This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 125

I never imagined this kind of situation could happen, and especially not so suddenly. I found myself staring, wide-eyed, at Dogun’s back as water dripped down from him.

So, was he thinking about taking off his clothes to wring them out then putting them back on? That thought crept up in my mind just as Dogun’s hand started to reach towards me.

Of course, his body and gaze were still turned away from me.

Anyway, as his hand stretched out—

“Um… Senior, you should take yours off too.”

That was such an ear-and-eye-doubtful statement it made my eyes pop open.

“…Huh?!”

I hiccupped in surprise at Dogun’s words, overwhelmed by shock.

“Take off… your clothes?”

Why?

Was he not planning to wring them out and put them back on?

Then why…?

Questions raced through my mind, making my face heat up like crazy. Unlike before, I couldn’t bring myself to face Dogun’s back, and instead, my head hung low.

Could it be that Dogun was thinking about trying the skin-to-skin contact like you see in disaster movies or comics?

Maybe he was.

The chilly late spring weather, combined with the fact that we had gotten soaked while coming here, made me shiver. If we didn’t take action soon, we would both inevitably fall sick tomorrow.

If that happened, it would be quite detrimental to my reputation.

Though there wasn’t much time left in my term, being the Student Council President who couldn’t manage my health and missed a big event like this would provide plenty of fodder for gossip.

Especially if there was a romantic relationship involved.

I wondered if that was why Dogun proposed such a thing, daring to swallow his embarrassment to prevent any of that from happening.

I cautiously observed Dogun’s reaction, but unfortunately, I couldn’t find any hint of embarrassment on his part.

Maybe that’s why I ended up pouting.

It couldn’t be helped; in a situation where both of us should be embarrassed, it felt like I was the only one feeling that way seeing Dogun’s calm demeanor amidst the dripping water on his shirt.

His expression remained consistently composed, while I felt like I was dying of embarrassment.

For a brief moment, I considered challenging how long he could keep that calm facade, but—

“Ugh…”

The awkwardness of this situation was too much for me.

It was because we were both soaking wet, and Dogun was just as exposed as I was.

And it was cold.

“I-I’m fine.”

So I tentatively declined, but before the words left my mouth, I was rejected.

“No, hurry up.”

“…”

“Honestly, we don’t know when the rain will stop; we can’t stay like this!”

He had a point.

Although he was right about that—

“But… what if someone sees us…?”

What could I do about the embarrassment?

“Huh? Ah, if you’re worried about me, don’t! I’ll keep facing away from you.”

Despite my attempt to mumble an excuse, Dogun was relentless.

Breaking from his usually considerate self, he insisted with an unwavering tone.

“We’ll both get sick like this. Hurry!”

Given the reality of the situation, I had no choice but to cautiously move my hands towards my shirt among the clothes I was wearing.

“Ugh…”

It was so embarrassing.

The sound of the rain and wind was drowned out by the ‘swish’ as my wet t-shirt clung to me, the sensation of peel-off was mortifying—

“Here…!”

Barely managing to remove my shirt, I quickly placed it in the cupped palm of Dogun’s outstretched hand before burying my face in my knees.

The heat radiating from my face was unbearable.

Everywhere else felt like ice, but that spot felt like all the blood in my body had rushed there.

Yet, I couldn’t help but glance toward Dogun, overly focused on him.

Whether he was aware of my feelings or was pretending not to, Dogun didn’t give me a single glance and remained focused on wringing out the water from his own shirt.

His tightening grip on the wet fabric showed the tautness in his hand.

As I stared at the veins that popped on his hand, I suddenly blurted out—

“Oh, right, Senior?”

“…Uh, yes?”

I must have lost my mind because of the cold, or I wouldn’t be staring at stupid things like veins.

“Check the bag; there should be a towel I bought from the convenience store earlier. Can you dry yourself off with it?”

Now that I thought about it, I had bought one earlier.

Everything had been so chaotic that I had completely forgotten, but thanks to Dogun reminding me, I pieced that together.

If I could dry off with the towel—

The freezing sensation creeping from my extremities would lessen a bit.

And once I finished that, Dogun would also be able to relax and do the same.

So I was ready to do exactly that but—

“And, um, after drying off, if you have spare time…”

His voice trailed off awkwardly, causing me to halt mid-action.

“Among those things we bought, there are some underwear, too.”

I learned why Dogun felt the need to mention that once I heard the next words.

Thinking about it, I had indeed bought that.

I even cursed at him for being a guy while asking for those things at the convenience store earlier—who would have guessed that I would end up needing them?

But the catch was…

It was still Dogun.

Even though he was turned away, I felt embarrassed and mortified when I had to take off my t-shirt, and then change into underwear?

I couldn’t even wrap my head around whether that was feasible, let alone the fact that if I dared to do it, I might burst from embarrassment.

I hesitated to respond to Dogun because of that concern—

“Should I step outside for a bit while you change?”

His suggestive undertone was careful as he added, which only made me more flustered.

Naturally, I had no intention of letting it go that way.

The makeshift structure was practically a storage room, and with no overhang and the wind and rain so relentless, how could I possibly send Dogun back outside?

Even though it wouldn’t take long, he’d come back soaked through anyway.

“Ah, no…! It’s not because of that… it’s just… the size! I’m worried about the size!”

I hastily used the size excuse in a frantic attempt to prevent that situation from happening.

“Oh… I didn’t think of that.”

Fortunately, Dogun accepted my hurried excuse, not seeming to suspect anything unusual.

The issue was the silence that fell after that.

The silence was stifling, making it hard to breathe, so reflexively, I urged Dogun on.

“Um, let’s hang up our clothes first.”

“Ah, right.”

His agreement made him start applying pressure with his hands again.

As Dogun diligently wrung out the soaked clothes in his grasp, water cascaded down to the floor of our hiding place.

That process repeated several times, and just watching the spectacle left me at a loss. What must it have been like for Dogun, who was doing all the work?

“Looking at it like this, I guess we really… got drenched.”

“Yeah. No matter how much we wring it out, it keeps coming.”

I joked, and for a moment, both of us chuckled softly amid the absurdity. Dogun wrung out the last of the water from his shirt and laid it in a relatively clean spot.

Then he performed the same act on the jacket he was wearing just moments ago—

“For now, wear this until your t-shirt dries.”

He handed me the jacket.

In a moment of shock, I was left stunned, still trying to wipe the water off my body while glancing at Dogun.

“Me?”

“Yes.”