The Morning of the Sixth Mission

Snap! Seo Jian was patting toner into her skin ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠when she suddenly cupped her own cheek with her palm. She stared at the face in the mirror—the kind of face that would make anyone say, that's a woman—and drifted into thought. 'Today's the day….'

It had been exactly one week since their last mission. Tuesday. They'd promised to tackle one mission per week, which meant she and Kim Hanbin had to step back into that room today.

"As long as that bastard doesn't try any weird shit, we'll be fine. Mm-hmm."

Jian muttered the words like a vow to herself, carefully studying her reflection. She had zero intention of doing anything as annoying as full makeup, but even before her body had changed she'd always been particular about skincare. This was just her usual morning routine.

'If he does try something, I'll grab it and—!'

A horrifying image flashed through her mind and she shook her head violently. That part of her didn't even exist anymore, yet just imagining it made a phantom pain shoot through her.

"It'll be fine. Nothing's going to happen."

The reason the usually mission-obsessed girl had suddenly become so gloomy wasn't the missions themselves. It was the commotion involving Jo Woohyun yesterday. Of all the uncomfortable things that could happen, she never imagined her name would come out of that guy's mouth.

As soon as she'd left the bathroom yesterday, she'd grilled Kim Hanbin relentlessly. From what he said, he'd left his phone on the table and a message had popped up at the worst possible moment. [Seo Jian]. It was obviously a girl's name, so it made sense that Jo Woohyun had gotten curious. The silver lining was that he hadn't connected it to the name "Seo Jiwon." Still, yesterday's incident had nearly given her a heart attack. If she hadn't sent that message and had just waited quietly, maybe none of this would have—

'Ah, whatever! First favor: you have to listen to everything I say tomorrow, got it?!'

'When have I ever done whatever I wanted?'

'Answer me.'

'Okay.'

In the end, she'd gotten so embarrassed that she'd resorted to this stubborn threat. Jian slid open her drawer and pulled out the square condom box she'd hidden deep inside, underneath her bras.

"I'm only bringing it because of the mission. That's all."

Her heart pounded. After ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠slipping the condoms into her pocket, Seo Jian left the room.

===

They hadn't made any specific plans, but there were a few unspoken preparations they each handled before a mission. Taking a shower that morning was obvious. They also refused to wear anything they'd worn the day before. There was no telling what that insane whiteboard would demand next, and if they smelled even slightly, the shame might actually kill them.

Getting too excited was also forbidden. It would make them look desperate for the mission. On top of that, Jian had brought a spare pair of panties along with the condoms when she came to the reading room today. Absolutely, positively, definitely not for any weird reasons, she told herself again and again. It was just that last time her panties had gotten wet while watching the video, and it had felt gross studying like that afterward. Absolutely not. It had nothing to do with Kim Hanbin.

They arrived at the Happy Reading Room at the same time that morning, as if by unspoken agreement. Without much conversation, they entered the study area and began their usual routine of memorizing English vocabulary. The whiteboard's memory-enhancement reward was starting to show real effects for Jian too. At this level, a quick glance was enough to memorize the words.

After that, they worked on math problems to keep their minds sharp and clear out useless thoughts. The sound of a mechanical pencil scratching came from the seat diagonally across from her. Even while both of them focused on studying, they unconsciously paid attention to each other's pencil sounds.

Then, around ten in the morning, the scratching stopped as if on cue. They'd done a mission around ten last time too. That was the only reason. They set their pencils down and stood up at the same time, as though they'd planned it, and left the study room. Even when they met in the hallway they didn't speak, just shuffled toward the rest area in their slippers.

"……."

"……."

The door was still open. They sat across from each other at the table, eyes locked. Seo Jian spoke first.

"This is our sixth mission."

"We've done quite a few, huh…?"

"What the—what do you mean, quite a few!"

Jian got flustered, thinking he'd implied something strange, and cleared her throat. She thumped the table a few times and continued.

