Chapter 337: Negotiation
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 337: Negotiation
“…….”
“…….”
“…….”
Silence filled the room.
All the misunderstandings I thought we’d cleared up while eating pork cutlets felt like they had snapped right back to square one.
I forced a smile, trying to lift the mood.
“Well, now that you’ve got your suitcase, I guess—”
“Y-Yes, I guess?”
“…….”
I was just saying whatever came to mind. Why did I have to bring up the suitcase?
Choi Jin-ah, suddenly reminded of exactly what was inside my suitcase, looked back and forth between me and the luggage before starting to hiccup.
“Hic!”
“…….”
“He-hic!”
“…….”
“Ha-hic!”
She certainly had an entertaining way of hiccuping. I was staring at her, wondering what kind of sound would come out next, when Yoo Ah-rin finally stepped in.
“Oh, whatever! Jin-ah! You already knew Kim Woo-jin was a pervert, didn’t you?”
“T-That’s— hic!—true, right?”
“Then stop worrying about other people’s love lives and just go on your way. Got it?”
“Hic! Is that okay? Is it really okay for me to just go home?”
Anyone watching would think we were holding her here against her will.
“Just go. You only came to get your suitcase, so don’t go around saying weird things.”
“Y-Yes! Understood! Thank you!”
“Yeah, good job. Next time we meet, let’s pretend today never happened.”
“Okay!”
With that, Choi Jin-ah dragged her suitcase out the door.
Only then did the air in the room settle, and it finally started to feel like my own room again.
“Sigh, why do I have to deal with such weird misunderstandings?” Yoo Ah-rin grumbled.
“……Well, you do have a bit of a track record.”
Didn’t she try to seduce Senior Ju-hee back in Hawaii?
“What did you just mumble?”
“Nothing. My mouth is shut.”
I needed to watch my words. It was just me and Yoo Ah-rin in the room right now. If she started hitting me here, I might end up getting beaten all day.
“Haaa, I should rest for a bit before I head out too.”
Yoo Ah-rin flopped onto my bed. She pulled out her phone and started casually browsing the Bamboo Forest.
Is she trying to tempt me?
Her shirt had ridden up slightly, revealing her belly button. Seeing that fair skin, I naturally sat down beside her.
“Pfft! Hey, the Troll and the Anime Master are going at it. Looks like the Troll insulted the Anime Master’s favorite series.”
“Really?”
“Ah, this is hilarious. You don’t know who the Troll is, do you? I think I saw a post before saying he was from the Security Department—”
Now!
I immediately grabbed Yoo Ah-rin’s waist and pressed my mouth against her navel.
Pbrrrrt!
A loud, clear raspberry echoed through the room.
Yoo Ah-rin, phone still in hand, glared at me as if she were looking at something grotesque.
“……What are you doing?”
Seeing her expression of genuine incomprehension, I carefully wiped the spot I’d dampened with spit and answered.
“Just… your belly button was showing, and I wanted to try it.”
If she’s going to lie there like that, isn’t she basically inviting me to do it?
“…….”
“…….”
A brief silence followed.
As I carefully pulled her shirt down to cover her navel, she tilted her head, looking conflicted.
“Should I hit you for that or not? I can’t tell.”
“I mean, why would you hit me for that?”
“Exactly. It felt weirdly gross, but not quite enough to hit you. You’re getting really good at annoying me in these ambiguous ways, aren’t you?”
“That wasn’t my intention.”
Sensing she might let it slide, I slid in next to her. Yoo Ah-rin glared at me, pouted, and then slightly lifted her head while still lying down.
It was a signal for an arm pillow.
I slid my arm under her, pulling her into a half-embrace. Yoo Ah-rin stayed nestled in my arms and went back to her phone.
“Look at this. The Anime Master is totally raging; look at this long-ass post he wrote. Isn’t it funny?”
“I’m raging too.”
“…….”
