episode_0250

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“Was all of this Yozora’s doing?”

“Yes.”

“Even the… heat cycle thing—just something you blurted out without thinking?”

“Yes.”

“Then let’s pretend none of it happened. What happened back then.”

“Okay.”

Thanks to Seo Woojin jumping to his own conclusions, I could preserve the last shred of dignity I had left as a human being.

Honestly, explaining it myself would’ve been incredibly difficult.

Any normal guy—especially someone like Yoo Siwoo—would’ve assumed I was acting that way because I had feelings for him. That much was obvious.

The reason I visited the infirmary that day was because Yozora, who had just broken up with him, begged me to seduce him physically if nothing else.

Having already fallen for it twice, the heat I faked to get closer to Woojin was just me forcing it.

If he’s going to misunderstand things like this on his own, there’s no reason for me to correct him.

I can just pin everything on Yozora, squirming and mumbling in the corner of the taxi, and erase it from my mind.

Now, goodbye forever.

I thought I’d die of embarrassment up until now, and from here on out, let’s never cross paths again.

“……”

—Or so.

That’s what I thought.

“What are you doing? Close the door.”

“……”

“Hey?”

“…Ah, right.”

Until Woojin caught me as I tripped over the gap and nearly fell.

That’s what I thought.

—

250

I’m sorry for treating him like some infectious disease patient with a 40% fatality rate—or worse, like someone already bitten by a zombie—but I had no choice.

The moment I touch him, my body starts acting up on its own.

…Like I’m desperate to have sex with someone right this second, like all I can think about are lewd things—what am I supposed to do?

The one silver lining was that, even after about 10 minutes, there hadn’t been any changes.

The downside? Last time I stopped by the infirmary to test it, the effects took over an hour to kick in.

Meaning, if things go like this, by the time I get home and take a shower…

I’ll definitely go into heat again, just like before.

If I could take care of it myself, it wouldn’t be a big deal.

But what if—just what if—

Like back at the academy, my own hands aren’t enough to satisfy me?

…Then,

What do I do?

“Stop the taxi up ahead for a second. And, Sunbae, could you wake Yozora up?”

“…Hold on.”

Lost in my nervous thoughts while staring blankly out the window, I didn’t realize the taxi had already reached Yozora’s officetel.

Startled back to reality, I shook Yozora, who had slumped against the door and passed out.

“Yozora. Yozora.”

“…Ueehh…”

“We’re at your place. Get out.”

“Get out…?”

“Yeah. It’s right there.”

“…Aha~… Nigh-night… Bye… I’m goin’…”

I worried she might cause trouble, but thankfully, Yozora stumbled out of the taxi without much fuss.

The way she staggered while stretching looked precarious, but… she’ll be fine. I dropped her off right in front of her place.

I watched her disappear into the distance through the window for a moment—

Until a voice from right beside me pulled my attention back.

“Tell me the address, Sunbae.”

“……”

“Sunbae?”

“…Ah, just… head toward Apgujeong Station first…”

Does it even make sense for him to call me “Sunbae”?

But “Noona” would be even weirder.

Now that I think about it, I was the one who told him to call me “Sunbae” instead of “Baek Seoyeon-ssi”…

Maybe it was the stress of potentially having to do something weird with Woojin again.

Overthinking minor details, I hesitantly gave the taxi driver the destination.

…If Yoo Siwoo had been sitting here, I never would’ve done this—too afraid he’d follow me when I got out.

“……”

But right now,

Shouldn’t he be the one following me?

Everything so far might’ve just been a series of well-aligned coincidences.

But just in case, shouldn’t I stay with Woojin for a little while?

An hour… no, generously, two hours.

Wouldn’t it be better to stick around, making small talk?

If I really do go into heat and my body starts acting up…

Then…

…I’ll figure it out when the time comes.

But staying with Woojin—

Isn’t that the most rational decision?

“Here, right?”

“Yeah, yeah. Looks like it. Sunbae, we’re here, so get ready to get out.”

“…Hey.”

For the sake of that rational decision,

I blurted out something impulsive.

“There’s something I need to talk to you about. About Yozora.”

“……”

“…Walk with me for a bit.”

Even though I had nothing to say.

Purely because I wanted to get Woojin out of the taxi.

Walking together didn’t mean we headed straight for the nearby park.

Even with the streetlights, it was too dark at night,

And going into a park at this hour, in this darkness… would make us look like a couple.

When Yozora was around, it didn’t matter if someone saw me with Woojin.

I could just say he was a friend of a friend.

But being seen alone with him? That’s a bit more complicated.

Especially depending on the location.

So instead of the park, I chose to just walk along the sidewalk near my place.

Step, step. Occasionally crushing fallen leaves underfoot. Slowly.

Here, even if someone I knew saw us, I could make up an excuse.

Like we ran into each other up ahead… or something like that.

As we took step after step, Woojin, walking beside me, spoke up first.

“What did you want to talk about?”

Nothing, really.

If I had to say, it’d be something like, “You’ve got the wrong idea about something.”

Yozora didn’t put me up to anything—I was just in heat, that’s all.

Ah, the heat cycle… that’s a real thing, by the way. Only happens when I touch you, not other guys.

If you don’t believe me, shake my hand and wait a bit.

Every word I rolled around in my mouth ended up swallowed back down.

It wasn’t some calculated “I can’t say anything that puts me at a disadvantage” thing.

…I was just too embarrassed.

Still in a normal state, my tension slowly easing, I stared at Woojin with my usual cold gaze.

