Chapter 38 – It’s a Thief! A Thief!  

“Sijoon, give me a chu, chu….” 

The short Hana, who was tiptoeing, kept pushing her lips towards me.

What I could see was the pink, glossy, and soft lips.

That was more than enough to pique my curiosity.

What would Hana’s lips feel like?

 

I didn’t like having these types of thoughts, but it couldn’t be helped since it was human instinct.

The touch of Hayeon’s lips kept coming to my mind as Hana’s lips were glimmering in my sight.

Why is this happening to me…

If there was a god, he probably resented dropping me in this world. And resented even more that a situation like this arose.

“Hurry up and do it…” 

Hana’s sweet voice whispered to me.

I felt guilty about kissing her, but I couldn’t let go of this opportunity.

This is a life-saving activity with Hana which would extend my lifespan. That’s it. Nothing more, nothing less.

It was just artificial respiration, was it not?

Right?

I spewed out stuff that sounded like me hypnotizing myself as I locked lips with Hana.

“Mm… Sijoon…” 

Hana’s soft lips touched mine as I heard her let out a sweet sound.

Since her lips were blocked, it seemed she had trouble breathing.

I didn’t have taste buds, but I did feel the soft sensation.

Hana’s moist touch had been delivered to me.

Would this be enough…?

 

No.

An act of locking lips did not suffice as kissing.

It was a deep and intimate act.

The moment my tongue entered her mouth…

There was a blunt knock on the door.

Knock. Knock. 

A dull knocking sound on the dorm door.

Having barely snapped out of it from the sound, I quickly took my lips off of Hana’s. 

“Haa… Haa…”

She huffed as if she had been slightly suffocated.

Then from the dorm door where the knocking was coming from, she heard a woman’s voice that she never heard before.

–Excuse me, but I came since I heard some kind of male voice, is everything alright…?

This place wasn’t my dormitory, but the female dormitory.

Was it because she heard Hana scream before we kissed?

It seemed that a student, who heard the sound of my voice and Hana’s voice which traveled through the walls, came over because she was concerned. 

If she didn’t quickly respond, the student would find the situation strange and would go bring the dorm supervisor.

In such a situation, Hana grabbed my sleeve and said something strange.

“S-Sijoon… I feel strange… My heart is racing, like thump thump… Am I going to die?”

“No, Hana. You’re not going to die. More importantly, right now the situation looks a bit…”

“I won’t die? T-Then… Do… Do more… I like it!”

It seemed that Hana was still not over the afterglow, she kept grabbing my sleeve and pushing in her face.

At this rate, we’ll be in big trouble.

The sound of the female student outside was getting louder.

–E-Excuse me! Something happened, right…?! I’ll call the dorm supervisor over!!

The moment the female student was about to leave…

I quietly whispered to Hana who wasn’t registering the conversations.

“H-Hana! Hurry up and answer! Answer her!”

“A-An…swer? W-What…do I say?

“Say ‘Nothing is wrong’ to the woman outside! If you say it, I’ll give… I’ll give you a reward!” 

Hana regained her state of mind when she heard me say I’d give her a reward.

She immediately shouted so the outside student could hear her.

“N-Nothing…is wrong!”

–Pardon…? You’re okay, right? I thought I heard a male’s voice… 

The female student outside seemed to be the type of person who was needlessly dubious.

If someone says nothing is wrong, you should just accept it and leave.

Momentarily bothered by her, I decided to operate Hana again.  

“‘It was from a movie…! I turned up the volume too much!’ Say that, Hana.”

“O-Okay! Got…it!” 

After she received the lines from me, Hana shouted once again.

“I-It was…from a movie! The volume… Sijoon, what did you say?”

“Say that you turned it up too much.”

”I-I…turned it up too much!” 

Hana messed up in the middle, but when she clearly said it, there was a bit of silence from the student outside.

…Is she gone?

 

When I thought that, she spoke up.

–…I must’ve misunderstood. I apologize! So nothing’s wrong, I’ll be on my way then! I’m sorry!

