A Strategic Dating Operation (2)
Lee Seon-ho rested his chin on his hand, appearing to give her request a moment's thought.
She had just been discharged from the hospital, and here she was, suddenly asking him for hypnosis training. Had it been rude of her? Though technically speaking, it wasn't really training at all.
She got to confirm that his feelings were still with her, and he got to relieve his urges through her, so there shouldn't be any reason for him to refuse.
'Uh, what do I do…? Did I say something wrong…?'
Cha Eun-ju was already regretting the words she'd thrown at him. She couldn't quite tell, but with no immediate answer coming back, she could only assume she'd made some kind of mistake.
She'd thought a man whose urges demanded at least three sessions a day would never turn down a request like hers, but maybe…
'As I thought, did something happen between him and Isabel, just the two of them…?'
Around Cha Eun-ju's body, a dark mana she herself couldn't perceive began to slowly bloom once more.
And Lee Seon-ho, having spotted that dark mana, felt a flicker of alarm inside—though he showed nothing of it as he gave her his answer.
"Yeah, let's do it. If you want to fix your constitution, Eun-ju, I think it's best to take the opportunity whenever it comes up."
"S-See? I knew it!"
Her anxious heart settled at once, and the dark mana was instantly reeled back in.
Swallowing the observation that she was such an easy woman to read, Lee Seon-ho then made a demand of his own—one that caught her completely off guard.
"Then, shall we do it now?"
"Yes, now……w-wait, now?!"
"Yep. Focus, Eun-ju. I'll put you under right here."
"H-Here?! Th-This is the middle of the street…!!"
"What's wrong with that? It's just treatment, and you know by now I'm not doing anything strange."
"I-I mean, sure, but…?"
What was she supposed to do.
Having to pretend to fall under hypnosis in the middle of a public street like this—she hadn't anticipated this situation at all.
Of course, this was Seon-ho, so he'd never suddenly order her to strip in the road or give him a blowjob, but even so, his demand to hypnotize her in a place like this was, no matter how she turned it over, nothing short of flustering.
'If I don't want to raise suspicion, I—I have to accept it, but….'
The only reason Lee Seon-ho could make such a confident demand was that he firmly believed she had no memory of what happened while under hypnosis.
If she panicked here and pulled away, wouldn't all the acting she'd done up until now come crashing down?
That much she could never allow. It was far too late, and she'd crossed far too many lines, to come clean now about all those embarrassing things she'd done.
Someday, she did intend to confess—that she'd been faking hypnosis the entire time, deliberately playing along with his mischievous little games. But not now.
That would have to wait until their relationship became even more certain than it was, until she'd made the proper mental preparations…!
So the answer she had to give here, in the end, was to nod along while accepting a certain degree of risk…
"I-I don't really mind…"
"Just kidding, kidding. I was only testing the waters, so no need to agonize over it."
"…K-Kidding?"
"I wouldn't make you do anything strange while you're under, but doing it outside where people are walking by is a bit risky all the same. Just to be safe, we should go somewhere we can be alone."
"……Th-That's right. You're right, Seon-ho."
…I mean, of course Seon-ho would never make a weird proposal like that.
Hypnosis training in the middle of the street? She knew perfectly well that Seon-ho was a sensible person who didn't make strange demands like that.
And yet for that split second, she'd failed to trust him—and feeling something faintly resembling guilt over it, Cha Eun-ju naturally let the joke slide as a joke and missed her chance to share that feeling with him. A bonus loss, as it were.
"Then I suppose we'll need to find somewhere the two of us can be alone first."
"…Like last time, at the Training Grounds?"
"I did consider it, but it's a bit pricey for a single hypnosis session."
"Ah, r-right, of course…"
"And I'm thinking it's about time we moved your hypnosis training to the next stage. We'll need a space where we can be alone for at least five or six hours."
"……Th-The next stage. I see…"
Thump. Thump. Thump.
It had to be somewhere they could be alone, and he planned to keep her under for at least five or six hours.
What she'd done while under hypnosis so far was let Lee Seon-ho fondle her chest, or grip his cock, or lick it with her mouth.
Which meant the next stage would very likely involve him touching her below the waist—or something even further.
…For instance, truly crossing the line between man and woman.
-Gulp.
Cha Eun-ju had always known this day would come eventually. She just hadn't expected it to arrive this quickly.
Not that she had any intention of running from it. Once she firmly made him hers, his heart would be secured to her side, one way or another.
Even if she gave herself to Lee Seon-ho for the first time while under hypnosis… that, too, was simply part of the strategic romance operation she'd devised.
Though it did nag at her a little, that she wouldn't be able to speak her true feelings at the moment of her first experience, that she'd have to keep pretending to be hypnotized…
'Honestly, I don't think I could do it with a clear head anyway…'
Pretending to be under was the only way she could soften the embarrassment. It wasn't as though she'd lose her first experience in a state she couldn't remember, and she could always come clean about it later.
