Chapter 28
What happens if a healthy adult man and woman live together for six months?
What do you mean, what happens?
They'd fuck like crazy.
“Ha-eun, when did you buy these coffee grounds? The flavor was completely gone.”
“…Two months ago.”
“No wonder. The aroma was good, but there was no flavor. It must be flavored coffee.”
No matter what thoughts and resolutions Seo Ha-eun had while munching on her panini, it would never change anything.
Even if she lived what she considered a wholesome roommate life, what would other men think?
‘Ah, fuck, that lucky bastard gets to fondle those tits and fuck her every time he goes home.’ They'd envy him.
Women would think, ‘She likes big, well-built men who match her looks~.’
“I have some coffee beans left at home, so I'll bring them when I move my things. They're not expensive, but I got them from a decent café, so they're worth drinking.”
“….”
“It's a little annoying because you have to grind them, but the flavor lasts longer than with pre-ground coffee.”
“…You know a surprising amount about that, considering how you look.”
“What? Just because I look like this, I can't enjoy coffee? Caffeine is important to people who work out.”
Until yesterday, I had no right to say anything even if gnats were buzzing around Seo Ha-eun.
If anything, I was a gnat myself.
But not from today on.
No matter how much she hated, despised, and loathed me, we were living under one roof and sharing meals.
Even if I couldn't help salivating over meat someone else had marked with their saliva, hovering around hoping to get a bite was basically an invitation to a fight.
Whether I swatted those buzzing little bastards to death or burned them alive, that was my business.
I didn't care whether Seo Ha-eun met some prince on a white horse or not.
So fucking what.
With the man she lived with glaring at her, did she think she could start dating behind my back?
Absolutely not.
“Anyway, finish all that and get ready to leave. We have to go to the gym.”
“…Hey, I was going to go without you having to say so. Could you put some clothes on first? You're making me uncomfortable.”
“Ah, sorry. I'm in the habit of walking around naked at home.”
“P-please be a little more careful. I don't want to get involved with you if I can help it….”
“Hey, it's just you and me here. What do you mean, get involved? Just close your eyes. I'll get dressed.”
It's impossible for people living together not to talk to each other.
Just because hearts grow closer doesn't mean bodies do, but when bodies get close, hearts usually follow.
I hear that even in the military, where people are crammed together under every kind of stress, men end up calling each other brothers and living that way. It's hard for a man and woman to have a huge fight in a place overflowing with food and overlooking the Han River from the balcony.
Of course, with a fucked-up shoulder and even a bone tumor, I was a state-certified deadweight, so I couldn't really say whether that was true.
In any case, I had no intention of picking a fight first.
Not like before.
“Hmm… This outfit isn't really suitable for working out. I'll go home and change, so lend me your key card. I need to take the elevator to bring my things down.”
“….”
“And tell me the door-lock code, too. You go to the gym first. If you really want to go together, you can wait for me.”
“…940919. I'll give you the key card, so move your things yourself.”
I already knew the door lock's code from peeking at it yesterday, but since things had come this far, I deliberately asked.
If the woman I lived with caught me using that sort of sneaky observational skill, wouldn't she be creeped out by her roommate?
Well,
Seo Ha-eun seemed less creeped out than terrified.
That made her easier to handle, so I couldn't complain.
**
I left Seo Ha-eun behind, stopped by my old place, packed everything I needed into a suitcase, and set it out in the hallway.
As expected, she apparently hadn't planned to wait for me, because the house was completely empty.
I was deeply moved by the thought that she trusted me enough to leave her empty house in my care.
If I unpacked here now, I'd never finish, so I left through the front door and headed for the gym.
As soon as I entered the building, that beige ponytail was easy to spot.
Wearing a loose tracksuit top and bottoms,
Seo Ha-eun, with every inch of skin covered,
was walking slowly on the treadmill as if crawling.
“Why are you wearing so many clothes today?”
“⋯It's my choice.”
“You should've worn a tank top like usual. Ah, the leggings looked good too.”
I walked over to her, lightly tapped her on the shoulder, and spoke.
“Don't touch me! You promised! You're already….”
“We're outside, not at home. Your thighs and hips are fair game. They looked sore earlier.”
“I'm fine, so don't touch me!”
When I blatantly poked her side and hip with my fingers, she reacted with little flinches, then stopped the treadmill and began glaring daggers at me.
But even if she showed me a face like that now, honestly, it only turned me on.
I answered that contemptuous face with a mocking smile, then placed my palm right on her waist and openly stroked downward, teasing her.
“Tell me if it hurts. I spent my entire baseball career doing nothing but rehab, so I know exactly how to loosen up a body, you know?”
“Don't touch me…!”
“Come down. I'll stretch you out.”
We're both unemployed, so it doesn't matter much to either of us, but today was a weekend.
