Chapter 68: An Interrupted nap

Naps are always blissful. When was the last time I slept wearing only underwear like this? I stopped doing it as I got older.

I’m happy. The texture of the mattress and blanket feels vivid and slightly cool. The gray light of the afternoon, with the curtains closed, is easy on my eyes.

I can’t tell when I woke up. When I looked at the clock earlier, it had been an hour since I lay down, but now it feels like more time has passed, or maybe it hasn’t been that long at all.

The best part of a nap is always when you’re half-awake.

I was enjoying that feeling, and I rubbed my body against the blanket. The unfamiliar feeling of only wearing underwear made the blanket feel ticklish, soft, and nice.

“Hmm…”

I hummed. If I could stay like this forever, I would do anything. It would be even better if Song Chae-yeon or Yoo Ji-eun were here. …I lay there facing the ceiling for a while, then turned to my right for a moment… and opened my eyes. I was curious what time it was.

I looked at the phone on the wall. 20 minutes had passed.

“Hmm…”

I stretched, looking at the wall, then placed both hands on the wall and arched my back.

Back stretches are essential for someone like me who has to sit for long periods.

Also, because my muscles have significantly decreased… I’ve been hunching over more often than before, so I’m worried about things like text neck.

It’s annoying… but it’s better to do it whenever I remember.

“Mmm…”

My back stretches, and I feel my vertebrae aligning. It’s probably just my imagination, though…

Then.

I heard something fall behind me.

“…?”

I felt a bit scared… but this has happened to me many times before. It’s probably just a detergent bottle or a box falling.

I turned around, and.

There were no fallen detergent bottles or boxes.

There were two women.

We stared at each other.

I still didn’t understand the situation. I didn’t rub my eyes or anything… I just stood there, as if my brain had stopped.

Then… not long after, the one who broke the silence was… me.

“Kya, kyaaak!!”

A womanly scream came out.

What?

Isn’t that Song Chae-hyun and Yoo Ji-eun?

Why, why are they here?

More than that…

I’m only wearing underwear…!

“T-turn around! Quickly…!”

I said, quickly wrapping my body with the blanket. For some reason, tears welled up in my eyes.

“Ah… okay!”

“Yes…!”

They were still staring at me blankly, but they seemed to snap out of it when I spoke, and they quickly turned around.

In that moment, I quickly put on the pajamas that were lying next to the bed.

“I-I’m done now…”

I said, secretly wiping away my tears with the blanket.

Then, the two women carefully turned around.

“I-I-hyun.”

Song Chae-hyun, still seeming very flustered, was stuttering. The two of them were standing there awkwardly.

“I-I’m sorry, I-hyun… we knocked but there was no answer so we just came in, but we didn’t expect you to be sleeping in this… attire…”

“Who just comes in when there’s no answer after knocking…”

“I-I’m sorry…”

“I’m sorry, I-hyun…”

Normally, I would have said it was okay and moved on.

But for some reason, it bothered me a lot.

I-I’ve never shown my bare skin to anyone.

There are many revealing photos in my gallery… but those are just for me, I’ve never shown them to anyone.

If even photos are like that, how much more so for the real thing…

…

I feel kind of violated. It’s not that they’re dirty… ah, I don’t know.

Tears welled up again from the shame.

They couldn’t have seen it. But Yoo Ji-eun and Song Chae-hyun saw my face and rushed over to me, startled.

They even knelt down and apologized.

They said they were sorry, that they really didn’t expect this to happen. I forced myself to nod and respond.

“I didn’t even see it properly, I-hyun…! I had my back turned…”

“R-right!”

At those words… I tried to feel relieved.

Their sincerity made me feel gradually better. This rollercoaster of emotions. Yeah, Yoo Ji-eun and Song Chae-hyun are women, not men… and it was just underwear, not completely naked, so it should be okay. It should be…

I thought and nodded, when.

As I felt better, a worry popped into my head.

Did they get disappointed?

Honestly… I’ve been ordering a lot of delivery lately, so I’ve gained a little, very, very little weight. Did they see that and get disappointed?

Will they talk about it behind my back later?

I-hyun gained more weight than I thought, yeah, her body doesn’t look that great either. It’s all her face. Her future spouse will be unlucky.

When I imagined that… I started to get as bothered as before.

I do squats often. I run with Song Chae-hyun every week.

Just because I ate a bit more, would they really think that?

“…H-hey…”

“Yes!”

“Yes…!”

They answered with rigid postures, seeming to still be concerned about my mood.

I hesitated for a while, wondering whether to say it or not… but in the end, I spoke.

“…I didn’t gain weight.”

“…Huh?”

“Yes…?”

“I-I… this isn’t fat… um… it’s muscle.”

When I tried to make an excuse, I couldn’t think of anything, so I just blurted it out.

At that, they stared at me blankly, then.

“No! You’re really pretty! You have an enviable body…!”

“Y-yes! You’re really pretty! You’re so lovely… there’s nothing unattractive about you! You didn’t gain any weight at all?”

Song Chae-hyun and Yoo Ji-eun flinched for a moment, then seemed to realize something and continued.

I kept questioning the sincerity of their words, but when it seemed like they were genuine, I felt relieved and nodded.

But, didn’t they say they didn’t see properly earlier?

Song Chae-hyun and Yoo Ji-eun explained that they had planned a surprise visit because I seemed so down.

They were thinking of me like that. It warmed my heart a little.

I wanted to thank them.

“Wear this, please.”

“No, wear this, I-hyun. This is prettier.”

They were both holding out hangers, trying to get closer to me.

“What are you two doing?”

