Chapter 44: Birds of a Feather [R-18]

“Such a good girl.”

Seojin sat with her hands folded on her thighs, a subtle hope in her expression. Rio leaned in and gently bit her earlobe, then held out a glass to her.

“You drink, too.”

The liquid in the glass was the same whiskey he had just been drinking.

Seojin stared at the glass for a moment before pressing her lips together. This wasn’t what she’d wanted. Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment, and she turned her head away slightly.

Rio laughed.

“Surely you weren’t planning on enduring this sober, were you?”

His eyes, glinting over the rim of his glass, seemed to be deliberately teasing her.

“Are you a masochist?”

At his provocation, Seojin finally raised the glass. She wasn’t even thirsty, but she brought it to her lips. An unfamiliar scent. Her brow twitched at the sharp smell of alcohol.

…It’s fine.

She took a short breath and downed it in one gulp.

A burning sensation slid down her throat. Seojin immediately burst into a fit of coughing. She had only recently come of age and had never once strayed from the straight and narrow; the liquor was far too strong for her.

Tears welled in her eyes, wetting her lips. She tucked her chin, gasping for breath, and glared up at Rio.

At the sight, Rio threw his head back and laughed. One moment, she was acting the part, letting him milk her breasts, and the next, she was looking up at him with teary eyes. He found the subtle defiance and irritation in her gaze adorable.

He tapped the ash from his cigarette and stroked her cheek with the back of his free hand.

“What are you going to do? A look like that won’t accomplish anything.”

A smirk played on his lips. He snapped his fingers, feigning a sudden realization, as if putting on a performance.

“Aha. Oh my, I had no idea you were such a little lady.”

The unfamiliar, bitter taste of the expensive liquor lingered in Seojin’s mouth.

“I’ve done my part, haven’t I?”

Seated pressed against Rio’s side, Seojin seemed infuriated by his teasing as he simply puffed on his cigarette. She set down her glass and began buttoning her shirt.

“Haha, hardly. Besides, why are you in such a hurry to cover up? You should be proud of something so beautiful.”

Watching her, Rio leaned closer. The arm he’d had resting on the back of the sofa moved to undo her buttons again, this time pulling the shirt down past her shoulders.

“Should I order you some milk?”

Looking at Seojin, now completely topless, his lips curled into a familiar, mocking smile.

“Ah, not yours.”

He wrapped an arm around the speechless Seojin’s shoulders, twirling a strand of her hair around his finger and toying with the nape of her neck.

Just then, emerging from the sea of jokes and laughter, a few of Rio’s friends approached to greet him.

“Hyung, happy birthday!”

“Whoa, it’s my first time seeing her in person.”

Next to Rio as he accepted their greetings, Seojin sat as still as a doll, rigid with wariness.

“You made a hell of a choice for a partner.”

Whenever she accidentally met someone’s gaze, she felt her breath catch in her throat. Once, when someone called her name with a short laugh, she quickly ducked her head.

“If the army guaranteed this, maybe I would’ve enlisted instead of getting an exemption.”

“Are you nuts? This is all random, isn’t it?”

When the back of a hand brushed against her arm, Seojin instinctively leaned toward Rio, trying to cover herself.

“She’s pretty great, isn’t she?” Rio asked.

As if to show her off to his captivated audience, he moved the arm she had crossed over her large breasts, grabbing her hand and pressing a gentle kiss to the back of it.

“Ngh…!”

The sight of breasts that large possessing such firmness was almost unbelievable.

“Whoa, that’s insane.”

“Damn.”

“…”

Whatever expression she wore, the absurd shame of the spectacle was Seojin’s to bear; the praise was Rio’s to receive.

After a few more such greetings came and went, Rio, with one arm still around Seojin, casually welcomed another woman with his free arm.

She had faded pink hair and glittering eye makeup. Rio’s hand rested naturally on her gaunt, thin shoulders.

Apparently, her role wasn’t to light his cigarette. What she offered looked like one, but it was a joint. Rio took it nonchalantly and lit it.

He whispered something in her ear, just as he had with Seojin, and the woman giggled vapidly. All the while, his other arm remained firmly around Seojin’s shoulders.

Seojin silently pressed her thighs together. The spot on her thigh where his hand had rested in that room now burned with an unpleasant heat.

All he had done before was touch her breasts and twist her nipples to milk her, but for some reason, this felt worse.

She slowly scanned the room.

Everyone was embracing someone. One man had his hand between the thighs of a woman who wasn’t his girlfriend, and she would burst into laughter every time he moved it.

Sensing her gaze, a man looked back at her, held up a finger, and mimed licking it.

The man next to him made a circle with one hand and repeatedly thrust two fingers from the other into it in an obscene gesture.

