Everything's Difficult at First
Everything's difficult at first. As I stepped into the cafe, I spotted Yuria and broke into a bright smile. Flashing my pearly whites, I angled my right arm at a slight thirty-degree tilt and waved. At the sight of me, Yuria's face stiffened before smoothing out again. It was one of Aaron's old habits. Seeing it from me instead of Yu Seunghyeon must have tangled her emotions even further.
“Did you wait long?”
“Ah, no… I haven’t been here that long either.”
She had been waiting well over thirty minutes. What was she saying?
“Shall we go?”
“Yes.”
I led Yuria to a decent restaurant on Handae Street. After we ordered and were chatting in a warm, friendly atmosphere, she suddenly mentioned that she lived with Kim Taegon.
“…. What did you just say? You live together?”
My mouth fell open. Yuria tucked her side hair behind her ear, looking bashful.
“Yes… He has fully reincarnated now.”
I pretended to tidy my hair and glanced away for a moment. In that brief pause the food arrived. As I stared at the steak sending up fragrant curls of steam, I turned back to Yuria and whispered.
“You do realize that sounds completely impossible to an ordinary human like me, right?”
“I’m human too, you know?”
“No, I misspoke in my surprise. I meant that as an Earthling, I find it impossible to understand. However…”
“However…?”
“You’ve been insisting all along that Mr. Kim Taegon has reincarnated… so I’ll believe you. Now that I think about it, he said something rather strange today. Could it be because, just as you claimed, his reincarnation is now complete?”
Yuria swallowed.
“What… did Father say?”
“He asked what I would think if he had a daughter. It seems he was referring to you.”
“Ah… he really… has no sense…”
Apparently quite embarrassed by her father’s behavior, Yuria tucked both arms between her knees and hung her head. I shrugged at her.
“Shall we eat?”
“Ah, yes… But… Jihyeok.”
“Yes?”
“What did you answer?”
She must have been curious. I gave Yuria only a meaningful smile and sliced into my steak. She grew impatient and pressed me again.
“What did you say?”
“I told him that if it were Mr. Kim Taegon’s daughter, she would surely be beautiful.”
A rather lukewarm reply, wasn’t it? The way her expression eased told me everything. I lifted a piece of steak to my mouth, chewed it slowly, swallowed, and continued.
“I thought it was some kind of psychological test, so I gave a safe answer. If I had heard your story first and then received that question… I would have answered differently.”
“How?”
“That she is a wonderful person who sacrifices herself for others.”
“…..”
As if the answer had caught her off guard, Yuria wet her lips. I didn’t miss the opening. Grinning, I expressed my gratitude.
“I’m always thankful.”
“Ah… I’m thankful too… and sorry.”
“For what?”
“For causing you nothing but trouble over the Device charging…”
“Not at all. If it were me, I would have run away. I wouldn’t have been ready to accept a fate like that.”
“Why would you say something like that… You’re running the laboratory wonderfully, Jihyeok. You even receive funding from multiple companies…”
It wasn’t me running it, it was the Doctor—did she not have him in her thoughts at all? Well, given everything the Doctor had shown so far, I could understand why. I scratched the back of my head as if embarrassed.
“There are only two things I can do. Think strategically… and provide financial support. I’m especially confident in the latter.”
Yuria smiled behind her hand as she chewed her steak. Her eyes curved into crescent moons. Though there was only a year’s difference in age, she possessed a different charm from Sehwa—something mature and elegant, almost haughty.
“You seem to underestimate yourself too much, Jihyeok. When Astaroth appeared, you were remarkably calm and decisive. I never imagined you would stab the thigh. And in the West Sea, you even slapped the Doctor to bring him back to his senses…”
“Are you doing this on purpose? To make me uncomfortable?”
When I said it with a smile, Yuria frantically waved her hands.
“No, I genuinely meant to compliment—”
“I’m joking. You have sauce on the corner of your mouth, by the way.”
“Huh? Ah…!”
Startled, Yuria quickly brought her napkin to her lips. I teased her further.
“You did the same thing at the cafe last time. You have a clumsy side after all.”
