Ch.287287. If You Get Flustered, You Lose

I thought things were a bit different than usual. To be precise, I wasn’t sure, but I thought she was hiding something from me. That made sense because her attitude was completely different from normal.

Usually when I speak to her, she makes eye contact and moves her lips with a smile—that’s the Hwa Nabi I’ve known all along. But thirty minutes ago, she seemed like a completely different person. Even when I spoke to her, she looked elsewhere and didn’t focus on me. Unless you’re a fool, you’d naturally sense something was off.

Yes, I suspected something was up. That’s why I accepted her strange request to leave the room without argument. Even though I didn’t know the details, I felt I should just go along with it for now.

But then, while I was looking out the living room window waiting for Hwa Nabi…

—Aack!

A loud scream came from inside the bedroom.

“What? What was that sound? Nabi, are you okay?”

Startled, I reflexively grabbed the doorknob and turned it without waiting for an answer.

I flung the door open and entered to find Hwa Nabi sitting on the floor. Fortunately, she didn’t appear to be hurt, but her skirt had rolled up quite high above her thighs, perhaps from falling.

And on top of that, she was holding something like… handcuffs in both hands.

Looking closely, they were indeed handcuffs. More precisely, they were fake handcuffs that looked real, and their purpose was, well, obviously that sort of thing. Like a condiment you add when you want to enjoy a special play with your lover on a special day… that kind of thing.

“What are you doing…?”

But why was Hwa Nabi clutching those handcuffs with both hands? The situation didn’t make sense, and I was so dumbfounded that I just blurted it out.

Hwa Nabi, who had been looking blank, raised her head. Our eyes met. Unable to find words, she mumbled for a while before hiccupping involuntarily.

“…hic.”

Hwa Nabi’s face flushed red. Her eyes were welling up. She seemed embarrassed by the situation herself. I was very curious about how this happened and wanted to ask, but… she looked like she might really cry if I did.

I do like to joke around, but I don’t want to tease her to the point of making her cry. Without saying anything, I approached her, put my hands under her armpits, and lifted her up. Then I sat her on the bed and left the room.

—Click.

I even locked the door from the outside so it couldn’t be opened. I wasn’t sure exactly what had happened, but she must be feeling very embarrassed. Let’s give her some time to calm down.

I sat on the living room sofa and turned on the TV. I turned the volume up high to make the living room noisy. At the same time, I heard banging sounds and shrill screams coming from the bedroom.

—Aaaaargh! Ack, ack! Kyaaaah! Aaaaargh-!

“……”

It was the kind of screaming that would cause serious misunderstandings if the neighbors heard, but I couldn’t exactly go in and tell her to be quiet. With nothing else to do, I turned the TV volume up even higher.

The audience laughter from the variety show overlapped with Hwa Nabi’s screams, creating an unintended harmony. Is this what they call it? Life is a comedy when viewed from a distance, but a tragedy up close.

While I was killing time with useless thoughts, the bedroom that had been full of screams suddenly went quiet. Had she come back to her senses? I turned off the TV and approached the bedroom door.

Knock knock, after tapping on the door a few times, it opened from inside. I could see Hwa Nabi gripping the doorknob. She was still hanging her head low, apparently embarrassed.

“Can I come in?”

“…Yes.”

I followed Hwa Nabi inside. The handcuffs were nowhere to be seen. She must have hidden them somewhere, too embarrassed to let me see them.

I turned my head to ask her about it, but Hwa Nabi quickly walked over to the bed, claimed a spot, and lay down. Then she slipped under the covers, squirmed around, and said:

“I’m going to sleep now. Good night, husband.”

“It’s not even eight o’clock yet?”

No answer. She couldn’t have fallen asleep already… she was probably just pretending not to hear.

What is she doing? I chuckled and approached her. Sensing me coming closer, Hwa Nabi under the covers flinched.

“Nabi.”

“……”

“If you don’t answer now, I’m going to ask you what those handcuffs were all about, okay?”

“…What is it?”

My gentle negotiation seemed to work. Hwa Nabi peeked just her head out from under the covers. I gently stroked her hair and asked softly:

“Where did the handcuffs come from?”

“Liar.”

“Huh? What?”

“You said you wouldn’t ask.”

“Can’t you at least tell me where they came from? It’ll be easier for you to explain later.”

“…I accidentally found them in the bedside drawer.”

“Hmm, you found them accidentally?”

“Yes. While tidying up the bedding, accidentally—really accidentally.”

What a curious coincidence. She opened the drawer to organize the bedding, and there just happened to be handcuffs for that kind of play inside.

