Chapter 80
Chapter 80
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 80
Chapter Title: The Considerate Outsider
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◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ When I returned to the parasol with Yoo So-mi, Han Si-a was lying on the sunbed.
Under the shade of the parasol, though.
Normally, when you think of a sunbed, you picture someone basking directly in the sunlight for a tan,
but she didn't seem particularly interested in tanning her skin.
Han Si-a must have noticed us coming, as she sat up on the sunbed and greeted us.
"Welcome back. Did you have fun?"
"Si-a~ Yi-an was being so cold to me all of a sudden... Scold him for me!"
Yoo So-mi immediately plopped down next to Han Si-a on the sunbed and hugged her.
Han Si-a looked momentarily flustered by Yoo So-mi's actions, but...
after a few seconds in her embrace, she wore a relaxed, almost drowsy expression, like a chick nestled under a mother hen.
And after listening to Yoo So-mi's explanation for a few minutes in that state,
Han Si-a delivered her final verdict.
"I don't remember telling you to ditch all your friends and become an outcast for me. Apologize to So-mi."
"Huh."
"Besides, you don't have any other friends besides us, so is that how you treat them? You need to value your friends more."
In the end, somehow I was the bad guy.
I tried defending myself afterward, saying things like 'that's skinship that's embarrassing between friends' or 'wouldn't you feel bad if your crush did that with someone else?', but...
Han Si-a, with half her face buried in Yoo So-mi's ample chest and a blissful look on her face, didn't seem to agree much.
"That's not something I should get involved in. We're not dating right now, and expecting that just because someone said they like you would make you no different from a creepy stalker."
I tried to argue back against Han Si-a's words.
But after hearing what she said next, I was at a loss for words.
"More importantly, don't you want to get close to So-mi too, Yi-an? I can tell just by looking at your face. And it's not just you—I want the three of us to get along well. But if you insist on ruining our friendship like it's for my sake... I honestly don't think I could say anything nice."
Han Si-a's words... were spot on.
I'd never once disliked the distance or skinship from Yoo So-mi.
No matter how much Han Si-a liked me, there couldn't possibly be a guy who hated having such a pretty and kind girl like Yoo So-mi clinging to him.
The only reason I'd tried to keep distance from So-mi was out of anxiety and responsibility, thinking Han Si-a would hate it.
But... was Han Si-a really okay with that?
Just imagining these two dating and marrying other guys someday made me feel like I'd be depressed all day.
...
Maybe noticing that I wasn't fully convinced inside, Han Si-a's expression clouded a bit as she added,
"If it sounded like I was being too indifferent... sorry. But So-mi is the exception—I'm not saying I'll just let you have other girls, so don't feel too hurt."
...
Honestly, I still didn't fully understand what these two were thinking.
But if they said they were fine with it, I couldn't just force my own values on them unilaterally.
In the end, I decided to put the headache-inducing issue off for later
and entrusted my body to the sunbed under the parasol shade.
The sound of cars from the Han River banks, and the whining of kids who wanted to get back in the pool even during rest time.
A blue sky. And white clouds drifting beneath it.
It wasn't particularly special or quiet—just an utterly ordinary, unremarkable environment,
but precisely because of that, it was perfect for dozing off while lying on the sunbed.
Lately, I'd been busy editing UCC videos, so I desperately needed this leisurely time,
and just moments ago, I'd burned a lot of energy practicing swimming intensely with So-mi.
Plus, shoving all the headache-inducing problems to the back burner lightened my mind considerably.
Maybe because of that, the moment I lay down on the sunbed, my eyelids grew heavy fast.
Ah, I'm gonna fall asleep right away.
But there's nothing else to do during pool rest time anyway...
When rest time ends, I can wake up to the siren announcing it,
so I'll just close my eyes until then.
.
.
.
How much time had passed?
When I closed my eyes, I was sure I'd wake up to the siren.
The loud siren would jolt me awake, PTSD from military life kicking in whether I liked it or not.
But what actually woke me wasn't the siren—it was the warm, soft, ticklish sensation on my upper body.
Something was stroking near my chest, abs...
But like sensations in half-sleep, my still-drowsy nerves didn't transmit the skin contact clearly,
so my consciousness didn't snap awake—instead, it lingered in a hazy state, like swimming slowly underwater.
-Yi-an~ Time to wake up...
Is someone calling me now?
But my brain isn't working right.
Can't tell if it's a dream voice or real.
-Hmm... If you keep showing this side of you, I might wanna play a naughty prank...
