Weekend (3)

"Darling… mmnh…"

"You did well."

I stroked Baek A-young's hair as she rested on my arm. It was pretty funny that we'd shown up to volunteer and ended up like this, but that was just how life went.

I'd sealed the children's ears with mana just in case they woke, and a Rune ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Barrier kept any sound from leaking out of the room. There was no chance of getting caught. We lay there, savoring the afterglow.

"A-young. Come here."

"Darling… mmph. Mwah…"

I enjoyed a gentle kiss while running my hands over her body. That got me going again, but doing more would have been a bit much. The kids' nap time was almost over.

I pulled my lips from hers and looked at the children.

"They're really cute, though. How do kids even get this adorable?"

"…I know. They're so pretty."

Baek A-young was gazing at them with a blissful smile, lost in some thought of her own.

The look she flicked my way was terrifying enough that I averted my eyes.

You can't start thinking about that already, A-young. I don't even know how many future wives I'm going to end up with.

"Ahem. The childcare teacher should be here any minute."

"Yeah. It's about that time."

The kids' nap was winding down. I tidied the area with Clean magic and tended to the children as they woke one by one.

Knock, knock.

The childcare teacher opened the door right on ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠cue.

"Oh my, oh my, they're already up."

She was taking over, so the decent thing was to make ourselves scarce.

"We'll be heading out."

"Yes. Thank you for your hard work."

Getting thanked for doing nothing but having sex next to napping kids. What a world.

This is what volunteering is all about.

Still, playing with the kids had been pretty fun. It was a little disappointing to leave without seeing more of them.

"It's a bit of a shame. Doesn't really feel like we did any proper volunteer work."

"Yeah. I know."

Baek A-young looked just as disappointed. She liked kids too.

"Big bro!"

"Unnie!"

We were heading to the director's office to say goodbye when the kids came running toward us. The red-haired boy who always led the pack came charging over — the same kid who'd almost caught me and Baek A-young last time. More than ten children and the director were following behind him.

"Big bro! Play with us!"

"Where'd everyone else go?"

"They all ran away again."

"Ran away?"

There had definitely been more than five volunteers playing with the kids, but none of them were anywhere to be seen.

"The new ones are usually like this. They show up overflowing with enthusiasm, but the moment they realize playing with children isn't easy, they leave. And they never come back."

"Ah…"

The director, who'd been following behind, said this with a bitter smile.

"It's not a good influence on the children… but so many people come through that there's nothing we can do about it…"

That kind of behavior could make the kids feel abandoned, or teach them not to trust people. I never thought the orphanage's PR outreach would have this kind of downside.

"Big bro?"

The boy tilted his head at me and Baek A-young, who were both wearing sour expressions. I patted his hair.

"A-young. Want to play with the kids a little longer before we go?"

"Yeah. Let's do that."

We looked at each other and smiled faintly. As always, Baek A-young and I were on the same wavelength.

"A-young. I'll come by the infirmary next time."

"Okay. See you later."

I waved goodbye to Baek A-young. I probably wouldn't see her next week, but she didn't seem disappointed, so maybe she didn't know?

Guess not.

Since she hadn't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠said a word to me about it, Baek A-young must have sworn a mana oath as Academy staff. Hopefully she wouldn't cause any incidents by forcing her way along.

After parting with her, I headed toward the dorms. It was past four, and evening was coming on. This was around the time Liliana would be in the middle of a stream.

Whenever I came home, she would wrap up her broadcast to match my arrival. She'd grumble about it, but she just wanted to hang out with me — she could only see me when I was home. Ending her stream every time I walked through the door probably wasn't great for her channel growth, though.

"I don't really want to go in… but I've got nothing to do. Ah, maybe I'll go shopping."

There was a lot I needed to buy to prepare for next week's survival exam. It was similar to a New Game+ perk from the original game — the exam got announced on the day of, and they hauled you off immediately, so there was never any time to prepare. Lasting a week on the meager rations they handed out wasn't easy. You had to be self-sufficient for everything from food to a place to sleep.

There was a loophole, though. Just sneak a spatial artifact in when you went to class on Monday. Since they transported you straight to the uninhabited island after the announcement, nobody checked your belongings.

Now that I had a destination, I turned around. I'd hit the big supermarket where I'd run into Nam Da-eun last time. Camping gear and the like should cover it.

"Lee Ho-yeon!"

A high-energy voice called my name from behind. I turned around. Lucy and Rumi were coming this way.

"Lee Ho-yeon, hi! Where were you headed?"

"Hello, Ho-yeon."

"Hey. Lucy, Rumi. Me? I was just heading out to buy some stuff."

