What Are You Doing? (1)
Blink. Blink.
Waking from sleep, I stared blankly up at the ceiling, eyes fluttering open and shut.
"Ugh…"
I sat up in bed, clutching my head. The hangover from last night's drinking was splitting my skull open. On top of that, the reek of alcohol clinging to my whole body made everything I'd put down the night before feel like it was about to come right back up.
I checked the clock — the time I usually left for my workout had long since come and gone. Thinking I should at least wash up, I stepped out of my room toward the bathroom and spotted Seoyeon sitting blankly on the living room sofa.
"Seoyeon. When did you get here?"
"……Oh, oh? J-just now! I just got here!"
The TV wasn't even on. She'd been sitting there alone, lost in thought, and my calling her name made her jump out of her skin.
"What? Why so startled? Something wrong?"
"U-uh? No? Nothing at all? Not a thing?"
"……"
Something was definitely up. Even someone as dense as me could tell that much.
"……But. What's that?"
Her behavior was so suspicious that I looked more carefully, and there at Seoyeon's feet was a shopping bag I'd never seen before.
"O-oh? It's nothing! It's nothing at all!"
"……"
When I pointed at the shopping bag with a clearly suspicious look, Seoyeon startled and shoved it behind her back. Whatever was making her act this weird was connected to that bag. Realizing that, I took a step toward her. Then another.
"D-don't come closer! You can't!"
"Hey. Yu Seoyeon. Hand over whatever's behind you."
"I-I said no! Y-you stink! You reek! You smell like booze! Go wash up already!"
"Hey, hey! Just let me see that—"
—Bang!
As I kept closing in, she shot up from her seat, shoved me with all her strength straight into the bathroom, and slammed the door shut. The whole thing happened so fast I was left standing there in pure bewilderment.
—Click. Click.
I tried the handle, but Seoyeon was already bracing the door from the other side. It wouldn't budge.
"……Open this door right now while I'm still asking nicely."
"N-no! Absolutely not!"
"……Seoyeon~ I'm not mad. Really. Just open the door for me~."
"E-even so, no! Seriously no!"
Her desperation only made me more curious. What on earth was in that bag that had her acting like this? It might turn out to be nothing, but her behavior was only feeding my curiosity.
"……I'm not kidding. Open the door."
"I-I said nooo!"
"……If you don't open that door right now, you're getting spanked until your ass is swollen."
"…………"
My words, loaded with genuine intent, silenced Seoyeon on the other side of the door.
Well then…
—Click. Click.
Ah. Mistake. For Seoyeon, that was a reward. I should have threatened to cut her off from sex instead — she was blocking the door even more desperately than before.
"Haa…… Fine. Whatever."
Faced with her dead-serious resistance, I finally threw up my hands. Since I was already in the bathroom, I started stripping off my clothes one by one to shower.
Seoyeon isn't the type to do anything that would actually hurt me…… so whatever.
—Shhhhhh.
In a house that had erupted into chaos the moment I woke up, the only sound left was the rush of water.
—Whoosh.
I finished my shower and opened the bathroom door. Wherever she'd stashed that shopping bag from earlier, Seoyeon was sitting on the sofa like nothing had happened. Then she flinched the moment she saw me step out of the bathroom.
I'd been planning to let it go… but no matter how I thought about it, something was off.
"Yu Seoyeon."
"H-hiiik! Y-yes!"
"Tell me the truth. If you talk now, I'll forgive you."
"W-what!"
"Not gonna talk? This is your last chance."
"……I-I don't even know what you're talking about!"
I gave her every last chance. Everything that happens from here on out is on you. I sent her that look, then turned and went into my room. I climbed onto the bed, sprawled out, and started fiddling with my phone.
"……H-Hajun?"
"……"
Even after a long stretch of time with no reaction from me, Seoyeon must have found it strange — she came into the room from the living room and called my name. But I didn't so much as glance at her, keeping my eyes locked on my phone.
The ultimate punishment I could give Seoyeon. That was sex. For a girl who'd been living in a permanent state of heat in my house, cutting her off from sex was the best way to torment her.
"H-Hajuuun……"
Before I knew it she'd climbed onto the bed, grabbing my arm and shaking it, even laying on the cute act. It wasn't that she wanted sex — she was just restless at the sight of me being angry.
