193. Greek-style A/S.
193. Greek-style A/S.
He received a gift.
He received chocolate.
He even received a phone number layered underneath.
And now Rhea said,
"What nonsense..."
that what she had actually wanted to give was the 'phone number'.
Still unable to understand the situation, I looked at Rhea and asked,
"Did you... think I'd be happy if you gave me a woman?"
Really? Seriously?
Did I look like that much of a piece of trash?
I asked Rhea with all my heart.
".....?"
"Shit."
Rhea tilted her head as if to say, Isn't that the case?
Yeah. Come to think of it, I'd rarely spent a normal day with Rhea from the start.
There was the incident with Mars's mother, the same with Hestia, and at home I was always horsing around with Minerva and Mai, so no matter how you looked at it, I had no choice but to appear like a playboy.
But even so, doing something like that without the person's consent—
"If it's just playing together..."
"..........."
—the person herself had consented?
Uh, no, right? No matter what, suddenly giving the OK was way too slutty, wasn't it?
What?
This wasn't some NTR game... well, actually it was!
Sure, the original was a damn disgusting NTR game, but still!
"Ah... so..."
I couldn’t exactly call you “auntie” or “ma’am,” so...
"Miss, you need to think carefully. You know this kid isn't just talking about 'playing around', right?"
"M-Miss....."
"............"
I should’ve just called her auntie.
The title had already slipped out, so there was no taking it back.
I stealthily sent a look to Mai, who was watching from behind.
Because if I did it, it'd be sexual harassment or assault.
"Mm-mm. In that case, the place to go play is already decided, de facto!"
"Ah, but would it be okay to return before dinner? The children are waiting..."
"It's fine. I'll make sure to send you back before dinner."
So.
"Let's go to the love hotel next door!"
"What?"
"We're gonna play together!"
"....Whaaaaaat?!"
Flabbergasted. Dismayed. Appalled. A triple combo.
As the woman recoiled in shock and stepped back, Mai continued talking.
"What Rhea wants from you, miss, is 'that kind of thing.' Going to 'serious baby-making mating' with Big Brother here."
"....No, right?"
Her eyes trembled violently.
I looked at Rhea with a faint hope.
"............"
"Ah......"
Rhea blinked her eyes silently.
That was a wordless affirmation. Mai puffed out her shoulders, saying she knew her little sister's heart well, and the woman’s pupils began shaking mercilessly.
"Don't tell me... for that purpose..."
Her gaze slowly shifted from Rhea to the side.
Finally, her eyes turned toward me, drenched in deep fear, as if she was about to hug herself with both arms and retreat backwards...
"...No, I'm not doing it. Plus, it's illegal to begin with."
"..........."
"I said I seriously won't do it, okay?"
"...Eeek..."
First Minerva, and now her—
Lately, I'd been feeling like I wasn't trusted at all.
"No matter how crazy I am about women, I observe the line that mustn't be crossed."
".........."
Her posture loosened a little.
Was she deciding to trust me? No, in the first place, there was no option to 'not trust' here.
The moment she didn't trust me, what else was there besides her voluntarily reporting that she'd obediently go get laid?
"The kid's just immature and spouted crap, so don't think too much about it."
"..........."
I placed my hand on top of Rhea's head and pressed firmly, and her gaze at me turned sharp.
"Rhea said, 'Isn't the immature one you, who couldn't even get any if it was handed to you'!"
"You shut up too."
As if she were some interpreter— a gaze-interpreter was a first in my life, geez.
I let out a small sigh and rose from my seat.
"I'm sorry for contacting you so suddenly. And a token of thanks really isn't necessary, so next time, be careful not to suffer something like this again... is that even something you can call caution?"
Be careful not to have someone shove a phone in your face and get hit with a [Look Here (Kochiomi Ro)].
Still, since she now had the experience, she'd be careful next time.
Anyway, it had been shitty meeting you, let's never see each other again.
It seemed best to wrap this up at just that level— but the seated woman stubbornly raised her hand and said,
"A meal!.... I... can treat you, at least....."
"""........."""
She seemed to wonder if that was a bit off as she said it, her figure shrinking more and more.
Well, a meal was blameless.
So I decided to settle things roughly with her buying us a meal.
"I didn't prepare much, but please."
""".....???"""
But normally, when you say you'll treat someone to a meal, you buy it for them— you don't bring them home and set the table, do you?
******************
"Does it suit your taste....?"
"Ah, yes. It's delicious."
"I'm relieved...."
"....??"
The table actually was quite delicious.
At first, I couldn't tell whether what entered my mouth was meat or vegetables, or whether those were bean dregs mixed into the doenjang stew.
...It's really delicious.
A diet that had always relied on delivery food or meal kits.
Otherwise, recipes that consisted solely of grilling or stir-frying every time; it was the first time in a long while I'd encountered the existence of 'namul' (seasoned vegetables).
In the past, I'd distanced myself from such things, wondering why one would eat tasteless weeds when good meat was available, but now was not the case.
—Crunch, crunch.
"Whoa....."
So this was what it felt like to have greens chewed between your teeth.
There was a bitter taste. But beyond that, I felt a pleasant sweetness unique to vegetables.
A freshness you couldn't get from meat. A crunchy, chewy texture. Even after it went down, a satisfying fullness that settled comfortably without any burden.
"Big Brother... let’s hire that lady."
"Shall we?"
