158) Chapter 22. Because It’s Summer! (6)

Now that I’m saying it, it feels a bit strange to bring it up at this point.

But as the years pass, the way I look at Soi and Chae-yi actually gets harder and harder.

When Chae-yi clung to me back in kindergarten, it wasn’t really a problem. She was just a little kid. When a child whose highest point on her head didn’t even reach an adult’s thigh clung to me, it was only a bit bothersome at most.

It was the same in elementary school. Especially with Soi, who bounced around everywhere, and whose hair went long, short, and all over the place however she pleased.

She had so much energy that when she grabbed my hand and ran around excitedly, the whole atmosphere was so “childlike” that watching her only made me feel fond, never embarrassed.

The problem was when they became middle schoolers.

Soi and Chae-yi weren’t the only ones growing.

I was growing too.

My mind was also adapting to this body.

Actually, I had become so immersed into the sensibilities of this body and this age that I sometimes felt as if my current mind was younger than when I first became aware of myself in this world.

And as my mind adapted like that, I suddenly became conscious of Soi and Chae-yi.

The funny thing is, the only thing I adapted to was the age—I never fully adapted to the “gender.”

Now, going to the bathroom isn’t a big issue anymore, and I’ve gotten used to girls treating me like just another girl, and even the occasional moment when a man’s gaze sticks to my body is something I can more or less let pass.

But I have not adapted at all to the bodies of Soi and Chae-yi as they continue to grow.

And it’s not just their bodies.

Even in middle school, the two of them were a bit taller and more developed than the kids around them, but their faces still had a distinctly youthful look. Even up until the third year of middle school—how should I put it—there was still that strangely rounded impression lingering from elementary school.

It’s only been about half a year since they graduated from middle school, yet somehow, there’s this oddly adult atmosphere on their faces.

“Rua, over here, here!”

But with that adult-like face and body, her behavior is still the same Soi I know.

The Soi who loves me so much, who wants bring me along everywhere we go.

Swoosh—waves crash. The waves hit Soi’s thighs and break into white foam.

Maybe it’s because of the salt, or because of the countless creatures that live in the sea, but seawater naturally has a slightly slippery feel to it.

That slippery seawater is already running down Soi’s shoulders and flowing into the gaps of her swimsuit.

The pouring sunlight sparkles and shatters across Soi’s body.

Since she’s waving with one arm raised high, well… um, her armpit is completely exposed.

It’s such a strange thing.

Parts that would normally be incredibly embarrassing to show are suddenly okay to reveal just because we’re at the beach.

The blatantly mature outfit combined with her completely unguarded expression twists something in my perception—

“Puhak!?”

But the chain of thoughts that had been endlessly continuing was suddenly shattered by a splash of water hitting me straight in the face.

“S-sa-salty! Salty!”

The words themselves technically have meaning and are used correctly, but somehow, when they come out of my mouth, they don’t sound like proper human speech.

Maybe it feels that way even more because of my habit of never finishing my sentences properly and cutting them off awkwardly.

“Unfair. You keep looking only at Soi.”

“Uh, huh?”

At those words, chills ran straight down my spine.

Huh, why? Why did I get chills?

It’s definitely not because I disliked hearing it. Strange.

When I turn my gaze, there’s Chae-yi.

She isn’t as soaked as Soi, but of course Chae-yi’s body is also glistening.

The water is part of it, but Chae-yi’s skin is especially pale. Even just standing still, the sunlight pouring down reflects off her almost transparently, and since she’s in the sea too—

“Am I not pretty?”

“Uh, uh, n-no. Chae-yi is pretty.”

“What? Then am I not pretty? Am I not even worth saying it out loud?”

At some point, Soi had cut through the water and come right up to us.

“Uh, no, y-you’re pretty too.”

What? Didn’t I say she was pretty earlier?

Soi and Chae-yi have always been pretty. It’s not because they’re in swimsuits.

Of course, the meaning of “pretty” has changed a bit compared to when they were little.

Soi grinned up at me and tugged on my hand.

On my other side, Chae-yi held my other hand.

It’s a strange, dreamlike atmosphere. This is a famous beach, there are tons of people around, and far off in the distance are Auntie Yujin and Uncle Dohyun, yet for a brief moment, it feels like it’s just the three of us here—

“Puh-heeeeng!?”

But once again, my thoughts didn’t get to reach the end.

Because water splashed straight into my face.

This time, it was Soi who threw water at me.

I snorted the water out of my nose and looked at her, and Soi was laughing—really, really brightly.

Laughing loudly, one hand on her stomach.

It looked nice.

It looked nice, but at the same time, I felt a little annoyed. Like—hey, you just attacked me

“Hahf-hak!?”

Soi let out a weird sound as she got hit in the face with a splash of water mid‑laugh.

Her hair was soaked from the top of her head, and she brushed it back with a suddenly serious expression, and—wow.

No, I didn’t do it on purpose.

I just wanted to get a little revenge by doing exactly what she did to me.

Her hair, which she had left down instead of tying up like usual, clung to her body as it got wet. The water dripping down was far more blatant than the little splashes from the waves earlier, running right down between her breasts.

Soi’s healthy skin gleamed as if she had applied some kind of water-glow, shiny and smooth.

