I Remembered You
"There are things I need to take care of, related to our life here. I'm going out for a while."
The monster said this while changing into clothes for going out, having finished washing the dishes from our meal.
"Let's go together."
"You must be tired. Are you sure that's all right?"
When a hint of worry seeped into that emotionless voice, I couldn't help but feel flustered.
"What would I even be tired from? I slept in late, ate a hearty meal, and on top of that you've been doing all the housework. Consider it exercise — let's go together."
At my words, the monster considered for a moment, then looked me up and down before giving a slow nod.
"I see… exercise is certainly important. All that manual labor means your body isn't bad, but it is somewhat lopsided."
"Is— is that so?"
Just as the monster said, my body wasn't bad — visible muscle showed in various places from all the hard labor — but it was, at best, functional muscle.
My stomach, unused by physical work, bulged out like a middle-aged man's, and aside from my arms and legs, nothing else had been trained at all.
"I've seen videos on this 'Utoob.' To produce good semen, one needs quality sleep and meals, freedom from stress, and consistent exercise."
"Well, that's… a rather obvious point, but I can't argue with it."
Wryly smiling, I too began changing clothes to get ready to go out.
"If we're going out together, wait just a little."
"Huh?… