How Does Brother Namgung Know About Cross-Dressing Shopping…?
Morning arrived as it always did.
"Ugh… my chest is so tight…"
Im Seowol had eaten some salt bread, studied a little, and fallen asleep—only to wake up in a truly awkward predicament. The black long robe he had worn every day since enrolling—three outfits rotated endlessly because he couldn't afford more—simply would not close over his chest anymore.
"Haa… haah… is there any way I can force this…?"
If the robe had merely been oversized, he could have worn it looking a little ridiculous. Unfortunately for him, the robe that had fit perfectly before he fell into the clutches of Young Master Namgung and Maeng Harang now crushed breasts that were already straining past a modest B-cup.
"Nngh… no, no… it hurts…"
Less than half a ke after forcing the robe on, Im Seowol was already gasping as if someone were strangling him. In truth he could have endured it if he clenched his teeth hard enough. Corsets, after all, squeezed far tighter than any black robe, and women regularly fainted from mere excitement while wearing them. But the real-time swelling effect of the North Sea Ice Palace's pride and joy—the Femboy Breast Development Promoter II—combined with his complete lack of experience with tight clothing made every constriction feel ten times worse. Until his chest shrank again, the beloved black robe was out of the question.
"…So that's the situation. Sorry, but could you help me out?"
Im Seowol laid everything bare and asked for help. Maeng Harang propped his chin on one hand and considered.
"Hmm— is wearing something too small really that painful—? Well, whatever. I get it. So what kind of clothes are you planning to buy—?"
Im Seowol answered with the plan he had already prepared.
"I have a little emergency money saved up, so I was going to get a bigger robe from a cheap cloth shop…"
"You're seriously going to buy some oversized robe made for big guys—?!"
Maeng Harang, who had been lounging on the huge sofa, shot upright.
"Let me make this crystal clear: that is ab-so-lute-ly not happening—! With a face and chest like yours, what kind of nonsense are you thinking?!"
The sudden intensity made Im Seowol take a step back, yet he still managed to push back.
"…Ugh, what choice do I have? I'm broke and nothing fits. It's not like you're going to buy me clothes."
"I will."
"Wha…?"
Leaving the stunned Im Seowol hanging, Maeng Harang flopped back onto the soft sofa.
"I'm busy today. Near the main gate you'll find a pretty little thing waiting. I'll send word ahead, so head straight there—."
"…For real?"
"Have I ever lied to you—? Tell her she's allowed to spend up to one horse-hoof silver. Buy clothes, have some fun."
With that, Maeng Harang closed his eyes, clearly done talking.
Left with no choice, Im Seowol slipped out wearing only underclothes beneath a cloak and carefully made his way toward the main gate of the Imperial Academy, trying not to draw attention.
"Hey— over here, over here—!"
Click-clack, click-clack—
The moment he drew close enough, someone spotted him from afar, shouted, and came running. Loud high-heel clicks and a thick, sweet banana scent washed over him.
"Hi hi— Harang-nim told me everything. We're shopping for clothes and hanging out, right?"
"Ah… greetings, Miss…?"
"Heehee, why so stiff—? That hurts my feelings. Harang-nim told me all about you. My family name is Chae, and my given name is Hyangcho—banana. Just call me Hyang."
She named herself after a fruit…? An alias?
While Im Seowol tried to keep proper manners, the girl reeking of sweet banana pressed right up against him in an outfit so revealing it reminded him of Yu Gaeul at his most extreme.
"Ugh— that cloak is painful to look at. Let's go buy clothes already!"
The girl who called herself Hyang was much shorter than Im Seowol, yet she hooked her arm through his with a soft, gently swelling chest. Weak against feminine contact, Im Seowol was instantly overwhelmed by the simple touch and the scent tickling his nose.
"Eep… Miss Hyang, wait…! I'll follow, so please let go…!"
"Ahaha— you're so fun. I told you to call me Hyang."
Click-clack—
The pink-haired Chae Hyang in her scandalously light clothes and Im Seowol, face peeking out from under a cloak, made quite the eye-catching pair. Passersby stared. Even though her outfit was far too revealing, walking arm-in-arm with a pretty girl made Im Seowol's shoulders lift a little with secret pride.
…Of course, to everyone else they simply looked like a demure girl being dragged around by her slutty friend.
"I'd love to dress you just like me, but… you're still uncomfortable, right? I've been there, so I get it—."
She seems ditzy and a bit loose, but… she's not a bad person.
Watching Chae Hyang giggle and somehow pick out clothes that wouldn't completely mortify him, Im Seowol quietly revised his opinion upward. Off-shoulder one-pieces like Yu Gaeul wore, skirts so short the entire underside of the butt showed, tops that bared the navel and underboob—if she had chosen any of those, he would have refused on the spot. Yet somehow she selected pieces he could just barely compromise on: not too slutty (though still far from ideal).
"Um, that one looks like it'll show my belly button…"
"I know. Midriff is too much for you, right—? It's a little short, but it won't flash your whole lower belly, and there are other options, so let's just put it in the pile."
"Mmm…"
Whenever Im Seowul tried to stop her over something a bit too revealing, the same girl who had been acting airheaded suddenly became silver-tongued and talked him into it.
"Seowol, you've got a big chest, so something that shows just a hint of the curve, or a really tight top, would look great—."
This time she held up a body-hugging knit sweater.
"No way, my chest—how am I supposed to show that…?!"
Im Seowol recoiled in horror, but Chae Hyang's counterattack came immediately.
"Didn't you say you couldn't breathe because your chest was crushed? Were you planning to wrap yourself in bandages? You don't have a choice. Harang-nim already forbade you from wearing something stupidly oversized."
"Guh…"
"Please bring these over here."
"Thank you, miss—!"
In the end Im Seowol went into the fitting room and put on the skin-tight knit top that left nothing of his figure to the imagination, plus a pair of blue shorts. Chae Hyang paid extra and still received an enormous amount of silver in change.
"Haa… is it finally over?"
Completely drained by the shopping, Im Seowol sighed the moment they stepped outside.
"As if— clothes alone? Of course we still need shoes."
"Wh-what…?"
Seeing his panic, Chae Hyang linked arms with him again.
"Don't worry so much— today we're only buying flat shoes. How long were you planning to stomp around in those ugly boots?"
"Ugh… uuugh…"
"Phew— now we've bought everything."
Having gone ahead and purchased several pairs of shoes for him as well, Chae Hyang finally declared the shopping finished.
"Really…? Then I can head back to the dorms…"
"Hold it—! We've still got this much change left and you want to leave already?"
Just as Im Seowol, still unused to the knit top, shorts, and flat shoes, tried to hurry back to the dormitory, Chae Hyang hugged him from behind around the waist.
"Come play with me— okay?"
"Eep…"
Unlike Maeng Harang, who always smiled yet was cunning through and through, Chae Hyang overflowed with an easy, airheaded charm that made her simple to deal with. From Im Seowol's perspective—despite the many recent humiliations—he was still a man. Having a beauty like her, even if she seemed a little loose, approach him like this was… honestly somewhat welcome.
Unlike the Ice Palace twins, who kept an untouchable air even when they made the first move, Chae Hyang was, to put it crudely, the perfect type for a one-night fling.
"How about it—? I know a reeeally good place…"
Her damp voice right by his ear, the sweet body scent, the hot breath. The sudden shift in atmosphere was a little abrupt, but so what?
Im Seowol silently nodded.