"Let go."
"W-wanna eat? Huh? Aren't you hungry? You haven't eaten anything, Hajun! Should we go get food?"
"Not hungry."
"D-dammit……"
When nothing she did could make me look at her, frustration leaked out of her mouth as a deflated hiss. Then suddenly her hand started creeping along my body, slipping into my pants.
"……Take it out."
"……Tsk."
I pulled my gaze from the phone, met her eyes with a voice dropped low and cold, and she glanced around nervously before withdrawing her hand. When nothing worked on me, she huffed and stomped deliberately out to the living room, making her footsteps as loud as possible.
What's she gonna do about it?
Give it a little time and she'd come crawling back on her own, confessing everything she'd been trying to pull.
"……Hajun."
Not long after disappearing into the living room, Seoyeon came back into the room. See? Told you. I'd been imagining her bowing her head and begging for forgiveness when she hit me with something completely different.
"……H-here. Drink this."
"……?"
At the word "drink," I reflexively turned my head to look. It was that white cup that used to kick off our play sessions until recently…… except it wasn't. It was a different cup. I lifted my eyes slightly, giving her a look that said, what the hell is this?
"I-I bought it on the way over earlier… there wasn't anything to drink in the house…"
It smelled sweet, so it was probably some kind of beverage…
"I-I'll just leave it here! I'll be studying in the living room! R-rest easy!"
She set the cup of drink on the shelf by the bed and bolted from the room in a flash. The way she stammered and looked completely flustered under my stare made it obvious something was up.
"…………"
I stared at the cup she'd left behind. Maybe……
She wouldn't go and spike this with sleeping pills again at this point……
Even as I thought that, I remembered how ridiculously suspicious Seoyeon had been acting all morning.
……Just check. Just check it.
I picked up the cup Seoyeon had left… and dumped the entire contents straight into the trash can. It'd be a pain to clean out later, but there was no way I was drinking it to find out.
Preparations complete. All that remained was to confirm.
I almost got completely caught.
After talking with Jeong-a unnie and coming back to Hajun's place, he was still asleep, so I'd been sitting there blankly sorting through the plan in my head… and that's when Hajun woke up and came out to the living room.
I couldn't help showing how flustered I was, and Hajun gave me this suspicious look and spotted the shopping bag I'd gotten from Jeong-a unnie. I'd planned everything out and almost ruined it before I even started, but I managed to scrape by.
Now the real preparations were done. If Hajun drank the beverage I gave him and fell asleep……
Honestly, deep down, my relationship with Hajun right now is already so, so good. He won't abandon me, and I have no intention of leaving his side. But…… for the sake of our love, I have no choice.
Hajun likes me too, but he has a hard time saying it out loud…… so I have to help him. I know the pain of not being able to say I like you with your own mouth. I lived twenty years right beside Hajun that way. So I have to help him.
"……Is he asleep?"
An hour had passed since I handed Hajun the drink and left the room. He should have been out cold long ago, but just in case, I'd given it plenty of time. I got up from the sofa and peeked into Hajun's room.
The cup that had held the drink was empty, his phone had fallen onto his stomach, and he was lying there with his eyes closed, sleeping soundly.
Preparations complete.
I pulled out the shopping bag I'd hidden under the sofa…… the one full of things Jeong-a unnie had lent me.
—Jingle jingle.
I flinched. Like a kid doing something naughty, even the tiniest sound made me jump. With the sleeping pills already in his system, he wouldn't wake up unless I shook him awake myself. I'd done this kind of thing plenty of times before, but today I was especially nervous.
Carrying the shopping bag from under the sofa, I headed into Hajun's room. I climbed straight onto the bed where he was sleeping.
"……"
I stroked Hajun's sleeping face. I'll help you now……
I pulled the leather handcuffs Jeong-a unnie had given me out of the shopping bag. I could still picture her face, bragging that even the strongest man couldn't get out of these. Holding the cuffs, I lifted Hajun's arm. And the moment I was about to lock them around his wrist—
Something grabbed my arm and stopped me cold.
"……Hey. Yu Seoyeon. What the hell are you doing?"
Hajun, who had clearly been asleep just a second ago, was staring at me with ice-cold eyes.
"……Hic."