Chapter 50 : Chapter 50

After a brief moment of tension, Yoo Ha-neul managed to secure Sara's black T-shirt, which she had selected from the closet.

Hugging the shirt tightly to avoid having it taken away, Yoo Ha-neul spoke.

"…Was this your goal from the beginning?"

"'This'? What are you talking about?"

Shin So-hee ignored Yoo Ha-neul and continued selecting clothes from the closet.

"Well, uh…"

When Shin So-hee asked, Yoo Ha-neul suddenly found herself at a loss for words.

Yoo Ha-neul liked Sara.

Of course, it wasn't quite at the level of a full-blown romantic feeling or a desire to become her lover just yet.

For Yoo Ha-neul, who had never been in a relationship, "romance is something you do with someone you love" was her belief.

She still wasn't sure if what she felt for Sara was love.

She felt good when their bodies touched, and she found it adorable when Sara got flustered by her actions.

She liked Sara's pretty face and her unexpectedly warm-hearted personality.

But Yoo Ha-neul still didn't have the courage to ask her out.

In short…

The feeling Yoo Ha-neul had for Sara was possessiveness.

She wasn't sure if it was love or just liking, but she definitely wanted to be the closest person to Sara.

However, even though they had grown closer, Yoo Ha-neul lacked the courage to express those feelings to others.

Shin So-hee glanced at Yoo Ha-neul, then took out a shirt from the closet.

It was Sara's school uniform shirt, clearly too small for Shin So-hee to wear.

Shin So-hee buried her face in the shirt and took a deep breath.

"Ahh, it smells nice. What kind of fabric softener does she use?"

Yoo Ha-neul's mouth dropped open.

"Huh?"

"Since I took it out, I might as well wear it."

As she spoke, Shin So-hee buried her face in the shirt once again.

"That! What you're doing right now! That's why you came here!"

Yoo Ha-neul shouted at Shin So-hee, pointing her finger.

Then, suddenly realizing, she covered her mouth with her hand.

All three of them simultaneously turned their eyes toward the shower.

Fortunately, all that could be heard was the sound of running water.

It didn't seem like the sound had reached inside.

"Yeah, that's why I came. Is there a problem with that?"

Shin So-hee, using her height advantage, looked slightly down at Yoo Ha-neul as she answered.

…

There was a brief silence.

"…What?"

Yoo Ha-neul tilted her head, seemingly confused by Shin So-hee's words.

"I said, that's why I came here. I wanted to get closer to her. Didn't you see me hugging her arm earlier after getting permission? You've been clinging to her since school."

"I-I was just… because we're friends."

"Ha."

Shin So-hee let out a short laugh, as if amused.

"So, you're just friends, but you walk around hugging her arm, casually feed her, and rub your body against her while wearing a dress on weekends?"

"I-I wasn't rubbing… And besides, she bought me that!"

Shin So-hee's eyes narrowed even further when she heard that Sara had bought it for her.

She glared at Yoo Ha-neul with narrowed eyes.

"…So it wasn't an outfit you chose?"

"…"

Of course, she had picked it herself.

Honestly, she had chosen it with the mindset of going on a date, so she had no excuse.

Sara, with her boyish style, was incredibly attractive.

In fact, Yoo Ha-neul thought that any outfit would suit her well.

…But she couldn't say that out loud now.

It would put her at a disadvantage.

"I, well…"

But she couldn't think of a proper response.

In the end, after a moment of hesitation, Yoo Ha-neul blurted out.

"I came here to protect Sara from you!"

"Well, thanks to you, the mood is ruined, so I'm pretty annoyed."

Shin So-hee immediately responded, leaving Yoo Ha-neul speechless again.

"You, you…"

"Yeah, I was planning on doing this and that with her in this room, on that bed."

It was a lie.

Shin So-hee didn't have the guts to make a move just because she was alone in the same room with the girl she liked.

If she had that kind of courage, she would have confessed to one of the girls around her long ago and already had a girlfriend.

Moreover, despite what others thought, Shin So-hee had a surprisingly romantic fantasy, somewhat contrary to her strong image.

Ideally, her first relationship would be sweet and innocent.

Like the protagonists of the romance novels she read in her childhood, she wanted her first date to be full of nervous but cute moments, like brushing shoulders accidentally, trembling when their hands touched, then finally holding hands and linking arms…

Their first kiss would be an innocent one, just lips gently touching…

…Anyway, she had a sequence she wanted to follow.

