Sex Partners

The word sex partner hit me like a short-circuit in my brain.

Sex partner. The kind of word they called FWB overseas — that extremely, well, that kind of word. I never in my wildest dreams thought I'd hear it here.

"So, isn't this all moving a little too fast for first thing in the morning?"

Getting drunk, sparks flying with a crackle, and ending up having sex was already a plot twist I could barely keep up with. I genuinely hadn't expected the words "sex partner" to come flying out on top of that, and I felt pretty dizzy.

"Eh, isn't life just like that?"

Honestly, the most bewildering thing this whole time had been Eunchae's attitude. The way she was carrying herself, you'd think she hadn't had sex at all — just watched a porno and come back.

"Yesterday, you said it was your first time, right?"

"Yep, that's right~! Hehe, so you took my virginity?"

Wasn't the usual thing to treat your first time as something meaningful — to get your feelings hurt over even the smallest stuff?

"Ah, but last night I was watching Dayeon unnie's stream and then the sparks started flying, so I missed the rest of it."

"...I barely even remember the late-night stream."

The fact that she was being so casual about everything actually started to settle my own shock and dizziness.

"Then want to watch the VOD and eat off this hangover?"

"Uh, sure. Ramen okay?"

"Perfect~ Make it nice and spicy — load it up with Cheongyang peppers for me~"

A woman I'd met for the first time yesterday was in my house. On top of that, we'd had sex last night, and we were still sitting here naked, facing each other. So why the hell did this feel so ordinary and everyday?

"Ah, do you have anything comfortable I can wear?"

"Grab whatever from the closet."

"Got it~"

Even the way she walked over to the closet, opened it, and picked out something comfortable was so naturally everyday that it felt alien.

"Shin Ramyun okay?"

"Yeah, I love it. I'm gonna wash up."

"Towel's in the cabinet."

"Okay~"

The bathroom door clicked open and shut, and I was left alone in the room. I threw some clothes on and started boiling the ramen. It was for two people, but I eat a lot, so three packs. Being a guy living alone, I didn't have a big pot, so I pulled out a decent-sized skillet, filled it with water, and set it to boil.

"Ah, Cheongyang peppers."

Remembering she'd asked me to throw them in generously, I pulled a frozen one from the freezer and sliced it up in advance.

"This feels weird."

With nothing left to do, the stray thoughts I'd pushed aside while watching Eunchae act so nonchalant started creeping back in, one after another.

Sex partner. How was I supposed to process suddenly having a sex partner that had never been in the cards? I was confused, that much was true. Dating was hard enough when I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠could barely take care of myself — so if it was just a sex partner, maybe that was actually better?

...Apparently I couldn't help thinking that.

Yeah, I was a guy too. Honestly? A girl proposing to be sex partners first — what kind of idiot would turn that down? Just because I couldn't date didn't mean I didn't want to have sex.

The water bubbled away on the stove.

Yeah, maybe this actually worked out? From the sound of it, Eunchae didn't seem interested in dating either. Well, I hadn't gotten a straight answer, so I couldn't say for sure. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠But I definitely wouldn't have been the one to say "I can't date, so let's be sex partners" first.

"Wait... or would I?"

Could I have gotten wasted and blurted out something that insane like a lunatic? People always said alcohol turned ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you into a complete idiot...

"What's with the 'or would I'? The water's boiling."

"Aaaagh..!"

Eunchae popped out behind me without warning and I let out a scream.

"Whoa, why so jumpy? What were you even thinking about? I'm putting the ramen in, okay?"

She'd already finished washing up. Wearing nothing but one of my short-sleeved tees that hung down to her thighs, she snapped the ramen noodles in half and dropped them into the boiling pan.

I'd thought she was cute with her glasses on yesterday, but seeing her without them... she was considerably — no, far prettier than I'd expected. It ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was almost disorienting.

Anyone wearing glasses, you'd naturally assume they had bad vision. But she was walking around just fine without them.

"Eunchae, I thought your eyesight was bad?"

