Paid in Full
Ten in the morning.
Min-ho left Ji-eun's place and headed for the bank with a check for a hundred million won in his pocket—the contract advance.
Today I pay it all off.
Twenty million won in student loans. Another twenty million on the cards, run up covering his mother's hospital bills. Forty million in all. For five years that debt had worked him over, month after month, a full quarter of every paycheck walking out the door as interest. Today, it ended.
He was dressed the way he dressed now—black leggings, a gray shirt. It was a weekday morning, and the bank was quiet. The moment he stepped through the doors, a few heads turned. The women's, especially. Even in its ordinary state, what he carried under the leggings showed clear as a drawing, well over twenty centimeters of it, every line.
"That guy..."
"He's huge..."
The whispers barely carried. He caught them anyway, drew a number, and waited.
Customer 117, please proceed to window three.
He went to window three. The teller looked to be in her mid-twenties, and the name tag on her chest read Kim Su-jin. She wore a thin blouse with a pink lace bra underneath, the fabric sheer enough that the lace showed through, sharp and unmistakable.
"Welcome."
Su-jin greeted him with a bright smile—and then she actually looked at him, and her eyes went wide. Her gaze dropped to his lap. And stayed there.
"I... what brings you in today?"
A little flustered, now.
"I'm here to pay off a loan."
"Oh—yes. May I have your ID and your bankbook?"
He handed them over. She turned to the computer, though her eyes kept flicking back to him all the same.
"A student loan for twenty million, and a card loan for twenty million... forty million won in total."
"Yes. I'd like to clear the whole thing today."
"The whole amount?"
She stared at him, startled.
"Yes. Here's the check."
He set the hundred-million-won check on the counter. Her eyes went wider still.
"A hundred... million won?"
"Yes. Forty million toward the loans. I'd like the other sixty million put into a deposit."
"Ah... yes. Of course."
She took the check, verified it, and looked at him again.
"Forgive me for asking, but... what is it you do?"
"I'm an AV actor."
He said it straight, without flinching. Color climbed into Su-jin's face.
"Oh... I see..."
Her eyes traveled downward once more, and this time she didn't bother to hide it.
"One moment, please. I'll take care of this."
She set to the work. She kept stealing glances anyway. And then a problem presented itself. A woman this young and this pretty, looking at him without a pause—it was getting to him.
No... not now...
He couldn't hold it down. Inside the leggings he began to swell, from twenty centimeters to twenty-five, then thirty, until the fabric drew drum-tight across him.
"Oh my..."
Su-jin's hand flew to her mouth.
"That's... completely..."
Past thirty centimeters now, it shoved the leggings out until it jutted nearly horizontal. She couldn't tear her eyes away.
"I'm sorry. It's a natural reaction..."
His face was burning.
"Oh—no, it's all right. Just proof you're healthy."
She said it in a rush, flustered and trying not to be. Her gaze never left the spot.
Ten minutes, more or less.
"All set. The loans are paid in full, and I've placed the sixty million in a time deposit."
"Thank you."
Relief crowded up into his chest until it ached.
Finally. I'm free of the debt.
Su-jin spoke carefully.
"If it isn't too forward of me... could I have one of your cards?"
"A card?"
"Yes... I like AV too, actually. When your work comes out, I really want to see it."
He didn't have a card yet.
"I'm sorry. I don't have one. I've only just started."
"Oh... of course. Then maybe..."
She drew out her own card and set it in front of him.
"That's my number. If you ever have the time... would you call me?"
He took it.
"Thank you."
"Um... my lunch break is at noon, so... would you maybe want to eat together?"
Hope sat naked in her eyes. He hesitated. But he already had plans with Seo-yoon today.
"I'm sorry. I've got an appointment today. Next time, I'll call you. I mean it."
"Ah... all right. I understand. I'll be waiting!"
Su-jin smiled, bright as a lamp.
Out on the street again, he made for Venus Entertainment. He checked his phone and found a message from Seo-yoon already waiting.
The fifteenth floor of Venus Entertainment.
Min-ho knocked on the door of Seo-yoon's office.
"Come in."
He opened it and found her at her desk, dressed in a black blouse and a tight skirt, a red lace bra showing through the thin fabric.
"Min-ho!"
She stood, glad to see him.
"Did everything go all right at the bank?"
"Yes. I paid the loans off."
"Congratulations. You're completely free now."
She came toward him.
"Sit. There's something I want to talk about."
The two of them settled on the sofa.
"Your piece goes up tomorrow."
"Yes."
"It's going to be huge. I'm certain of it."
She took out a tablet.
"I watched the edit again, and it's genuinely perfect. The chemistry with Yoon-a is good, and the acting in your face is alive."