No matter how close we were, I couldn't leak information about the survival exam. If it was just me, people would write it off as some crazy guy being overprepared. If a whole group of us showed up ready, it'd look suspicious.

"Yeah? We were gonna hang out at a cafe. Wanna come?"

"A cafe?"

Not a bad idea. The timing was a little awkward, but honestly I could always shop tomorrow.

"Have you had dinner? We're getting tteokbokki too…"

"Okay. Let's go."

For how close I was with the twins, we'd never actually hung out off campus. I'd met up with Rumi a bit in the early days after transmigrating, but we hadn't seen each other since she became my secret friend. It was about time.

Besides all that, what kind of idiot turns down a cafe date with two pretty girls on a weekend?

"I shall attend with a glad heart."

"Pfft. What are you even saying."

We headed toward the Academy shopping district together and found a decent-looking cafe, where we ordered drinks.

"Claire Rose Latte…? You've got some weird taste."

"It's pretty good, actually."

Honestly I'd only started drinking it because Mun Su-rin liked it, but it had grown on me. A sweet, subtle rose fragrance lingered in your mouth, then it turned cool like you'd just eaten mint, and at the end it got spicy. A fascinating flavor.

"Want a sip?"

"Huh? Uh? Just drink it like that?"

"Yeah, just drink it. How else would you?"

I held out my Claire Rose Latte to Lucy, and she looked a little flustered. Was she seriously worried about an indirect kiss? We weren't kids.

She eventually glanced at me, then put her lips on the straw and took a sip.

"Ugh? Eugh, bleh. That's weird."

"That bad?"

It had grown on me the more I drank it.

"Why would you drink this… ugh. I need to rinse my mouth."

Lucy said this while diligently working through the strawberry latte in front of her. Rumi watched our exchange with a faint smile.

"Ho-yeon, are you preparing for Monday's special exam?"

"What's there to prepare? We don't even know what it's going to be."

"Last year's midterms, they gathered the entire first year in the auditorium and made them do a battle royale. And the exam after that was a game of tag that almost demolished half the Academy."

"…Really?"

The previous exams Lucy described were pretty brutal. So that was a thing. Well, if they ran the survival exam every single year, not preparing for it would be stupid. The midterm special exams were always something unusual like that.

"Aaaah~ I just hope it's not something physically exhausting. And I don't want to be hungry either."

"It's okay, Lucy. I saw on Everyday that this time it's supposed to be something easy. They said it alternates between hard and easy every year."

"Don't believe that stuff… those people are all cadets just like us."

Rumi's problem was that she trusted the internet way too much. This exam was going to be the biggest pain of any of them so far.

Guess I should pack a lot of food in the spatial storage.

In the game I'd only packed what I needed, but now I had a lot more people to look after.

"Mmnh~ I'm gonna hit the bathroom."

Lucy left her seat, and Rumi and I locked eyes.

"Ho-yeon. Did you see the new character that just came out?"

"Huh? Ah… yeah, I saw it."

I didn't get it at first, but luckily I remembered Rumi was an otaku.

"You mean Hinata? She's pretty decent-looking."

"Yes! That's her. I think she's super pretty. And Hinata-chan is…"

Once I played along, Rumi's face lit up and she kept going. Watching her dump a flood of useless information about Hinata-chan, I figured she still hadn't completely shed her shut-in vibes. I only put up with it because it was cute Rumi doing it. If anyone else pulled this, I wouldn't have lasted.

"Rumi. Want to come to the bathroom in a bit?"

In the end, I redirected her attention elsewhere.

"Yes…?"

"It's been a while. Time for some secret friend activities. Come to the last stall in the men's room. I'll go first and wait."

"Ah……. O-okay."

Rumi smiled like she was happy to hear that. Her status window had shown her lust was pretty high, so even if she didn't show it, it had to be building up.

I headed to the bathroom before Lucy came back. Going together might look suspicious, so I went first. Since it was a high-end cafe near the Academy, the bathroom was clean and tidy.

I went into the last stall like I'd told Rumi and waited. Soon there was a knock.

"Ho-yeon. I'm here."

"Is that you, Rumi? Prove it."

"Wh-what? Please just open the door… someone might come in…!"

Teasing a girl who reacted as well as Rumi was half the fun. Plus, she needed to be punished for dumping all that otaku talk I hadn't asked for.

"Take off just your panties and pass them under."

"Ho-yeon…"

"If you don't take them off fast, someone might walk in."

"Hnn…"

There was a rustling from ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠outside the door, and a scrap of pink fabric slid under the stall. The panties already felt damp. They were definitely Rumi's.

The lock clicked.

"Yep, it's Rumi. Come in."

Rumi stepped in with tears welling in her eyes.

"That's so mean… nnh."

Well. Who told her to start rambling about weird stuff.