After thoroughly wiping her mouth, Yuria let out a soft laugh.
“I suppose I do.”
“It looks good on you. A person loses their charm if they’re too perfect.”
When I subtly expressed interest, Yuria’s cheeks flushed the faintest shade of pink.
Ding!
At the same moment, my phone rang. After checking the message, I frowned and let out a sigh.
“Ha…”
Yuria checked the screen and gave an awkward smile.
“The sender is ‘Morning’… and there’s a heart… It’s Sehwa?”
“Yes.”
“Was she always this sensitive on days like this?”
“Not usually… She’s probably sulking because I couldn’t read her feelings. I’ll have to treat her well when she gets back. Speaking of which, I’m suddenly craving a drink… After we finish eating, would you like to go to a cocktail bar?”
Yuria hesitated at the suggestion.
Say yes. Kim Taegon is running late because of a dinner meeting anyway. Besides, I’m far more like Aaron than Yu Seunghyeon is.
“I… I’d like that.”
That’s right. Well done.
“Thank you for keeping me company.”
“I should be the one thanking you.”
Yuria daintily brought another piece of meat to her mouth. This time, as if determined not to get sauce on herself, she deliberately opened her lips a little wider.
After taking a sip of the cocktail with its lovely pomegranate-syrup gradient, Yuria spoke.
“Please take good care of Father.”
I had turned toward her at the long table. At her request I gave a faint smile.
“I should be the one saying that. As a businessman, Mr. Kim Taegon is beyond impressive. If we build an enterprise together as partners, we’ll be able to support the laboratory even more generously.”
“…. Is that your main objective?”
How about that? Similar to what Kim Taegon said, right? She must have been moved.
“Yes. Locating Tyrat is our top priority. With greater financial flexibility, we’ll be able to conduct proper searches.”
“I’m reflecting on myself. I should be dealing with the monsters and eliminating Tyrat… yet here I am, worrying over nothing but the Device… Don’t you find someone like me pathetic, Jihyeok?”
“Not in the slightest. As I said at the restaurant, if it were me, I would have run away long ago.”
Yuria let out a weak laugh and turned her chair a little closer to mine.
Her favorability has risen again. Good. Very good.
Conquering Yuria required extreme caution. She possessed a body far stronger than any Earthling’s; one wrong move and I could easily take a punch. Her dominant tendencies stemmed from that very strength. Because others instinctively submitted when she exerted power, she could toy with them at will. I had to ensure she could never do that in front of me. I would pass that dominant side to Yu Seunghyeon. In front of me, she would learn an entirely different kind of play—one that built new walls of pleasure. So she could never let me go. So she would sink deeper and deeper.
At first glance it looked difficult, and in truth it was. But I already knew every one of Yuria’s erogenous zones. If I massaged just a few key spots to keep her from acting out, she would wag her tail at me on her own.
“What are you thinking about so intently?”
At Yuria’s gentle question I shook off my thoughts and gazed at her steadily. She avoided my eyes and asked again.
“You were thinking about Sehwa, weren’t you?”
“…. No.”
“Then what?”
“Many things.”
After answering, I deliberately lowered my gaze to the floor, as if something weighed on my mind. Yuria did the same. Eyes fixed on the ground, she slowly spun her chair back and forth. In silence we simply drank our cocktails.
When her glass was finally empty, I asked.
“Shall we head back?”
“…. Yes.”
She sounded a little disappointed. Don’t worry. I have no intention of simply going home either. I need to charge that Device to at least fifty percent before I’ll be satisfied.
We stood, settled the bill, and stepped outside. As we walked along the sidewalk watching cars speed past, I noticed a small park nearby.
“Would you like to take a walk? It might help sober us up.”
“Um… sure.”
After watching her reaction for a moment and receiving her consent, I showed her that same Aaron smile once more.
Gulp.
I thought I could hear Yuria swallowing. I matched my pace to hers and kept our side-by-side distance close as we strolled through the park. Orange streetlamps lit the stone path. Trees scattered on either side added to the mood. It was the perfect place for a secret meeting. Perhaps because it sat beside an eight-lane road, there were almost no other people.