And knowing Lee Seon-ho, he'd be gentle with her even if she was under. Even for a first time, he'd probably ask after her consent and handle her carefully, step by step.
While Cha Eun-ju's mind spun in circles through thoughts like these, someone finally roused her from her daze—she'd been trudging absently along beside him the whole way.
"We're here, Eun-ju."
"…Ah, w-we're here?"
"Yep. This is my house."
"……?"
"We said we'd do the hypnosis training at my place since there wasn't anywhere suitable, remember?"
"Ah, r-right, that's… right…?"
While she'd been lost in her thoughts for what felt like ages, it seemed her entering his house had quietly become a settled fact.
Clutching her chest as it pounded with anxiety and anticipation alike, Cha Eun-ju carefully followed him through the front gate into the yard.
* * *
The process of bringing Cha Eun-ju home had been far easier than I'd imagined.
The moment I mentioned needing to put her under for five or six hours of hypnosis training, her face went bright red, and after that she just kept repeating answers like 'Yeah, yeah…' as if her mind had drifted somewhere else entirely.
Guiding a girl like that into my house without her even noticing wasn't difficult, and before either of us knew it, she was stepping through my front gate.
-Thud.
"Hm?"
The moment I stepped through the door, something brushed against my foot.
I looked down to find several boxes scattered across the floor, apparently shipped from overseas.
Contactless delivery, most likely—someone had just shoved them past the gate. None of them were particularly bulky, after all.
"Ah, Seon-ho. A package came."
"Yeah. Looks like it."
"What did you order? It says office supplies on it?"
"Nothing much. Figured the new semester might call for stationery, notebooks, that sort of thing."
So in the old world and this one alike, adult products got labeled as office supplies. Which, if anything, advertised the fact that they were adult products all the more loudly.
Even a girl with Cha Eun-ju's subculture hobbies apparently knew next to nothing about this corner of the world, since she simply picked up one of the boxes on the ground.
"I just carry these inside, right? I'll help."
"Appreciated. As thanks, I'll let you borrow some later."
"I-I'm not doing it expecting something in return…?"
"I'm offering because I want to lend them to you."
They had been bought for her sake from the very beginning, after all.
We left the delivery boxes in a rough pile by the entrance and walked deeper into the house together.
Thanks to my steady cleaning-compulsion-fueled maintenance of the place, even three days of neglect hadn't left any noticeable dust.
"It's cleaner than I expected. I-I heard boys' rooms were supposed to be messy…"
"People vary, I guess. Anyway, the bedroom's this way, Eun-ju."
"U-Uh…?!"
I took the flustered girl's hand and led her to the bedroom. One bed, one desk—a simple, narrow room, every other piece of furniture and clutter long since thrown out.
"Th-This is your room, Seon-ho…"
"Pretty plain, right? I'm not the type to accumulate things."
"N-No, it's nice… clean, I mean…"
Cha Eun-ju glanced around, taking in my bedroom. The flush on her face made it obvious enough what she was thinking.
And I was probably thinking something similar. Still, out of courtesy, I figured I should ask once before putting her under.
"Hey, Eun-ju."
"Mm…."
"Do you have to be home by a certain time today? Like, back before dinner or something?"
"No… n-nothing like that…"
"Good, that's a relief. Then how about after we finish your hypnosis treatment today, we have dinner together?"
"Y-Yeah…. I-I'd like that…"
Sneak, sneak. Even though I hadn't said a word, Cha Eun-ju was already pressing close, angling her head toward my hand of her own accord.
Looking down at the girl who now slipped under without needing to be told, I quietly let my mana flow through my right hand.
Suggestion: Hypnosis — Target: Cha Eun-ju
"Mmh…."
"You're under, Eun-ju?"
"Y-Yeah… I-I'm under, so… f-from now on, y-you can do whatever you want with me…"
Whatever you want with me, she says. Where on earth did she learn to talk like that?
Day by day, her acting was getting less and less convincing. There was the line she'd never said before, for one—and the way she kept referencing her hypnotized-state memories while fully conscious, over and over.
Well, every one of these quirks was part of Cha Eun-ju's charm, so there was no particular need to fix them. Left as they were, this personality of hers might even prove entertaining to exploit later on.
Cha Eun-ju stood rigid with tension, waiting tautly for my next command.
I started with a simple instruction anyone could carry out. If I asked something of her in her current state, she was guaranteed to panic in all sorts of ways.
"Then let's start with the first one."
"Y-Yeah…."
"From now on, stand where you are and don't move. Not until I give you your next command. Never."
"O-Okay… I-I'll stand right here and not move until your next command…."
"Good girl, Eun-ju."
Cheeks tight with nerves, Cha Eun-ju stood stiffly in place, darting glances at me.
-Ziiip.
"Hii… hiek…!"
The sound of her tracksuit zipper coming down made her flinch and shrink into herself.
Slowly, from the top, I peeled her tracksuit off her body.