Chapter 23
Han Taeyang was always brutally disparaging of Kim Minjun. He would say that the bastard didn't like her and merely regarded her as little more than a substitute for Baek Seol-ah.
Honestly, lately even Seo Ahyeon herself had been unable to completely deny that.
‘……It wasn't like that from the beginning, though.’
Whether it was due to regret over their once-happy past or a defense of her lover's honor.
At the very least, Seo Ahyeon wanted to partially deny the former part of Han Taeyang's harsh criticism.
It wasn't that Kim Minjun hadn't liked Seo Ahyeon.
At least, that was how it felt to her.
-I like you, Ahyeon.
-Yeah……. Me too.
There had definitely been moments in the past when they had exchanged affectionate words like a fresh-faced couple.
The shy expression Kim Minjun had worn then, that flush on his face, could not possibly have been fake.
‘That much is certain. Minjun did……. He definitely liked me.’
Though it had recently become difficult for her to assert herself, Seo Ahyeon could still state that with certainty.
That affection—that romantic feeling. Though it hadn't been pure from the beginning, it had been genuine.
But.
“……”
When had it been that Kim Minjun, who had started dating Seo Ahyeon, began to go astray?
Even if she didn't know the exact point in time, she knew the trigger and the cause all too well.
How could she not? Her own boyfriend had always been looking elsewhere.
Seo Ahyeon raised her head with vacant eyes as she stood in the rain.
The cheek Kim Minjun had struck honestly hadn't hurt all that much, since he was a magic-type Awakener.
Physically……. That was what she meant.
Whoosh——
Rain poured down from far above, beating against Seo Ahyeon's reddened cheek.
Already raw, it was irritated even further, as though the rainwater were pouring oil on the flames.
“……Ha.”
Seo Ahyeon let out a self-deprecating laugh, and her thoughts began sinking ever deeper.
Her memories went back further than the present, though not as far back as a year ago.
‘Baek Seol-ah.’
The name she muttered quietly in her mind belonged to her friend and Cheongwoon Academy's top student in their year.
It wasn't as though Baek Seol-ah had done anything wrong, but if one had to name the trigger, she had ultimately been the cause.
Whenever Seo Ahyeon saw Baek Seol-ah or spoke with her, she could never easily control the emotions that stirred within her.
After all, Baek Seol-ah had been the very person Kim Minjun had openly pined after during their first year.
And although Seo Ahyeon didn't know it, Kim Minjun probably had never once let go of those feelings.
He had merely hidden and suppressed them because Baek Seol-ah had gotten a boyfriend named Lee Hyunseong.
His feelings for Baek Seol-ah had only grown stronger, never weaker.
Moreover, the romantic feelings the man had harbored within him for so long had gradually turned into obsession.
-Damn……. Damn it. Why not me?
-Why did you choose that bastard, Lee Hyunseong?
……Even without knowing anything else, that alone would have been enough to twist his nature in an increasingly unpleasant direction.
Seo Ahyeon still remembered the day she had spent the night with Kim Minjun and made love to him for the first time.
In the early morning, when he still seemed slightly drunk, he had looked at a photograph of Baek Seol-ah by himself.
She remembered the muttering he had uttered in anguish while sitting on the edge of the bed, believing that his girlfriend—herself—was asleep.
Seo Ahyeon, who had been naked beneath the covers at the time, had trembled but held her breath completely still.
She had merely woken from sleep, but the emotion had nevertheless been so vivid that she couldn't have mistaken it.
Only then had she realized that Kim Minjun still had lingering feelings for Baek Seol-ah.
And she had realized that even after loving her both physically and emotionally, he hadn't erased those feelings at all.
‘How much did I cry alone in my room the next day?’
It would be a lie to say she hadn't been shocked. But.
Even so, Seo Ahyeon had wanted to support Kim Minjun. She had believed that someday he would be able to move on from his first love.
“……Aren't you just an idiot?”
It had all been one grand delusion. Whenever Han Taeyang called her an idiot, she had always gotten angry first.
But at this rate, she couldn't even deny it. Just as he said, an undeniable idiot was standing right here.
Move on from his first love? What was she talking about?
He had only grown worse.
The affection he had once clearly held for her had completely cooled, even if it had never been as strong as what he felt for Baek Seol-ah; it began with the coldness in his gaze.
After realizing that his girlfriend, who couldn't overpower him physically, had gradually begun watching his every move, the brutality of his attitude also became increasingly blatant.
