Born Actor (1)

"Her scent? What scent?"

"Something like perfume, maybe? Or shampoo? Anyway, I'm ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠pretty sure it's some kind of woman's smell."

…Probably Cha Eunju's, given that we were pressed against each other until just a while ago, parting only after kissing.

She'd even washed up at my place, so it couldn't be shampoo or body wash — she must have dabbed on something like perfume.

Of course, I couldn't exactly tell Choi Marie that I'd been with Cha Eunju since morning, so naturally I'd have to spin some other story to slip past her.

"Honestly? I really wouldn't know."

"…Really."

"The only woman I see from the morning onward is you, Senior. And besides, I'm meeting you at this hour — where exactly would I find the time to see someone else and come back?"

Not a lie. I'd met Cha Eunju yesterday afternoon and stayed with her through this morning — but I hadn't met her *this* morning, strictly speaking.

"I guess that's true. Then did you change your shampoo?"

"I ran out of body wash, so maybe it's because I only washed with soap. Is the smell really that bad?"

"Yeah. It's bad. From now on, scrub yourself down properly with body wash before you come out."

"Yes, Senior."

…Judging by how she was talking, she'd noticed it wasn't the smell of soap. But with nothing better to say, she seemed content to let it slide.

A little surprising, honestly. To think Choi Marie was already guarding me against other women at this level.

I hadn't been paying much attention, since her expressions shifted less than the other heroines' and her emotions were hard to read — but maybe her affection for me had climbed higher than I realized without my noticing.

Under an atmosphere that felt faintly like she was probing me, I somehow pushed the suspicion aside, and the morning training began.

Maybe it was the early-morning conversation, but Choi Marie's training felt especially brutal today.

"Junior, keep up! How long are you going to squat there in place like that?!"

"Haaek, S-Senior, haaek, I'm already — hoo, hoo…."

Even with Runner's High active, the running stretched on past any physical limit I could endure.

When she had me doing pull-ups, the moment I let go she'd force my hands back onto the bar so I couldn't drop, and the squat count had swelled to nearly double my usual.

In terms of sheer perceived difficulty, it was almost as hard as the practical exam, when I'd sprinted carrying two women in turn. Probably only survivable because I'd literally torn my muscles crawling through it back then.

And during push-ups, Choi Marie — fearless as ever — planted her backside squarely on my back.

-Thud.

"…Senior Marie?"

"There. Push-ups just like this today. Finish this and I'll call today's training done."

"Wait, Senior. How am I supposed to do it like this?"

Exercise or not, I hadn't expected her to attempt skinship by shoving her butt in my face.

I was exhausted, sure, but honestly there was no small amount of flustered embarrassment mixed in too.

"What. Don't tell me you're about to say I'm too heavy to lift?"

"…Of course not."

"Right? Finish the push-ups and today's training is over. Get moving."

…A woman's weight is a sensitive subject, so best not to poke at it.

Only after my body, already at its limit, was squeezed dry to the very last did I finally escape — so thoroughly drained that I couldn't even recall the sensation of Choi Marie's rear pressing against my back.

By the theory that a man thinks about women the moment he has the strength to lift a spoon, the current me lacked the strength to lift even one.

"Heok, heok, heeok…."

"…You really do keep up, huh. You sure you're not a Physical Enhancement Type instead of Combat Support?"

"Hoo, n-now of all times you say… heok, that's the kind of training… only Physical Enhancement users do… and you made me… do it…."

"…Your body moved, so you need protein. Down the hatch, chug it."

Brushing off the suspicion that had naturally surfaced, Choi Marie shook a protein shake from my bag and shoved it into my mouth.

Watching her try to paper it over, I figured she'd unconsciously cranked the intensity to a level beyond that of an ordinary person because I was keeping up too well.

'…Just you wait. I'll deal with you properly when it's my turn to devour you later.'

Flat on the floor, I managed to raise only my upper body to get the protein down, then moved to a bench with a backrest with Choi Marie's support.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

My body, with not a single spot in my arms or legs left unspent, draped itself against hers like a rag — and then, in an instant, I lost my balance and tipped over.

-Squish.

"Ngh?!"

…Ah, damn it all.

To keep from falling, I'd grabbed whatever my hand landed on first — and of course it had to be a place that was anything but good.

The instant I registered that I was fucked, I jerked my head up and blurted out an excuse that wasn't really an excuse.

"I-I'm sorry, Senior! My strength gave out and I slipped by accident…!"

"…Forget it. It was an accident."

"…Huh?"

"What, scared I'll report you for sexual harassment? I know how diligent my junior is, so why would I make a fuss now? I'll let it slide this once — just be careful next time."

"…Thank you, Senior Marie."

…She's letting this slide *that* easily?

Truthfully, it startled me a little. Granted, we'd grown close enough to be friendly senior and junior, but I hadn't expected her to brush off an unconscious grab of her breast without a single word of reproach.

Maybe it was because she was the one who'd drained me to the point of staggering, and her conscience pricked at scolding me over it. Or maybe we'd gotten close enough that an accidental touch of the breast was forgivable.

Either way, one thing was certain: today, for the first time, my hand had landed on Choi Marie's chest. It was unintentional, granted — though I had given it a firm squeeze for a moment.

'Soft, though. Real soft.'

I'd rolled myself into the ground, but in exchange, one grope of her chest made for a pretty decent reward.

And having glimpsed, even briefly, Choi Marie's feminine reaction — that was a considerable harvest on this end too.

"Come out again tonight. I'll go easier on you in the evening."

"…So you're finally admitting you went hard this morning."

