38. Thief! Thief!
38. Thief! Thief!
38. Thief! Thief!
"Si-jun. Kiss me... kiss..."
The tiny Ban Ha-na rose on tiptoe, pressing her lips insistently toward me.
All I could see were those soft pink lips.
They were more than enough to stir my curiosity.
'What would Ban Ha-na's lips feel like?'
I hated myself for even wondering, but instinct is hard to suppress.
The memory of Yu Ha-yeon's lips kept welling up in my mind as Ban Ha-na's lips glimmered before my eyes.
'Why do I have to go through this...'
If there is a god, I resent him for throwing me into another world.
And I resent him even more for creating this situation.
"Do it quickly..."
Ban Ha-na's sweet voice whispered to me.
Kissing her filled me with guilt, but I couldn't let this chance slip away.
'This is just a life-saving activity so Ban Ha-na can prolong my lifespan. Nothing more, nothing less.'
It's just mouth-to-mouth, isn't it?
Right?
I muttered that self-hypnotizing nonsense to myself and pressed my lips against Ban Ha-na's small mouth.
"Mmm... Si-ju-un..."
Her soft lips touched mine, and a sweet, breathy sound escaped her.
With her lips covered, she seemed to struggle to breathe.
I couldn't taste anything, but the softness reached me,
and her moist, dewy sensation seeped in.
'Was that enough...?'
No.
A kiss wasn't just pressing lips together.
It was a lingering, deep act.
Right as I tried to slide my tongue inside her mouth,
a dull knocking sound came from the door.
Knock, knock.
A heavy knock echoed through the dormitory.
The sound snapped me back to my senses, and I hurriedly pulled away from her lips.
"Haa... Haa..."
Ban Ha-na panted lightly, maybe from the brief lack of air.
Then, from the other side of the door, an unfamiliar female voice rang out.
—Um, I heard a man's voice, so I came by. Are you all right...?
This wasn't my dorm—it was the girls' dorm.
Was it because Ban Ha-na had screamed earlier before the kiss?
It seemed a student who had overheard Ban Ha-na's shout and my voice had come to check on her.
If we didn't answer quickly, the student would find things suspicious and bring the dorm matron.
In the middle of all that, Ban Ha-na grabbed my sleeve and said something strange.
"Si... Si-jun. Something's weird... My heart is pounding like crazy... Am I dying...?"
"No, Ha-na. You're not dying. More importantly, about this situation—"
"I'm not dying...? Th-Then... do it more... I like it...!"
Still lost in the afterglow, Ban Ha-na kept grabbing my sleeve and pushing her face closer.
At this rate, we were on the verge of disaster.
The girl outside was getting louder.
—Ex... excuse me...! Something happened, didn't it! I-I'm going to get the dorm matron...!!
I whispered to the still-dazed Ban Ha-na.
"H-Ha-na! Answer her! Quick...!"
"A-Answer...? W-What...?"
"Tell the girl outside...! Say 'Nothing's wrong!' If you do, I'll give you a reward...!"
At the word "reward," Ban Ha-na snapped back to her senses and immediately shouted so the student outside could hear.
"N-Nothing's wrong...!"
—Huh...? Are you okay? I heard a man's voice...
The girl outside seemed like the needlessly suspicious type.
When someone says nothing's wrong, you should just let it go.
Annoyed, I decided to feed Ban Ha-na another line.
"Say, 'It's a movie...! I turned the volume up too loud...!'"
"Uh... okay! Got... it!"
Ban Ha-na parroted my words and yelled again.
"I-It's a movie! The volume... Si-jun, what did you say?"
"Say, 'I turned it up too loud.'"
"I-I turned it up... too loud...!"
She'd messed up in the middle, but once she finished, there was a moment of silence.
'...Did she leave?'
Right when I thought that—
—...I must have misunderstood. I'm sorry! Since you said everything's fine, I'll go now! I'm sorry!
Yeah, you should be sorry.
You interrupted a perfect chance to extend my lifespan.
From outside, I heard footsteps retreating and then the sound of the girl closing her door.
'Guess she was in the next room.'
Hero Academy dorms had decent soundproofing, so the student must have had high Agility to overhear us.
Please don't let it be someone I know.
Given the situation, the girl next door would definitely stay on edge.
I scooped Ban Ha-na up against my side.
"Huh...?"
She let out a confused noise.
I immediately shoved her through the hole in the wall.
Then I ducked down and climbed through after her.
***
"Haah..."
Back in my room.
The spatial rift Ban Ha-na had punched through the wall because she was lonely linked our two rooms, and only its creator, Ban Ha-na, could close it.
'She doesn't look like she's about to close it.'
"Give me my reward! Si-jun!"
She was still demanding her reward, and it didn't seem like she'd ever get rid of the rift. Given how much I was looking after her, leaving it open wasn't a bad option.
If it works, it works.
I looked at Ban Ha-na, who kept tugging my sleeve.
"My reward! You said you'd do it again! Hurry! Si-jun! Give it to me!"
"Just wait a moment, Ha-na... I'm kind of going through something here..."
"...What's 'going through something'?"
They say humans are animals of atmosphere.
Having been swept up in the moment and kissed Ban Ha-na, I was now hit by a wave of sober clarity.
'What did I do to Ban Ha-na, who doesn't even know the word "troubled"...?'
I'd fallen for the pink temptation; Ban Ha-na had seduced me with her cute face.
The fact that I'd succumbed to that temptation scratched my pride a bit.
Utterly oblivious to my feelings, she kept demanding her reward.
"Right now! Give me my reward! You promised! Si-jun!"
Did I really have to do... that kind of thing with her again?