Yeah. You should be sorry.

Since you interfered with my golden opportunity to extend my lifespan.

I could hear the female student’s footsteps walking away outside the door, even the sound of her door closing.

So she was right next door.

 

The soundproofing at the Hero Academy was fairly good, but the fact she heard us must mean that the female student was quite sharp.

I prayed it wasn’t someone I knew.

For starters, it was clear that the student next door would continue to be on high alert. 

I put Hana to my side. 

“Eh…?”

Not grasping the sitaution, she let out a noise.

I immediately put Hana through the hole in the wall.

Then, I put my head in there and entered it again.

 ***

“Haa…” 

So I’m back to my room.

The spatial hole, which Hana created because she was lonely, connected my room with hers. And only the user, Ban Hana, had the ability to lift it.

It doesn’t seem like she’ll lift it though.

“Give me the reward! Sijoon!” 

Hana had been yelling that.

It looked like she would never get rid of the spatial hole. I do have to care for her, and I judged that it wouldn’t be too bad keeping it.

What’s good should be good, right?

I looked at Hana who kept pulling on my sleeves.

“Reward! You said you’d do it again! Hurry! Sijoon! Give it!”

“Wait a minute, Hana… Oppa is distraught…”

“…What’s distraught?”

Did they say humans were animals sensitive to the atmosphere?

I had been swept up by the mood that moment and had kissed Hana on the lips. When I came to a slight realization afterwards, it was sort of like Hyunja Time
1
. 

What did I just do with Hana who doesn’t even know what the word, distraught means?

 

I had given into the pink temptation as Hana seduced me with her cute face.

The fact that I gave into that temptation…

It felt like a slight blow to my pride.

Hana kept demanding for a reward without knowing what I was going through.

“Give reward! Right now! You said you would! Sijoon!” 

Do I have to do that act with Hana again?

Fenrille. Is the condition satisfied? Our lips touched.

–Male. Did good. Nice. To see. But. That. Not. A Kiss. Not. Long. Time. Important.

In the end, it’s not about placing lips together, but to kiss.

The duration was important.

Which meant I had to kiss Hana again.

It was soft though…

 

If I had to be honest, it felt good.

 The act of touching lips with a girl for the first time.

 Even without the duration, it wasn’t that bad of an outcome.

“Hurry…! Reward!” 

For starters, let’s deal with the whining Hana.

I approached her, who kept on tugging my sleeves.

Smooch.

 

“…?” 

It was an act of my lips lightly touching her cheek.

That made Hana wear a dumbfounded look which read, “T-This…isn’t it?”

She gave me a look demanding an explanation.

“Sijoon. Isn’t this different from before…?”

“It is, since that is expensive.”

“Ex…pensive…?” 

She tilted her head as she started to contemplate the meaning of my lips.

It was one of the good ideas that popped into my mind at that moment.

Using my lips as a reward, I can
control Hana to act good-natured.

You’d find it in kindergarten.

A “You did really great” stamp.

Using my lips as a stamp, I’ll put the brakes on Hana.

No matter how much I thought about it, it was a reward with no flaws.

There was a slight blow to my pride since it somehow felt like I was selling myself as a product, but this was a very efficient method.

If I do well, I might be able to extend my lifespan.

Right now, placing my lips on Hana’s cheeks just meant something like, “You did great.” 

If she wanted to experience a kiss like the first one, Hana had to try hard to get the “You did very great.”

Let’s explain the reward that I came up with to Hana.

Her face hardened coldly.

“Sijoon. How come? Why aren’t you doing it right now? I followed what you told me to do, Sijoon. You said you’d give a reward.”

“I’ll do it next time. Today’s a bit tiring, right?”

”I’m not tired. Hurry up and do it. If you don’t, I won’t be a good girl.” 

I didn’t expect this.

Sulking, Hana turned her head and began a silent protest against me.

A good girl, yeah right.

You should be listening to me well? 

 I was starting to feel a little playful.

