87. Tsundere
87. Tsundere
***
"...?"
Snatch.
I reached out to pull the blanket over her, and she grabbed my hand. Startled, I looked at Sua.
Sua was gazing at me with bleary eyes.
"What, when did you wake up?"
"Not long ago. Just now...?"
Her voice was husky, like she really had just woken up, and I naturally let her keep holding my hand.
"Sua, why are you undressed?"
With my hand still caught in hers, I pulled the blanket back over her. Even then, she moved her arm with mine, refusing to let go, and it looked like she was being clingy.
"...No particular reason. I just find it more comfortable to sleep without clothes...? I tend to fall asleep better that way... it's just a habit."
Rustle.
As she said that, she pressed her other hand to her head and frowned.
I could guess why she was frowning, and I couldn't help but smile.
"Feels like your head's splitting, right?"
After drinking wine so recklessly yesterday, it was only natural she'd be suffering a brutal hangover.
"Yeah... it really feels like my head's splitting... It tasted so sweet when I was drinking it yesterday, but ugh, what kind of hangover is this...? I'm way dizzier than when I drink soju or beer, ugh..."
She kept mumbling in that husky voice and shaking her head. The hangover looked bad.
Then again, I'd only had about a bottle myself, and my head was still faintly throbbing.
"That's why you should've listened when I told you to slow down. Let go of my hand for a sec. I'll go out and buy some hangover cure."
I figured I couldn't just sit there while she endured a headache, and I was about to go buy hangover cure for both of us. But instead of letting go, Sua tightened her grip.
"Serin... just order delivery. Why bother going out? I can tell you've got a bad hangover too. Just lie down for a bit."
She pulled at me as I was half sitting up, and I didn't resist.
The queen-size bed sank softly under my weight. It was so cozy that, honestly, I'd been fighting the urge to lie back down, and it felt like Sua had just given me the excuse.
"This bed really is nice."
The words slipped out as I lay back down.
"Right...? Then lie down too, Serin."
"But can you even get hangover cure delivered?"
As soon as I lay back down, she let go of my arm and leaned her body against me. I let her.
We'd talked until dawn, and the distance between us had shrunk a lot. Unlike the sharp, meticulous image Sua usually projected, she turned out to be the type who gets clingy once she's comfortable with someone.
"You can order from a mart or... convenience store through a delivery app."
She kept clutching her head as she spoke in that husky voice. The hangover really did look severe.
"...Is it that bad?"
Sua gave a small nod and kept groaning.
"Ugh... it really feels like my head's splitting. Serin, could you order for me?"
"Okay."
I picked up my phone from beside the bed. I opened the delivery app and added one of each type of hangover cure from a convenience store that was open. The order went through.
Soon, a message said payment was complete, followed by a notification that delivery would take thirty minutes.
"Ugh... I'm never drinking wine again."
She looked at me and pouted, blaming me for buying the wine in the first place. It was just cute, so I laughed.
"Ugh..."
But watching her keep groaning, I felt sorry for her.
"Give me your hand. I'll give you a simple massage."
I didn't know how much it would help, but she looked so miserable that I offered, partly for the placebo effect.
"Serin... you know how to do that? Then hurry... please."
Sua immediately held out her pale arm.
Maybe because she was only in her underwear, my eyes kept drifting to her fair skin.
'Does she do some kind of body care?'
Given how much time she spent playing Another World and the nature of streaming, it seemed like she'd have a hard time exercising. Yet her exposed figure was strikingly pretty.
She looked good, with no visible flab. I wondered how that was possible while I took her hand and pressed with moderate force, pretending to massage it. Sua squirmed like it tickled.
Wriggle, wriggle.
"Ah... ugh..."
She buried her face in the pillow and twisted her body.
Anyone watching would think I was doing something weird to her.
I fiddled with Sua's arm and head for about ten minutes.
Then Sua spoke, her expression looking a little better.
"Serin... but if you were going to stay with me like this anyway... why did you keep saying you'd go home yesterday...?"
The question struck me as odd, so I looked at her for a moment.
She was looking at me with a slightly hurt expression, and it seemed like she was just sulking.
"I didn't mean anything by it. And no matter how much you say you're comfortable with me, I thought you might not sleep well with someone else in your bed."
