The Promise
“Ah, I’m so full….”
After that, well. It was obvious what came next. The tally marks carved into the side of her breast had increased. Once night deepened, her belly had grown a little rounder. Her lips and stomach were as glossy as Hinami’s own skin.
“Anyway, we should get going. You’ve got a schedule tomorrow, don’t you?”
“Mmm… I don’t wanna go.”
“You still have to work.”
“I don’t wanna….”
Hinami, who had been fidgeting in her chair and deliberately avoiding my gaze, was no different. I walked over to the girl trying so hard to ignore me, took her hand, pulled her up, and half-dragged her along while half-embracing her.
“…If we leave now, it’ll take about two hours, Juhyuk.”
“Round trip, yeah, about that.”
“Buy me ice cream on the way back. …I’ll be asleep.”
“Okay.”
Haeun, who had also been rocking in her chair, showed me a melon-flavored ice cream on her phone before flopping onto the bed.
…Honestly, leaving them alone in the pension for two hours each way felt a little guilty. Still, once we got back, the two of us could enjoy a leisurely morning together until lunch. She didn’t seem too upset about it.
“Then let’s head out quickly. You should get some sleep too. You’ll be tired tomorrow.”
“Ugh… okay.”
With her practically buried against me, I dragged the stumbling girl outside. I pushed her into the back seat in her casual clothes and got behind the wheel, but she immediately opened the door and moved to the passenger seat.
“Why sit in the back?”
“…I’ll get bored back there.”
“Hey, what if someone—”
“I’ll wear a mask. Mask.”
It was still the middle of the night, far from dawn. Depending on the situation, it wasn’t impossible for someone to recognize her. Even so, she fixed her hair, pressed herself right against me, snapped a selfie, and then quietly put on her mask.
“…Let’s go, oppa.”
“Yeah.”
Looking at her eyes, curved in satisfaction, I slowly pressed the accelerator. We left the forest thick with trees and followed the road, matching our speed to the growing number of cars around us. I was driving an idol whose car was thousands of times more expensive than mine back to her place.
“…Oppa, what are you going to do until tomorrow after you drop me off?”
“Sleep.”
“And the day after?”
“Eat breakfast, rest a bit, then head to work.”
“…Anything dirty?”
“Want to see what’s written on your chest right now?”
“Ehehe….”
I ignored her as she immediately lifted her thin T-shirt to stare at her own chest. Quietly driving along the national highway, I couldn’t help but glance at the character 正 reflected in my right eye.
Whether she noticed my gaze or not, Hinami’s innocent smile suddenly vanished. She pulled her T-shirt back down, turned on her phone, and started flipping through a photoshoot she appeared in.
For a moment, even I—who had just been tangled up with her—felt my breath catch at how stunning she looked. A face without makeup could already enchant anyone. With makeup, lighting, and clothes that added a slightly mature charm, she truly looked like she had descended from the heavens onto the screen.
“…Pretty, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Your reaction’s too plain, don’t you think?”
“I’m driving. If we crash, I won’t even have an excuse.”
I wondered how she’d react if I touched her thigh, but fortunately she stayed quiet, scrolling through her photos. When a cute picture of her private parts suddenly appeared, she yelped and buried the phone against her body.
“…Hehe.”
“Why are you so surprised?”
“Ah, what if oppa sees it and causes an accident….”
Even the way she scratched her head, her eyes visible above the mask, looked embarrassed yet undeniably charming. I wanted to train her more to my tastes. Make her even more mine.
“….”
I reached out, placed my hand on her shorts, slid it down, and squeezed her bare thigh. While she looked at me silently, I kept driving quietly along the road, letting the gentle vibrations of the car guide my touch. We drove like that for an hour.
A few songs played. A few of the tracks she had sung came on. Before long, we arrived at her place. She rested her palm lightly over the hand that had been kneading her thigh, and once she realized we had arrived, she laced her fingers with mine.
We pulled into the parking lot. After checking to make sure no one was around, I unbuckled the seatbelt crossing her chest and got out to escort her.
“Please step out, Miss Hinami.”
“Eh, what’s with that stiff, creepy tone?”
“Why? How does your manager call you?”
“Exactly like that. Ahaha….”
She laughed lightly, took the hand I offered, and stepped out of the passenger seat in her sneakers. Standing face-to-face with her, holding her hand and looking down, I was reminded once again of the height difference I had almost forgotten.
“….”
We stared at each other in silence. It might have been a minute. Maybe ten. Or maybe less. Then—
“…You’re really tall, oppa.”
