Never Open the Door in the Erotic Game
Birdsong chirped outside the window.
At the sound of those tiny fledgling cries drifting in from beyond the glass, I finally knew—everything was over.
It was like the darkness of dawn itself being pushed aside, brilliant morning light flooding past the curtains.
“A-yeong.”
I stopped her as she tried to burrow back under the blankets, wearing the expression of a man who had finally attained enlightenment.
“…It’s morning.”
A-yeong, who had been staring up at me with dazed, unfocused eyes, slowly came back to herself.
“Ah… s-sorry.”
She mumbled the apology and yanked the covers up over her flushed body.
Well… I mean, sure.
I was pretty sure I was the victim here, but for some reason A-yeong was the one dying of embarrassment. Still, the sheer relief of having survived the night filled me with gratitude as I pulled open the bedroom curtains.
…Morning had come.
They say a wife’s mood is decided by her husband’s performance the night before.
The old saying turned out to be completely right.
“…Heehee.”
Even though A-yeong and I had barely closed our eyes all night, her face was glowing with a brightness that stood out sharply compared to last weekend.
I wasn’t the only one who noticed the change. Lee Ha-rin, sitting in the seat beside us, watched us with open curiosity before carefully speaking up.
“A-yeong, are you feeling better today?”
A-yeong let out a soft “Ah—” of surprise, then smiled at Ha-rin.
Unlike the forced smile she’d worn at the movie theater, this one came naturally.
“…Yeah, Ha-rin.”
Then she quietly apologized.
“I’m sorry about the theater the other day… I think my condition was just really bad then.”
Hearing the apology, Ha-rin laughed it off with her bright, distinctive nyahahang~.
“It’s fine, it’s fine! The movie wasn’t that interesting anyway…”
After chatting with A-yeong for a while, Ha-rin seemed to have something to say to me as well. She turned her gaze my way—then tilted her head, having spotted something odd.
“But Lee Ha-jun, you…”
And then she casually dropped the bomb.
“Are you sick? Why does your face look so pale?”
A-yeong and I froze at the exact same moment.
“How do I put this? You look completely wiped out…”
From Ha-rin’s perspective she was probably just worried because I looked so drained compared to usual. The problem was the actual reason for that drained look…
“Uh…”
I couldn’t bring myself to explain and simply shut my mouth.
“…Ah.”
A-yeong lowered her head, the tips of her ears turning bright red.
In this entire situation, the only person completely lacking any sense of the atmosphere was Lee Ha-rin.
“Ah, I get it! You said you like working out, right…? You overdid it over the weekend and now you’ve got a fever, don’t you?”
Her completely random deduction left me blank for a second.
Well… it was still better than her learning the truth, so I just went along with it.
“…Yeah.”
Ha-rin muttered to herself, looking proud.
“I knew I was quick on the uptake!”
…Ha-rin is still a baby. She needs protecting.
I looked down at her with a face full of disbelief while A-yeong smoothly cut in before Ha-rin could say anything else weird.
“H-Ha-rin… more importantly, about that thing you mentioned last time…”
“Ah, that?”
Thankfully, Ha-rin moved on without a shred of suspicion.
It had been a good day.
That was what Ha-rin thought as she flopped onto her soft bed.
Between how uncomfortable A-yeong had seemed at the movie theater last time and how she had suddenly left halfway through, everything had ended on such a sour note that a corner of Ha-rin’s heart had stayed unsettled the whole time.
But today, after chatting happily with A-yeong again at the training institute and coming home…
She couldn’t remember the last time she had felt this good.
So Ha-rin rolled around on the mattress a few times until—
Bzzzt—
—her phone, tossed beside the bed, started vibrating. She stretched out a hand and answered.
No need to even think about it. It was Kang Sa-ra.
“Lee Ha-rin, you home?”
Ha-rin answered with a small laugh.
“Yep. Currently rolling around in bed, thank you very much.”
Ever since that unpleasant incident in the alley, her friend Sa-ra had started calling every single day right around the time Ha-rin was supposed to get home. Ha-rin was genuinely grateful for the concern, so she always greeted Sa-ra with a bright voice and steered the conversation toward the most fun topics possible for both of them.
“Good… rest plenty for me.”
“What, are you working a model shoot right now?”
“Yeah. Called during a short break.”