"Thank you..."
"Which is why I'm bringing this up."
She looked straight at him.
"I want to lock in your next project. You're doing it with Ha-rin, yes?"
"Yes."
"Before that—how about one more?"
"One more?"
"Yes. With me."
He startled.
"You? The president?"
"I used to be an actress, remember? I've been retired five years, but... I want to try it with you."
She leaned in until she was close.
"I'll be honest. I've been curious ever since I saw your test footage."
"With me?"
"Yes. And..."
Her voice dropped.
"I want to experience it myself. What you've got."
His heart picked up speed. Seo-yoon stood at 173 centimeters—five taller than he was. Early forties, still beautiful, her figure still taut with the care she put into it.
"President... no. Seo-yoon..."
"Want to shoot today? Right now?"
She rose and caught his hand.
"The studio's empty. Just the two of us."
He nodded.
"All right."
Studio B held no one but the two of them. No camera. No crew.
"This isn't a shoot. Just us."
She started on the buttons of her blouse.
"You're on the short side, aren't you?"
"Yes..."
"Your profile says 168 centimeters. Five shorter than I am."
The blouse came off, and the red lace bra was bare to the room.
"But what does height matter, really?"
The skirt followed. The panties were lace as well; she had dressed to be looked at, and she had done it on purpose.
"You've got something that matters a great deal more."
She came in close, stripped his shirt away, and drew the leggings down. He sprang free, already hard.
"Whoa..."
Her breath stopped.
"On the video I thought it was impressive. In person..."
She wrapped both hands around him. Even both of them couldn't close the circle.
"Thirty centimeters... it really is past thirty."
She looked up at him.
"Come to the bed."
They crossed to it, and she shed the bra and the panties. A firm, grown woman's body at 173 centimeters—forties, and kept so completely she could have stood beside women in their twenties.
"Come up here."
He climbed over her. At 173, she had to look up at all of 168.
"You're small. It's cute."
"Seo-yoon..."
"But this..."
She took hold of him.
"This isn't small at all."
She set him against her entrance.
"Come in. Slowly."
He pushed his hips forward.
"Nnh..."
A moan slipped out of her. She was no stranger to any of this, and still his size was more than she could take easily.
"Keep going... come in..."
He sank deeper by degrees. Halfway. Two-thirds.
"There... that's perfect..."
Her legs locked around his waist.
"Now move. You lead."
He started to move—carefully at first, and then, as the confidence found him, with less and less care.
I can do this.
He was short. And in this moment he was satisfying a woman five centimeters taller than he was.
"Min-ho... that's good... right there..."
Her moans climbed. He drove harder, deeper.
"Ah... Min-ho..."
Her nails raked down his back.
"You're... incredible..."
Time went by. He didn't flag. If anything, the heat in him rose.
Even if I'm short... I can win with this.
"Min-ho... let's change..."
She sat up, laid him flat, and climbed on top of him. Now she was the one looking down—173 centimeters of her poised over 168 of him.
"Look."
She lowered herself slowly, and he went deep.
"Nnnh... this is... so deep..."
Sweat beaded on her face.
She began to move, slow, settling into a rhythm. From underneath he looked up at her. A tall woman—a full five centimeters taller than he was—and she was moaning on top of him, taken by him.
"Min-ho... I'm... close..."
She had started to tremble.
"Together... come with me..."
He was at his limit too. The two of them broke at the same moment.
"Min-ho!"
She cried it out and collapsed onto him.
A long while later, they lay side by side, breathing themselves back down.
"Min-ho."
Seo-yoon turned her head to look at him.
"That height complex. Any better?"
He thought about it. Only minutes ago he had satisfied a woman taller than himself. Perfectly.
"Yes. A lot better, I think."
"Good."
She sat up.
"Listen to me. In this industry, height genuinely does not matter. What you've got..."
Her hand drifted over him, idle and fond.
"...will hold up anywhere in the world. So have some confidence."
He nodded.
"And, Min-ho."
A playful smile crossed her face.
"Today was really something. More than twenty years in this work, and I've never had anything like it."
"Me neither... Seo-yoon..."
"Let's see each other often. For business. And not only for business."
She got up and started to dress.
"And when the piece goes up tomorrow, watch it with me. The company's throwing a party."
"I will."
He dressed as well.
Seo-yoon, too.
Ji-young. Yoon-a. Ji-eun, his noona. And now Seo-yoon.
Four.
He looked at himself in the mirror. A small man, 168 centimeters tall. Not the same man anymore.
I can do this.
A new confidence had taken root in him. It felt as if he had finally overcome the height complex.