Just Holding Hands, My Ass

"Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"I hate being asked what I'm doing."

"No, seriously, are you kidding me? I get that, but inside someone's clothes—"

Seo-ah stared straight at Eun-chan. So A-classes really don't go down easily to monster liquid after all. Having such a sturdy body was actually a problem in moments like this.

"You okay?"

"Why? Why do you keep asking that? Looks like I've handled everything, so report."

Eun-chan set Seo-ah down. He pulled off his t-shirt and wiped the liquid that had splattered across his head, his face scrunched in annoyance at the sticky, clinging mess.

Well, obviously I'm asking because it shouldn't be okay, but you look fine. Seo-ah muttered this to herself, keeping a close watch on his condition the whole time.

Maybe all that boxing gave him decent mental fortitude too. So it wasn't going to be this easy, huh?

"Lee Seo-ah. I asked you a question."

"If you actually got hit with that, there's no way you'd be fine. But you look perfectly normal."

"Hey, why are you only saying that after getting hit with the whole thing... ugh."

Eun-chan's face twisted hard, and his broad chest rose and fell heavily. The muscles across his wide shoulders and forearms twitched, going taut. Watching the change take hold of him, the corners of Seo-ah's mouth danced with delight.

The reaction had kicked in. It was slower than she'd hoped, but it seemed to be working, which was a relief. Honestly, if she'd told him to dodge in advance, he would have—and that would have been a disaster.

Seo-ah had fully intended to guide him one way or another, but since it was Eun-chan of all people, she didn't want the memory lingering in his mind.

Just in case. In other words, if she guided him and it turned out to be mediocre, she'd need to pretend it never happened—so she'd pulled a little sleight of hand.

Seo-ah delivered her report casually, and fast.

Because she needed to guide him while the liquid's effects were active. The moment the thought crossed her mind that time might be short, impatience gripped her.

"The monster is A-class. It's made entirely of liquid and mimics a human form. It extends tentacles in liquid form to use as arms and legs, but there are no visible eyes or mouth. I've dealt with every monster in sight, but there may be more deeper inside, so I'll verify."

Seo-ah, who had rattled off the report without taking a breath, shut off the camera. Naturally, before doing so, she explained her reason with unwavering firmness.

"I'm going to guide you."

At those words, Eun-chan scraped his eyebrow up with his thumb.

"...You're seriously saying you'll guide me?"

"I have to. Otherwise you might go berserk."

Seo-ah declared shamelessly.

Does she genuinely think I'm an idiot? Eun-chan let out a hollow laugh at her lie. Sure, he'd heard during orientation that overusing one's ability led to berserk states.

But he knew perfectly well he was nowhere near that point. Whether she'd forgotten or simply didn't care, Seo-ah seemed to have overlooked the fact that he had a device too.

The device that told an esper exactly how much of their ability they could use before going berserk—informally known as the rampage gauge.

"Give me your hand."

Guiding worked with a simple touch of the hand. But seriously—was he really supposed to embrace a girl who'd never done anything, let alone sex, in a place like this, on her very first time?

Eun-chan didn't want that for her. But it was nothing more than his own flimsy, one-sided consideration. Seo-ah had spent an entire year stockpiling every conceivable scenario to play out inside a gate.

Nowhere else would do.

'Kids playing house, and he wants to hold hands?'

Is he serious? If that's all we're doing, why did he let me get doused in monster liquid?

Seo-ah narrowed her eyes at Eun-chan.

'What is this, backing out now? That's not like you, Kang Eun-chan.'

But then again, he could only hold out so long.

It was a shame the tentacle monster couldn't be put to use, but this would be more than enough. A slightly dazed, hazily-drugged Eun-chan suited her far better than a clear-headed one, anyway.

While Eun-chan agonized over planting Seo-ah's first experience as a good memory, Seo-ah was thinking only, 'too bad there are no tentacles,' and 'I want to see Eun-chan running on pure instinct.'

As a rule, it was sex done with reason slightly offline that constituted the true essence of the act. Recalling every novel and manga she'd ever read, Seo-ah waited eagerly for the reaction to hit Eun-chan already.

"You really think just your hand will do it?"

Seo-ah probed, watching his face. Eun-chan, taking it as a dumb question, promptly grabbed her hand.

"Ngh...!"

Yet somehow, the mere touch of her hand made everywhere she'd touched flare hot. Flustered, he frowned—and the corners of Seo-ah's lips curved up ever so slightly. Sharp-eyed Eun-chan couldn't possibly have missed it.

"Hey. Tell me the truth."

He gripped her hand tight and yanked her toward him. Seo-ah let herself be pulled without resistance. He knew perfectly well she could have held her ground and was only pretending to lose. Her body, pressed flush against his, burned as if thrown onto a fire.

"What do you mean, truth?"

"That liquid the monster sprayed. Why is it bad if you get hit with it?"

"If you get hit, your body goes haywire. So if you don't get guided right now, you won't hold out. This is all for your sake."

The liquid also had a memory-wiping effect. If the guiding turned out to be unimpressive, it was better for both of them if Eun-chan didn't remember it.

