Bad Child
"If anything, it makes me even hotter."
"Haah..."
After paying at the cafe, I headed over to a nearby park to clear my head.
I sat blankly on a bench, staring up at the sky as clouds drifted lazily overhead.
The sky is really pretty today...
It was strange, finding myself lost in the scenery after what had just happened to me. But right now, I needed moments like this to catch my breath.
I looked down at my hand. From clenching my fist so hard earlier, the skin of my palm was torn open. My fingertips were still trembling, a sign I hadn't calmed down yet.
I lowered my head and let out a sigh.
With every exhale, my mind felt a little clearer.
There was no point in running anyway. I was certain that no matter where I fled in the world, that thing would follow. Now that I knew she could harm the people around me, I couldn't just pretend ignorance.
If I couldn't run, there was only one thing I could do.
I had no choice but to take the lead and steer her in a safe direction. Trying to appease a psychopath wouldn't be easy, but this wasn't the time to think about what was hard or easy. If I wanted to survive, I had to make it work.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket. It was already half-past six.
"I'll just buy something for dinner and head home."
I looked up at the sky one last time and started walking.
The beautiful sky scene, even upon second glance, felt like it gave me a little comfort.
I bought a simple doenjang jjigae meal kit from the mart and headed home.
As I entered the apartment, the damp, musty smell unique to old buildings hit me.
It wasn't a great-looking place, but it was enough for one person.
I took the elevator to the seventh floor. Standing in front of the door, I punched in the passcode.
1...7...7...4.
"I'm home."
I knew no one was there, but the greeting slipped out of habit.
Standing in the entryway, I bent down to take off my shoes...
"?!"
A small, unfamiliar shoe was sitting in the shoe rack. It definitely wasn't mine — the size was way too small for me. It was a small, flashy women's shoe...
No way!
Without even taking my shoes off, I bolted into the living room.
As I stormed into the living room, the first thing I saw...
"Oh, you're back? I thought you'd be here right away. You're late." She was lounging on the sofa, watching TV, and spoke without even looking at me. "How dare you keep me waiting?"
"You son of a bitch...!"
"...I see you were pretty surprised, you didn't even take your shoes off." She tilted her head and added, "And 'son of a bitch'? That's a bit harsh between us who already introduced ourselves, don't you think?"
"My name is Bain. You should at least call me by my name properly."
"..."
I had braced myself for the possibility that she would one day invade my home, but I never dreamed it would be today.
"...Get out of my house. Now, Bain."
"No. Why should I? This TV show is pretty fun, I like it." Laughing quietly, Bain focused on the TV, and seeing her like that made my blood boil.
"Aren't you listening to me?! I said get out...!"
Suddenly, Bain cut me off. A tentacle shot out and wrapped around my ankle.
Thud!
My body slammed straight into the living room floor. The sudden impact made my whole body seize up.
I barely managed to lift my head. Bain looked down at me and spoke.
"I told you no. I'm your mate now, so isn't it only natural to share a house?" She continued, "Go eat or do whatever you were going to do. I don't care, just mind your own business. Don't make me tell you twice."
"Ugh..."
I picked myself up and headed to the kitchen.
There were a million things I wanted to say to her, but I felt like a fool for expecting common decency from a monster who didn't understand the concept. I just swallowed my words.
"Oh, and Jae-woo." Bain turned her head toward the kitchen. "If you're making dinner, make some for me too. I'll have a meal with my mate."
How truly generous of her. Really.
"Aren't you going to say thank you?"
"...Yeah. Thanks."
Satisfied with my answer, she turned her attention back to the TV show.
It's incredibly uncomfortable, knowing she has full access to my head.
Lousy bastard...
I roughly dumped the doenjang jjigae kit into a pot and turned on the stove. For the rice, I grabbed one microwaveable bowl... No. I grabbed two, including hers, and set them along with utensils and some kimchi.
"If you're going to eat, come and eat. It's ready."
I sat down and picked up my spoon, but I hesitated in taking a bite. I was worried that if I started eating first, she'd find some excuse to pick a fight.
"Good job. You worked hard."
She shuffled over and sat down in the chair across from me.
I ignored her comment and took a spoonful of the stew. The taste was ordinary, but my stomach was in knots.
...I had never had such an uncomfortable meal in my life.
Bain watched me eat for a moment before picking up her own spoon and trying the stew. Her face scrunched up in obvious disgust, as if it didn't suit her palate at all.
"I don't know why you humans eat this tasteless stuff. I guess it tastes good to you?"
