This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 102

Honestly speaking, I was a little, no, a lot taken aback.

It was the first time I had seen such a reckless side of her, so I couldn’t help but feel that way.

I guess I could say it looked careless.

At least, based on the standards since I had grown out of my naive childhood.

So, I couldn’t help but react by flinching.

‘What the…’

No matter how comfortable I was with Yoonseo, like family-level comfort, she wasn’t the type to act recklessly like this… Was she sick or something?

Yeah, maybe that was it.

When you’re not feeling well, everything becomes an annoyance, and even things you usually pay attention to get brushed aside.

While I was struggling to calm the sudden rush of embarrassment, Yoonseo continued with what she was doing as if nothing was amiss.

Perhaps it was because she’d already shed her thick layers and was left with only a thin t-shirt.

Whenever her hand moved inside her shirt, I was presented with an incredibly… awkward sight that was hard to bear.

‘This is not good.’

I couldn’t stay here.

I had to leave.

That thought popped into my mind, and just as I carefully opened my mouth to voice it…

“…Hey.”

A sudden voice cut off whatever I was about to say.

“Uh, yeah? Why?”

“Could you help me with this?”

“…What is it?”

“Could you just wipe my back for me?”

What?!

“I want to do it, but I can’t exert strength with my hands and…”

The moment those words reached my ears, I suddenly wondered if it might have been better to just take a shower instead.

“Because this is the place that feels the most uncomfortable… Huh? Hurry up…”

Yoonseo was much quicker to urge me with a sort of desperate tone than I was to express my thoughts.

What could I do in that situation?

I had no choice but to help.

“Here, here’s a towel.”

“…Okay.”

I took back the towel I had just handed to Yoonseo, and interestingly enough, it felt warm instead of cold like it should have by now.

Maybe it was just my imagination, but that’s how it felt to me.

So, it was a strange feeling.

It was funny how such a minor difference in temperature could leave someone feeling so weird.

Perhaps that was why, instead of focusing on fulfilling Yoonseo’s request, my mind kept wandering elsewhere.

‘This…’

I should probably swing by the bathroom to wash it first.

Or maybe just grab a brand-new towel.

Honestly, wouldn’t it be better to wipe with something clean?

So I had casually begun to get up—

“…Where are you going?”

Yoonseo, facing away from me, shouldn’t have noticed my movement, yet she seemed to have picked up on it in a spooky way.

“Uh, I was just going to get a towel.”

The timing of my stand-up coincided with her question, and I couldn’t help but flinch.

I was also slightly startled.

“Can’t you just wipe me? I’m really uncomfortable…”

“Still, it would be better to use something clean…”

I knew it was a reasonable statement, but my muttering didn’t seem to reach Yoonseo at all.

Before I knew it, Yoonseo’s thin t-shirt-covered back was right in front of me.

Maybe it was because of her feeling unwell, but she kept sweating.

Through that thin-looking t-shirt… I could see her skin.

Of course, the shirt was white, which only accentuated this.

I hesitated to reach out due to such reasons—

“Should I take it off?”

“What…?”

“The t-shirt. Would it be better to take it off?”

Yoonseo went one step further with that.

“Wha-what are you talking about? After helping me like this, are you trying to blind me with your eyes too?”

I had slightly exaggerated my surprise because I was genuinely caught off-guard.

After blurt­ing that out impulsively, I felt a bit flustered, but thankfully, perhaps due to her condition, Yoonseo didn’t seem overly sensitive about it.

“Then hurry up and wipe me.”

Instead, she just urged me again.

“Ah, wait a minute…”

*

As Dogun sank deeper into the swamp of embarrassment named “panic,” Yoonseo observed his reactions and gained a sense of certainty.

‘…This is it.’

So, this is how it felt.

She could feel her heart beating to a rhythm of excitement.

It was clear to anyone that he was flustered, a completely different reaction from his usual self, and that made her heart race.

Then she realized just how naive she had been all along.

To be honest, up until now?

She had thought that with time, various issues would naturally resolve themselves.

For instance… the fact that Dogun didn’t see her as romantic interest was one of those issues.

Even if it was frustrating at the moment, she believed it would eventually be resolved naturally.

But now that she thought about it again, she realized how naive that thought was.

If the other person, Dogun, didn’t see her as a romantic interest, the solution was simply to make her presence known as one.

At that time, why had she waited for Dogun’s perception to change?

No wonder she fell for Baeksulhwa’s tricks.

But now it was alright.

Not only had she succeeded in unraveling the tangled mess, but it wasn’t too late.

She had learned from this incident what she had misunderstood all along, so she could fix it starting now.

‘By the way…’

What was the meaning of that smile Baeksulhwa had shown her back then?

What about the gauze that was occupying the back of Dogun’s hand?

Was there a connection between those two?

For example, did Dogun get hurt because of Baeksulhwa…?

What if that were the case?

Even if it was somewhat true now, she felt she couldn’t associate with Baeksulhwa at all.

It didn’t sit well with her that Baeksulhwa was using her power as a temporary manager to boss Dogun around, and on top of that, she dared to hurt him.

‘This won’t do…’

Thinking this through, she realized that if she just sat around doing nothing, it would not end well.

There wasn’t even a guarantee that next time, the injury would only be on his hand.

If anything, she had to act quickly to prevent Dogun from getting seriously hurt.

At that moment, it seemed like Dogun, who had been stunned since receiving the towel, finally made a move.

A rustling noise reached her ears as something was reaching towards her.

Yoonseo’s hair bristled, and simultaneously her heart, which had been slightly off-guard, gave a sudden leap.

Dogun’s hand, which had been cautiously reaching out, finally made contact with her back.

“…Ugh.”

The moment their bodies touched, she felt an electrifying sensation spreading throughout her entire being from that contact.

Trying to hold back, it became impossible as strange sounds involuntarily escaped her lips.

Did Dogun respond to that?

His fingers, which were grazing just above her tailbone, shivered slightly.

How should she put it? It was a very… strange feeling.

She couldn’t tell if it was because she was running a fever, but Dogun’s hand felt cool, bringing with it a shiver that roamed up and down her spine—

“Wha—”

Maybe that was why her voice trembled uncontrollably.

One thing was clear: that tingly sensation did not feel unpleasant.

No, far from it… it felt almost addictive.

“Hurry up…”

That’s why she urged Dogun to go faster.

Perhaps affected by her insistence, Dogun’s initially stiff fingers slowly began to move.

Was he afraid that their skin might touch again?

Although his movements were exasperatingly slow, with each cautious touch, she became acutely aware of his fingers against the warm, damp towel.

In the midst of it all, something distinctly hotter, different from the heat that had been building up inside her, began to rise.