“Get in, Mr. Kim Deok-Sung.”
“I guess so.”
He sits in the back seat of the Rolls-Royce Phantom.
“We’re starting now.”
As Han Seo-Jin in the driver’s seat turns on the ignition, the car smoothly moves forward.
*
“Then I will wait here. Have a great time, you two.”
Leaving Han Seo-Jin in front of the Rolls-Royce Phantom, they arrive at Tokyo Plaza, a shopping mall they had visited while preparing for Imgan School.
This is also the location where Yuji fought Ritsuko in the original Volume 8.
“Wow. It’s a real robot! Kim, can I take a picture with it…? Is that okay?”
Makoto asks with sparkling eyes.
“Yeah, do as you please.”
“I want to take a picture with you, Kim…”
Makoto pulls out a selfie stick.
Where on earth did he pull that out from?
A sigh escapes me.
‘Damn it.’
I have no idea why I have to deal with this.
But unfortunately, I have to play along with Makoto for the summoning of Ritsuko.
There’s no other choice.
“Okay. Let’s take it.”
“Yeah. For the selfie, you need to come a bit closer. Just a little bit closer, okay?”
Makoto leans in, naturally wrapping an arm around me.
“It’s fine between guys to do this much…”
“Don’t say it’s just between guys. Do it while it’s still a nice conversation.”
Now I’m getting annoyed.
Who says guys do stuff like this?
Thank goodness I’m not a real man.
I look around.
“!!”
I see Olivia in a platinum blonde trench coat pointing at us, with Rin and Nishizawa feigning to pull her away on each side.
They sure know how to play around. Seriously.
“I’m taking it! Kim, smile!”
Click.
A selfie with the robot in the background is taken.
“Got it. Hehe.”
Makoto, who seems thrilled, reviews the selfie several times and naturally grabs my hand.
“What’s this? Why are you holding my hand?”
Makoto scratches his head with a prince-like smile.
“Isn’t it fine for guys to do this much? I heard there are a lot of people in the shopping mall, so you might get lost, Kim…”
Didn’t he just say not to say that between guys a moment ago?
In any case, not a single person in this insane world can take a proper hint when told.
As expected, Han Seo-Jin is the only normal person in this world.
You’re the only normal person here.
If only you’d stop with the national pride, it would be great.
“Sure, do as you please.”
Just hold on until Ritsuko shows up. I must endure.
Reciting “patience” in my mind, I grab Makoto’s hand and step into the shopping mall.
Inside the mall, as Makoto said, it was crowded.
We wandered through the bustling shopping mall together.
“This skin cream looks good, and this lotion seems nice.”
“Oh my, customer, your skin is so beautiful. Even cleaner than mine!”
“Thank you for the compliment.”
After spinning a few laps in the cosmetics store, we ended up at the clothing store.
“Wow… it’s beautiful.”
Makoto stopped in front of a mannequin.
What caught her eye was a light, flowy white polka-dot dress that screamed femininity.
“Wasn’t she always longing for femininity?”
In the original, she had lingered in front of the female mannequin as well.
It’s a scene that even seemed quite well animated, I remember.
The moment where she thought, “I want to wear such a pretty dress.”
It was one of the scenes beloved by Makoto fans.
Just as I was recalling the original content…
“Oh my. Customer.”
Snap.
A male employee from the clothing store suddenly appeared and grabbed Makoto’s wrist.
“So you wanted to try that dress on? I think it will suit you well. Would you like to give it a go?”
“Uh, um, umm…”
“I’ll try it on!”
In an instant, she was being dragged away, her wrist caught.
Caught off guard by the sudden event, I could hardly react.
“What on earth is that guy doing?”
Is he insane?
And why on earth is Makoto so willingly getting dragged along like that?
This feels like some ridiculous light novel situation.
It isn’t even funny anymore.
Anyway, I need to keep a close watch on her, so I can’t slip away now.
I sighed and took a seat in the waiting area.
It didn’t take long.
“Ugh, uhhhh…”
Makoto let out a sound of distress.
Dressed in the dress, she stood before me with a flushed face.
“Y-Yeah, it’s weird… Kim Deok-Sung…”
She awkwardly fiddled with the hem of the dress.
A girl dressed as a boy getting dressed up again?
What am I even witnessing?
I’m going to lose it, seriously.
I don’t think anything like this happened in the original.
I’m scared someone might see, especially the trio tailing us now.
Given I already have the label of a gender-bending pervert, I definitely don’t want to add the reputation of dressing up guys on top of that.
Calming the bubbling anger inside me, I said:
“Hey, it’s not weird, and it suits you, so go to the fitting room and take it off right now. While I’m being nice about it.”
To get her to take off the dress quickly, it’s best to compliment her first and then state my demand.
A carrot and stick approach.
It makes my stomach turn to say such disgusting lines, but if it helps me get out of this crisis, it’s worth it.
“Uh, it suits me… really…? Even with someone like me…?”
Makoto’s face flushed even more.
She started twisting the hem of the dress with her fingers.
“Then go to the fitting room and take it off quickly!”
“Ugh, hurry up and get to the changing room!”
Please.
I’m begging you.
I even held back my disgust to compliment you on how feminine you are.
So just go already.
