It was the dead of night, and Stelle had just wrapped up a long day of labor. She was looking forward to nothing more than winding down in her room, so when Sylvia and March 7th knocked on her door, she was utterly bewildered.
Her confusion quickly turned to skepticism as the two of them squeezed into her room with mischievous grins, followed by the sharp click of March 7th locking the door behind them.
Stelle's expression stiffened.
Are these two planning to eat me alive or something? They're smiling like total villains...
Seeing Stelle's defensive posture, an unreadable look crossed Sylvia's face.
With a sharp slap, Sylvia slammed a tablet onto the desk and whipped her head around to glare at March 7th. "Why are you locking the door so sneakily? We're not here to commit a crime!"
"Uh..." March 7th offered a polite but deeply awkward smile, scratching the back of her head. "Well, I just thought, given the vibe, locking the door behind my back felt right."
"..."
Sylvia's eyes deadpanned instantly. She stared at March 7th in exhausted silence.
Stelle was the first to snap out of it. Covering her mouth, she let out a wide yawn, shuffled back to her bed, and rubbed her eyes. "What are you guys even doing here?"
This was the first time Sylvia had ever seen Stelle looking so dazed and sleepy.
Normally, Stelle was bursting with energy, if a bit thick-headed. Seeing her now with her coat and shoes off, wearing nothing but her plain undershirt and drifting off to sleep, gave her an unexpectedly cute charm.
Beside her, March 7th gave a smug little hum and lifted up a PowerPoint presentation she had painstakingly put together while fighting through her own embarrassment.
Sylvia took the cue and announced, "We're here to give you a crash course!"
"...Huh?"
Already half-asleep, Stelle's brain couldn't quite process Sylvia's words. She tilted her head up to look at her, a sight so incredibly endearing that March 7th immediately clamped a hand over her nose.
Blushing slightly, March leaned in close to Sylvia's ear and whispered, "Hey, since when was she the cute type?"
"...Get a grip!" Sylvia shot March 7th a warning glare. Has this girl had some kind of awakening lately?
"Ahaha..." March 7th glanced around the room. The moment she remembered what Sylvia was about to teach Stelle, her face began to burn.
Even though she had helped put the material together, talking about this stuff alone with Sylvia had been manageable.
At least she hadn't turned completely red and lost her voice. But now that Stelle was in the mix... March's mind was beginning to swirl with all kinds of wild imaginations.
No, no, no. I need to get out of here. It's way too late anyway, shouldn't we be sleeping?
Believing she had found the perfect excuse, March tugged on Sylvia's sleeve and whispered urgently in her ear, "So... um, I'm gonna head back and sleep, okay?"
The tickle of March's breath against her ear made Sylvia shift her neck uncomfortably. "You worked so hard to put this together, aren't you going to present it? I thought your practice run was pretty good."
"No way, no way! You do it! I'm super tired, I need to sleep!" Hearing that Sylvia wanted her to be the main speaker, March shook her head so fast she looked like a fan.
It had been hard enough to keep a straight face in front of Sylvia.
To actually present this lesson to Stelle with Sylvia watching? That sounded like pure torture. March refused to cooperate, turned right on her heel, and bolted.
Seeing how fiercely resistant March was, Sylvia couldn't really force her. She watched March escape, then shut the door behind her.
Picking up the tablet March had left behind, Sylvia projected the PowerPoint presentation directly onto the wall.
"Listen up. Today, we are covering basic female hygiene and anatomy! If I'm not mistaken, you don't wear anything underneath your clothes, do you?"
Regaining her composure, Sylvia crossed her arms and looked down at Stelle.
Usually, Stelle's bulky coat covered everything up, making it impossible to notice. But with the coat gone, her soft, form-fitting white undershirt mapped out her silhouette perfectly.
Looking closer, the natural, firm shape of her figure was clearly discernible, along with the faint, telltale outlines that proved she was completely unmapped underneath. Even though she wasn't technically exposing any skin, her sleepy, vulnerable state exuded an unexpected, subtle allure.
"...Mmh."
Stelle yawned again. Right in front of Sylvia, she reached up and casually adjusted her chest through her shirt to show how it didn't even sag.
The soft, remarkably firm shape shifted like a water balloon under her palm.
Sylvia stared in genuine fascination. Is this the power of the Stellaron?
"I used to wear one at the very beginning... but I found it uncomfortable, so I took it off. I think it feels way better this way." Stelle tilted her head, completely oblivious to why her behavior might be an issue.
To illustrate her point, she grabbed the hem of her shirt and started pulling it up.
Before she could expose anything, Sylvia leaped forward and grabbed her arm, stopping her in her tracks. "Just use your words, you don't need to show me..."
Sylvia wiped a bead of nervous sweat from her forehead, quickly averting her eyes. Talk about raw, unfiltered chaos—Stelle always managed to throw her off guard.
"Oh." Stelle didn't insist. She nodded, letting go of her shirt so the fabric fell back down to cover her flat stomach.
"This is very important: do not just lift your shirt up for other people!"
"But I'm not doing it for just anyone. Is it wrong to let my wife look?" Stelle asked matter-of-factly. Her eyes locked onto Sylvia as she leaned her upper body closer.
This was a move Stelle had learned from the cosmic dramas March 7th had recommended to her.
On the way to the Space Station, March had agonized over how to bring this topic up to Stelle.
In the end, she had given up, realizing Stelle didn't mean anything by it and that she was the one overthinking things. To distract them both, March had chosen to share her absolute favorite hobby: watching dramas together!
And with Sylvia in mind, March had enthusiastically recommended a bunch of romance stories.
Stelle had binge-watched a ton of them during the trip.
After analyzing the personalities of various female leads, she had finally come to a realization: when dealing with someone like Sylvia, who loved to run away from her feelings, the best approach was a direct strike! A total romantic ambush! And she couldn't say it jokingly like before, either; that would only backfire.
Though her brain was still sluggish from sleep, the lines Stelle had rehearsed a thousand times in her head slipped out effortlessly, completely freezing Sylvia in her tracks.
"...That is exactly the problem," Sylvia sighed, completely defeated. "Forget it. Let's not talk about that right now. First, we are fixing your undergarment situation!"
Seeing Sylvia change the subject, a spark of inspiration flashed through Stelle's sluggish mind. Recalling the heroines from March's beloved dramas, she reached a sudden epiphany—
Ah, I get it. Sylvia is just a tsundere.
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T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL