Korean-Style Bonding Activities (6)
"Thank you..."
"Ahem. It's nothing."
A brief silence settled between them.
When Han Sein fixed his gaze on her, Jeong Ayeong finally turned away.
She couldn't put her panties back on just yet. They would need a proper wash, but there was nowhere suitable to do it. She only had to hold out for a day, so she sealed them inside a black plastic bag for now.
Sein undid his zipper and began wiping his still-sticky cock with a wet tissue. Even though a little time had passed since he came, the area was so sensitive that his body trembled on its own.
"Hnn..."
"……."
A soft moan echoed through the quiet forest, and Jeong Ayeong's ears flushed steadily redder. The rustle of fabric. Her hearing wasn't superhuman, but it was more than enough to guess exactly what he was doing. The power of imagination was terrifying.
Recalling what had just happened, Ayeong crossed her legs tightly. I made Han Sein climax! She replayed the scene in her mind like a highlight reel and smiled in pure satisfaction.
Then a voice cut through her thoughts.
What did you do in there?
It was Kang Hyeona's voice.
I must have been crazy. Completely insane. Just thinking about it now made her tremble. She still couldn't understand what had possessed her to climb on top of him in the first place. And yet, from deep inside her chest, a tangle of emotions surged up—jealousy toward Hyeona, a sense of superiority, and anxiety all at once. Because that question had been the same as saying she had seen Sein.
Ayeong's voice turned cold.
"Did something… happen?"
"Uh, n-no…?"
"Be honest."
"Kang Hyeona came by for a bit, but..."
Ayeong's brow furrowed. She had left, and then Hyeona had gone in? She remembered her last words to Sein.
I'll leave my panties off while I'm gone...
Her teeth ground together. Please, please let it not be that. Nothing was confirmed yet, right? She steadied her uneven breathing and spoke again.
"Really, truly… nothing happened, right?"
Anxiety. Desperation. And rage born of jealousy. Was it the tone of her voice? Or was it because she felt strangely unfamiliar today? This was not the usual Jeong Ayeong who shrank into herself and watched everyone's mood. A coercive edge pressed down on him, and Sein's trembling eyes lifted to meet hers.
"She… saw, but she just left."
"……."
Having fixed his pants, Han Sein stepped closer to her. Please don't say anything. Just stay with me like always. He seemed to be whispering it silently. Clinging even tighter than when they had walked together earlier, he was pleading with every inch of his body. Reason might not understand, but instinct did.
Ayeong said nothing. Still, she could not quiet the emotions burning inside her. Jeong Ayeong toward Kang Hyeona. Kang Hyeona toward Jeong Ayeong. Their positions, roles, and abilities were completely different, yet their hearts were the same. Jealousy—and one shared thought directed at each other.
I could never like that girl even if I died.
It was the feeling of two women who had both fallen for the same man, beyond any roles of perpetrator and victim.
"Let's go."
"Okay..."
"Be careful."
He swayed. His body was so frail that even the thought of exercise felt impossible. In the end, Ayeong had to wrap an arm around him for support before he could take a single step.
And after walking for some time—Sein slowly recovering, Ayeong still holding his arm—they came face to face with Kang Hyeona.
"……."
"……."
Neither of them spoke. They did not snarl or bare their teeth. There were only two women quietly locking eyes. Yet their footsteps never stopped. Ayeong looked ready to snap at any moment but refused to yield; Hyeona could have broken her easily but stayed still. The walking continued. They headed for the lodging, and since the schedule was not yet over, Hyeona remained at her post. What emotions passed in that brief meeting of gazes, no one would ever know.
The lodging was empty. Or rather, there were people—just not the kind Jeong Ayeong and Han Sein could join. It was Kim Hyeongmin's group's drinking party.
"Soak it up~"
"Khh..."
There was no real problem. If one had to pick at something, it was that they had abandoned the schedule to throw their own booze-up. But who was going to complain? Of everyone who had come on this MT, not a single person would dare open their mouth.
They had planned to slip in quietly. Sein's body was finally functional again, and Ayeong only wanted some rest of her own. But Kim Hyeongmin would not leave them alone.
His cheeks were flushed, his eyes half-lidded—anyone could see he was drunk. A nasty temper that already loved tormenting people, now soaked in alcohol. Ayeong's mind went blank for a second, but she forced herself to hold on. She had to protect Han Sein. Even if she was weaker than other women, even if she was introverted, even if the only thing she was good at was programming—she still wanted to protect her man. Even if she wasn't ready yet…
"You two drink too."