I'd unintentionally felt genuinely that it was good.
"What? Ah, I'm sorry. I have a family, so..."
"I'm just kidding."
No, maybe it wasn't a joke.
Out of pure curiosity, I asked her,
"How much do you make a month, by any chance?"
"..........."
"Um... if that was rude, I apologize."
"No. It's just that..."
About 1.9 million won a month.
To that somewhat embarrassed reply, Mai answered again,
"I'll hire you for 3 million a month."
"What?"
"If it's hard cash, I've got it!"
"Eeeeeh?!!"
She must have liked the food immensely, because Mai actually pulled bundles of 50,000-won notes out of her chest.
I was deeply curious about where on earth she'd gotten those bills, but I forcibly pushed Mai back and stopped her.
"I'm sorry. My little sister is just so... well... a bit lacking...."
"....Pfft...!"
"Hm?"
Hut.... Ah-heh!
Haaaaaah.....
"No. It's fine. It feels like a compliment, so it's not bad at all, you know?"
"Oh...."
The woman smiled as if she'd become much more at ease.
The face that had been stiff just moments before softened, and the beauty hidden beneath her tension began to reveal itself.
Should I call it voluptuous? Seasoned? A visual that seemed like it'd be just perfect for the role of the Protagonist's mother in an NTR game....
.....Huh?
I knew her.
I knew this person.
"Ah, would you like to try this? I made it this time, so it's fresh and delicious."
"Uh....."
Déjà vu.
The feeling of knowing her even though it was definitely the first time we'd met.
A memory buried somewhere in my head crept slowly up, and....
"Huh? Mom, you're eating already?"
"Tia? You came early today? Where's Ter?"
"Ah~~ Ter said he had something to do and is on a date with his girlfriend. Anyway...."
"....Hello."
A person who entered the house.
A very familiar face.
"Hero... no matter how much of a capture target you are, stalking is a crime, you know?"
"I didn't do it!"
Hestia.
Jupiter’s older sister, the Protagonist.
And if she called this person 'Mom', there was only one possibility.
"Oh my... you were acquainted with Tia?"
"Aha, ha, haha...."
Amaltheia.
Commonly called Theia.
This is a total witch hunt.
Jupiter, the Protagonist's mother.
In other words—— the sub-heroine of the NTR Drift.
...
..
.
"Come visit again next time! I'll pack even more for you then!"
"Mama....!"
Mai waved her hand wildly, waving toward Theia, Ter's mother.
Her other hand was full of homemade side dishes that Mama Theia had packed.
Is this a blessing in disguise?
The misfortune was that I'd encountered the Protagonist's family at super-close proximity to begin with,
but the fortunate part was that I'd gotten everything I could get without going through any of the worst-case scenarios.
For instance, Hestia being followed in by the Protagonist,
for instance, bumping into the Protagonist the moment I left the house,
or all sorts of other terrible things like that hadn't happened, which was a colossal relief.
"Hm? Those things in your hand..."
"Today's spoils!"
We returned home and put the side dish containers in the fridge.
After that, everyone went back to their rooms to rest.
Mai and Minerva to their room.
"Now, where did I get up to last time...."
I, on my own, set out to see the ending I hadn't finished before.
And so, the day seemed to be passing by, but.
"Why."
"....Huh?"
Rhea had followed me into the room.
Rhea looked up at me and asked,
"Why did you refuse?"
"....Refuse what?"
Don’t tell me, that woman?
"It was a gift from me. It was a gift that I, gave to you."
"Mm....."
"There was no reason at all for you to decline."
".........."
Still those deeply meaningful tones.
But I dismissed it, thinking it was just a personality trait she shared with Mai.
After all, Mai didn't speak normally, either.
"Look, Rhea. Like I've said before, I'm not some horny son of a bitch who pounces on any woman he sees, got it?"
".............."
A look that seemed to say, I don't think so.
"No, for real. Have you ever seen me forcibly embrace anyone?"
".............."
"....Excluding the time with Minerva."
"If so, then none."
Rhea conceded at a strange point.
I felt like I was losing somehow, but I continued speaking to Rhea.
"In the first place, if the other person doesn't want it and you force yourself on them, that's rape, you know. I hate that kind of thing. "
"......Is that so."
Rhea nodded as if she understood, then extended her hand toward me.
"'Time'."
"....What?"
"'Time'."
"..........."
So did that mean she was asking for time to think?
I reached out my hand and lightly grasped hers as if in a handshake—Heugeut....!
"Yeah....'this'. 'This' is it."
"Uh-eu, that.....huh...?"
A sensation of something being sucked out mercilessly from the deepest part of my body.
My whole body shriveled up, and my heart started pounding wildly.
I wasn't sure if the analogy was appropriate, but it felt somewhat similar to donating blood.
"Hwoooooo..."
A light sigh.
Then Rhea said,
"If you lack the thought, then it shall suffice to make it so that you do possess it."
"....Hey?"
I mean, her way of speaking was kind of like some time god living somewhere.
On top of that, the atmosphere too.
And adding one more thing——
——Thwack!
"Ah, wait—"
—the fact that she acted recklessly and with brute force.
As an aside.
"........?"
The next morning.
A morning where I definitely felt like I'd been subjected to something, yet nothing had changed.
I got up blankly and checked the date.
".....Huh...?"
It hadn't been the morning of the 'next' day, but the morning of 'today'.
...So was it a regression story this time?!