Chapter 25
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 25
I finished my investigation and left the study. I had put all the books back in their proper places, double-checked to make sure I hadn’t missed anything, and even turned off the light before leaving. There would be no evidence left behind.
I had also surveyed the other areas, meticulously erasing any trace of my movements. I didn’t think I needed to worry about that part.
Dokyun stared at the key in his hand.
What should I do with this…
He could try hugging her again and slipping it back into her pocket, but he had to consider the possibility that she might have already noticed the key was missing while she was out.
As Dokyun mulled it over, his gaze shifted toward the front door. From the sofa, the entrance was hidden by a wall. If he placed the key on the floor by the door, he thought, Wouldn’t she just assume she’d dropped it?
She couldn’t see the floor of the entryway from the sofa, so she would never imagine that he, tied up over here, could have found the key and done something with it. He nodded to himself.
Dokyun moved to the front door, placed the key on the floor in front of the shoe rack, and returned to the sofa. He fastened the collar back around his own neck. The act of restraining himself felt utterly miserable. Dokyun let the tension drain from his body and leaned back against the sofa.
“Huu…”
He closed his eyes and replayed the day’s events. He hadn’t found any particular clues in the study. He hadn’t been able to move with a precise calculation of time; the thought that she could return at any moment meant he couldn’t afford to spend long in there.
In the end, the only thing he’d found was that one, unsettling diary. As Dokyun recalled its contents, he felt a suffocating tightness in his throat and a lingering sense of unease.
“Shit…”
He felt like he’d seen something he shouldn’t have. A wave of nausea churned in his stomach, dragging his mood down to the floor. The writing had been such a mess that he couldn’t make sense of the content or context, but the unpleasant feeling emanating from the words seemed to be permanently etched in his mind.
Ah, I’m craving a cigarette.
A cigarette. Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t smoked a single one since coming here. The thought of being forced into sobriety left a stale taste in his mouth, and all the pent-up cravings for nicotine seemed to surge at once.
“Haa…”
He needed something, anything, to relieve the stifling feeling in his chest. Dokyun considered testing the waters when she got back, but he quickly dismissed the idea, certain she would never allow it.
Tch… I guess I’ll just think of this as a chance to quit.
He decided to think positively. It wasn’t good for his body anyway, so quitting now wouldn’t be so bad. As he was killing time with that thought, he heard the front door open.
Beep-boop-!
She’s here.
It seemed the woman had returned. He heard some rustling from the entryway, which then abruptly stopped. It seemed she had found the key.
Dokyun calmed his rapidly beating heart. There was no reason for her to suspect him. He was tied up here, and he had placed the key where it couldn’t be seen from his position. There was no need for him to be nervous.
The tension stretched on, the silence holding for a moment before her voice came from beyond the wall that blocked the entryway.
“I-I’m back…!”
Her voice was followed by the sight of Eun-ah herself. The moment their eyes met, Dokyun painted a smile on his face and welcomed her.
“Welcome back. Did you get everything done?”
Immediately, Eun-ah’s face, which had been staring intently at Dokyun, crumpled, and tears began to well up in her eyes.
“Hic, hiiiing…”
The fact that she burst into tears the moment she saw him didn’t seem like a sign of suspicion. Thinking so, Dokyun calmed himself and held out his arms to her. As soon as she saw his gesture, Eun-ah rushed over and buried herself in his embrace.
“I-I missed youuu…”
Hearing Eun-ah whine in a tear-choked tone, Dokyun was now certain she didn’t suspect him. He let out a silent sigh of relief, lowered his arms to pat her back, and said, “I missed you, too.”
“Huuuh…”
The way she rubbed her face against his chest, sobbing, looked like a scene from a reunion of war-torn families. Dokyun kept patting her back and began to soothe her.
“Why are you crying? Did something bad happen?”
Eun-ah, her face still buried in his chest, shook her head.
“Then what is it?”
“B-because I missed you… and I’m happy to see youuu…”
Her reply came out muffled against his chest. Hearing her, Dokyun adopted a slightly melancholic tone and continued.
“Then you should stop crying now. When you cry, Eun-ah, it makes me sad, too…”
“Okay…”
Nodding in response, Eun-ah soon lifted her head to look up at him. Her eyes were sparkling, as if her mood had already lifted.
“I, I was really brave…”
“About what?”
“I-I missed you… but I h-held it in and went out…!”
