Episode 42: Discussion Topic: Clothes (1)
“Ahjussi, ahjussi. Are you busy today?”
No.
“Then let’s go shopping together!”
“…!”
Kaeul ran up to him with the baby chicken in hand. Gyeoul was even more excited than her, and was wearing the bucket hat Bom gave her alongside a cross bag. She was fully ready to go outside.
Thinking back, the Regressor could remember a blonde head and a blue head looking at a magazine together last night.
“Why. What are you going to buy.”
“Clothes. It’s spring already.”
It was on a Sunday with the cold snap having ended. Most of the clothes they had were winter clothes. Kaeul was right. It was time to buy spring clothes.
As soon as they received permission from Yu Jitae, Kaeul headed to Yeorum’s room while Gyeoul entered Bom’s room. They then persuaded them to go shopping together.
“Clothes? Hmm.”
Yeorum scratched her waist as she walked out of her room.
She really needed some new clothes. The one she was currently wearing was originally a u-neck t-shirt, but the neck part had extended to the point that it slid off to the side and revealed one of her shoulders. It was tattered.
It was because she only wore the same t-shirt, sleeveless shirt, training clothes and cadet uniform over and over again, both day and night.
“Aren’t you interested in clothes, unni?”
“No? Well, I was.”
“What kind of clothes?”
“Who knows… comfortable ones?”
“What’s comfortable? Like training clothes?”
Yeorum replied while picking her ear.
“To be honest, not wearing anything is the most comfortable.”
“O, oouuhhh..”
Startled, Kaeul smiled awkwardly.
“Umm, but not wearing anything is a bit…”
“Why?”
“What do you mean why? Of course it’s weird.”
“Oi, yellow monkey.”
“Nn?”
Kaeul realised half a second later that she shouldn’t have replied to the words ‘yellow monkey’. Yeorum opened her mouth with a grin.
“Clothes are the most inefficient things ever created by humans.”
“Why, why?”
“They’re expensive for no reason and it’s uncomfortable, but everyone has to wear it. How comfortable would it be to go around naked if there was no embarrassment? What’s worse is that I have to wear them even if I’m not embarrassed, because others get embarrassed by it, you know? Like, what about my titties.”
During her speech, she fondled her breasts as if they were uncomfortable.
“This is the problem. The body line’s pretty and it’s a waste to rip them out though… tch.”
“Uh, umm, b, but, clothes aren’t just there to stop embarrassment.”
“What?”
“You know, they block the heat! And block the cold…? Humans are sensitive to weather and they freeze to death, after all.”
Since she was correct, Yeorum indifferently murmured.
“…Inferior meagre species.”
“Uah, unni is a species racist!”
“Shut up, you monkey.”
While the two of them were quarrelling, Bom also walked out of her room after being persuaded by Gyeoul. She was wearing a pair of circular-framed glasses.
“Good morning.”
When Yu Jitae replied back, Bom took the glasses off and placed it into the spectacle holder.
“Are you going to buy spring clothes as well, ahjussi?”
“No, I don’t need them.”
“Why? You always wear similar clothes, don’t you.”
It was true, because Yu Jitae usually only wore a white business shirt, and slacks pants.
“Nn? Nn? Oh yeah, why don’t you have that many clothes, ahjussi?”
“…”
The reason was simple. It was because he didn’t need many clothes. He didn’t get cold or hot and wasn’t interested in polishing himself either. He only wore a coat in winter to fit into the norms of ‘daily lives’ and the clothes were to maintain a clean look.
The Regressor pondered for a bit and replied.
“I just don’t.”
“That’s a bit of a shame. Ahjussi is tall and has a good body so I think you’ll look good if you wear pretty clothes.”
Then, Kaeul and Gyeoul fidgeted with a magazine. Kaeul pointed at the picture of a model wearing a v-neck t-shirt, while Gyeoul pointed at a rider jacket.
The Regressor shook his hand.
“I’m good. I’m fine with a business shirt.”
“Ehhng. That’s no good!”
Bom interjected with a question.