Honestly, no matter how close I was to someone, I wouldn't be comfortable sharing my bed. That's why I'd said I'd leave.
"Hmm... honestly, maybe because I was drunk, I didn't really think anything of it. And why would you be 'someone else' to me, Serin?"
Still looking a little hurt, she poked my shoulder. The gesture was so childish.
"If I'm not someone else to you, then what am I?"
"What do you mean? You're like an older sister to me, Serin."
"Pfft... what's that supposed to mean?"
"Anyway, you and I aren't that distant, right? So from now on, you can just take what I say at face value. You don't need to be considerate like yesterday."
Even while suffering a bad hangover, she said it with a deliberately serious expression, so I just nodded.
"Okay, got it. I'll take it that way from now on."
"Serin, but then why are you here now? If you were going to leave, shouldn't you have actually left?"
"I leaned against the bed to tuck you in, and I guess I fell asleep without realizing it."
Sua smiled oddly at my answer.
"Hmm... Serin, you're one of those, right? A tsundere?"
Then she pulled the blanket off again and casually draped her pale leg over my body. I was genuinely dumbfounded.
I reached down and lightly pinched the leg she'd put on me. Sua's eyes went wide, and she glared at me.
"Ah, that hurts, Serin."
Watching her reaction, I gently pushed her pale leg off me.
"I pinched you so it would hurt. And why are you suddenly calling me a tsundere?"
"Hmm... well, isn't that what they call someone who acts like they won't do anything for you and grumbles, but actually takes care of you without you noticing? That was basically you yesterday, Serin. You told me you were leaving more than ten times, but in the end, you stayed by my side."
"I told you, I just fell asleep."
"Oh, does that matter? The result is what counts."
I laughed at her logic, and Sua laughed along with me.
"Pfft..."
"Why are you laughing, Sua?"
"I don't know... it's just kind of fascinating."
"You find the weirdest things fascinating."
Talking with her felt comfortable. I felt at ease, and Sua seemed to feel at ease with me too.
It was surprising how close we'd gotten in just a few days, but honestly, I was relieved.
The fact that I had someone in this world I could drink with and talk to so casually. That made me happy.
"Serin, you've been charming people your whole life, haven't you?"
"What do you mean, charming people?"
"I mean, I'm a woman, and even I get flustered watching the things you say and do. How have men survived looking at you all this time?"
Sua suddenly said that, and I wondered what she was getting at.
"Don't say weird stuff."
'A man having feelings for me?'
Even just thinking about it for a few seconds triggered a serious sense of revulsion.
"Look at your face, seriously. I almost feel sorry for any man who's ever fallen for you."
I found myself scanning Sua's appearance.
She looked good all done up on stream, but even now, disheveled from a hangover, she had the kind of looks that must have gotten her confessed to dozens of times.
"Sua, you're one to talk."
Sua grinned at that and, as if fully aware of her own looks, spoke shamelessly.
"Me? Well, once I found out how they felt, I turned them all down. But you don't even mean anything by the little things you say and do, and yet you charm people like magic."
"Now you're really putting me on the spot, huh?"
She was describing me like some kind of enchantress, and I just laughed.
"Oh, come on... I'm just saying what I've seen. Serin, your looks are already ridiculous, and your words and actions charm people without you even realizing it."
She said it playfully and poked my shoulder again. I wondered if that was just a habit of hers.
"Fine, think whatever you want..."
"I already do, even without you saying so."
As we talked, the thought suddenly crossed my mind that she felt like a little sister.
Her behavior was friendly and didn't bother me at all. I just felt close to her.
Thinking back, it was kind of amazing how readily I'd helped her before—when she asked for help, when she asked me to do things, when she asked me to explain things she didn't know.
I'd helped her so easily, without expecting anything in return, and that was probably part of why her current behavior, even the little things, seemed so endearing.
"You're talking a lot. Does that mean your hangover's getting better?"
Sua pressed her head and laughed awkwardly. Judging by that, it didn't seem like it.
"No... honestly, I just figured talking is better than lying here. I've just been saying whatever comes to mind."
"So you really were just saying whatever?"
"But you handled even all that random talk so well, Serin. So... did anything I said upset you...?"
Sua asked cautiously, watching my reaction. I shook my head and smiled.