Living in a Studio Apartment with the Saintess

Chapter 2
Me Entering the Bathroom and the Saintess Choosing Underwear
『 Translator – Divinity 』

“Hero.”

The Saintess’s voice was heard right next to me.

I glanced over.

Even in the dark room with the lights off, I could tell that the Saintess was turned towards me.

My body stiffened at the cozy scent of her skin felt so close.

“Hero. Hero? Hero!”

“…Yes, Saintess.”

“Come closer to this side.”

“No, that’s…”

“Why are you trying to stay so far away? You’ll fall off the floor.”

The Saintess pulled me to the inside of the mattress.

Soft skin touched here and there.

It’s natural that we had to stick close together since we’re both lying on a single mattress.

“Saintess. Our bodies are touching quite a bit…”

“Walpurgis Night, do you remember?”

The Saintess suddenly asked.

Then, the subsided memory floated to the surface.

Walpurgis Night.

The night when the aurora unfolded for a whole month.

The nights of that day when the Saintess and I fought witches all night long.

The witches cast all kinds of curses.

The curse of insomnia was one of them.

It was then that I first realized how hard it was not being able to sleep.

“How could I forget that?”

“You’ve been forgetting it until now.”

“Oh.”

“Hehehe, it’s okay. Because you remembered it, even if it was late.”

The Saintess hugged me tightly as if she would never let me go and whispered.

“The night after Walpurgis Night ended, I slept hugging you like this. Do you remember?”

Of course I remember.

I was badly injured by the witch, and I needed the Saintess’s divine power to heal it.

The Saintess willingly stayed up the thirty-second night for me.

“I fell asleep leaving you alone, Saintess. I don’t know if I said I was sorry then.”

“You did. You said it so many times. Even while sleeping, you kept saying in your sleep, ‘I’m sorry for sleeping alone’…”

“Really?”

“Yes! So I sang you a lullaby so you could just sleep soundly, and after that, you stopped talking in your sleep.”

“A lullaby? It’s a bit embarrassing.”

“I can sing it to you again now.”

“I-it’s embarrassing, I said.”

“Sleep, sleep, my baby.”

“Saintess!”

“Ahahaha. Sorry, Hero. I won’t do it.”

We chatted in the dark studio apartment.

The initial awkwardness melted away like snow.

The conversation continued and stopped intermittently, sometimes repeating itself.

The density of the years the Saintess and I spent together was more than enough to fill tens of thousands of nights.

But there’s no need to cram all those stories into tonight.

Because I’ll be able to spend countless nights with the Saintess in the future.

Listening to the Saintess’s calm voice intermittently, I fell asleep at some point.

***

Beep beep beep.

Good morning.

I grabbed my phone before the alarm could get any louder.

It felt like I had slept well for the first time in a while.

Lately, no matter how much I slept, my fatigue wouldn’t go away.

When I wake up after sleeping soundly like this, I feel like I can do anything.

I was about to jump right up, but I stopped.

Something soft, smooth, and warm was wrapped around me.

“Ah…”

Saintess.

I was sleeping with my arms and legs tangled with the Saintess’s.

It’s hard to find a place to put my eyes… no, my body.

Just as I was reflecting on my sleeping habits, the Saintess opened her eyes.

“Did you sleep well?”

While I was contemplating what to say, the Saintess greeted me leisurely.

I also stopped my useless worries and returned the greeting.

“Yes. Did you sleep well too, Saintess?”

“Thanks to you, Hero, I slept very well. It was warm and cozy…”

The Saintess buried her nose in my chest and took a deep breath.

Even though it was a trivial act, my whole body was tingling.

I inevitably pulled my hips back.

“Um, Saintess. I have to go to work soon…”

Even with the Saintess in the studio apartment, my daily life goes on.

I can’t quit my job right now, and there’s no reason to.

I have to work even harder for the Saintess.

At my words, the Saintess asked back with a very interested expression.

“Going to work? You mean you’re going to work?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“What kind of work do you do here, Hero?”

I couldn’t answer that question right away.

I don’t know what kind of imagination the Saintess has, but I’m not doing anything that great.

I’m just an ordinary office worker at an ordinary small to medium-sized company.