As the corners of her lips lifted into a sly grin, there was something… almost seductive about it.

What is this? She’s not doing it on purpose, right? Is it more shocking because it’s coming out naturally?

“So that’s how you want to play—pffhek!?”

But that adult-like charm didn’t last even five seconds.

Because another splash of water hit her face.

Chae-yi, who had been watching from the side, had scooped up water and thrown it with force.

“What, you. You wanna go?”

“Hm? We came to the beach to play, didn’t we? Or did you come just to watch other people have fun?”

Chae-yi answered Soi’s challenge.

And then seawater poured over Chae-yi’s face too.

Her swimsuit wasn’t as flashy as Soi’s, but maybe it was made of a slightly glossier material than Soi’s.

So when it got wet, it was a bit more revealing. Her marble-white skin, soaked and sparkling intensely together with the water.

I stared at the two of them, completely absorbed, and then suddenly felt like I had forgotten something. I turned my head.

Far away, two people stood stiffly, mouths slightly open, just staring at us.

They had followed us into the water and dipped their legs in, but Hyeonji and Jinwoo were fidgeting like they weren’t sure if they were allowed to splash us or not.

For some reason, watching the two of them like that made me feel a bit dumbfounded. Seriously, you came all the way to the beach, put on swimsuits, and now you’re hesitating?

I trudged toward them and held out my hand.

“….”

“……Uh, um.”

Hyeonji stared blankly at me, and Jinwoo was still hesitating.

“We came all the way here, so.”

Only after I said that did the two of them look at each other, then reach their hands out toward me.

And as I grabbed their hands to pull them—

“Ah.”

If I hold them like this, I can’t turn around.

But without thinking, I tried to turn anyway, and my legs tangled.

“Hh-heht!?”

And I plunged face‑first straight into the ocean.

Four voices called my name at once.

Ugh.

So embarrassing.

I don’t want to come back up like this.

*

*

*

In a panic, the four of them rushed towards Rua, who was submerged underwater with her back to the sea.

“Puhah!”

A moment later, Rua shot up from the water with force.

The water level only reached about her hips, so it wasn’t deep enough for someone to actually sink, but it was definitely deep enough for a person to be immersed and get completely drenched.

As Rua’s face burst out of the seawater, her long black hair whipped through the air, drawing an arc. The wet black hair slapped against her back.

Soaked from face to body, Rua stood up and instinctively raised her hand to sweep her hair back.

Because of that motion, her neck and back—usually slightly bent forward—arched backward in a clean stretch, and her massive chest, barely covered by a drastically small piece of fabric, thrust forward.

The seawater that had risen with her body lingered for a brief moment before flowing downward along the curves of her form. Naturally, most of it streamed down through the deepest valley of her body’s contours. The slippery, salty water left a glistening trail between the curves as if coating them with shine.

Both sides of that chest, of course, had arms attached, and because those arms were raised, the armpits—normally hidden away neatly under her clothes—were completely exposed.

Maybe the feeling of her hair sticking to her back bothered her, because Rua pulled it away and gathered it together. She didn’t have anything to tie it with, so she simply swept it once as if squeezing out the water.

In that process, the nape of her neck—freshly trimmed of any fine hairs thanks to the salon Soi and Chae-yi dragged her to before coming here—was revealed in full.

The thin bikini strap covered it slightly, but maybe because the strap was black, or maybe because her wet hair was black...

Just looking at that nape was enough to give a faint chill.

Gulp.

The four girls who had rushed over to help Rua all swallowed at the same time.

Even among people of the same gender, Rua’s appearance was striking enough to make them tense for a moment.

No—actually, that wasn’t it.

It wasn’t “even among the same gender.” It was because it was Rua. For all four of them.

“Heheng.”

The only thing that could be considered a flaw was that nasal little sound Rua made—

No, maybe because it was Rua, even that sound was something the four of them found endearing.

*

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A word from the author (A/N):

Thank you for reading again today!

Only one chapter is going up today… I’m sorry…

Starting tomorrow, I’ll try to upload the normal amount again…!

Tuesdays are strangely exhausting ㅠㅠㅠㅠ

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eternalyg, thank you for your support!

Thank you always for reading my novel! I’ll work hard so Rua and her friends can make proper memories together! Thank you so much for loving the characters in my story! As I keep writing, I grow attached to them, so I think that’s why I keep ending up writing these memory‑making episodes. I hope the time you spend reading my novel can also remain as a memory for you. I’ll do my best to write the kind of story that, someday, when it suddenly comes to mind, you’ll want to come back and read again! Thank you so much! I look forward to your continued support!

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MintFlavorComi, thank you for your support!

Thank you always for reading my novel! I don’t consider your support small at all! To read this novel, you have to pay for a Novelpia monthly subscription, so everyone who reads is already giving me tremendous help! And on top of that, you chose to support me because you enjoy my story, so regardless of the amount, it’s incredibly precious to me! Thank you so much! I’ll do my best to write a story that makes the time and money you spend reading it feel worthwhile! I look forward to your continued support!

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Pub: 03 Jun 2026 10:03 UTC

Edit: 03 Jun 2026 11:54 UTC

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