Whose voice? What was I doing?
My half-dreaming brain lets the words slip into the sea of forgetfulness without registering them as info.
But the precarious impulse and sticky affection in that voice lodged deep in my mind,
slowly and surely raising my heartbeat.
-Hehe... Yeah. Want to sleep a bit more? I think this is nice sometimes too.
The soft stroking on my upper body turned much more intense and clingy than before.
Now, slender, soft sensations roamed between my abs, navel, chest muscles, collarbone nooks.
Because of that, my consciousness, swimming in the hazy unconscious sea, began surfacing rapidly,
and when I finally pried open my stiff eyelids with a grimace, the first thing I saw
was two incredibly beautiful and familiar girls blushing as they stared at somewhere on my upper body.
...What?
My bleary, just-woken vision couldn't make out the details.
So I yawned lightly and rubbed my eyes a few times.
In the meantime, bustling movements like they were startled came from both sides of me...
And when I opened my eyes again, Han Si-a and Yoo So-mi were blushing, awkwardly looking away from my sides.
...What's going on?
I felt a slight sense of incongruity in the situation.
But my just-woken, hazy brain quickly shoved it to the back of my memory.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Not long after I woke up, the siren signaling the end of rest time blared through the pool.
This time, Yoo So-mi volunteered to stay at the parasol guarding our stuff,
so I could head to the pool with Han Si-a.
Han Si-a had grabbed my arm with her hand from the moment we left the parasol and walked forward silently.
And the place we arrived at was the kiddie pool.
Leaning against the gently sloped poolside following her, the shallow water barely covered our lower bodies.
By the way, seeing she'd brought me to a shaded spot in the kiddie pool due to structures,
Han Si-a really seemed to care about her skin getting sunburned.
We sat like that on the poolside for a while, not saying a word to each other.
Even so, it didn't feel awkward or uncomfortable.
We'd been alone together plenty of times before, and we weren't the chatty type anyway.
If anything, sitting side by side meant I didn't have to see her provocative bikini, so my mind felt calmer?
So I just passed the time watching the small waves lap at my legs from the rippling pool surface.
.
.
.
Unlike me watching the pool water ripple, Han Si-a seemed to be gazing at parents playing with their kids.
Did she like kids, by any chance?
Of course, kids always draw crowds on TV, and who doesn't like cute ones,
but considering the business smile she put on for classmates or her usual prickly demeanor, it felt a bit off.
To clear up my curiosity, I asked her.
"No? I just don't have much experience around kids. If anything... they seem more annoying than cute."
But apparently, Han Si-a didn't particularly like kids.
"Then why come to the kiddie pool? You headed straight here without hesitation and watched the kids play, so I figured you liked them."
"I can't swim well enough for the main pool. And the teen pool... it's too noisy with all the little brats."
So not because she liked the kiddie pool, but by process of elimination?
But skipping the main pool due to poor swimming was one thing—avoiding the teen pool too was unexpected.
Even if it was noisy, in a situation where she couldn't use the main pool, I'd think it'd be a compromise.
But the reason Han Si-a avoided the teen pool came in her next words.
"Especially kids that age react way too intensely to pretty girls, and it's overwhelming. They follow you around as a given, pull your hair, splash water..."
Yeah, that sounded exhausting.
If she went into the teen pool, she wouldn't enjoy herself—just pile up stress.
Upper elementary kids, pay double admission.
"By the way, I didn't know you couldn't swim, Si-a. I heard a lot of U.S. elementary schools teach swimming, so I assumed you, having lived there, could."
"The school did have swimming lessons."
"Did you skip them or something?"
"As if... Up to early elementary, they just let us splash around. And I came to Korea before learning to float."
That sparked my curiosity about why she came to Korea.
Han Si-a rarely talked about her childhood, probably due to her complicated family situation.
...
But I decide to drop asking about her childhood.
Because
as she spoke of her U.S. days, sadness and gloom etched deeply on her face.
Carried away by curiosity, I'd stepped into a minefield without realizing.
In cases like this, I usually prefer to shut up and wait.
It's the lowest-risk option, like stopping in your tracks once you realize you're in a minefield.
But... I don't really want to see Han Si-a with that sad look.
So this time, let's go with a bolder choice.
"I'll teach you how to swim!"
I scooped up Han Si-a, who was sitting beside me, in both arms and pulled her out of the kiddie pool.
"...Huh?! Wh-what??"
She was startled but hadn't quite gathered her wits yet.
Before she could snap out of it and start squirming, I headed straight for the main pool.