“Ugh….”
I’m so lazy to go to work.
That was the thought that popped into my head as I woke up in the morning.
Of course, it’s not the first time I’ve thought this, but maybe it’s because we had a mission yesterday.
It was particularly hard to get out of bed today.
“What’s the time…?”
When I checked the watch, it wasn’t too late.
Since I usually woke up early, I thought there wouldn’t be a problem.
I definitely didn’t stay up late or drink yesterday, so there’s no way I woke up late.
Well, putting that aside, I had to get up and get ready.
I started with washing up, drying my hair, tying it up, and doing various other preparations.
“Makeup….”
Honestly, I didn’t know how to do makeup.
I mean, I wasn’t an idol or anything; there’s no way a man would know how to apply makeup.
It might be a bit of a bias, but that was my thought.
I clearly knew nothing about makeup—applying a little lotion before going out was my limit.
But ever since becoming Lindera, something felt different.
“Why can I do this….”
For some reason, I could put on makeup.
Really, just by touching my face like this, I was able to do makeup…!
“It’s pretty.”
It wasn’t some elaborate makeup; just a basic level of makeup like basic implants.
Although I didn’t know much about makeup, I thought this was simple enough.
When I took a rough look at my finished makeup, there was an incredibly cute blonde girl in the mirror.
The term “beauty” suited me, but I also had a somewhat youthful face.
It might be better to call it a “cute girl.”
After all, the game was about cute girls from the start.
“Is being pretty a good thing…?”
Well, anything would be better than being ugly, but now that I was in this form as a girl…
It really felt strange.
Instead of being an ordinary Korean man, I had turned into a cute blonde girl, and it was hard to adjust.
“At least it’s better to be pretty than ugly for doing work.”
Since my boss was a man, I thought being pretty would get me better treatment than being ugly.
Of course, I didn’t want to be treated like a princess or anything.
Absolutely not.
“Why am I thinking this….”
All of this must be because it was Friday.
It was definitely because Friday made going to work particularly annoying.
*
“Nyaaah!!! Let me go home already!”
“Isn’t it still time to get off work?”
“We had a mission yesterday!? Since we had a mission, can’t we take a day off!?”
I shut my mouth at Midori’s words and completely sympathized with her.
Honestly, I was tired too.
Of course, I didn’t have the courage to say that with my boss less than five meters away.
What if they didn’t let her rest after voicing it?
“On top of that, we’ve had so much work because of the missions lately!? If we leave out yesterday, I’ve been getting off work an hour later than usual every day!”
“….”
“No matter how much of a Commander you are, I can’t stand this!”
Oh, well done, Midori.
Of course, I didn’t say it out loud, but I cheered for her by silently observing.
Ah, and just for the record, I was quietly writing the mission report without saying anything.
Since we had a mission yesterday, it was only natural to write it.
Midori had to work on it too, but getting off early was the priority for now.
I decided to quietly support Midori’s protests.
Of course, I didn’t step in; I just stayed back quietly.
“Sorry.”
“Huh?!”
The Commander got up from his seat and approached Midori, bowing 90 degrees as he apologized.
Honestly, I was shocked this time.
He was the highest-ranking guy on the ship, and I never thought he’d bow down like that.
“This was my first mission, so I was inexperienced, and the timetable was tight. I can’t say anything about this, and I acknowledge it.”
“Uh….”
“From now on, I will try to stick to the quitting time as much as possible. If it’s really hard, I’ll consider moving another agent to the office.”
“That’s not necessary….”
“No, it’s my mistake for not considering your situation and Lindera’s. I will definitely make it up to you.”
Hmm.
Hmm…
This put Midori in a difficult spot in many ways.
From Midori’s perspective, she probably thought the Commander would just say no and that would be the end of it.
I was thinking exactly that too.
However, contrary to Midori’s expectations, he was bowing down while apologizing.
Her expression really looked troubled.
“Well then… how about we finish work a bit earlier today and go out for dinner?”
“Dinner?”
“Yeah. It can be at the ship or we can go out to eat in the area.”
