The Bikini Recovery of a Loner
"Oh, were you in a lot of pain? It left a red mark on your shoulder like that?"
After teaching Han Sia how to float in the main pool, I took a brief break and came back out of the water with her.
The main pool was too deep for Han Sia to stand in, so unless she came out like this, she had no way to rest.
"Hmm... I wasn't planning to extend my nails or anything, but I guess I just... lost my head for a second too."
She was sitting beside me at poolside now, inspecting the trace of the merciless violence she'd just inflicted.
"Heh... if this goes well, it'll last for three days, maybe. Sorry~♫ Still, it's not like I broke the skin, so it's fine, right?"
Not a trace of real apology showed in Han Sia's voice.
No, come to think of it, she almost sounded pleased.
...
Still, I didn't exactly feel bad or angry about it.
Even though it had left a mark, it didn't hurt at all, and Han Sia had only ended up like this because she'd been flailing around after slipping into the water.
It would be strange to blame her, considering she was the one trying to learn how to swim.
She'd probably only hated the idea of sinking into the pool. It hadn't been intentional.
"Still, next time I'll be a little gentler~❤"
It hadn't been intentional... probably.
.
.
.
After a short rest, we went back to practicing.
This time, though, we decided to stop with the completely reckless, keep going until it works approach, for two reasons: first, the increasing scratch marks on my body from every one of her failures were starting to get to me, and second, Han Sia herself had no desire to keep drinking pool water through her nose.
"How about you stand next to me and hold my back up, Jung Ian? Rather than keep falling in and flailing around every time, I think it'd be better if I got used to the posture with your help first."
...That actually sounded pretty reasonable.
Just like a parent holds a child steady when they first learn to ride a bicycle, wouldn't it be better to keep someone from sinking while they're learning to swim?
...
But was that really okay?
The main pool we were in was deep enough that I couldn't see the bikini she was wearing, but the structure and shape were already burned vividly into my mind, so even with my eyes shut I could picture it clearly.
If I remembered right, the bikini straps ran across Han Sia's back.
That was one of those places girls absolutely hated having touched.
Hmm... but maybe the back was all right.
I had already touched it when I carried her princess-style earlier.
After deciding that much, I placed my palm on Han Sia's back, and she leaned on my hand to float herself up on the water.
...And failed immediately.
Throwing her weight back with admirable confidence as she relied on my palm was fine, but her center of gravity shifted sharply toward her lower body and she sank at once.
Thinking about it, she had tried to force her upper body up without considering the balance of her whole body, so maybe it was only natural.
In any case, her back slid rapidly across my palm and down beneath the surface.
She even kept going until her head went under too, which meant she'd probably lost her footing and slipped instead of planting it on the pool floor...
So I grabbed the hand of the girl flailing underwater and pulled her back upright.
...
But as soon as Han Sia had managed to steady herself with my help, the moment her head broke the surface again, she clung to me and wrapped herself around my torso.
"Haa...! Just wait a second and don't move. Just for a moment..."
"What... what is it? What's wrong?"
Looking thoroughly panicked, she pressed her body hard against my chest and then, with both legs now in the water, squeezed my waist tight.
What the hell? Had she seen a snake in the pool or something?
And in any case, I wished she'd settle down and let go.
The sensation of something soft being flattened against my chest was so vivid that if this went on for even a few more seconds, my uncontrollable desire was going to surge up.
...
Wait. Her legs were wrapped around my waist right now, so if I got any harder, something very bad was going to happen, wasn't it?
Feeling my uncontrollable urge rise, I hurriedly tried to shove her away.
"Sia! Let go for a second. I need a little alone time, so... GRAAAGH!!"
But Han Sia only clung to me harder, straining desperately, and when I tried to peel her off, she even dug the nails of both hands into my back.
"Don't make me let gooo!!! I'm in a seriously dangerous situation right now!! If you make me show it because of you, I'm seriously not going to let this slide!!"
Ugh...! Damn, that hurt!! She definitely broke the skin there, didn't she?
I failed to get Han Sia off me.
Still, because of the pain from her claws stabbing into my back, the urge that had started to surge violently lost its momentum again, and thankfully I bought myself a little reprieve.
Squish, squish.
Even so, the soft, squishy sensation pressed against my chest was still there.
Which meant I had only bought some time thanks to the burning pain in my back, and my rough, unmanageable impulse was certain to rise again before long.
So first, I decided to try solving this with conversation.
"Sia. Why are you doing this? If you just don't want to sink, grabbing my shoulder or arm should be enough... Unless this is a big deal, could you let go for now? If you stay like this, something huge is going to happen soon..."
But Han Sia, still clinging tightly to my body, answered in a small voice.
"It disappeared."
"Huh? What did?"
"My bikini top disappeared!!!"
"...?!?!?"
When I heard that, my gaze turned toward Han Sia's back completely against my will.
The bikini she was wearing should have been held in place by the lower strap around her torso and the upper strap that went around her neck.
And yet, where my eyes landed, there was only her flawless, slender back and the smooth line of her neck.
