Chapter 15
Chapter 15
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: The Bird in the Cage is Happy
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The day after our movie theater date.
I was sitting in the classroom when a message from Seo-ah popped up.
[Senior, please download just one app right now. I sent the link!] Curious about what random app this could be, I checked it out. It was a location-sharing app that couples loved to use.
The terrifying kind that showed in real-time where the other person was, how much battery they had left, even their speed of movement.
"...You want me to install this?"
I hesitated for a moment.
Even if we were dating (as Seo-ah insisted), having my location tracked 24/7 felt like too much. Wasn't that an invasion of privacy?
Just then, the back door of the classroom swung open, and Seo-ah slipped in. She plopped down in the seat next to mine and thrust her phone toward me.
"Senior, did you install it?"
"Huh? No, not yet. But do I really have to? I hear it drains the battery like crazy."
"Of course you do. I'm worried about you, Senior."
Seo-ah pouted and grabbed my arm.
"What if some jerk like Park Jin-tae comes after you again? I need to rush over and save you. And if I don't know where you are or what you're doing, I get so anxious I can't even study."
Her eyes welled up with tears.
That gaze wasn't about surveillance—it was pure, genuine concern.
How many guys could look at that face and say, "No, it's my privacy"?
I let out a sigh and tapped the [Install] button.
"Fine. I'll install it."
"Yay! I love you, Senior!"
What could she even do with it anyway?
Seo-ah beamed like she'd won the lottery and snatched my phone, setting it up with expert ease.
"There! Now we're connected 24/7. Even if you fled to the ends of the earth, I could track you down."
She said it like a joke, laughing brightly, but her eyes on the blinking location icon of me on the screen were dead serious—almost chilling.
Like a beast of prey, smug after tagging its quarry with a GPS.
"I'm not running anywhere. Got nowhere to go."
"Exactly. The only place for you, Senior, is right by my side."
On the phone screen, our two dots overlapped perfectly.
In the digital world and reality alike, I was now squarely in Seo-ah's grasp.
Lunchtime.
Seo-ah dragged me not to the school cafeteria, but to her nearby officetel.
"You've got no classes today, right? Sick of eating out—I'll make you pasta."
"Don't go to the trouble. Let's just grab something."
"No way. I can't feed you that additive-loaded junk. You need to watch your health."
"Additives aren't bad for you."
"Senior."
"Yeah...?"
"Shh."
"Okay..."
I couldn't win against her stubbornness, so I followed along.
Her officetel was still spotless, like a model home, with a faint, soothing diffuser scent in the air.
She parked me on the sofa and tied on an apron.
"Senior, just watch TV. It'll be quick."
I leaned back on the sofa and flipped through channels.
Chopping sounds from the kitchen, the gentle bubble of boiling pots.
And every so often, "Senior, taste this!" as she fed me a spoonful of sauce.
It was peaceful. So incredibly peaceful, it almost didn't feel real.
Can... I really live like this?
Just months ago, I was a returning student scraping by on chicken breasts, chugging protein shakes alone in the library corner.
Now here I was, sprawled on a sofa, waiting for a gorgeous junior to cook for me.
Getting used to this comfort terrified me.
But at the same time, a wriggling desire not to return to my old, miserable routine stirred inside.
"Ta-da! All done!"
Seo-ah served up cream pasta and a steak salad.
It looked way more mouthwatering than anything from a restaurant.
"Whoa... this is insane. What can't you do?"
"Everything except loving you, Senior. Dig in."
One bite, and my eyes popped open.
Perfectly tuned to my taste buds, pasta cooked just right.
"Good?"
"Yeah. Really good."
"Phew, glad to hear it. From now on, you eat every meal with me. I'll take full responsibility for elevating your palate."
Seo-ah propped her chin on her hand, gazing contentedly as I ate.
Like an owner watching her pet chow down happily.
"You eat some too."
"I'm stuffed. Watching you is enough for me."
She wiped a smudge of cream from the corner of my mouth with her thumb... then slipped it into her own.
Such natural intimacy.
My face flushed, but I didn't pull away.
Before I knew it, I was growing accustomed to the bites she fed me, the touches she offered.
