Destined to Be Blackmailed by an Old Man (1)
Rewinding time to that morning.
I drove to the dormitory first thing. Today every member had a completely different schedule. Se-a had said she was going out with friends. Sarang had a date with Han Myeong-su. The meeting spot was near the dorm, so I only needed to drop her off a short distance. Eunchae… officially claimed she was heading down to her family home in the countryside. We had already agreed I would take her as far as the bus terminal. But whether she was really going home was another question entirely. Was she being blackmailed after all… heading off to meet Bu Ra-jang? She had never given me a clear answer, so I couldn’t be sure.
Harin had nothing scheduled. Once I finished ferrying the others around, my work for the day was done. Only the two of us were free. Sarang had brought it up yesterday, and honestly… I was looking forward to it a little. Part of me wanted to take her out somewhere, but too many eyes were watching; that was impossible. We would probably just stay at the dorm. Alone together. …Not a bad plan at all.
I arrived and knocked on the door.
“I’m coming in.”
“Yes! Come in!”
Harin’s voice floated out from inside. I opened the door to find Harin and Eunchae already ready to go. Sarang was still drying her hair.
“…Where’s Se-a?”
“Se-a already left. She was getting ready since before dawn.”
Se-a? The girl who wouldn’t get out of bed even when you woke her for work? Today she had risen on her own, finished preparing, and left by herself? What kind of wind was blowing through her head?
“Manager. Is Sarang going out today too?”
Come to think of it, I hadn’t told the others about Sarang’s schedule.
“Yeah. …She said she has other business.”
“Really?”
“That’s why I came to drop you guys off. Eunchae, terminal, right?”
“…? Ah. Yes.”
She had been fiddling with her phone on the sofa; she glanced up at me as she answered.
“Round trip to the terminal will take about an hour…. Around lunchtime, then.”
“…Ah. Manager, you’re not clocking out right after, are you?”
“Huh? Well, back to the dorm…”
I was about to finish when Eunchae looked straight at me. Sarang, still drying her hair, switched off the dryer and peeked only her face around the corner, watching me as well.
“…Of course I’m coming back.”
Eunchae let out a quiet snicker. Sarang grinned.
…Completely busted. Seriously.
A little later we finished getting ready and put on our shoes at the entrance. Harin didn’t follow us out; she hadn’t even put shoes on.
“Alright. Be right back. Want anything to eat? I’ll pick some—”
“Just one strawberry milk, please.”
Harin answered instantly. Figured as much. I’d grab it from the convenience store on the way back.
Leaving Harin’s send-off behind us, the three of us left the dorm and climbed into my car. Eunchae took the passenger seat; Sarang sat in the back.
“…….”
“…….”
For some reason both of them stayed silent, just fiddling with their phones. The quiet felt awkward enough that I wanted to say something—anything—but I couldn’t think of a single word.
The place where Sarang was meeting Department Head Han Myeong-su was close to the dorm, so we arrived first.
“Alright, go. Call if anything comes up.”
“Okay.”
That was all Sarang said before she vanished into the crowd. Department Head Han had said he would pick her up by car… he would be here soon.
Vroom.
In the opposite lane a strangely shaped yellow coupe slid past. There really were some weird-looking cars out there.
Next was Eunchae. I glanced at the passenger seat and noticed she wasn’t on her phone for once.
“Not looking at your phone?”
“Huh?”
“No reason. Lately it feels like you’re glued to it nonstop.”
“…Is that so.”
“That… ever since the shoot last time, it seems.”
“…….”
I had probed once; she gave no answer.
“Something going on?”
I asked more directly this time. Would she talk? Would she admit she was being blackmailed with those photos by Baek Pan-su and Bu Ra-jang? But Eunchae hesitated a long while before speaking quietly.
“…No. Nothing’s wrong.”
“…Really? Your face says otherwise.”
“I mean it. I’m fine.”
“…….”
Judging by her tone alone, she sounded anything but fine. Should I just ask outright if she was being blackmailed? …No. Better drop it. If I told her I already knew everything… I was afraid the shock would hit her even harder. Back during the old hidden-camera incident, more than anything else she had hated the idea of her photos spreading to the other members or people she knew.
“…There’s a bit of a minor thing…. But like you said last time, Manager, I won’t let it affect Sepia’s activities.”
“Yeah? Then it’s fine, but…”
‘A minor thing’? For something minor, it was the kind of problem that had no solution. Ever since the music-show broadcast I had turned it over in my head again and again. How do you erase those photos? Tell the CEO? The moment other people learned that Eunchae’s photos and videos had been taken… No matter how hard I thought, no clean answer appeared. That was why, even though I had already noticed something was wrong, I still couldn’t act rashly. If the chance came, I would meet those two bastards myself and force some kind of settlement. For now, that was the best I could do.
Before I knew it the car had reached the bus terminal. Odds were Eunchae wouldn’t board any bus; she would head somewhere else entirely.
“Thanks for the ride.”
“Yeah. Contact me when you’re coming back.”
“…Yes. Probably tomorrow morning.”
As she said it, Eunchae quietly bit her lip.
