221. Winter Palace (3)

“No······.” Episode 56.

“Help me······.” Episode 77.

“It’s impossible now…” Episode 32.

“I feel like I’m going to die…”

I stopped counting.

Those were all words that came out of my mouth.

*

“Jin Yuha~ This is the massage you promised me last time~”

“I’ll be going soon! “Wait a minute!”

“Jin Yuha! Here here! I found a fantastic background! “Could you be a photo model for a moment?”

“Ah Okay! “I’ll go now!”

“Jin Yuha! Let’s play a board game!”

“Gukbap, wait a minute, Bo, let’s play the board game later! “A little later, at night!”

“Tch.”

“Junior Aaeaeaeaeae! Me rice! Feed me! Give me your ears! “Sing me a lullaby!”

“Senior Gaeul, I’ll leave before the food gets cold! And please only ask for one at a time!”

“Hing.”

“We made it simple to enjoy snowboarding here. I’ve made your share, so come out quickly. Yellowy.”

“I understand───!! Well, just for an hour! No, just wait two hours!”

“Benefactor. “I pat.”

“Uh, huh. Okay, okay. “Good, kind.”

I stroked Ichika’s head and looked into her dead eyes.

‘Ah, this is why the ancient people said that you shouldn’t use your mouth carelessly.’

The ceiling of the Winter Palace was so fucking shiny.

* * *

Trash─Turp─Turp─

3 o’clock in the morning.

It was time for everyone to go to bed and all schedules were finished.

I was heading to the hot springs alone, dragging my feet.

My face, reflected on the transparent wall of the ice palace, had dark banta black circles.

Shin Se-hee, Lee Yu-ri, Kang Do-hee, Sophia, Lim Ga-eul, and even Ichika.

The six took turns stating their demands as if they had caught the day.

From something you can lightly lift to something you need to be with all day long.

Yes.

My party members had a lot of things they wanted to do with me, and they wanted to spend time like this with me.

It was a time to learn something new that I didn’t know.

And this feeling of pride welling up in your heart is definitely happiness.

In the first place, I love this velvet school life! Yellowy, who developed games like crazy.

Even though he couldn’t spend a lot of money due to his financial circumstances, he went so far as to replay the same story over and over for days with the sole intention of not missing even one of the hundreds of cut scenes for each character he chose.

There’s no way you wouldn’t like it when the characters you love, love, and love smile and smile so happily.

I was definitely happy.

But what can I say.

Um.

‘It’s definitely not something you can do all at once.’

When you first go hungry, you go for the unlimited refills, and after eating four full plates, you start to feel full, sleepy, and tired.

In such a situation, it feels like there is an endless supply of food.

‘How many days has it been today…?’

Originally, I only planned to stay for one day, but one day was not enough to accommodate the welfare needs of the party members.

Therefore, Master went out for a while and submitted a request for utopia to the Academy.

It’s already been 3 days like that.

I really wonder what would have happened if there had been no hot springs here.

If I hadn’t been relieved of my fatigue in the hot springs periodically, I would have collapsed a long time ago.

“Quick, let’s go in, relieve some fatigue, and rest… “

I chose a hot spring as a travel destination to relieve the fatigue of the party members,

Somehow it felt like I was the only one pulling the mulberries.

As I was about to step into the hot springs, I saw a person from far away.

‘Huh, Master?’

Master was drinking alone with a snowy landscape in the background.

‘Come to think of it, you seemed a little strange after that day.’

Here, the first day at the Winter Palace.

Shin Se-hee summoned Master separately.

The two seemed to be talking about something deep for about a few hours.

‘Well, I didn’t eavesdrop because I thought I had something else to say…,’

However, since then, Master has not even said anything to me.

He just stared at me hanging out with the party members, as if he was thinking about something for a long time.

‘Was it something serious?’

I couldn’t even ask why because I was busy hanging out with the party members.

Now is your chance.

“Master.”

Let’s call her.

Master, who was cracking a glass, glanced at me and nodded.

“Ah, disciple.”

“······Do you have any concerns?”

“Worry? “There is nothing in particular.”

“Well, you haven’t talked to me at all since you came here. Other kids ask me for various things, but Master doesn’t say anything…”

Then Baek Seol-hee laughed.

“Even without me asking, aren’t you already doing enough? This time, thanks to you, I even met my mother.”

“Then, why don’t you come here and talk to me…?”

Master took a swig of his drink and then changed his mind.

“Were you on your way to take a hot spring bath?”

“·······Yes.”

“Hmm, then shall we do it together?”

“······Yes. Yes?”

* * *

‘Huh?’

Outdoor hot springs located behind the Winter Palace.

Pure white snow falls in the sky, and pure white steam rises above the hot spring water.

I went there dressed.

It’s not just clothes.

The swimsuit I wore at the Haeundae Festival the other day.

Splash.

It feels like the fatigue accumulated throughout the day is gradually dissipating.

“Hmm…”

It was paradise no matter when I came here.

So much so that a groaning sound comes out automatically.

And.

A slap─

The sound of water coming from behind.

I swallowed hard and looked back.

“······Su, Master?”