There was no one around, anyway.

And besides—

“…B-Birth control.”

“……”

“You’re using it properly, right? When you… do it with Yozora.”

A question like this

Should make my sudden whim in the taxi seem reasonable enough.

“Dunno. I don’t think I’ve ever finished inside Yozora, though.”

“…You think?”

“With Sua, I was already going raw. Stuff like ‘it’s still safe’ or ‘she’s on the pill’—but only when she took it. Could be mixing up memories with Yozora.”

“……”

But all I got in return was an unnecessarily honest—and unbearably embarrassing—answer.

I have a rough idea why he’s being this open with me.

No one’s around to hear, and it’s not like he needs to hide his true nature from me.

Just as expected—nothing more than a well-disguised ball of lust.

No, calling him a “man” is too generous.

He’s no different from an animal—a male, at that.

A lust-driven male.

Still, he did come to treat me last time,

And he’s well-liked by other women (excluding me), so I’d been scoring him generously.

But after that brutally honest answer, my mental score for him dropped sharply.

Final score: 30 out of 100.

A pervert who only wears a “nice guy” mask in front of others.

Just slightly higher than the annoying stalker Yoo Siwoo.

…Sigh. How could Yozora give a guy like that near-perfect scores just because of sex…?

Her taste in men is just…

“…You’re really trash. Garbage—no, even that’s too good for you.”

“Finishing inside makes me garbage?”

“Yes. By my standards, you’re absolutely unrecyclable.”

“What about Yozora, then? She’s the one who insists on going raw. Is she garbage too?”

“That’s……”

“……”

Maybe because I was momentarily speechless.

Woojin, arms crossed, smirked as he threw my words back at me.

Amused, the corner of his lips quirking up, I glared at him before crossing my own arms and answering.

“She’s just a dumb, perverted idiot… that’s all.”

“Then aren’t I the same?”

“No.”

“Why not? What’s the criteria? Gender?”

“Yozora’s tastes are just messed up, but she only has eyes for you. You’re just a trashy guy juggling two women.”

“…Think what you want. Just like how you infiltrated the academy to leak information, I became a school nurse just to do this kind of stuff.”

“Comparing sex to my mission—haah…”

I wanted to argue that undercover work for a greater cause isn’t the same as perverted infiltration, but I held back.

I didn’t set this up to bicker with Woojin.

Though, seeing him grinning the whole time, getting worked up over small things just makes me look like a toy he’s playing with…

Tch. Checking my phone, I realized we’d been walking longer than expected—nearly 30 minutes since getting in the taxi.

“Anyway, was that all you wanted to talk about?”

“…That, um…”

Thankfully, no symptoms had appeared yet.

My heart wasn’t racing, and I didn’t feel anything unusual when my underwear brushed against certain areas.

Maybe seeing that male actor’s face at the theater really did have an effect?

Or maybe, contrary to expectations, touching Woojin itself wasn’t the issue…

But what still bothered me was the timing.

Last time, the problem didn’t start until well after 30 minutes—more like an hour, or even two, before I started feeling aroused.

…What do I do?

I’ve run out of excuses to keep Woojin here.

Still holding my arms, I discreetly touched my lower chest before clearing my throat.

“Why, why the rush? Want to get away from me that badly?”

“I don’t mind, but you seem uncomfortable around me.”

“I’m not. Stop assuming things.”

“At the theater earlier, you couldn’t even look me in the eye.”

Bullseye.

Without realizing it, my voice rose slightly.

“I-I was just surprised seeing a familiar face—and not even someone I’m close to! Do I have to spell everything out for you?”

“If you say so. Sure.”

“Why the sarcasm? Looking for another fight?”

“Nah, your reactions have just been fun to watch. Especially how much you resemble Yozora—it’s interesting.”

“W-We’re nothing alike! And Yozora’s the type to mess with people, not the other way around…!”

“Guess that’s why. You’ve got no resistance to being teased—it’s fun. I’ll try it again next time.”

“…You…!”

…Somehow, my tone had relaxed, just like when I talk to Yozora.

Even if the sky falls, I have no intention of getting close to trash like him—

Trash who sleeps with two women at once.

All this does is give me more chances to interact with him, piling up unpleasant experiences.

“…Hey. Seo Woojin-ssi.”

“Yeah. Baek Seoyeon-ssi.”

“Sorry for making you get out of the taxi midway, but… is your place far? If we call another one, we’ll just waste money on the base fare.”

“Not too far. I’ll need to check a map since I don’t know the area well, but from what I remember last time… maybe 40 minutes?”

“40? That’s far. 40 minutes isn’t short.”

“It’s fine. I skipped cardio today anyway—I can just jog back lightly.”

“…Ah.”

Cardio.

Now that he mentions it, I forgot about it too, thanks to being dragged around by Yozora all day.

It’s not like I have to do it every single day,

But as an excuse to stay with Woojin a little longer…

If we walk and take breaks in between, we can stretch it to about 30 minutes…

Glancing down at the sidewalk, I fiddled with my lips briefly before speaking.

“Then come to my place first.”

“Why your place?”

“To change clothes before heading out.”

“So, why?”

“…Walking alone for that long is boring, so I’m offering to keep you company.”

“You don’t have to go that far. I’ve got my phone.”

“J-Just take the offer and say thank you…!”

I almost kicked Woojin’s shin like I would’ve with Yozora—

But stopped myself just in time.

Awkwardly taking the lead, I walked ahead toward my place.