155) Chapter 22. Because It’s Summer! (3)
“Hyeonji and Jinwoo? Of course they should come with us!”
When we brought it up, Auntie Yujin and Uncle Dohyun responded enthusiastically.
It was probably because they were just that happy that I'd made more friends after spending so much of middle school isolated.
More importantly, Soi had deliberately avoided making other friends because she'd stayed by my side during that time, so their worries had probably been doubled.
The two of them had always been sincere about helping us “make memories,” so it seemed they had already been considering it before we even brought it up.
However, there was one problem.
That's right. Last time, we'd run into that girl whose name I still didn't know after taking Jinwoo out while dressed as a girl.
...At this point, I was starting to feel a little guilty too, but unfortunately she wasn't even in our class, our encounters were completely random, and even when we did meet, we never talked for very long. I'd missed the chance to ask her name over and over again and still didn't know it to this day—but, well, that's not what's important right now.
What matters is Jinwoo.
Even setting that girl aside, there are plenty of other students. Of course, Jinwoo isn't someone who stands out that much at school, but just as that girl remembered me, there could be other people who remembered Jinwoo.
Some boys might recognize her while passing by, right? That would be a bit troublesome.
“How about going somewhere far away from the Academy?”
“What good would that do? Students at our Academy come from all over Seoul and Gyeonggi Province. Going far away from the Academy won't really help.”
Chae-yi answered Soi's suggestion.
“That's true. They assign students with distance from home in mind, but that distance covers multiple cities and provinces.”
Hyeonji agreed with Chae-yi.
“......”
Jinwoo sat there with her face flushed red.
At least thanks to the clothes we'd bought last time, she wouldn't need to borrow my clothes that didn't even fit her properly anymore.
“Well, then there's only one option.”
“O-one option?”
I looked at Soi as she spoke as though the answer were obvious.
Had she already come up with something?
“We just have to shamelessly insist on it and push through.”
“Ah.”
Right.
Honestly, that really was the only option. What else could we do? It's not like we were going to leave Jinwoo behind.
“Um, excuse me, I'm okay with it, though.”
Of all times, Jinwoo chose that moment to say something like that.
All our gazes immediately turned toward her, and her already-red face grew even redder.
“I-I could just wear men's swim trunks.”
“......”
For a moment, nobody said anything.
Most of us were probably just speechless.
...Come to think of it, how was the beach episode handled in the original story?
The fact that Nam Jinwoo was actually a girl disguised as a boy had never been revealed in the original work, so in the novel it was simply described as the heroines wearing swimsuits and having fun in the water.
If that wasn't a plot hole, then surely...
...No way.
Did she really wear men's swimwear?
With nothing on top?
How would that even work? If there were absolutely no traces, maybe, but Jinwoo definitely had enough of a chest that you could tell.
“I-I could wear men's swim trunks underneath, and then a T-shirt on top.”
“...And under the T-shirt? If you wrap yourself with bandages, people will notice. Everyone will probably think it's weird.”
Soi asked in a completely serious voice.
Exactly.
Every now and then, you see somewhat feminine-looking male characters who mysteriously have bandages wrapped around their chests.
Whether the author thought it looked cool or whether they were drawn too femininely and needed some kind of censorship workaround, I had no idea.
But reality was very different. Wearing men's swimwear and then wrapping bandages around your chest? Wouldn't that seem strange?
“I-I could just wear the T-shirt...?”
“......”
The others fell silent again.
Including me.
Slowly, Chae-yi raised a hand and rubbed her face.
“...You're not planning to go into the water? Just stay outside the whole time?”
“Uh, ah, I can't?”
“So the four of us are supposed to have fun while you just sit outside and watch?”
Chae-yi asked with a furrowed brow.
Jinwoo's eyes wandered around before settling on me.
No, giving me the eyes of a scolded puppy isn't going to help.
Among everyone here, I'm the weakest except for Jinwoo. Including Jinwoo, I'd be second weakest.
Unfortunately, I don't have enough influence to defend Jinwoo in front of a group that's angry over such a ridiculous idea.
“Th-then I'll just keep the T-shirt on.”
This time, Hyeonji slowly rubbed her face.
“What happens when the shirt gets wet? Everything underneath will show through.”
“Uh? Huh?”
Jinwoo tilted her head repeatedly.
Was she confused about whether she was a girl or a boy herself?
Ah, of course, if we really looked for alternatives, there were some.
For example, nipple covers.
If she wore them under a T-shirt instead of a bra, it might work. There really were women who occasionally wore only nipple covers without a bra.
Some adults even occasionally went without bras entirely.
But.
For some reason, that felt wrong.
I couldn't explain why, but it felt like Jinwoo specifically shouldn't do that.
Actually, not just Jinwoo—all the girls here. It somehow felt very dangerous.
Then was there another solution besides nipple covers...?
“Ah.”
A thought suddenly crossed my mind.
“A rash guard. Couldn't she just wear a rash guard?”
If she wore men's swim trunks below and a rash guard above, wouldn't she just look like a boy?
Sure, the outline might show if it was too tight, but if she confidently said she was a boy, maybe people would just accept it. Or she could buy one a size larger.
And while we were at it, I could buy one too.
The swimsuit Soi and Chae-yi had picked out for me back in middle school was a two-piece swimsuit.
Showing my stomach while playing in the water had always been a little embarrassing.
Of course, the bottoms would still be women's swimwear, but if I wore a rash guard on top, wouldn't it be a little less embarrassing?
“......”
But for some reason, Soi and Chae-yi narrowed their eyes at my suggestion.
Hyeonji didn't react like that, though she did look thoughtful.
“No.”
And Soi immediately rejected it.
“Huh?”
“We'll all be wearing cute swimsuits, and if Jinwoo's the only one in a rash guard, the photos won't look nice. It's not like we're excluding her. And we're going all the way to the beach, not the Academy. Why bother insisting she's a boy there? We gathered here specifically to pick out a girls' swimsuit for Jinwoo.”
“Ah.”
Well, that was technically the point.
“Th-then if I wear a rash guard too, it won't look like we're excluding only Jinwoo—”
“No, the point is that rash guards aren't cute.”
Soi cut me off immediately.
Why not?
If they weren't cute, they wouldn't have become popular in the first place, right? Sure, I personally preferred looking at swimsuits with more revealing designs, but I'd never thought rash guards were especially unattractive.
“And you.”
Soi glared at Jinwoo as though she were about to devour her.
“You've never actually worn a proper swimsuit before, have you?”
“Uh...”
Jinwoo couldn't answer.
More accurately, she seemed to be trying to come up with a rebuttal. It looked like she wanted to claim she had, but unfortunately she really didn't have any experience and could only squirm without answering.
“Then wouldn't this be a good opportunity? We're all going together anyway. Don't you want to try it? Me, her, her, and Rua too. Wouldn't it be nice if we all picked something pretty together?”
Soi said, pointing at Chae-yi, Hyeonji, me, and herself.
“R-Rua too?”
“Yeah. If you wear a rash guard, Rua says she'll wear one too. She's willing to wear one herself just so you won't look awkward in the group photos.”
“Uh...”
Jinwoo's gaze turned toward me.
Though for a moment, it felt like her eyes dropped from my face to my body as well.
Her faintly flushed face suddenly turned bright red.
Even her ears went red.
Seriously, what are you imagining, Jinwoo?
“Th-then I'll wear one.”
“Good choice.”
No.
Why did you suddenly change your mind?
“Things like this are most fun when everyone gets into the spirit together. If even one person is left out, it ruins the atmosphere.”
“I-Is that how it works?”
“That's how it works.”
Jinwoo had completely fallen for Soi's smooth-talking delinquent-style logic.
“Then it's settled, right? Let's go to a reasonably large department store. If there's a chance of being recognized no matter where we go, then we'll just make something up if it happens.”
“Sounds good. I agree.”
“Mm.”
Chae-yi and Hyeonji nodded in agreement with Soi.
“Y-yeah! Rua's coming too, right?”
“Of course she is. What kind of question is that?”
Hearing Soi's answer, Jinwoo turned toward me and smiled brightly.
Ugh.
When she smiled that innocently...
No, but the reason she changed her mind, and the way she turned bright red—weren't those reactions exactly like an adolescent boy?
And yet somehow only the smile looked pure and innocent.
That's what makes it so annoying.
As punishment, I'll pick the most embarrassing swimsuit I can find for you, Nam Jinwoo.