A Dream, Not a Dream
"Sex. Let's do it, oppa."
Arin tilted her head toward me, stressing the word sex as if to make sure I hadn't misheard her.
Before I could say anything, she dragged her index finger slowly across her lips and struck a sultry pose.
"Men like pretty, young, sexy women, right? And in that sense, this woman—my current body, in other words—checks every single box, don't you think?"
Just as she'd said, Arin's appearance had everything a man could want, and on top of that, the aloof, haughty air she carried stirred something in a man—an urge to conquer.
What would a night with a woman that beautiful even feel like…
Any man passing by would have swept his gaze over her face, her chest, her hips, her thighs, and without fail, dreamed exactly those kinds of lewd dreams.
Under any other circumstances, the odds were good that I would have indulged in such fantasies myself at least once.
Jiggle.
When she hoisted up the two plump, luscious mounds straining against her top, emphasizing their weight even more, my eyes went to them all on their own.
"What do you think of these? They're big, right? Nice and soft? Don't you… want to touch them, just once?"
Eyes narrowed slyly, Arin stared straight into my pupils and came on to me without a shred of shame.
I found myself thinking that if I didn't have a girlfriend named Sung-ha—if I hadn't just had that wild, exhausting night of sex with her yesterday—I might very well have succumbed to the temptation.
"Ahem!… What's gotten into you all of a sudden?"
"Tch, seriously? You're not taking the bait? Usually human guys come running with their tongues hanging out by this point… That hurts my pride. …Whatever, fine. Here's the thing—your girlfriend, my kinswoman, apparently feeds on your semen, and I got curious. I figured I'd seduce you and have a little taste for myself. I wanted to know just how amazing it could possibly be. So, cutting right to the chase… what do you say? I'll make it worth your while. Want to give it a try?"
"Don't you people not have lust or desire at all?"
"We don't. But so what? Or what, are you the type who can't get off unless he satisfies his woman? You don't need to worry about any of that. Since we don't have those needs, you can just enjoy my body however you like, oppa. Honestly, that's better, isn't it? Chasing only your own pleasure, screwing without a care in the world—isn't that exactly what human men want most of all?"
Listening to her spout words straight out of a monster's mouth, I realized that to these beings, the body they wore to appear human was nothing more than a tool—and had no value beyond that.
"I'm sorry. I made a promise to my girlfriend. That I wouldn't give my semen to any woman but her."
"Ha… tch. A promise like that, of all things… honestly, nothing works on you, does it."
Arin muttered in irritation, too quietly for me to hear, then fished a phone out of her pocket and tossed it to me.
"Whoa—!"
I caught it clumsily, and when I looked up at her questioningly, she answered.
"I actually like you, oppa. Hard as it is to believe looking at me, I've lived longer than most humans put together, and I've never met a human like you. You're something, you know that? You just… snagged me, hook, line, and sinker. It's like—ah, this human man has something. Can't let this one get away. That kind of feeling? But I value my own neck too, so I can't exactly keep throwing myself at you any more openly than this, can I? So, oppa… if there's something your girlfriend hasn't taught you and you're curious, or if my body ever crosses your mind—call me on that phone. Anytime."
"What?… Huh?! Wh-what are you doing!?"
Barely had the words left her mouth before Arin suddenly hiked up her skirt, grabbed the black lace panties she was wearing, yanked them all the way down, and—casually, as if it were nothing—stepped out of them and tossed them to me.
I turned my head away at her sudden move, only to catch whatever she'd thrown next, just as clumsily as before.
"A gift. There's no pee or anything on it, but it's soaked in my scent. A woman's scent. So take that and jerk off thinking about me whenever you want."
Arin mimed gripping something in one hand and pumping it up and down, then turned and started walking away.
Hee hee… hee hee…
I stood there blankly, listening to her mischievous laughter fade into the darkness, then looked down at her panties in my hand and thought:
…What the hell am I supposed to do with this?
In the end, unable to bring myself to throw it away, I returned home—where the monster, sitting at the desk reading a book with perfect composure, turned to greet me.
"You're back."
Her expression was as blank as ever, but to my eyes, she seemed tremendously glad to see me.
"You weren't asleep… ah, right, you said you don't sleep…"
As I took off my coat, I made a concerted effort not to let on that I'd just met one of her kinswomen.
I did consider telling her honestly what had happened on the way home, but somehow it felt like it would only worry her, so I decided to keep it to myself.
From the tone of things, Arin wouldn't show up again unless I contacted her, and I had no intention of contacting her anyway.
Granted, she'd told me this and that, but looking at the big picture, I already knew most of it, so my situation hadn't really changed in any meaningful way.
"Hungry?"
The monster, who had been gazing at me quietly, asked out of the blue.
