“Then whose turn is it to be fanned by Sunghoon? Rangii, you’re smart, so you should know the answer, right?”
Me. It’s my turn.
“I-it’s yours, Narae.”
No, not Narae, me! And you, you little brat! Use your head a little! Did you not realize that Narae and I have been together since before you and I met? But Rangii, unable to come up with that argument, took a seat on my right with an unhappy expression on her face. She expressed her unhappiness by putting her tail on my lap. I doubt I could ever end up hating Rangii—in fact, I doubt it’s possible to hate her at all.
Having established that Rangii lost this exchange, Narae sat in front of me, her legs folded underneath her and her hands on her lap.
“Medium strength.”
Yes, I’m the human fan, Kang Sunghoon! Leave all the cooling to me! Though I’ve never made an advertisement about this. (tn: A reference to a World of Warcraft player in South Korea. Link .)
“Our apologies, ma’am. Your fan’s broken down, and it requires maintenance.”
Narae blushed slightly.
“W-who’re you calling ma’am?!”
I playfully stuck my tongue at her. Narae’s eyebrows and her fist rose together.
“Way back, I fixed the TV by punching it. Want me to try?”
“Goodness, there’s no need for that. Beginning medium strength.”
I held in my tears and worked the fan slowly, eliciting a gentle breeze just strong enough to sway her hair. Narae closed her eyes, enjoying the fruits of my labor.
“Full power.”
“No, this is Sunghoon.”
She didn’t get the joke.
“Full. Power.”
Actually, it just made things worse.
“Fine, fine.”
Here sits a spineless man. I put more strength into my arm. But in doing so, I noticed something different from normal. On her shoulder. During the bath, she was definitely wearing a bra with shoulder straps. Don’t ask how I knew that. As a man, I didn’t even notice my eyes wandering there. Anyway, Narae had on a tank top. Meaning, along with the straps of her tank top, there should have been four separate straps on her shoulders, and I remember physically seeing four just a moment ago… Now, I could only see two. In other words, since there were originally four but there were only two, that meant the husband was out of the house, out drinking, leaving his wife free for a passionate night. Do I have a screw loose right now? Let me try again. Since there were originally four but now there were only two, that meant Narae didn’t have a b-bra on! Or, in professional terms, absolutely no problems here!
Don’t freak out! Absolutely don’t freak out! Narae set this trap! I can’t freak out just because of this! No way, even if my sanity breaks first!
“Phew~. That feels good.”
Narae leaned back, her hands on the ground behind her, holding her up. This, however, left the bottom of Narae’s tank top free to flutter as it felt, and—fully unrelated to my own fanning—this allowed the festive bottoms of Narae’s breasts to breathe fresh air. I dropped the fan and backed away from her.
Nothing. There was nothing there. The garment that was supposed to be there wasn’t there!!
It would make sense to question why I was making such a fuss over something I had already seen. But the situation was what mattered. Let me explain. One is meant to be naked in a bathroom. There’s a kind of unspoken agreement that stripping naked there is an utterly natural occurrence. Something like: ‘In this place, nudity is permitted. Though mixed gender bathing may not be so harmless.’ That’s why the situation was different. We were outside. Now do you understand why I was reacting like this? Here’s a simple analogy: making out with your partner at school versus at home? …That wasn’t a fully cogent analogy. Kissing at home lets things progress smoothly, but doing the same at school makes it more tense, the constant worry that someone might show up intensifying your focus on your lover’s touch, and the heady aroma of the one you love filling your head. And then you hear those whispered words, that sweet voice that sets ablaze your passion.
You crazy bastard, stop that right now!!
I was so shocked that my head ended up full of nothing but erotica.
“What’s wrong?”
Narae looked up, wondering why I suddenly stopped my fanning. Does she not know? Does she seriously not realize why I’m like this? Then I’ll ask her! Even if it means digging my own grave!
“Why aren’t you wearing a bra?!”
Narae’s cheeks burned red at my incensed shriek.
“W-why should I tell you?!”
I wouldn’t care if she were wearing something a little more conservative, but isn’t it obvious that I’d be bothered if she was wearing something as exposing and wind-sensitive as a tank top? Just look! That single thin shirt doesn’t even cover her protruding—gyaaaaaa! I’ve seriously lost it! What the hell is wrong with me?!
“?!”
Steam rose from Narae’s head after she realized where I was looking, and she leaned forward, covering her breasts with one arm and raising the other one up high. I-is she going to hit me?
“J-just where do you think you’re looking, you pervert?!”
I couldn’t answer. If I did, then I’d be screwed. Because there was a certain person—I mean phantom—sitting contentedly in the middle of this chaos.
“What’s a bra?”
It was Rangii. Rangii, apparently genuinely clueless, grabbed my leg and shook it to get my attention. You should be asking that to Narae or to Saehee, the one who’s been taking care of you like a shepherd does her flock.
“A bra’s a kind of underwear that wraps around a girl’s chest.”
