Chapter 29
“Hah⋯, hah⋯. Please stop, I’m begging you⋯.”
Seo Ha-eun was crouched down, drenched in sweat and panting as she begged me.
Even the way she panted and her hair soaked with sweat were exactly my type.
If there was anything disappointing, it was the outfit.
If she were wearing leggings instead of sweats, her figure would stand out more and she’d be even hotter.
Next time I got the chance, I should pick out her clothes and bring her here too.
The trainer bastard would probably love seeing me bring her in with my hand around her waist.
“Can’t do any more?”
“I can’t⋯.”
“Ah, then let’s stop here. Let’s go home.”
Seo Ha-eun’s face, exhausted to the point of looking ready to drop dead, was fucking hot, but I hadn’t done anything particularly sexual.
I’d simply spent an hour carefully teaching her how to loosen up her body, then made her do a few sets of bodyweight squats.
Other than pressing down firmly with my fingers, I hadn’t even touched her.
The stretching had been pretty intense, but for someone who supposedly had worked out for years, she was surprisingly lacking in stamina and strength.
Then again, considering how much she’d enjoyed herself yesterday, it made sense that she was already panting.
This was enough.
My goal had been to drain all her stamina, anyway.
“Don’t touch meee⋯!”
“Can you even stand up?”
“I can, I said⋯.”
“Then can you wash up and walk home?”
“I’ll take care of it myself⋯.”
“I’m asking if you can really go alone. If you’re fine, I’ll leave just like this.”
….”
Seo Ha-eun, panting heavily with an utterly exhausted face, glared at me with an indignant expression.
…Yeah, that’s it.
The Seo Ha-eun I remembered had always come with that rude, insolent look as her default setting.
That was why I disliked her,
and why I occasionally looked up a few actresses who looked similar.
Though after seeing her naked, those breasts weren’t even similar.
“Don’t talk nonsense. Let’s go home and rest. You came out wearing that, right?”
“That’s true, but, ah, I told you not to touch meee⋯!”
I shoved my hand into the armpit beneath those vulgar breasts and forcibly pulled her to her feet.
I tried to put Seo Ha-eun’s arm around my neck, but with our difference in height, it looked like she’d have to dangle in midair.
So I had no choice but to wrap my arm around Seo Ha-eun’s waist instead, grab our things, and leave the gym.
“I need to wash up⋯.”
“Go wash up.”
Because I openly kept her pressed tightly against me as I led her out, I was pleased to see Seo Ha-eun’s face redden under all the attention.
I supported the sweat-soaked Seo Ha-eun as we walked slowly down the street.
Even after taking the tumbler from her bag and giving her water, my heart was still pounding.
Feeling sorry for someone with such a great figure but such lousy stamina, I stopped by the convenience store we’d visited yesterday.
“Kang Joo-hyuk⋯, why are we stopping at the convenience store⋯?”
“You look exhausted, so I thought I’d buy you a drink.”
Maybe the smell of her sweat had reached the counter; the clerk, who had been fiddling with his phone, looked over at us with a complicated, subtle expression. I passed him and bought two cans of soda.
It was a different clerk from yesterday, but he was a man too.
Maybe because he looked relatively normal compared to the slightly gloomy night clerk, I found it even more satisfying to show off.
“Hey, hey! Let go, Kang Joo-hyuk⋯!”
“You don’t need a drink? You look thirsty.”
“I do, but let go first…!”
She tried somehow to pull away from me, but she was too exhausted even to do more than mutter curses, so I hugged her waist tightly.
With her exhausted body unable to resist, let alone do anything else, Seo Ha-eun had no choice but to hang onto me with her head bowed.
“Oh, right. I didn’t bring my wallet. Do you have one in your bag?”
“Seriously, you, I’m going to kill you⋯!”
“If not, it can’t be helped.”
Chuckling, I took out my phone instead of a wallet to pay, then left the convenience store with my arm around her waist.
