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KAP 9
The first thing that entered her field of vision was a man's massive back.
Wet, muscular, with the erector spinae muscles deeply carved down the center. Thighs as thick as the average woman's waist. And below that, a firm, so-called 'hockey butt'....
A body characteristic of an athlete, forged through years of training, was taut and swollen with muscle.
Among it all, the particularly elastic buttocks were relatively pale in contrast to the slightly tanned rest of his body.
Before Kora could even bring herself to turn her head from the visual shock, the man twisted his waist and turned around.
In that instant, her gaze instinctively dropped to the grotesque-sized piece of flesh dangling between his legs.
‘What is that?’
Even though she knew exactly where it was supposed to be, the size was so unbelievable that it felt surreal.
The length and thickness—monstrous things she had never dared to imagine—were, absurdly, a pretty shade of pink. A deep pink, like a strawberry popsicle, that almost made one want to take a bite....
Her thoughts grinding to a halt, Kora blinked slowly.
No matter how she thought about it, she must have seen a hallucination caused by an optical illusion.
“My dick says to stop staring. It’s a bit overwhelming for a first meeting.”
“Ah... I, I mean!”
Snapping back to her senses at Tristan's voice, Kora turned around in a panic. Her cheeks burned hot, and her mind was a chaotic mess.
“...S-sorry.”
“You walked into the men's locker room so boldly, so why are you so shy now?”
“.......”
“Just look around with confidence.”
“You told me to come in!”
“I told you to come in five minutes later so I could change. Didn't you hear me?”
In contrast to his brazen composure, Kora's heart raced violently.
She slid her trembling hand into the tote bag hanging on her shoulder. Hurriedly pulling something out, she stretched her arm out toward him.
“Here, this! I came to give you this!”
Seeing the pink Hello Kitty pouch in her shaking hand, Tristan let out a low laugh.
“A gift for me? I appreciate it, but what can I do? It's not really my taste.”
“Your watch is inside! I'm giving it back for now, so just come to the shop and pay off your tab. Please....”
“Ah, I forgot about that. Sorry.”
Kora felt Tristan, chuckling, approaching her from behind.
The sound of his wet soles sticking to and lifting off the floor sounded like a warning siren.
Under the pressure, Kora squeezed her eyes shut.
The searing heat radiating from him as he stopped right behind her brushed against the nape of her neck. Combined with the scent of soap wafting into her nose... the nervous Kora felt her mouth go bone-dry.
Come to think of it, the one who should be nervous was Tristan, who wasn't wearing a single stitch of clothing. It was absurd that he was the one who was excessively calm.
Laughing as if she were cute, he took the pouch and whispered, his lips pressed close to her ear.
“Kora.”
“.......”
“Could you hand me the towel in front of you too?”
At those words, Kora opened her eyes slightly. She saw a towel lying on the bench, within reach if she stretched her arm.
Kora started to reply, but instead, she reached out, fumbled for the towel, and flicked it toward him.
“Thanks.”
She heard the sound of him nonchalantly wrapping the towel around his body. After hesitating for a moment, Kora cleared her throat and spoke.
“Anyway... I've returned the watch, so please come to the shop soon and pay your tab. Otherwise, I'll be in trouble.”
“I will.”
Just as Kora breathed a sigh of relief and took a step to leave, he called out to her.
“Wait, Kora. Can you check one thing for me before you go?”
At his suddenly serious tone, Kora narrowed her eyes and instinctively turned her head. He couldn't have broken the watch, could he?
“What?”
The moment their eyes met, he wore a mischievous grin and made a motion as if he were undoing the knot of the towel wrapped around his lower body.
“If it looks pretty from the front, too.”
The moment the gap in the towel began to open, a horrified Kora screamed, “You crazy pervert!” and bolted out of the locker room as if fleeing for her life.
At her frantic escape, Tristan leaned back and burst into a hearty laugh.
