Chapter 112: Influencer-in-Training [R-18]

Late morning. Warm sunlight streamed softly into the living room.

Seojin, half-reclined on the sofa, tapped the leg of the table with her toes, swallowing a laugh.

In one hand, she held her new phone. She stared blankly at the screen, as if everything in the world was a new and wondrous thing, just as she had on the day she first held a phone.

Watching her quietly from behind was Rio, a coffee cup in his hand. The broad expanse of his chest, visible beneath his loosely worn robe, moved with a relaxed rhythm.

In his hand was a steaming mug. It was the familiar scent of his routine coffee, but today, the scene felt slightly different.

—Kang Seojin wasn’t looking at him.

A smile touched his lips as he spoke.

“Having that much fun?”

“Ah…!”

Startled, Seojin looked up. She’d been so engrossed in the screen that she hadn’t even noticed him approach.

Her long hair, having slipped to one side, was fanned out over the cushion, and her slightly damp eyes glittered as they followed the screen.

It was a social media app, something she’d never had before.

She was searching for the accounts of the people she’d met at the party the day before. She kept opening and closing the DM window for one particular account.

“…When did you wake up?”

“A little while ago. But you never looked up.”

He smiled leisurely and glanced down at her phone. On the screen was what was clearly a celebrity’s profile picture, and a DM window.

Seojin subtly angled the phone inward.

“Do we have secrets between us already?”

“It’s just… embarrassing…”

Seojin subtly flipped the phone over and placed it face down on the sofa. Her fingertips, which had been hesitating over whether to send the DM, froze. As if to change the subject, she opened her arms toward Rio.

“Who is it?”

But Rio seemed to have no intention of changing the subject. His eyes held more mischief than jealousy.

“Why aren’t you sending it? Don’t people usually send those right away?”

Seojin tilted her head slightly, as if gauging his reaction.

“…Won’t they be getting too many messages already?”

She opened her arms wider, her body turning toward him. Her wrist bumped against the table with a soft thud, and her gaze wavered for a moment before locking onto him.

Rio reached over the back of the sofa and, as if lifting a large doll, plucked her from her seat and into his arms.

“Gah…!”

Seojin’s short cry scattered in the air before being muffled against his chest.

Her body heat seeped into his loose robe, and Rio’s arms, holding her tight, left no room to spare.

With the hand that wasn’t holding the mug, Rio stroked her waist as if soothing a baby. An intimate pressure was transmitted everywhere he touched—her cheek resting against him, her shoulder, the back of her hand.

“Besides, how long has it been since you said you didn’t have a phone…”

He lowered his head slightly, nuzzling her hair as he whispered.

“You think too much.”

Seojin lifted her head for no reason, her lips pressed firmly together.

The tickle of his hair made the corners of her mouth lift in an awkward smile, and a feeling of shame slowly spread down her neck.

The way she started to offer an excuse before faltering, unsure of what to say, was as innocent as a child caught in a lie.

“Stop worrying. If you want to message them, do it. Send the DM.”

“……But still—”

“If they leave you on read, we can just go out to lift your spirits. I’ll take you somewhere today. A party, a show—anywhere you can make more friends.”

He buried his lips in the nape of her neck and whispered.

“Think you can handle that?”

Seojin took a small breath. His hand lingered around her waist, and the warmth enveloping her body tickled her ear.

She nodded her head.

“Yeah…”

Her reply was quiet, but it was enough for Rio to hear.

“Good girl.”

He held her even tighter. Then, setting down his coffee cup, he savored the start of their day, which had already become a routine.

In the middle of the bed.

Seojin was lying on her stomach, the blanket pulled halfway up her body. Her hair was a mess, and with her cheek buried in the pillow, her slender shoulders were trembling.

“Ughhh……”

Her voice was muffled and distorted by the blanket. Her new phone lay tossed aside on the bed.

“Oh, dear.”

Rio, who had carried her in from the sofa, was now sitting on the edge of the bed, playfully brushing her hair back. His fingertips tickled the nape of her neck as they slid down.

“At first, you were grinning from ear to ear when you got a reply…”

“Give me back my flip phone… I hate this…”

Seojin buried her face deeper into the blanket. Ever since Jian had posted a single photo to her feed, Seojin’s social media had been exploding with reactions.

It was just one photo from the party with friends, a simple shot of her smiling profile, but a single tag on her waist had unleashed a flood of DMs, dozens of them, on par with what a public account might receive. ‘You’re so pretty, unni,’ ‘What do you do for a living?’

When someone had said, “You’ll probably get a few followers,” they hadn’t been kidding.

“Whew, if we cultivate this right, you could be a celebrity in no time. Why don’t you at least put up a profile picture?”

Rio brought his lips to the top of her head. After leaving a soft peck of a kiss, he played with her messy hair again, parting it with his fingers.