It was true that after my walk, I'd gotten a little peckish—the night had crept toward dawn without my noticing.
As if she'd read my mind like a ghost, she'd asked before I could even say a word.
"A little? But they say eating at this hour is bad for your health."
"A dilemma."
"Dilemma? Ah… you're right. It is a dilemma."
My stomach was growling and I wanted to eat, but eating now would be bad for me…
"I have a dilemma of a different kind."
"Hm?"
"I want to cook you something delicious to soothe your hunger, but in the long run it would harm your health. That is why I called it a dilemma."
"Oh…"
Her words were so full of consideration for me that I scratched my cheek, embarrassed.
"Even so, I wish to soothe your hunger. So I've struck a little compromise—I'll prepare a late-night snack that wouldn't be out of place at dinner."
"Mm… thank you."
Watching the monster's back as she closed her book and headed for the kitchen, I almost told her she didn't have to bother, but stopped myself.
The monster loved taking care of me. She never seemed tired by it—if anything, she seemed to savor the process itself.
If tending to me was her happiness, then I'd recently come to the conclusion that it was better for me to play along, so long as it didn't make me uncomfortable.
"Your happiness is my happiness."
Slice, slice…
Chopping vegetables while boiling something unidentifiable, the monster turned to me with a faint smile.
Her confession made my chest ache with warmth, and while it embarrassed me, I wasn't so cowardly a man that the embarrassment ended there.
"I'm… ahem… I'm grateful too. That you're here with me."
"Oh my, oppa. Can I take that as a confession?"
Suddenly the monster beamed and brightened her voice into Sung-ha's way of speaking.
"What confession… I was the one who confessed first, remember?"
"Pfft, that's right—you suddenly grabbed me in the middle of Gangnam and blurted out that you wanted to date me. I still remember it. I was so flustered. But… it made me happy, oppa."
"Ugh…"
The cringeworthy memory of that rambling confession to Sung-ha resurfaced, and I sank into my seat and clutched my head in mortification.
"Ta-da~ Sung-ha's special konjac bibim-myeon, served! Spicy food isn't great at night, so I leaned into the tangy flavor as much as I could. It might taste a little bland, but bear with me, okay, oppa?"
Clap clap.
Sung-ha clapped her hands as she set a bowl of well-tossed, vividly red noodles topped with vegetables on the table.
"Wow, that looks delicious. Thank you."
"…I love this about you, oppa. The way you always say thank you."
As I picked up my chopsticks to eat, Sung-ha cupped her chin in both hands and giggled at me.
"Hm? Isn't that just common courtesy? You cooked all this for me—of course I should thank you."
"Hmm… you think so? Some humans start taking it for granted once they get used to it. Ah, not that I'd mind, even if you did. Honestly, I'd like it anyway. But the way you are now—I like that too."
"Well… really? Still, I want to say thank you every single time. Anyway, let's dig in."
Slurp.
…Oh?
Setting aside the fact that I'd eat just about anything, everything Sung-ha cooked was, without exception, delicious.
It felt like only yesterday she'd claimed she couldn't cook, and it was honestly astonishing how far her skills had come in such a short time.
"It's delicious."
"Thank you. It makes me happy to watch you enjoy it."
When I marveled without a hint of pretense, Sung-ha couldn't stop smiling, her eyes glued to my face as if afraid to miss a single expression.
I paused mid-meal and looked at her for a moment—she was watching me eat with such open delight—and she tilted her head quizzically.
"What? Oppa?"
"You just seem… a little different today. More proactive than usual, in a way."
"Ah, is it too much for you?"
"No, it's just… it feels a bit strange… but at the same time, I like it. It's kind of… like a dream, haha."
Sung-ha's smile faded little by little, leaving only a faint afterglow, and she spoke again in the monster's voice.
"It is not a dream, Hyun-ok. If you only wish it, I can make you dream this dream whenever you like. No—if it were me, I could make you live even greater dreams than this, here in reality."
"Dreams greater than this… I can't even imagine… haha."
"If you truly desired it, I could make every woman in this world your slave. I could give you money without end, whose bottom you would never find. I could make you the most famous person alive, more renowned than anyone on earth. I could make the whole world revolve around you. I could make every human being on this planet serve you like your own hands and feet. I could make all of mankind rise each morning and bow to you in worship, exalting you as a god."
"That really is the stuff of dreams…"
I mumbled the words around a mouthful of noodles, and a pleasant, wistful laugh escaped me at the mere thought of it.
"Hyun-ok."
The monster called my name again, her voice grave—and this time, there was a weight in it unlike anything from before.
"I am serious."
"…Huh?"
"So tell me, Hyun-ok. Do you truly want those things?"
Looking into my eyes with perfect clarity, speaking words that carried a weight I could not simply let slide past, the monster left me at a loss for what to say.