It’s called an office worker, but it’s not wrong to say that I’m actually in charge of miscellaneous tasks.

Wouldn’t I disappoint the Saintess if I told her honestly?

“It’s just an ordinary job. I’ll go wash up first.”

Even while feeling self-conscious, I vaguely brushed off her question and entered the bathroom.

In the bathroom mirror, a man with his hair sticking out like a bird’s nest was reflected.

The Saintess looked neat even when she just woke up.

I shook my head and, as usual, went in front of the toilet bowl to pee, but stopped.

The only thing that served as a bathroom door was a thin glass door.

Soundproofing was out of the question, and to make matters worse, it was a structure that couldn’t be locked.

“Hum hum hum hum…”

I could hear the Saintess humming from outside.

Meanwhile, the urge to urinate got stronger.

It can’t be helped.

I turned the faucet and turned on the water strongly, and then urinated.

Still, wouldn’t the Saintess hear the trickling sound?

I’m so embarrassed.

It seemed that there were a lot of things to be careful of when two people lived in a small room.

I might have to take out a loan and move to a bigger place.

I finished washing my hair and showering with a toothbrush in my mouth.

I dried my hair with a towel and was about to open the door when I stopped.

“Ah. Underwear.”

I should have taken out my underwear before entering the bathroom.

When I lived alone, I went out to the room naked and rummaged through the closet, but I can’t do that with the Saintess watching.

I fell into trouble again.

But no matter how much I thought about it, the conclusion was obvious from the beginning.

It’s better to show my underwear than to show my naked body.

“Saintess. Can you hear me?”

The Saintess answered immediately from beyond the glass door.

“Yes, Hero.”

As expected, she must have heard the sound of me peeing.

My face flushed.

I wiped my burning face with a wet towel and asked.

“I’m sorry, but could you get me some underwear?”

“Underwear… Ah… Yes, you mean underwear? Underwear… Yes!”

I could feel the Saintess getting flustered even through the glass door.

“I’ll find it and give it to you. Where is it?”

“If you open the closet, it will be in the bottom compartment.”

“The bottom of the closet… Yes. I found it. What color do you want?”

“Any color is…”

“S-Sorry!”

The sound of something crashing.

A groan of pain.

I felt sorry somehow.

Still, the Saintess took a moment to catch her breath, then knocked on the glass door as if nothing had happened.

“Hero. Here’s your underwear…”

I opened the glass door slightly outward and held out my hand.

Soon I got hold of my underwear and undershirt.

I quickly put them on and came out.

The Saintess, her face red as a beet, was waiting in front of the bathroom.

We both turned our heads without a word.

“Th-Then, I’m busy getting ready for work…”

“Yes! I’ll stand by the window!”

I hurriedly started putting on my pants.

Meanwhile, the Saintess turned around and stood facing the window.

I wonder if it’s meaningless since she’d already seen all my underwear.

Still, thanks to the Saintess’s consideration, I quickly got dressed.

Apply skin and lotion, take the briefcase, grab the phone and wallet…

Now I’m ready for work.

I sat down at the entrance, tied my shoelaces, and stood up.

“Saintess. It’s almost time for me to go to work, so I’ll be leaving now. There’s food in the refrigerator, so please eat, and if you need anything, you can buy it with the card I gave you yesterday.”

“H-Hero…”

The Saintess gently grabbed the sleeve of my coat as I was about to open the door and go out.

“What is it, Saintess?”

“Can’t I… follow you?”

Her pleading eyes weakened my resolve.

But taking the Saintess to work was difficult no matter how I thought about it.

“Saintess, the workplaces in this world have strict rules. I think that would be a bit difficult.”

“Is that so…”

The Saintess drooped her head dejectedly.

I quickly added,

“I’ll try to come back as soon as possible today. It’s the weekend from tomorrow, so we can rest together.”

“Really?”

“Yes. So please bear with me just for today.”

“Okay then.”

The Saintess smiled brightly and waved her hand.

“Have a good day at work, Hero.”

“…I will.”

I left the house, leaving the Saintess behind.

The commute was hot and tiring as usual, but somehow it was much more bearable than usual.

***

When I arrived at work, I diligently typed on the keyboard.

It was always like that on Fridays, but there was a lot to do today.

