Chapter 54
* * *
Night on the deserted island.
The people who'd been chatting noisily all day had gradually fallen asleep. Each time the campfire flared, it briefly pushed back the jungle's darkness, only for it to creep one step closer again.
"…Mr. Woojin. Mr. Woojin."
At the sound of someone quietly calling to wake me, I sat up.
Was it my turn on watch tonight?
Seoyun was looking at me with a frightened expression.
"Assistant Manager?"
"I heard a strange noise… Could you come check it with me?"
"All right."
Looking at her expression, I couldn't bring myself to complain that it was a hassle.
Especially after what had happened today…
I activated my Detection magic, and the outlines of the things around us came into sharp focus.
Luka was sleeping soundly with one leg draped over Yuna's thigh. Miryeong and Yuna were asleep with their tank tops hiked up to their chests, and the Manager was lying on her side.
When I checked my watch, it was a little past one.
Rustle.
"Did you hear that just now?"
"Ah…"
It was the sound of leaves brushing in the wind.
Swish.
A small animal was moving through the low grass.
I could clearly tell what the sound was, but the Assistant Manager had no magic. How had she managed to hear it?
Maybe she was on edge because she was scared.
I shouldn't have put her on watch. Maybe I'd been a little thoughtless…
The Assistant Manager might have seemed fine on the surface because the younger girls were at camp.
Kang Seoyun was twice as responsible as most people.
Seeing her now, it was obvious she'd been forcing herself to act brave.
"It wasn't that deer, was it?"
"No. It was a small animal."
"It's scary being alone…. C-could I stay like this for a little while?"
Seoyun was already clinging to me, but she asked as if she were seeking permission.
Her hands clutched the front of my shirt tightly, as if begging me not to let go.
Seeing Kang Seoyun so utterly vulnerable brought back the feelings I'd had then.
On this island, we're weak.
I want to protect Seoyun.
I naturally wrapped both arms around her waist.
"Ah…"
Rather than being uncomfortable, Seoyun seemed happy to lean into me. Her trembling body gradually began to calm down.
"Do you feel safer?"
"Yes…. I was scared… but I feel a little better like this."
"If that thing shows up again, I'll catch it for you."
"Hehe… What a boast."
As expected, the Assistant Manager knew it was just empty bravado.
But even a boast could help at a time like this.
"I'm a wizard, after all. It knows I'm not an easy opponent, so it's already run far away."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"I was terrified earlier, thinking you'd been bewitched and were going to wander off somewhere."
Ah, that…
I'd sensed the presence of a new kind of magic and, without realizing it…
I'd been so fascinated by the mystery of magic that I'd forgotten to be afraid for a moment.
In the end, though, I couldn't decipher what it meant.
"Promise me you won't go anywhere."
"Assistant Manager…"
"Not like usual, when you say, 'Maybe,' 'Probably,' or 'I'll think about it'… Tell me you won't go."
"I won't go."
I held Seoyun tightly as she trembled.
Only then did Seoyun's trembling stop.
"I'll stay by your side, Assistant Manager. I promise."
"Mm…"
……
Once she felt safe, an overwhelming embarrassment took its place.
Seoyun's cheeks grew redder by the second.
"About those condoms you picked up earlier…"
"No. Don't get the wrong idea. I took them because I couldn't just throw things away."
Tch……!
"M-maybe we should put a little distance between us now?"
Her soft body felt nice, though…
Honestly, if I'd been told to stand watch alone tonight, I'd have been scared, too.
Yuna did surprisingly well.
She'd be shocked if she knew how weak adults could actually be in some ways….
"Ever since we got here, I've kept wondering why we survived even though the plane crashed."
"Yeah."
"I sometimes wonder if this island might be something like the afterlife…."
The afterlife….
If this were the afterlife, Seoyun wouldn't have screamed in surprise at the bidet's water jet.
I could still feel my desire to live so vividly.
Still, if someone asked whether Seoyun was definitely wrong, I wouldn't know what to say.
In the end, I've never been to the world after death, either.
"I remembered what we saw when we went out on the raft."
"You did?"
It might have been better if she hadn't remembered.
"It's so scary. What if we can't leave this island? No, what if nobody can come to this island at all?"
"Who knows?"
"What would we do if that's true…?"
"Well, we'll just have to get along until we find a way."
At times like this, overthinking things the way Seoyun did would only make it harder.
"What if that monster attacks us at any moment?"
"It hasn't attacked us. At least, not today."
"Tomorrow, let's make the fence three times bigger. And pack the gaps tightly…"
"I'll die…"
"But… I'm anxious…"
Well, of course she was anxious…
The fence was only meant to keep animals out.
If those things charged at us, they'd be inside in no time. Then all that would matter was whether magic worked on them.
But seeing how scared Seoyun was, maybe she needed some peace of mind, too.
"We'll need to look for a new settlement anyway. Let's move somewhere a little higher up and build a big fence."
"Do you think so?"
"Yes. And… well, you might not have much faith in me, but I'll protect you."
I took Seoyun's hand.
