## Chapter 184 – (15)
“Dinner?”
[Yes, my junior asked…]
“Your junior, the one who teamed up with Seonghan…”
[Yes, that’s right.]
I wondered who was calling me after so long, but it turned out to be Lee Hwan suggesting a dinner with the teams Seonghan and I were on.
Honestly, I was intrigued.
I’m usually shy and don’t eat with strangers, and even with close friends, I don’t usually meet up for meals privately.
But I wanted to see Seonghan again after that day, and I also wanted to meet Lee Hwan’s junior who was on the same team as Seonghan.
It was definitely a bit of a burden.
[If you don’t want to, feel free to refuse—]
“No, I’ll do it. Dinner.”
I mustered up the courage to accept, and Lee Hwan, who had made the offer, was even more surprised and replied.
[Really? …I feel weird saying this after asking, but aren’t you usually uncomfortable in these situations?]
“Sometimes I want to eat out for a change…”
It was a lame excuse.
But I couldn’t bring myself to say it honestly.
I was a little embarrassed to tell Lee Hwan that I wanted to see Seonghan again and meet the junior who was on the same team as Seonghan.
Lee Hwan was flustered but said he understood and asked when I was available.
“I’m free whenever…”
[Then how about tomorrow?]
“Yes.”
[Around 4 PM tomorrow then…]
The schedule was set, and I hung up.
It was only after the call ended that it hit me.
“I’m seeing him again tomorrow.”
I didn’t know meeting someone could be so exciting and scary at the same time.
The reason for my fear wasn’t anything special.
It was just.
“What, what should I wear?”
I jumped up from my seat and headed to the closet.
I couldn’t wear my nun’s habit tomorrow since I wasn’t working as an exorcist.
I had quite a few clothes in my closet.
But I couldn’t find anything I liked.
Even if I liked something a little, I wasn’t confident.
I was worried that it might only look good to me.
“What should I do…”
If I had known, I would have asked to meet two days later instead of tomorrow.
Then I would have had time to buy clothes.
“In times like these…”
After much deliberation, I made a call.
I was worried that they wouldn’t answer since it was late, but thankfully, the other person answered.
[Oh my, Sister, you’re actually calling someone like me…]
“Sister, I need your help.”
[…What is it?]
I felt bad for only calling when I needed something, but I put off the apology for later.
The person who had known me the longest.
The most reliable woman in my contact list was the sister I had lived with in the convent.
The sister who answered the phone teased me with her first greeting, but her attitude quickly changed when I asked for help, and she became serious.
“I need help picking out clothes…”
[…Are you kidding me right now?]
“No, that’s not it…”
Even I thought it was absurd.
Asking the sister who spends more than half of the month in a nun’s habit for fashion advice.
But I had my reasons.
“You dress well.”
Even sisters living in a convent don’t always wear their habits.
They often wore casual clothes when going out on weekends or for various errands.
So I sometimes saw the other sisters’ casual outfits.
I noticed then that the sister I was talking to on the phone dressed quite femininely and beautifully.
[…But why the sudden need for clothes?]
“Huh?”
[No, there must be a reason why you’re suddenly calling and asking about clothes.]
Suddenly, the sister’s voice over the receiver became louder.
A slight hint of laughter began to mix in, and her voice sounded a little excited.
“I’m just… meeting someone tomorrow.”
[…Oh? What’s this~? Sophia, you~?]
My face flushed at her teasing tone.
I felt like she had seen right through me with just a few words.
“It’s not like that!”
[Hehe, what’s “like that”?]
There’s a saying that strong denial is strong affirmation.
Rather, when I denied it strongly, the sister started laughing slyly as if she was sure.
“…”
[Okay, okay~ Don’t pout.]
Even after not talking for a while, the sister still knew me too well.
How did she know I was pouting when I didn’t even answer?
[Spread out all your clothes and video call me, oh right. Underwear too.]
“W-Why underwear?”
[You never know!]
“I-I’ll call you later!”
I quickly hung up the phone.
“Y-You never know…”
It was a ridiculous story, but that’s what happened back then too.
We encountered a ghost story at a completely unexpected moment, and Seonghan and I had no choice but to—
Have a relationship… in order to escape the ghost hotel.
Come to think of it, what kind of underwear was I wearing back then?
I rummaged through my memories and remembered that it wasn’t very pretty underwear.
Then, a sense of shame washed over me.
“What do I do…”
Seonghan didn’t react much back then, but maybe he was secretly disappointed.
“…L-Let’s take them out for now.”
I took out my underwear just in case and made a video call.