“Ah, then what clothes do you like, ahjussi?”
“Business shirts.”
The grass-coloured eyes blinked.
“Not that. What about female clothes?”
“Who knows.”
Hearing his response, Kaeul widened her eyes.
“Ahjussi, did you not have a girlfriend?”
“I did.”
More than a 100 years ago, he did. Even without counting Ha Saetbyul from the second iteration, he had a few other girlfriends in the first iteration.
“Then you know, what did you want your girlfriend to wear the most?”
“…”
Closing his eyes, the Regressor tried to think back.
No matter how much he tried, he couldn’t really remember. The faces of his previous girlfriends were hazy like fog, let alone their clothes. The only thing that remained in his memory was the soldier uniform Ha Saetbyul was wearing – the one that had leather and armour plates protecting the entire body.
“…Just, something comfortable.”
“You mean not wearing anything?”
Yu Jitae went silent, while Yeorum giggled.
“But but! You said my clothes were pretty whenever I wore new clothes!”
“I did.”
“Uh? Ahjussi said my evening dress was pretty as well.”
“I did that as well.”
“What the heck is that.”
They continued asking for Yu Jitae’s preference but he truly had nothing to tell them in response. In the end, they gave up on looking into his tastes and turned around.
“What are you going to buy, Gyeoul?”
“…!”
It’s my turn now…!
Excitedly, Gyeoul pushed the magazine forward and showed a children’s wear. The model was wearing blue denim jeans with a shoulder strap that covered the white t-shirt.
There were several other types apart from that. While Bom, Yeorum and Kaeul were criticising other clothes, Gyeoul asked Yu Jitae.
“…How, does it look?”
It was suitable for spring. Her hair was blue, so light blue denim jeans would match her colour.
“Looks pretty.”
“…”
Sealing her lips, she nodded with a brighter smile. Meanwhile, Bom opened her mouth while looking through Kaeul’s collection.
“But Kaeul, I don’t think that one piece dress is going to suit you?”
“Nn?”
“I don’t think it suits people with a big chest.”
“Why, why?!”
Kaeul tilted her head.
Bom pondered on how she could explain this, before shaping the alternate dimension of dragons, [Laws of Nature (S)], into a translucent cotton shape.
She then placed it over Kaeul.
“Look. It gets caught on the chest, and makes everything below seem big.”
“Hukk, you’re right… I look fat. Do I need a belt?”
“Mhmm…”
Bom pulled the alternate dimension near the waist. This time, the chest was being overly emphasised.
“Uhhh, this is a bit…”
“Right? I think darker clothes will suit you better.”
They continued talking about clothes. After a long conversation, their original picks tended to be discarded.
“Unni. That’s only something models wear…!”
“And? It’s super sexy and I love it.”
“Where would you even wear that? Are you going to show everything to everyone?”
“Can’t I?”
“What are you…?”
“Yeorum, since your shoulder line and your muscles are pretty, how about wearing sleeveless shirts like this?”
“Not bad. Looks comfortable.”
“You’re tall as well. I think these pants will look good too.”
“Hnnn…”
“Uwah, thinking about it, Bom-unni must feel nice! You look pretty with anything you wear…! I think my polymorph was a bit wrong.”
“Now that you mention it, why the heck did you polymorph like that? It’s burdensome.”
“I was just copying my mum okay…!?”
Kaeul cried, saying it was hard to change the body shape now since she was already used to it.
They were planning to buy some clothes because they were pretty, but sometimes those clothes didn’t suit their physiques or were socially problematic on Earth. Sometimes, it was only themselves that found those specific clothes pretty, probably because of the different set of values of each race.
“Hey guys.”
“Yes?”
“How about we go to the department store and wear them.”
Thus, Yu Jitae recommended an alternative to which they agreed. For the first time in a long time, he took everyone out to the department store.
Before leaving the house, Gyeoul stopped toddling after Yu Jitae and turned around. She saw the baby chicken sleeping on a blanket under dazzling sunlight, and the protector standing in front like a statue.