Yoo Ah-rin’s hand slid downward.
“It’s only at half-mast. Stop lying.”
She let out a smirk and went back to focusing on her phone.
The problem was that this girl knew me too well now.
But what Yoo Ah-rin overlooked was that her touching it just now made it actually start raging.
We killed time together, looking at the Bamboo Forest on her phone. Suddenly, a fight broke out between the religious clubs, and they started spamming the board.
“I should give those guys a one-day ban.”
“Want me to do it?”
“No, I’ll do it.”
The religious club people always cross the line eventually. I wouldn’t mind if it came from genuine faith, but they spam the board out of some weird sense of rivalry.
I logged in on my phone and slapped a one-day ban on both of them. Only then did the Bamboo Forest look clean again.
As a bonus, I saw that I had a reply to the Tok I’d sent Seo Ye-rin earlier.
“Uh oh.”
If Seo Ye-rin was saying this, she was probably quite uncomfortable. She enjoyed doing erotic things with me, but she had no desire to involve other people.
“Hey, apologize to Ye-rin.”
“For what?”
“Watching that video earlier. She’s a bit upset.”
“Ah…….”
Yoo Ah-rin immediately placed a call. She got up from my arms and walked toward the bathroom. She didn’t go in, but started the conversation right in front of the door.
“Ye-rin, I got the message. Um, sorry. I was a bit flustered earlier and just watched it without thinking.”
“Mm, yeah……? Oh, okay.”
“Sigh, I get it. I said I get it! By the way, you said you checked the pregnancy test. How did that go?”
What?!
I reflexively jumped up and ran over to Yoo Ah-rin.
“What is it! Why didn’t you tell me about that!”
“Move! Get lost! Shut up, okay? Is he next to me? Yeah, I’m in his room right now.”
“I’m the father! Why aren’t you telling me!”
I started shouting, but Yoo Ah-rin eventually pushed me away with her foot and focused on the call.
“Yeah, yeah, I got it. I said I got it, you brat. Hang up.”
“What is it! Why do you get to hear news about our daughter first!”
“It’s not a daughter, and it’s not a son. It was one line.”
“Oh, really?”
“Why do you look disappointed? Seo Ye-rin is a college student and an actress. What would she do if she got pregnant now?”
“Well… that’s true, but still.”
I still felt a lingering sense of regret. A strange, soft emotion welled up, and I slumped back onto the bed, pulling the blanket over me.
Yoo Ah-rin crept up beside me.
“Are you sad?”
“It’s not so much sadness as it is… a bit of a letdown?”
“Geez, kid. If she got pregnant now, what would you even say to her mother? You’d be blocking her entire future.”
“I know that.”
I felt a bit pathetic, like I was sulking. I was about to crawl out from under the blanket when Yoo Ah-rin slipped inside at just the right moment.
“Do you want a kid that badly?”
Of course, having a child would be nice. But honestly, at this age, you could say I didn’t really understand the weight of that responsibility. It’s an immature age. That’s why I didn’t actually wish for a child right now, but…
“I just feel like if we had one, you guys wouldn’t leave me.”
“…….”
“To be honest, it’s like you said. This relationship is abnormal. It wouldn’t be strange if you guys left at any time.”
“Did this guy learn his sex ed from The Fairy and the Woodcutter? You want to get us pregnant just to keep us here?”
“I guess that’s one way to put it.”
I thought I was being pathetic, but that thought didn’t last long. Yoo Ah-rin, lying next to me, leaned in and kissed me.
After the brief kiss ended, Yoo Ah-rin grumbled with a flushed face.
“Ha, damn it… You acting all whiny about wanting to keep me is freaking cute.”
She slowly climbed on top of me, hugging me as our bodies overlapped.
“I made a promise to Seo Ye-rin earlier.”
“What promise?”
“Not to do it today.”
“…….”
“But I guess I’ll have to apologize again.”