“It’s a pretty park. There aren’t many people because of the location, though.”
“Yes… I was thinking the same thing.”
After our brief exchange we continued along the path. I spotted a bench in an area the streetlights barely reached. This spot might as well have been made for exactly the kind of thing I had in mind.
“Shall we rest there for a bit?”
“Are you tired?”
“To be honest, my legs hurt after walking around so many places with Mr. Kim Taegon.”
“Ah… You should have said something sooner… Sit down quickly.”
I nodded, sat, and draped the suit jacket I had been carrying over the backrest. Yuria picked it up, sat beside me, and neatly folded the jacket before placing it across her lap.
“You’re acting just like Father. If you hang it carelessly it will wrinkle. Of course you wear a different suit every day… but a neat appearance is pleasant to look at. Ah, not that you aren’t neat, Jihyeok… I simply meant it would be even better if you were neater.”
She was rambling. I could feel how embarrassed she was.
“Thank you.”
At my gratitude Yuria smiled sweetly, then suddenly twitched her nose. She had caught the faint gooseberry scent clinging to the suit. How about it? It smells similar to the flowers that grew in your kingdom, doesn’t it?
Yuria’s expression brightened.
“The perfume smells wonderful.”
“It’s gooseberry. I’m glad you like it.”
“Yes. Very much.”
Yuria looked at me and smiled brightly. This was the first time she had shown me such a smile. It was breathtakingly beautiful. Seeing another side of the noble female knight felt refreshingly new. Barely catching hold of my spinning mind, I stared straight at her—wearing the complicated expression she had shown often lately. Gradually, her own face hardened.
“You know…”
My voice dropped low and heavy. Yuria swallowed once more.
“Yes?”
Her expression was thick with tension. Should I say something cringeworthy? Or just push forward? Let’s combine both. No matter what I said here, the odds of success were high.
“Your smile is incredibly beautiful.”
“Huh…? Ah!”
She jerked her head back in surprise—because I had leaned my face close to hers. Her skin was pure white without a single flaw, like an elf from a fantasy novel.
“Can you show it to me again?”
“That… Jihyeok, this seems wrong.”
Wrong? You hate indecisiveness, don’t you? That’s why you deducted points after seeing Yu Seunghyeon’s behavior yesterday. Yet here you are showing that same indecisiveness yourself? As expected, humans come with double standards as a default passive. Just like me.
“Can you show it to me again?”
My voice sank even lower. When I repeated the request, Yuria bit her lower lip.
“Please don’t do this…”
“Say it clearly.”
I had to be coercive. From the very start of this full-scale conquest, I needed to awaken her submissive side so she would cling to me.
“…..”
As Yuria fidgeted, unable to give a definite answer, I brought my face even closer. I leaned my upper body forward until my chest nearly touched her shoulder. I could see her fists clench and tremble. Inside her head, alarms must have been screaming that this was wrong, that she had to stop. But her heart was different. She was strongly drawn to Song Jihyeok, who had shown her far more of Aaron’s mannerisms than Yu Seunghyeon ever had.
Gulp.
Yuria’s slender throat bobbed. Entrust your body to instinct rather than reason. Then I’ll satisfy you.
When I drew my face even closer, Yuria unconsciously licked her lips. At that exact moment, I pressed my lips to hers.
“Hup…!”
Her pupils widened. But soon her eyes fluttered shut and her rigid face melted. I softly licked her crimson lips with my tongue, gently tracing the seam between them. My right hand cradled the back of her neck while my left held her wrist, preventing her from pulling away. Her lips gradually parted. The instant a gap appeared, I thrust my tongue inside aggressively.
“Hahup…!”
After exhaling sharply through her nose, all strength drained from Yuria’s body. The inside of her mouth was warm and carried the faint taste of the pomegranate cocktail she had drunk earlier. Her tongue entwined with mine obediently, as if accepting its new master.
It’s done.
Everything’s difficult at first, and after that it’s easy. I’ll corrupt her faster than I did Sehwa. You’re finished now.