This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 278

Dogun’s Perspective

At first, when I saw my Senior just coming out of the changing room, I couldn’t help but be quite surprised.

After all, unlike other times, during training she always insisted on wearing her training clothes, but now she appeared in a different outfit for a change.

It was even a look that seemed to show that she had put some thought into it.

To me, this change in Senior felt extremely positive.

Though I hadn’t shown it in front of her, that day when we went out alone together, I had been quite worried about her returning in one piece.

At that moment, she had appeared incredibly unstable.

So, despite knowing that it wasn’t the right thing to interfere, I ended up getting involved in her matters.

I managed to stop her from barreling down a path that only led to destruction… but even after that, I still had many worries.

It was only natural, as the driving force that had made her work so hard until now was none other than ‘revenge’.

Yet just before she could achieve that, my intervention led it to fizzle out… It wouldn’t be strange at all if my Senior experienced burnout after losing the motivation that had sustained her all this time.

So, being careful not to show it on the outside, I was observing her closely… and amidst that, she appeared, displaying a side she had never shown before.

It was even evident that she had taken care with her outfit, which made it all the more natural for me to feel positively about her change.

However, there was just one thing that weighed on my mind: considering that she had never shown interest in dressing up before, the extent of this change seemed a bit drastic…

But hey, good is good, right?

And more importantly, considering her personality, she would likely improve gradually without me needing to point it out.

So there was really no need to ruin the good vibe by making a comment.

‘By the way…’

Someone once said that a person who is usually indifferent to dressing up can become very intense when they finally show interest in it.

Surprisingly, the Senior right in front of my eyes was exactly that.

In my memories, she was always in training clothes or a school uniform… But seeing her suddenly show up in such an outfit left me bewildered about where to place my gaze.

Maybe once I got used to that appearance, things would be different, but for now, it was unavoidable.

The only fortunate thing was that, either she didn’t notice my reaction or her own response was remarkably normal.

“Shall we get started?”

“……Yeah, I guess so.”

What if her reaction was similar to mine?

If she had acted as if she was embarrassed by her own outfit?

Then it would definitely have been even more embarrassing than it already was.

So, I thought it was a stroke of luck that at least that much was not the case, but… just before we formally began our training, I realized something as she started moving her body slowly in place.

It seemed a bit too early to feel relieved.

Honestly, I didn’t know where to direct my eyes even when she was just standing still, and now as she began to move, I felt like I was about to lose my mind.

That was because everything kept swaying around, enticing my gaze.

‘No way…’

Isn’t it usual to start with something simple when you begin to dress up after not caring about it for so long…?

“Umm… Senior?”

“Yeah? What is it?”

“Um, are you feeling cold? The inside seems… quite chilly…”

The reason I ended up cautiously bringing it up was because I was genuinely worried that if this continued, it might become impossible to concentrate on the training at all.

So, I tried to raise my concern carefully…

“It’s a bit chilly, but well, it’s the weekend. I should understand since I’m borrowing these.”

“Uh, um…”

“And besides, as we warm up and move around, won’t it get warmer?”

Unfortunately, my words fell flat against the now-focused training mode that she had switched on.

And thus… the training with my Senior, or rather, an exercise in patience, was about to begin.

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Seolhwa’s Perspective

To be perfectly honest?

I was extremely embarrassed.

Naturally, given that I had always just worn training clothes and now all of a sudden wearing something so thin, the sensation was something to behold.

I couldn’t help but feel as if I had nothing on at all, despite clearly being clothed.

The touch of the fabric against my skin felt worryingly thin compared to usual, so I couldn’t help but feel that way.

It was precisely because of this sensation that I had hesitated for a moment at the door leading outside the changing room.

After a brief moment of hesitation, when I finally stepped out, confirming Dogun’s reaction made me certain of my decision.

I was glad I had dared to do it.

Seeing him flustered like that was a first.

I had acted as nonchalantly as possible, and my playful response to his question about whether I was cold was precisely for that reason.

Watching Dogun fumble around gave me the assurance that I might be able to achieve something here if I kept pushing forward.

I needed to move more vigorously for that reason.

The more I could provoke Dogun, the better.

Differently from my usual warm-up exercises, I focused on stretching movements because I was aware of Dogun’s gaze.

And perhaps it was effective that I made those moves deliberately.

From Dogun’s direction, I heard a small gulping sound.

If it had been another man, I would have been so put off that my expression would have twisted in displeasure… but thinking that it was a reaction triggered by Dogun being aware of me put a smug smile on my face instead.

So… I wanted to see more.

I hoped he’d become even more conscious of me than he was now.

“Fuh… Dogun?”

I called out to Dogun, who was standing a short distance away, momentarily stopping my movements in order to make that wish a reality.

“Y…yeah?”

“I’m sorry, but could you come back and press my back? Usually, I can do it alone, but I haven’t done it in a while…”

“Right now?”

His voice, laden with surprise, felt uncharacteristically sweet.

“Yeah, right now.”

Was he even more flustered now that we would be in contact?

From his tone, it sounded like Dogun wanted to deny it, but I pressed on without concern.

Was that why he was unable to back out?

“Umm…”

Dogun let out a sound that was either a cough or a reflexive noise generated from his embarrassment, and he began to approach me.

As he drew nearer, with every step heard by my ears, my heart raced in accordance.

And finally, when Dogun reached behind me and started applying just the right amount of pressure on my back—

“Umm…♡”

The sensation of his hands through the thin fabric covering my back felt strangely good, and I couldn’t help but let out a sound I wasn’t intending to.

And maybe Dogun heard that too.

The pressure from his hand, pressing down, suddenly flinched and pulsed with an enormous tremor.

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Dogun’s Perspective

‘What the heck…’

How did it come to this?

As I collected my thoughts, I realized I had been pushed to a corner of the training ground by my Senior.

Not only that, but her face was slightly flushed and positioned right in front of mine, a completely different sight than usual.

Given what she was wearing today, I was already completely flustered, but… what made me even more confused was what came next—a whisper.

“Hey, Dogun.”

“…”

“Actually, I… know.”

Know?

What on earth was she talking about?

It was at that moment that I thought.

“And I know about you and your sister sneaking around whenever you get the chance.”

The whisper that literally made my eyes widen drifted into my ears.