He wasn’t quite sure what she had been brave about, but the way she was looking at him with expectant eyes seemed to be a plea for praise, so he stroked her hair and said, “You did a good job.”
“Hehe…”
She seemed to like the feeling of his hand stroking her hair, rubbing her head against his palm and giggling foolishly. After a moment of this, she let out a little “Oh!” and spoke.
“R-right…”
“Hm?”
“I-I brought you a present…!”
Ah, now that he thought about it, she had said something like that before she left.
“What kind of present?”
“J-just a second…”
Lifting his arm, Eun-ah slipped out of his embrace and went back toward the entryway, where she began to rustle around. To be honest, he was a little anxious, wondering if it was a real present or another crisis that would threaten him.
He watched her with a nervous heart. Soon, Eun-ah approached him, her arms hidden behind her back. Then, with eyes full of anticipation, she looked up at him and her lips parted.
“What… what is iiiit~?”
It was quiz time. Seeing how she was bouncing with excitement, it seemed he had to play along. Dokyun stared at her arms hidden behind her back. Judging by the rustling sound, it was in a plastic bag. On top of that, there was the smell of oil that had started to spread since she’d gotten closer. It was a smell Dokyun knew well.
“Hmm…”
He had a pretty good idea. If it was truly a present for him, it was the perfect choice. Dokyun briefly wondered, Should I guess it right away? before deciding it would be better to humor her a little longer. He put on a troubled expression and said, “I’m not sure… Can you tell me?”
“Hehe…”
It seemed to be the right answer. Eun-ah’s cheeks flushed a pale pink as she nodded her head. Dokyun let his eyebrows droop and asked once more.
“You can’t tell me?”
He looked at her with a moderately disappointed expression. Seeing this, she beamed with excitement and thrust her hands forward.
“Ta-daaa…!”
With a crinkling sound, her outstretched hands held two plastic bags.
Chicken and beer.
In her right hand was a chicken bag stamped with the logo of a brand he knew very well. In her left was a black plastic bag filled to the brim with cans of beer.
“Wow.”
A huge grin spread across Dokyun’s face. This time, it wasn’t a fabricated smile, but one filled with genuine delight. Upon confirming the present’s identity, his stomach let out a loud cheer.
Growl—.
It was his absolute favorite food. On top of that, he had been feeling so stifled, and the sight of beer made his eyes lock onto it, refusing to look away. In the most joyful tone he had used since being imprisoned here, Dokyun spoke.
“This is the best… the absolute best gift.”
“Hehe…”
Seemingly satisfied with his reaction, Eun-ah giggled, shaking the bags in her hands as if to show them off. Then, still smiling, her lips parted.
“Th-this is ‘yaseu,’ right…?”
“Damn right, of course. This is ‘yaseu.’ This… this is the real ‘yaseu’…”
Awe, ecstasy, climax. Yes. This was ‘yaseu.’ The gift she had prepared for him was ‘yaseu.’
“Th-then… should we… do ‘yaseu’ now…?”
“Yes, we should. Let’s do ‘yaseu’ now.”
He nodded his head emphatically. His eyes refused to leave the chicken in front of him. Through the entire process of her taking off her coat, setting the table, opening the chicken, and filling the glasses, Dokyun’s eyes remained fixed on the chicken.
Finally, after Eun-ah had finished setting everything up on the coffee table, she approached Dokyun, who had been watching her from the sofa.
“J-just a second…”
Eun-ah came over, lifted Dokyun’s arm to slip inside his embrace, and then sat on his lap, looking up at him as she spoke.
“Sh-shall we start now…?”
She sat down as if it were the most natural thing in the world, without a hint of awkwardness. Normally, he would have grumbled to himself, There’s plenty of space, why do you have to sit there? but this time, he decided to let it slide. Because this was ‘yaseu.’
Dokyun nodded in response to her words.
“Yes, let’s start.”
Dokyun and Eun-ah raised their glasses.
Clink-!
The clear sound of glass meeting glass rang out, and the beer flowed down his throat.
Gulp, gulp.
The sharp, tingling sensation as it went down was no joke. As the cool beer slid down his throat, his sunken mood instantly soared, melting away his stress.
He picked up a chicken leg and brought it to his mouth. The batter shattered with a crunch, juices flowed out, and the warm meat and firm texture invaded his mouth. A feeling of pleasure rose from deep within him, shooting up his spine and piercing his brain.