"..."
"I can never get used to human food. To think you like this... how strange."
"...You were drinking coffee earlier."
At the cafe earlier, she had definitely been drinking coffee. I thought it meant she had adapted to human culture to some extent.
"It's not that I drink it because it tastes good. At a cafe, you have to be holding something to look natural, right?"
"...Do you absolutely have to eat humans to feel full? Can't you eat anything else?"
It was a question I had desperately wanted to ask.
The purpose of her killing was to eat humans. If she could fill her stomach with something else, she wouldn't have to resort to cannibalism, and I figured that would reduce the danger she posed, at least to some degree.
"Hmm..." She pondered for a moment before speaking. "You humans are the most delicious things on this planet. I could probably fill my stomach by devouring other life forms..."
"Don't you humans also dislike ingredients that don't taste good or aren't efficient? Like zebras or cockroaches. It's the same thing. I just don't feel like wasting a meal when the food that best suits my palate is right in front of me."
"...But if you can fill your stomach with other things, doesn't that mean you don't have to eat people?"
"Why would I?"
Bain put down her spoon. She licked the broth from her lips with her tongue and added her next words.
"I have no intention of forcing down food that doesn't even suit my palate just to conform to your society. I don't see the value in it."
"..."
I didn't want to exchange another word with her. It was my own mistake for expecting a monster to adhere to human common sense or consideration in the first place.
It would be easier on my heart to just blame myself for stupidly pinning my hopes on her.
Without realizing it, my grip on the spoon tightened.
"The meal was good, Jae-woo." She only picked at a few spoonfuls of soup before setting her spoon down.
Why the hell did you ask me to make it if you were barely going to touch it?
Then, suddenly, Bain reached for my bowl. Despite the fact that I was still eating, she snatched my bowl away and dumped its contents straight down the sink.
"What do you think you're doing...!"
"I'm done eating, so you should clean up and get some rest. Or go watch some TV..."
My body moved before her words had even finished.
Bang!
I grabbed her by the collar and threw her to the floor. Then I straddled her and started choking her with all my strength.
Why was I so angry?
Maybe it was the crazy alien's attitude, brazenly rationalizing why she could still hunt humans even when she had every opportunity not to. It had finally snapped my patience.
"You bastard! You call that an excuse?! You've killed people who didn't have to die...!"
2 meters 14 centimeters. My out-of-spec build was bearing down on the neck of a girl who was only 165 centimeters tall. I squeezed her throat with every intention of actually killing her.
But...
"Haaah... yes... choke me harder. Your murderous intent, desperate to kill me, flows through your fingertips..."
"If anything, it makes me even hotter."
Even with her throat constricted and struggling to breathe, Bain mocked me. A normal human's face would be turning red from the blood rush, and they'd be in agony. Instead, her eyes squinted with an expression of growing interest.
"Haah... heheh... hah..."
Moans escaped from her crushed windpipe.
Then, as if deliberately trying to provoke me, Bain stuck her tongue out. Her eyes rolled back, losing focus as they stared at the ceiling. It was a textbook ahegao.
This bitch was actually provoking me!!
"You fucking piece of shit!"
I put my weight into it, aiming not just to choke her but to break her neck. But she just got bored of the game, grabbed my hands, and forcibly pried them off.
"A bad child who raises a hand to their mate... deserves to be punished, don't you think?"
"!!!!"
As she tightened her grip, my arm, which I was using all my strength to resist, crumpled like a piece of paper.
What the hell is up with her strength...!
Crack!!
A sickening crunch echoed from my arm as the bone broke.
"It hurts...!! I said it hurts!!"
The moment I screamed, Bain's small foot drove straight into my solar plexus.
"Khak...!"
My body flew into the air before crashing down onto the living room floor.
Saliva dripped from my mouth, and the pain made it impossible to keep my thoughts straight.
Bain didn't care at all about my reaction. Instead, she stripped off her clothes and walked toward me. She took off her bra, revealing her youthful breasts.
"Turning me on was commendable of you, Jae-woo."
"But what you just did was way over the line. You know that, don't you?"
Bain came closer and spoke to me as I lay on the floor gasping for air.
"How dare a lowly piece of prey try to bite its master? I didn't know my mate could be this ill-mannered."
Bain slid her foot between my thighs as I lay prostrate on the floor. Then, she pressed her sole down firmly on my helpless cock.
"...!!"
"You'd better be prepared."
"I'll have to properly correct my mate's habit of not knowing his place and talking back to his master."
