Twinkle's Temptation
"Seunghyeon, get on Twinkle right now. There are two videos waiting for you! Doggy style, and a handjob scene I set up just right for you to enjoy. Don't you want to see Sehwa's toned abs and those little dimples on her lower back? The doggy-style video has some incredible moaning—you'll love it. Ah, I distorted the voice just in case you might notice something, and I blurred Sehwa's face. Now's not the time to wait for her call. I'm planning to delete them in a few days, so hurry up and watch. By the way, Sehwa looks incredibly sensual in that bikini. Her chest is above average, her figure is perfect, and with that face full of recent lust, the bright red string bikini suits her perfectly. Her entire body, topped off with a ponytail, is like something straight out of a photoshoot."
"What are you doing? Get in here already!"
I was lounging on a beach bed by the private pool in the suite, watching Sehwa swim, when her sharp command snapped me back to reality. I stood up and jumped into the pool without much thought. Water splashed everywhere with a loud plop, and Sehwa, now with droplets on her face and hair, clicked her tongue in annoyance.
"Aish...!"
Aish? Even her swearing sounds cute. I wonder how arousing it would be to hear words like "idiot" or "bastard" come out of that pretty mouth. I should tell her to try it later when she's cursing out Yu Seunghyeon. I raised an eyebrow and lifted my tone slightly.
"Aish?"
"No... You could've just come in quietly, but you had to make a scene..."
"A scene?"
".... You're the one who messed up!"
Ever since that incident on the bench, she's been sulking, and this feisty way of talking back is adorable. "You told me to come in."
"Sorry..."
Even the way she quickly turns meek and tries to cling to me is cute. I grabbed her head as she approached and dunked it underwater. Sehwa flailed in surprise for a moment before bursting back up with a gasp, her face twisting in frustration.
"Hey! Do you want to die!?"
She's showing more of her true colors. I should see this side of her when she transforms into Leona too. When humans get cocky, she should just slice their necks off with her sword. I spread my arms wide and smiled brightly.
"Come here."
Sehwa's expression turned suspicious. With wary eyes, like a wild animal sizing up a stranger, she leaned her head back as she approached. Once she saw I wasn't moving, her face softened and she slipped into my arms. I gently stroked her wet hair and spoke.
"What am I supposed to do? You're driving me crazy."
".... Me too..."
"They say it's going to rain tomorrow too. Let's just enjoy a hotel staycation inside."
"Okay..."
The next day, Sehwa canceled our reservation at the à la carte restaurant, saying she wanted a lively atmosphere. At the buffet-style restaurant, she was on the phone with Yu Seunghyeon. She set her plate down a little forcefully and spoke into the speaker.
"I was asleep because I wasn't feeling well."
-I see... I was worried since you didn't call even after waiting a long time.
"Is that why you called? Why?"
-No, I thought it was okay to contact you since you unblocked me.
"Don't make excuses."
-Sorry... Is your cold better?
"I took some medicine and it's better now. I'll contact you when I want to meet. I'm out for breakfast right now, so I'm hanging up."
-Okay, al—
Before Yu Seunghyeon could finish, Sehwa ended the call and sat across from me. Her cold expression during the call melted the moment she looked at me. That two-faced look stirred something in me again. I buttered a morning roll and placed it on Sehwa's plate.
"How long are you going to keep pretending to be angry? It's so cold it's making the air chilly."
"It's annoying when someone calls while I'm trying to eat breakfast."
"Then you should've just not answered."
"If I don't answer, he'll obviously keep calling. Wait, are you taking Seunghyeon's side right now?"
"How could I? Let's just eat breakfast."
This relaxed atmosphere where I could focus only on what's in front of me was so nice. I wanted to throw away all thoughts of conquering the world and just live alone with Sehwa.
"Hehe..."
Sehwa let out a silly laugh as she brought the bread to her mouth, then looked at a little girl running around nearby with a fond expression. But then—thud! While I was buttering the next roll for her, elbow on the table, the child bumped into our table by accident. My arm jerked, and the butter knife stabbed my finger. The blade was dull, but the sudden poke to a sensitive spot made blood slowly seep out. The wound wasn't big. It was barely worth calling an injury. Sehwa, startled, jumped up and rushed over to me.
"Are you okay? What do we do... You're bleeding."
"I'm fi—"
I tried to calm her with a smile, but her eyes changed in an instant. She turned to the panicked child and shouted.
"Hey!"
Her voice echoed through the entire restaurant. Everyone stopped talking and stared at our table. The frightened child dashed into her mother's arms, and a couple in their early thirties who seemed to be the parents hurried over to apologize.
"We're so sorry... We looked away for just a second..."
"Keep your child under control in public! Do you think this is your house!?"
"W-we're really sorry. We'll make sure to talk to her."
"He's bleeding! What if it had been his eye!?"
"The couple kept apologizing sincerely, but Sehwa's anger didn't subside. As she was about to snap at them again, I reached out and cut her off, offering the couple a kind smile.
"IT'S fine. Enjoy your meal."
"Sorry... We're sorry."
"It's not even a deep cut."
"If it's not too much trouble, we'd like to cover the medical costs..."
"Have a nice family trip."
