Chapter 461-462: Terrible Taste in Underwear (9)

"Sui, where's your coat again?" Erina asked with amusement when she saw him wearing only a shirt. She had heard that Sui had been misplacing his clothes a lot lately, and even joked that maybe the nearby kittens had taken them.

"Well, it wasn't stolen this time. I gave it to someone to wash," Sui replied with a sheepish smile, scratching the back of his head.

"To someone else?" Erina's expression immediately shifted to one of annoyance. She pouted, "Are you saying I didn't wash it well enough?"

Sensing her rising jealousy, Sui was caught between laughter and concern. "No, no. It's just that Ryoko accidentally spilled sauce on it, so she took it to clean up as an apology," he quickly explained, making up an excuse to avoid the wrath of the tsundere.

"Hmph, alright then," Erina said with a nod, looking mollified. She then noticed the small pumpkin in Sui's hand. "What's this? It's so tiny—is it a new ingredient?"

"Yeah," Sui nodded, holding up the marshmallow-like pumpkin. "Do you want to try it?"

"Sure," Erina smiled in agreement.

Sui sliced the pumpkin in half with a kitchen knife, then into smaller pieces. He picked one up and held it to Erina's lips.

"Eat it raw?" she blinked in surprise but still opened her mouth, taking a bite. Immediately, the sweet, rich flavor of the pumpkin filled her taste buds.

"This is amazing! I didn't know raw pumpkin could be this delicious!" she exclaimed, marveling at how soft and sweet the flesh was, tasting like a perfectly crafted dessert.

Sui took a bite as well and silently praised the pumpkin's quality. Its flavor and sweetness far surpassed that of regular pumpkins. He knew it would taste even better once cooked into a dish.

This was the third fantasy vegetable he had after almond cabbage and cream matsutake. Of course, black rice didn't count.

After finishing the entire pumpkin, Erina licked her lips, clearly still craving more.

"By the way, Erina, why are you home so early today?" Sui asked curiously.

"Oh, I took the afternoon off. I've been at the mansion the whole time," Erina said casually.

"Are you sick?" Sui asked with concern, gently placing his hand on her smooth, pale forehead.

Blushing at his touch, Erina smiled mysteriously. "No, I'm not."

"Then what have you been up to?" Sui asked, puzzled by her cryptic behavior.

"I've been doing laundry," Erina said, sticking her tongue out playfully.

"Laundry?" Sui echoed in disbelief.

"Yeah, come with me," Erina said, grabbing his hand and leading him out of the kitchen, up to her bedroom.

When they arrived, Sui noticed the bed covered in men's clothes. "Why are there so many men's clothes here?" he asked, frowning in confusion.

Erina picked up a white shirt, held it up to Sui, and nodded with satisfaction. "Perfect fit! I didn't buy it too big after all."

It dawned on Sui that Erina had bought the clothes for him, and he couldn't help but smile awkwardly.

"What, did you think these belonged to someone else?" Erina pouted, feigning anger with a cute expression.

"Well, I didn't expect you to remember my size so well," Sui replied, trying to change the subject.

Erina blushed even more, muttering shyly, "Of course I know."

"But you didn't have to buy so many," Sui said, glancing at the array of shirts, jackets, and even underwear laid out. Erina had chosen several sets, and he had to admit she had excellent taste—each item matched his style perfectly.

"Well, I realized I hadn't bought any clothes for you yet, so I thought I'd make up for it. You can leave them here from now on, and you won't have to worry about losing them," Erina explained, her playful smile brightened by two strands of golden hair falling softly over her cheeks.

The recent theft of Sui's clothes had reminded her that she hadn't bought anything for him before, making her feel like she wasn't fulfilling her role as a girlfriend.

"I didn't expect you to know my underwear size too," Sui teased, picking up a pair of colorful boxers from the pile.

Erina's face turned beet red. She glanced down at Sui's lower body for a brief moment, her mind drifting to some rather embarrassing thoughts.

"But your taste in picking underwear is... questionable," Sui added, holding up a bright red pair. He usually wore neutral colors like white, gray, or black, but Erina had chosen every possible shade—even red. The thought of wearing such bold colors outside made him cringe.

Erina blushed even deeper, fidgeting slightly. "I just think you'd look cute in them! And besides, I'm the only one who's going to see them, so what's the big deal?"

Sui rolled his eyes, thinking to himself, 'You're not the only one who's going to see them. Alice will definitely tease me about this.'

"So, is this what you've been doing all afternoon?" Sui asked, changing the subject again.

"Yeah, since the clothes were new, I figured I'd wash them right away. I dried them in the dryer and even ironed them," Erina said proudly, folding the freshly ironed clothes and placing them in her closet.

"Thanks for all the hard work," Sui said, feeling touched. It was a lot of effort for her to go through.

"It's not that hard. Think of it as practice for the future," Erina murmured, blushing slightly as she thought about their future together. "Besides, I had help from the Pokémons."

"Those little guys also helped?" Sui chuckled.

"Yeah," Erina smiled. "Speaking of which, why don't you try the clothes on and see how they fit?"

"Alright," Sui agreed, and since they were already in the bedroom, he began taking off his clothes right there.

"Try on these boxers too," Erina said, handing him the red pair she had chosen.

Sui looked at the underwear, sighed, and reluctantly took off his own.

Erina blushed furiously and quickly covered her eyes, scolding him, "Why are you doing this here?!"

Sui smirked, "It's not like you haven't seen it before."