“Doesn’t it bother you?”
“No, not at all. …I like that you’re big.”
She had been holding my hand demurely, but after saying that she let go and suddenly lunged forward, wrapping her arms around me. I looked around once more, then slowly guided her behind the car. Only after leaning against it did I return her embrace.
“…When I’m on break, we’ll be able to meet more often, right?”
“Well, as long as you’re not busy.”
“Oppa’s busy too. You work six days a week.”
“If I hire more people, it won’t matter.”
“Then you’ll be in the red.”
“Nah, the gym makes good money.”
“Eh, really?”
“It gets packed every afternoon.”
I stroked her soft hair while matching her childish whining with conversation. This kind of sweet, trivial talk—she probably couldn’t have it with anyone else.
“…I want to visit oppa’s gym too.”
“Mornings are fine, but if you come in the evening everyone will stare at you. Can’t do that.”
“That’s mean.”
“If a scandal breaks out, I won’t be able to drive you home like this anymore, you know?”
“…I don’t care.”
“What?”
…Even this kind of talk.
“Honestly, I don’t care. …Even if a scandal happens. I don’t.”
“….”
“Even if the scandal breaks, articles come out, people call me a slut, fans burn my albums and tear up my merch… I don’t really care. Because then we could just get married right away.”
“Hey.”
If it wasn’t me, no one would listen to this.
“…But oppa’s going to marry unnie, so it probably won’t happen, right?”
“That… I don’t know. Neither does she.”
“Then will you marry me? …If you marry me, you can get Japanese citizenship too.”
“What would you even use that for?”
“Um… AV would be legal, so if we film couple AVs and sell a ton, we could get rich, right?”
“Are you crazy?”
“I’m serious… I want everyone to know.”
This twisted fetish too.
“I want the whole world to know that Hinami belongs to Juhyuk-oppa.”
“….”
“…Won’t you marry me? If we get married… you can get me pregnant as much as you want.”
…Even this completely broken version of her.
“There’s only one person in this world like that, you know? A twenty-year-old active idol whose virginity was taken… someone you can use however you want, creampie over and over, and even get pregnant without it mattering. There’s only one person like that.”
“Hinami.”
“I don’t care if I quit being an idol, so… won’t you marry me?”
Half-joking. …Half-serious. She looked at me with pleading eyes.
“…No.”
I swallowed hard.
“…Aww, why~”
“It’d be such a waste for you to quit being an idol because of me.”
“…That’s true, but.”
She licked her dry lips, trying to refuse somehow.
“I get what you’re saying. …I just like seeing you shine on TV or on stage more.”
“…What’s with the sudden hardcore fan move? Creepy.”
“Why? Can’t I be your fan?”
“It’s not that, but….”
She looked a little embarrassed and tried to escape toward the wall, but I pushed her against it.
“Being an idol suits you way better than being a regular person, doesn’t it?”
“Umm… I don’t know?”
“Really? …If you quit, we wouldn’t have to sneak around like this.”
“Hmm, wouldn’t it be better to do it without worrying?”
“…Really?”
I lifted her T-shirt, revealing her bare breasts without a bra.
“Have you ever once thought that the fact that it would be over if we got caught… is actually exciting?”
“….”
Embarrassment. Fluster. Tension. …And arousal. While gently stroking her flushed ears—
“Staying in that position is hotter.”
“…If you do that for me, I’ll stay.”
“Do what?”
“This place is only supposed to hold beautiful words… so fill it with lots of dirty ones.”
She tossed away her black mask, hiding her moistening eyes, and pointed at her crimson, sweet lips. Carefully, I pressed my lips against hers.
“Mm… chu… mm….”
In a brightly lit parking lot, in a shadowy corner between cars, she and I secretly shared a sticky kiss that would ruin everything if discovered.
“…Phew. Haa….”
A kiss so desperate and sweet that even she would be jealous if she knew.
“…Oppa.”
“Yeah.”
“Until my contract ends… I’ll work hard, like you said.”
“…Yeah.”
“So when it’s over… do that for me.”
“…Marriage is off the table.”
“I know. …Unnie comes first. So even if we don’t get married…”
Even if she knew—
“…Give me a baby.”
“….”
“My height is a complex, so… I need tall genes like yours. If it’s a boy, he could be a baseball player, and if it’s a girl, she could be a model, or—mmph….”
…So she wouldn’t get jealous.
“Phaah….”
“…I’ll get you pregnant together with Haeun.”
“…Okay.”
I made her a promise I felt I could actually keep. A promise I wanted to keep—if no one interfered.