Perhaps because of the smell of sweat, the clerk stared at us with a displeased expression, but I liked that attention; it was hardly a bad thing.
“Here, drink. Drink it, then go sit on that bench. People are looking at us weird.”
“You’re seriously⋯.”
I opened the drink and handed it to her, then, putting on a face full of hypocrisy, led her to the bench.
It was the middle of the day on a weekend, so there were plenty of people out.
Plenty of people were also watching a man and woman with a height difference of well over twenty centimeters walk along pressed tightly together.
It might vary from person to person, but I didn’t dislike having attention drawn to me at all.
Especially when I had a sexy woman tucked under my arm.
“Hey, why is your stamina so bad? You come to the gym religiously.”
“You—you said you wouldn’t touch me, you fucking⋯.”
“Don’t swear on the street in broad daylight. And I didn’t touch you. I was helping you loosen up.”
“You fucking bastard, you touched my waist! And my breasts⋯.”
“You couldn’t stand up, so I helped you up.”
Maybe she was embarrassed by all the attention raining down on her, but Seo Ha-eun whispering curses with her head bowed looked sexy.
Whenever she bent at the waist, her breasts stood out no matter what she wore.
Her clothes were pretty shabby, but with tits like those, what did it matter if she was wearing sweats?
Still⋯, she’d probably look even hotter in something like a dress with side slits.
I’d save that for later enjoyment.
“Can’t walk? Want me to carry you on my back?”
“No need, haa⋯. Let me rest for ten minutes. Just ten minutes.”
Even after touching her so much, I’d managed to get one step closer to Seo Ha-eun without her being able to do anything to punish me, only panting helplessly.
Last time, touching her hand had led straight to sex, so how far could I go this time after touching her waist?
Well, without any alcohol, it would be difficult to take her again today.
But I was confident I could fuck her doggy-style from behind within six months.
This woman⋯
seemed to hate her younger sibling more than she hated me.
The reason was, well⋯
Maybe because they were doing so well?
**
“Good work~”
Sparkling, glittering lights.
A noisy set filled with murmurs.
The green chroma key that was supposedly easy on the eyes, but only made me more tired every time I looked at it.
Though I was no longer a student, I had no idea how many more times I’d have to wear the school uniform.
I wanted to change into my regular clothes as soon as possible,
and get out of this noisy, bustling space as quickly as I could.
“⋯Good work.”
“Ah, Jia. Good work~”
After nearly a week of filming finally wrapped up, it was only natural that I was completely drained.
Well, there was still plenty to finish up.
Looking at it from the broad perspective of the MV shoot, the schedule was more or less over.
The problem was that I’d be even busier once it ended.
“You too, unnie.”
“Hey, we’ve known each other for years. Why are you so formal~ You can speak casually to me~”
“⋯I’m not used to speaking casually. I even use honorifics with my own older sister.”
Thinking that I’d be even busier than I was now, I suddenly thought of the older sister I’d erased from my mind.
⋯Yesterday was quite a spectacle, unnie.
You called me in such a hurry, I thought that loser had brought a man home.
I can’t believe it was true.
“Really? Ah, come to think of it, I can’t really imagine you acting cute with your sister.”
“Well⋯, that’s true.”
“What kind of idol doesn’t act cute? …is what I want to say, but you’re so popular I can’t criticize you. If you acted cute, you’d become more popular than Hinami, and that wouldn’t do.”
“If acting cute like Hinami were all it took to become popular, I would’ve done it long ago. That’s just her nature; this suits me better, so I made it my concept.”
I’d barely managed to forget that man’s naked body from yesterday, but the fishy smell in the bedroom and the room’s wretched state still wouldn’t leave my mind.
⋯The sister I knew had surely never been with a man before, so how had she gotten involved with him?
I hadn’t been sure, but that person really was him.
Kang Joo-hyuk.
It was awkward to put it this way,
but he was the man I’d dealt with for her.
“Jia, when you say things like that, you really have such a brainy-sexy vibe. I like it. Can you make that expression again? I’ll take a picture of you.”