All Seojin had wanted was to get back in touch with the woman whose number she didn’t even have.

“What would be good…”

As he deliberately drew out the words, a simmering groan escaped from under the blanket.

“……Ugh.”

Seojin muttered quietly, burying her face deeper. But the hand stroking her neck didn’t stop.

“Enjoy it. It’s fun.”

He lay down next to her, almost on top of the blanket. He picked up her phone and began scrolling through the feed for her.

“For starters, you look better in a swimsuit in person.”

“You’re just trying to tease me again.”

“Yep. A lot.”

At his playful voice, Seojin finally turned her head. The face peeking out from the blanket was as red as a ripe persimmon, her eyes trembling with a mixture of suppressed excitement and bewilderment.

“I’m not enjoying it. It’s not fun.”

Her protest was small and weak, but Rio found this Seojin adorable.

A single tag on Jian’s account, and just like that, the world had started looking for Seojin.

People who came from Jian’s feed quickly started looking at the accounts of the other women in the group, and among them was one woman whose name and face were completely new—

This woman, who had felt like a stranger, was naturally situated among them in other photos as well.

Seojin’s face, her body, her clothes. There was nothing about her that didn’t stand out, and this new face was drawing people in.

Rio tucked Seojin, still wrapped in the blanket, under his arm and spoke.

“‘Are you an idol trainee?’, ‘Looks like she’ll be the next hot non-celeb on a dating show.’ Which one do you want to be?”

He read the DMs one by one. Each time, Seojin curled up a little smaller, and he could feel her toes curling up to her knees under the blanket.

This was also the result of Rio taking her phone, snapping a picture of her from behind, and setting it as her profile picture himself.

“Rio, stop…”

Her protest was plaintive, but Rio continued, playfully stroking her earlobe.

“‘Unni, why do you look so hot in that robe…?’, ‘I want to get close to you before you make your account private.’”

Instead of answering, Seojin finally yanked the blanket all the way over her head.

Even the rims of her ears were flushed red, and her heart was pounding as if it would burst. The sudden onslaught of social media attention after her tumultuous life was nothing short of pure embarrassment.

Rio chuckled, stroking her form under the blanket.

“This bastard should get his balls cut off before he calls you ‘unni’.”

As he swiped through the dozens of DMs, hitting the ‘block’ button on any accounts that were bizarre or had suspicious intentions, Rio personally soothed her, who had no immunity to such things.

He had the air of a steadfast guardian managing her.

“Babe. Looks like there are quite a few guys who want to sleep with you.”

“…I don’t want to know…”

Her voice was as small and weak as a whisper to herself. But Rio, as if he’d been waiting for it, bent down and lifted the edge of the blanket.

“Hmm—”

He slid right under the covers and pressed himself against her side. The familiar warmth and scent, the naked skin under his robe, instantly heated the air beneath the blanket.

“Rio… Nngh…”

Seojin twisted her body in a small protest, but Rio’s hand slowly wrapped around her waist. His forehead touched her cheek, and his lips slowly traced a path down, past her jawline, to the nape of her neck.

“The most common one is asking if they can grope you just once. Asking what your cup size is.”

“No…”

“And… ‘In that photo from Lee Jin-sol’s feed, you’re definitely not wearing anything under that robe, right? You look like you’d be an easy lay.’”

Rio’s hand moved up to her breast, pressing gently. The obscene words he poured over her, on the naked body he had stripped bare just moments before, only served to heighten her senses.

Seojin lowered her head instead of answering. But Rio’s touch grew more blatant, tracing the line of her chest.

From outside the blanket, they would have looked like a couple in a loving embrace, but underneath, things were slowly heating up.

“‘I think I could die without regrets if I could just hug you once…’—this one’s a little pathetic, don’t you think?”

“…Rio…”

As Seojin barely managed to speak, Rio whispered again.

“They must know you’re such a pervert without you even having to say anything.”

At that, Seojin couldn’t hold back and covered her face with her hands, curling into a ball.

The sensation of his hand stroking her thigh was becoming intensely erotic. Soft, warm skin. The inside of her legs, trembling slightly with tension, was moist enough to be slick with sweat.

‘Who could possibly leave this alone?’

Rio’s lips curled as he remembered why he had held her sleeping form and drank last night.

The hand that had been kneading her soft breast slid downward. As his fingertips traced a path up her slick thigh, her stomach flinched.

“I don’t know… I don’t know…”

Seojin trembled, her face hidden behind her hands, her eyes welling with tears. But he knew.

Beneath the blanket, her pussy was already wet. She was already aroused, so much so that even the blanket couldn’t hide the thick scent of it.

“You’re not denying it this time.”

Rio used his thumb to part her thighs. As he pressed the palm of his hand firmly over her clit, a slick heat seeped from beyond the thin film of her wetness and into his hand.

“Ngh…!”

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Translated By: Meher (RaidenTL)

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