Comforting the Beautiful College Girl (1)

When something out of the ordinary happens, curiosity is only natural.

Drunks brawling in the street, for instance—or, like right now, the sound of someone sobbing.

But why does it feel like it's right in front of my place?

I checked, and it was true.

Right outside the one-room I lived in, a young woman was crouched down, sniffling.

Damn, that body is lethal.

I was curious why she was crying, sure, but I was still a guy—so instead of pure pity, the first thing that hit me was how artistic those curves ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠were.

What would it feel like to fuck a girl like that?

A tight white tee that clung so hard the bra-strap marks stood out, and jeans stretched so taut over her ass from crouching that they looked ready to split—it was an outfit that screamed "come and get me" to any man.

If her face is pretty on top of that, it'd be perfect.

Unfortunately her head was bowed, so I couldn't see it.

But any guy with a pulse would still get the vibe.

You know how it is—beautiful women have that aura. Even with a mask on, the pretty ones give themselves away.

Of course, the truth was still out there somewhere.

Not seeing her face was a shame, but I decided to be content with the free eye candy.

Even so, my eyes kept drifting back—couldn't help it—

Don't get involved and make things awkward for no reason.

I smacked my lips in regret and quietly walked past her toward the shared entrance. That was when it happened.

"Excuse me."

A voice suddenly cut through.

Was she calling me?

For a second I actually hoped so.

But nothing looks more pathetic than spinning around all eager with a "Did you call me?" only to find out she didn't.

How mortifying would that be?

I snuck a glance.

Pretending to punch in the door code, I checked her reflection in the glass.

And then—

!

At some point she had lifted her head. Thanks to that, I finally got a faint look at the face I'd been wondering about.

…Holy shit, she's gorgeous.

Even just the silhouette in the glass was pretty enough to punch through—

So why the hell was a beauty like that calling out to me?

My heart hammered as I slowly turned around.

Only then did I face the real thing—still crouched, looking up at me—and my reaction was simply, Yeah, she's pretty.

Really pretty…

And somehow familiar.

Then—

"Do you… have a minute…?"

The second I heard those words, a scene floating in my memory locked perfectly over reality.

Click-clack-click.

At the same time a translucent hologram window appeared in front of my eyes and began typing text at high speed.

The moment I finished reading the completed sentence, my eyes went wide.

…It's identical.

Word for word, it matched the narration from the tutorial scenario I'd seen in the AI chat: Comforting the Beautiful College Girl.

Even the beauty that still shone through her tearful eyes—

"Could you spare me just a little time…?"

—and the tearful voice, the tone, the exact line of dialogue, all of it was the same.

No need to even say it—exactly as the narration described, a phone was in her hand.

So that means this is Park Yerin from the tutorial scenario…?

I swallowed hard, then snuck a sidelong glance at the lit screen of her phone.

Then I immediately compared what I saw with the hologram floating in front of me.

Huh.

Even the message on the phone was identical.

No way.

At this point it couldn't even be called virtual reality. This was augmented reality.

No—scrub my eyes and look again, this was actual reality.

Right then.

Ding!

With a notification chime, a new hologram window of a completely different form appeared.

I knew instinctively.

These weren't just choices I had to pick—they were guidelines for the actions I needed to take.

I still had no clue what the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hell any of this was…

But right now, what I had to do was crystal clear.

I let out a small breath, then asked in the gentlest tone and voice I had never used in my entire life.

"Is something wrong? If you need someone to talk to, I can help."

And then—

Click-clack-click.

New narration I had never seen in the tutorial scenario began typing out.

And that wasn't all.

Ding!

I even got an unexpected reward.

It was too hot to hang around outside, so I took Park Yerin to a nearby bar.

It was basically hunting, but I already knew she wouldn't refuse. The narration spelled it out in black and white.

As you can see, I could read every detail of Park Yerin's current situation and feelings from an omniscient point of view.

The hologram kept spitting out narration nonstop, but thanks to it I was sitting across from a gorgeous college girl I'd just met for drinks—so I should be grateful rather than annoyed.

"Nice and cool, right? My friends come by my place a lot, so we end up here pretty often. It's quiet—good for talking."

"……."

No answer? No reason to be disappointed.

If I just read the narration, her inner thoughts were an open book—

…What the fuck?

The sudden drift sent a chill down my spine. But I quickly steadied myself.

Calm down, you idiot.

Like my friend said, I was a pro at handling people, wasn't I?

And on top of that I could read her mind—where the hell was I going to find a better setup than this?

Click-clack-click.

I calmly read the continuing narration.

Ahh, so that was the problem.

Once you know the problem, you fix it immediately.

"I should introduce myself. I'm Yoon Taeo."

I offered my name first.

"Ah, I'm Park Yerin."

There we go.

Nobody ignores a proper introduction.

"Park Yerin, huh… A pretty name for a pretty face. I had no idea someone this beautiful lived in the same building as me, haha…"

Under the guise of a compliment, I casually dropped that we lived in the same place.

It's a technique for building trust by volunteering personal info that could otherwise feel sensitive.

You might think a guy revealing where he lives is no big deal, but—

Being treated like a potential criminal didn't feel great, but at least the conversation was flowing.

"I don't actually live in that building. My place is a bit farther away."

"Then why were you there…?"

Click-clack-click.

"Actually… my boyfriend lives there."

"Ah."

So she did have a boyfriend…

And he was my neighbor?

Fuck…

That's how the human heart works.

Even when every sign points to a breakup, you still want to deny it.

But looked at another way, this was a golden opportunity for me.

Seriously, a girl this pretty?

This was like the goalie walking off the field and leaving the net wide open in a World Cup match.

Besides, I wasn't some kid—I was almost thirty. Who cares if ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠she's not a virgin?

Younger and prettier than me is all that matters.

So I put on a completely unbothered, detached expression.

Click-clack-click.

Just as expected, the typing narration confirmed my choice had been the right one.

Might as well push a little further while I was at it.

"Did you two fight?"

"……Yes."

"About what?"

"Just… stuff……."

"How long have you been together?"

"Almost two years."

She was answering freely now—safe to say her guard had dropped.

"Two years is right around when couples start fighting over every little thing."

"R-right?!"

Just a bit of empathy and she reacted that strongly. That sealed it for me.

"Is this your first relationship?"

"Ah……."

She nodded.

Click-clack-click-clack-click-clack.

Park Yerin's emotions, rising in a crescendo, came through the narration loud and clear.

From that I could tell she was currently stuck in a one-sided, subordinate relationship.

"You haven't broken up yet, though?"

"Probably not…"

She dipped her head slightly and added in a small voice,

"This kind of thing has happened a lot."

……There it was.

The crack in the armor.

"Wow. Sounds like you've got a lot to get off your chest."

I casually picked up the soju bottle and asked,

"How about we have a drink first, then talk?"