After that hearty meal, food coma hit hard.
Afternoon sunlight streamed through the living room window, amplifying the drowsiness.
"Sleepy, huh? Take a nap."
"Nah, I should head to school and study."
"One day off won't kill you. I'll lend you all my summary notes."
Seo-ah manhandled me back onto the sofa.
Then, oh-so-casually, she guided my head onto her lap. A proper lap pillow.
"Sleep tight, sleep tight... my dear Senior."
She patted my chest gently.
The soft give of her thigh, her scent lingering at my nose, the steady rhythm of her heartbeat.
Irresistible sleep swept over me.
"Seo-ah... I'm really gonna pass out..."
"Mmm, go ahead and sleep. I'll keep watch."
In my blurring consciousness, I felt her fingers stroking my hair.
The touch was tender... but obsessively so.
As if determined to wipe away any stray thoughts in my head.
How long had I slept?
When I opened my eyes, dusk had already settled outside.
Seo-ah was still lending me her lap, scrolling on her phone.
The location-sharing app screen.
"...Mm."
"Awake?"
Seo-ah pocketed her phone and peered down at me.
Her eyes gleamed in the dim light.
"Sleep well? You were dead to the world."
"Yeah... What time is it? Your leg must be numb."
"It's fine. If you're comfy, my leg can handle it."
Sympathy made me try to sit up.
But Seo-ah pressed down on my shoulder, easing me back.
"Just a little longer. Night's still early."
"..."
"Watching you sleep, Senior... I thought, I could live like this forever."
Her finger brushed my lips.
"Don't go anywhere. Don't do anything. Just stay by my side—eat, sleep, smile. That's all I want."
Her words dripped with sweetness, but the undertone was eerie.
A vow to sever me from the world, confine me forever in her embrace.
But the scary part? The idea didn't repulse me.
The cutthroat job hunt, the stress of relationships, the gnawing anxiety over the future.
A frail urge to flee it all and burrow into her arms lifted its head.
"...Am I leaning on you too much?"
"Lean on me all you want. That's what girlfriends are for."
Seo-ah leaned in, pressing a kiss to my forehead.
"Senior, just bask in my love. I'll handle everything else."
That night, I left Seo-ah's officetel instead of crashing at my own place.
She'd begged me to stay over, but I slipped away using morning classes as an excuse.
On the walk home.
I fished my phone from my pocket and opened the location app.
Our icons dotted the map—hers stationary at the officetel, mine inching away.
Ding.
[Seo-ah♥: Senior, getting home safe? No detours! I'm watching +_+] I chuckled at the cute emoticon and fired back a reply.
[Yeah, almost there. You get some sleep too.] In the old days, this would've creeped me out, like being stalked.
But now... knowing someone was watching over me felt reassuring. Solid.
I wasn't alone. She had eyes on me.
I grabbed a can of beer from the convenience store and headed into my empty studio.
The barren room. The stale air.
I already missed Seo-ah's officetel—the warmth, the fragrance, everything I'd just left behind.
Should've... just stayed and slept there.
Regret washed over me.
Had I become so dependent on her comforts that I couldn't hack it without them?
I chugged the beer and gave a bitter laugh.
Minwoo's officetel, now empty.
Seo-ah clutched the cushion he'd slept on, burying her face in it to inhale his scent.
"Don't go..."
Regret filled her.
But it was fine. She'd confirmed his location icon had settled at his studio on her phone screen.
Seo-ah dove into the [Settings] menu.
📱 App Settings [Safe Zone Settings: Minwoo sunbae's studio apartment, school, my officetel] [Notify on Exit: ON] "Now Senior's right in the palm of my hand."
Seo-ah smiled, utterly satisfied.
It wasn't just about checking locations.
She was logging his movement patterns, dwell times, routes—every bit of data.
To map his entire life radius... and purge the unnecessary variables. Other women. Annoying friends.
"Just a little more taming... then I'll suggest we move in together."
Seo-ah buried her face in the cushion, lost in blissful fantasy.
Dreaming of the day Senior walked into her home of his own accord... and never left. Forever.