“Ah, alright… Thank you… Kim.”
Hehe.
I wonder what’s so funny, as Makoto skips off to the changing room.
I plop down on a chair, staring at her back.
Looking around.
Fortunately, the trio isn’t in sight.
Phew.
I really aged ten years just now.
*
Makoto steps into the changing room.
Creak. Click.
She shuts the door.
Her reflection shows in the mirror mounted on the wall.
Short, green hair cut like a boy’s, and an androgynous appearance.
A light, frilly dress that doesn’t quite match.
When she was forced by the clerk to hold the dress, and shoved into the changing room.
She thought as she struggled to put on the dress:
‘A dress doesn’t suit a girl like me.’
But still, she wanted to wear it.
Even if it didn’t suit her, she wanted to live at least once as a girl, not as a boy.
She wished that people would see her as a girl, even just once.
Perhaps that’s why she didn’t resist the clerk’s touch.
When she finally stood before Kim Deok-Sung in the dress, she was ready.
If he said it didn’t suit her, or what on earth was she thinking, she thought it would be totally understandable.
But it wasn’t.
“He said it suits me.”
Thump.
Makoto’s heart races.
Her face turns bright red.
“… Kim said it looks good on me.”
Makoto cups her flushed cheeks with both hands.
A delightful flutter fills her heart.
Still inexperienced as a girl, Makoto couldn’t pinpoint exactly what she was feeling.
But one thing was clear.
The feelings she had felt for Kim Deok-Sung until now, those were the glee of a servant towards their master, while this fluttering was something entirely different.
Or perhaps, it was a feeling that had existed even before this moment.
Maybe it had just come to the surface because of this incident.
Makoto shakes her head vigorously.
“What should I do…”
With a crimson face, her hands tremble.
Ughhhh.
Makoto lets out a small groan as she hurriedly reaches behind her to grab the zipper of the dress.
He told her to change quickly.
So she needed to focus only on that command, without distractions.
Thinking that way, she begins to wrestle with the zipper.
“Ugh. Gah.”
But the zipper wouldn’t budge at all.
“Ugh!”
At that moment she put all her strength into it.
Whoosh.
The zipper comes down.
Slide.
Along with it, the pressure band that was caught in the zipper loosens rapidly.
As the pressure band unravels, her white shoulders, back, and ample chest start to become visible.
Makoto hastily wraps her arms around her chest.
Part of the pressure band clings to her like underwear.
“!!”
Makoto’s eyes widen.
She averted disaster by not ending up completely exposed, but salvaging the mess herself is beyond her capabilities.
It’s a mess.
I need someone else’s help.
But I can’t reveal my true identity now. It’s not that time yet.
“Uh, what do I do… How do I…?”
I can’t disclose the fact that I’m a girl.
So I can’t call for a staff member.
In the end, there’s only one person who can resolve this situation.
The only one who knows her secret.
“Kim!! Help me!!”
Gather here right now!
“Help!! Kim!!”
I hear Makoto’s voice from afar.
Want help? What does she need help with?
I get up from the chair and walk across the store.
Her voice is coming from the changing room.
I knock on the door and ask, “What’s going on?”
“My, uh, bandage… it’s come loose… come in and help me… you were the only one I could think of… I’m sorry…”
Makoto is rambling.
The words are all jumbled up, but I get the gist of it.
She must be in a mess with her compression bandage while changing clothes.
If she’s caught as a girl in disguise, she can’t call for help, so she must have asked me.
It’s also difficult to call Han Seo-Jin. Han knows Makoto is cross-dressing, but Makoto doesn’t realize that her secret has been exposed to Han.
Most likely, it would cause an even bigger ruckus.
Plus, Han has things to do while waiting outside.
I’m in a situation where I truly have no choice but to step in.
I’m in a jam.
“Alright, got it.”
As I sigh and open the changing room door…
“!!”
I meet the eyes of a blushing Makoto.
Boom.
Despite the tattered bandages and her arms covering herself, her overwhelming presence and white upper body are visible.
It’s an embarrassing sight.
My face instinctively heats up.
I shut my eyes tight.
It’s a complete rom-com scenario.
What the heck, seriously.
How do light novel protagonists endure this kind of thing? Are they really saints?
I close the changing room door while my eyes are shut.
“Hey, show me the bandage.”
Anyway, if it’s discovered, it would be problematic for both of us.
I need to deal with this quickly.
Just as I was calming my boiling body.
“Don’t look this way…!”
Makoto’s shout rings out.
Why is she answering me like that?
*
Makoto is hunched over, face completely red.
Her heart is racing.
“Don’t look this way…!”
While tightly hugging the precariously held bandage over her chest with both hands, Makoto shouts.
I can see the white skin peeking out between her arms.
Her eyes are shut.
“What do you mean by that? I just want the bandage, why the hell can’t I look?”
Her voice echoes in my ears.
I feel like my heart might burst from embarrassment.
My face is burning up.
The uselessly large presence of her chest, which can’t even be covered by her arms and the bandage, is noticeable in my arms.
“Just don’t look, ugh, it’s ugly… my chest…”
Just a mass of fat that hinders any assassination attempts.
A useless thing.
Kamiya Ritsuko referred to her chest that way.