“I look like I’m making a really pathetic face. Are you sure?”
“Exactly! I love it. Make that face one more time. If we show it to your fans, they’ll lose their minds.”
“⋯Well, if it’s fan service.”
I only thought, in my childish way, that since my sister hated him so much and was stressed out, maybe I should make him disappear.
In the end, things turned out a little unfortunate, but that wasn’t something I could help.
When my sister suddenly asked me for an autograph while bringing up the name of the person she hated so much, I even wondered if she’d gone crazy.
Yesterday, that suspicion turned into certainty.
⋯If I see her today, I think it’ll be confirmed.
What are you doing, unnie?
I told you not to cause trouble.
“Good. Ready? I’m taking it.”
“⋯Yes.”
I let out all the sighs and exasperation I’d have to save for when I met my sister later,
then fixed my gaze on the phone the stylist unnie held out,
and took a photo with an expression my fans would really love.
She hadn’t specifically asked me to pose,
but perhaps because I’d built up so many years in the industry,
I’d somehow developed the habit of striking a plausible pose whenever a camera came near.
⋯I was a little nervous when I debuted.
Now I was so used to it that it was a problem.
“Wow⋯, an idol really is an idol. Our Jia. Ah, but we’ll have to crop out these thighs. It’s too sexy.”
“Who’s ‘our Jia’? Don’t arbitrarily treat me like I’m yours.”
No matter how I looked at it, the photo of me didn’t look like me.
Every time I reviewed content featuring me, I was surprised by myself.
Even as I felt I was gradually becoming narcissistic,
I couldn’t help being confident in my looks.
No,
I had to be.
I am beautiful.
“So prickly. Then, Jia, who do you belong to?”
“Well, that’s⋯.”
Seo Ye-eun was one thing, but
the person known as Seo Jia
was,
more than anyone else,
a truly incredible person.
“I belong to all the fans. Obviously, right?”
“⋯Now I understand why you’re so popular. Seriously.”
Because I was an idol solely for my fans.
Whether the feelings they had for me were admiration,
or something akin to the so-called pseudo-romance,
or simply an appreciation of the artistic value in my voice and dance lines,
⋯even if they felt a primal attraction after looking at my figure,
it didn’t matter.
They were all just fans.
“Anyway, Jia, what are you doing after today’s schedule?”
“…I think I’ll have to see my sister. I have plans.”
⋯So I wanted to let things slide amicably if possible,
but I felt I had to say something to my sister, who was gradually falling apart.
“What? If you didn’t have plans, I was going to ask you out.”
“I have a prior engagement, so I’ll have to politely decline.”
“Would you accept if you didn’t?”
“I’d still say no. I was planning to go home and get some proper rest.”
“If you keep that up, I won’t send you the photo.”
“Ah, you can’t do that. My fans will love that photo.”
Please stop using Instagram.
I don’t know what you might do, and it makes me anxious.
If reporters find out that my sister and I have a bad relationship, it’ll be a huge headache.
I need to tighten the reins.
I thought keeping her on a leash with money would stop her from causing trouble.
Did she seriously think she wouldn’t get caught if she made a secret account?
She was free to badmouth me with her friends there if she wanted,
but despite being incompetent enough to get into debt, I didn’t want her causing trouble for me too.
“Seriously, it’s always ‘fans, fans’ whenever you say anything. You’re good with words.”
“If an idol doesn’t think about her fans, who will?”
“Fine. I’ll send it, but do I really have to say on Instagram that the stylist unnie took it?”
“Yes.”
Getting fooled by a strange man and letting him take the reins would be an even bigger problem.
Anyone else would be one thing, but that man was dangerous.
I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve felt, in this ugly world, just how evil someone who’s been wronged can become.
Of all people, you had to fall for a man who held a grudge against you, unnie.
You should’ve found a decent man, not one who only looked good on the outside.
With those breasts and that face, someone much more suitable would come flocking to you. …You’re seriously stupid.