Chapter 14

[14] Oppa, How Do I Look?

“Ah!”

When she saw my troubled expression, Sia finally realized she was holding her chopsticks strangely and hurriedly put them down.

“Wh-what did I just… do? Oppa, I mean, this is—”

She waved both hands, insisting that she hadn’t meant anything by it.

But I already knew she hadn’t done it on purpose. More importantly, she looked adorable with her face flushed as red as a tomato in embarrassment.

Should I tease her a little more?

“It’s okay. That can happen when you get flustered. But you weren’t actually planning to stab me, were you?”

“No, no, no!”

If I teased her any more, I might actually get stabbed.

Telling her not to worry about it, I picked up a king crab leg that hadn’t been shelled yet.

Sia could easily do it with magic, but having her boyfriend carefully shell it for her would feel different.

I thoroughly picked the meat out of the leg, placed it in a dish, and handed it to Sia. She showed her satisfaction with a sweet, affectionate smile.

We finished our meal in a warm, pleasant mood.

“Ahh, that was delicious.”

Sia gave her belly a few cute little pats.

“Sia, should we head over to our place and relax now?”

“Yeah. I’m already excited. Aren’t you, Oppa?”

“Very. It looked really nice in the pictures earlier.”

I was probably even more excited because, although Sia and I had traveled together a few times since we started dating, we had never stayed at a villa with a private pool.

It was close enough that we walked there.

“Wow.”

“We really picked a great place, didn’t we, Oppa?”

“Yeah. My Sia really has an eye for these things.”

Dazzling lights illuminated the dark night, with charming little gardens beneath them.

When I raised my gaze a little, I could see the private pool we would be swimming in, shining beneath the moonlight.

We quickly checked in and headed upstairs.

A beautiful nighttime view and a lovely pool reflecting the moonlight welcomed us.

Since we were staying at a pool villa, all that remained was to go swimming.

But because we had planned this on the spur of the moment, we obviously hadn’t brought swimsuits.

Just as I was about to go to the lobby and ask whether we could rent some, Sia stopped me.

“I brought them.”

Despite her words, both her hands were empty.

But she was a dragon, so perhaps she had stored them in some kind of subspace.

“Then I’ll just rent one for myself.”

“No. I brought yours too.”

“…Mine too?”

“Don’t worry. It’ll only take a moment. Really.”

My Sia had been very serious about going swimming.

When had she even prepared mine?

Actually, had she had time to prepare anything?

I was a little puzzled, but I decided to accept it for now.

“Sia, if you wanted to go swimming, you should’ve said so earlier. I really wouldn’t have minded.”

“Actually, I wanted to enjoy it with just you. Somewhere without anyone else around, just the two of us.”

Her face gradually flushed with shyness.

“Just us, where no one else can see.”

So that was why she had brushed off my suggestion to go swimming, only to choose a pool villa.

“Oh, right. Oppa, I have a quick errand to run. Could you wait just a little?”

“Sure. Come back soon, okay?”

After making sure Minjun was heading upstairs to their accommodation, Sia quickly left the property and teleported.

Her so-called errand was none other than buying swimsuits.

She hadn’t prepared any swimsuits in the first place.

She had only just returned to Earth. When would she have bought one?

There was just one reason she had lied to Minjun and told him she had them ready.

‘I’ll go buy them now.’

She wanted to choose the swimsuits herself.

Swimsuits.

One might think of them as nothing more than clothes worn while swimming, but few garments showed off a person’s masculinity or femininity quite so well.

Sia wanted to show off her figure in one, and at the same time, she wanted Minjun to display his masculine appeal in a swimsuit she had personally chosen.

“Hehe. I can’t wait. I should hurry up and buy them so I can get back to him.”

She had already narrowed down a few options using Minjun’s phone earlier, so buying them probably wouldn’t take long.

Sia’s eyes curved into crescents.

Besides, swimming alone together in some cheap, basic rental swimsuits?

‘Maybe the old me would’ve been fine with that.’

But she couldn’t accept it now.

It would be different if she were somewhere with family or friends.

Here, it would completely spoil the romantic mood.

With the generous allowance her grandfather had given her, she teleported to a department store in Seoul.

‘What kind of swimsuit would look best on my Oppa?’