Narae raised her hand and answered in my stead. You can put your hand down now. Can’t you see that I’m shaking in fear right now?
“Then do I have to wear one too?”
She frowned slightly, as if she felt she was asking something unnecessary. I understood why she felt that way—I knew that she didn’t like constricting her body with clothes at all—but c’mon, you brat. I don’t know about Chii, but you definitely don’t need one. Narae, her anger forgotten because of Rangii’s adorable question, lowered her hand to cover her mouth, a small smile spreading on her face.
“You don’t need one.”
Rangii looked relieved, but only for a second.
“Because you have small breasts.”
She fell into despair. Her breasts are small. It looked like those words seriously bothered her. And as if on cue, the dark storm clouds that suddenly gathered in the sky let loose a heavy rain, thunder and lightning roaring and shining. As the sound of the rain intensified, Rangii, having made clear her agony, pricked her ears and put her hands on her chest, pushing her breasts up before shouting at us.
“Th-they aren’t small!”
Yes, they are, you brat. I’ve felt them enough times to confidently swear on my name that, while they aren’t nonexistent, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to just think of them as not there. I got the feeling Narae agreed with me.
“Of course they are,” I said.
Rangii was on the verge of tears. All the experience I’d had with Rangii was setting off alarm bells in my head. Which likely meant I’d gained enough EXP to level up my Rangii skills. Without a moment’s hesitation, I reached forward to keep Rangii from pulling off her shirt. Rangii was a step behind me, and after failing to take off her shirt, looked up at me confusedly.
“B-but how’d you know?”
Should I tell Rangii that it was kind of like how pet owners just sort of know what their pets are thinking? Narae would beat me to death if I called Rangii a pet, so probably not.
“How could I not?”
“Oh! So you’re saying you’ve been looking at me too much not to notice!”
Rangii’s mastered the art of twisting words around for her own purposes.
“But Narae’s wrong, and I’m going to show proof! Now release your hand!”
If I did that, then Rangii’s proof would cause Narae to hit me until I blacked out, so absolutely not. I clung with grim determination to her shirt; Rangii pouted and shouted at me.
“Grrr! Then I have another idea! Stay here until I come back!”
Rangii turned around and walked to where Saehee was. I doubted Saehee could do anything. Both Rangii’s and Saehee’s bust sizes… A sudden chill went down my spine, but there was something I had to deal with first, so I decided to ignore it. I turned to look at Narae, who was glaring at me with her arm still covering her breasts, and spoke to her.
“Wait, now that we’re back on this topic. I’m a man, aren’t I? Didn’t you think that I’d have a difficult time figuring out where to look at you if you were dressed like that?”
Our conversation was finally getting back on track.
“I did.”
You knew, and you’re acting like this?!
“Then why didn’t you have on a bra?!”
“Obviously because if I had worn one, you’d have been disap…”
“…What?”
Narae began flailing her hands, causing her unrestrained bosom to shake wildly, as she spoke.
“No, no! It was just uncomfortable!”
Ah, so I misheard her. Of course. That had to be it. In order to forcibly stop myself from thinking more deeply about what Narae said, I spoke to Narae.
“I don’t know much about that stuff, but isn’t what you have on already plenty comfortable?”
This was a question fueled solely by the innocent curiosity of a seventeen-year-old boy.
“No! It’s always more comfortable to not have one on at all! Not to mention my bust size has been getting bigger lately, so the ones I have are getting tighter, and they even hurt sometimes. Plus it’s summer, and the heat makes it trap sweat! Not to mention sometimes it chafes my…?!
By the end, I was unable to pay full attention to what she was saying.
“T-there’s no need to go into so much detail.”
When I said this, I was blushing all the way down to my neck, my gaze fixed on the floor.
“N-no, forget it! Forget everything I said!”
Narae grabbed me by the shoulders, shaking me back and forth with immense strength. I was stunned into silence, my eyes rocking back and forth from the ceiling to Narae’s beet-red face and back again; and I couldn’t help but laugh inwardly. Ha, hahahaha.
“Now look!”
Am I not yet allowed to die? Narae stopped after hearing Rangii. I barely managed to keep my head from colliding face-first into Narae’s breasts, and I immediately turned my head to look at anywhere except her cleavage.
“…Ah.”
“I can put on a bra, too, see?”
Rangii had sauntered out the door, the clear sky plain to see behind her, clad in a kid-sized sports bra with her hands placed proudly on her hips. It looked more like a tight-fitting tank top than an undergarment. With that on, I could clearly see that Rangii was still a kid. Because there was practically nothing there. As flat as a board. Narae and I were in complete agreement.
Narae held Rangii to her bosom in a sympathetic embrace.
“Yeah, Rangii. I was wrong. Yep. You can definitely put on on, too.”
I patted her head without saying a word. The sadness welling in my chest came from the fact that even as an adult, her chest would stay at that size.
“…Huh? I feel like I’m being comforted.”
That’s not just a feeling. It’s the truth.