Chapter 14 : Chapter 14

One of the three heroines, including Ye Sara, 'Shin So-hee', was a character with somewhat different settings from the other characters.

From the beginning, she attended a different school.

Unlike the other heroines who attended Hwayoung High School, famous for being a school for the wealthy, Shin So-hee attended an ordinary high school in the nearby area.

Though labeled as a 'gyaru character,' Shin So-hee, who was created following the trend of having a pure personality despite such an appearance, played a role similar to Yoon Da-ho in the yuri route.

In other words, although she attended a different school, it was possible to capture her easily without much character development.

The creator's claim was that after clearing these easy-to-enter routes a few times in 'If You Wish,' it would become easier to capture other characters…

For example, Yoon Da-ho was the standard for the normal route.

He was a rude male character created to show how the target's reaction changes depending on how the protagonist is nurtured, making it easy to capture him regardless of the path taken.

He was a character meant to roughly demonstrate how 'nurturing' could influence future character captures… as written on the wiki.

Shin So-hee was essentially created for the same purpose, but with slight differences in detail.

In this world, it wasn't considered very strange for women to date other women.

That's right, it wasn't very strange.

However, it wasn't exactly a completely 'normal' thing either.

Basically, most people believed that it was natural for men to fall for women and for women to fall for men, just like in the ordinary world I lived in, but there was no societal atmosphere opposing same-sex relationships.

Therefore, in the world of 'If You Wish,' there existed a mild aversion to homosexuality or at least some odd glances.

Since Yoo Ha-neul was a character controlled by the player, aspects like sexual orientation or the character's detailed settings were decided by the player's choices.

So, in that case, it didn't matter, but the heroines, who were the capture targets, were different.

Both Lee Soo-ah and Ye Sara were not lesbians but were set as bisexual.

And since they grew up in environments without much exposure to homosexuality, they naturally believed it was normal to feel sexual attraction to men.

Of course, to capture these two, you'd have to overcome the question of "Wait, do I like her? Even though she's a girl?"

And to do so, capturing these two would require more careful nurturing than the male character routes, which started with the advantage of 'being of the opposite sex.'

You would have to make Yoo Ha-neul match their tastes as accurately as possible.

However, there was no need for such a setting with Shin So-hee, as she was a character set to be a lesbian from the start.

She didn't like men from the beginning.

She felt sexual attraction and desire toward women.

Naturally, when Yoo Ha-neul approached Shin So-hee, she would start with the advantage of being a woman, just like with the male characters in the other routes.

Of course, simply being like the male characters wouldn't make sense in a yuri route tutorial.

So, Shin So-hee had a smaller obstacle compared to the other heroines—her 'concern about sexual identity.'

Although she knew she liked women, she wondered whether it was right to feel sexual curiosity or fantasies toward her close friends.

But she was a character who would quickly throw away such concerns if there was someone she could 'date.'

That was why Shin So-hee was treated as the yuri route tutorial character.

If someone asked how I knew so much about this character despite never playing the game myself, the answer was simple.

The streamer I watched had played the yuri route, which was Shin So-hee's route.

Shin So-hee's design perfectly matched the streamer's taste, and since the streamer originally started playing aiming for the yuri route, they rated it much more highly than the frustrating Yoon Da-ho route, which was full of cancerous developments.

Most of the analysis on the wiki was probably written more enthusiastically by fans who watched the streamer's videos than by those who actually played the game.

There wasn't as much written about Ye Sara or Lee Soo-ah.

…Of course, Yoo Ha-neul and Shin So-hee's first meeting wasn't as outrageously stimulating as it was now.

Thunk.

The sound of the red lollipop Shin So-hee had been holding in her mouth dropping to the ground was heard.

At that moment, my gaze naturally went to Shin So-hee's legs as she crouched down, despite wearing a short school uniform skirt.

Unlike Ye Sara's thighs, which could be considered quite skinny, hers definitely looked healthy and sturdy.

After staring at me blankly for a few seconds, Shin So-hee finally realized the situation and removed the earphones she had in her ears.

"…What?"

Shin So-hee glared at me with dagger-like eyes.

…Right, no matter how much of a lesbian she was, if someone suddenly lifted their skirt in front of her, it would immediately be recognized as sexual harassment.

…Or not?

I imagined a character like Ye Sara lifting her skirt at me on the street.

I'd seriously consider reporting it to the police, but I'd also wonder if it would actually make me feel bad.

Rather than feeling bad, I think I'd be extremely worried.

I'd wonder if she had mental issues or if someone was threatening her.

Besides, honestly, among the sexual fantasies I've had throughout my life, there's been stuff like… dominatrix fantasies.

Realizing that those videos were part of my recently watched list, I suddenly felt a deep sense of self-awareness.

Was my sexual inclination that twisted?

I saw Shin So-hee, who had been crouching in front of me, slowly rise.

"Are you ignoring me right now?"

"N-No, it's not that…"

"If not, then what? Huh?"

Shin So-hee grabbed me by the collar.

Ugh, just a moment ago, when her face was red, I thought she was quite pretty, but being grabbed by the collar made her seem a bit scary.

The memories of facing bullies in middle and high school came flooding back, triggering a bit of trauma.

But this time, I was clearly at fault.

…Was I?

No, of course, it was true that I crossed a line I didn't have to cross.

But who would have imagined that climbing over a wall would result in putting someone's head under my skirt?

Thinking back, I should've checked below first, yeah.

I was wrong.

I could've collided with someone, skirt or not.