From then on, even when she went on dates with Kim Minjun, she felt nothing but hollow and empty inside.
Even when she went to bed with him while harboring faint expectations, it had been neither more nor less than a way for him to relieve his lust.
-Seo Ahyeon, go get fucked by another man. Preferably of your own free will.
Ultimately, claiming that ordinary stimulation wasn't enough…… he had even casually made a request—or rather, an order—that was so difficult to believe despite having heard it clearly.
That was what had happened today.
Even while her mind was blank, Seo Ahyeon recalled how she had forced herself to gather her composure and refuse him, only to be slapped in the end, and let out a cold laugh.
‘Stupid bitch.’
She should have slapped him right back then and there. At the very least, she should have hurled a flood of curses at him.
Even if she was a coward, how could she merely stand there with tears welling in her eyes after being treated like that?
“……Hah……”
Seo Ahyeon let out a deep sigh rising from the depths of her lungs and squeezed her eyes shut.
Rainwater touched her closed eyelids, then slowly streamed down the bridge of her nose.
Never had Seo Ahyeon resented her timid personality as much as she did today.
She was tired of walking endlessly. She didn't want to move anymore.
She stopped short.
Seo Ahyeon ultimately found herself standing in some unknown part of campus, blinking with hazy eyes.
“Hey, what the hell are you doing standing there like an idiot in the rain?”
“──.”
It was at that very moment. She had wanted to stay exactly like this, let the rain soak her through, and melt away like a sugar cube.
Seo Ahyeon suddenly realized that the moisture drenching her jet-black hair had weakened.
……The familiar voice that slipped into her ears was an added bonus.
Seo Ahyeon turned around in a daze, as though entranced.
And the moment she saw the man standing there, blocking the rain pouring down on her with his school-uniform jacket.
“……Hic, uh.”
Truly unable to hold it back, and with no other choice.
‘Gush,’ her tears burst forth.
*****
“Sniff, sob. Han Taeyang, I, I…… What do I do now? I really, really don't know anything…….”
“……”
“Sob, waaaah.”
She had been standing there blankly in the rain until now, but the moment I approached, Seo Ahyeon burst into tears, as though all the emotions she had been holding back had exploded.
She showed me a more fragile side than ever before, looking up at me, then soon began sobbing loudly, unable to contain the tears gathering and running down her face.
‘……Fucking psychopath.’
And I looked down at her coldly and muttered inwardly.
A remarkably violent thing to say.
Naturally, I wasn't referring to Seo Ahyeon with those words or that look.
There was an unmistakable psychopath elsewhere. Surely I wasn't going to call this pitiful girl that.
I reflexively reached out my hand, but stopped short of putting it around Seo Ahyeon's shoulder.
Then I softly clenched my teeth and muttered.
“Seo Ahyeon.”
“……Sniff, sob, sniff.”
“Where is that bastard Kim Minjun right now?”
I kept the question short and concise. With a chillingly sunken gaze, I asked Seo Ahyeon that.
My purpose was simple. I just wanted to find that bastard right now and break his jaw.
Seo Ahyeon's voice shook uncontrollably as she sobbed out a series of fragmented words.
But if I forcibly gathered and pieced together those fragments, the cause and effect of this situation became obvious.
Kim Minjun had finally crossed the line. It wasn't enough that he had gaslighted and controlled his girlfriend at will for nearly half a year and beaten her. What?
‘He can't get any dopamine from a normal relationship, so he wants her to go get fucked by another man……? That bastard's fucking insane.’
Even I, the blonde tanned bastard in an NTR novel, could not help but be horrified by such insane drivel, beyond mere exasperation.
This was completely different from Baek Seol-ah and Lee Hyunseong's situation. It made netorare itself feel mild by comparison.
In the first place, in Baek Seol-ah's case, why had she reluctantly accepted Lee Hyunseong's unpleasant request?
First of all, Lee Hyunseong had broached the subject while humbly begging and apologizing. That was the biggest difference.
He understood his own position better than anyone, and was even aware that he had no right to complain if she rejected him. He had probably been prepared to be dumped as well.
Besides, one way or another, the emotion underlying that netorare play was Lee Hyunseong's affection for Baek Seol-ah.
Because he loved Baek Seol-ah, he merely wanted the woman he loved to come back after being held by another man.
Even if it was a somewhat twisted form of affection and lust, the underlying motivation itself had not changed.
