124. A Date with Seoyun - Physical Affection (4)
124. A Date with Seoyun - Physical Affection (4)
***
Blue eyes, clear as a lake, were staring at me with utter indifference.
And from an incredibly close distance at that.
For a split second, I found myself staring blankly into those eyes. As if just looking at them would pull me in, like staring into an abyss.
Then, the moment I felt my lips touch that pale, soft skin, I flinched in surprise and hastily pulled my body back.
"Ah. S-sorry... Sis."
I never imagined she would suddenly turn her head at that moment.
Swish. Swish.
I wiped my lips to erase the lingering sensation of her pale cheek, but my thoughts refused to connect, as if someone had suddenly scrambled my brain.
Her eyes from just now kept flickering in my mind.
Those blue eyes, as if all emotion had vanished from them.
More than any horror movie I'd ever seen, the look in her eyes up close just now felt more terrifying.
So I couldn't bring myself to speak easily, couldn't even move my body, and just waited for her response.
I'd thought she would get coldly angry, given that utterly indifferent expression, but contrary to my expectations, she broke that indifferent look and suddenly burst out laughing.
"Pfft..."
Maybe she saw it as nothing more than light physical affection. She lightly brushed the cheek my lips had touched and gave a faint smile, and only then could I feel relieved.
"Seoyun, did you think I'd fall for it twice?"
"Sis... h-how did you know I was coming?"
"How did I know? I knew because I was aware of you. And who pulls a prank only once? I figured you'd definitely try something again."
"You did...?"
She spoke so calmly, just like her usual self, and I felt relieved, yet my heart was pounding for some reason.
Whether it was because of the chill from her indifferent eyes just now, or because of the sudden situation.
I stayed confused.
***
Plop.
Seoyun hesitantly settled back onto the sofa, and she was so cute that I couldn't help but laugh.
"Ah... don't laugh like that."
She said it with her face flushed bright red from embarrassment, and she was so genuinely cute that my hand moved on its own.
I took her pale cheek and gently stroked it, and she turned away with a sulky expression. She probably meant to show her displeasure, but it only made her look cuter, which was ridiculous.
"Well, whose fault is it for pulling a prank like that?"
"Ugh..."
I had been aware of Seoyun sneaking up on me, but the moment I sensed her suddenly closing in fast and turned my head, the sight of her freezing in place and smashing her lips into my cheek was genuinely the funniest thing ever.
Since I was aware of her approach, I deliberately deadened my eyes as I turned to look at her.
I thought she might yelp in surprise. But she reacted even cuter than that.
She froze like a statue in shock. Kissing my cheek while still mid-approach, she looked like an adorable squirrel trembling.
Afterward, the way she kept glancing at me and hemming and hawing, and now trembling alone in embarrassment—it was all just cute.
'Why is she so cute, seriously?'
They say that small, cute animals, or animals that are just inherently cute, make you want to approach them just by looking at them. Seoyun was exactly that type right now, cute enough to make me feel that way.
Squish squish.
I held Seoyun's cheeks and gently stretched and poked at them, and she gave a small shake of her head.
"Stop it... seriously..."
But maybe because of what she'd done earlier, she didn't resist much. Just watching her squirm slightly with her cheeks in my hands was enough to make me feel the corners of my mouth lifting.
Eventually, I couldn't hold it in and said it.
"Ah, seriously, Seoyun, why are you so cute?"
"Ah, seriously...!"
She turned redder and redder, like she was about to burst, trembling all over, and her reactions were so good that I wanted to keep poking at her even more.
I played with her soft cheeks a little longer.
Then, figuring she'd actually get mad if I kept going, I slowly pulled my hands away.
The moment I let go, Seoyun covered her cheeks with her own hands and pouted. Even that expression was so cute it was absurd.
"Ah, it hurts, seriously!"
She rubbed her reddened cheeks and cried out softly, and I just laughed while fiddling with her ear.
"Think of it all as karma."
Smack!
Then she suddenly smacked my hand away from her ear, and I looked at her, a little surprised.
"Ah, seriously! Don't touch my body anymore!"
It wasn't like she was completely serious about it either. Seeing her face burning bright red just made me laugh for no reason.
"Then who was the one who kissed my cheek in the first place?"
