The World’s Greatest Friend
"Are you sure I can't shower first?"
"I told you to go first, didn't I? ...If you really want to get technical, I'm the one who didn't pay a dime for this room."
"Honestly, you don't need to calculate every little thing like that."
I was genuinely lamenting the situation. She just scoffed, as if to say that my constant bean-counting was burdensome, and added, "Well then, I'll go first, honey♥"
"……."
With a wink, she slipped into the bathroom. Yeoeun grabbed her robe and a towel, heading inside to wash up. 'I'm really... I'm really in the same room as her!' Since she was the one footing the bill, I couldn't exactly refute her logic that "a single room is more economical." Besides, it was a hotel where it was hard to get a room without a reservation, and I knew if I’d insisted on a separate one, she would’ve just given me a cold stare. It was obvious that this whole situation was part of the fox's grand design.
We’re friends, even if we are a man and a woman, so sleeping in the same room shouldn't be a big deal. In theory, that might sound plausible, but I don't think there’s a single man on earth who actually believes that.
'Wait, this is a twin bed!'
The room wasn't even split into single beds. A sturdy twin bed, large enough for three people to sleep on comfortably, sat right in the middle of the room. Aside from that, there was no other option but to sleep on the floor or push some chairs together.
'Is this intentional? Is she really trying to tease me just enough to make me snap and do something about it?'
I had no idea what she was thinking. I was pacing around, a nervous wreck, unable to fathom the intentions of this sexy, three-years-older woman. Then—
Whoosh...
I flinched. The sound of the shower echoed from the bathroom. She had finally stripped down and started washing. "Mmm, so refreshing♡" She was even humming inside, which only fueled my imagination further. The wicked thought that she was completely naked in there made my chest tighten with anxiety. Even though I was sitting on a plush bed, I felt like I was on pins and needles.
I turned on the TV, not even watching it, and cranked up the volume just to kill time. Before long, she emerged.
"Whew!"
She didn't seem like the type to take long showers. She came out with a towel wrapped around her damp hair and another white towel draped over her body.
"……."
It was incredibly careless. It was as if she was dropping her guard on purpose, showing me everything without hesitation. Her skin, fresh from the shower, looked even softer and more radiant, and her hair was wet and dark, like seaweed. But above all, it was her bare legs visible beneath the towel. I’d been so distracted by her chest that I’d forgotten about them. I’d forgotten because she’d been wearing a dress before, and tight jeans today, but I had to remember: this was a woman who introduced herself as a Pilates studio owner.
'Her thighs... are they ever impressive?'
Now that I looked, her thighs were even more eye-catching. My gaze was naturally drawn to her milky, toned, muscular thighs. I couldn't tear my eyes away from them; they were so beautifully sculpted that I felt an urge to lick them if I lost my grip on reality.
"Hmm?"
She didn't point out my staring. Instead, she walked over here as if inviting me to look even more, wafting a pleasant scent of shampoo, and said, "Alright, now it's your turn to wash up, honey."
"Ah... right, it's my turn..."
At those words, I frantically regained my composure. I hurried toward the bathroom, hoping a warm shower would help me forget this desire, but—
Grab!
Yeoeun pulled on my wrist. I stopped in my tracks, and she leaned in close to my ear.
"I'll be waiting for you♥"
............What?
At that moment, I felt like my sanity was about to fly out the window. Like the male lion I’d seen at the safari that afternoon, my primal instincts as a man were being stimulated to the breaking point. I couldn't control my strength. She’d said we should start as friends, but if I went in there, washed up, and came back out, what kind of face would I even be able to show her—
"*Snore*, *snore*..."
"......Are you asleep?"
When I finally finished my shower, she was already asleep. After her whisper about waiting for me, I’d spent my entire shower lost in thought, bracing myself, but Yeoeun was sound asleep. She was lying on her side in the middle of the bed, breathing softly. 'Well... she did run around quite a bit today.' She’d been active since this morning. She was a total social butterfly with high energy, but it must have been hard to maintain that level of intensity. I approached her, the tension in my body finally easing.