Because Baek Seol-ah knew that fact well, she had ultimately allowed me to have her body despite despising Lee Hyunseong.
The proof was that the two of them were still, for the time being, a close and lovey-dovey couple.
On the other hand, Kim Minjun?
What about that bastard?
It could essentially be summed up in a single word.
My expression turned utterly frigid.
‘Sexual humiliation.’
It went beyond the realm of mere ‘play’; it was sheer malice, wanting to use Seo Ahyeon as a whore.
He simply wanted to feel pleasure at the sight of Seo Ahyeon's chastity being trampled into the dirt.
At this point, it felt wrong to remain a bystander. I asked Seo Ahyeon where he was, as though I were about to go find Kim Minjun that very moment.
“……Ah, ah, no. Don't. Don't.”
Perhaps Seo Ahyeon had read my thoughts as well, because she immediately grabbed my arm with a pale expression.
Her touch was utterly devoid of strength……. Her hand was simply frail, with no mana in it at all.
I made a face as though I had bitten into something rotten, and Seo Ahyeon desperately shook her head, trying to stop me.
“Please, don't……. You know that if you seriously hit him, Minjun could die…….”
“……Even in a situation like this, you're worried about your boyfriend?”
“No, the person I'm worried about is─. Hic.”
Seo Ahyeon tried to say more in response to my question, but I didn't want to hear it. With an annoyed expression, I abruptly pulled my school-uniform jacket over the top of Seo Ahyeon's head.
Then I clamped down on the slender wrist gripping my arm with my other hand—‘Clamp!’—and said.
“I always told you. That you were a foolish bitch. Those words really fit you perfectly. How have you not changed at all, Seo Ahyeon?”
“……Ah, hng.”
“Even after being told to go get fucked by another man, you still want to care about that bastard? Wow, a true tale of pure love for the ages is standing right here. How admirable.”
I didn't like it. Any of it, from beginning to end.
Naturally, my tone twisted into something harsher as well.
Giving Seo Ahyeon even more pressure in this situation might not have been the best choice, but honestly, it was hard to hold back.
The fact that I was swallowing even worse curses and merely taunting her was already a great act of restraint.
……No, perhaps changing my approach entirely could be one way to handle this.
I closed my slightly parted lips for a moment, then smiled coldly and murmured.
“If you like Kim Minjun that much, why are you crying so pathetically? Just do as he tells you.”
“……W-what?”
At my sudden change in attitude, Seo Ahyeon flinched, and her eyelashes trembled faintly for an instant.
I paid no attention. Having steeled my resolve, I leaned my upper body toward her with a sinister air.
Then I looked down at Seo Ahyeon from close range as she reflexively hunched her shoulders. She stiffened completely and fixed both eyes on me—and.
I forcibly erased the hesitation that had briefly surfaced and suddenly grabbed Seo Ahyeon's breast.
“……!”
“Well, it is a little underwhelming, but it's better than nothing. Looks like it'll be worth touching.”
‘Squish.’ My rough hand slowly kneaded her petite breast.
As the equally languid words slipped from my mouth, Seo Ahyeon tried to pull away, but.
“Hng……?!”
“Where do you think you're going? Since your wonderful boyfriend has given you an order, you ought to follow it faithfully, shouldn't you? Seo Ahyeon.”
“W-wait, Han Taeyang……. Hng, ah.”
I wrapped an arm around Seo Ahyeon's lower back so she couldn't escape.
Maintaining the even narrower distance between us, I continued touching her breast.
Through her school-uniform blouse, soaked by the rain, I could feel even the thin underwear beneath it.
With a furtive touch, I slid aside her bra and exposed more of Seo Ahyeon's bare skin.
“H-Han Taeyang. Don't do this……. I know what you're thinking, but I'm really having a hard time right now. Please.”
“……”
Perhaps because we'd known each other for well over a year by then, Seo Ahyeon suddenly said something unexpected and avoided my gaze with a sorrowful expression.
I hadn't even been pushing that hard, yet it was also an unfamiliar sensation that she didn't slap away the hand wantonly squeezing and teasing her breast.
I looked at Seo Ahyeon, who had obediently allowed herself to be held and was only letting out faint moans, with a strange look.
“What do you mean, you know what I'm thinking? All I'm thinking about right now is fucking you. I guess I should thank Kim Minjun for this.”
“……Ah, uh.”