She had no intention of rushing things like a runaway train, unlike those two who seemed to have skipped a couple of steps in just two days.

…Hugging tightly while sleeping might be an exception, though.

Even burying her face in Sara's clothes and sniffing them now was an act of courage that she had mustered up.

Since she attended a different school, her chances to get close to Sara were fewer, and she felt the need to make progress whenever possible outside of school.

But of course, she hadn't come here with the intention of having her first experience at a friend's house.

Not that she needed to explain all of that to Yoo Ha-neul.

"…What do you think of Sara?"

Eventually, Yoo Ha-neul asked.

"I like her."

…

…

Silence.

Yoo Ha-neul and Lee Soo-ah were dumbstruck by her confident declaration.

From Shin So-hee's perspective, it was all bravado.

She didn't have the courage to make such a bold declaration in front of Sara.

What if she was rejected?

What if Sara wasn't interested in girls at all?

After all, she had already heard that Sara was trying to resolve the current situation by linking arms with both Yoo Ha-neul and Lee Soo-ah.

But if the situation didn't involve Sara directly—

At least in front of a potential rival, she could say it confidently.

"Are you saying… you have romantic feelings for her?"

"Why would it be romantic? Sara and I are both girls. How could that be from a heterosexual perspective? I'm just a lesbian."

Faced with this consecutive bombshell, Yoo Ha-neul was once again left speechless.

If she said anything wrong, she'd fall into a deep pit.

Though homosexuality was somewhat publicized and even scandalous incidents occasionally arose within idol groups, there were still those who viewed it with disdain.

Such people often held extremely biased views.

And those people were usually not very welcome in society.

Besides, all three of them in this room held feelings for Sara that went beyond mere friendship.

While only one person had fully acknowledged their feelings, if the other two crossed that line, they wouldn't be much different from Shin So-hee.

"…I see."

In the end, Yoo Ha-neul could only mutter in response.

"Then I'll take these clothes—"

"…Oh, right. I don't have any underwear, so I'll need to borrow some."

Just as Shin So-hee was about to make another bold statement, Yoo Ha-neul suddenly said this while kneeling down and opening the drawer beneath the closet.

The drawer was filled with various underwear that Sara likely wore.

As Yoo Ha-neul reached for the drawer without hesitation, Shin So-hee was horrified.

"No, but still, borrowing underwear is—"

"It's fine since we're both girls."

"No, even between girls—"

"It's fine since we're both girls."

Hearing the same words repeated twice, Shin So-hee was at a loss for words.

She's not normal either.

She was similar to how Shin So-hee had been until recently.

Though, unlike Shin So-hee, who had taken time to reflect on her sexual identity, Yoo Ha-neul seemed not to have fully accepted it yet.

…Which might explain why she was more reckless.

Seeing this, Shin So-hee started to feel a bit anxious.

No matter what, she didn't have the courage to claim Sara's underwear for herself.

Besides, it clearly wouldn't fit her.

Yoo Ha-neul and Sara had similar builds, so perhaps it would fit her, but Shin So-hee was sure it would get stuck at her thighs.

While she was contemplating this—

Click, the sound of the door unlocking was heard.

The shower room door opened, and Sara carefully stepped out.

Having taken her clothes into the shower with her, Sara was already dressed in her pajamas.

Shin So-hee, who had been secretly hoping Sara would come out in a bathrobe, sighed softly.

After all, being rich didn't mean acting like characters in movies or dramas.

Squeezing the water out of her long hair with a towel, Sara froze when she saw the two standing in front of her closet.

"Uh…"

Seeing Shin So-hee confidently holding a shirt and Yoo Ha-neul boldly opening her underwear drawer, Sara's face flushed slightly.

"Oh, Sara!"

Finally, Lee Soo-ah, who had remained quiet during the bickering, called out as if she had been waiting.

In her right hand was a hairdryer, and in her left, a comb.

"I'll dry your hair for you!"

!!!

Invisible exclamation marks popped up over Shin So-hee and Yoo Ha-neul's heads.

"Oh, um, sure…"

Sara, who had been speechless seeing the two, quickly walked over to Lee Soo-ah.

Lee Soo-ah smiled sweetly at Shin So-hee and Yoo Ha-neul.

"…"

…Just because someone looks quiet doesn't mean they actually are.

The two of them looked at Lee Soo-ah and made a mental note of that.