"*Snore*..."
"......"
But the closer I got, the more the tension returned. Her being awake was a problem, but seeing her sleep was even more dizzying. Her robe was disheveled, revealing her chest. Her bare legs were stretched out. The soft, cute sound of her breathing. Even looking at her again, she was an older woman who possessed every trait needed to bewitch a man—from the mole under her lip to her body. She had so many charms that if I had to list them on a resume, I’d run out of space. That’s why she was so terribly out of my league. I kept comparing us realistically; if she wanted to, she could date any man she pleased.
'......Or, looking at it the other way, does she really like me that much?'
We decided to be friends, and the next day we were on a date at an amusement park. She booked a hotel room with a twin bed, saying she wanted to get her money's worth. If I were being cold and analytical, every scenario pointed in one direction. She was practically spoon-feeding me; if I didn't take a bite, I wouldn't even be a man.
...*Gulp!*
We were at such close range that I could reach out and touch her right now. Since she was asleep, if I gathered the courage, I could touch her thighs or her large hips. 'She even said things like that during the day, didn't she?' Her provocation comparing me to the male lion might have been a signal for me to make a move. It could mean she wanted to stop playing this boring "friend game" and get to the main event. So, all things considered, this was my chance. This was my chance to close the distance—
Slide.
—I thought that to myself, but instead, I just pulled the blanket up over her. I made sure she was lying comfortably and turned off the ceiling light so it wouldn't be too bright.
"Haa..."
It was a painfully predictable pattern, but I just couldn't do it. I couldn't be that tough, testosterone-fueled lion who just pounces on the female.
"...I'm going for a run."
I decided to take a lap around the hotel to shake off the agony. It was the best I could do.
"Huff, huff..."
After running hard to shake off my desires, I climbed up the emergency stairs. I’d jogged all the way up to the seventh floor, and after catching my breath in the quiet hallway, I returned to the room. I wondered if this was a preview of the gym I’d signed up for yesterday. Just one lap around the hotel had left me gasping for air, a wake-up call that I really needed to work on my stamina. I swiped my key card and entered the room.
"Whew... Whoa!?"
As soon as I stepped into the entryway, there was something in front of me. A human silhouette. Joo Yeoeun was standing in the dark room, where all the lights were off. Only the faint light from the automatic sensor near the entrance illuminated her. Even that faded after a moment, plunging us back into darkness. I asked a simple question toward the silhouette I’d identified.
"Wh-what are you doing? Weren't you asleep?"
"Whew... Honey, do you really think I was asleep? I'm the kind of person who schedules things right after running a 20km marathon."
Her voice sounded slightly angry. She took a step closer so I could see her outline better. Dressed in a white robe that reflected the light, she shook her slightly damp hair from side to side.
"Even if I have a lot of patience, isn't this a bit much?"
"Hey, Y-Yeoeun-ssi? You're too close...!"
"Hmm~ You're using formal language again?"
At first, I thought she was joking. But as she got closer, I could see her furrowed, angry brow faintly in the darkness.
"You said you liked me enough to call it an honor, and you were all over me—are you really serious about this?"
"No, wait... we said we'd start as friends, didn't we?"
"That was only 'starting' as friends! I practically served it to you on a silver platter, so what's the deal? Are you really a man, Son Seungwoo? At this snail's pace, we'll be stuck as friends forever!"
No, it had only been a single day since we decided to be friends!? It was just one day. But she was complaining that even that one day was too frustrating to endure. It seemed she was looking for a thrill that started as fast as a roller coaster.
"...I can't help it."
That was my only excuse. Even if I could turn back time and hear this again, I’m sure I wouldn't have laid a finger on her.
"What do you mean you can't help it? Why?"
The reason was obvious. Because, "If I recklessly cross the line, it would feel like I'm not treating Yeoeun... like I'm not treating this new relationship with you with the care it deserves."
