131) Chapter 19. M-Me Too......! (9)

“U-uu, ueuh…….”

Fortunately, Jinwoo quickly regained consciousness. If I had to estimate how long she had been passed out, maybe around thirty seconds.

And during those thirty seconds, I had a lot of thoughts.

No, seriously, is it actually possible for someone to faint from seeing something lewd? And even get a nosebleed on top of that?

Well, if we’re being exact, it was probably closer to “feeling” than “seeing.” Even so, it was impossible to understand. If people could really get so excited that they fainted from something like that, then the world would be overflowing with men and women fainting on their wedding nights.

But then again, if you thought about it, if someone had some kind of blood pressure-related illness, maybe it actually could happen, and that made it scary again.

You hear stories about people suddenly collapsing all the time, don’t you? People who seem perfectly fine when they first wake back up, only to collapse again and never wake up, or end up with serious disabilities.

“A-are you okay?”

For now, after wiping the blood from her nose and laying her down on the bed, I asked.

“W-we should go to the hospital, right?”

“H-huh?”

Only after hearing the word hospital did Jinwoo finally blink her eyes open and look at me.

And when she suddenly tried to bolt upright, I forcibly pushed her back down.

“N-no, I’m—”

“Do you take blood pressure medicine or something? Or do you have any chronic illnesses?”

“N-no, I-I don’t have anything like that.”

Even hearing that didn’t really reassure me.

When I looked toward Soi, Chae-yi, and Hyeonji, the three of them were wearing fairly serious expressions too.

Of course, when Jinwoo first fainted with a nosebleed, they’d looked just as dumbfounded as I had.

You know, exactly the kind of expression people make when they see characters in manga collapse with nosebleeds after seeing something sexy.

But soon enough, they must have started thinking about blood pressure too, because they quickly became serious.

At first, I wondered if maybe this was something that happened occasionally in this world, but at least as far as I knew, I’d never once heard of or seen anything like this while living here.

“N-no, I’m fine, really.”

“You collapsed like that, and you’re saying you’re fine?”

“…….”

Jinwoo couldn’t bring herself to answer my question.

Did she maybe not know about her own condition?

At least in the original story, there was never any mention of Nam Jinwoo having a chronic illness like that. There were never any descriptions of her suddenly collapsing either. Then again, if she really had blood pressure issues that severe, she probably would’ve been collapsing in the middle of fights too.

Still, I couldn’t completely relax, because there was no guarantee this world matched the novel down to every last detail.

“We should go to the hospital first.”

“U-uh…….”

I was trying to help Jinwoo up when suddenly Soi’s hand shot out from the side and grabbed Jinwoo’s arm, pulling her.

“N-no, I—”

“What, you don’t want to go to the hospital?”

“N-no, it’s just… I was wondering if, if we go to the hospital…… wouldn’t I have to sleep there?”

“……So you’re saying you don’t want to go because you don’t want to sleep at the hospital right now? Even though we don’t even know what condition your body is in?”

“…….”

At my question, Jinwoo tightly shut her mouth.

“Let’s just go first. O-or would it be better to call 119?”

“I’ll do it.”

“N-no.”

The moment Chae-yi picked up her smartphone at my words, Jinwoo hurriedly shook her head.

“I can go myself.”

“If it’s a blood pressure issue, there’s no time. Ah, but if you think about it that way, maybe it’s better for you to stay lying down.”

Soi hurriedly laid Jinwoo back down again.

When Jinwoo tried to get up, Hyeonji, who had somehow approached at some point, firmly pressed down on her shoulder.

“Stay lying down.”

“N-no…….”

Jinwoo’s face started turning red again. Was she embarrassed because everyone in the room was worrying about her?

Just as Chae-yi was about to call 119—

Beep.

A sound rang out from the front entrance.

I hurriedly opened the bedroom door and stepped out.

“Rua, you’re home! Did Soi and your friends come too?”

“Mom!”

Before I could even greet her, Soi darted outside the door.

“We need to go to the hospital!”

“Huh? The hospital?”

At Soi’s words, Auntie Yujin’s eyes widened into circles.

“A friend collapsed!”

Friend.

I see. Friend.

I’d been a little worried because Soi and Chae-yi often looked at Jinwoo with what you could call wariness.

Still, it was a relief that they thought of her that way…… though maybe the situation was a little too urgent to relax over that right now.

*

“The examination results show no particular problems.”

“O-oh, r-really? But she even had a nosebleed……”

“Hmm…… that can happen if someone suddenly gets overly excited. The blood vessels inside the nose are weak, after all. It’s not a serious situation, so you can relax.”

Hearing the doctor’s explanation finally eased my mind a little.

“But what exactly happened? Did she suddenly sprint or something?”

“Ah, no.”

Saying she fainted because I hugged her tightly against my chest would be a little…

I really had only intended to give her a simple hug.

I’d hugged all the others once too, so leaving only Jinwoo out would’ve felt like I was excluding her.

