A Secret Shower and a Firm Resolve
The sound of rushing water filled the air as a warm stream poured down from the showerhead above.
“Haa… That feels good.”
Harin tilted her head slightly toward the falling water, mouth open, savoring the sensation for a moment.
Meanwhile, thick steam began to fill the shower room, quickly fogging up the mirror.
“Hmm-hmm~.”
In that dreamy atmosphere, Harin hummed a tune as she slowly washed the bubbles from her body.
By the time her humming ended, the fluffy suds had carried away all the stress she’d accumulated that day.
“Nya-nya~.”
Feeling refreshed, Harin stepped out of the shower stall and stood before the sink, drying herself with a towel.
She gently lifted her head and looked into the mirror.
“…Do I look prettier than usual today?”
The mirror was still clouded with steam, unable to reflect her perfect image, yet the faint outlines of her face and body were visible.
Drawing confidence from the sight, Harin struck various model-like poses—hand on her hip, a slight twist of her shoulder.
Finally, she placed a finger to her lips and arched her back in a provocative pose. By then, the steam filling the bathroom had begun to dissipate.
“That’s enough for today~.”
With the towel wrapped around her body, Harin walked out slowly. After changing clothes and twisting a towel around her wet hair, she sat down at the vanity table. That was when a call came in on the phone stand beside her.
Contact: Bad Bitch
From that nickname, Harin immediately knew who was calling. The moment she tapped the answer button, she spoke.
“Yeah, Sara.”
On the other end, Sara called Harin’s name in a low voice.
“Hey, Lee Harin.”
But her tone carried clear irritation.
“How many times have I told you not to wander around late, huh? I’ve been grinding my teeth over this.”
The sound of teeth clenching came through the line. Harin knew she was at fault, so she didn’t offer any grand excuses.
“Sorry. I was trying to head home quickly, but the teacher…”
Sara let out a sigh as she listened.
“Haa… Seriously.”
Harin couldn’t bring herself to speak, wary of her friend’s mood. After a brief silence, Sara asked about her condition first.
“You’re okay, right?”
Harin answered as brightly as she could.
“Yeah.”
Sara breathed a sigh of relief, then began scolding her in earnest.
“Do you have any idea how shocked I was? I finish work, check my phone, and see texts like ‘Someone’s following me,’ ‘I think I’m going to get caught,’ ‘It’s okay now’…”
Even Harin knew those messages sounded disastrous, so she stayed quiet and read the room.
“What, are you filming a movie?”
All Harin could manage was a simple apology.
“Sorry.”
“Haa…”
Sara’s voice sounded years older as she continued.
“Still… I’m glad you’re okay.”
Knowing the concern was genuine, Harin felt a sudden surge of emotion.
“Did you see the face of the person following you?”
“…No.”
Harin answered weakly.
“What about the guy who helped? He didn’t see either?”
“Yeah. He said he was coming from the side path, so he only heard the footsteps.”
Since neither of them had seen the follower’s face, they couldn’t tell whether it had been a coincidence, a prank, or something more deliberate.
That was why Sara approached the situation conservatively, suggesting they prepare for any possible danger.
“From now on, you’re coming to the academy with me, no exceptions. And after school…”
The problem was that her friend Sara couldn’t always be with her.
“…It’s fine. You have to go straight to your modeling job after the academy anyway.”
Just as she said, Sara had to head to her modeling work immediately after classes, leaving her no time to walk Harin home.
“Ugh…”
Sara seemed to have no clear solution either and fell into troubled silence. After a moment, she suddenly shouted as if a brilliant idea had struck her.
“That’ll work!”
Had she come up with something clever? From the other end of the line came a sinister chuckle—euhuhu.
Harin felt a sense of foreboding and was about to speak first when Sara beat her to it.
“Why don’t you just stick with that guy who walked you home today?”
The moment she heard those words, Harin’s face flushed red and she stammered.
“Wh-what are you talking about!”
“Why not? It’s fine. You don’t have a boyfriend anyway, and it’s not like he’s going to do anything weird.”
At the irresponsible suggestion, Harin was left speechless.
Excited now, Sara began pouring out all sorts of dirty jokes on the subject.
“Or does our Harin actually want him to do something weird?”
“N-no.”
“Besides, it’s about time you got yourself a boyfriend, Harin.”
“St-stop…”
“It’s perfect. He’s not a creep, he saved you when you were in danger, and he walks you all the way home every time. What more could you want in a boyfriend?”
“S-Sara!”
“And once you two start catching feelings, you’ll feel so grateful for all those walks home that you’ll invite him inside as thanks and then just… euhuhu.”
Sara kept spilling out those naughty fantasies, clearly enjoying herself. Harin, unusually unable to push back, muttered with a face that looked ready to burst.
“…Stop it.”
But the oblivious Sara showed no sign of stopping.
“Why should I? Honestly, it’s not like you lack charm. Your face is obviously gorgeous, and your body—well, you can’t tell with clothes on, but if you took them all off…”
Finally unable to take any more, Harin exploded.
“You crazy bitch! That guy is Ayoung’s boyfriend!!!”
Tu-tu-tu—
Sara hung up without the slightest hesitation and fled. It was faster than light.
After walking Lee Harin home, I returned to the alley where the incident had occurred.
A dark alleyway.
An eerie atmosphere that suggested something could happen at any moment hung over the area, yet my mind was so overwhelmed by shock that even the ability to feel fear had been numbed.
I slowly walked toward the spot where Lee Harin had desperately sprinted from.
Various details caught my eye: a black trash bag discarded in the corner, an old wall covered in incomprehensible graffiti, and a tree branch jutting out above it like a human hand.
Every single one was familiar.
I compared the scene in my memory with the real landscape step by step as I walked forward, then stopped at the point that felt unmistakably familiar.
I took out my phone, carefully snapped a photo, and the flash went off with a sharp click.
I immediately opened the album to check the image I had just taken.
“…Haha.”
I could only let out a small, hollow laugh.
Why had I never noticed this before?
The photo on the screen was identical to a scene I remembered clearly.
- Never Get Caught!
It was exactly the same as the mini-game title screen from the erotic game in my memories.
I had walked through this alley countless times without ever realizing it.
Of course, I had plenty of excuses. It had always been daytime, filled with bright sunlight and crowded with people. The sense of unease would have been hard to notice unless I came at night.
But simply dismissing it as an oversight felt impossible. I couldn’t forget the look on Lee Harin’s face as she desperately fled from the end of that alley today.
If I hadn’t coincidentally run into her here… If she had failed to escape and been caught by the pursuer behind her, what would have happened?
“……”
The bad ending I knew from the game seemed to flicker dimly in my mind.
…No.
I shook my head, forcefully pushing the thought away.
It hasn’t happened yet.
It’s something I can prevent if I try hard enough.
Even today, thanks to coincidentally encountering Harin, I had managed to change that future even a little.
The problem was that these events were unfolding in a way completely different from what I had expected.
I had assumed that if such dangers appeared, they would target the main heroine, Ayoung, first.
Running into Harin in danger instead had left me feeling dazed.
In the game, events had progressed in order—starting with the main heroine Ayoung and unlocking the others sequentially.
But now that the game had become reality, the scenes I remembered were jumbled, appearing out of sequence as time flowed on.
It meant I could no longer rely solely on my knowledge of the game.
…This is difficult.
That was the thought that came to mind.
Wouldn’t it be better to focus only on my girlfriend Ayoung rather than trying to save others?
But that pathetic idea vanished the moment I recalled Harin clinging to me, trembling uncontrollably.
Honestly, I don’t know if I can save everyone.
But…
I at least wanted to try.
That was the best I could do right now.