B-Class Hunter Choi Garam: Lover Play (4)
Lover play.
No — just being a lover at all was something extremely, extremely difficult for Taejin.
The reason was obvious enough.
For one thing, Taejin was a never-dated virgin who didn't know the first thing about women.
Decent looks, a solid body — and he'd never even dated once?
I've got a single mother at home. How was I supposed to be in any position to date?
His father had died during the Gate Incident, and his mother was frail enough that she spent most of her time in the hospital. With a mother like that, dating was out of the question — even scraping together the monthly medical bills was a struggle. These days he at least had a job that paid well, which was a blessing. Before that, he'd spent entire months surviving on nothing but cheap instant meals.
Anyway, for those reasons, he had never dated — never even properly held a girl's hand.
And now someone wanted lover play from a guy like that.
What am I supposed to do?
Honestly, he hadn't expected a moment like this would never come. But hadn't it arrived a little too soon?
While Taejin was groaning inwardly over all of this—
Ah… is this not going to work…?
—Choi Garam, watching him, started to wonder whether she'd asked for too much after all. Asking someone she'd just met to do lover play was, well, pretty intense.
So for a moment she thought maybe she should have just gone about things the ordinary way.
"Ahem. First… I'd like you to know that I don't have much experience, so I might not be very good at this."
She heard something unexpected.
"Wait — are you a virgin? Like, never-dated?"
"Kh—!"
Choi Garam said it with genuine surprise. There was no intent to mock him. She was truly startled. By her standards he was just barely a pass, but he had a solid build and a face that was honestly pretty handsome — so the idea that he'd never dated once struck her as bizarre.
Sorry for being a never-dated virgin, I guess.
Of course, to Taejin it just felt like he'd been roasted.
In any case, once he'd delivered the most important piece of information—
"You mentioned lover play — what kind of thing were you hoping for?"
"Um, well… something gentle, I guess…"
"Hmm. Should I keep that same feeling when we move into the actual service, or…"
They had to do this somehow, so he started asking a series of questions. Half of it was basically a preference survey. He couldn't help it. This sexual relief service was hypnosis-based, sure, but it wasn't something he could just do however he pleased — for Hunters, it was officially listed as a service. So he had to act like he was matching her preferences as closely as possible.
After wrapping up the rough preference… survey—
Hmm. So: drinking wine while watching a movie, then during one of those scenes they bashfully lock eyes, the mood takes over, they kiss, and that leads into sex…
She'd clearly read her share of romance. There was no other way she could have laid out a scenario in that much detail.
Taejin considered her conditions.
"Understood. But you'll have to cover the wine and the movie yourself — is that alright?"
She agreed, of course. Taejin may never have had a girlfriend, but he wasn't someone who felt burdened by doing this kind of thing with a woman. If he had been, he never would have managed sex in the first place. Sure, the idea of watching a movie in a dark apartment with a beautiful woman made his heart race a little — but still.
"As for what we call each other… since I'm older, would 'Oppa' be comfortable for you?"
"Y-yes, yes… I think that would be good."
So the terms were set: Choi Garam would call him Taejin-oppa, and he would call her Garam. Settling these things on the fly mid-scene would kill the mood, so they had to decide in advance. As for aftercare, she'd said she wanted to try the experience once and then decide — so that part was off the table for now.
With the terms settled, Taejin steeled himself.
Get it together, Han Taejin. You're not the guy who's been a never-dated virgin for twenty-three years. You're a man dating a pretty college girl.
Honestly, he didn't feel very confident. No pressure, sure — but you had to have done this kind of thing before to be good at it. Still, he decided to give it his best.
She seems pretty desperate for this, too, asking for something like this.
She — Choi Garam — seemed hungry enough for romance that she'd make a request like this. Sure, he was doing this to satisfy his own desires, but he figured he ought to take care of other people's needs along the way.
Thinking that, Taejin helped set up the apartment. More precisely, he pulled out the wine and glasses and heated up a frozen pizza from the fridge. The curtains, being the expensive kind, closed automatically.