After receiving confirmation that she was okay, I thanked the doctor and returned to Jinwoo with the others.

Jinwoo’s face was still red. But at least now, it seemed like her reason had returned.

She looked like she wanted to die from embarrassment.

More specifically—

Like she wanted to die from humiliation.

“So what happened exactly?”

Auntie Yujin, who had driven us here, asked.

“And why is there blood on the clothes?”

“Ah, um, that’s……”

“Th-that was me.”

Before I could come up with an excuse, Jinwoo hurriedly opened her mouth.

“T-today, I was so excited to hang out with my friends…… I started bouncing around and suddenly fell face-first into her chest…….”

As if she’d already thought it through on the way here, Jinwoo immediately came up with an excuse.

“I see.”

Auntie Yujin tilted her head as she answered.

Still, she seemed to believe it, because she didn’t ask further questions.

Well, it probably was awkward for Jinwoo too. Saying she got so excited after being hugged against a friend’s chest that she had a nosebleed and fainted was kind of…

“…….”

Soi, Chae-yi, and Hyeonji all wore expressions like they’d worried for nothing. Though they probably thought coming to the hospital had been the obvious thing to do, so they didn’t say anything.

Then again, maybe not Hyeonji, but Soi and Chae-yi really loved being in my arms. If someone copied them and ended up fainting from it, they might feel a little weird about it.

“…….”

Wait.

Then does that mean I’m the cause?

That feels a little unfair.

I mean, if I’d accidentally knocked her unconscious during sparring, that would be one thing. But saying I made her faint by pressing her face into my chest is kind of… weird, isn’t it?

Still, just in case, the doctor told her to lie down and rest a little longer, so we waited a bit more before finally heading back after confirming Jinwoo was definitely okay.

On the way back, Jinwoo sat there with her face slightly red, not saying a single word.

……I’m glad our family car is a big SUV. Auntie Yujin had changed it to a bigger one saying, “Later, when Soi and Rua’s friends come over, I’ll pack everyone in together!” and I guess it was meaningful after all.

I really have made more friends now.

On the way home, Auntie Yujin met my eyes through the rearview mirror and smiled gently at me, making me feel strangely embarrassed.

*

We came home and ate dinner.

Uncle Dohyun arrived home a little later than Auntie Yujin, so all of us were able to gather around the table and eat together.

Since he was the only man there, Uncle Dohyun was fairly quiet, but Auntie Yujin enthusiastically talked to my newly made friend.

“So how did you become friends with Rua?”

“How long have you been close?”

“Are you in the same class?”

Things like that.

Though they were all questions she’d asked when Hyeonji first came over too.

As for Jinwoo herself—

“Ah, uh, ah.”

“Yes, um.”

“Uh, ueuh.”

She couldn’t answer very well at all.

Which was only natural. Jinwoo lived as a boy at school for now, and Auntie Yujin didn’t know that.

Still, Auntie Yujin didn’t seem to view it negatively, instead smiling warmly.

“You two have similar sides to you.”

“We do not.”

Soi puffed out her lips as she objected.

But Chae-yi nodded with a surprisingly serious expression.

Auntie Yujin and Uncle Dohyun burst out laughing at the sight.

Hyeonji also slightly lowered her head with the corners of her lips faintly raised.

As for Jinwoo herself, she was only making noises like, “Ah, eh, uh.”

*

There’s no strict rule saying our hugging ritual only happens once a day.

Everyone just comes over for a hug as if wrapping up the day, and somehow it naturally became something we did once daily.

At first, I only got dragged into it somehow, but honestly, now I enjoy it a little too.

There’s no way I’d dislike being able to hold Soi and Chae-yi in my arms.

After dinner, after everyone washed up, put on pajamas, and gathered in the room again—

Soi was the first to throw herself into my arms, and Chae-yi hugged me after her.

At some point, Hyeonji had also come over and was waiting, so I wrapped her tightly against my chest too. Compared to before, when she only got embarrassed, now it almost felt like she was looking forward to it, which was kind of funny.

And then.

“M-me too…….”

“……Will you really be okay?”

“I-I think I’ll be okay?”

Jinwoo slowly approached again, hesitating step by step.

Her face was bright red, but at the same time, she wore an expression like she was bracing herself for some massive challenge, which made it funny.

“If you faint this time, you’re sleeping at the hospital tonight.”

“And getting a full detailed examination too.”

Soi and Chae-yi said one after the other.

“And if you leave bloodstains again, that’d be a problem too. Wouldn’t people misunderstand?”

Even Hyeonji added a comment, but Jinwoo still didn’t back away, her face dyed red.

So, well.

I hugged her.

I couldn’t exactly leave her out.

Jinwoo trembled again inside my arms.

Should I be honest?

She’s smaller than me, so when this happens, it kind of—

Feels like I’m bullying her.

And honestly, it’s a little fun.

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Pub: 20 May 2026 09:07 UTC

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