And what kind should she wear to make him blush?

The shy Jeong Sia who had said she wanted to swim alone with him just moments earlier was nowhere to be found.

While Sia was out running her quick errand, I went upstairs first and took a look around our accommodation.

“This is paradise.”

It felt like a shame to enjoy this incredible view alone without Sia.

“I wonder when she’ll be back.”

It hadn’t sounded like something that would take very long.

Had I been waiting alone for about ten minutes?

“Oppa, I’m back!”

The doorbell rang along with Sia’s voice from the other side, and I immediately opened the door.

She was holding a large shopping bag.

“What’s… all this?”

“Snacks! I bought a few things in case we get hungry after swimming. Some snacks and a few cans of beer. The swimsuits are in here too.”

“So that was your errand. I could’ve come with you.”

“No, it’s fine.”

Sia began taking her purchases out of the shopping bag.

Snacks, soft drinks, alcohol, and finally—

My swimsuit.

“But Sia, where exactly did you get this swimsuit?”

I had accepted it without much thought earlier, but now that I thought about it, something seemed suspicious.

Why would Sia be carrying around a men’s swimsuit?

“Actually, I just went to a department store and bought it.”

“That’s what you went out for? We could’ve just worn the swimsuits they rent out here.”

To me, it seemed like quite a hassle.

“I didn’t want to wear a rental swimsuit today. So I bought both yours and mine.”

I didn’t entirely understand, but I decided not to dig too deeply.

If that was what Sia wanted, so be it.

“You bought… all this in that time?”

“Yep.”

Two swimsuits and snacks.

I wondered whether that was even physically possible in such a short time, but then it occurred to me that physical distance probably wasn’t much of a restriction for someone who could teleport.

“Then I’ll go get changed in there.”

Keeping her own swimsuit a secret to the very end, Sia picked up the shopping bag containing it and scampered into the bedroom.

She really knew how to make a guy curious.

Deciding I would see Sia’s swimsuit soon enough, I went into the room to change into mine.

“So this is Sia’s taste.”

We had picked out clothes for each other a few times while shopping together, but never swimsuits.

Perhaps that was why it felt so novel.

A little excited to see what design she had chosen, I took out the swimsuit.

‘That’s it?’

Out came a simple pair of black swim trunks.

Maybe things were different overseas, but didn’t people in Korea usually wear rash guards too?

I preferred wearing a rash guard when swimming myself, so the thought of swimming in nothing but trunks left me feeling a little self-conscious.

But thinking about it another way…

‘If she wanted me to wear one, she would’ve bought it as part of the set.’

If Sia had bought only the trunks, that must mean she wanted me to wear only these.

I decided to wear what she had bought me.

It was a little embarrassing, but who else was here to see me?

Anyway, after changing, I went out to the pool and waited for Sia.

‘I wonder what kind of swimsuit she picked for herself.’

The Sia I remembered was pretty conservative about showing skin.

She hadn’t liked revealing clothes, whether in everyday life or when we’d gone to a water park together.

That made it likely she had chosen a swimsuit that covered as much of her body as possible.

Something like one of those full-body suits you might see in a swimming competition.

‘…But if that were the case, she probably would’ve rented one here.’

Since she probably wouldn’t wear anything particularly eye-catching anyway, I hadn’t thought she needed to go all the way to a department store to buy a swimsuit.

Unless she had a particular design in mind.

But then—

“Oppa!”

Apparently finished changing, Sia called out to me.

The moment I turned my head, however…

I couldn’t help being stunned.

Where on earth had the modest Sia I knew gone?

Wearing a black bikini of the sort you could easily spot at a water park, she was walking toward me with a wave.

There were no particular embellishments.

It was just a simple black bikini.

But wasn’t there a saying that simple was best?

“How’s the water? It’s not too cold, is it?”

Without saying a single word about her swimsuit, Sia lightly settled beside me.

That only drove me crazier.

‘Why is she so sexy?’

If Sia had worn swimsuits like that all the time, I wouldn’t have reacted this strongly.

But I was seeing a side of her I had never known.

And of all days, I was seeing that side of her today.

My eyes widened as I focused entirely on her.

‘How am I supposed to resist this?’

