This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 229

Yoonseo’s Perspective

What followed the shout, which was practically a dying gasp, was an awkward silence that settled heavily in the room.

And that descent into the room weighed down my shoulders with an overwhelming sense of fear.

‘Ugh… Ahh…’

Thanks to that, I couldn’t help but let out a groan.

Even when I did speak, it had to come out that way.

Is there really a difference between this and declaring that I could smell the scent coming from my clothes?

…Of course, I did take a slight whiff, but it was just a little, as the words implied.

I certainly didn’t sniff like a pervert.

No, if you think about it, isn’t it weirder not to take a smell?

That could vary depending on the person, but most would check the scents of their clothes before putting them on.

It’s to avoid a situation that would turn their face red later on, after all.

I just happened to do it in a slightly different order.

So there was no reason to avoid Dogun’s gaze like a person who had committed a sin, or to feel bashful like this.

That’s what I concluded, but the timing of Dogun barging in was far too coincidental for me to act like it was nothing.

Thanks to that, I genuinely wanted to smack my lips with my palm in frustration and give him a piece of my mind right then and there.

That urge bubbled up inside me, but the reason I didn’t act on it was simple.

If I did something like that, those eyes of Dogun’s, which seemed to be staring at something strange, would deepen even more than they already were.

So, what could I do?

Even if my hands were itching, all I could do was hold back for now.

Thus, like a hamster cornered by a cat, I was left squirming and stealing glances at Dogun.

I wondered if this awkward atmosphere felt unpleasant to Dogun as well.

A quiet sigh that seemed like something had been put down echoed in the room before he finally spoke up.

“…Forget it. Just sit there and show me your feet.”

And with that statement, he revealed a basin filled about two-thirds with water.

“F-Foot…?”

Why on earth did he suddenly want me to show him my feet?

What’s with that basin?

Since he carried it in with water, it must have been for some purpose, but… was I still flustered from earlier? I couldn’t guess its use at all.

“W-Why the feet…?”

And when I asked, the answer I received was oddly unexpected.

“You asked for a massage, right?”

“No, I mean, what does that have to do with that…?”

And as I exchanged this back-and-forth with Dogun, I naturally came to a realization.

The ‘massage’ I had requested, and the ‘massage’ that Dogun was about to perform were light-years apart in difference.

The ‘massage’ I wanted?

It was a casual rubdown on my legs while lying on the bed—something that could happen between lovers.

It would have been great if Dogun looked flustered or conscious of me while doing so.

That’s all I had hoped for… but what was this?

Where did it all go wrong?

That aside, the fact that he also brought that basin was a problem.

From what I inferred, it seemed that Dogun’s definition of ‘legs’ included feet, and honestly, I could predict how that would end up being used without needing a crystal ball.

And if that assumption were true?

No matter what, even if the sky fell, I couldn’t give him my feet!

Some might say, “You’re here already, so what’s the big deal about showing one little foot?”

But of course, it was a huge deal!

It had to be because, while my legs were okay, my feet weren’t!

I mean, really, isn’t it just too embarrassing?

Of course… I took care of them morning and night, so they would never smell or anything…

‘W-Well, still, the feet are a bit…’

Besides, feet are fundamentally not pretty, right?

Sure, I thought mine were decent enough… but they might look different in Dogun’s eyes.

Because of that possibility, I hesitated to show him my feet.

Ignoring Dogun’s insistence to just show my feet, I pulled mine back, as far as I could, hiding them from him, all for this reason.

I tried to evade in that manner, but unfortunately, my escape routes were limited, so ultimately, I was caught in Dogun’s grip.

And just like that, my feet were captured by Dogun—

‘Ugh…!’

The intense embarrassment that surged through me, starting from my feet, was incomparable to what I felt when Dogun first barged in.

At the same time, it felt… strangely surreal.

With such an intimate part of my body being touched by Dogun, it felt like I was sitting in front of him completely naked.

With my feet caught, I couldn’t even think about pulling them away; I was forced to submerge my feet in the water as Dogun’s hand guided me.

The reason I couldn’t pull away came largely from a strange feeling of embarrassment and oddness that made my body tense.

And as my feet submerged into the water… I suddenly realized something.

On this day… I had truly run for my life.

The moment I succeeded in saving Dogun, I thought all my tension had been released, but had those residues secretly remained in my body?

Whatever had been taut felt like it was loosening, and my already exhausted body sagged like a sponge soaking up water.

“Phew…”

“How’s the water temperature? It’s not too hot, is it?”

“It’s… okay…”

Of course, as soon as Dogun’s voice echoed in my ears, I snapped back to attention, almost as if it were a reflex.

The splashing sound as water cascaded onto my feet followed.

Then followed the gentle strokes of Dogun’s hand as it caressed my feet.

“Ugh… Uhh…”

“What? Does it hurt? Should I be more gentle?”

“N-No, it’s not that…”

Honestly, how could I tell him the truth?

That the sounds escaping my mouth were involuntary responses to how good it felt? I might die of embarrassment if I admitted that.

“C-Could you go a bit harder…?”

“A bit harder?”

“Y-Yeah…”

“Are you sure? It could hurt…”

“I-I’m fine…”

I said I was fine but still thought it’d be reckless to just apply pressure.

Slowly, Dogun’s fingers which had been pressing down on my feet started to gain traction.

But it felt so perfectly nuanced —

“Ugh…!”

An odd sound escaped my lips, and thankfully, it didn’t seem to reach Dogun’s ears, lost amidst his focus on the massage.

Seeing him continue as if nothing happened, I let out a silent sigh of relief in my mind.

Thanks to recovering a bit of composure, perhaps I started noticing things I hadn’t before.

Like the plaster-like material wrapping around Dogun’s left arm.

I wondered… was he trying to avoid it getting wet?

Dogun kept his left arm as far from the water as possible, only using his right arm to massage.

It looked so uncomfortable that…

“Um… hey.”

“…Yeah?”

“Could you take that off? It looks uncomfortable.”

So, I had to ask.

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Chae-rim’s Perspective

In their little world, entranced by their own dialogue, Dogun and Yoonseo seemed to overlook one key detail: the space they were in, which was now Chae-rim’s room, was essentially a storage room attached to Dogun’s room, meaning the walls separating the rooms were much thinner than in other places.

So, when Chae-rim had come back to her room to rest, she could hear nearly everything, except for a few parts.

“Ugh… Uhh…”

“What? Does it hurt? Should I be more gentle?”

“N-No, it’s not that… Could you go a bit harder…?”

“A bit harder?”

“Y-Yeah…”

“Are you sure? It could hurt…”

“I-I’m fine…”

So this was the conversation taking place on the other side of the wall between Dogun and Yoonseo.

And the content of what she’d inadvertently eavesdropped on was too much for Chae-rim, who was clueless about the context, and it was the perfect kind of misunderstanding to set her imagination ablaze—

“Ugh…!”

Chae-rim found herself pressing her ear against the wall without even realizing it, her face flushed red as she reacted to what she heard.

Then came a topic that completely stunned her.

“Um… hey.”

“…Yeah?”

“Could you take that off? It looks uncomfortable.”

‘W-Wait, seriously…?!’

It was the request from Yoonseo to get rid of it raw (?).