Find the Doll!

Morning came early.

Beep-beep! Beep-beep!

I cracked my eyes open to the shrill of my phone alarm going off before dawn. I didn't feel like I'd slept well, but if I wanted to make it to work, I had to get up.

My body, though, was a wreck. Was it because we'd gone at it so hard last night?

"Ugh."

And I couldn't figure out why my head hurt. I sat up through a dull, tingling headache.

"Nnngh~ mmyah~"

Senior's inner voice drifted over too. Even her sleep-talking came through as thoughts. Weird.

"Wait a second."

That wasn't an inner voice.

I looked down at her. Senior had her face buried in my crotch, dead asleep, and apparently she'd been mumbling out loud without realizing it.

"Good grief..."

At this point she might as well have hung a sign on herself that said there's a person inside this doll.

I quietly pretended I hadn't heard a thing and shook the doll's body to wake her. She came to, lifted her head, and looked at me.

"......?"

The doll's expression hadn't changed at all, but I had the distinct impression that Senior, inside, was staring at me with an uneasy face.

I opened my mouth as if nothing had happened.

"Sleep well?"

!? Nod, nod.

"We've got to get to work, so you should get ready to go too."

At that, the doll slowly got to her feet and toddled over, climbed right onto my chest, and rested her face against it. I stroked her hair and stood up with her in my arms.

When I tried to peel the tape off her bound limbs, the doll shook her head and threw a fit.

"Wait. You want to go in like this?"

Nod, nod.

She nodded so cutely I almost couldn't stand it. Every little thing she did just kept turning me on.

We still had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠time before work anyway, so I spent a while holding her and watching TV. Squeeze, squeeze. Every so often I'd grope her chest, making her feel good.

Once I'd confirmed it was time, I took her over to the bag. I tucked the doll inside, and before zipping it shut, I smiled at her.

"See you later, then."

She nodded. I zipped the bag, slung it over my shoulder, and headed for the front door. I set it down on the threshold, and—

Whoosh—

Just like before, the doll vanished in an instant, bag and all. No matter how many times I saw it, it was still a bizarre sight.

"I should get ready for work too."

After sending her off, I was heading back inside to get ready when a sudden sense of wrongness hit me, and my expression went stiff.

"......Huh?"

"Come to think of it..."

Had I heard Senior's inner thoughts this morning? No... I didn't think I'd heard them since I woke up.

"Wait. Don't tell me..."

Nah. No way. I dismissed it as nothing and got ready for work.

By the time I arrived at the lab, I had no choice but to be sure. My ability to hear other people's inner thoughts was gone. I hadn't picked up a single person's inner voice on the entire commute.

Why did it suddenly disappear?

Or maybe it hadn't disappeared — maybe it had just switched off for a while. Ability overload. It was something Awakened people commonly ran into.

Was that why my head hurt so strangely this morning?

That seemed possible. An Awakened person's skills weren't infinite. Just like a fire-breather had their limits, the ability to hear inner thoughts apparently had limits too. The skill that had been running for days had finally hit its ceiling and shut off for a while. I figured I wouldn't be able to hear Senior's inner thoughts for some time.

I snuck a glance at her. Her face looked the same as always, but I'd seen her so much that I could tell from the tiniest shift in her expression that she was concentrating hard on something.

What's she thinking about?

From the outside, she looked completely absorbed in her research. But I had a pretty good idea what was actually on her mind.

Bet she's thinking about sex again.

I never knew until I awakened my skill, but Seolhwa-sunbae was always having dirty thoughts behind that ice-cold face. That was how bad it was — whether she was having a normal conversation with me, giving me an assignment, or even conducting research, the word sex was always in there somewhere.

Anyway, Senior really was a genius. She'd never ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠once made a mistake while thinking those things with a completely straight face.

"Assistant Lee Jihun."

"Yes?"

"If you're done grinding the Phocatris beak into powder, would you bring it over?"

"Ah, yes."

I brought the Phocatris beak I'd just powdered over to her. Not being able to hear her inner thoughts was a little inconvenient, sure, but I found myself enjoying the long-overdue quiet.