As Seojin turned away, searching for anywhere at all to rest her eyes,

“Looks like he wants to fuck you,” Rio said nonchalantly, exhaling a long plume of smoke.

Seojin looked back at the man. He had been sitting quietly for some time. Even now, with another woman in his arms, his eyes were locked directly on hers.

“…Why would you say that?”

“You saw him. It’s obvious, so why pretend you didn’t?” Rio said, tucking a strand of the other woman’s hair behind her ear. His tone was a mixture of cruelty and indifference. He might be holding another woman, but one of his arms was still draped over Seojin.

His fingers began to move, slowly tracing the line of her shoulder up to the nape of her neck.

Seojin was gripped by the delusion that if she remained passive, she would be left behind by the heat of the room. At the same time, a different feeling began to stir within her.

Before her were people staring at her half-naked body, people making lewd gestures, people with the “I-want-to-fuck-you eyes” Rio had mentioned. Amidst all these gazes, Rio himself wasn’t touching her, yet he was the one goading her on.

…I can do this, too. I’ve already done it with plenty of men.

A strange fire began to simmer inside her. From the depths of the emotions she’d tried to suppress, a quiet vanity surfaced.

“…I know.”

Quietly, Seojin unbuckled her belt, letting it drop to the floor with a soft clatter. Then she slowly undid the button and zipper of her pants.

She didn’t reveal everything—just a thong and pale, plump thighs.

“Whew—”

Someone whistled. The gazes of the men sipping their drinks sharpened, and one of them let out a low, “Fuck…”

But his face showed no sign of shock, only a wide grin.

Seojin slowly crossed her legs. Unfamiliar as she was with this setting, as blunt and unable to hide her feelings as she was, she was still the one with the most womanly figure, acting more provocatively than anyone.

Conscious of their stares, she leaned her already bare torso forward into the light, as if to say this was all she would show them for now.

Seeing her act, Rio turned his head.

He watched her in silence for a long moment, then the corner of his mouth lifted into a slight smile.

He slowly removed his arm from her shoulder.

“Go on.”

Without turning back to her, he picked up his drink and resumed his conversation with the woman beside him. He lifted the hand that had just been on Seojin and gave a slow, dismissive wave.

That single gesture felt like a physical push. Seojin got to her feet, enveloped in a strange mix of resentment, anger, and shame. Just like the woman he’d dismissed earlier, now it was her turn to be cast aside.

But she only managed a few steps. Before the pants clinging to her hips had a chance to fall, a group of men holding drinks swarmed her.

They wore stylish shirts and expensive shoes, with luxury watches on their wrists. Smiles played on their lips, but their eyes blatantly roamed from her cleavage to the space between her parted legs.

“Hey. Where are you off to?”

“Looking for some fun? Why don’t you join us?”

They were all smiling, but there was nothing casual about it.

Their faces were a mixture of curiosity and excitement, a strange cocktail of competition and lust. Someone shoved a glass in front of her. Seojin froze, then glanced back over her shoulder.

The man who had put her in this position was feigning ignorance, whispering into the other woman’s ear.

The woman’s lips curved into a smile, but a chill spread through Seojin’s chest.

…Fine.

Instead of the glass, Seojin lightly took the hand of the man offering it. She blinked slowly, looking up at him.

“These… don’t really fit the mood, do they?”

The simple gesture of tucking her hair behind her ear, baring the nape of her neck, captivated the crowd.

And then, with a soft thud.

She tilted a hip, and her pants slid silently to the floor as if it were their destiny all along.

“If you’re going to look,” she said, “you might as well get a proper view.”

Her voice was low and soft, but it carried the weight of a warning. It was a declaration that she would no longer be pushed aside—that from now on, she would seize the gazes of her audience and wield them as she pleased.

As she approached a sofa where a group of women from Rio’s circle were lounging, they looked her over and broke into peals of laughter.

“Well, look who it is.”

“Is that all you’re wearing? Damn.”

“Oh my, how cute.”

Only a one-time guest would have reason to be wary of Seojin. These women, who had more than enough of their own, were like lionesses welcoming her to the pride.

Despite her new resolve, Seojin was only accustomed to seducing men. Standing there in a shamefully revealing thong, the young woman lowered her head, overcome by a strange embarrassment.

Playful laughter erupted from the mixed group at the women’s comments. Seojin flinched but couldn’t run.

After all, the man who had thrown her into this world with nothing to lean on was still there.

“We should’ve brought you over sooner. It’s much more fun on this side,” one of them said, holding out a drink.

“While you’re here, can you show us that thing from before one more time?”

Translated By: Meher (RaidenTL)

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