What would be the point of remembering? They'd just be mortified forever.

Thinking this, Seo-ah flashed him a sly smile. She pressed her body subtly against Kang Eun-chan's and gazed up at him.

To Eun-chan, her insides were laid bare. She got hit with that stuff on purpose so she'd have an excuse to guide me.

Little thing doesn't even know what to be scared of. He tightened his grip on her hand.

"Hahh..."

His body wasn't just hot—it felt like it was burning away. The eyes watching him were brimming with curiosity.

"See that? You're heating up. Something's off, isn't it?"

This lunatic's got the crazy eyes again.

Lee Seo-ah, you absolute degenerate.

You knew everything, made me take the hit, and you didn't take any yourself.

"Guiding commencing now."

Seo-ah's voice was bright and chipper. Eun-chan let out a long sigh and barely clamped down on his fraying reason.

What does she even plan to do, knowing nothing? She'll probably just try a kiss.

Eun-chan had always believed he knew her well. Having watched her from beside her longer than anyone, he'd trusted he could predict her every move.

But the moment Seo-ah—forwent the kiss entirely and went straight for her own pants button—every assumption he had shattered to pieces.

Before he could even think to stop her, his cock was already out and caught in her small hand. Seo-ah's eyes went wide, and she stared at it, drilling holes into it. Under that unrelenting gaze, Eun-chan's head began to throb.

"You... what are you doing."

"I'm going to suck it, so don't rush me. It's bigger than I expected."

Suck it? Suck what...?

His thoughts ground to a complete halt. This was far beyond the limits of sane cognition—there was no keeping up with Seo-ah at this point.

So the day has come when I give a blowjob. And I never imagined it'd be my friend's cock.

Seo-ah was finding the situation not bad at all—if anything, it made her nervous in an exciting way.

She opened her mouth and leaned in to take the head between her lips. Eun-chan's hand shot out and pushed her forehead back.

Seo-ah looked up at him, mouth still hanging open, her whole face drenched in irritation. At the sight of it, a helpless laugh spilled out of Eun-chan.

"Are you insane? Lee Seo-ah?"

"Why isn't it kicking in faster? You're more rational than I gave you credit for, Kang Eun-chan."

"You were about to put my dick in your mouth just now?"

"I said I was going to guide you. Why are you stopping me? This isn't how I pictured it."

What in the world did you picture, then? Fuck.

Eun-chan's head was spinning. Seo-ah stuck her lip out in a pout and tried to take him into her mouth again. He quickly pried her hand off his cock.

Seo-ah made a wounded face, like someone whose delicious meal had just been snatched away.

Anyone watching would think it belongs to her.

Eun-chan swept a hand through his hair and looked down at Seo-ah, who was staring dead ahead at his cock.

"Ha... Do you seriously just want to get railed by some degenerate that badly?"

And then it happened. His vision abruptly swayed. The headache worsened, and thinking started to get difficult.

Was it that strange monster's liquid from earlier?

Seo-ah, as if the timing couldn't have been better, pointed at Eun-chan's cock and said:

"Anyway, I want you to be careful from now on. You've got a matched guide now, so sleeping around wherever you please is getting a little old, don't you think? Ah—you have been using condoms this whole time, right?"

Is that really what matters right now? No wait—condoms do matter. But still.

Not that he'd be sticking it anywhere else from now on, but Eun-chan had no intention of slamming his cock into Lee Seo-ah here and now either.

"Your first time, in a place like this—do you really think that's okay?"

"It's you, isn't it? You're Kang Eun-chan, so whatever. It's fine."

She said it thinking that if guiding had to happen, this was simply part of the package, and a familiar face beat a stranger's hands down.

And once again, Seo-ah's face betrayed her thoughts more than she realized. Eun-chan, sharp as ever, was driven half-mad by the dogged obsession radiating off her—she would guide him, no matter what it took.

I—fuck. That look is driving me insane. All that talk about degenerates and whores, and now she's cooing that it's fine because it's me. Eun-chan exhaled a scorching breath and seized Seo-ah's wrist hard.

"...Why would it be fine just because it's me."

Seo-ah, reading something decisive in his face, answered with utter conviction.

"Because you know exactly what my type is."

Ah. So that's the angle she's taking.

Eun-chan bit down on the inside of his mouth, the soft flesh of his cheek catching between his teeth.

Know it well? Oh, I know it all right. Before she "died," Seo-ah had made him promise to delete her entire online bookstore account. She'd added that her physical manga purchase history needed to be scrubbed completely too.

You're the only person I can trust, she'd said, or something like it.

He hadn't even asked, and yet she'd rattle off lists of her ideal man at random. Honestly speaking, they were less descriptions of a real man than a pile of keywords straight from the male leads of the novels and manga she devoured.

'Locked inside a gate.''A room you can't leave without having sex.''From friends to sex partners.'

Eun-chan hadn't wanted to know that Seo-ah was into keywords like these—in detail so precise he couldn't un-know it even if he tried.

Once we're out of here, I'm burning every last one of those goddamn books in her study.