Know Shame (2)
Know Shame (2)
Late that afternoon, Seol Hayeon clutched her forehead.
The reason was,
"So you are saying you want to bathe with that Yujin? Naked?"
"Yes. Haru wants bath play with Daddy. Please give permission."
"......."
It was because Haru had just made an absurd request.
Her wavering gaze soon moved beyond Haru to Yujin and Sia.
Their expressions were no different from the Chairwoman's.
'We were sorry, Chairwoman. We couldn't stop her either....'
The two of them had also tried their best to prevent this catastrophe.
Men and women were different, so they could not bathe together.
It was shameful. She could not do it.
They had firmly drilled that lesson into her.
But...
[Daddy and Haru are Rice Cake father and daughter. No problem at all.]
[Honestly, this child... That is not the problem. You are a girl too, so you must understand that your body is precious....]
[Anyway, I am washing with Daddy. I am doing bath playyyy.]
'How was anyone supposed to stop an A-rank awakener from lying in the street and throwing a tantrum? Seriously.'
If Haru, an A-rank awakener, deliberately threw a fit...
it would not end with a childish tantrum!
It would be closer to an act of terrorism.
Left at a loss, the two of them ultimately decided to hand her over to the Chairwoman, the only person capable of subduing her.
They had sent her off with, "If Grandma gives permission, I will bathe with you."
After hearing the circumstances, the Chairwoman raised her mana.
She meant to send Yujin a telepathic message.
[You brat, you dumped this on me, didn't you?]
[I've done all sorts of things for you, have I not? Think of it as looking after a poor rookie awakener and help me, Big Sis Hayeon!!]
[I told you not to call me Big Sis. Will you take responsibility if I fall in love at my age?]
[Ugh... Ah, I saw the Church of the Lord executives today. They had aged gracefully and seemed like a good match for you. Want an introduction?]
[You little...]
Insolent flattery came back through the telepathy.
The Chairwoman's eyes narrowed a little further.
She'd thought the brat was growing increasingly insolent, but now he was trying to treat her as an equal.
Ha. She liked his nerve. That was how a man should be.
'If only I had been twenty years younger....'
"Grandma. Give permission."
While the Chairwoman indulged in a peculiar fantasy, Haru spoke with unwavering determination.
If things went badly, she was ready to use the secret technique she'd learned from the elderly believers earlier: immediately throwing herself flat on the floor.
"Ahem. Why do you want to bathe with Yujin? If it is merely a bath, I can bathe you every day."
"Want bath play. With Daddy."
"Why? You normally listen well to your father, yet now you are willing to throw a tantrum just to bathe with him. There must be a proper reason."
"...Bathing with Daddy was Haru's dream since she was little."
Her voice wavered slightly when she was pressed for a reason.
Haru's ears turned slightly red.
[You little rascal! I told you not to walk around naked. Doing that is shameful.]
[Haru's body dries quickly, so it is convenient.]
[No. If someone saw you, they'd call you a pervert....]
'Feeling good when I did something shameful meant I was a pervert. It had to stay secret from Daddy and Grandma.'
Even the innocent Haru understood.
What she was trying to do was perverted.
Daddy, Flatty, and Grandma had all been completely right.
But... hadn't she learned it from Yujin's kiss on her cheek?
Doing something shameful made her heart pound and the corners of her mouth spread into a broad grin.
It felt so good that she could have flown through the sky.
A mere kiss had already felt that good.
Then what would happen if she showed him her naked body, something Grandma had firmly declared shameful?
She could not even imagine how good it would feel.
She had to try it.
Haru was innocent enough that being forbidden from doing something only made her want to do it more.
'Honestly. First Yujin, and now this child. Why did they tell lies so obvious that anyone would see through them? Did I look that easy to fool?'
However, the Chairwoman possessed the S-rank Sixth Sense. She was a living lie detector.
She immediately saw through Haru's lie.
Just as she had a week earlier, when Yujin claimed that Haru had broken the red ginseng liquor.
'Still... perhaps I should let it pass. Such a good child was throwing a tantrum for once. As the adult, I ought to turn a blind eye.'
The Chairwoman decided not to reproach Haru for lying.
Just as she had pretended not to notice Yujin's lie.
She decided to pretend she had not seen through Haru's excuse either.
It was kindness born of long experience.
"Fine. I give permission."
"......!!!!?"
'Had this old hag gone senile!!?'
The insolent young man, unaware of her thoughts, kicked up a fuss...
"What in the world...."
"Instead... hmm. Wait here a moment."
"......?"
His anger quickly subsided.
The Chairwoman had headed toward the boxes stacked nearby.
'No wonder I had wanted to keep what Ninomiya told me to throw away. It was for this.'
"Let me see. Going by my intuition, it should be around here."
The Chairwoman squatted like an old woman weeding a field and rummaged through the pile of boxes.
Haru, Sia, and Yujin stared fixedly at her...
Then cries of astonishment erupted.
"Yujin, Haru. This should be enough to satisfy you, right?"
"......!!!!!?"
In the Chairwoman's hand...
The Chairwoman held a bikini that was too small for Aika but fit Haru perfectly.
* * *
A little while later, inside the bathroom of the Chairwoman's quarters.
When I looked around the bathroom, which was far too spacious for one person, an admiring exclamation escaped me.
"Wow...."
'As expected of the Chairwoman. She had thought of everything.'
When she told me to bathe with Haru, I'd wondered whether the old hag had finally gone senile.