When I stared at her without saying a word, Sia didn’t get embarrassed. Instead, she seemed to enjoy my gaze, giving me an alluring smile.

Her eyes lingered on my bare upper body.

‘Don’t tell me this is why she didn’t buy me a rash guard…?’

Maybe I was imagining things, but I felt as though I had walked straight into her trap.

Sia openly stared at my abs.

“Ahh, I can’t take it anymore.”

Then she grabbed my shoulders and pushed me down onto my back.

As though we were on a bed rather than beside a swimming pool.

“Uh, wha…?”

Starlight adorned the sky.

And beneath it, Sia gazed down at me with a sultry look in her eyes.

Her warm breath brushed against me, her hands resting gently on my shoulders.

She wasn’t suggesting we do something here, was she?

We hadn’t even gone swimming yet…?

Seeing how utterly flustered I was, Sia finally burst out laughing.

“I’m kidding! Just kidding, Oppa. Do you know how cute you look when you’re flustered?”

“You…”

Sia giggled and stuck out her tongue teasingly.

She’d got me.

“We still have to swim, so we can’t wear ourselves out already. I know you want to, but be patient.”

Sia smiled with the confidence of a much older woman taking the lead.

She really was acting like the older one here.

Summer was almost over, but we spent a night as hot as midsummer.

After enjoying our swim, we made love.

Then we went outside again to admire the view.

With cups of instant noodles freshly filled with hot water in hand.

I hadn’t taken a single bite yet, but I already knew they would taste amazing.

We placed the cups on a small table beside the pool and waited for the noodles to cook.

“Noodles always taste best after some hard work.”

“Work? We didn’t do any work, Oppa.”

“Well, our nighttime activities count as work too…”

“Ahh, don’t say that! What if someone hears you?”

We were chatting about trivial things as usual, but neither of us needed to say what we both knew.

Our time together was almost up.

Once it was over, we would only be able to spend three hours together each week, no matter how much we wanted to see each other.

How long would it be before we could enjoy another long, leisurely stretch of time together like today?

As though nothing were wrong, I picked up my wooden chopsticks to eat.

“Oppa, let’s take a picture together before we eat.”

Perhaps wanting to leave as many traces of our time together as possible before we parted, Sia asked for a photo.

I handed her my phone, and she happily took pictures.

Afterward, she casually checked the time on the screen.

I didn’t ask how much time we had left.

I already had a rough idea, and I didn’t want to make Sia say it aloud.

By unspoken agreement, neither of us mentioned our remaining time.

Instead, we simply enjoyed our noodles, now ready to eat, and took in each other’s faces.

After finishing, we checked the time.

We had fewer than ten minutes left.

“Should we wash up and lie down in bed for a bit?”

“Under the covers, with the air conditioner blasting.”

“Ahh. Nothing could be closer to paradise.”

We cleared away the empty noodle cups, washed up together, and lay down in bed.

I shook my head, fighting the drowsiness washing over me.

“Oppa, are you sleepy?”

“A little.”

Actually, I was more than a little sleepy, but I couldn’t fall asleep yet.

Even if I did, it would only be after our six hours were over.

“Today was so much fun, wasn’t it, Oppa?”

Sia snuggled closer to me.

“I was so happy I never want to forget it.”

“I’ll never forget it either.”

“You said that because you’re a dragon, you couldn’t forget even if you wanted to.”

“Hehe. That’s right.”

Sia gave me a dazzling smile.

“I love you.”

“I love you too, Sia.”

“I love you. I love you, I love you, Oppa. I love you so much I could die. I love you so much. Enough to give you everything I have…”

As though she wanted to say all the “I love yous” she hadn’t been able to say before.

Or as though she were whispering in advance all the love she would have shared during the week we wouldn’t be able to meet.

Sia kept softly murmuring that she loved me.

“I love you too. I really do. So, Sia…”

I took her hand.

“I’ll do everything I can too. So please, wait for me a little longer.”

It might take years, or decades. In the worst case, I might devote my entire life to it and still fail.

“When that day comes, let’s get married, just like you said. I’ll give you a proper, wonderful proposal.”

Sia gently wrapped her arms around me.

And with that conversation—which might have sounded ordinary, but was anything but—coming to an end…

My eyes slowly drifted shut.