It seemed like the Commander was planning to provide some delicious food as compensation for making us stay late this week.
Considering that it was a carrot from the stick-and-carrot approach, it wasn’t bad.
Of course, I was just planning to go back to my personal room to drink my beer in peace.
“Dinner!?!”
“Yes. How does that sound?”
“Are you buying meat? What about alcohol? Is it okay to drink too!?”
“If you want it, that’s fine… but, Lindera? What about you?”
“Um… what do you mean?”
I was a bit surprised when my name suddenly came up.
I thought it was just a conversation between the two of them.
Originally, they were the speakers, so I was just a listener, sitting quietly.
“Well, haven’t you also worked hard for the mission? We’re colleagues who work in the office together anyway.”
“…….”
“Dinner. What do you think?”
I never expected this to happen.
I was just planning to sit quietly, finish my report, and leave right on time to drink a can of beer in my personal room.
I thought about bringing some jerky since the lack of snacks would be a little boring.
But with the situation unfolding like this, I couldn’t really refuse.
The Commander was smiling normally and offering it to me…
“!!!”
“…….”
Midori was looking at me with an intense gaze that seemed to say she really wanted to go.
At this rate, it felt like beams were going to shoot out of Midori’s pink eyes.
*
Anyway, that’s how I ended up going out for dinner.
We finished work an hour earlier than usual, prepared for a bit, and decided to meet outside the ship.
In that situation, I faced a bit of a problem.
That was…
“What should I wear?”
I couldn’t decide what to wear.
It was understandable because ever since becoming Lindera, I only had formal clothes—suits, suits, and more suits.
Of course, I had pajamas, but I would never wear those outside.
So I had only worn suits outside, and it made it hard to think of anything else.
Besides, most of the clothes in Lindera’s wardrobe were suits meant for the ship.
“Ugh….”
Honestly, I wasn’t used to women’s clothing, and it felt uncomfortable.
Until now, I had always worn suits, and since I wore pants, there hadn’t been a problem.
But going out to eat meat in a suit felt off.
“A skirt… absolutely not.”
Wearing a skirt was not an option, especially not in front of men.
It was a matter of my pride.
“But formal pants aren’t it either… it really isn’t…”
Why didn’t I realize before that there were so few types of clothes to wear in the wardrobe?
Right, until now, I hadn’t had any reason to go outside at all.
As I thought about it, leaving the ship was my first time.
The area… In other words, I was going into the Babil’s interior for the first time.
Honestly, I was excited, but the clothes were more of an issue.
“How can there not be a hoodie? It’s not like I can wear a dress.”
I rummaged through the wardrobe, looking for the most ordinary, safe, and not too weird outfit that wouldn’t attract attention from a guy.
After digging and digging, I finally found something.
Seriously… without this, I might have ended up going in a suit.
“Three-line jersey!”
I found a jersey that looked familiar and comfortable.
Of course, it felt a bit snug since I hadn’t worn it in a while, but it was better than a shirt, and wearing a suitable camisole underneath was good enough.
At least it was a look that wouldn’t cause any issues while eating meat!
It felt a bit strange to wear this athletic outfit in the body of Lindera, but it just wasn’t right to go grill meat in a suit.
I had taken a moment to change clothes for “preparation,” after all.
“Preparation is done.”
After getting dressed and tying my messy hair back up, I was all set.
A cute girl with blonde hair and light blue eyes in a three-line jersey was fully ready.
Plus, with side bangs too.
“But there’s a place where you can eat grilled meat inside, huh….”
Since everyone around had a Western-style look, when they said they were going to eat meat, I thought they were just talking about steak or something.
Through Midori’s constant chatter until quitting time, I realized we were going to a type of bbq place that felt familiar to me.
Just sitting at a table and grilling meat on a hot plate.
Like pork belly or neck meat that you grill yourself at a restaurant.
“Being familiar is actually better.”
I thought it was better to go somewhere I was used to rather than a place that didn’t suit me at all.
Because the atmosphere can really be a deciding factor in many ways.
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