as if recalling the past.
Her nose twitched slightly, like she was vividly remembering.
Then, with a somewhat serious face, she said,
"I like it as is. You have to press right against my chest to notice, so isn't that just right?"
"Huh?"
"...?"
She offered an astonishingly detailed opinion on my scent.
That made me a bit anxious about what had happened while I slept.
But digging into it felt bad for my mental health, so I decided not to.
Following So-mi around, I noticed that even in the cosmetics section, she barely glanced at color makeup.
The products she stopped to check were all basics: moisturizing creams, skin lotions, essences.
Thinking about it, she always came to school with some makeup, but never full color cosmetics.
Looking closely at her face, her skin was youthful as expected for a high schooler—no troubles to hide.
It'd almost be a shame to cover such pretty skin with makeup.
She probably knew that and played to her clean skin's strengths.
.
.
.
After browsing the first floor, we headed to the second.
The second floor was less crowded, dealing in handbags, pricey watches, sunglasses, and accessories.
Peeking at a nearby handbag's price tag as we passed, I was shocked at how absurd it was.
The watches on the same floor were just as bad.
Recalling pre-regression, I'd heard insiders wore expensive watches to important events to avoid looking downplayed.
I was in my early 30s then, same as the colleague telling the story... so their 'important event' was probably a wedding for a friend or family.
Knowing early-30s office workers' salaries were all similar, wanting such an expensive watch just for someone else's wedding struck me as insane.
I'd thought it was nuts back then.
As I eyed the luxury watches on display with cold disdain, Yoo So-mi—still hanging off my arm—pulled me toward the sunglasses rack.
Sunglasses varied in price and style, and unlike bags or watches, some had reasonably priced tags.
"Yi-an, don't you need sunglasses?"
"Huh? I don't drive, and I rarely go out much—what would I even use them for?"
"Hehe... I think you need some. Wait... this one! Ta-da~!"
Yoo So-mi picked one from the display and put it on my face.
True to a department store product, it was quality—the view just dimmed slightly, no real obstruction.
But why did she think I needed them?
I wasn't expecting anything profound, but her reason was a bit shocking.
"With these on, even if you're staring at my face, I won't notice your gaze!"
...So she'd caught me checking out her skin on the first floor.
No, it wasn't like that—
I just thought her skin was so smooth...
...
Separately, the sunglasses she picked looked pretty good on me in the mirror.
But then I saw the price tag, and that thought vanished. Damn, it's expensive. I'll buy it later with Bitcoin profits.