A Confession from a Guy Friend
"Haaaah..."
Jo Eunwoo sat in a stall in the women's restroom, doing his business.
I still can't get used to this...
He didn't actually need to sit down to go, but at some point the habit had settled in as if it were the most natural thing in the world. The thought of that — of what he had become — seemed to have finally caught up with him.
Seeing those idiot friends of mine after so long just makes it worse...
And then—
Bzzzt—
His phone buzzed without warning.
What now? Another order from Master?
He opened the message.
It was from Lee Hyunwoo, still waiting outside.
...Huh? Why now...
Tap tap.
Eunwoo fired off a short reply and decided to see where this was going.
The hell is he talking about all of a sudden?
That was as far as Hyunwoo got.
Ahhh. This little shit. Lmao.
Eunwoo already knew exactly why he was bringing this up.
I already know, you dumbass. Lmao.
Pfft—
What a fucking idiot. Lmao.
Jo Eunwoo couldn't hold the laugh in.
Judging by the conversation they'd just had, Hyunwoo clearly thought the green light had gone on.
Well... Master did give me an order...
Master had told him to set up a date with Kim Minjun. Which meant things would have to go at least that far — the whole boyfriend-girlfriend routine.
So for now, I'll just play along...
Ugh, this fucking guy. Lmao.
A whole cocktail of feelings hit him at once, but he decided to let it slide.
The hell is this guy's problem? I thought he'd obviously be on my side.
Lee Hyunwoo was more than a little thrown.
...Huh?
The moment he read that, Hyunwoo found himself looking at the whole situation from a completely new angle.
The more he thought about it, the more it checked out.
Jo Eunwoo... since when does this guy think that fast?
That kind of sharpness hadn't been there before. A few months apart, and suddenly his friend had a wider field of vision. It was unsettling.
Unsettling — but.
Looked at coldly, this version of the future actually sounded better.
R-rather than sabotaging him... a direction where we all do well...
Lee Hyunwoo changed his mind.
"Ssshh... why is she taking so long? Do women always take this long?"
The wait had stretched just far enough for a thin film of anxiety to start creeping over Kim Minjun.
"What, scared she ran off?"
"Ah— you've been taking shots at me this whole damn ti—"
"Relax, man. If she'd bolted, we would've seen her come out of the bathroom."
Hyunwoo soothed him.
"Huh?"
"She already said she was into you. She's gonna just dip after that? The vibe was good just now. So don't shrink, yeah."
"Uh... thanks...?"
Why's this guy suddenly like this...
The abrupt about-face left Minjun briefly confused, but he decided not to think too hard about it.
Oh — did he finally give up? Lmao.
Oh, there she is...!
The woman they'd been waiting for had come back.
"I'm so sorry! Did I keep you waiting long?"
"Not at all. Ladies do tend to take a while in the restroom, haha."
"R... right, well..."
Fuck... I'm not even actually a girl and that line was still disgusting as hell.
Eunwoo was freshly reminded of exactly what caliber of friends he was dealing with.
...Meeting Master might honestly have been the luckiest thing that ever happened to me.
A sudden surge of worship for Master hit him, and with it a sharp understanding of how important it was to surround yourself with people who were actually worth something.
If I don't want Master to throw me away... I'd better do exactly as I'm told...
So he swallowed the revulsion, forced himself back into the moment, and set about seducing his friend.
"Where were we just now?"
They talked until the conversation finally ebbed into a lull.
"I'm gonna take off."
Lee Hyunwoo was the first to stand.
"Huh? For real?"
"Yeah. Hit me up later."
If his friend did well, an opportunity would come his way too. So he dropped the stubbornness and decided to bow out.
"Well then, Miss Eunyul. I'll be heading out first."
He bowed.
Of course, he didn't forget to stamp his existence into her memory one more time before he left.
"Yes, I had a lovely time today~"
The way she smiled and waved was...
Hah... yeah... someday my luck'll come around...
It hurt. But right now, he needed to steel himself.
Ding-a-ling—
The cafe door chimed as he went.
He actually left... What's he plotting?
Kim Minjun still didn't trust his friend all the way.
"Shall we get up too?"
There was no room to dwell on it, though. The chance of a lifetime was sitting right in front of him, and he was in the middle of handling it.
"Pardon? We can keep talking a little long—"
"Sitting here's getting a bit stuffy. Let's finish the conversation on a short walk, hmm?"
The face looking down at him, smiling so softly...
...Wow.
It knocked the soul clean out of him.
"O... okay..."
A sudden grip.
"Eh...?"
His goddess had taken his hand and was pulling him to his feet.
"U-um, Miss Eunyul?"
He asked in a trembling voice.
A sly little smile.
"...!"
Instead of answering, she just gave him that wicked, knowing look.
Step by step—
"W-wait..."
Still holding his hand, Eunyul towed him straight out of the cafe.
H-her hand...! It's so soft...!
In his entire life, the only woman's hand he had ever held was his mother's. The stimulus was almost too much. The warmth at his fingertips. The yielding softness of her skin.
