Chapter 72: The Hotel Room

Why did this happen? Is there something unusual about the flow of thought?

I tried to organize what had happened in a flash, as it became increasingly confusing.

Yoo Ji-eun seemed to feel self-conscious about her small breasts.

I gave her a textbook-like comfort.

Yoo Ji-eun repeated my words, then murmured.

She said she wanted to touch my breasts in a hotel.

“I don’t understand…”

Why did it suddenly turn into wanting to touch my breasts?

“Why… why do you suddenly want to touch my breasts?”

I asked, trying to act as nonchalant as possible.

“Yes?”

Yoo Ji-eun looked like she was asking the obvious.

“You said it was just a shell. Then isn’t it okay to touch it?”

“Uh…? No…”

…

How should I rephrase it gently?

…

I failed. My brain stopped working. My thoughts weren’t going straight, but spinning like a water wheel.

I was sweating cold sweat and pursed my lips… then spoke again.

I need to find a loophole somehow.

“W-why suddenly to a hotel……”

“Hmm… we can’t touch breasts here, can we? And a hotel is better than a motel.”

“Uh… uh…? W-well… do friends usually touch each other’s breasts…?”

“Yes.”

Yoo Ji-eun said, again so innocently.

At that, my brain froze for a moment.

It seems like it…?

I’ve seen videos on YouTube of female students giggling and touching each other’s breasts, or dividing into male and female roles and slapping each other’s butts…

Most of them are from Japanese high schools, which makes the source unreliable…

Well, I’ve seen women jokingly kissing each other on the cheeks or patting each other’s chests at parties. It seemed like that kind of joke was okay for women.

Looking at it like this…

Isn’t the threshold for women’s jokes too low?

Where’s the line for joking?

I really don’t know.

Is it okay up to the breasts? Even a kiss on the cheek?

…

Or, even further?

For now, they probably know better than I do.

It probably wouldn’t look strange if I just followed their lead…

…

Still, I want to escape if there’s an escape route.

“B-but why do you want to touch my breasts?”

“I’ve wanted to touch them for a while. It’s fun. Come on, let’s go.”

Yoo Ji-eun took my hand and tried to cross the crosswalk.

“Uh, uh?”

Not knowing what was going on, I just made sounds as I walked.

Behind me, Song Chae-hyun seemed to be conflicted for a moment, lowering her head and pursing her lips.

She said, struggling.

“I-it’s not okay, Ji-eun. I-hyun is still a minor, this kind of thing…”

“Oh…!”

Thanks to Song Chae-hyun, who still had the wrong idea, I had a chance to salvage the situation.

“Yes, yes! That’s right…!”

I quickly nodded.

“…”

At Song Chae-hyun’s words, Yoo Ji-eun stared at her intently, then.

“I-hyun isn’t a minor.”

“Yes?”

At that, Song Chae-hyun looked shocked and opened her mouth, when. Yoo Ji-eun seemed to explain, whispering in Song Chae-hyun’s ear.

Song Chae-hyun listened to her.

“Then… isn’t it okay…?”

Huh?

After hearing that, Song Chae-hyun was walking, holding my hand. Yoo Ji-eun was holding my other hand.

…

Why did it suddenly become this pose?

I feel like a daughter between her parents.

“Yeah, it’s not bad to try it once. Just once…”

“It’s because we’re women.”

“Yes. Because we’re women… yeah. Because we’re women…”

Song Chae-hyun had been murmuring similar things since earlier.

That it’s okay because she’s not a minor, that she was worried for no reason.

Every time, Yoo Ji-eun would agree, and Song Chae-hyun would nod as if accepting it and rationalize it again.

And Yoo Ji-eun would agree again, and it would repeat endlessly.

“…”

She’s been like that ever since she heard I wasn’t a minor.

Then, as if she suddenly remembered, Song Chae-hyun asked.

“But then how old are you, I-hyun?”

“Ah, I……”

Should I say 21?

Then I won’t be able to call them unnie… It feels a bit awkward to switch to informal speech now. And I like being the younger one…

Yeah, I was born early, so… let’s go with 20.

“20 years old.”

“I see…”

She suddenly looked me up and down for a while.

…

I feel a chill… it’s a slightly different feeling from before.

A familiar gaze?

“But, is it okay? Really, to touch.”

Yoo Ji-eun asked, concerned that I was silently following their lead without a word.

At that question, Song Chae-hyun’s gaze also turned to me.

My mind cleared a bit at those words.

I hesitated for a moment.

Is it okay?

Virginity, and such, I’ve been concerned about it since I became a woman… but breasts, yeah, I think it’s okay up to the breasts. Well, they’re also women… and they’re people I like. It’s not like they’re touching me with sexual intent, it’s just a joke, so that kind of standard is a bit different.

I felt like I’ve been receiving too much from them, so I wanted to give them something.

If that’s touching my breasts, I think it’s a cheap price.

“…Yes…!”

For some reason, I said it with a bit of determination.

The hotel lobby was decorated with gold-toned marble.