Our lips met once more. This time, our tongues intertwined more deeply.
Kissing Yoo Ah-rin was wonderful. Strangely, it tasted like fruit, making the entanglement of our tongues delicious.
“Phew.”
Our lips parted, and Yoo Ah-rin looked down at me with a smirk.
“So, do you think you can get me pregnant today?”
“…….”
“If you do, I’m completely yours.”
Seeing her use such provocative language without hesitation, it seemed her switch had been flipped properly.
I grabbed the back of Yoo Ah-rin’s head and started kissing her again. I rolled us over so she was underneath me and pulled back.
“I want to be gentle today.”
As I whispered that while kissing her neck, Yoo Ah-rin wrapped her arms around me.
“Why?”
“Just… because it feels like that kind of day?”
I don’t know why. Today, I wanted to make love slowly and deeply. I felt certain that if I did, Yoo Ah-rin would truly become mine.
“You’re making me embarrassed.”
She must have been thinking something similar, as she blushed and looked away, but she didn’t say no.
She was so lovely. When I pulled her into a tight embrace with both hands, Yoo Ah-rin naturally wrapped her legs around my waist and clung to me.
Usually, when I was with Yoo Ah-rin, things tended to get rough. But spending time like this, savoring each other and sharing affection, was also—
Thump, thump, thump!
“W-Woo-jin! Please help me!”
“…….”
“…….”
Thump, thump, thump!
“Please! I’m being chased!”
Thump, thump, thump!
“I should have just gone for it immediately.”
I banged my forehead against the bed once before letting Yoo Ah-rin go. She also bit her lip with an annoyed expression.
“Why did I miss my chance by trying something I don’t usually do?”
If I had just been rough like usual, I would have had her moaning by now. The only silver lining was that we hadn’t taken our clothes off yet.
When I opened the door, Choi Jin-ah was standing there with a tearful face, still holding her suitcase.
“M-My father sent people. There are men watching outside the dormitory right now.”
“…….”
“I think they were waiting for me to come out of your house. I didn’t think they’d find me so quickly.”
“It’s been a while since you left. Where have you been all this time?”
“I… I was looking around the campus… W-Woo-jin! Could I please stay here for just one night?!”
I scratched my head and let out a deep sigh. I was debating what to do when Yoo Ah-rin shouted irritably from behind me.
“If you sleep here tonight, you won’t be leaving in one piece!”
“W-What?!”
Geez, look at that temper.
It was a warning filled with Yoo Ah-rin’s indomitable will to absolutely prevent Choi Jin-ah from staying. Choi Jin-ah turned pale and took a step back.
“I-I’m sorry. I’ll… I’ll try to handle it myself.”
“Yes, please do. You said you were going to stand up to your father.”
“That’s right.”
“Are you going to back down like this? Are you just going to keep running?”
“……No.”
“I told you before. Staying at my house isn’t fighting; it’s running away. You told me then that you’d prepare yourself so you could fight.”
That time was now.
“Who gets to choose when these situations happen? When the moment comes, you have to fight, even if you aren’t ready.”
At my words, Choi Jin-ah’s eyes widened. Fitting for a world-class violinist, she straightened her back and looked at me.
“Thank you, Woo-jin.”
She closed her eyes tightly, thanking me for the encouragement. Was she doing image training? After a few minutes like that, she slowly opened her eyes and whispered to me.
“Can’t you just let me stay for one night?”
“Wasn’t that the perfect timing to overcome your fear?”
“……I lost.”
I’m sorry, but I’m in a tough spot too. My lower half is currently very angry.
“Make a choice. Either get devoured by me here, or go settle things with your father and win your freedom.”
I crossed my arms and joined in on Yoo Ah-rin’s mischievous teasing. Choi Jin-ah then made a request, as if she were haggling over fish at a market.
“C-Can you make sure it doesn’t hurt?”
…….
………….
……………….
“No, it’s going to hurt like hell.”