“Then don’t, Hana.”

 “S-Sijoon?”

“I’ll go to someone else and do it. Who would be good? Yoo Hayeon? If not, then Han Yoowol?”

“…!!!”

When the names of other girls came out, Hana applied strength in her grip.

“Sijoon… Don’t…throw me away…”

She had a wistful gaze which said not to abandon her.

It was the same look of an animal right before it was about to be abandoned.

…Did I overdo it?

Hana was a villain who trusted only me, escaping and following me to the academy.

If she returned to the Black Dawn, she wouldn’t receive a warm reception from them.

I was the only one in this world that was like a pillar of support to her.

I thought I was being cruel for playing tricks on her.

I sat on the bed and met Hana’s gaze. 

“Why would I throw you away? It’s a joke. A joke.”

“…Sijoon. Bad. You’re not a person. You’re a villain.”

“You’re the villain though…” 

After I told her she made no sense, I stroked her pink hair which was like cotton candy.

When my hand ran through her hair, she closed her eyes and her lips curled upward.

It seemed she settled down since she wore a happy expression. 

…
It can’t be helped.

 

Since this was my fault, I did what she wanted me to do.

“Hana. Come over here and sit down.”

“Alright!” 

After saying that, Hana jumped onto the bed and sat next to me.

Her expectant pink eyes stared at me. 

I made a small comment to her. 

“Good girls close their eyes.”

“H-Hana. Is a good girl…!” 

Then, she immediately shut her eyes.

Just how hard did she close it that her pupils were trembling?

That was how Hana was.

I asked Fenrille.

If I kiss Hana right now, then will the condition be satisfied?

–It will. Strong. Female. Towards. Male. Big. Feelings. Qualifications. Acknowledged.

Kissing Hana meant the lifespan extension, Fenrille’s power, and the next three women.

There was no need to hesitate.

I prayed there would be no interference this time.

I stole the lips from Hana whose eyes were tightly closed.

“S-Sijoon…” 

Because we started kissing again, she let out a sweet sound.

Just like that the time passed, and after a while, my tongue pushed through Hana’s small lips.

“Mm…. 

Since this was Hana’s first time experiencing it, she was greatly surprised at first, but I calmed her down, and slowly quelled her shock.

I lead everything while guiding her on what to do.

One question arose in my head.

Why am I good at this?
When I’ve never done it before…?

This was also my first kiss, but something felt like it was automatically playing in my brain.

I knew exactly what I should do.

As I brooded over it, I heard Hana’s voice mixed with aegyo in my ears.

“Si…joon… Feels…nice…”

Hana’s eyes were still closed.

I wasn’t sure if it was because of the mood, but she looked cute today. 

This much should be enough, right?

–Sufficient. Male. Cool. Again. Saw it. Acknowledged.

After hearing Fenrille’s acknowledgement, I returned to the kissing as if nothing had happened. 

“Ha… Sijoon… This is nice…” 

It’d be nice if she didn’t get addicted to it.

I sensed something scary in Hana’s gaze, who kept muttering how good it felt.

I stroked Hana’s hair as she was lost in the afterglow.

“If you do good things later, I’ll do this then too.”

“You mean it…? If you lie, Sijoon, you’re a villain…”

“Alright. If I lie, then I’ll be a villain. Promise.” 

I even went so far as to pinky-promise with her.

Is it three from here on out?

The number of people I had to kiss to survive.

Three girls.

It was a sad moment where I realized I had to do this act with three more women.

Which three should I satisfy it with?

When the thought occurred to me, the one who automatically came to my mind was my childhood friend, Yoo Hayeon.

Something suddenly came to mind.

Is this not cheating…?

I had no choice.

My lifespan was on the line. 

That was my natural excuse.

“Hah…”

“Sijoon, why are you sighing?”

“Just because, there’s something…”

I was naturally doing this for the sake of survival…

Only a sigh came out.

Footnotes

1
Hyunja Time: It basically means Post-Nut Clarity.