“Yongsa, let’s go to lunch.”

My boss came over and spoke to me.

I hurriedly finished what I was doing and got up from my seat.

The restaurants near work were always crowded, but my boss found a quiet one among them.

It was a restaurant that sold gyudon and udon.

I ordered mentaiko mayo gyudon, and my boss ordered curry udon.

As I took off my mask to drink water, my boss asked with a smile.

“Yongsa, do you have something good going on today?”

“Something good…?”

“This is the first time I’ve seen you in such a good mood.”

“Aha. Yes.”

I gave him an awkward smile.

“You look handsome when you smile. Keep smiling. You’d be popular if you smiled, Yongsa. Ah, here’s our food. Let’s eat.”

“Yes. Thank you for the food.”

The gyudon was quite delicious.

My boss and I took a walk in a nearby playground and went back to the company.

I returned after a pleasant meal, but suddenly more work piled up in the afternoon.

Another department finally handed over the data they should have given me earlier.

And yet, they’re asking for the organized data back by today… It’s hard to refuse since the manager of that department came to my desk and asked for it.

The current time is… 3:30 PM.

No matter how quickly I process it, it’s going to take five hours.

I promised the Saintess that I would return quickly.

I’m also worried about whether the Saintess, who has just come to this world, is doing okay.

What if she went out of the house and had an accident?

What if some weirdos got entangled with her?

The sudden worries triggered a chain of other worries.

In my haste, I frantically typed on the keyboard.

But the more I did, the more mistakes I made, and it took more time to correct them.

It’s now 5:30 PM.

Normally, it would be time to prepare for leaving work, but more than half of the work remains.

“Sigh…”

As I sighed, someone tapped me on the shoulder.

It was my boss with a round face.

“Yongsa, how much of the data you received from the materials department earlier have you organized?”

“I think I’m about halfway done.”

“Excel arrangement, right? Same as what we did last month.”

“Yes.”

“Then I can do it too. Give me the rest.”

“Ah, but…”

“I’m doing this because I don’t have anything urgent to do anyway. I’ll do that and give it directly to the materials manager, so you can leave work a little early. You started the day in a good mood, so you should end it in a good mood.”

The boss said so and returned to his seat immediately as if he wouldn’t listen to any objections.

I thought he was a nice person, but I didn’t know he would go this far.

I thanked him and tried to get as much work done as possible before handing over the file.

“Yongsa, it’s time to leave work now.”

“Yes, just a little more…”

“Oh no. If you do it all like this, I won’t have anything to do. Hand over the rest and leave work.”

“Then… Thank you.”

“Have a nice weekend.”

“You too, sir.”

I bowed and left the company.

Looking at the clock, it was a little earlier than usual.

As I walked to the subway station, I thought about what to eat with the Saintess.

Since we had kimchi jjigae yesterday, I wanted to treat her to something nice today.

The Italian restaurant I didn’t go to yesterday? Or should I splurge a little and go to a Japanese restaurant?

No, since we’re in Korea, it might be good to introduce her to a Korean restaurant.

That being said, I need to have been to a Korean restaurant to do that.

Should I search for good restaurants?

This place has a low rating.

This place has a recent review saying the staff is unfriendly.

Ah. This place is closed.

I almost missed my stop because I was searching for restaurants on the subway.

I hurriedly exited the station.

The closer I got to home, the more strength seemed to enter my legs, and my steps quickened.

Does the fact that there’s someone to welcome me make going home this happy?

I want to go home even a minute faster.

I want to see the Saintess’s face even a little sooner.

I almost flew home.

The kimchi jjigae restaurant I went to with the Saintess yesterday, the convenience store across from it, the laundromat, the small cafe, the small building covered with colorful ivy.

Even as I climbed the stairs, my heart was pounding.

Room 305 at the end of the hallway, attached to the shared veranda.

The studio apartment, which always had its lights off before I got off work, was brightly lit today.

I stood in front of it and took out my phone to check my face.

My hair was a little messy from running.

I quickly combed my hair with my hand and took a deep breath.

And then I opened the door, saying loudly,

“I’m home.”

Warmth emanated from inside the room.

“Welcome home, Hero.”

The Saintess greeted me with a bright smile.