"I'll be heading out early today."

"Ah, yes. Understood."

"You should finish what I assigned you and head home right after, Assistant Lee."

I nodded, saw her off, and went back to my station to continue the research. It happened from time to time — Senior leaving first because she had something else to do, and me staying behind to keep working.

"About two hours should do it?"

It was 2 p.m. now. Finishing what she'd assigned me would probably take about two hours. Clocking out at four. Compared to my usual hours, that was still pretty early. I got my hands moving, eager to wrap it up.

Time passed.

"Hah... done."

By the time I'd finished everything she'd given me, it was around 4 p.m. Just as I'd guessed, it had only taken about two hours. I packed up immediately and left, heading home with a light step, curious about what Senior would have me do tonight.

After getting home at four, I sat watching TV, waiting for Senior. I rested, ate dinner, and lay on the sofa watching TV now and then, until before I knew it the clock read 9:59 p.m.

In one minute, the doll would be delivered. I checked the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠time, waiting for the doorbell. One minute passed, and the moment the clock hit ten—

Ding-dong—

The doorbell, same as always. I went straight to the front door and opened it, and sure enough, a large box had been delivered to my doorstep.

I immediately picked it up to bring it inside.

"......Huh?"

The box was strangely light. How to put it... it felt empty? Wearing a puzzled look, I carried it to the living room and opened it right away. And as expected, the inside was empty.

Well — not completely empty. There was something in there.

"What's this?"

A note of some kind, and a familiar switch button. I unfolded the note first and looked at the contents.

"Today's Request is..."

Find the Doll. Today's Request was as bizarre as ever.

Already delivered? What was that supposed to mean? And hiding somewhere in the house?

"......!?"

I couldn't help the incredulous look that crossed my face.

"......Hold on."

So the doll was already hiding somewhere inside my house? And I was supposed to use this electric stimulation button to figure out where?

No wonder she'd left work early. She'd left early to set this up.

I folded the paper back up and stuffed it in my pocket. An incredulous laugh slipped out of me.

"Good grief..."

It was a good thing I knew the person inside the doll was Senior. Otherwise this was basically a home invasion. And how the hell had she even picked the lock...? Then again, a mage of Senior's caliber could probably just waltz right in.

So where is she, then?

For one thing, my house was bigger than you'd think. This mansion I'd inherited from my grandfather had a second floor, a garage, even a basement. Though since I lived alone, the basement and second floor were basically just storage. My guess was she'd be in one of those two.

Not having my ability at a time like this is a real pain. If I could hear Senior's inner thoughts, I would've found her no problem.

Well then...

I headed for the stairs at the end of the hallway off the master bedroom, intending to search the second floor first.

Thirty minutes later, I was standing in the living room looking exhausted.

"Okay, where the hell is she?"

Every one of my guesses had been wrong. She wasn't in any of the second-floor rooms, and she wasn't in the basement either. The garage? There wasn't even anywhere to hide in there. She was hiding so damn well that anyone watching would've thought she was a ninja, not a mage.

No reaction even when I press the button...

I'd been keeping the button on the whole time. She had to be twitching ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠from the stimulation in her chest and clit, but no matter how much I searched, I couldn't find her.

I let out a hollow sigh and walked over to the sofa.

"Hah... let me just rest for a bit."

I sat down, practically collapsing onto it.

Flump! Twitch!

"......Huh?"

That was when it happened. I felt a movement from the sofa that absolutely should not have been there.

"......"

Hoping I was imagining it, I slowly stood up and dropped myself onto the sofa again.

Flump! Twitch!

And once again, I felt something twitch.

No way...

I stared at the sofa in disbelief, then ran my hands over it. Something was twitching inside — wriggling around, almost.

"You've got to be kidding me..."

I stared at the sofa, dumbfounded.

She's been inside the sofa this whole time?

So if Senior had left work and spent about an hour getting ready, that meant she'd been stuffed inside the sofa as a doll since around 3 p.m.