A Beautiful Girl Confessed Her Love to Me as a Punishment Game, but After We Started Dating, She Started Getting More and More Obsessive - Chapter 7

My wet hair was gently stroked and steadily cut away.

“Turn this way.”

A slender hand touched my cheek and turned my face. A comb slid through my bangs, snipping as it went. From this angle, Minami-san’s neck was directly in front of my eyes.

“Don’t move your face.”

When I tried to shift my gaze away from her chest, she scolded me.

It wasn’t my first time getting a haircut from a woman, but since she was a classmate, I became overly conscious of every normal part of the haircutting process.

“I’m thinking of trimming from your nape to the sides. Is that okay?”

“Uh, yeah, it’s fine.”

I wasn’t really sure what “nape” meant, but I felt like asking might make me sound clueless, so I decided to trust Minami-san and leave it to her.

The clippers buzzed over the back of my head, down my neck, and above my ears.

I felt a cool breeze around my neck. Then the snipping resumed with the scissors. Minami-san seemed focused on her work, or maybe she just ran out of things to say, because she continued cutting in silence.

Despite stammering when spoken to, the quiet made things awkward in its own way.

Because of that, I never really liked haircuts. It just made me more aware of my own social awkwardness. I closed my eyes and waited for the time to pass.

After a while, I felt the warm breeze of a hairdryer blowing over my freshly cut hair.

My long, messy hair was much cleaner now, but the face in the mirror was still the same.

Minami-san put the dryer away and opened a large mirror with a swift motion.

“How does the back look?”

“Uh, I think it’s good.”

“Your reaction’s kind of lukewarm. Didn’t like it?”

“No, it’s not that. It feels fresh.”

“You’re not really convincing.”

Minami-san sounded a bit displeased.

“It’s just…I don’t usually ask for this kind of hairstyle, but it feels nice having my neck cool like this. Still, I was kind of hoping that maybe getting my hair cut would suddenly make me look handsome or something. But I guess I’m still just me.”

Reality is, a shy guy like me isn’t going to have some dramatic before-and-after moment just from a haircut. Those ‘transformation’ videos where someone suddenly looks amazing probably work because the person already had good features to begin with. That kind of potential comes from genetics, talent, or years of effort, not something you can gain overnight like I was hoping.

That’s all it is.

Minami-san didn’t do anything wrong. The problem is me, getting caught up in dumb fantasies and feeling disappointed. I even felt bad for not being able to show genuine excitement.

Minami-san frowned for a moment, then pointed a finger toward my mouth.

“How about shaving that beard?”

“Are you offering to do it?”

“Yeah. I think shaving will change your look a lot. Besides…that sulky expression is kind of annoying.”

“Uh, sorry. By the way, what’s that?”

“It’s an eyebrow shaver. Since we’re a hair salon, we don’t have actual razors here. If you want a cleaner shave, you should buy a proper razor and finish it yourself at home.”

“Oh, right.”

Minami-san touched my mouth as she began shaving my beard with the black shaver.

For some reason, I felt a little embarrassed. I held my breath to make sure my nose didn’t exhale onto her fingers. With my breath held, I became even more aware of my own heartbeat.

After shaving my beard, she even tidied up my eyebrows.

Once she finished, Minami-san tossed me a wet towel to wipe off the hairs sticking to my face.

“Okay, time for shampoo.”

“Shampoo?”

“Over there, come on.”

“Uh, okay.”

Following her instructions, I sat in the chair she pointed to. It was a strange reclining chair without a headrest, connected to a sink.

Minami-san draped a white cloth over my face.

“You’re done for.”

“What?”

“Sorry.”

She had cracked a joke about covering me like a dead person, but it totally fell flat.

That one was definitely going to join the list of embarrassing memories I cringe over at night.

Minami-san washed my hair quietly, methodically using shampoo. Even though the water was warm, the places she applied the shampoo felt cool. It was refreshing and pleasant.

The only post-haircut cleanup I knew of was using a vacuum, but getting my hair shampooed wasn’t bad at all.

…Well, except that my neck was getting a little tired.

After rinsing the foam away and wiping my hair with a dry towel, I returned to the chair, and she dried my hair with a blow dryer.

I always used a dryer after a shower at home, but her drying technique was so much faster.

“Want to try some wax?”

“Wax?”

“Hair wax. I think it’ll make your style look even better.”

“Alright, sure.”

Minami-san spread a clear liquid on her hands, then tousled my freshly dried hair and shaped it.

“How’s that?”

My reflection in the mirror looked quite different from the moment my hair was first cut.

With my beard shaved and my hair styled with wax, I wasn’t exactly handsome, but the overly gloomy, introverted look I had was greatly softened.

With this, maybe I wouldn’t be too embarrassed walking next to Kiryu-san.

“Glad you like it.”

“How do you know I like it? I haven’t said anything yet.”

“Because you’re making a happy face, Numata.”

She was right, I might have been grinning a little. Minami-san noticed and smiled with satisfaction.

“Thanks a lot, Minami-san.”

“Thanks for letting me practice on you.”

“Oh yeah, you’re still an apprentice, huh? I almost forgot because you’re so skilled.”

“I’ll take that compliment without complaint.”

Minami-san scratched her cheek, looking a little embarrassed.

“By the way, Numata, do you have any plans after this?”

“Well, I was thinking of going to buy some clothes. I don’t have anything decent to wear tomorrow.”

“I see…Want me to help you out?”

“Huh…”

To be honest, I didn’t have much confidence in choosing proper clothes, so her offer was really helpful.

“Uh, are you sure?”

“Yeah. I said I wouldn’t let you embarrass yourself in front of Kiryu, didn’t I? So I’ll stick with you to the end.”

“That’s a huge help. Thanks so much.”

“It’s not a big deal. I just don’t want Kiryu to feel embarrassed if you show up wearing something weird…I’ll come after I finish cleaning up, so wait for me by the entrance.”