Chapter 70

"Get in. Mr. Kim Deok-sung."

"Sure."

I sit in the back seat of the Rolls-Royce Phantom.

"I'll start the car."

As Han Seojin, who was sitting in the driver's seat, started the engine, the car began to move smoothly.

*

"I'll wait here. You two, have a good time."

With Han Seojin standing in front of the Rolls-Royce Phantom, we arrived at Tokyo Plaza, a shopping mall in Odaiba where I had visited before for the school preparation.

This is the place where Yooji and Ritsuko fought in the original volume 8.

"Wow, it's a real robot! Mr. Kim, can I take a picture of the robot...? Is it okay?"

Makoto asks with sparkling eyes.

"Sure, go ahead."

"I want to take a selfie with you..."

Makoto takes out a selfie stick.

No, where did he get that from?

I can't help but sigh.

'Damn it.'

I don't know why I have to do this.

But unfortunately, for the sake of summoning Ritsuko, I have to play along with Makoto for now.

There's no other way.

"Sure, let's take it."

"Yeah. To take a selfie, you need to come a bit closer. Just a little, a little..."

Makoto naturally links arms with me as he moves closer.

"I'm fine with this much, even between guys..."

"Don't say 'between guys.' I'm serious."

He's getting me angry.

Who does that between guys?

Thankfully, he's not really a guy.

I look around.

"!!"

I see a platinum blonde in a barbarian coat gesturing towards us, and Rin and Nishizawa trying to hold back her left and right arms.

They're really having fun, aren't they?

"I'll take it! Mr. Kim. Smile!"

Click.

A selfie with the robot as the background is taken.

"Done. Hehe."

For some reason, Makoto, who was looking at the selfie a few times, naturally grabs my hand.

"What are you doing, why are you holding my hand?"

Makoto smiles like a prince and scratches his head.

"We can do this much between guys, right? Well, I heard the mall is crowded, so I might lose Mr. Kim..."

We just said not to say 'between guys.'

Anyway, in this crazy world, no one listens properly.

Han Seojin is the only normal person in this world.

If he didn't have that national pride thing, he'd be great.

"Sure, do as you like."

Just endure until Ritsuko appears. I have to.

I engrave the character for 'endurance' in my mind and enter the mall, still holding Makoto's hand.

The mall was as crowded as Makoto said.

We walk around the mall, which is bustling with many people.

"This skin care product is good, right? This lotion is good, too."

"Oh, sir, your skin is so beautiful. Even cleaner than a woman like me."

"Thank you for the compliment."

After circling the cosmetics store a few times, we head to a clothing store.

"Wow... It's beautiful."

Makoto stops in front of a mannequin.

The dress that caught her eye is a frilly white dress that looks feminine to anyone.

'She admired femininity, didn't she?'

In the original, she lingered in front of the female mannequin at the clothing store for a while.

I remember it from the animation, which had a decent scene.

There was a monologue like, 'I want to wear such pretty clothes.'

It was also one of the scenes that Makoto fans loved the most.

Just then, as I was recalling the original content.

"Oh, sir."

Click.

A male employee suddenly appeared and grabbed Makoto's wrist.

"You must want to try on that dress. It would suit you. Would you like to try it on?"

"Um, um, um, um..."

"I'll try it on!"

Makoto is quickly dragged by the wrist.

I couldn't react in time to this sudden event.

"What the hell is that guy doing?"

Is he crazy?

And why is Makoto going along with it so easily?

It feels like a damn light novel situation.

It's not even funny anymore.

Anyway, I have to closely monitor Makoto, so I can't leave here.

I sigh and sit in the waiting area.

It didn't take long.

"Ugh, ugh, ugh, ugh..."

Makoto, who is making groaning sounds, stands in front of me, blushing, wearing the dress.

"Still, it's strange... Mr. Kim..."

She touches the hem of the dress awkwardly.

A guy dressed as a girl putting on a dress again?

What am I seeing right now?

I'm going to lose it, really.

I don't remember such a situation in the original.

I'm more afraid that someone might see, especially the trio who are following us.

I don't want to be labeled as a pervert who doesn't care about gender.

I don't want to be labeled as a pervert who likes to dress guys up as girls.

I calm my boiling insides and say,

"Hey, it suits you. Now go to the changing room and take it off. I'm serious."

To get her to take off the dress quickly, I need to compliment her first and then make the request.

It's the carrot and stick strategy.

Even though it makes me feel sick to say such disgusting lines, it's fine as long as it helps me get through this crisis.

"Really...? It suits me...? Even someone like me...?"

Makoto's face turns red.

She twirls the hem of the dress with her fingers.

"It suits you, so go to the changing room now!"

Please.

I'm begging you.

I even complimented you on being feminine, which you like, while suppressing my disgust.

So just go already.

"Okay... Thanks... Mr. Kim."

Hehe.

Makoto, who seems to be in a good mood, heads to the changing room with a giggle.