A-and she smells so good too...
A powdery sweetness teased the tip of his nose, and through the sway of her hair he could see the slender line of her throat.
A jolt ran through him.
Reason went numb. The back of his neck burned. And then his genes slipped the leash of his mind and started screaming.
Confess to this woman right now! Then mate with her!
But—
N-no...! Calm down...!
Back in school, Kim Minjun had publicly confessed to a girl he liked and been rejected so thoroughly it became a spectacle. The girl had cried. His social standing had cratered. After that, school life had gone sideways in more ways than one.
Having lived through that, he was not quite so oblivious as to blurt I like you, please go out with me at someone he liked in the middle of a crowded street. And of course he didn't have the courage to confess to a woman of this caliber he'd only just met, either.
He snuck a glance around.
Out on the street, people's eyes kept sliding toward them. Walking hand in hand with a beauty of this level... that alone was enough happiness for now.
Take it slow... stay composed...
While he was talking himself down, the two of them arrived at a nearby park.
"Ahh~ the evening air feels so nice~"
"Y-yeah, it does..."
The sun had gone down, and the cool air settling over everything felt good. The atmosphere was genuinely lovely.
How long is she going to keep holding my hand?
Once the surroundings quieted, the hand he'd been trying so hard to ignore started demanding his attention again. His fingers twitched and fidgeted, leaking tension from every joint.
Why does he keep squirming like that? It's kinda gross. Is he that nervous?
A mischievous streak woke up in Eunwoo.
Lmao, oh you like this, huh? Then here's a little extra service—!
He squeezed.
"...!"
He laced their fingers together completely. Finger slotted between finger, locked in place.
This guy... why is his hand so clammy...
From Eunwoo's side, it was already a choice he regretted.
Ssshh... maybe I overdid it?
Holding hands with a guy friend was already disgusting enough. The slimy sensation of those fingers winding through his sent a shiver of revulsion through him. Thank god all the grotesque play with Master had raised his tolerance. Without that, he would have already failed at the hand-holding stage.
Meanwhile—
...What should I name the grandkids?
Inside Kim Minjun's head, that classic male highlight reel had already started rolling.
...I'm sorry, but when the end comes, I'll have to go first. I just... I don't think I could ever let you go...
He felt his lower body growing heavy again.
...I love you...
Instinct was winning out over reason.
And Eunwoo could see it.
This guy... that's a one-second-from-confessing face.
Strike while the iron's hot. Might as well close this deal today.
He decided to push the pace.
"Ah, I was wondering... was I too much for you today?"
"W-what? No, no! Not at all!"
"That's a relief~! The truth is, I..."
Eunwoo covered his mouth with his fingertips and twisted his whole body, hesitating as if the words were too shy to come out.
"Y-yes? The truth is... what?"
Watching a woman drag it out like that had Minjun wound so tight he could barely sit still.
"I... I've never been with a man before... so I don't really know what I'm supposed to do..."
Ah.
The sudden virgin declaration—
Snap.
Something like a thread breaking sounded inside his skull.
This is the one.
The fated partner he would spend his entire life serving had just appeared.
M-my goddess...
He couldn't hesitate any longer. She was sending signals this clearly. The timing was perfect. A cool breeze, early evening, a park with clean air. This was the moment a man had to step up and be bold.
It came out of nowhere — a confession that redlined after they'd known each other for two hours.
He even threw in a vow to devote his entire existence.
Ah...
Granted, the "girl" had been the one to approach him and say she was interested, so it wasn't a completely unhinged confession. Still.
...The secondhand embarrassment is unreal.
There was no helping how foul the mood felt.
I never in my fucking life imagined I'd be on the receiving end of a confession this desperate from this guy...
In practical terms, he had just been proposed to by a guy friend from school. No matter how far Eunwoo had gone toward becoming a woman, the nausea rising in his gut was something he couldn't do anything about. And as a "woman," the confession he'd just received scored a flat zero.
I set the mood, sure... but isn't this way too fast? Shouldn't you at least talk your way into the atmosphere first? And "I'll look only at you and make you happy for the rest of my life"... it's kind of pathetic, like the center of his whole existence is a woman.
The clumsy, blunt sincerity might have been endearing if you squinted. But stammering through a confession and cracking on the high notes?
Hah... whatever. Master's orders. This is what I was going for anyway...
Jo Eunwoo deliberately put on a smile that looked overwhelmed with emotion, and—
"Wow..."
He covered his mouth with both hands.
"...I'd like that..."
"Ah...!"
Color flooded Kim Minjun's face.
"Thank you! Thank you so much!"
He was so thrilled he kept bowing over and over.
YEEEESSSS—!!!
Inside, he was roaring with triumph, pouring the joy through his whole body.
Look at him celebrating...
Behind the hands of the person he had just confessed to—
Well, I guess he should be grateful.
—a vicious little smile was curling, mocking him, and he never even saw it.
A washed-up loser like you... getting the honor of becoming Master's Tribute Slave. Heh.