Then I suddenly felt terribly awkward, as if I'd just made some embarrassing confession.
"Mr. Woojin…"
"You said we'd get through this difficult time together. That's all I meant."
"Right…? We might have to stay here for a long time, so I shouldn't let myself get this weak."
Seoyun seemed to have steeled herself.
"Thank you. I'm sorry I suddenly woke you up and…"
"It's okay."
It was understandable that she'd be scared.
"Since I'm asking you anyway, can I ask you one more thing?"
"What is it?"
"Could you come with me to the bathroom?"
………
……I went with her.
"Mr. Woojin, you're there, right?"
"Yes, I'm here."
"Don't leave without saying anything. And no pranks, either."
"Understood."
The Assistant Manager really was scared of everything.
If I imitated that deer's screech, she might faint.
Of course, I didn't actually do it. She'd resent me for the rest of her life…
"Who takes watch after you, Assistant Manager?"
"The Manager."
About thirty minutes left…
Without a word, I returned to the campfire with Seoyun and spent the rest of the time with her.
We didn't talk at all.
But the atmosphere was somehow comfortable.
It felt comfortable being with the Assistant Manager. If I'd said that to myself a month ago, I might've asked if I'd been shot in the head.
It was time to wake the next person.
"Manager Han Jia. It's your turn on watch."
"Mmm… Yes… Huh. Mr. Woojin?"
I went to wake her, and the Manager hastily covered her defenseless, sleepy face.
"I was checking to see if there were any wild animals around."
"I-I see…. Oh, please don't look at me so closely."
"But you're pretty."
"Honestly… You're embarrassing me…"
The Manager got up, and after I handed things over and confirmed there was nothing unusual…
Seoyun went back to bed.
"See you in the morning, Assistant Manager."
"Okay…"
Now I could get some sleep.
I lay down alone in the men's area and had just taken a moment to catch my breath when…
………
……
The milky-white partition slid aside, and something crawled toward me.
It was Seoyun.
Was she seriously asking to sleep together?
She crawled over stealthily, clutching her pillow.
Her eyes seemed to ask desperately, 「Is it okay?」
"Assistant Manager… You can't watch horror movies, can you?"
What a scaredy-cat.
"I don't understand why anyone watches those things…"
"So you want to cuddle up and sleep with me? Luka's there, too…"
"I like you, Mr. Woojin…"
Ghh!!
Damn it.
Her acting so unlike her usual self caught me completely off guard.
If I got to see her like this, maybe the occasional horror event wasn't so bad.
"I don't mean we have to cuddle up together and sleep…"
Seoyun said it as if to make sure I didn't get the wrong idea.
"I just… don't want us to be apart."
I thought that sounded pretty much the same thing, but…
"If you're okay with being in the arms of a lecher like Kim Woojin."
"Were you holding that in?"
"It's not like that, but…"
"I wouldn't mind… doing something a little naughty…"
Seoyun set her pillow beside her.
It felt like she wouldn't accept any more objections.
"All right."
I wrapped my arms around Seoyun.
"Huh…"
I can't help myself… The Assistant Manager's really something tonight.
I sucked at her nape, slurp, slurp, and fondled her breasts.
I kneaded her butt, too.
For someone who'd promised to protect her, my hands were pretty brazen.
But rather than push me away, Seoyun clung to me even more tightly, as if asking me to reassure her.
……The Manager was looking this way again.
How ridiculous must this look to Manager Han Jia?
After separating the men's area, a different woman was cuddling up with me every night.
But I kneaded Seoyun's butt as if to show off, enjoying the moment.
Thanks to the Assistant Manager, my own fear had disappeared, too.
For the sake of protecting this butt, I can fight off anything that comes at us!!
"Mr. Woojin…"
"Yes?"
"…You're touching me too much."
"Sorry."
Whispering, 'Don't touch me too much,' the Assistant Manager nestled into my arms.
She didn't say she disliked it, though.
I held Seoyun's soft body, rubbed my cock against her little by little, and fell asleep.
Seoyun wrapped her arms around my back and clung to me as if she didn't want to let go.
* * *
Manager Han Jia watched the two of them being affectionate and smiled as if there was nothing she could do about it.
'Those two are so young, after all.'
Jia couldn't help feeling lonely.
It had been seventeen days since they'd been stranded on the deserted island.
That was no small amount of time.
Even by the standards of a man who'd enlisted in the military, it was like having spent more than half of basic training.
She missed life back in society and the people she'd shared it with, but she found herself gradually getting used to life here.
Han Jia was in the same situation.
Thanks to the exploring team's efforts, their meals had grown more varied.
She looked forward to their increasingly delicious dinners, and after filling her stomach and washing up with clean water, she felt deeply satisfied.
But…
The more comfortable camp became, the more her desires grew.
'Mmm, I'm lonely.'
Luka and Assistant Manager Kang were becoming bolder and bolder about touching each other, too.
But as a married woman, Han Jia couldn't do the same without feeling self-conscious.
The last time she'd nearly crossed the line, the backlash had hit her hard.