With the help of my reliable sister, I was able to decide on my outfit for tomorrow.
***
“It’s crowded from the entrance now.”
Seoul was always crowded on weekends.
This meeting place was also packed with people from the entrance, and just standing still meant bumping into people.
This wasn’t my first time experiencing this.
However, the difference between then and now was that I no longer got swept away by the crowds like before.
Rather, the people who bumped into me would glance at me as if they had bumped into a tree.
My body has gotten a bit tougher.
“A company dinner at a chicken restaurant.”
It was my first time experiencing this.
Come to think of it, I hadn’t gone to a chicken restaurant to eat chicken in the past few years.
I don’t like alcohol, and I mostly ordered chicken as delivery food.
Thinking about it, having a meal at a chicken restaurant seemed pretty good.
Chicken itself is a menu that few people dislike, and it’s good to eat with alcohol.
Assuming it’s boneless chicken, it’s easy to eat without getting messy.
“Is this it?”
The chicken restaurant we agreed to meet at was familiar to me.
I had never been there, but I had ordered from there several times.
They only use chicken thigh meat for their boneless chicken, so I would order from them whenever I craved boneless chicken.
I stood in front of the chicken restaurant and waited for the others to arrive.
“Am I a little early?”
I took a taxi quickly because I was afraid of being late.
Thanks to the taxi driver who found a route without traffic like a ghost, I arrived 10 minutes earlier than expected.
I had nothing to do, so I was staring blankly at the trees in the middle of the street when suddenly someone appeared right in front of me.
“…Who?”
“I-It’s me.”
“Ah.”
I didn’t recognize her for a moment.
Sophia, who was wearing a knit that slightly revealed her shoulders instead of her usual nun’s habit, was standing there shyly.
I took a step back and stared at her intently.
“Oh…”
“Heuup…”
It wasn’t as revealing as her nun’s habit, but there was a different kind of charm to it.
Above all, her exposed shoulders and the strap of her underwear peeking out kept stimulating my imagination.
And that shy expression too.
There was something about it that stimulated a man’s protective instincts.
She was just standing there, looking at the ground as if she was embarrassed by my gaze.
I smiled and conveyed my honest thoughts.
“It suits you well?”
“R-Really?”
I felt the tense atmosphere ease a little with my light compliment.
Tap tap.
Then I heard another footstep and someone tapped me on the shoulder.
I turned my head and saw Jaehee, who was wearing a tough fashion with an aviator jacket.
“You’re here early? I thought I would be the first one.”
“The taxi arrived quickly.”
“Really? I should have taken a taxi instead of my motorcycle.”
She grumbled about the heavy traffic, then her gaze turned to Sophia in front of me.
Jaehee opened her mouth for a moment and asked me.
“…Seonghan Oppa, who is this…?”
“Ah, Sophia… no, Sister.”
“Ah, this person…”
Jaehee’s expression stiffened as if she was nervous for a moment, and she scanned Sophia up and down.
Then, her gaze stopped for a moment.
The place where Jaehee’s gaze stopped was no different from mine.
Jaehee stared intently at Sophia’s chest, which was showing its presence even through the knit.
I guess you can’t help but look.
Jaehee exclaimed in a small voice.
“Wow…”
“Yes?”
“Ah, it’s nothing. Nice to meet you.”
Jaehee held out her hand, and Sophia shook it nervously with both hands.
“But Seonghan-ssi, who is this person…”
This time, Sophia asked.
“Ah, she’s my teammate. Lee Hwan-ssi’s junior.”
“Yes? Lee Hwan-ssi’s junior was a woman?”
Sophia was surprised, as if she had heard it for the first time.
“You didn’t know?”
“No… Lee Hwan-ssi just said junior… So you’re teamed up with this woman…”
Sophia also glanced at Jaehee out of the corner of her eye.
And Sophia’s eyes stopped on Jaehee’s face.
“Pretty…”
Jaehee was focused on something else.
“Seonghan Oppa called Seonghan-ssi…”
“Just now, Seonghan Oppa…”
Both of them were muttering as if they were curious about the way I was being called.
“Ah, Lee Hwan-ssi said he’s going to be a little late.”
“Then should we go in and order first?”
“Yes, let’s go in.”
He didn’t seem like the type to be late for appointments.
Since Lee Hwan said he was going to be a little late for some reason, we decided to secure a table in advance.
We ordered boneless chicken.
Before the chicken came out, the three of us stole glances at each other’s outfits and appearances in a slightly awkward atmosphere.
‘…What is this.’
A slightly awkward atmosphere flowed.