I’m not sure whether to believe this at face value or dismiss it as nonsense. Honestly, I’m leaning heavily toward the latter, but you never know. There’s maybe a one percent chance that what Hwa Nabi is saying is true, right?

“Okay, let’s say you found them accidentally as you claim. But why were you holding them in your hands?”

“I was afraid you might misunderstand like this… I was trying to hide them somewhere difficult to find before you discovered them.”

“Ah, is that why you asked me to leave? You didn’t want me to catch you?”

“Yes. That’s right. …It’s really not what you think.”

“What am I thinking?”

“…That thing you’re thinking right now.”

“So, what exactly am I thinking?”

I moved closer to her side. I lay down and wrapped my arms around the part of the blanket where her waist would be, pulling her close.

I brought my face to her neck, which was slightly exposed as she peeked out her head, and it smelled nice. Hwa Nabi’s unique fragrant scent, with a strong hint of peach, made my heart soften.

Her soft earlobe looked very tempting. I wanted to stop the interrogation and just play with her earlobe, but I should finish what I started. I asked leisurely, intending to observe her reaction.

“Nabi, isn’t your taste a bit too abnormal?”

“…Are you saying I’m abnormal?”

“Yeah, don’t you think? Most people don’t use handcuffs, right? Who prepares things like this unless they’re a pervert with that kind of taste?”

“Wait a minute. I didn’t prepare them, I told you! Like I said before, this is a misunderstanding that happened by accident…”

“Right. So, which side does our Nabi prefer? Being tied up, or tying someone up?”

“Well… If I had to choose, I’d prefer being tied up… No, this man, really…!”

She suddenly got upset at my gentle teasing and twisted her body, trying to escape from my embrace. But I had anticipated this and held her tighter, preventing her from getting up.

After struggling briefly, she seemed to realize she couldn’t break free with her own strength and let out a long sigh. She must have given up on escaping.

“Ah… really, you’re uselessly strong.”

“Thanks for the compliment.”

“That wasn’t a compliment! What kind of man are you…”

Since I was the one who started teasing her, I can let this little snap slide.

Anyway, now that I had the upper hand position-wise, I decided to push a bit further and ask something else.

“Besides being tied up, do you have any other preferences?”

“…No. And being tied up isn’t my preference either! I’m more, you know, um? I prefer being the one who takes the lead.”

“Hmm, really? So, Nabi, you’re saying you prepared the handcuffs because you want to be handcuffed?”

“Did you actually listen to what I said? Not being tied up, but tying… No, that’s not it!”

Clink.

A clear metallic sound rang out as Hwa Nabi got upset. The sound came from none other than under the blanket.

She must have heard it too, as she stopped mid-sentence and abruptly closed her mouth. Not only that, but her waist was trembling slightly—a reaction that anyone would recognize as that of a child caught doing something they shouldn’t.

“What was that sound just now?”

“…Huh? What sound?”

“I heard a metallic sound from under the blanket.”

“No, you didn’t. It wasn’t from under the blanket, it was from my mouth.”

“Really? Then can you make it one more time?”

“That’s… not possible. It’s not a sound I can make whenever I want to.”

Her excuses were becoming increasingly incoherent. Feeling I didn’t need to hear any more, I grabbed both ends of the blanket that Hwa Nabi was wrapped in. Just as I was about to pull it off, I met with considerable resistance. She must have realized I was trying to take the blanket away and was gripping it tightly, refusing to let go.

“Nabi, why are you holding onto the blanket so tightly?”

“And… why are you suddenly trying to pull off the blanket?”

“Ah, I think I left something under the blanket. I’m trying to find it.”

“There’s nothing in here! So, I think you can just let go…”

Needless to say, in a test of strength, Hwa Nabi can’t beat me. The difference between me speaking leisurely and Hwa Nabi barely managing to respond makes it clear who would win.

But what’s the point of overpowering her? Forcefully pulling off the blanket would just be crude. So instead, I planned to make her let go voluntarily. The method? Whispering in her ear.

“Nabi.”

“What…!”

“If you don’t let go now… I’ll handcuff you and do whatever I want? Even if you beg me to stop, I absolutely won’t.”

“……”

After that warning, she should let go. I pulled on the blanket without thinking much about it.

But somehow… the force holding the blanket became even stronger than before. Did she not hear me because she was focusing on holding tight?

Thinking that might be the case, I repeated my warning that if she didn’t let go now, I’d handle her roughly as I pleased. Then I pulled hard on the blanket.

Grip.

Hwa Nabi was still holding onto the blanket diligently. And with unusual strength at that.

“Hey, Nabi.”

“What?”

“You understood what I said, right?”

“Yes. I understood perfectly.”

“Then why aren’t you letting go?”

“…I wonder why?”

“……”

…Huh?