episode_0273

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As if telling me not to take a picture, the subject’s face was slightly obscured by a hand, and thanks to that, the focus was shaky.

But the person in the photo was unmistakably Seo Woo-jin.

…I couldn’t be sure when it was taken, but given the circumstances, it was Seo Woo-jin on his way to my place.

Thanks to that, even the slight fatigue I’d been feeling vanished, and I found myself staring at the chat window with Yozora, unable to send any reply.

What the hell was I supposed to say?

What do you want me to do, how should I know— That kind of answer would be completely wrong.

Since Yozora sent that photo while asking, “Where is this?”, it meant she’d already pieced things together to some extent. Denying it wouldn’t work.

…But.

Then what should I do?

Be honest?

Tell her I sprained my ankle and called Woo-jin over, and that he might do something weird here again?

“…Tch.”

It’d still be better than getting caught after insisting it had nothing to do with me, but it didn’t sit right either way.

And for good reason… because it’s embarrassing.

If it were about meeting someone I liked, fine, but there’s no way in hell I’d ever like that kind of guy.

Girls like Yozora or people who throw around words like sex partner might be fine with it, but normally… it’s humiliating.

“I’m gonna have sex with someone today.” What kind of nonsense is that?

Am I the only one who finds it embarrassing?

No way.

The world can’t be that perverted.

It’s not like only sex-crazed beasts or people like Woo-jin and Yozora exist.

I should at least have that much sense.

“Haa….”

Deny it outright.

Play it cool and admit it.

Was there really no other decent option?

After agonizing over it, I eventually lay back on the sofa and tapped away at my phone screen.

[Baek Seo-yeon] – Where even is that? – Are you with Woo-jin right now?

No reaction.

I’d make sure Yozora found it as boring as possible—no reaction at all.

Pretend to be oblivious to her roundabout probing, play dumb, and if she got tired of the back-and-forth and asked directly…

Then I’d answer honestly.

That was my limit.

Even if half my relationship with Woo-jin was already exposed, there was a world of difference between confessing the other half outright and just nudging it into a corner to hide.

Admitting that I’d already done all sorts of things with him? I wasn’t sure my cheeks and ears could handle the heat.

If I’d never said a word about sex before, fine, but after years of insisting I had no interest, that I found it dirty…

Saying something like “We’re having sex out of necessity” was just too humiliating.

I couldn’t do it.

Seriously.

After sending that reply, I stared at the chat window for a long time, the unread “1” still there.

But the “1”, which I thought would disappear quickly, stubbornly remained for nearly five minutes.

[Yozora] – Where? In front of your place, duh. – You don’t recognize the street you walk every day?

[Baek Seo-yeon] – It’s dark, so I couldn’t see well.

[Yozora] – Really? It was right under a streetlight. That bad?

Looking again, the photo was taken right under a streetlamp.

If I squinted, I could even make out the vague shapes of nearby buildings and signs.

But that wasn’t the point.

I could just say I didn’t look closely enough.

Even I knew it was a ridiculous excuse, but if I insisted, what could Yozora do?

Absentmindedly zooming in on the photo, I adjusted my clothes just in case and typed.

[Baek Seo-yeon] – I didn’t look closely, so I missed it.

[Yozora] – Then how’d you recognize Woo-jin at a glance? – Even with the focus all messed up?

[Baek Seo-yeon] – It’s not that blurry. You can still tell who it is—

…No.

I couldn’t let Yozora’s little jabs get to me.

The moment I took the bait, it’d be over.

There’s a reason poker face is a thing.

So I deleted my half-written reply and started over, carefully crafting something that wouldn’t play into her hands.

[Baek Seo-yeon] – That’s not really the point. – Someone like him is recognizable even at a glance.

[Yozora] – Gasp.

[Baek Seo-yeon] – What’s with the gasp? What did I even do? – Anyway. – Did you message me just to ask that?

[Yozora] – Not just that, but… hmm… – It was a little weird, so I checked. – Woo-jin doesn’t have any reason to be around here, right? – Unless it’s to visit your place?

I’d expected her to figure it out eventually, so it didn’t faze me.

[Baek Seo-yeon] – You don’t live near me either.

[Yozora] – I was hiding nearby because I was suspicious after you suddenly kicked me out!

[Baek Seo-yeon] – …Congrats.

[Yozora] – And thanks to that, I caught evidence of your secret rendezvous, so yeah, congrats!

[Baek Seo-yeon] – Don’t call it a secret rendezvous. – I really did sprain my ankle, so I called him. That’s all.

This much shouldn’t count as falling into Yozora’s trap.

If anything, I felt like I had the upper hand now.

But then Yozora said something I couldn’t possibly refute.

[Yozora] – Oh, so it’s not a secret rendezvous? – Then you won’t mind if I come with Woo-jin, right? – Since it’s just for treatment?

Five seconds later.

Ding-dong, ding-dong.

The doorbell stabbed at my ears before I could reply.

273

“Hi!”

“…Ran into you on the way.”

“….”

Welcome. Come in.

Like all polite but insincere phrases—”Let’s grab food sometime”—it was something that rolled off the tongue easily.

But right now, I couldn’t bring myself to say it.

…I’d rather you didn’t come in.