I sit back in the chair, watching her go.

I look around.

Fortunately, the trio is nowhere to be seen.

Phew.

I really feel like I'm paying for ten years of sins.

*

Makoto enters the changing room.

Creak. Thud.

The door closes.

Her reflection appears in the mirror on the changing room wall.

Her short green hair, her androgynous appearance that looks like a guy.

The frilly dress that doesn't suit her.

When the dress was forced into her hand by the employee, when she was half-forced into the changing room.

When she struggled to put on the dress.

Makoto thought it didn't suit her.

'A dress doesn't suit someone like me.'

Still, she wanted to wear it.

Even if it didn't suit her, she wanted to live as a girl, not a guy, just once.

She wanted the world to see her as a girl, not a guy, even once.

Maybe that's why she didn't push the employee's hand away.

When she finally put on the dress and stood in front of Kim Deok-sung, she was prepared.

She thought it was natural for him to say it didn't suit her and to scold her for what she was doing.

But he didn't.

"He said it suits me."

Thump.

Makoto's heart beats.

Her face turns red.

"Mr. Kim said it suits me."

Makoto covers her burning cheeks with both hands.

A pleasant thrill fills her heart.

Makoto, who still lacks experience as a woman, couldn't identify the emotion yet.

But one thing was clear.

If the excitement she felt from Kim Deok-sung before was the thrill of a servant and master, this current fluttering was a different kind of emotion.

Or maybe, it was an emotion that had been there all along, just brought to the surface by this incident.

Makoto shakes her head violently.

"What should I do...?"

Makoto, with a red face, trembles.

Ugh, ugh, ugh, ugh.

Makoto, who was making weak groaning sounds, quickly reaches for the zipper on the back of the dress.

He ordered her to change quickly.

So she needs to focus on his command and not let other thoughts distract her.

Makoto thinks this as she starts to struggle with the zipper.

"Ugh. Huh."

But the zipper doesn't come down easily.

"Damn!"

The moment Makoto applies force to the zipper.

Squish.

The zipper comes down.

Swish.

The compression bandage that got caught in the zipper quickly unravels.

As the compression bandage starts to unravel, her white shoulders and back, and her large chest, become visible.

Makoto quickly covers her chest with both hands and arms.

Part of the compression bandage still wraps around her chest like a bra.

"!!"

Makoto's eyes widen.

At least she avoided being completely naked, so the immediate crisis is averted.

But she can't fix the mess with her own hands.

She needs help from someone else.

However, she can't let her disguise as a guy be revealed. It's not the right time yet.

"What should I do...? What...?"

She can't reveal that she's a girl.

So she can't call the employee.

In the end, there's only one person who can help her in this situation.

The only person who knows her secret.

"Mr. Kim!! Help me!!"

Report to me immediately.

"Help me!! Mr. Kim!!"

I hear Makoto's voice from a distance.

Help? What kind of help?

I get up from the chair and walk through the store.

Her voice is coming from the changing room.

I knock on the door and ask,

"What's wrong?"

"It's, it's the bandage... It came loose... Come in and help me... I can only think of Mr. Kim... I'm sorry..."

Makoto's rambling.

Even though her words were cut off, I understand what she means.

The compression bandage got messed up while she was changing.

Since she can't reveal that she's a girl, she can't call the employee and is asking for my help.

It would be difficult to call Han Seojin too. Han Seojin knows that Makoto is a girl, but Makoto doesn't know that Han Seojin knows.

There's a high chance that a bigger commotion would happen.

Besides, Han Seojin has something to do outside.

I really have no choice but to step in.

It's a no-win situation.

"Sure, I understand."

I sigh and open the changing room door.

"!!"

I meet Makoto's red face.

Swish.

Even with the tattered bandage and her arms covering, her chest and white upper body are still overwhelmingly visible.

An embarrassing scene.

My face heats up reflexively.

A completely love comedy-like situation.

I'm going to lose it, really.

How do light novel protagonists endure this? Are they really saints?

I close my eyes tightly and shut the changing room door.

"Hey, show me the bandage."

Anyway, it's equally problematic if it gets revealed.

I need to fix it quickly.

Just as I'm trying to calm my boiling body.

"Don't look at this side...!"

Makoto's voice rings out.

Why is he talking like that again?

*

Makoto is blushing deeply and looking down.

Her heart is pounding.

"Don't look at this side...!"

Makoto shouts, holding the compression bandage with both hands to cover her chest.

White skin peeks out between her arms.

Her eyes are closed.

"What are you talking about? I asked for the bandage, not to look at anything."

His voice rings in her ears.

Her heart feels like it's about to burst from embarrassment.

Her face burns.

The overwhelming presence of her chest, which is too big to be fully covered by her arms and the bandage, is felt in her arms.

"Don't look, it's, it's ugly... My chest..."

A lump of fat that only gets in the way of assassinations.

A useless thing.

Kamiya Ritsuko called her chest that.