They were trying to get me to wear the clothes they had bought for me.

“W-well… let’s do this.”

I decided to wear the shirt Song Chae-hyun bought for me on top, and the skirt Yoo Ji-eun bought for me on the bottom. And the pure white shoes I bought a while ago.

So, I took the two hangers, looked at them, and gave them a signal.

“?”

The two of them just stood there blankly.

…

I couldn’t take it anymore and said.

“A-aren’t you going to turn around…?”

“Ah…!”

“Ah…”

They finally turned around.

So I felt relieved and changed, when I heard Song Chae-hyun’s hesitant voice.

“But, now that we’ve seen it once, it doesn’t matter, right?”

“W-what are you saying…! I’ll really be upset if you turn around now!”

I followed the usual routine after leaving the house. Cafe, food, cafe, and then a walk.

It was a bit late in the afternoon, so it was nice and cool outside.

…

But.

“…Do we have to go like this?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Why?”

“Just because.”

Song Chae-hyun and Yoo Ji-eun said, evading the question.

They were walking with me in between them, holding both of my hands.

Normally, it might look like close friends… but because of the significant height difference, I had to raise my arms a bit.

…And, that hurt my pride a little.

I whined about it a few times… but they didn’t seem to have any intention of changing.

…I had no choice but to just walk like that. I’m grateful that they came out here for me… they’re both busy people.

…

The occasional stares were a bit embarrassing.

“Where are we?”

“Huh? LifeFourCuts.”

“Ah…”

I’ve heard of it a few times. I wasn’t interested, so I’ve never been there…

“What, have you never been here?”

“Yes…?”

They said it like it was surprising, so I felt a bit embarrassed and trailed off.

Then Song Chae-hyun’s eyes sparkled, and she leaned in close to my face.

“Let’s take some pictures. Okay?”

“Um… okay.”

Well… there’s no problem with that.

We went into the booth, and I waited while Song Chae-hyun and Yoo Ji-eun fiddled with something. It seems more complicated than I thought…

They connected something to their phones, whispered to each other… and occasionally glanced at me.

Then, Song Chae-hyun and Yoo Ji-eun stood on either side of me in front of the camera.

Our faces were reflected on the screen below.

“Okay, let’s decide on three poses. I-hyun, is there any pose you want to do?”

“Uh, um…”

I’ve never thought about something like this.

“Th-this…?”

I said, forcing a smile and holding up a V sign.

Song Chae-hyun and Yoo Ji-eun stared at it blankly…

“Okay, let’s all do a V sign for the first picture.”

“Yes.”

I nodded and held up a V sign at the countdown. Yoo Ji-eun and Song Chae-hyun also did a V sign.

It was kind of fun doing it together, so my expression naturally relaxed.

…

Looking at it on the screen, I can really see the height difference between us.

After taking one picture, I looked up at them, wondering how we should take the next one.

Song Chae-hyun and Yoo Ji-eun were silent for a moment…

“I-hyun, do you want to take a picture where we kiss your cheeks?”

“W-what!?”

“You know, it’ll be fun. Between women. Right, Ji-eun?”

“Y-yes. It’ll be fun. Um…”

“Hmm……”

It’s a bit much to do so casually…

You need the right atmosphere for that.

I was so embarrassed that I lowered my head.

“…J-just take the picture… I’m a bit shy.”

“Okay…?”

“Okay…”

They both visibly became gloomy.

Did I have to say it like that…?

I felt a bit sorry… but I couldn’t help it.

Taking a picture of that kind of action was an even higher hurdle…

The pictures were quickly printed. We each took one of the three sets of pictures of me, Song Chae-hyun, and Yoo Ji-eun.

“It’s, it’s amazing.”

I feel a sense of belonging…

But do we really need to take pictures in this pose?

Yoo Ji-eun suggested taking a picture with her arm around my waist, and Song Chae-hyun suggested taking a picture with her hand on my shoulder.

Well, it’s fine if they like it.

“That was fun, right?”

“…Yes…!”

“I had fun too.”

We said, leaving the photo booth.

Outside, the sun was setting.

“It’s time to say goodbye. I’m a bit tight on time now… so I have to go first.”

“Me too. I’m sorry, but can you go alone today, I-hyun?”

Time to part.

I stared blankly at the sunset with them, then fiddled with the picture in my hand.

If I hadn’t met them, how would I be living now?

I definitely wouldn’t be as happy as I am now.

“I-hyun?”

I didn’t answer and approached Yoo Ji-eun.

“…I-hyun?”

I slightly lowered her shoulder, as she looked at me bewildered.

And then I kissed her on the cheek.

– Kiss

“…Huh?”

I left Yoo Ji-eun, who was staring at me blankly, and approached Song Chae-hyun.

Song Chae-hyun was a bit taller than Yoo Ji-eun, so I had to pull her shoulder and stand on my tiptoes.

I kissed her on the cheek, making a -kiss sound.

With a slightly flushed face, I said to them.

“…Thank you for today… I’m sorry I couldn’t kiss you when we took the picture.”

I said what I had been keeping in my heart.

Then, I suddenly became very embarrassed… and ran away.

“…”

“…”

The two of them stared blankly at Moon I-hyun running far away.

Song Chae-hyun was the first to speak.

“What should we do?”

“Yes?”

“I really don’t think I can hold back.”

The two of them happened to recall what happened earlier that day at the same time.

And they combined it with Moon I-hyun, who was running away, swaying in front of them.

The pose where she was leaning against the wall, with her butt sticking out.

Yoo Ji-eun swallowed and answered.

“Me neither.”