At that unprecedentedly clear and cheerful laughter, his teammate Levinsky expressed confusion. “What the... is that the first time I've ever seen the Captain laugh like a normal human being?”
The Jersey Club was unusually quiet in the late afternoon.
Inside the silent hall, where the sound of the kitchen fryers had stopped, only the soft sound of radio music and the humming of the ice machine echoed.
A brief break time before the evening rush of customers.
The person curing the boredom of the servers perched on the bar stools was Angela.
As the mood-maker of the Jersey Club, she gathered her colleagues and began telling jokes as if she had been waiting for this moment. The subject of her jokes was Jack Jenkins, a winger on the hockey team whom she had been dating recently.
“Jenkins, let me tell you, he always shakes his protein shaker in the weirdest spot. Like this.”
Angela brought a water bottle close to her lower body and shook it slowly up and down.
“Exactly like he's masturbating. You know what I mean?”
The servers erupted in laughter at the explicit joke. On the other hand, Kora's social battery was rapidly draining.
By nature, Kora wasn't one to enjoy such crude jokes. However, to survive in an American society that prioritized extroversion, she couldn't afford to miss out on these gatherings.
Especially for a person of color like Kora, there was a greater need to prove her sociability. Otherwise, she would either become a background character or be branded as an anti-social misfit.
Since everyone had taken a turn, it was now Kora's turn to throw out a joke.
Feeling a slight pressure, Kora racked her brain for something to say. It had to be a topic everyone could relate to....
Suddenly, the face of the campus idol, known to every student at Chestworth, came to mind. That boy with black hair and shining blue eyes, who always wore a slick smile.
Mocking someone by imitating them behind their back wasn't usually Kora's style.
But considering the insults she had endured from him, she felt no guilt in sacrificing him as the subject of a joke.
Especially when she remembered how flustered she had been yesterday after falling for his prank and seeing him naked in the locker room; the heat rose all the way to the top of her head.
‘I bet he did that on purpose just to tease me. My heart was racing so much I couldn't even sleep last night.’
With her victim decided, Kora cleared her throat and spoke.
“I'll try imitating the hockey team captain. Look.”
Kora shoved both hands into the front pockets of her apron, leaving only her thumbs sticking out. Her confident stance was reminiscent of the movie actor Clint Eastwood in a Western.
“...Hey.”
When Kora tilted her chin up with a melancholic gaze, the group burst into giggles. She swept her hair back and exaggeratedly lowered her voice.
“I am Tristan Lockwood.”
“.......”
“I assume no introduction is necessary. If you don't know the last name Lockwood... you must have slept through AP US History.”
“Pwahaha! What is this?”
“Hockey? Actually, it's just a game played because I want to legally hit people on the ice. Be careful, because anyone who crosses me will get their front teeth knocked out with a hockey stick. And when I fire the puck, even the ice clears a path for me. Because... I am Tristan Lockwood.”
Kora slyly picked up a menu from the bar and pretended to read it with an exaggerated air.
“Cajun Chicken Salad? Chicken Pasta? Jesus. This is a menu for people with underdeveloped taste buds. Is there no Ceviche?”
“Pfft. Kora, did you have this side to you?”
“My, I've spent too much time talking to low-wage workers without trust funds.”
Just as Kora was feeling satisfied by the laughter that seemed to shake the pub, she noticed something.
For some reason, Angela's face had turned pale, as if she had been dusted with flour. Seeing this, Kora asked curiously.
“Angela, what's with your face? Was my joke that bad?”
“No, it's not that... behind you.”
“Does he think of me even when I'm not around?”
Kora's body froze at the cool, low voice that flew in from behind her.
“Kora.”
As she stiffly turned her head, she saw Tristan, wearing a hoodie with the hockey team logo and holding a tape-wrapped hockey stick in one hand, looking down at her with an intrigued expression.
Meeting that gaze, Kora squeezed her eyes shut.
‘I'm screwed.’
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