'Fenrir. Was the condition satisfied? I touched her lips.'
—Male. Well done. Pleasing to see. However. That. Not a kiss. Not long. Length of time matters.
In other words, it needed to be a real kiss, not just lips touching, and duration was key.
Which meant I'd have to kiss Ban Ha-na again.
'It was soft, though...'
Honestly, it felt good.
The act of pressing my lips against a girl's for the first time—
aside from the lifespan-extension self-hypnosis, the experience wasn't half bad.
"Hurry...! Reward...!"
First, I needed to deal with the whining.
I leaned toward her face as she still tugged at my sleeve.
Smack.
A light kiss on the cheek.
Ban Ha-na stared at me with a dumbfounded expression, as if to say, "Th-This isn't right..."
She gave me a look that demanded an explanation.
"Si-jun. Isn't this different from before...?"
"It is. That one's expensive."
"Ex...pensive...?"
She tilted her head, trying to figure out what I meant.
That was when a good idea popped into my mind.
'I'll use my lips as a reward to guide Ban Ha-na into behaving well.'
Isn't that what they do in kindergarten? A "Good job!" stamp.
Like that, I'd stamp her with my lips and put a brake on her.
A reward with no flaws that I could see.
It felt a little like selling myself, which was a minor blow to my pride, but it was extremely effective.
'If it works out, I might even get my lifespan extended.'
The kiss I'd just placed on her cheek was the equivalent of "good job."
If she wanted the kind of kiss she'd first experienced, Ban Ha-na would need to work her way up to "superb job."
When I explained my reward system, her expression turned cold.
"Si-jun. Why aren't you doing it now? I did what you said. You promised me a reward."
"I'll do it next time. I'm a little tired today. You understand, right?"
"I'm not tired. Do it right now. If you don't, I won't be a good girl."
That, I hadn't expected.
She huffed, turned her head away, and started a silent protest.
A good girl should listen to me, though.
A mischievous impulse stirred.
"Then don't be a good girl, Ha-na."
"Si... Si-jun?"
"I'll just go ask someone else instead. Who would be good? Yu Ha-yeon? Or Han Yu-wol?"
"...!!"
At the mention of other women, Ban Ha-na clenched her fists.
"Si-jun... don't... abandon me..."
Her eyes were pitiful, begging me not to leave.
She looked like an animal that was about to be abandoned.
'...Was I too harsh?'
Ban Ha-na was a villain who'd trusted only me and followed me to the academy.
If she went back to Black Dawn, she wouldn't be welcomed kindly.
In this world, I was the one thing holding her up.
Teasing her like that had been a terrible thing to do.
I sat on the bed and met her eyes.
"Why would I abandon you? I was joking. Just teasing."
"...Si-jun. You're mean. You're not a person. You're a villain."
"You're the villain..."
I said it in disbelief and reached out to stroke her pink, cotton-candy hair.
As my hand touched her head, she closed her eyes and her lips curved upward.
Her mood seemed lifted; she wore a happy expression.
'...Can't be helped.'
Since I was in the wrong, I decided to give her what she wanted.
"Ha-na. Come here and sit."
"Okay!"
She hopped onto the bed and sat down right next to me.
Her pink eyes, brimming with anticipation, fixed on me.
I said a few words to her.
"A good girl closes her eyes."
"H-Ha-na... good girl...!"
She immediately squeezed her eyes shut.
The corners of her eyes trembled from being pressed so tight.
Now this was more like Ban Ha-na.
I asked Fenrir.
'If I kiss Ban Ha-na now, will the condition be satisfied?'
—It will. Female's. Heart. Toward. Male. Is great. She qualifies.
If I kissed Ban Ha-na, that was one more step toward lifespan extension and Fenrir's power. Just three more to go.
There was no reason to hesitate.
Praying we wouldn't be interrupted this time,
I stole Ban Ha-na's lips while she kept her eyes firmly shut.
"Si... ju-un..."
As the act resumed, Ban Ha-na let out a sweet sound.
After a while, my tongue slipped between her small lips.
"Mmph..."
It was her first time, so she was quite shocked, but as I calmed her down, she slowly overcame her surprise.
I led everything, showing her what to do.
A question surfaced in my mind.
'Why am I so good at this...?'
I've never done this before.
It was my first kiss too, but it felt like my brain was running on auto-pilot.
I knew exactly what to do.
Lost in thought, Ban Ha-na's cutesy voice reached my ears.
"Si... jun... good..."
Her eyes were still shut.
Maybe it was the mood, but today she seemed especially cute.
'This should be enough, right?'
—Enough. Male. Impressive. I saw. Acknowledged.
Once I heard Fenrir's approval, I pulled back as if nothing had happened.
"Haa... Si-ju-un... I like this..."
I really hope she doesn't get addicted.
Her mumbled insistence that she liked it felt a little scary.
While she was still in a daze, I stroked her hair and said,
"If you do good things from now on, I'll do it again later."
"Really...? If you lie, Si-jun... you're a villain..."
"Yeah. If I lie, I'll become a villain. Promise."
I even hooked my pinky around hers to seal it.
'So three more to go.'
Three—the number of people I had to kiss to survive.
The fact that I had to do this with three more people was a somber realization.
Who would I fill those three with?
The first person that naturally came to mind was my childhood friend, Yu Ha-yeon.
I suddenly remembered—I'd agreed to practice being lovers with her today.
'Isn't this cheating...?'
I had no choice. My lifespan was on the line.
Once I settled on a convenient excuse, I sighed.
"Haah..."
"Si-jun. Why are you sighing?"
"Just... stuff."
At my own survival-driven behavior, all I could do was sigh.