I'm Better at It
“Jung-woo.”
“Y-yeah, Yeoni.”
Chae-yeon stepped even closer and slammed her hand against the back of the chair I was sitting on. The force behind it was so intense the whole chair rattled.
Was there any possible way I could survive this situation?
Think, Jung-woo. Don’t stop thinking for even a second. The moment you do, you’re dead where you sit.
After turning the problem over and over in my head, I finally reached a conclusion.
Show her everything and explain it all without hiding a single thing. That was my only path to survival.
I immediately pulled up Novelbrary and showed her the novel Yong-ju was serializing.
“Yeoni, look at this. This is the novel that the son of a— I mean, my friend is writing.”
“Yeah, so?”
“See? It’s got the 19+ tag. He writes adult novels.”
“Keep going.”
“The stuff I was making was AI illustrations. His computer isn’t that high-spec, so I always end up making them for him.”
“So you’re saying you only made the cover art for your friend’s novel?”
“Yes!! That’s exactly it. It’s not like I made them because I wanted to look at that kind of thing. I swear!!”
I told her the complete truth. Sure, this meant Yong-ju’s secret novel was now out in the open, but that wasn’t my problem right now.
The bastard had thrown me under the bus, and I was about to die.
Chae-yeon folded her arms and stared down at me for a long time. Her eyes were clearly debating exactly how she was going to deal with me.
“Then have you read that novel?”
“No, I haven’t. Really. I don’t even like adult novels.”
“How can I believe you?”
“Look at the record right here. It doesn’t show that I’ve read up to the latest chapter, does it?”
“But Jung-woo. Some of the middle chapters have been marked.”
“Th-that’s because he told readers I made the illustrations for him, and I was just checking the comments to see how people reacted.”
The truth was I had never once properly read any of Yong-ju’s novels. For some reason, I just couldn’t bring myself to read 19+ stories where the main focus was the sex scenes. If the sex was just a side element and something else was the real point, maybe I could manage it.
Crack!! Snap!!
Why are you suddenly cracking your knuckles? You’re scaring me. At this rate, can’t we at least settle for only fifty percent death?
“Jung-woo, can you get out of that chair for a second?”
“Yes!!”
I stood up and sat on the bed while Chae-yeon took the chair I had been using. And so her thorough search of my computer began.
Even with her doing a full inspection like this, I wasn’t particularly nervous. Ever since the surgeries, sexual desire had become the lowest priority need in my life.
Why would I even look at that stuff? Just looking at it would drain what little stamina I had left and leave me gasping for breath.
After a long and thorough search, Chae-yeon seemed satisfied. She came over and sat on my lap.
“I came home and got startled because you were looking at weird stuff.”
“Yeah, that would be startling. I would’ve reacted the same way.”
“Only look at me.”
“Huh?”
“I said only look at me. Don’t look at anything else.”
“Of course!! Why would I look at anything else when I have Yeoni right here beside me?”
When I realized this was also her way of showing jealousy, Chae-yeon suddenly seemed incredibly cute. I gently pinched her cheek and rested my chin on her shoulder.
“Should we head out now?”
“If you’re okay with it, can we just stay and hang out at home? Since we’re already here.”
“Sure, let’s do that. But I’m dressed really casually right now, so I’ll change.”
“It’s your own house anyway. It’s fine. Besides, I like seeing this side of you for the first time.”
I’d heard that once you start dating, you find every single side of the other person charming. This was a completely unstyled, comfortable outfit I’d never wear outside. And yet she was saying she liked even this.
“Jung-woo. I want to see your middle and high school graduation photos.”
“Graduation photos? Sure.”
“You don’t mind showing me? You’re answering so casually.”
“It’s not like I have anything to hide.”
I pulled out the album that had been shoved into a corner of the bookshelf and showed it to Chae-yeon. If there was anything that made me hesitate, it would probably be the middle school album.
That was the only time I had ever dated anyone—back when I was a middle schooler. Since we went to the same school and were in the same class, we took the graduation photos together. And in those photos, we were obviously flaunting the fact that we were a couple for everyone to see.
Well, it should be fine. I had already told Chae-yeon everything anyway.
“You looked pretty fierce in middle school, Jung-woo.”
“I was deep in my edgy middle-school syndrome phase back then.”
“Did you rebel a lot when you were in middle school?”
“I didn’t really rebel. Well, skipping school does count as rebellion, I guess.”
“You skipped school?!”
“My position in middle school was basically a ghost. I didn’t belong anywhere.”
“You hated that so much you stopped going?”
“If I’d skipped three more days, I would’ve been held back.”
“You’ve really become a proper person now, Jung-woo.”
She wasn’t wrong. Even looking at myself from back then now, I had to wonder how I had lived like that.