"Uh, um, h-huh."

I stammered in confusion,

"Sorry, sorry."

I barely managed to apologize.

"Do you think 'sorry' is enough!?"

Shin So-hee shouted.

No, well, apologizing isn't everything.

But if you don't want to end it with just an apology, then what are you planning to do?

However, it seemed that Shin So-hee had shouted out of anger, without any follow-up words coming to mind.

Report it to the police as sexual harassment?

I don't know, would this even be something the police would take seriously?

I was crouching under the eaves when this guy suddenly fell from the sky and stuck his head under my skirt—it was an embarrassing story, even for the person telling it.

I racked my brain once again, trying to empathize with Shin So-hee.

So, it's like the situation between a beautiful girl and a young man feels a bit odd, so let's switch back to the same-gender scenario.

Suddenly, a man wearing only underwear falls from the sky, and that part of him pops out right in front of my face—

I stopped thinking there, my face turning pale.

Just thinking about it is horrifying.

Even though Shin So-hee's sexual orientation is said to be lesbian, it's clear she's still in the phase of figuring it out.

But suddenly, if that… part of the same gender was thrust right in front of her face, it's no wonder she'd freak out.

"Wait—!"

Someone shouted confidently, then dropped down from over the wall.

"Hey, who are you to suddenly grab Sara by the collar and cause a scene!?"

"…?"

Shin So-hee furrowed her brow.

Still holding onto my collar, she looked at the person, who, without knowing anything, had stepped in to support me.

…The person's face was glowing brightly.

The female protagonist, Yoo Ha-neul, had literally fallen from the sky.

Well, technically, it was over the wall.

But from what I saw, that's how it seemed.

*

Teenage worries come in all shapes and forms, but the most frustrating and unanswerable of them is the type where you "like someone."

Shin So-hee wasn't exactly in love with anyone in particular.

In other words, she hadn't yet met someone she could call her "first love."

Instead, Shin So-hee liked most of her friends.

Thanks to her bold personality from a young age, she was admired by the girls around her, and she liked most of the kids who hung out with her.

But if it were just the simple feelings of liking friends, it wouldn't be much of a worry.

First of all, Shin So-hee had never liked a man.

When she saw a handsome guy, she'd think he was good-looking, and when she saw someone with a good physique, she'd think he was impressive.

But she had never felt admiration for them like other girls her age, nor had she ever wanted to date them.

Her peers probably thought of her as cool and easygoing because of that.

However, what really troubled Shin So-hee wasn't even that part.

Not dating guys wasn't a big deal; she thought that when she eventually met a guy she liked, things would work out somehow.

The problem arose as Shin So-hee entered adolescence and became more sexually mature.

Everyone, whether male or female, naturally goes through an age where sexual curiosity becomes intense.

For boys, it might be fantasizing about dating or marrying a pretty girl, and for girls, a handsome guy.

Strangely enough, Shin So-hee's fantasies were mostly about the girls around her.

…Well, not to the extent of wanting to marry them, but she found herself unconsciously staring at their lips, wondering how they'd react if she confessed to them, or feeling a peculiar thrill from the occasional physical contact.

Starting to feel those emotions toward the kids she had always seen as just ordinary friends filled her with a deep sense of self-loathing.

It wasn't something she could easily talk about, and even searching the internet only provided generic advice.

Things like, "It's not wrong," or "It's just part of your individuality"—but nothing that really addressed what she could do about her current situation.

"You're really going alone? Seriously?"

"Yeah. I just have somewhere to stop by for a bit."

In the end, I separated from my friends today and walked alone.

It wasn't like I really had somewhere to go.

I just needed some time to walk by myself and think.

After walking for a while, my legs started to ache, so I crouched down, leaning against a wall for a moment—

Suddenly, a pair of white underwear dropped right in front of me with a thud.

No, it wasn't just the underwear.

The person wearing them, too.

Bare legs with no stockings.

The body was quite thin, almost pitifully so, but the skin was incredibly pale and smooth.

What is this?

What am I even looking at right now?

For a moment, I couldn't grasp the situation.

I even briefly wondered if I'd been lost in my own thoughts so much that I started hallucinating, to the point where a part of my brain seriously considered the possibility of delusions.

A moment later, the person in the underwear took a step back.

With a soft swish, the fabric that had been on top of her head slipped down.

Shin So-hee hadn't even realized there was something on her head.

It was only after the person in the underwear had taken a step back that she understood it was a skirt.

It wasn't the first time she had seen that uniform.

She knew well that the nearby school, known for its high-status students, had a distinct uniform.

The uniform of Hwayoung High School.

The person wearing that uniform, as expected, was an incredibly elegant-looking "young lady."

"…What the hell?"

Shin So-hee suddenly felt a surge of anger.

She had often heard that the kids who attended Hwayoung High were arrogant.

People said they ignored you when spoken to or snorted in disdain.

But to go as far as pulling a prank like this?

I'm already on edge, and now this?

"Are you ignoring me right now?"

As she slowly stood up, Shin So-hee asked the unresponsive person in front of her.

"N-no, it's not like that…"

"If it's not, then what is it? Huh?"

Furious, she grabbed the girl's collar without hesitation.

And that's when Shin So-hee was hit with a life-altering dilemma.

The face of the person she'd just pulled close by the collar—

Was outrageously beautiful.

"Ah, uh, er…"

To top it off, the flustered noises she made were downright cute.

Shin So-hee couldn't help but recall the slim lower body she had just seen moments ago.