Chapter 2. Three Ways to Break Down a Man with Walls of Steel

The first thing Hyde thought of was the tried-and-true method, proven over ages.

She gathered every casual piece of clothing piled up in her wardrobe, the comfortable but shapeless ones, and threw them all out.

The frumpy oxford shirts, the billowing wide-leg black slacks, the sweatshirts bought a size too big, the brightly colored hoodies, the T-shirts printed with anime characters (also a size too big, naturally), the baggy jeans, the jogger pants from the sports brand. All of it!

Her wardrobe ended up completely empty.

Hyde stared at the gaping, hollow wardrobe and muttered to herself.

“……Did I really walk around in nothing but clothes like that? Like a student?”

No wonder Carbon kept seeing her as a kid.

With her moment of self-reflection behind her, Hyde went out and shopped. She had never browsed this many stores in one go, never maxed out her card on clothes before. The receipt that seemed to go on forever made her head spin, but Hyde steeled herself and fought down the urge to return everything.

When she came back and filled the wardrobe, it was packed again.

“Right, I bought that much, so of course the card hit its limit.”

Only this time, the wardrobe was full of dresses and short skirts she might have worn once a year before, along with tops that showed a lot of skin or clung to her body. The one thing they all had in common was that they showed off Hyde’s curves.

She pulled out her new clothes and tried them on.

“Good. Very bold. Nothing like me at all, and yes, very grown-up.”

She made a point of forgetting her past complaints. ‘They saved all this fabric and still charge more? I’m not buying this.’

A white silk blouse and a green pencil skirt. Bought in her actual size, the fit drew attention to the full curves of her chest and hips. The tight pull of the fabric was unfamiliar and uncomfortable, but Hyde made up her mind and went to work just like that.

She noticed men glancing at her as she passed and hunched her shoulders for a moment, almost regretting it, but she tried to look on the bright side.

‘Men definitely notice this kind of look. It’s instinct, right? They’re drawn to it.’

She didn’t have much mental energy left to dwell on other people’s stares anyway. To match the outfit she had worn heels instead of sneakers, pointed-toe stilettos at that, and that was where the real problem lay.

The thin, dizzying heels were brutally uncomfortable. Hyde had only ever worn dress shoes for events like the academy entrance and graduation ceremonies, and job interviews. She could not adapt to these miserable things at all.

She tottered the entire way to work like a newborn deer, nearly pitching over several times.

Still, Hyde made it to the office without taking off the heels.

“Phew, that was brutal.”

She thought the commute today might have been harder than catching a villain, but she put on a smile and greeted everyone in the office.

“Good morning!”

“Good morning, oh my, Hydie!”

Bambino, sitting near the entrance, spotted Hyde and made a fuss.

“What’s all this! Are you meeting someone today?”

“No.”

“And you got all gor-geous like this just for a change of pace?”

“Well, sort of……”

“Mm, mm. Style transformation: success. I had no idea our lovely-cutie-girl Hydie had this side to her.”

Bambino gave an exaggerated compliment and laughed. Hyde smoothed her skirt awkwardly and slipped in a question.

“Um, is it really alright? It doesn’t look strange or off?”

“Strange, please! It’s wonderful. Especially this skirt! I think it would go nicely with Mr. Carbon’s hero suit, actually.”

Carbon’s hero suit was a clean, sleek design, mostly black with deep green accents.

Hyde thought it suited him perfectly and looked great, but Carbon himself wasn’t fond of it.

The suit had the not-quite-a-flaw of amplifying the intimidating air that already came with his wild features.

It was fine when facing villains, but Carbon had mentioned offhandedly once that it worried him because it made children and timid people far less likely to approach him.

His image had solidified early in his debut and he couldn’t change the suit, so outside of it Carbon dressed entirely casually. That usually just meant a shirt or tee with jeans, but the relaxed look made people find him a little more approachable.

Because Carbon didn’t dress up for the office either, the staff were all free to wear whatever they liked. That was exactly what had made Hyde’s current plan possible in the first place, the plan to overhaul her image from head to toe and dress to impress.

That said, Carbon always wore his hero suit when heading out for hero work. Since he usually departed from the office after being called in, you could see him in his hero gear almost as often as his casual clothes during work hours.

Hyde’s favorite version of Carbon was in his hero suit, so she had chosen clothes that would complement it, wanting to look like she belonged beside him.

“You think so?”

Hyde hadn’t expected Bambino to pick up on that so quickly. She touched the hair near her ear and smiled shyly.

Then, without thinking, she glanced at the door to Carbon’s room.

‘Oh my, oh my, what is this!’

Sharp-eyed Bambino caught it all, looked back and forth between Hyde and Carbon’s office door, and smiled to herself with a sly expression.

‘So Hydie has feelings for Carbon…… Is that right? How did she hide it all this time? Well, now that I know, maybe I can help. Hyde is sweet and kind and hardworking, she’s a good girl!’

Her mind made up, Bambino picked up a folder from her desk and held it out to Hyde.

“Sorry to put you to work the moment you walk in, but could you take this to Mr. Carbon?”

“Oh, of course!”

Hyde set down her bag and stopped by the bathroom first.

She checked herself in the mirror, straightened what had come undone on the way over, and touched up the makeup that had faded with sweat.

The makeup wasn’t doing wonders, but it had to be better than nothing.

Hyde gave her made-up face one last glance, finding it somehow a little off, and went into the office.

“Mr. Carbon. Here, these are the documents that need your approval by today.”

Carbon looked up at Hyde’s voice and paused.

She caught his olive eyes moving quickly over her, and smiled inwardly. Good. A reaction. Time to push further.

“Here. Please look them over right away.”

Hyde set down the documents and let her neckline fall open, giving him a view of her cleavage without making it obvious. She glanced sideways to check his reaction. No man could look at a deep cleavage like that and feel nothing. He couldn’t. So surely Carbon would feel something, maybe call her pretty. Hyde waited, quietly hopeful.

Carbon was unmoved.

“Aren’t you cold? You’ll catch something if you dress like that, so make sure you bundle up.”

His brow furrowed slightly, but his eyes never drifted toward her chest. He just gave her this dad-like lecture.

Hyde’s expression soured.

“Understood.”

She turned on her heel and walked out, making her footsteps deliberately loud. She was making it clear she was sulking.

But she thought she heard a sigh from behind her and immediately regretted the childish display.

‘That only makes me look more like a kid!’

She kept finding excuses to linger near him after that, making sure he got a good look at the smooth, pale stretch of her legs below the short skirt.

But Carbon didn’t bat an eye at any of Hyde’s blatant attempts.