That meant the gym was packed with people.
Besides, because of that trainer bastard, most of the members were men.
Since the men's furtive glances seemed to bother her, I took her hand—she couldn't loudly object—and pulled her off the treadmill.
Then I walked to a spot with a good view of the mirrors, sat her down on a mat, bent low, and whispered into her ear.
“⋯Spread your legs a little and stretch your hands straight out in front of you.”
“You⋯!”
“Stretching. Stretching. You hurt, don't you? Your hips and lower back. ⋯Doesn't it hurt after what you did?”
I openly placed my hand on her side, slid it down a little, and lightly pinched her thigh and hip.
Because her muscles were tightly knotted, she held her breath and barely managed to suppress a scream.
It felt like she'd really moan if I tormented her any further, so this time I moved my hand to her back, gently stroked along her spine, pressed my thumb just above the cleft of her buttocks, and instructed her.
“Stretch your arms forward and bend at the waist. Stretch out as far as you can. That's how you loosen your hips.”
“⋯.”
“⋯Hurry up. If you just sit there, this'll take forever.”
She bit her lip and looked up at me, but eventually she couldn't defy my instructions and obediently began bending at the waist.
Her face reflected in the mirror drew closer to the mat, and a faint moan escaped, soft enough that only I could hear it from nearby.
As a result, I realized my erection was plainly visible even through my sweatpants, so I adjusted the waistband and pulled my clothes into place to hide it as much as possible.
“Okay, lower.”
“⋯I can't….”
“You can.”
“Unngh….”
She had seemed fairly flexible when we'd had sex, but muscle pain made her grimace and resist, insisting she couldn't. So I pressed my thumb repeatedly into her lower back and loosened her up until her chest touched the floor.
The moan she'd been suppressing escaped through her nose, and the people who had been sneaking glances at us began openly staring.
Feeling a kind of superiority from those stares, I pressed my thumb down hard on her lower back so she couldn't get up.
“Now, twenty seconds. Breathe in. Breathe out.”
“Haa⋯.”
“Three more breaths. In. Out.”
“⋯Hoo⋯.”
Her clothes, and what she was doing, too.
In fact, it was nothing but wholesome stretching, with nothing sexy about it, but she was suffering through every kind of embarrassment, her ears burning even redder than they had during her first time.
⋯It's a little much if she gets embarrassed over this already.
Well, the more intense the reaction, the more interesting it was, so maybe it was better this way.
After confirming that the shy Seo Ha-eun had inhaled and exhaled five times in that sexy manner, I relaxed the pressure of my thumb and allowed her to get up.
“Haa⋯.”
“Good job. Just three more times. There are other stretches, too.”
“⋯.”
It couldn't have been that difficult, but with her cheeks flushed bright red, she glared at me hatefully with eyes on the verge of tears.
I responded to that look with a good-natured smile, lightly stroked her back, then squatted down and began kneading her thighs as well.
“Hey, stop⋯!”
“I'm loosening you up. Stay still.”
Startled by my touch, Seo Ha-eun swung her beige ponytail around and smacked me with her hair.
Ignoring that, I massaged her thighs vigorously, and every time I worked a knot out of her muscles, she covered her mouth and tilted her head back.
Hey, if you keep doing that, you'll make the people around us angry.
But I was someone who enjoyed making people angry, so I applied more force and thoroughly loosened her muscles.
“⋯Hnnngh⋯.”
“Bear with it even if it hurts. It's supposed to hurt.”
It would've been sexier if she were wearing leggings, so that was a little disappointing.
Still, I knew what her bare skin felt like by now, so I could imagine it convincingly enough through her sweatpants.
Unable to run away and unable to scream,
I massaged Seo Ha-eun to my heart's content as she stared at the ceiling with shame-filled eyes and covered her mouth with her hand.
While Seo Ha-eun was being massaged by me, cold sweat began trickling down her as she poured all her concentration into barely suppressing her moans.
And the more embarrassed she became,
the gazes of the people around us
grew more and more intense.
“All right, you've loosened up enough. Lie down again. Stretch your hands out.”
By now, perhaps she thought hiding her face against the floor would be better,
or perhaps she simply couldn't bear having her thighs teased in front of everyone else,
because even though I made her do the exact same stretch as before,
Seo Ha-eun didn't talk back to me at all,
pinned down by a single thumb,
and with her chest pressed to the floor, she let only me hear her erotic breathing—ungh, ungh.
“⋯.”
⋯This is why gyms are so great.
They're places where showing off your body is perfectly acceptable.
Even if you get a little handsy,
you can conveniently pass it off as exercise.
I inwardly snickered at the trainer bastard glaring over here with a positively murderous look.
I felt like I could understand, at least a little,
why that bastard hit on every female member who came in.