"…You kept up just fine, so what's your problem? I pushed you that hard because you looked like you could handle it."

Choi Marie, deflecting my perfectly legitimate suspicion with a single line — you enjoyed it too, didn't you?

Etched deep into my heart: one day, I would return every one of her words to her, verbatim, in bed.

Jo Jin-hyun had been drifting in a shallow sleep when the vibration of his smartphone woke him. The clock read two in the morning. He slowly pushed himself up and picked up the phone.

Min Yewon.

Her message was short and to the point — but more than enough to crease Jo Jin-hyun's forehead.

"…What?"

Letting out a single exasperated sigh, Jo Jin-hyun reread the incoming message over and over, unable to believe its contents.

Min Yewon had gotten close to Lee Seonho? In a single day? She'd even landed a date promise three days out?

"Something's off."

It was hard to swallow. He'd only come face to face with Min Yewon twice, but he'd investigated her thoroughly before bribing her, which made it all the harder to believe.

A dumb girl who accepted a simple proposal without suspicion and folded at the first crude threat. That was Jo Jin-hyun's assessment of the woman called Min Yewon.

It fit not at all with someone skilled at weaving clever words to beguile a mark. The order to seduce Lee Seonho had, after all, only ever been a mission handed out with low expectations, for no reason other than that she was a pretty girl.

His plan had been to use her failure as leverage to issue a different order when she returned — instead, what came back was a declaration of success beyond anything he'd imagined.

He fired off a few more probing questions, but all that came back was a message that somehow rang hollow.

Needing to untangle the knot in his head, Jo Jin-hyun set a cigarette between his lips, drew in a deep drag, and murmured quietly.

"No matter how I look at it, it doesn't add up."

Lee Seonho.

He'd finished mapping out what kind of person the boy was. On good terms with a wide circle of promising hunter students, living alone with no family or siblings.

And having crossed paths with him directly, if unintentionally, in the Underground Waterway, his wariness of the boy had naturally deepened all the more.

Unbelievable nerve and composure, despite being Combat Support. A bastard who understood his own position and his own role better than anyone.

…On the surface he played the innocent, mingling with kids his own age — but he was, down to that detail, a man gifted at seeing through what lay beneath another's skin.

"…Perhaps he accepted the date deliberately."

There was no way that boy would dismiss Min Yewon's approach as mere coincidence.

Did the absence of wariness mean he had some play already prepared? No — or perhaps that girl Min Yewon was the one lying.

"Real or fake, I'll need to confirm it with my own eyes first."

…Three days out, was it.

The unease wouldn't fade unless he checked in person, and so Jo Jin-hyun resolved to move himself.

To determine whether or not Lee Seonho truly was the naive fool who went weak ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in the knees the moment he saw a pretty face.

Another day passed, and the day of the date with Min Yewon arrived.

I reached the meeting spot a little early and swept my eyes over the surroundings, taking the general atmosphere.

…More precisely, I was checking whether Jo Jin-hyun had shown himself in person to surveil Min Yewon and me.

'Suspects who could be Jo Jin-hyun: three men. Maybe still a touch too early to be certain.'

One — a middle-aged man dressed like a hiker, hair hidden under a cap, face behind sunglasses and a mask.

One — an office worker in a full suit, legs crossed, reading a newspaper to obscure his face.

And one — a man who looked like a delivery rider, helmet still ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠on, prowling the vicinity.

All three had similar builds, and all three hid their faces and beards in their own way.

The office worker reading a newspaper in this day and age was by far the most suspicious, but sidling up to check his face would only stoke his guard.

It was even possible none of the three were him. This deviated from the original story, so there was no way to pin down how the bastard would make his entrance.

'Then again, whether Jo Jin-hyun shows up or not barely matters to me.'

If I were seriously considering arresting Jo Jin-hyun, I'd have called Chief Eun So-yeon right this second and had her put those three suspects under investigation.

I wasn't, because I had no interest in his arrest — and because, if I wanted to keep toying with Min Yewon, his continued existence remained necessary.

As long as Jo Jin-hyun stayed free, that fact alone would keep Min Yewon submissive to me. I knew about her relationship with Jo Jin-hyun, and I had brainwashed her into believing she had to follow my operation for his capture.

So I simply waited for her under the working assumption that Jo Jin-hyun might be watching us from somewhere — and it was only when the appointed hour drew near that Min Yewon finally appeared.

"S, Seon-ho…! L, Lee Seonho…!"

"……."

…That idiot, honestly.

If you're going to butcher your own name, just don't open your mouth in the first place. She really did have to broadcast the fact that she couldn't act to save her life.

Min Yewon approaching with that conspicuous, stiff greeting in a situation where Jo Jin-hyun might be watching nearly cracked my expression.

'Hold it in. Today I'm supposed to be the dimwit Lee Seonho who fell head over heels for Min Yewon's looks.'

Jo Jin-hyun might already be suspicious over the date being set after a mere three days. Keeping him in that fifty-fifty state of doubt could only work in my favor.

Forcibly smoothing out my nearly warped face, I waved at Min Yewon.

"You look great up close. Been keeping well?"

"…Uh, yeah…?"

"Let's eat first. I booked us a nice restaurant inside this department store. Do you like pasta?"

"Ah, yeah…. I, I do like it…. But — but we're only pretending to date, remember…"

-Grab.

"It's cold out here. Let's talk inside."

"Wha — w, wait a sec…."

Taking the bewildered Min Yewon's hand, I marched briskly toward the interior of the department store.

Dodging the eyes of a Jo Jin-hyun who might be watching from anywhere — and to teach her today how to be devoured by me.