Wearing an apron and a pair of rubber gloves had become a natural habit and the protector rarely ever took them off.
Gyeoul quietly stared at him. Those red eyes flickered as the protector turned around.
“…I’m, going out.”
“Ah, yes. Young lady. Please be careful on the way out.”
“…Anything, you need?”
“Ahh, actually I do not need clothes. As you can see, my body is entirely made of armour.”
Kang- kang-
The protector tapped his own body with the back of his hand. Gyeoul nodded and turned back to the front but soon, she looked back again and glanced at the protector’s arms.
*
Girls.
Girls with a lot of stamina.
Girls with a lot of stamina that quarrelled over every single detail.
…It was a shopping session with them.
They left at 9 in the morning and shopped around but it was already 7 pm.
“…”
He wasn’t particularly tired or anything, but watching them made him realise that they were really energetic. They had gone twice through all four department stores of the commercial area, scavenging through every apparel store.
The clothes they purchased amounted to 30, but even that was less than 1% of what they’ve seen.
“…”
It was when the Regressor was contemplating whether he should throw all these jamming shopping bags into the [Shallows of the Abyss (S)].
“Wahh, this is definitely ahjussi’s!.”
Kaeul brought ‘definitely ahjussi’s clothes’ for the 23rd time and put it against his body. It was an amber-coloured, knitted turtleneck sweater.
“Like I said, I’m fine.”
“Ahhnng! That’s what you said last time! Do you know how many times you’ve said no?”
“…”
“Uh? But this does look like it would suit you though?”
For some reason, even Yeorum pitched in and commended him to wear it. Seeing that he was still hesitant, Gyeoul tried to take the shopping bags in his hands with her tiny hands.
“…Hurry.”
It was weird to resist a child’s actions so he let her take them. He couldn’t understand why they were like this.
“Where is the changing room.”
“Ah, yes. Sir, it’s behind the pillar over there!”
Yu Jitae obediently entered the changing room with the sweater. Taking off the business shirt, he hung it casually and threw the knit over his body. Then, his body’s ability controlled the clothes by itself and began matching it to his body.
[Inherent Customisation (S)]
After it ended, the sweater had been adjusted to fit his body perfectly. His height that was slightly short of 190 centimetres, broad and large shoulders, the reverse triangular-shaped body, his thick arms and wrists and the non-excessively muscular body – the physique of a soldier best-suited for warfare, created by various authorities, was revealed beneath the knit.
The neck part coming all the way to his chin was a little bit annoying. But it’s not like he was going to buy it anyway.
When Yu Jitae walked out of the changing room, they were amazed.
“What is this! Uwaah!”
“…”
Gyeoul also looked very surprised as she reached her arms out. When Yu Jitae raised her up, she used her fingertip to tap him on the chest and shoulder with intrigue.
“Your body’s amazing, ahjussi!”
It wasn’t that amazing. There might be exceptions but most of the soldiers had good bodies. Even Myung Yongha probably had a better body than himself.
But perhaps because they were seeing an unfamiliar side of Yu Jitae whom they were already used to, they were noisy while Yeorum gulped for some reason.
Thinking back, he had never worn anything that revealed his body despite living together for some time.
“…Done?”
“You’re not buying them?”
“I’m not.”
“Buy it! Buy it!”
They protested and coerced him, leaving Yu Jitae with no choice but to head to the cashier to pay for the clothes. He couldn’t find the reason to reject them.
Meanwhile, Yeorum chose a set of clothes for herself and was about to walk into the changing room, but her hands that were about to open the door, came to a stop.
She could see a familiar pair of shoes visible under the door of the changing room that Yu Jitae had used.
“What’s this.”
Yeorum nonchalantly pulled the door wide open.
Inside was Bom wearing Yu Jitae’s large business shirt. Her beryl-coloured long hair was tied up into a ponytail, revealing her white neck. The fingers that peeked out from the long sleeves were fidgeting with the ends of the shirt.
“What are you doing, unni?”
On the mirror,
The grass-coloured gaze looked at Yeorum with a strange light.