An Unavoidable Event in an Erotic Game
Harin smiled faintly as she looked at the score.
Not bad.
It was a solid pace, exactly as she’d thought. Of course, unlike her opening provocation, she had handed Lee Hajun four points after that. Still, Harin had taken nine for herself and managed to pull off a comeback. If she kept control of the match at this rhythm, winning the second set shouldn’t be difficult.
“...Shall we switch sides for the second set?”
“Yeah.”
Harin nodded, set the towel she’d used to wipe her sweat and the water bottle on the chair, then walked to the opposite court with paddle in hand.
“You serve first this time.”
Lee Hajun, holding the ball, bounced it toward her. Harin caught it and let out a soft chuckle.
“I don’t mind if you serve first, you know?”
Even with the sweet offer, Hajun didn’t waver.
“It’s fine. I served first in the first set, so it’s your turn.”
He lowered his stance, ready to receive. Harin watched him with mild surprise. Given how cocky he usually acted, she had expected him to start whining the moment the game turned against him. Instead, he had steadied his breathing and focused completely on the rally.
Seeing that, Harin stopped trying to provoke him and concentrated on her own game.
Just like the first set… Just like the first set.
She murmured the little victory chant and served with calm precision—a short cut serve designed to keep him from smashing it back hard. As expected, Hajun stepped right up to the table to handle the drop. Harin spotted the opening and prepared a fast drive return to end the point.
But—
“...Hup!”
The backhand drive he unleashed was something he hadn’t shown in the first set. Harin was caught off guard.
What? He can actually do that?
She was flustered inside, but showing it would be the mark of an amateur. Keeping her expression neutral, she retrieved the ball and served again. Same tactic. This time, anticipating the drive, she cut the incoming ball long instead of rushing it over the net. It was the same approach as the first set.
In Harin’s mind, a pure power battle of drives would favor Hajun’s physical edge. So rather than trying to end it quickly, her plan was to drag out the rally and force him into mistakes. The strategy had worked perfectly in the first set.
Yet the second set was unfolding in a strangely different way.
She was still leading, of course, but—
“...Huff.”
The drives that came thundering back were finding their target more and more. Balls that had clipped the net or sailed far out were now landing cleanly inside the court. Hajun’s score kept climbing.
It wasn’t a losing position, yet Harin felt herself being pushed mentally.
“...Haah, haah.”
Choosing defensive table tennis hadn’t been a bad decision, but the longer the match dragged on, the more obvious the difference became. While Hajun casually drove every ball that came up, Harin had to sprint from one end of the court to the other. Her stamina was draining fast.
That was why she missed the next return—something the first-set Harin would have handled easily. Her tired body slowed her judgment by a fraction of a second.
Thud—whirrr.
The ball slipped past her. The score was tied.
“Hehe… This is getting thrilling, isn’t it?”
To make things worse, Hajun showed no sign of fatigue. He flashed the same smile he’d worn at the start and taunted her. Only then did Harin realize the flow of the match had completely shifted. And her bad feeling proved exactly right.
“...Whew. I almost lost there.”
Hajun said it lightly as he walked over to reset the scoreboard. Harin dragged her trembling legs and collapsed into a chair.
“Ugh…!”
Her shaking hands made the water bottle tremble; water spilled down her chin and soaked her shirt. Hajun, watching, broke into a sly grin.
“Whoa… You really look exhausted, huh?”
Harin’s face went deathly pale. “Shut your mouth…”
Instead of getting angry at the curse, Hajun looked delighted.
“Aigoo, our Harin player is really mad~.”
That was how it worked sometimes. In competitive sports, an opponent’s insult could sound like the highest praise.
“Getting that worked up is only going to make you lose the games you were winning.”
With that, Hajun headed to the opposite court. Harin had no choice but to stand on unsteady legs and follow.
Hajun reached the court first and was bouncing the ball when something seemed to occur to him. “Ah!”
“...Now that I think about it, we did say the loser of this match has to grant the winner one wish, right?”
Harin’s heart dropped.
“Ah, no…”
She had agreed without thinking, certain she wouldn’t lose. Now the same words sounded ominously heavy. She opened her mouth to offer some excuse, but—
“Here it comes~.”
Hajun’s serve was faster. Harin stretched out her hand, but the ball only floated weakly off her paddle.
“One–zero~.”
With unfocused eyes she walked back to retrieve the ball and tossed it toward him with obvious effort. Hajun caught it playfully with both hands.
“You can barely even throw the ball. Not sure you can keep playing like this.”
“...Shut up.”
Harin tried to deny it, but Hajun’s words might as well have been prophecy. The flow of the match never changed after that.
Every time Harin struggled to return the ball—
“...Hup!”
—Hajun sent it neatly to the side, tormenting her without mercy.
She stared blankly at the scoreboard.
The match wasn’t technically over, but the outcome was already decided.
…Where did it all go wrong?
Was it accepting the table-tennis match after falling for that cheap provocation? Agreeing to best-of-three without considering stamina? Or throwing in a bet she didn’t even need to make because of her ridiculous competitive streak? She couldn’t tell.
Sweat poured off her like rain. The soaked gym clothes clung to every curve of her body. The water she had spilled earlier made her underwear faintly visible beneath the fabric. Her bare legs, exposed by the short shorts, glistened with a faint sheen of perspiration.
In front of the exhausted girl, Hajun smiled with clear intent.
“So… what wish should I ask for?”
He served the final ball.
“...Haap!”
Even though she sensed defeat, Harin refused to give up. She threw her whole body into one last desperate return, but—
Boing—whirrr.
Sports was not a domain where passion alone could solve everything.
“Haah… haah…”
Harin stared at the scoreboard with hollow eyes, breathing hard while slumped on the floor. The match was over. The time had come to pay the price.
Contrary to her expectations, Hajun did not immediately state his wish. Instead, he told her she might catch a cold and practically pushed her toward the changing room to get out of her sweat-soaked clothes first.
Change your clothes first.
After saying that, he began tidying the ping-pong table alone. Normally Harin would have helped clean up despite the consideration, but she was too drained. She could only nod.
She trudged toward the locker room. Because their match had taken so long, the other students seemed to have already returned to the classroom. The building felt empty.
Creak—
Harin entered the deserted changing room and dropped heavily onto a bench. She began to change slowly. The sweat-drenched clothes stuck to her skin and refused to come off easily. She struggled out of her top, then reached for her shorts. At that moment—
Creak—
The door opened again. Someone had entered the locker room.
Assuming it was a classmate, Harin turned her head without thinking—and froze.
“...Ah.”
Her eyes met Lee Hajun’s. He stood there, staring at her with a completely dazed expression.