Chapter 79: Accomplice and Deviation [R-18]

“…I’m very sorry. Due to a sudden illness, I will unfortunately be unable to come in today…”

Seojin, who had at some point stuck her arm out from under the covers, carefully held Rio’s phone and typed out the message.

Her fingers moved with unusual slowness, not just from sleepiness, but from a guilty conscience.

Haaah…

She kept lowering her head. The blanket was still half-covering her, and her legs and waist still ached…

What illness? To be precise, wasn’t this more like ‘skipping work for sex’?

Besides, this was clearly… being an accomplice. A very willing one, at that.

“Done?”

A languid voice came from behind her.

Rio, who had gotten back into bed without even showering, lay with his hair disheveled, his arm covering his eyes as he laughed silently.

“…Yes. I sent it.”

Seojin carefully placed the phone down beside him.

Then she mumbled quietly, “I feel like I’m committing a crime…”

Rio laughed. Lowering his arm, he glanced at her and said innocently, “Well, who asked you to go and lie for me?”

“Th-That’s…!”

Seojin lifted her head to protest, but Rio just buried his face in the pillow again and murmured, “You could have just said I wasn’t coming in. One sentence is all it takes. Ah, I’ll be spending the day with a woman.”

“Are you crazy?!”

“I’m serious.”

Rio laughed and opened his arms. Seojin shook her head, but she carefully pulled the rustling sheets, which were clinging to her body, up to her chest.

“…Promise me. No more times.”

“Hmm.”

His eyes moved slowly. His gaze traced the line of her neck, down to her shoulders, to her chest.

“I’m a very good liar. You okay with that?”

Angered by his words, Seojin’s hand moved.

Her palm landed on his forearm with a smack.

Rio flinched. But he didn’t make a sound, just turned his head.

“Oh, this…?”

Before he could finish, smack—this time, it was his side. Her hand pressed evenly against his defined muscles.

“Would it kill you to just say what I want to hear!”

“…Hnngh.”

Rio buried his face in his arm, letting out a muffled laugh.

Then he slowly turned over and looked up at Seojin with playful eyes.

“You know, I’m used to doing the hitting, not being hit.”

“…You’re unbelievable.”

Seeing his less-than-pained reaction, Seojin, her legs still tangled in the sheets, rolled her body as far away from him as she could.

“You’re going to fall off.”

“If you were actually in pain, my conscience might hurt less.”

At Seojin’s sullen voice, Rio sighed. What a pain, he thought, but still…

“…Honestly.”

He reached out an arm as if reluctant. He began to slowly unwrap Seojin, who had rolled herself into a cocoon of blankets at the very edge of the bed, pulling her back toward him.

Thump—once she was free of the blankets, he pulled her body into his arms.

“…Ngh.”

As their bodies touched again, Seojin tensed up, but the circle of Rio’s arms was warm.

An arm slid around her waist, and the feeling of their knees touching was familiarly soft.

“So. We have the day off. Is there anywhere you want to go?”

“…And you’ll go anywhere I suggest?”

“We’ll see. But I’m not going to the office.”

Lying in his arms, blinking, she pouted.

“Like… a shooting range…”

“…Hm?”

Rio let out a snort of laughter.

Seojin immediately turned her head away and added sheepishly, “Ah, or… there are a lot of those VR experience places these days. Wouldn’t something like that… be fun?”

Rio rested his chin lightly on top of her head as he held her.

“Are you listing places for a date, or places guys go to hang out?”

“…You asked! I was just saying.”

While Rio laughed, Seojin hugged a pillow and buried her face in it again. She mumbled complainingly before adding carefully, “…Honestly, I’ve never really planned a proper outing before. Not as a woman, and not as a man.”

“Hmm.”

Rio slowly stroked Seojin’s hair.

“Still… I think it’s a lot healthier than a drug party or a club, don’t you?”

Seojin thumped his chest. At the sound of her small, weak fists hitting him, Rio just shrugged and chuckled.

“But it’s not as fun~”

“…Seriously, is that all you care about?”

“Yep.”

Seojin pressed her lips together at his firm, unwavering expression.

He’s so different from me.

A man who has so much, yet instead of trying to protect it, he thinks nothing of burning today to the ground.

He was a terrifying person who lived completely and truly in the now.

Honest about his desires, sometimes seeming irresponsible, but also never hesitating when he wanted something.

Temptation surrounded him. His looks, his background, his attitude—it was inevitable.

It felt like people who wanted him would flock to him even if he did nothing but breathe.

…And yet, right now.

Seojin carefully lifted her head. In his embrace, a heavy, gentle hand was stroking her hair.