She'd told herself she couldn't do that and bolted the door shut on those feelings.
She'd chosen to suppress them completely.
She tried to remind herself more and more firmly that she was a mother of two and a wife.
But with them nowhere near her, her loneliness swelled to match the size of the empty space they'd left behind.
She was lonely.
Eating, sleeping, and washing up weren't enough. Something was missing.
She held back the urge to absentmindedly start acting spoiled with Kim Woojin.
She thought it was shameful for a married woman to impose her sexual desire on a younger man.
But she knew Kim Woojin would accept her without a fuss, and little by little, her resolve was wavering.
'Maybe I could, too…'
Maybe she had more right to ask than Lin Wei did.
That thought suddenly came to her, and she shook her head hard.
'Mmm, no, I can't……'
She couldn't let herself be swept away by her desires.
She had to hold out somehow until the rescue team arrived.
But when would they come, anyway?
It had already been more than two weeks since the plane crashed.
If she started relying on Mr. Woojin even more than she did now, and came to enjoy being in this camp…
It felt as if another side of Han Jia, one she hadn't known existed, might suddenly show itself.
The Manager's self-control was wearing down by the second.
The younger girls were the ones who should be spending time with Woojin. There was no place for a middle-aged woman like her to butt in… She just kept telling herself that and looking away.
Throughout her watch, Jia wished she were the one rolling around under the blankets with Woojin, instead of Assistant Manager Kang.
When she came to her senses, her pussy was hot enough to soak her underwear.
Slide.
She lightly traced a finger over her panties and kneaded her breasts.
She carefully felt herself up, making sure nobody noticed.
A brief, mild orgasm soon came to her sensitive pussy and nipples. Once she'd soothed the desire that had reared its head, she could catch her breath for a moment.
But a little while later, she burned even more fiercely, like she'd found dry kindling.
"Ah, haa……. Mr. Woojin. Put it inside me…♡"
Her masturbation grew a little more shameless and dangerous.
She spread her legs and opened her pussy herself.
She imagined that the hard cock she'd always eyed hungrily would push its way inside her body and reach the deepest part of her.
It was an intensely dangerous and sweet fantasy.
"Ah…. Mr. Woojin…♡"
"Manager?"
"Eek!"
Han Jia jumped.
The real Woojin had suddenly appeared behind her.
"Oh, did I scare you?"
"Oh, yes…"
He'd caught her masturbating……
Jia's face turned red. She squeezed her eyes shut, unable even to think of what to say.
At her age, getting caught touching her pussy because she was so sexually frustrated… Her face burned with embarrassment.
On the outside, she showed no sign of it. She closed her legs demurely and sat up straight,
but the thought that Woojin had already seen everything made her feel hot inside.
"I woke up for a moment and came over. Has anything happened while you were on watch?"
Huh……. He didn't notice?
Or was he pretending not to?
"No. Nothing happened."
If anything, what had just happened was the biggest incident.
"Weren't you asleep, Mr. Woojin?"
"The Assistant Manager thought she'd heard a wild animal, so I came to check."
"……"
His evasive manner made her sense something was off.
Kim Woojin's cock was dangerously hard, its presence obvious even through his pants.
"Oh my."
"Ah……. Well, the Assistant Manager left me in no state to fall asleep."
"Assistant Manager Kang kept clinging to you, saying how good it felt?"
"……Something like that."
Then why had he come over here?
Jia felt heat spreading through her, and at the same time, a thrill.
She wanted to hug Kim Woojin, who was sheepishly rubbing the back of his head as if he felt guilty.
"Manager. I…"
"You can speak freely."
Woojin took out his erect cock, veins standing out along the shaft. Jia swallowed as she looked at his throbbing cock.
The cock Assistant Manager Kang had made hard.
It was cute how he couldn't bring himself to pounce on Assistant Manager Kang and didn't know what to do, so he'd come to her.
Han Jia reached out as if it were only natural, gently stroking the shaft of his cock as she smiled sweetly.
"Really~ You shouldn't wave something like this in front of a married woman, Mr. Woojin."
She spoke teasingly, though she was happy inside.
What could he possibly like about a middle-aged woman like her?
Mr. Woojin kept showing her affection.
"Please suck my cock, Manager."
"What am I going to do with you…♡"
Stroke, stroke. Stroke, stroke.
As Han Jia kept stroking his cock to arouse him, her voice trailed off.
Woojin honestly offered his cock and left himself in her hands.
'It'd be a problem if Mr. Woojin couldn't sleep when he's going exploring again tomorrow.'
She spent all her time resting at camp. If she didn't take care of him…
"I shouldn't…"
"Is it really wrong?"
"A married woman's mouth shouldn't have a cock put in it, riiiight…"
Jia smiled as she stroked his cock, stroke, stroke, stroke.
Her attitude said yes to everything.
But her words held him back just a little.
Before Woojin could grow any more dejected, Han Jia opened her mouth with an "Ah…"
Her wet tongue came out to greet his cock and flicked over it.