The last time he’d eaten chicken was four days ago, and even then, he’d been knocked unconscious after a single bite, so he hadn’t even gotten to eat it properly. This felt like a feast he’d been deprived of for much longer. The very person who had bashed him over the head was right in front of him, but for this moment, he decided to forgive her. Because this was ‘yaseu.’
As he was chewing a bite of the chicken leg, a refilled glass was pushed before his eyes. He lowered his head slightly and saw Eun-ah looking up at him.
“O-one more cheeers…!”
“Sounds good.”
Taking the glass, Dokyun clinked it against hers once more. The cool beer washed over his throat, which had been feeling slightly greasy from the oil and meat juices. This was ‘yaseu.’
The beer went down smoothly. The food was beyond words. Every time he took a bite of chicken, he accepted the glass she offered, and his spirits soared. For this moment, the woman squirming in his lap and sharing a drink with him wasn’t unpleasant at all.
“This is nice.”
“Yes… i-it’s nice…”
They clinked glasses again. He must have drunk quite a bit, because several empty cans were now visible on the table. His face felt a little hot; he was probably getting drunk.
Ah, this is a little dangerous.
Only then did Dokyun realize his state. He was drunk. Normally, he could just pass out and sleep it off, but right now, he was a kidnap victim, and the woman in his lap was his captor.
If he made a slip of the tongue while drunk, a part of his body could very well end up ground to bits. Dokyun tried to get a grip and shake off the drunkenness, but he wasn't some martial arts master with inner energy; something like that was impossible.
His head felt a little wobbly. Just as Dokyun was thinking he should stop drinking, another glass was pushed in front of him.
“Again, again, cheeers…!”
“Uh, I think I’ll just…”
“Cheeers…!”
The moment Dokyun tried to say he should stop, the glass was pushed right up to his nose. His eyes met hers. She was smiling, but her expression felt somehow coercive. Feeling the subtle pressure, Dokyun forced a smile and took the glass.
“Ch-cheers…”
“Hehe…”
He downed the beer again. His head was buzzing, and he could only vaguely feel something going down his throat. He was definitely drunk. Even as he thought, I shouldn’t drink any more, he didn’t have the nerve to refuse the glasses she offered, so he just kept drinking.
A short while later.
“Ughhh…”
He couldn’t support his own body. Feeling something in his lap, he hugged it to steady himself. He heard a voice.
“I-is it time nowww…”
It sounded like she was saying something, but he couldn’t understand what. Then, he felt the thing he was holding squirm out of his arms and someone helping him up.
“G-get up…!”
He heard it clearly this time. Get up. Right. He had to get up. If he got any drunker, he’d say something he shouldn’t. With that thought, he forced his body to rise. Stumble, stumble. His body swayed. As he walked, the hands supporting him disappeared, and he felt his body fall.
Flump—.
Ah, this feels like the bed. If he could just fall asleep like this, he would get through the day safely. Having made his decision, Dokyun opened his mouth.
“Gooood… night…”
The moment he finished speaking and closed his eyes, he felt a hand shaking him.
“H-Honeybee-nim…”
“Ugh…?”
His stomach churned as his body was shaken, and he forced his eyes open. He saw the woman looking down at him. Even in his dizzy state, he thought she was quite pretty.
“Yeees…”
“W-we have to do ‘yaseu’…”
“Ya… seu…?”
“Yeees… w-we promised we would…”
Right. They had promised to do ‘yaseu,’ and so they ate chicken and drank beer.
“We… we did, though…?”
Wasn’t that why he was so drunk right now? As he thought that and looked at Eun-ah, he saw her shaking her head.
“N-no… that wasn’t, that wasn’t ‘yaseu’…”
He didn’t know what she was talking about. She spoke again.
“Y-you have to keep a promise, right…?”
A promise. Right. When people make a promise, they have to keep it. He felt a hand stroking his chest.
“Right, a promise… has to be k-kept, right…?”
“Mhm…”
She helped him sit up. His body was pulled along and settled on the bed, facing her.
“S-so… we’re doing ‘yaseu’ now…?”
“Yes… ‘yaseu,’ we have to. ‘Yaseu’…”
He felt a hand on his cheek. The woman in front of him drew closer and closer. Ah, right. There was another kind of ‘yaseu.’ Even in his hazy state, his loins grew hot.
Mwah—.
Their lips met. A promise is meant to be kept.
Time for ‘yaseu.’