Thinking that nothing was going to change soon, I smoothly returned my expression to normal and continued acting.
Fortunately, thanks to the experience I'd gained over the past year, my acting had improved considerably.
Even if Seo Ahyeon had somehow seen through my intention to use shock therapy, she was already, as she had said herself, having a very difficult time.
If I simply pressed forward with enough force, it would become harder for her to understand exactly what I was thinking, too.
And by then, she would be frightened. She would wonder whether I really intended to violate her.
She would wonder whether the me she knew would, true to my delinquent nature, pounce on her while she was at her most desperate.
“P-please……. Han Taeyang, ah. Hic.”
“I've done it outdoors before, but I've never done it with a woman while getting rained on. Well, this is refreshing in its own way.”
“……Ah, ah.”
“What are you waiting for? Take it off, Seo Ahyeon. I'll have my fill of you as your boyfriend wishes, then send you back.”
In the end, Seo Ahyeon lowered her eyes and sucked in a breath at my consistently vicious and violent attitude.
Apparently unable to endure the overwhelming pressure any longer, she squeezed both eyes shut tightly.
SMACK─!
“……”
“……Hrk.”
She had probably never expected to do it herself, but she gave me an even more effective response than I had intended.
Seo Ahyeon had slapped me across the cheek, her face pale as a sheet, even though her hand was trembling violently.
Of course, it had probably been close to a reflexive slap, because she soon looked horrified and guilt-ridden. She really was consistent to the end.
“S-sorry, Han Taeyang. I, I mean, I……”
“……See? You know how to do it when you try.”
“W-what?”
It didn't matter. Whether she apologized or not, I didn't care; I simply grinned.
That was enough of my blond, tanned delinquent act, which strangely felt like something I hadn't performed in a long time.
I stared at Seo Ahyeon while rubbing my right cheek, which was intensely numb, as though the inside of my mouth had been torn open.
Unlike Kim Minjun, this one seemed to have properly channeled mana into her swing as well.
‘If Kim Minjun had taken that hit, he'd have needed at least four weeks to recover.’
It stung a little, but in the long run, it wasn't a bad thing.
Satisfied enough, I continued speaking.
“So you can hit someone just fine. Until now, outside a ranking match, you acted like you couldn't even flick someone on the forehead.”
“……Ah, that.”
“Have you come to your senses now? Hm? Seo Ahyeon. Do you know what you have to do when you go back?”
“……”
“Ugh, I can taste blood.”
I grimaced at the dull metallic taste in my mouth and spat out the blood with a ‘Ptooey.’
Seo Ahyeon's face grew even paler, but I merely shrugged nonchalantly.
“Listen, if you can hit me that well but don't have the guts to hit the bastard who really deserves it, I won't let you off. I'll pay you back twice over, got it?”
“……”
No further explanation was probably necessary.
Seo Ahyeon seemed to have understood my intentions from the start.
I hoped this shock therapy would work and that, preferably soon, she would pay Kim Minjun back for everything he had done to her.
‘Well, it won't be easy right away.’
How could I not know Seo Ahyeon? It wasn't a simple enough matter for her to accomplish that quickly.
I merely intended to make sure she did it somehow, even if it took several days.
“For now, Seo Ahyeon, don't meet that bastard Kim Minjun for a while, and spend some time by yourself……”
So, just as I was about to speak again and sort things out from here.
Gush-!
“……Huh?”
Along with a sound that seemed like it belonged in a cartoon, Seo Ahyeon suddenly burst into tears.
The streams running down her cheeks flowed with remarkable speed.
I scratched my cheek, suddenly feeling awkward.
“No, you don't have to cry again over that……. Ow.”
“……!?”
The problem was that the cheek I had happened to scratch out of habit was the exact spot I had been struck moments ago.
I carelessly touched the injured area with my fingernail, then let out a brief groan at the sharp pain.
“……Sob, uh. Sniff. Sob.”
“Wait. Just wait, Seo Ahyeon. I understand how you feel, but don't cry for now. Just stop—. Guh.”
I hurriedly reached out both hands and tried to calm Seo Ahyeon with a ‘Whoa, whoa,’ but my efforts were useless.
Soon, Seo Ahyeon rushed into my arms, tears pouring down her flushed face.
I let out a low cry at the small but far from weak impact. And then.
Seo Ahyeon wrapped her arms around my back and clung to me for a long while……. Then she sobbed into my arms for just as long.