Hearing that made Ha-rin suddenly feel embarrassed about having bragged that she was lying in bed.
“You’re in a better mood today, huh?”
After the slightly awkward parting with A-yeong last weekend, Ha-rin’s spirits had been low the whole time—something a long-time best friend like Sa-ra couldn’t possibly have missed. Sa-ra had been watching her carefully, and the moment she heard the brightness return to Ha-rin’s voice, she gently asked the reason.
So Ha-rin told her about everything that had happened at the training institute that day.
“Apparently A-yeong just wasn’t feeling well over the weekend.”
Even that single sentence was enough for Sa-ra, who was sharper than Ha-rin, to guess most of the situation.
“…So you two had a fight.”
“…What?”
“Nothing. Keep going.”
Sa-ra listened with open interest.
“So A-yeong apologized to me and said all that, and… how do I put it? She seemed way more energetic than usual. We talked really well.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yeah. And Lee Ha-jun apologized to me too… He said thanks for cleaning up after us last time and that he’d treat us to a meal later.”
“…Nice. Let’s hit him up for something expensive.”
The conversation flowed smoothly like that until Sa-ra asked one last question near the end.
“…Anything else weird? Like one of them looking off or uncomfortable?”
Ha-rin thought for a moment before answering.
“A-yeong looked fine, but… Lee Ha-jun? He looked kind of sick.”
“Sick?”
“Yeah. His face was super pale, you know…?”
Ha-rin wondered if there was even any point in mentioning it, but the moment Sa-ra heard that—
“Ah, for real?! Holy shit… ahahaha!”
—she burst out laughing so loudly it came clearly through the phone.
Startled, Ha-rin asked,
“Why? Why? What’s so funny?”
“Nah. Our Ha-rin doesn’t need to know.”
She was treating her like a little kid. Mildly offended by the tone, Ha-rin snapped back,
“Y-you little…!”
“Aww, is our Ha-rin mad~?”
Sa-ra only found her cuter and wasn’t scared in the slightest.
The aimless call was slowly winding down when Sa-ra checked one last thing.
“Anyway, I’m glad you seem okay… By the way, did you check those things I gave you last time?”
Ha-rin pulled out the box she’d tucked under the bed and took out the item inside.
Self-Defense Stun Gun
She carefully pressed the button on the device with that intimidating name.
Zzzt—
A sharp crackle and a brief flash of blue light answered her.
“S-Sa-ra. But this is kind of…”
The power was stronger than she’d expected, and Ha-rin felt a flicker of fear.
“Hey, it’s for actual emergencies. If you can’t drop someone in one hit, you’re the one who goes down.”
The brutal warning snapped her back to reality.
“R-right.”
She was right. This wasn’t some toy to mess around with friends for fun. It was the one weapon she would use when her life was actually on the line. If it were weak, that would be weird in its own way.
Ha-rin steeled herself and looked down at the small stun gun in her hand once more.
“Don’t go soft and start thinking weird thoughts. When it’s dangerous, you zap them hard, got it?”
“…Yeah.”
Sa-ra worried about her right up to the very last second, and Ha-rin smiled as she eased that worry.
“Okay. Thanks. I’ll keep it close.”
“Cool. See you tomorrow~”
Beep-beep-beep—
After hanging up with her reliable friend, Ha-rin practiced a few more times with the stun gun before putting it back in the box.
She wondered if the day would ever come when she’d actually need such a vicious weapon.
That day arrived far sooner than expected.
Ding-dong—
The sudden chime of the doorbell made Ha-rin jump to her feet.
Her heart pounded.
For some reason—maybe because they’d just been talking about that exact topic—even this ordinary doorbell made her pulse race.
Ha-rin took a steadying breath and walked over to the intercom. She switched on the screen to check who was outside, but—
Crackle—
—static filled a blurry display that showed no human shape at all.
…What?
Ha-rin couldn’t help panicking.
At this hour the only person who might visit would be a delivery guy… except she hadn’t ordered a single delivery since the incident in that alley.
After a long moment of thought she crept toward the front door. Curious about any sound from outside, she carefully pressed her ear against the wood.
And then—
THUD!
—someone slammed a fist against the door.
“…Mom!”
Ha-rin yelped and fell backward onto her rear.
The person outside paused for a beat, then spoke.
“…Delivery.”