“Huh?!”
While she was flipping through the album, Chae-yeon’s surprised voice caught my attention. I looked to see what it was, and just as I expected, she had recognized the girl I had dated back then.
“This girl went to the same elementary school as us, right?”
“Yeah, that’s right. We went to the same middle school too and were in the same class all three years.”
“It feels strange seeing her like this.”
“From what I remember, I think I talked to you a few times and played with you back in elementary school too, Yeoni.”
“Yeah, that’s true. We were still pretty close back then.”
She kept turning pages until she found one particular photo and shot me a glare that looked like it could kill. From that reaction… she had figured it out, huh?
“You dated her? Your first relationship in middle school was with this girl?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“How long did you date? About a year and a half? Then you broke up.”
“You were the one who got dumped? Why?”
“I wouldn’t answer her calls. I have this habit of not picking up when I’m struggling with something, and it was even worse back in middle school.”
“You really broke up for a very Jung-woo-like reason.”
I wondered if I had been too honest.
The way she was looking at me was downright terrifying. It felt like if I said even one thing wrong, my neck would get sliced clean off.
“What did you like about her that made you date her?”
“C-can I really be honest?”
“Yeah, it’s fine. It’s all in the past anyway.”
“I liked watching her play sports. And she was positive about everything.”
“Sports? What sport did she do?”
“She was in the middle school dodgeball club.”
“I’m better at it.”
“Y-yeah?”
“I said I’m better. I’m good at dodgeball too, and I’m decent at pretty much every sport.”
Chae-yeon slowly moved closer, pushing me back until I was against the wall. Then she planted her arm against the wall to support herself. In what people called a wall-slam pose, Chae-yeon drew near.
“How good was the relationship while you were dating?”
“N-not that good. Nope.”
“It wasn’t that good, yet you dated for a year and a half?”
“The relationship I’m having with you right now is so much fun, Yeoni. I never knew something could be this fun.”
“Do you still keep in touch with her these days?”
“No. Of course not. We ended on such bad terms that she curses me out whenever she sees me.”
“Ah, so if you had broken up on good terms, you would still be in contact even now?”
Uh… was that how it sounded?
I tried to lean in toward Chae-yeon as she slowly closed in on me, but she covered my mouth with her hand and pushed me back again.
“So the moment you feel like you’re at a disadvantage, you immediately go for a kiss?”
She had seen right through me.
The only escape route I had in this situation was now completely blocked.
“I’ll only look at you, Yeoni. I’ll only contact you, only hang out with you, only talk to you.”
“Don’t give any other girls your attention.”
“Yes!! I won’t. When I have Yeoni right next to me, other girls don’t even catch my eye.”
-Chu!!
Chae-yeon stared at me quietly for a moment before kissing my cheek.
I moved closer, wanting to respond to her skinship, but her hand once again blocked my lips.
“I love you.”
“I love you too, Yeoni. So can’t I do it to you as well?”
“No. I’m the only one who gets to do it.”
-Chu!!
It was nice receiving skinship from Chae-yeon since it was so rare… but I wanted to give it back too. Just receiving all the time didn’t suit my personality.
“You’ll keep contacting me properly from now on, right?”
“Yeah, of course.”
“You can’t stop contacting me. We made a promise, remember?”
“I’ll keep that promise until the very end.”
“Do you remember what I said I’d do if you broke the promise?”
“Y-yeah. You said you’d storm into my house.”
With almost no distance between us—not even enough room for a single sheet of paper—Chae-yeon’s breath felt vividly real against my skin. That breath was so stimulating it concentrated every nerve in my body in one place.
Th-this was dangerous. Really dangerous. If I let this continue, something bad was definitely going to happen!!
I tried to push Chae-yeon away a little to create some distance, but she didn’t budge an inch.
“Um… how long are we going to stay like this?”
“Why? Is it bad that we’re like this?”
This wasn’t the Chae-yeon I knew. It had to be someone wearing Chae-yeon’s face. Otherwise, there was no way to explain how she was acting right now.
“No, it’s not… bad. It’s just a little unfamiliar.”
“From now on, I’m not going to hide anything when it’s just the two of us. That way you won’t be able to run away anywhere, Jung-woo.”
“Where would I run to when I have Yeoni right here?”
Her gaze was so intense it felt burdensome, so I turned my head to the side. Chae-yeon caught my chin and made me look at her again.
In that moment.
A soft sensation I had never felt before spread across my lips.
Was this a dream? Or was it reality?
It was so sudden I couldn’t tell.
The lips that had touched mine didn’t pull away easily. They pressed even closer, clinging to me. It was as if she wanted to devour me whole.
“I love you, Jung-woo.”
“I… I love you too.”
This was just too unfair!!