Instead of peeking over Woo-jin’s shoulder like that,

Just turn around, get back in the elevator, and leave.

Yozora, if you’re here, there’s too much I’ll have to deal with.

…The treatment.

And the process that comes after.

I won’t be able to focus.

“Hmm. Do I have to get my own guest drink?”

“…We don’t have those…, …just drink water.”

“Guess I have no choice~”

I almost said, We don’t have those, so leave— but held back.

Not because I cared about my image in front of Woo-jin.

He’d already seen me without my mask plenty of times. Hiding now would be pointless.

It was Yozora I was worried about.

I had no idea what she was scheming, and that made her scarier.

“Sniff. Did you leave the balcony window open because of the alcohol smell?”

“…Yeah.”

“It’s chilly, so I’ll close it a bit? Besides… sniff sniff….”

“…Stop being weird and back off.”

“No, no, I just thought I smelled a bit of alcohol on you too.”

Purely out of curiosity.

Just for fun.

I could predict that much.

But where was this going?

…Knowing Yozora after all these years, she probably wanted to see me crawling on all fours like a bitch.

Right under Woo-jin’s feet.

…Tail wagging and all.

“Then I’ll get some water first… Let’s see….”

“….”

Sorry, but I won’t live up to your expectations.

If the first time we had sex had been mind-blowing, maybe, but it wasn’t that good.

…Not that I disliked it, but.

It wasn’t something I’d get so obsessed with that it affected my daily life.

So this distance between Woo-jin and me was just right.

Occasionally fixing our physical urges without much emotional connection…

That kind of relationship.

Borrowing Yozora’s favorite term, we were each other’s masturbation tools.

Woo-jin was my dildo.

I was Woo-jin’s onahole.

“…Hey.”

“Oh, yeah.”

I was watching Yozora hop toward the kitchen when it happened.

Kicking Woo-jin’s shin seemed too much, so I tugged his sleeve instead.

“You came to treat me, right? Why are you just standing there? It’s late….”

“You two were talking. Should I just interrupt? Unless you want attention.”

“…Just treat me already.”

With nothing else to say, I muttered vaguely, and Woo-jin scanned the room before heading to the sofa.

Of course, with me still clinging to his sleeve, dragging behind him like I was the one with a sprained ankle, moving painfully slow.

Once we finally reached the sofa, I hesitated over how to sit for his convenience—

Tap. Tap.

I patted the spot beside me.

“Sit here.”

“It’s fine. I can sit on the floor. Just move the table a bit.”

“Since when are you so considerate? …Just do as I say. It’s not like we’re strangers.”

“…Well, if you say so….”

You’re still trash who only thinks about picking up girls.

What I saw in Hongdae earlier? You were hanging out with another girl.

And the sex we had was downright perverted—

No, forget the sex.

But that kiss at the end? That was all you.

I couldn’t exactly criticize you for it, though, since I’m not blameless either.

Rather than nitpicking, it’d be better for me to get used to this kind of skinship.

“…Can I put my leg up?”

After shifting to sit sideways on the sofa, I rested my sock-covered foot and ankle on his thigh.

Calling it skinship might be misleading—it wasn’t like that.

No, preparation. That’s a better word.

If we kept meeting like this, eventually… another unavoidable situation would arise.

Besides, this position was comfortable for both of us, right?

If I were wearing a skirt, maybe not, but I had on sleep shorts.

If I sat on the sofa while Woo-jin sat below, handling my ankle…

It’d feel like some kind of queen roleplay, and that’d be embarrassing.

This was better in every way.

“Do what’s comfortable. It’s late, and we’re both tired. Let’s finish quickly.”

“…I’m comfortable, so hurry up and treat me so you can leave. Take Yozora with you.”

“Huh? You’re leaving right away?”

Just as Woo-jin’s warm hands touched my ankle, Yozora emerged from the kitchen and chimed in.

And of course, she peeked her head right between Woo-jin and me.

The position was embarrassing enough to make my ears burn, but I kept my expression neutral and spoke flatly.

“What else would we do?”

“No, no, I’m not saying you should do anything… Just surprised you’re leaving right away.”

If Yozora weren’t here… we’d have done it.

But I couldn’t exactly pull down my panties with her around.

…We’d probably do it tomorrow at Woo-jin’s place. Or mine. Right.

So I lifted my chin defiantly.

“Woo-jin already said it—it’s late.”

“I did.”

“…Then go home and sleep. If you skip class again and make things difficult, I won’t let it slide.”

“Hmm… Weird….”

“What’s weird?”

“You skipped one thing, didn’t you?”

“No, I didn’t—”

“This. Aren’t you doing it?”

…Yozora, who didn’t know exactly what had happened between Woo-jin and me,

Formed a ring with her fingers.

And in that tight space—

Where Woo-jin couldn’t see—

“I totally thought you’d do this, so I followed to see your reaction….”

“….”

“If you’re not doing it, fine… I’ll just do it myself later.”

“….”

“You’re really okay with me doing it alone? Seo-yeon?”

“….”

“What are you talking about?”

“Ah, girls’ talk! You don’t get it? Cover your ears.”

Grinning like she was looking forward to it,

She thrust her fingers in and out until—