The Ideal Lover
This is the worst.
Jieun glared at the man in front of her, the thought burning in her mind.
She knew she had to fight back, but her body refused to move.
It was as if his words took priority over her own commands.
“Well then, how about you take everything off for me?”
At the despicable man’s words, her frozen body finally began to stir.
But never in the direction she wanted.
“Nngh…!”
Her hands moved on their own, pulling off the hoodie she wore before tossing aside the shirt underneath.
Next came her jeans, sliding down her legs.
In moments, Jieun was left wearing nothing but her underwear.
“Now the underwear too, right?”
Her hands hesitated at his words.
Jieun tried to resist, but in the end she unhooked her bra.
The thick cotton garment slipped down, and her large breasts—too big to fit in one hand—spilled free.
“Haaah…”
Her breathing grew ragged.
Her chest heaved, and her eyes stung as if tears were about to spill.
It was terrifying.
Having once been a man, Jieun had never known what it felt like for a woman to stand naked before one.
It was like standing defenseless before a wild beast.
Men and women reacted differently when faced with danger.
Men tried to overcome it. Women tried to protect themselves from it.
It was an instinct carved into every living being to prevent the extinction of the species.
Without mercy, her hands kept moving, reaching for her panties this time.
Please stop, she begged inwardly, but her fingers only paused for a moment before hooking into the waistband and yanking them down.
Jieun squeezed her eyes shut.
Then she felt rough hands roaming over her skin in the darkness.
“Hyaaah?!”
Jieun’s eyes flew open as a shrill scream tore from her throat.
She turned to see Kang-hyuk standing right behind her, his hands already on her stomach and chest.
“D-don’t touch me!”
“That’s asking a bit much. You expect me to keep my hands off a body this tempting when it’s right in front of me?”
His touch grew bolder, fingers exploring sensitive places.
From her navel to her breasts, from her breasts to her nipples, then lower, between her thighs.
“You’ve got quite the bush down here. I prefer them shaved smooth, personally.”
“Sh… shut up…!”
It took every ounce of courage just to spit those words out.
“You’re soaking wet. Acting like you hate it, but you’re actually enjoying this, aren’t you?”
His thick fingers pushed deeper, touching the most precious part of her.
She wanted to deny it, but his fingers glistened with clear fluid.
Jieun hadn’t known.
She hadn’t known that a woman’s body would produce arousal even when touched by someone she found repulsive or physiologically repulsive.
That was why the fact that she was wet now felt so humiliating.
“Stop… don’t touch me…!”
She pleaded, her voice trembling.
It was a weak, vulnerable sight she would never have shown as a man, as Justice Red.
But faced with this primal fear for the first time, the words slipped out before she could stop them.
“If you’re begging that hard… fine. I’ll stop.”
To her surprise, he actually pulled his hand away.
“You’re really stopping…?”
“Yeah. I’ll use this instead.”
He grinned wickedly and placed a hand on his crotch.
Jieun recoiled in horror.
“No! D-don’t!”
“What, you don’t want me to fuck you?”
“Of course not…!”
“Fine. You’re awfully demanding.”
He withdrew his hand and stepped back, as if that settled everything.
His attitude made Jieun uneasy.
Then a realization struck her.
“Don’t tell me…”
This man had said it himself.
One of the conditions for using his ability was to grant the target a favor.
“So you figured it out.”
Kang-hyuk smirked.
“I did exactly what you asked. That means you owe me a favor. Handling Awakeners is tricky. Unlike ordinary people, a small favor isn’t enough to control them completely.”
“So you deliberately… tricked me…”
“Tricked? That’s a bit harsh. As you can see, I stopped when you asked. I can’t force myself on you or touch you without your permission anymore. That’s the condition of the favor. So relax.”
If that was true, then the immediate crisis was over.
But his relaxed attitude made her deeply uneasy.
It was the look of someone who didn’t think this condition put him at any disadvantage.
“In exchange, I can impose my will on you. Give and take. That’s only fair, right? Look forward to it. I tend to play with my toys pretty roughly.”
The moment she saw his wicked smile, Jieun knew.
Terrible suffering awaited her.
***
This is the worst.
Jieun walked across campus toward the lecture hall, her face pale the entire way.
In the end, nothing had happened yesterday.
She had made it home safely.
But knowing what that meant only made her more anxious.
“Jieun.”
The voice calling her name sent a chill down her spine.
That voice, already grating before, had become a nightmare she would never forget.
“…Senior Kang-hyuk.”
She turned to find him standing there.
Jieun answered in a gentle tone.
As if they had gone from enemies to lovers overnight.
Of course, it wasn’t her will.
Her body simply spoke that way on its own.
The price of the favor was to become “lovers in the ideal form.”
That alone was malicious enough, but the true cruelty lay in what it meant.
The ideal form was none other than what Jieun herself imagined.
To her, ideal lovers trusted each other, relied on each other, loved each other, and never betrayed one another.
Therefore, she could no longer treat this man harshly, attack him, or do anything that would betray him.
That was why she had simply gone home and fallen asleep without trying anything last night.
The moment she tried to commit any act of betrayal, an overwhelming sense of rejection would surge through her.
She would feel as though she had committed an unforgivable sin, and she would stop.
It felt like denying her entire self.
Like trampling on everything she had ever believed in, even her own convictions.
She simply couldn’t do it.
Extreme self-loathing.
Extreme self-disgust.
Those feelings kept rising, over and over, until she could no longer bear them.
Even now.
The moment she turned and saw her senior, all the disgust in her heart vanished for an instant, and she spoke to him with the warmth of a loving girlfriend.
Of course, her heart hadn’t been stolen.
She still despised him from the bottom of her soul.
That was her only comfort.
“Did you get home okay yesterday?”
He approached and placed a hand on her cheek as he asked.
The way he stroked her face made her skin crawl.
If she could, she would grab his wrist and twist it until it broke.
But instead, her face smiled affectionately as she answered.
“Yes, senior. Thanks to you.”
“Got time today? Want to grab something good to eat? My treat, obviously.”
“Well…”
Jieun swallowed hard.
“I’m sorry, senior. I have something to do today. I don’t think I can make it.”
Cold sweat trickled down her forehead.
Her eyebrows trembled. Her breathing quickened.
Her chest tightened with anxiety, and she bit her lip.
She had no plans at all.
Which meant this was a lie.
Knowing that—knowing she had lied to the one who was supposed to be her ideal lover—filled her with self-reproach.
Her conscience lashed at her, demanding she confess the lie immediately.
It felt like something terrible would happen if she didn’t.
But Jieun desperately steadied herself and forced the rejection down.
“Hmm… is that so?”
His expression turned cold.
He had probably expected her to agree without question.
His goal was obvious.
To keep granting her favors until he completely dominated her mind.
That was exactly why she couldn’t allow it.
“Well, can’t be helped. Let’s go eat together next time.”
“Yes… senior.”
He smiled.
At a glance, it looked like a gentle smile.
But Jieun, who knew the intent behind it, could never see it that way.
She smiled back.
As if greeting a beloved lover.
She hated it, but there was no choice.
Only then did she notice the stares around them.
Eyes filled with jealousy, envy, or curiosity watched them.
Jieun could already guess what would happen next.
Within a day—maybe even sooner—a new rumor would spread from mouth to mouth.
Another girl had fallen for that third-year playboy with the golden spoon.
A deeply unpleasant rumor.