The Cat of the Fish Shop (3)
Ordinarily she would have either hated it or quietly accepted it, but Seolhwa instead flushed scarlet with pure delight.
“……A-a punishment?”
Her eyes lifted to mine, thumping with anticipation she made no effort to hide. She said nothing more, yet that blazing face made it obvious she was holding her breath for whatever I would do next.
I had only been testing her—trying to prove she wasn’t some pure pervert, that she still possessed a normal sense of shame. The result, however, was this: the moment I mentioned punishment, Seolhwa lit up like a terminal-stage deviant.
……I knew it.
She had definitely been smirking to herself a second ago. The sheer absurdity of it made me snort a laugh.
“Seolhwa.”
“Ah—yes……?”
I leaned close, lips brushing the flushed shell of her ear.
“Write the next chapter.”
“……W-what?”
“Write the next chapter of Girlfriend Training. That’s the punishment I’m giving you.”
“…….”
Her pupils shrank to pinpricks. The scarlet heat drained from her cheeks in an instant, and the frantic thudding of her heart settled back into calm. In less than five seconds she had recovered her composure; the arms that had been wrapped around me slipped free, and she took a single step back.
“That’s…… the punishment?”
“Yeah. Exactly.”
“……Haa.”
Seolhwa let out a long, heavy sigh. From the way the temperature of her reaction had plummeted, she had clearly been expecting something far more exciting and was now thoroughly disappointed.
……This girl really is a lost cause.
Not even an hour inside someone else’s studio apartment, and she had already been sniffing the owner’s underwear and masturbating. When she got caught she didn’t even pretend to feel remorse—she just grinned, waiting to see what kind of punishment she would receive. There are severe cases, and then there is this: an absolute, hopeless pervert.
“Seolhwa, you…….”
“Yes, yes. I’m sorry. I’ll take the punishment gladly.”
She answered with the lazy, half-hearted tone of someone who could not care less, waving a hand at me. It was nothing like the attitude of a person who had actually done something wrong.
“……Are you actually sorry?”
“Yes. I’m sorry.”
“…….”
Her demeanor was thoroughly insolent, yet she was apologizing, so I couldn’t exactly yell at her. Well—I could have, but this deviant girl would probably enjoy that too, so I kept my voice level.
If the things other people experience as punishment work as rewards for her, then the opposite approach was the only logical one, wasn’t it?
I heaved a sigh and muttered in a deliberately unconcerned tone,
“Fine. You apologized, so I’ll let it slide.”
“……You’re just going to let it go?”
“Yeah. But don’t get the wrong idea. ‘Letting it slide’ means exactly once. It does not mean you can do the same thing again. If you pull this a second time, I’m actually going to get mad.”
“──H-how are you going to get mad?!”
“…….”
This girl, seriously.
I was just starting to seriously consider how one might re-educate a severe masochistic pervert into something resembling a normal personality when the phone I had left on the desk began to vibrate.
It was a call. The caller ID read: Director.
I pressed a finger to my lips in a quiet-down gesture, then carefully answered.
“Yes, hello? Director?”
“Ah, Hoyeong. Have you had a chance to talk things over with Author Seol Yahan?”
“Yes, I did talk to her.”
“Oh, really? What did she say?”
“Um, well…….”
I had half-forced the serialization on her, but if Seolhwa herself refused, that was the end of it; I couldn’t just answer however I liked. So I trailed off and looked at her, asking with my eyes alone how I should respond.
Seolhwa made a sulky face, thought for a moment, then pulled out her own phone, opened the notes app, and typed rapidly before holding the screen up to me.
— You can tell him I promised to resume serialization.
“……For real?”
— Yes. You idiot.
“Huh? What was that?”
“Ah—yes. She said she’ll resume the series as normal.”
“What? Really? Author Seol Yahan herself said she’ll start writing again?”
“Yes. Just now—well, a little while ago. I met her in person and heard it directly.”
“Oh, is that so? What a relief. I was worried she’d just keep refusing to write the original forever. Thank goodness. I guess you two managed to talk things out and make up?”
“Well…… something like that. We made up just fine.”
We had never actually fought, but I couldn’t explain the full situation, so I glossed over it. The director let out a big, relieved breath and added a few more words.
“That’s good, Hoyeong. It’s always nice to see a couple getting along. Last time I saw you two I thought you looked perfect together. From now on, no more fighting, all right? You coax the author a little, say some nice things, give her some praise—just keep her happy that way. If you two fight again like this, the whole production staff takes a huge hit. You understand what I’m saying?”
“I understand completely. There won’t be any more calls like this from now on.”
“Ah, see, that’s why I like college-educated people—you actually get it. One word and you understand perfectly. All right then, Hoyeong, I’m going to keep trusting you from here on out. That’s okay, right?”
“Of course. You can leave it all to me. Don’t worry, Director.”
“Got it. Sorry for calling right around lunch. I’ll hang up now—you get back to work, and I’ll see you at the studio for the second-round guide recording.”
“Yes. Take care, Director.”
……Click.
The voice cut off. I confirmed the call had fully ended, then let out a long sigh.
“Ugh…….”
How could one person talk so much? I had nearly interrupted him halfway through out of pure exhaustion.
I was about to set the phone back down when Seolhwa edged closer, fidgeting.
“Um, Oppa. I’ve been thinking…….”
“What kind of thinking?”
The fact that she had been thinking at all made me nervous.
“Back in the alley earlier. You said that every time I write a chapter, you’d…… touch me. ……Is that promise still good?”
“…….”
“……It is still good, right? Right?”