"You remember what I said yesterday?"

"What, that I have to do whatever you say? Yeah, I got it. If you tell me to close my eyes, I'll close them. If you tell me to shut my mouth, I'll shut it. And just in case, I brought a blindfold…?"

Kim Hanbin pulled out a black sleep mask and waved it in front of her. Jian let out a small snort of laughter.

'What the hell. He's got some sense after all?'

Seeing that he wasn't going to try anything weird just because they were doing a mission, the tension that had been coiled in her body finally began to unwind. She jerked her chin at him.

"Hey, since we're both ready, let's get this over with quick. We can rest a bit afterward and grab an early lunch around eleven. Sound good? Chinese place?"

"You're treating?"

"As if. We'll each pay for ourselves."

Hanbin looked like he'd expected that answer. He stood up immediately and closed the door. The moment he did, new words appeared on the whiteboard.

"What? When did you do that?" Hanbin's eyes widened as he stared at her.

She whipped her face away. "…I just bought some! They were going to give me fifty thousand won just for buying them—why wouldn't I?!"

"No, it's just… you didn't say anything, so I thought you were letting it slide. I didn't bring it up on purpose."

Jian looked at him, genuinely taken aback. She'd been waiting for him to mention it first. She hadn't expected this kind of pointless consideration.

"I didn't say anything because you weren't bringing it up. I thought maybe I was the only one interested in the missions…."

Silence fell. Both of them turned their eyes back to the whiteboard. By now the new mission had been written out in full.

"Hey, what the hell is this? I seriously don't understand a word. Can you explain it to me?"

"…Well, um… I'm not sure I get it either."

"Like hell you don't! No matter which way you read it, it's all stuff that's bad for me! Aaaagh!"

Seo Jian clutched her head and curled into a ball.

===

A new air purifier had been added to one corner of the room. Other than that, the small rest area looked exactly as it always did. No conversation passed between them.

The two people who had been sitting across the table had switched positions. Hanbin sat with his legs spread slightly, one leg pulled out from the chair. Jian stood between them.

"……."

"……."

Hanbin, now wearing the blindfold, quietly crossed his arms. Jian waved her hand in front of his face to confirm he really couldn't see, then slowly knelt down.

Gulp.

She swallowed hard. It had taken a tremendous amount of resolve to reach this point. Besides, there was no way out. And if she messed up and damaged the condom, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠causing the mission to fail… that penalty. Seo Jian's Common Sense Alteration. The words bothered her too much.

Since Jian knew almost nothing about subculture, she couldn't understand it at all. Hanbin had sighed heavily and explained it in a way she could grasp.

'So… Common Sense Alteration is usually a trope from Japanese adult manga… how do I put this…'

'Why are you dragging it out? It's killing me!'

'Haa… Okay. It's a thing from dirty comics! For example, let's say someone casts Common Sense Alteration on you. The new common sense is that it's normal to take off all your clothes when exercising. Something ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠like that.'

'Ugh, are you insane?!'

'Just listen. Anyway, it makes you accept completely ridiculous things as totally normal. That's Common Sense Alteration.'

'So you're saying you'd tell me to take my clothes off?'

'Are you crazy? I don't decide the content, and we don't even know what it'll be yet.'

Recalling that conversation, Seo Jian shook her head vigorously. Failure was not an option. If what Kim Hanbin said was true, there was no telling what the whiteboard might demand next. One slip and she could end up doing something even worse than this mission.

Better the lesser evil… And if she was looking for any comfort in this situation, it was the reward of a full million won. Some people might say it was only a million, but to Seo Jian, who had just turned twenty, it was an enormous sum.

Steel set in her eyes. She placed her hand on the waistband of Hanbin's pants. The way her whole body had gone rigid with tension was plain to see.

"Seriously. Stay completely still, okay?"

"……."

"Good. Keep that mouth shut."

With those words, Jian grabbed his pants and pulled them down.