...
So... the bikini straps were gone.
"What the..."
This was bad.
Very bad.
What it meant that Han Sia's bikini top had disappeared somewhere was that the situation my chest was in had become extremely dangerous!!!
Damn it!! No wonder the sensation had only been soft, with not a hint of anything stiff or catching on me!!
Ughhhh!!!
"Kyaaah! You pervert, Jung Ian!! What are you getting excited about in a situation like this!! No, I mean, I get it, but you absolutely can't be doing that right now!!"
To explain again, Han Sia was currently wrapping both arms and both legs around my waist.
In other words, she was clinging to me to hide the bare chest that had been exposed when her swimsuit vanished.
...This was so bl, no. If I started thinking in that direction, I'd never stop. For now I had to calm down as much as possible and find her swimsuit somehow...!
"Hic... haa...! Jung Ian, you weren't like this just a minute ago... Stop thinking weird thoughts and find my swimsuit first..."
I couldn't calm down.
There was no way I could.
Just the existence of those two soft yet resilient shapes pressed against my chest had already pushed my brain to its limit, fully occupied with analyzing and predicting the state of her chest.
And every time my surging desire brushed against some part of her hips, Han Sia's slightly suggestive breaths only made me lose my mind even more.
"Sia, sorry, but could you do something about the breathing? And this has nothing to do with my will, so I can't help it... Ah, found it."
I was only half sane from the shock of my current reality, but thankfully I managed to spot a black scrap of fabric sinking to the bottom of the pool.
The pool floor was blue, and the sunlight was strong, so the black object writhing underwater stood out clearly.
We first checked that there was no one around the nearby poolside.
Then Han Sia agreed to wait pressed against the pool wall, covering her chest with both arms, while I quickly dove under the water in the meantime and snatched her black bikini to bring it back.
"Ian. Sorry, but if you keep looking at me that passionately, I can't keep my distance from you. I'm embarrassed, so could you please look somewhere else?"
"Ah... sorry, I didn't mean to."
"You didn't look away at all! Honestly. Do you want to see my bare chest that badly? It's only one scrap of fabric between this and a bikini. What else is there to look at? You pervert. Keep your eyes closed until I say it's okay!"
Following her instructions, I shut my eyes, and Han Sia loosened the arms and legs she'd wrapped around my body, slowly putting some distance between us.
Thanks to that, the soft, resilient shape that had been pressed between us became even more distinct and detailed, but I did my best not to show it.
"You can open your eyes now, pervert Jung Ian."
When I opened my eyes as she said, I saw her leaning against the pool wall a little distance away, both arms held in front of her.
With the water that deep, she still looked uncomfortable standing on her own.
Luckily, the rippling surface of the pool seemed to hide her body well enough.
Still... no matter how much the unstable surface distorted the view, it was obvious that the black scrap of fabric that had contrasted with Han Sia's pale skin was no longer there.
"Now hurry up and give me my swimsuit back. And... don't even think about sneaking a peek from underwater! If you do, I won't just sit still and take it either, and... I can't take responsibility for what happens after that."
...
To avoid any misunderstanding, I turned my body away from Han Sia and fished the swimsuit up from the water.
Come to think of it, bikinis really were nothing but two triangular pieces of cloth and a bunch of strings.
Sure, it was better than bare breasts, but looking at it this way, I started to wonder how much difference there really was between wearing a bikini and being naked.
Hah... I had only just started getting used to their bikini outfits.
If I started paying attention to things like this, I had a feeling I'd have a hard time getting through the day.
After that, I brought the bikini back to Han Sia, and then I helped her by tying the straps behind her back at her request.
Apparently, you're supposed to put it on by tying the back straps in front first and then turning the swimsuit around to fasten the neck strap, but that wasn't possible in this situation.
...
The sight of her covering her chest with one arm when she took the swimsuit I brought her, and the sight I got while tying the bikini strings behind her back... I had a feeling both of them would be burned into my brain for a very long time.
Of course, so would the soft sensation I had felt against my chest.
.
.
.
There were still about twenty minutes left until the next break at the pool, but we were in no condition to keep practicing.
Han Sia, sitting at poolside, had been flushed red and avoiding my eyes for a while now, and I was still so worked up I couldn't even leave the water yet.
Originally, I had planned to teach her how to float before this break, but in a situation like this, there was no choice but to put it off until another time.
Our awkward silence lasted all the way back to the parasol, and Yu Somi, who was sitting on a sunbed and waving to greet us, looked back and forth between the two of us before speaking.
"You two. What did you do while I was gone? Hm?"
Somi's expression was somehow as scary as when she played at being a delinquent back at school.
At her menacing stare, we confessed everything that had happened without leaving out a single detail, and only then did a smile return to Somi's face.
"Ahh... well, by my best-friend standards, there's no problem! Sia isn't my best friend, but whatever, Sia's special, so I guess it's fine."
I was privately relieved that her definition of Best Friend was still broken.
"Then... that means I don't have to hold back anymore, right?"
...Canceled.