After staring blankly at her as she dipped her body into the water, I turned her head.

That’s right.

‘······You’re so unconventional! ‘Master!’

Because Baek Seol-hee was dressed with only a long towel covering her body

Of course the part that needs to be covered is covered, but too much of the skin color is visible.

And the towel that covered the body her was not fixed anywhere,

It was even more stimulating because it was held only by the Master’s hand.

“Fuuu… Good.”

Baek Seol-hee soaked her body in the bath and closed her eyes, letting out a long, languid sigh.

‘Am I the only one who finds this strange? Is it because the genders are reversed? No, even if the genders were reversed, wouldn’t this be a bit wrong?’

I feel like I can do this.

Be that as it may, Baek Seol-hee floated the liquor bottle and glasses she had brought with her on the water with a calm expression.

And the teacher takes a sip of his drink.

“Hmm. Student. Would you like a drink too?”

I still couldn’t even turn my gaze towards her.

First, she shook her head and answered.

“······Yes, yes! Ha, please give me a drink.”

A drinking glass and a bottle floating on water came towards me.

Continue─

Hot alcohol flows down the esophagus and warms the stomach.

“Great…”

‘Master, you drink very strong alcohol.’

“This is my first time drinking with you like this.”

“······Yes, I also didn’t know that Master could drink.”

“Heh, I don’t know the taste of alcohol.”

“Ah.”

Oops.

The mouth is the key.

He knew that Master had lost his sense of taste, yet he said such things.

Master, who was watching that scene, burst into laughter.

“It’s a joke. I still drink alcohol occasionally. Even if you don’t know the taste, you can know the feeling of being drunk.”

“······Yes?”

Is the teacher joking?

I wanted to turn to see her, but it felt like she was doing something profane, so I desperately held back my neck as she tried to turn away.

“I guess I like seeing you embarrassed.”

Baek Seol-hee said that and smiled softly again.

A moment of silence fell between us.

“Disciple.”

Master paused for a moment and called me.

‘Do you want to tell me that story now? What on earth did you hear from Shin Se-hee?’

“Yes.”

“Is it okay if I ask you one question?”

“Yes, please ask me anything.”

“······You. Um, no. No.”

Oh, you’re taking such a long time and not talking?

I opened my mouth with my eyes still fixed on empty space.

“Did you know that there are two ways to make people crazy?”

“······I see. What is that method?”

“One is to stop talking.”

I said that and kept my mouth shut.

As the silence continued after that, Baek Seol-hee opened her mouth in a slightly annoyed voice.

“So, what is the second one? “Keep talking.”

“See. “If you stop talking like this, people will go crazy.”

“Ah. Something like that. I understand.”

Baek Sul-hee answers seriously as if there is a point.

‘Really, the teacher has a unique character too.’

“Well, then I don’t want to drive my student crazy, so I’ll just say it. Just, nothing special. You can think of it as speaking under the influence of alcohol.”

“Yes.”

“Jin Yuha. You and the party members. “If those two are in an emergency, who will they save?”

“······?”

A question suddenly came up that I had never thought of.

‘If the two of you are in danger, who will you save?’

“Well, if the situation is so dangerous that Master is in danger, I don’t think I can be of much help…?”

“······.”

“Well, that. Of course, if Master were in that situation, I would throw myself at him.”

However, silence is maintained as if that is not the desired answer.

So, the teacher is the party members and himself. It meant that you had to choose one of the two.

Here, it would be a good idea to suit the teacher’s mood and give him the answer he wants to hear.

‘Master, even in times like these, you tend to choose honest words.’

Therefore, I had no choice but to speak.

“······It is too difficult for me to ask you to save one of the two. Master. “If such a situation comes to me.”

And then I looked back at Baek Seol-hee.

There she was, looking at me with her serious face.

“I will somehow, absolutely, by any means, do both. “I will rescue you.”

Then.

“Foot.”

Baek Seol-hee burst out laughing.

‘Master smiles a lot today.’

A dizzying smile, different from the smile he showed when catching a monster before.

I looked at her blankly.

“Is it. As expected, you don’t intend to give up on even one person.”

Spurrrr ─

Master suddenly stood up on the spot without even grabbing the towel.

Whip—!

I had no choice but to turn my head again.

And I felt Master approaching me.

Baek Seol-hee grabs my chin and turns it towards her.

‘Huh, huh…?’

I closed my eyes tightly because I had a premonition that I would see something I shouldn’t.

Taaak—!

Suddenly, a burning pain rose above my forehead.

Master hit me on the forehead.

“He’s my student, but he’s really greedy.”

I opened my eyes while holding my forehead.

“Then, it suddenly feels unfair that I’m the only one who hasn’t asked for anything all this time. From now on, I will often ask you to do things I want to do.”

After saying those words, Master turned around and went outside.

And as I watched her leave, I had no choice but to open my mouth with a bewildered expression on my face.

‘······You were wearing underwear, right?’

It only looked like I was naked because I was covering it with a towel.

Baek Seol-hee came in wearing her underwear from the beginning.

I never thought the teacher would set a trap like this.

I really couldn’t even imagine.