"It's not like it's super bad. Around 20/30, so I don't really need them, but I wear them to maintain my vision? Protection? Something like that."

So it wasn't as bad as I'd thought.

"Why? Do I look pretty without the glasses or something?"

"Yeah, you do. The glasses are cute too, but you look even better without them."

That shattered my wandering thoughts completely. I gave her my honest impression and went back to cooking the ramen.

"H-huh, really..? Th-then maybe I should try going without them from now on."

The way she said it so carefully, like she was testing the waters, was pretty adorable.

I let the noodles cook through, tossed in the Cheongyang peppers as a finishing touch, gave it another vigorous boil, then portioned it into bowls and set them on the table.

"Ahh~ that spicy smell! Just the aroma feels like it's curing my hangover! Thanks for the food!"

Watching her slurp it down with such gusto, she clearly handled spice just fine. I wasn't bad with spicy food either, so I was eating at a decent pace... but if you asked whether I actually liked spicy food, well, that was another story.

"Ah, I should put the VOD on!"

She hurriedly pulled out her phone, fired up the replay, and we sat there eating ramen together. This unreal, yet incredibly ordinary situation... honestly, I didn't mind it.

"So who brought up being sex partners first?"

Which is how I ended up asking something like that so casually. Normally I never would have said that out loud.

"Hmm? I did. You said you weren't in a position to date, and I don't really feel like dating either."

The words about dating that came out of Eunchae's mouth — even as she noisily slurped her noodles — lined up exactly with what I'd been thinking.

"I'm the type who can't really deal with all the fluttery, ticklish stuff. I think this suits me better than dating — what about you, Dohyun?"

"Wasn't it already decided? That we'd be sex partners?"

I looked genuinely surprised that it apparently hadn't been a done deal. She'd asked if I remembered us agreeing to be sex partners from the start, so I'd assumed the conversation was already over.

"Eh, but you were completely wasted. I figured I should at least ask once."

And this was the person who, before even asking, was sitting across from me with her legs crossed like that — wearing nothing but someone else's T-shirt that barely covered her thighs?

"Wait a second. I was drunk, sure, but you were drunk too."

"Huh? I wasn't drunk at all?"

Fine, my memories were blacked out. But when we were having sex, Eunchae's face had been flushed and heated. So that wasn't from being drunk — that was just from the sex itself?

"That much wouldn't get me drunk. I'm a seriously heavy drinker."

The amount we'd drunk last night would have gotten a grown man wasted. And since I'd barely managed to drink anything before passing out completely, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say Eunchae had drunk most of it. And she didn't get drunk off that much...?

This girl was terrifying.

"Anyway, so what's your answer? We doing this?"

Back to square one — was I in or out on being sex partners. The only answer I could give was...

"I'm good with it."

What else was there to say besides that?

"Okay, love the straightforward answer. Then I look forward to working with you, Sex Partner-nim."

"...Don't call me that anywhere else, though."

"Come on! I wouldn't do that outside! What do you take me for!"

What do I take her for? A pervert, that's what.

Though I was apparently a pervert too, because—

An achievement notification popped up the moment we'd finished having sex. Yesterday I hadn't done any editing, and nothing had appeared when I'd signed the contract with noona either — so no matter how I looked at it, this couldn't be anything other than a sex achievement.

I wanted to check exactly which achievement had gone up. Whether this was a reward for taking someone's first time, or just a reward for having sex with someone at all.

"Hmm."

If there were achievements, that meant I could check them too. Achievements? Achievement window? Activate achievements? I tried listing off words that seemed like they might work, and—

Oh... so that's how it worked.

It just said "Sex," so this was definitely an achievement for having sex. But what were those question marks at the end? Video Editing had the same "???" attached to it. Did that mean they stacked infinitely the more you did them? Would it give extra achievement rewards as you went?

There were still things I didn't fully understand, but I figured I'd find out eventually if I just kept at the editing — and the sex. For now, there was nothing more I could learn. I should eat the ramen before the noodles went soggy.