Well, I had said it with my own mouth, after all……
I nodded reluctantly.
“Y-yeah, well…… it’s still valid, I guess……?”
“……Then, would it be okay if I borrowed your computer for a bit?”
“The computer? Why? Ah—to write the notice?”
“No. To write the next chapter of Girlfriend Training.”
“It’s almost noon.”
“It’s fine. With my current condition I can finish one in thirty minutes.”
“You’re going to write an entire chapter in thirty minutes……?”
I repeated it in disbelief, but I still stepped aside. Seolhwa settled into the chair I had been using and double-clicked the word processor.
“Oppa, you’re having lunch, right?”
“Yeah. I should eat. What do you want? It’s too late to go out, so how about something that delivers fast?”
“Just order one pizza. I’ll eat anything, so pick toppings you like.”
She tapped the mechanical keyboard a few times, then spun around to face me.
“I’ll have a chapter ready by the time it arrives, so let’s eat together afterward.”
I had always heard that even the fastest writers needed two hours, and sometimes four. Finishing a whole chapter in thirty minutes had to be absurdly quick, right? I worried whether she could actually make the deadline even as I opened the delivery app and ordered a pizza. Estimated arrival: about thirty minutes.
“Seolhwa, I ordered. It says roughly thirty minutes, so you should start—”
“……Oppa, I’m sorry, but could you be quiet for a bit? I need to concentrate now.”
The light in her eyes changed a full one-hundred-eighty degrees. Moments ago they had belonged to an innocent twenty-year-old girl; now they belonged to a deadly serious professional.
“…….”
Voice acting was the same—nothing was more irritating than someone shattering your focus. I understood that better than anyone, so I kept completely silent and simply watched her work.
Thirty minutes later.
—Bzzzt.
A text arrived announcing the delivery was complete. I stepped outside, collected the still-steaming pizza, and carefully muffled my footsteps as I returned to the workroom-slash-closet.
I was just about to separate the cola, pickles, and pizza when Seolhwa stretched her arms high over her head and announced loudly,
“Mmn, done……!”
“Whoa, already finished?”
“……Ah.”
She had been so absorbed she had completely forgotten I was behind her; she turned and startled all over again. Over her shoulder I glanced at the monitor.
Girlfriend Training — Chapter 114
6,507 characters
A normal chapter ran around five thousand characters, and the latest published one had been 113, so she had just finished a fully packed new episode—and she had done it in a mere thirty minutes.
I hadn’t read the content yet, so I couldn’t judge the quality, but Seolhwa’s novels were always entertaining. To produce that level of fun and write this fast…… was that just the talent of the arts-and-performance crowd?
I stared in fresh amazement, and she seemed to grow a little shy, sliding her gaze away from mine.
“If you were here, you could have at least made some presence known…….”
“Sorry. But Seolhwa, when are you going to upload this?”
“Mm, probably at the usual upload time.”
“Then…… would it be okay if I read it a little early?”
Chapter 113 had been an absolute peak of entertainment, and it had cut off right at the climax. With the file for chapter 114 sitting right in front of me, how was any reader supposed to resist?
I lightly took her shoulders and asked again. Seolhwa turned only her eyes, giving me a sidelong look. I met her gaze and pleaded once more.
“I’m just dying to know what happens next. I won’t spoil it for anyone—can I just peek a little?”
“Ah, no. Read it on the app. On the app.”
“Seolhwa, please?”
“Nngh, I really shouldn’t…….”
“Come on, please?”
“……Ugh.”
She gave a tiny shudder, cheeks coloring faintly, then let out a defeated sigh.
“Ah, fine. Go ahead and read it, then…….”
“Oh, really? Thanks, Seolhwa.”
“……Ugh, seriously. Looking at me with those eyes is basically cheating.”
She muttered under her breath and vacated the chair. I immediately sat down, opened the latest file, and began reading slowly from the very first line: 114 – Complete Training (4).
……Whoa.
Awe hit me from the very first sentence. How could the heroine’s opening line possibly be, “Oppa, do you want to see me go crazy? I told you not to smile at other girls, didn’t I?”
Truly the GOAT of obsessive heroines—exactly the kind of dialogue you would expect from Author Seol Yahan, creator of outstanding masterpieces. I dove in with genuine admiration and scrolled without stopping.
“Um, how is it? I wrote it a little hastily, so there might be some awkward parts…….”
“……Just a second.”
‘You’re the one who made me like this, Oppa.’
‘You stuffed every single hole so thoroughly that I’ll never be able to forget a man named Oppa for the rest of my life.’
‘So take responsibility.’
‘──Oppa, with me.’
……
……
“Huh? What? It’s already over?”
No—why did it end there? Where was the next line? The next chapter?
I whipped around to ask, and Seolhwa nodded with a prim little expression.
“……Ahem. How was it? Pretty good, right?”
“Yeah…… it was insanely good……?”
If someone had offered me the next chapter right this second in exchange for paying double, I would have paid on the spot. That was how good it was.
As expected of my favorite author, Seol Yahan. Until now I had only seen her as a twenty-year-old girl overflowing with perversion; suddenly she looked completely different.
“Seolhwa. You really should write novels—no, you should only write novels. Letting this talent go to waste would be a crime. A total crime.”
“Oppa…… you want me to keep writing novels?”
“Yeah. I’m not joking. You really—”
“Then, so that I can keep writing hard from now on…….”
Seolhwa turned her head slightly, glancing at me out of the corner of her eye as she murmured,
“……Please give me the reward you promised, Oppa.”