Once the frozen pizza and wine were set out and the living room was fully darkened—
Not a bad atmosphere, actually.
A pretty decent mood had formed. A dark room alone was enough to put a couple in the right headspace, and with wine and a movie on top of that, it was only natural.
And with that, Taejin's lover play began.
What she'd asked for was a very, very ordinary boyfriend. More precisely: someone a little playful, but not annoying — someone who treated her gently. There seemed to be something more she wanted to ask for, but she was holding herself back from going that far.
Anyway, Taejin started acting to meet her request.
"Garam. Setup's done. Let's watch the movie."
"U-uh-huh."
At his words, Garam moved stiffly, as if her whole body had locked up. Taejin thought, You're the one who asked for this — how are you going to act that awkward? — but he immediately shifted into boyfriend mode, working to ease the tension.
"Pfft — why are you moving so stiffly? Worried I'm gonna do something weird?"
"N-no, it's just…"
"Haha. I told you I won't. We're just watching a movie and then I'm out. Don't worry."
As he said it, he found himself ruffling her hair without thinking.
Oh. Soft.
For the record, he'd touched her hair because she reminded him of a puppy his family had kept back when his father was still alive. Whenever his parents fought, the dog would get nervous and hang back, and he used to pet it just like this.
Thinking about it that way, I guess I'm treating a person like a dog.
At his touch, some of Garam's awkwardness seemed to melt away, and she started acting more naturally.
"Ah, okay, okay — just stop petting my head…"
Her face was flushed bright red, but her words said the opposite. That meant she wanted him to keep going. How could he tell? If she'd truly hated it, the hand resting near his would have shoved him off.
Taejin stroked her hair a little longer, then casually let his hand fall away. The way Garam looked vaguely disappointed afterward was probably just his imagination.
After the head-patting, they put on the movie Garam had picked out in advance. The genre was, of course, romance — specifically, a foreign R-rated romance film.
Is this okay?
Taejin hadn't expected a movie like this when he'd promised not to touch her, but since this was all buildup for the sexual relief service anyway, he let it slide.
That said—
Why is this so good?
The movie being genuinely entertaining was a separate matter entirely.
Meanwhile, while Taejin was absorbed in the movie, there was one person who couldn't concentrate at all.
Ugh… why… why can't I focus…?
It was none other than the architect of this whole situation — Choi Garam.
Why couldn't she concentrate? The answer was simple.
—Thump.
—Thump.
—Thump.
Was this supposed to be this exciting…?
She'd created the situation herself, but it was far more thrilling than she'd anticipated. In other words, Garam was like this because the scenario she'd built was more romantic than she'd expected. Part of it was that she was a never-dated virgin herself, and also…
H-his arm is so thick…
Because the sexual relief guy — no, Taejin-oppa — had claimed her like she was his, guiding her by the shoulder without hurting her and pulling her close against his side as they watched the movie.
Is it the alcohol…? Why does he look even cooler?
It might sound silly to get flustered over something like that, but with a good body and a decent face, plus a bit of wine in him, he somehow looked even more attractive.
"Here. Say ah~"
"A-aah~"
Even while focused on the movie, he kept glancing over at her and feeding her bites of food like a mother feeding a baby, smiling the whole time.
"You eat so well. Our little Garam."
"Euh…♥!"
Then he'd stroke her hair with a gentle hand, careful not to mess it up.
No — how was this the behavior of a never-dated virgin?! This guy was a total pro, right?!
Garam thought that to herself, but she didn't say it out loud. She knew it would be genuinely rude, and also… this wasn't bad at all.
Maybe that was why—
He's not even pulling me over anymore, and I'm leaning against him?
By the middle of the movie, without Taejin doing anything in particular, Garam had drifted even closer to his side.
Watching her, Taejin never once realized that a popular beauty YouTuber was genuinely fluttering over his best attempt at flirting. Instead—
What's this wine called again? Ballantine's 30 Year? Must be expensive…
—he was focused on the wine and the movie. Honestly, the drinks and the film were just too enjoyable. He couldn't help himself.