"...Fine."
Running away here would be the worst move. Ayeong and Sein both nodded. Never cross a drunk. Don't ask why. Anyone who had ever tried talking to someone wasted would understand.
And so Han Sein and Jeong Ayeong were pulled into the drinking circle. Ayeong ended up beside Park Hyorin, the girl who had bullied her. Sein was wedged between women from Hyeongmin's group whose names he did not even know. He might as well have been sitting on pins and needles. Thick, sticky gazes pressed in from both sides. He was already an easy target; now alcohol was involved. The naked desire in their eyes was almost unbearable.
Then Kim Hyeongmin's new game began.
"Shall we play a game?"
His proposal was this: the so-called Fold Game. Someone would call out a trait—"[blank], fold!"—and anyone matching it had to fold. The beauty and the cruelty of the game was that you could target one person you disliked and eliminate them completely.
There were seven people total. Aside from Ayeong and Sein, the other five were essentially one team. Yet no one protested. The gathering had been thrown together on the spot, but it was forced all the same.
"People with red eyes, fold."
Kim Hyeongmin smiled. His eyes met Sein's. That smiling gaze held pure sincerity: I am going to ruin you tonight no matter what. It was a smile full of will and sadism.
The questions started circling from Hyeongmin. It only took one full round before Sein was caught.
"Drink!"
Soju filled the glass. Sein's eyes wavered. In his past life he had drunk until he was sick of it, yet right now the thought of drinking made him want to die. Because if he drank and got drunk, he felt he would fall back into that time—back into that nightmare. He was terrified, so terrified that the glass in his hand trembled faintly.
And then, under that sadistic smile and the pressure of the game, Jeong Ayeong's voice rang out softly.
"B-Black knight..."
"Ooooh~!"
Admiring coos rose from the other women—everyone except Hyeongmin and Hyorin. Ayeong's expression was far from pleased; she knew those reactions were not simple. If they had been close friends, shoulders would have been slapped in congratulations. If they had been ordinary students, it might have been the start of a crush. But the look she exchanged with Sein was full of apology. Carrying that feeling, Ayeong downed the glass.
"Oh!!"
One shot. The drinking party heated up, and only two people remained ice-cold.
Twenty minutes. That was how long it took for Jeong Ayeong to collapse. No one had hit her. It was simply the soju. Two bottles in twenty minutes. Even as an adult, she had little experience with alcohol—especially with a personality that preferred staying home. In the end, having misjudged her own limit, Ayeong went down.
"Get her out of here."
"Got it."
The door opened, and with the noise from outside, Kang Hyeona walked in. It sounded like a barbecue party was going on; student chatter drifted in from outdoors. Hyeona looked over the private drinking circle with a blank face.
Then Kim Hyeongmin's behavior changed in an instant.
"Hyeo~na~!"
"...Yeah."
"Sit here! Let's drink together."
His voice rose, dripping with forced cuteness. Hyeona sat down expressionless. It did not take long to read the situation. Jeong Ayeong sprawled out, dead drunk. From the atmosphere, it was obvious who they had been trying to eliminate. Call it a woman's intuition. And at the end of her gaze was Han Sein—women pressing closer and closer on either side of him while he chewed on snacks, doing his best to ignore them. It was the complete opposite of the flustered, raw face he had shown her earlier. As if he had put on a mask in front of other women, he was acting cold and indifferent. Just like she herself did.
"Hyeona~"
Kim Hyeongmin rubbed against her shoulder like a clingy child. Was it the alcohol? Some kind of seduction? Surprisingly, Hyeona felt nothing at all. He was a man, the same as Sein—yet how could they be so different? Her thoughts about Hyeongmin grew steadily more repulsive. Still, time passed. Hyeona gave nothing away, and the drinking continued for another thirty minutes or so.
In the end, after dodging and dodging, Sein finally put the glass to his lips. He let out a long breath and stepped outside. The drinking party was effectively over. Everyone else was already half-passed out from the booze, and Hyeongmin was slumped against Hyeona's shoulder, breathing in soft, drunken murmurs—as if silently asking her to take care of him while he slept it off. Of course, Hyeona did nothing.
Then the girls who had watched Sein leave exchanged glances. Lustful smiles, loosened by alcohol, appeared without disguise. Sensing something off, Hyeona simply observed. At the same time, three of them rose from their seats. Naturally, Hyeongmin was too drunk to say a word. The master had dropped the leash, and the dogs in heat charged straight out the door Sein had used, trading looks and smiles as they went.