I lightly touched the cheek where her lips had just been, and Seoyun, who had turned her head away with her face flushed red, looked flustered.
"Ah, that was really... an accident. Y-you suddenly turned your head, so... Ah! I don't know. Then just touch me a little more gently from now on, it really hurt."
"Okay, okay. Sorry, I won't touch you hard enough to hurt from now on."
I laughed and, unlike before, gently caressed her burning red cheek.
"Ah, seriously..."
I watched Seoyun grumble quietly, then pointed at the hologram frozen in midair and asked.
"So, Seoyun... what do you want to do? Do you want to finish the movie?"
All the immersion in the movie had been completely broken while messing around with Seoyun. So I asked if there was even any point in continuing, but surprisingly, Seoyun nodded at my words.
"It's almost at the end. Might as well just watch the rest and finish it, right? Why? You don't want to watch it?"
"No, it's not that. Let's finish it then."
She said it like she liked seeing things through to the end, so I just decided to finish the movie.
***
Slither.
Throughout the movie, I was aware of Seoyun leaning her head on my shoulder and doing various things, and it felt a little strange.
'If I look at her, will she pull away again?'
I thought I might have teased her a bit too much, so I wondered if she'd sulk a little afterward.
But contrary to that thought, Seoyun's behavior throughout the movie was a bit peculiar.
She'd subtly lean her head on my shoulder, or flinch slightly and poke at my hand or shoulder.
But when I looked at her or reached my hand over in response, she'd immediately pull her head away or dodge as if she didn't like it.
What on earth did she want?
The playful poking and leaning against me clearly seemed like she wanted attention, but when I actually gave her attention, she'd get embarrassed and pull away instead.
'Is she a tsundere or something?'
As the movie slowly approached its ending, I finally understood the meaning behind Seoyun's behavior.
While I had felt almost no sense of distance with Seoyun from the start, Seoyun—contrary to her outward actions and words—had actually been feeling a certain amount of distance from me.
I had brushed off the light physical affection earlier as just a prank without thinking much of it, but Seoyun had acted as if it had put her a little more at ease.
The way she leaned against me or approached me without hesitation felt like the distance she'd been keeping had shrunk because of that physical affection.
......
Click.
Just as the ending credits were rolling, the credits suddenly blurred and vanished, and a three-dimensional holographic menu appeared.
When I turned my head, Seoyun spoke to me with an apologetic look.
"Sorry... Sis, I guess I shouldn't have insisted on finishing it. The movie was boring, right?"
"No, it was refreshing in its own way. I enjoyed it."
There had definitely been some tension when I was immersed in the beginning, but after my immersion broke partway through, it was a little disappointing.
Also, I'd thought I couldn't feel those kinds of emotions even watching a horror movie, so feeling chills and tension while watching was a bit fascinating.
'I've definitely changed.'
I felt it there, for no particular reason—that I had changed.
In the past, there was a time when I wouldn't even blink even as dozens of people died right in front of me. Compared to that, now I felt a much wider range of emotional shifts—being startled or tense while watching a horror movie.
Sometimes I felt the change in these little things.
"Sis, what movie should we watch now?"
Seoyun manipulated the hologram and showed me a list of movies, all with unfamiliar titles.
"A romance seems like it'd be the most watchable."
So I just named a genre and passed the choice to Seoyun.
It wasn't that I disliked horror movies—I just wanted to watch something with a brighter feel.
"Yeah? Hmm. Then how about Rose's 48 Shadows?"
She picked out a movie with an unusual title, and I found myself looking at Seoyun and asking.
"Seoyun. Do you like these kinds of movies?"
The movie poster was... really hard to describe. It was too explicit.
It was a poster of half-naked women openly showing their bare skin, and I could guess what the content was.
"It's not that I like them, I just... don't you think it looks fun?"
But Seoyun answered so confidently that I was momentarily speechless.
"...It does look fun, I guess."
As I answered, a thought came to me before I knew it.
'Do people normally watch these kinds of movies with their little sister?'
She said it looked fun, so I didn't really have anything to say.
I just wondered if I was the weird one.
"Right? Then let's watch this one, Sis."
And so the next movie was decided.
'Rose's 48 Shadows.'