Then she suddenly produced a swimsuit as though she'd known this would happen.
"My bathroom is spacious. Bathing is my only hobby in my old age, so I've practically built myself a palace."
She laid everything out for us, telling us to borrow it and enjoy playing in the water.
Even Haru, who had been throwing a tantrum, accepted the compromise and nodded. I'd worried that a cramped space would make it no different from bathing together, but the size of the tub finally reassured me.
Sorry for doubting you, Seol Hayeon.
'Then I should start filling the tub while they changed.'
Now that I was reassured, I quickly began preparing for our bath play.
I filled the tub with comfortably warm water.
I checked the area for anything dangerous Haru might hit if she ran around and slipped.
By the time I finished, nearly thirty minutes had passed.
It had been a fairly long wait, but I didn't blame them.
Because,
—Slide.
"Sorry, I said I'd be quick, but it took a while."
Sia had spent that time redoing her makeup.
What had she called it? Waterproof makeup? She said she needed to reapply everything with that.
When I suggested that Haru and I could simply go alone, she jumped in alarm and demanded, "How do I know what else you might do?"
My wife's distrust saddened me.
In any case, Sia had to fetch a swimsuit, change, and redo her makeup. That was how thirty minutes passed.
She seemed sorry as well, so I quickly tried to wave it off...
"It's fine. More importantly, that swimsuit looks amazing on—"
—Grab. Squish.
"......Huh?"
"Daddy, Daddy. Breaking news. Flatty is fine. A baby wouldn't cry from being unable to eat. Though only a little baby food comes out...."
"What are you talking about now, you idiot!!?"
I had been about to wave it off, but Haru interrupted, so I gave up.
I immediately turned my gaze away.
I had not been staring at anything inappropriate.
"Flatty can be confident. Much better than Whitey, who can't feed a baby...."
"Ahem. Haru? Weren't you going to play in the bath with Daddy?"
"...Right, bath play!"
I also baited her before she could set off another inappropriate bomb.
Haru huffed through her nose again.
She must have been looking forward to playing in the water.
"Good. So, what do you want to do first?"
"Rub-rub with bubbles~."
"Okay, okay. Then sit here~."
Thus began the first-ever Father-Daughter Bath Play.
Participants: Yujin and Haru.
Supervisor: Sia.
The first round was washing her hair.
"I'll pour the water~ How is it? It's not too hot, is it?"
"Yes. Super warm."
"That's good. Don't close your eyes... There, good girl~."
There wasn't anything particularly difficult about it.
Haru wore her hair in a bob, so it wasn't much longer than mine.
"Next is your body... You would hate it if Sia did that part, right?"
"Don't want. Haru is doing bath play with Daddy."
"All right. Then I'll cover you in bubbles~."
The hardest part was washing her body.
The slightest mistake could lead to inappropriate physical contact.
Sia seemed to have anticipated that, because her eyes widened sharply, but...
—Rub, rub.
"...You're extremely good at washing someone, Yujin."
"Daddy. Expert. A thousand times better than Grandma. Feels good."
"I'm pretty good at it."
'I had bathed with my wives countless times before I regressed.'
Who was I? A fortunate bastard blessed with three wives.
I had plenty of experience washing women.
Using a shower puff skillfully and washing her without irritating her skin was easy.
Even so, I left her chest to Sia.
"It feels better when Daddy does it...."
"Stop complaining. Good grief. That damn vixen was the same, and yours are ridiculously huge too. Do I really have to clean these lumps of fat for you? And you call yourself a second-generation chaebol?"
"......Sorry."
Sia's force of personality was overwhelming, so even Haru submitted without another word.
Surprisingly, we finished washing Haru without incident.
—Shhhhh.
"All done~ Haru, is anywhere still slippery from leftover soap suds?"
"No. Whole body squeaky clean."
That was the result of rinsing her several times while Sia occasionally lifted the edges of her swimsuit to wash underneath.
Haru, looking like a drowned rat, raised a triumphant thumb.
She seemed quite satisfied with my handiwork.
'That had been much easier than I expected. Had I known, I'd have agreed from the start.'
"All right. Then wait in the tub while Daddy washes himself."
"Don't want. Haru will wash Daddy too."
"You'll wash Daddy? Wow, our Haru is such a good girl~."
She'd even offered to wash me.
My daughter's devotion pleased me so much that a smile spread across my face.
"This is okay, right, Sia?"
"That's fine. I'll get into the tub first, so enjoy playing house and join me when you're done."
Sia, who had been glaring the entire time, quietly headed toward the tub.
A woman washing a man was unlikely to cause an accident.
Apparently, she saw no need to supervise.
I also let my guard down completely and sat on the bathroom stool.
I turned my back entirely to Haru and straightened my shoulders.
"Then, Haru, could you scrub Daddy's back? If you get it clean, Daddy will buy you something delicious later."
"Okay. Then, Daddy."
—Slip, slap.
"Haru will wash you with something soft♡"
Something wet fell to the floor behind me with a slap, but I paid it no attention.
She had probably dropped a shower towel or something.
"Hhk!!!!!? Y-Yujin! Close your eyes and don't turn around under any circumstances!!"
"Huh? Why?"
"———That idiot Haru took off her bikini!!!"
"Rub soap on my chest and scrub-scrub. Soft and squishy. Washes better than Daddy."
"...Sia, save me!!!!"
So that was peace you had dropped, Haru.