The luckier you get in life, the more carefully you have to treat it. Like a lottery winner who burns through their bank balance, if you treat something that came easily with carelessness, it’ll run dry in no time. If this was truly the luck of a lifetime, I wanted to cherish it. If I was going to be greedy for a woman like Joo Yeoeun, I had to treat her with more care.
"……."
She looked dumbfounded at my reasoning. I could tell, even in the dark, that she had an incredibly bewildered expression.
"...Heh, hehehe."
Eventually, her shoulders began to shake. She didn't laugh mockingly, but held it in, lifting her head. In the end, her voice shifted into a strangely excited joy.
"You really are so sincere, aren't you♡"
"Ugh!?"
Squish!
She flashed her white teeth in the darkness and suddenly grabbed my crotch. It was a sudden strike, like the one I’d felt before, as if she couldn't hold back anymore.
"H-hey!"
"If you won't touch me, I'll touch you♥"
Her white teeth reflected in the dark. "We touched each other even before we were friends, didn't we?"
"That was clearly because of the alcohol...!"
"So, are you upset? Are you upset because you're being touched instead of doing the touching?"
Squeeze!
She made contact. Yeoeun closed the distance until her chest, hidden beneath the robe, was indirectly pressing against me. "Then do you want to touch me too?"
"……!"
"Since I touched you twice, you have to touch me twice to keep the score even. The closer friends are, the more thorough they should be with their calculations, right?"
She seduced me softly. She whispered in that fox-like voice that bewitches men, there in the hotel room where we were all alone. "If you want to retaliate, feel free to do whatever you want, honey♥"
That was where I finally crumbled. I’d been trying so hard to hold back, but after I’d finally let my guard down, she made my blood boil all over again. So, I grabbed her! I hugged this sweet marshmallow of a woman because I couldn't stand her teasing me, daring me to catch her.
'Whoa, this feels amazing...!'
But that was it. I just hugged her tight. Still, it was wonderful. Just doing this, I was surrounded by her lovely scent, and my dopamine was skyrocketing.
"Heh♥ What, is this all you wanted to do? Honey?"
She teased me, asking if this was all my pathetic retaliation amounted to, but at the same time, there was a nuance that she didn't mind the state we were in. She was mocking me, yet her voice was strangely happy as she remained in my arms. *Tremble, tremble...* At that moment, Yeoeun was on her tiptoes. She was doing everything she could to match me.
+ + +
'I'm dying...'
Yesterday, I ended up pushing the chairs together to sleep. Yeoeun had insisted until the end that it was fine for me to sleep next to her, but I declined because I knew for sure that if I slept next to her like that, an accident would happen. It had been a grueling march that kept me from sleeping ever since we met.
"Honey, come on!"
For the record, her energy hadn't dipped for a second. She seemed to have slept soundly, unlike me, and back at the amusement park, she was overflowing with energy. Perhaps because of her job as a director and instructor, she was much more vibrant than me, even though I was three years younger.
I couldn't help but admire her relentless enthusiasm every time I looked at her. I’d been forcing myself to keep up, but then, 'If she said that much yesterday, she must be hoping I'll come a little closer, right?' That thought suddenly occurred to me while we were walking together.
Yesterday, I’d decided to be satisfied with just hugging her. Even that was a huge leap forward for me. But if we were going to officially start something between us, I felt like this was the way to go. I felt like this was the first step.
I reached out and tentatively grabbed her hand. I’d pretended to brush against her fingertips a few times before, but this time, I held it lightly. A slightly dry, soft sensation traveled through my hand. Along with the thought that I’d finally done it, a chilling tension ran down my spine. I’d hugged her yesterday, so I’d already gone that far. I was being very greedy by my standards.
I stole a glance at Yeoeun's reaction, and she said, "Hmm, hmmm♪"
She acted like she didn't know anything. She didn't pull her hand away, but instead hummed a tune with a face that asked if something was up, leaning her shoulder a little closer to mine. Soon, the corners of her mouth curved into crescent moons, and she exclaimed in a higher-pitched, nasal voice.
Knowing everything but pretending not to, she squeezed my hand back and whispered,
"Where should we go next, honey♥"