“Where should I change my clothes?”
Rather than getting into a fruitless argument with her, he just wanted to quickly change out of the clothes soaked in champagne.
The damp clothes clinging to his body were becoming increasingly uncomfortable.
Ellyn threw the wet tissue into the trash can and walked ahead, gesturing for him to follow.
Ben carefully trailed behind, worried about dirtying the floor, but this hallway felt somehow familiar.
“Wait, we’re not going to that room, are we?”
Oh, come on, no way.
The three-story temporary mansion where two people were staying had guest rooms galore, so there was no reason to use the same room.
Even if it wasn’t whatever was happening on the third floor, something rated “Restricted” that would do no one any good to walk in on must be happening, right?
If their intention was to make him uncomfortable, they were succeeding perfectly.
So, instead of waiting for Ellyn’s reply, Ben decided to subtly turn around and hide in any random room.
“Wheeeere are you gooooing?”
“Ack!”
However, before he could even take a single step, Ellyn somehow knew by some devilish intuition that he was trying to hide and grabbed his hand tightly.
Her hand looked delicate, but she was surprisingly strong; Ellyn happily dragged Ben along, rejoicing in his small misfortune of not being able to move properly due to his wet clothes.
“Why that room out of all the rooms!”
“Trust me! It’s going to be fun.”
“I’m not having fun!”
“Well, actually, my fun is the biggest, but Haimar will have some fun too, and Ben will like it later. You know the saying, right? It’s easier if you just give up.”
No. Absolutely not.
The thought of what kind of aftermath he would have to endure if he gave up was even scarier.
On top of that, he was heartbroken because he had no one on his side.
This was the moment he truly desperately wanted to see Haimar.
He regretted his actions this morning.
He sorely regretted it.
Right now, he needed familiarity with Haimar, not awkwardness; he needed the hand that reached out to him, not the hand he pushed away.
“Another room! I’ll go to another room! Just bring me the clothes!”
“Get in~ Get in~ Or I won’t give you the clothes! Is being in your underwear okay?”
“I’ll just wear my clothes! I won’t change!”
He’d rather keep his clothes on until they dried than go in there.
But contrary to Ben’s distressed heart, the door, which wasn’t even locked, swung wide open, welcoming Ben.
The room was large, so at first glance, it didn’t look much different from before.
This meant Xenon and the twins were not immediately visible inside, but it didn’t take long for them to hear the commotion and come over.
“Oh? Ben? Penka’s coming to you~.”
Behold! With a dodo-do sound, one of the twins, a new attribute, appeared at the speed of light and was about to pounce!
Ben wrangled with Ellyn, who was trying to close the door, in an attempt to escape the room he had involuntarily entered twice today alone.
The balance of power was quite evenly matched until Penka arrived, but when the little kid simply rested a palm on the door, it coldly slammed shut.
“Welcome! Penka and Pinka were just about to call for you, so this is perfect! Xenon is all dressed up!”
“I apologize, but I’m just going to get changed and leave!”
Ellyn and the twins can boil or steam Xenon for all he cared!
His only goal now was not to be played by their tricks anymore.
Give up quickly, challenge quickly.
This was strictly different from the “giving up” Ellyn had mentioned.
This was Plan B.
He had failed to escape for now because he had to change clothes, but conversely, once he changed clothes, he could leave.
He fully understood Ellyn’s ploy to make him embarrassed and tease him, so he would leave without batting an eye at whatever was happening inside.
Ben knew he was a world away from having a poker face, but he calmly waited for Ellyn.
And before long, she quickly shoved a bundle of clothes through the gap in the door.
The clothes Ellyn threw in were a simple top and bottom: the top was a very large, cream-colored, oversized knit sweater that was well-washed and smelled strongly of fabric softener, and the bottom was a pair of short, navy-blue shorts.
Contrary to his expectation of a prank, the two pieces, when looked at separately, were ordinary. Except for the fact that they were shorts, given the bitter cold outside.
The shorts were a type of clothing he had never worn before, so the unfamiliarity was the only problem, but since he was borrowing them, he couldn’t complain.
Ben meekly took off his wet shirt and threaded his arms into the knit sweater.
“Oh, Ellyn has good taste. Penka likes it.”
As Penka was standing right next to him, saying something weird even in this situation, Ben quickly turned his back and put his legs into the pants.
He couldn’t understand why he was giving off such a strong presence while watching a man change…
No, since he had played a major role in dressing Xenon, maybe it wasn’t entirely unrelated.
Just as Ben peeled away the lingering, uneasy gaze stuck to the back of his head and finished pulling up the shorts, an unforeseen problem occurred.