The manager dropped me off at the terminal and headed straight back to the dorm. He would go meet Harin unnie now. And then the two of them would… Just imagining it made my face heat a little.
“Ugh…!”
I shook my head hard. Sex… well, I was going to have it today too. The only difference was that I would be doing it with someone I neither wanted nor loved.
How many times a day did this guy spam messages? If I didn’t answer right away he threatened to dump the photos immediately. Because of these bastards even the manager had started suspecting me of being glued to my phone. If it weren’t for that… at least I could have kept it from showing.
Honk.
A car stopped right in front of me and the horn blared. The window rolled down, revealing Bu Ra-jang’s disgusting face.
“Ehehe…. Get in.”
I ground my teeth and climbed into the passenger seat.
“Ehehe…. Long time no see, Eunchae-yang.”
“…….”
“Where would you like today? A hotel? Or a simple motel? The bathroom you enjoyed with Director Baek Pan-su would be fine too. Ehehe.”
“Are you crazy? We almost got caught there last time. S-somewhere empty… as far from anyone as possible.”
“Then a hotel after all?”
“A hotel… walking in with you would get us noticed for sure. Isn’t there some place… no one would ever know?”
“An unmanned motel would be perfect. Ehehe….”
An unmanned motel…. At least no one would catch us there. I had never been to one before—and of all people, my first time had to be with this guy.
“Have you eaten lunch yet?”
“I’m fine. Not hungry.”
“You’ll need strength all day today. Are you sure?”
Strength…. The way he hinted at what was coming made my face burn again.
“Ugh…. If we go to a restaurant… someone might see us! Idiot.”
“Ehehe. Understood. We’ll get a room and order delivery.”
Delivery… that was a little better. I could just hide when it arrived.
“Ehehe… Did you hear from Director Baek Pan-su last time?”
“You shared that again…? You guys really have nothing better to do.”
“It’s important, after all. Ehehe…. Things like Eunchae-yang’s weaknesses.”
“Don’t say it. If you say it I’ll kill you.”
“About the asshole?”
“Khh…! I-I said I’ll kill you!”
“Ehehe. Or shall we call it the anus?”
“Really. Stop…! Please just stop the pervert stuff…!”
“Coming from someone who even peed freely, that doesn’t seem like a fair complaint. Ehehe….”
“Ah… seriously!”
These bastards treated me like their personal property. …Property. Right now that was exactly what I was. I never imagined the photos and videos I had let them take in the heat of the moment would come back like this…. Because of them I had become nothing more than their sex slave—a slave who had to show up and offer her body the moment they called. There was no end in sight. Did I have to keep living like this forever? Why had I ever allowed those photos back then… I still didn’t know. Just being touched… I hated it. I really hated it. It felt like my mind would snap. Whether I was simply weak or they were just that good at it, I couldn’t tell…. It was forced. I was being blackmailed and raped. And yet the feeling…. Ugh. No. I hate this again. A little wetness slipped out. Why am I like this? Damn it.
“Ehehe… Eunchae-yang?”
While he drove, Bu Ra-jang’s hand slowly drifted onto my thigh. Fuck. I hate this. It gives me chills.
Swoosh. Swoosh.
He stroked my thigh with slow, deliberate strokes. I wanted to pull my leg away but there was nowhere to go. He kept touching me.
“Ehehe… Still such firm thighs.”
“Y-you praising me doesn’t make me feel good at all…!”
“Then shall I make you feel good? Ehehe.”
“What? No… Ah! Hnn…!”
Shit… Ah. You bastard. Really. Why was his hand on my ass? This guy and that other guy—both of them only ever went for my ass. Pervert bastards.
“Ehehe…. We’ve arrived.”
While he kept groping my butt the car slipped into an alley in the entertainment district. It was a weekday afternoon, so the street was empty of both people and cars. That was… a small mercy. If anyone saw me—an idol—standing next to a nerd like this old man… Just imagining it made my skin crawl.
“Before we go in.”
Bu Ra-jang suddenly stopped the car. We were right beside the unmanned motel… so why weren’t we going in?
“If you want to use a condom… better buy one at the convenience store. Ehehe….”
“Wh… what?”
He was telling me to go buy it myself?
“Or we can just go in. They’re cheap, but there are condoms inside…. Or like last time, we could skip the condom entirely? Ehehe. I’m fine either way……”.
“B-buy it! Just buy one!”
Last time, and during the music-show days too, because of these guys I had even taken birth-control pills I had never touched before in my life. Did they have any idea how hard that was on a body? I had to cover my face just to go to the hospital. Rather than go through that again… a condom was a hundred times better.
I opened the door carefully and stepped out of the car. Sunglasses on. Mask too. This way no one would recognize me. But……
“Why. Why are you getting out too? I can just go alone.”
Disgustingly, Bu Ra-jang kept closing the distance until he wrapped an arm around my waist like we were a couple. …Anyone looking would think we were people heading off to do exactly that!
“Ehehe…… Shouldn’t we go together? To buy the condoms.”
“Ugh…… Really. You bastard…!”
The curse slipped out, but there was no way to escape. Led by his hand, I was pulled toward the convenience store right next to the unmanned motel.