It’s pretty…

“Wow…”

I couldn’t help but exclaim.

“Is this your first time at a hotel?”

Yoo Ji-eun asked, noticing my behavior.

“Yes.”

I said, lowering my head slightly, embarrassed.

…

Somehow, I feel like a country bumpkin in front of Yoo Ji-eun.

“Then I’m I-hyun’s first, huh?”

“Yes? Yes.”

Why is she asking the obvious, I thought, nodding.

I saw Yoo Ji-eun’s lips curl up slightly.

…Does she like that so much?

Well, I guess I’d feel good too if I took my friend to a nice place and they said I was their first.

The check-in process went smoothly. Yoo Ji-eun seemed familiar with this place, taking out her card, saying words I didn’t understand, and the counter staff repeatedly bowed politely to her.

I didn’t forget to thank them. I’m always grateful… Song Chae-hyun also repeatedly said thank you.

…

I wonder if it’s just my imagination, but I feel like the intention behind the gratitude is a bit different.

And then, we took the elevator, passed through the hallway…

And checked in.

‘How did this happen?’

Song Chae-hyun had been in a state of confusion since earlier.

She pretended to be nonchalant and followed Yoo Ji-eun.

But she was in more confusion than Moon I-hyun, no, even more so.

She felt like she was going crazy.

She was shocked by Yoo Ji-eun’s sudden question about touching her breasts, but it was even stranger that Moon I-hyun agreed.

Yoo Ji-eun, she understands. Song Chae-hyun is convinced that she is a lesbian.

Suddenly saying she wants to touch her breasts is a bit surprising…

‘Well, Ji-eun is a bit eccentric compared to her usual behavior.’

She could understand that.

…

But.

‘……Why is I-hyun letting her touch her breasts so easily?’

She suddenly became worried.

Usually, even as a joke, you don’t go into a hotel.

…

Maybe, she has a lot of experience like this?

She said it was her first time at a hotel, but it might not be her first time at a motel.

She says she’s a virgin… but that might just be a concept for the broadcast.

Honestly, she’s so pretty, if she wanted to date someone, she could easily do it.

At that moment, the image of Moon I-hyun giving a ‘woman’s smile’ to someone popped into Song Chae-hyun’s mind.

A corner of Song Chae-hyun’s heart began to ache.

That aching feeling gradually worsened… until it made Song Chae-hyun speak.

“Um…… I-hyun.”

“Yes?”

“H-have you ever had your breasts touched by someone? Ah, just, just curious…”

She was so desperate that she regretted saying something so direct, but of course, she couldn’t take it back.

Yoo Ji-eun, who was organizing her luggage, was also curious about the answer, so she was staring at them.

Moon I-hyun was silent at those words.

She covered her mouth with the sleeve of her shirt, as if embarrassed, and said quietly.

“…No… you’re the first…”

At those words, Song Chae-hyun and Yoo Ji-eun were silent for a while.

Suddenly, they both remembered at the same time.

One of the nicknames the viewers gave Moon I-hyun.

Jahwacheon. [Note: This is likely a play on words in Korean, combining “self” and “heaven”, suggesting someone who is self-centered and lives in their own world.]

That word, now, made perfect sense.

‘In my case… one letter might be different, though.’

Moon I-hyun was sitting on the bed, and Yoo Ji-eun and Song Chae-hyun were standing in front of her.

A dark shadow was cast on Moon I-hyun’s pure white face.

Seeing that… Song Chae-hyun swallowed.

‘Something’s not right.’

It was good because it satisfied her fantasies, though.

Moon I-hyun swallowed nervously.

“W-well then…”

She said, her face gradually turning red…

“A-are you really going to do it…?”

At those words, the two standing were silent.

Moon I-hyun took that silence as affirmation…

And unbuttoned one button.

“……?”

“…Huh?”

“Wh-why?”

Rather, the two of them made questioning sounds at Moon I-hyun, who was bewildered and holding the button she was trying to unbutton from her shirt.

At that reaction, Moon I-hyun also became flustered.

“Weren’t you going to touch my bare breasts…?”

“……Huh?”

“Yes?”

The two of them were dumbfounded.

‘Why is she taking it off…?’

Moon I-hyun, seeing Song Chae-hyun and Yoo Ji-eun thinking that, quickly buttoned up her shirt again with an even redder face.

She thought that since her close friends touch each other’s breasts through their clothes, she should let them touch her bare breasts since they were very close.

“I-if not, then that’s fine…! I didn’t know…”

“Ah…….”

At that moment, a little bit of disappointment lingered.

“W-well then…..”

“L-let’s touch together at the same time. So it’s fair……”

Swallowing the ‘why…?’ that was in her throat, Moon I-hyun waited for their approaching hands.

“Haa…”

Moon I-hyun held the bedsheets and desperately tried to suppress her voice.

‘This is a joke. It’s just a joke……’

She thought.

But Yoo Ji-eun behind her… didn’t seem to think it was a joke.

She was persistently stroking the entire area of her breasts.