“Uh… oh.”
Uh oh, this is a problem.
“What, what is it? Why are you stopping?”
He had only roughly looked at the exterior of the clothes, completely forgetting to consider the size.
“It’s… it’s too short.”
The shorts were much shorter than he had expected, and conversely, the knit sweater was far too big.
The cable-knit sweater was much larger than it looked from the outside; the hem went down to his hips, and the sleeves completely covered his hands with plenty of length to spare.
In particular, the neckline was so wide that even if he carefully pulled it up, if one shoulder was covered, the opposite shoulder was almost completely exposed, just barely hanging on the shoulder line.
Conversely, the shorts were so short that they only just managed to cover the underwear he was wearing.
Aside from being too casual for a guest to wear in someone’s house, the outfit made it look like he was only wearing the top and no bottoms, which flustered Ben.
For Ben, his current appearance was profoundly ill-fitting and embarrassing.
Both his legs and his collarbone were bare and exposed.
This was the first time his legs had been so exposed while wearing clothes, and with one side of his neck and collarbone revealed, the marks Haimar had left were visible, which was an added layer of embarrassment.
This wouldn’t do.
He thought about it for a moment, perhaps three times, and decided it would be better to pick up his original, crumpled clothes in the corner.
However, Penka was one step ahead, picking up the bundle of wet clothes, throwing it out the door, and then lightning-fast slamming the door shut.
“Ellyn, laundry for this!”
“Huh?! Wait a minute—!”
“You tried them on! Those were the only clothes that fit, I guess! Please understand.”
“Don’t lie to me!”
“Hahahahahahahaha!!”
This cheat!
Ellyn’s voice quickly faded from outside the door. Judging by her triumphant laugh, Ellyn had clearly anticipated Ben’s attire.
If he were to follow his heart, he would chase after her right away and give her a piece of his mind, but his attire wouldn’t allow it.
He hadn’t developed a thick enough skin yet to casually step out.
Contrary to his courageous resolve, Ben stopped short and kept grabbing and letting go of the doorknob, covering his exposed neck with one hand.
“You’re sooooo cute! Come here! Let’s show Pinka and Xenon!”
“Wa-wait!”
But Penka, who had wrapped his arms around Ben’s waist, had no intention of letting him go.
He was pressed tight against Ben’s chest and pushed with brute force, causing Ben to slide backward effortlessly, even though the floor wasn’t an ice rink.
It wasn’t that Ben didn’t try to struggle and stop.
It was just that the kid was so headstrong that it didn’t work.
“Is your neck cold? Penka and Pinka will cover you up!”
Wait, that’s welcome news.
Ben was momentarily tempted by Penka’s seemingly generous offer.
It was literally just a momentary temptation, and he quickly regained his senses, but the wicked little kid didn’t miss that subtle instant and surged into an even greater storm, engulfing Ben.
In the end, Ben, now a small boat caught in a fierce gale, was inevitably sucked into the bedroom.
“Ah… ng…”
A-ah, I can’t hear it. I can’t hear anything. I don’t know. I misheard.
Ben instinctively shut his eyes tight at the dynamic sound that greeted his entry into the bedroom.
Consequently, while being pushed, his foot caught on something, and his legs tangled, causing him to fall. A soft texture met his hands and knees.
The spot where he fell was the wide double bed, so it didn’t hurt, but the moment he opened his eyes, Ben was immediately faced with Xenon sprawled in the corner of the bed, nullifying his efforts to pretend not to notice.
“Hello, Ben! Look at this. It’s Penka and Pinka’s artwork! Xenon, can you move?”
Pinka proudly spread his arms out, presenting Xenon, who was relatively dressed.
Ben only used the word relatively because he was trying to be kind; it was not an ordinary outfit.
A more apt description would probably be “obscene.”
The shirt he was wearing was made of a light, sheer fabric, allowing glimpses of the inside if you squinted a little.
Moreover, underneath the shirt, he was wearing shorts so brief they could be considered underwear, creating the illusion that he was only wearing a shirt.
Looking at that, and then at what he was wearing, Ben’s shorts were just… ordinary shorts.
The coup de grace was the puppy tail that popped out from behind the exceedingly short shorts.
The thoroughness of even cutting a hole in the pants so the tail could come out…
Ben was speechless.
What was inside was obvious.
They had finally done it.
“Hnng… yes…”
Xenon, lying face down with a lightly flushed face, had heat mixed in his breaths.
Lifting his head and wiggling his hips, Xenon saw Ben and called out to him wistfully.
“Mr. Ben…”
My God.
To you, Ellyn, or whatever your name is, I offer my applause and accolades.
You did it.