The man who, instead of all those other temptations, had laid his hands on only one person: her.

“Let’s compromise.”

After a whirlwind of complicated thoughts, Seojin mustered her courage.

“…How about an amusement park?”

Rio’s hand paused for a moment. Then he turned his head very slowly to look at her.

“An amusement park?”

Seojin nodded but avoided his gaze. It felt like she had introduced something awkward into the air. She knew she’d suggested something Rio would hate, but… still. Just once, on a day like this.

“Alright. Let’s go.”

“…What?”

Seojin blinked, surprised by how easily Rio had agreed.

“The amusement park.”

He repeated, his voice clear. Then he looked down at her with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

“I’m already getting excited thinking about what we can do on the Ferris wheel. What am I going to do?”

Rio savored her horrified reaction for a moment before waving a hand.

“Alright then, shall we go pick out some clothes first?”

Before he even finished speaking, Seojin realized he wasn’t pointing toward the closet and quickly shook her head. She brought her hands together, waving them desperately.

“I—shopping is hard for me… really.”

“Hard?”

“Yes. When I go shopping with you… it’s just…”

Her voice trailed off. Unable to bring herself to say because we spend money so differently, she just moved her lips.

Rio narrowed his eyes, his expression demanding she explain.

“Just what?”

“It’s too extravagant.”

Seojin finally spat it out, making an ‘X’ with her fingers.

“The last time we went shopping, you rejected everything I picked out, and everything you chose cost hundreds or thousands of dollars.”

“And that’s a bad thing?”

“Of course it is! That’s not the price of clothes for a casual outing, that’s an entire month’s salary—if you’re lucky—”

“That’s why I paid for it.”

“That’s the bigger problem!!”

Rio silenced Seojin, who showed no signs of backing down, by giving her breast a firm pinch.

“Ugh!”

“Make me proud to have you by my side. You look fine in anything, but there’s such a thing as potential.”

In the end, Seojin stood before the large closet and sighed.

“A white t-shirt and jeans… It’s simple and nice…”

But Rio was already sitting on the edge of the bed with his arms crossed. His eyes were fixed on the clothes in Seojin’s hands, his brow slightly furrowed.

“That’s not enough.”

“…Aren’t we just going out to have fun?”

“It’s better if you look good while you’re at it.”

Rio shot up and headed toward his own closet. He picked out a loose shirt, a sleeveless knit top that revealed a hint of shoulder, a pair of shorts with an ambiguous length, a thin scarf, and a small bag to finish the look.

“This… is all of it?”

“Yep. Today’s outfit.”

“You want me to choose from these?”

“No, you’ll wear them together. It’s my shirt. It’ll look prettier on you if you tie it up.”

Rio stood Seojin in front of the mirror and held up the clothes himself. His hands were so skilled it was even more flustering. Seojin had long since raised her arms obediently, letting him dress her, only turning her head as she was wrapped in the clothes he chose.

“You must be busy, dolling up every woman you meet.”

“What’s the need? Those women make every effort to look pretty for me on their own.”

Rio was so close it felt as if he were placing kisses, not clothes, along the line of her neck.

“…Ngh.”

“But the fact remains that you’re the one by my side now.”

In the end, Seojin put on the white shirt and stood before the mirror, styled exactly as he had dictated.

Looking at her awkward reflection, Seojin bit her lip and turned her head away. It was too late to back out now.

While waiting for Rio, who took a little more time to get ready than she did, Seojin glanced at his profile in the mirror. His neatly swept-back hair, the thin shirt stretched over his broad frame, and the watch naturally revealed at his wrist.

…He looks like he’s straight out of an advertisement.

The fact that the man standing next to her was, by anyone’s standards, perfect, pricked at her somehow.

“What, am I handsome?”

Rio was smiling, his eyes meeting hers in the mirror. He raised one eyebrow slightly, holding her gaze.

Rio spritzed his wrist with cologne and called to Seojin.

“Come here.”

Seojin turned her head with a prim look, but she still moved toward him at his gesture.

“I can smell it from here…”

A rich, musky men’s cologne. But as Seojin drew near, Rio wrapped an arm around her waist as she stood before the mirror and, just as she stiffened in surprise, he took a picture.

“I wanted to have at least one. Us, reflected in the mirror… we look good.”

Perhaps because of his sudden action, the two people in the photo looked natural and affectionate, completely unaware of the camera.

Rio then kissed Seojin near her temple and smiled.

---

Translated By: Meher (RaidenTL)

Please do consider subscribing to my Patreon for requests or to get early access to chapters