My words carried the clear meaning that I didn't want to continue the conversation. The couple, sensing this, bowed their heads and took their daughter back to their corner table. Even when acting normally, there are times when something trivial makes me flare up. Like trying to open the lid of a vacuum-sealed glass jar for the first time. Have you ever felt the urge to struggle with it, twist it with all your might, and eventually just want to throw it away? Usually, hot-tempered people have this trait. Sehwa was like that right now. Even though I, the person involved, said it was fine, she seemed dissatisfied and tried to go after them again.
"Where do you think you're—"
But I stopped her.
"That's enough."
My voice was low and firm. Sehwa flinched, then let out a sharp huff through her nose. She ground her teeth while looking at me, then sat back down across from me. After some time, the once-quiet buffet restaurant grew lively again. Sehwa kept fuming, but the way she tore into her bread so aggressively was incredibly cute. I wiped the blood from my index finger with a napkin and called her name softly.
"Sehwa."
"Be quiet."
"Are you done eating? Shall we go?"
"Can't you see there's still food left?"
Heh, good. Keep going. Even while inwardly admitting she went too far, she's still angry. I'll clean up after you. Don't worry. I nodded and quietly waited for her. Eventually, Sehwa's expression softened a little. She let out a deep sigh.
"Haa... I'm done eating."
"Alright. Let's head back then."
As we left the restaurant, the manager approached and offered to comp our entire buffet for the day. I gave Sehwa's waist a subtle nudge that no one else would notice. She knew what it meant—I wanted her to say it was okay herself.
"We're fine. We'll be using the reservation restaurants starting from lunch..."
"In that case, I'll speak to my superiors and arrange for you to dine for free at all of the hotel's restaurants. We're truly sorry."
"Please don't. I only said that in the heat of the moment, and my boyfriend wasn't seriously hurt, so it's really okay. I'm sorry for raising my voice..."
"Not at all."
The manager bowed deeply at the waist. Taking advantage of the moment, I slipped my card into Sehwa's back pocket. She glanced at me, then pulled out the card and handed it to the manager.
"Please also tell that little girl and her parents that we're sorry. We'll pay for their breakfast as well."
"Pardon...?"
The manager looked puzzled, but upon seeing the card Sehwa offered, his expression brightened considerably. It was the highest-tier premium card from Korea's most famous bank. He clearly recognized that this card was only issued to the extremely wealthy. Sharp eye. He must have worked at this hotel for a long time. Isn't Sehwa kind? You won't get in trouble either. So treat us well. You know we're staying in the suite. If you make customers like us regulars, your performance will improve, right? Slip a premium ice cream into our room or serve us with extra care. And make a big show of apologizing loudly to that couple too. That way, everyone in the restaurant will hear. We won't meet them again, but a good image never hurts.
"Understood. Thank you. I'll send the card back up right after processing the payment."
After the manager left with repeated bows, we returned to our room. Sehwa, sitting on the sofa and examining my index finger closely, lifted her eyelashes slightly.
"You just don't want people you don't know badmouthing you, right?"
"What did I do?"
"Don't play dumb."
I shrugged ambiguously. Sehwa's lips trembled, and then she suddenly said something unexpected.
".... You bastard..."
Did she just curse at me? Am I hearing this right? Sehwa, you should be cursing at Yu Seunghyeon, not me.
"Why am I a bastard?"
"You knew Seunghyeon existed, but you still seduced me. You did it on purpose, didn't you?"
How did she figure that out? But she's embarrassed, so she's twisting her words like this. If it were the old you, you would've said thank you or sorry. "You're mistaken. You're the one who seduced me first. Don't you remember what happened in Ganghwa Island? You bewitched me with those foxy moves."
"Shut up. Because of you, I've become trash."
She wasn't calling herself trash because of what happened at the restaurant. It was because she cheated on her boyfriend with me, and because she deeply loved someone like me.
"Go ahead and shift the blame however you want. I have no problem with it."
Thud! Sehwa punched my chest with her fist. It wasn't playful. It was a genuine, full-force hit. She's doing this because she was moved by what happened at the restaurant, right? That's why I pushed her to handle it herself. So she'd love me even more. I accepted her honeyed fist with a calm expression. Sehwa bit her lower lip hard, then pointed her index finger at me.
"You're trash too. You know that?"
I know. I know it very well. But what can I do? Playing this trash role is so fun I could die. The fact that you, who used to control your emotions so well, have changed like this is so lovable.
"If you say so, then I guess I am. That's probably why we get along so well."
"I love you."
Sehwa confessed to me with intensity in eyes. I widened my eyes just like her and spoke. The keyword she held sacred, without any hesitation or looking to me for approval. I could hear it. The sound of the barrier Leona had built in Sehwa's heart crumbling slightly, the sound of part of her Aether turning pitch black and screaming in pain. I could see it. Dark energy rising from Sehwa's entire body, the Malice I'd been steadily injecting bursting forth all at once and slipping into her navel. As I swallowed hard and just stared at her, she spoke again.
"I love you more than anyone else in this world. So don't leave me."
".... I won't."
A short, sincere answer. Sehwa spread her arms and hugged my waist tightly. Taking advantage of the moment, I pretended to touch her stomach and secretly—very secretly—erased the Crest that had formed on her lower abdomen. The mark that said she was mine. It shouldn't be shown now. The pattern looked ominous to anyone who saw it. The Crest that had just formed would be faint enough to miss unless you looked closely. But the more she had relations with me or committed immoral acts, the darker it would become. The day this Crest fully darkened would be the day Sehwa fell completely.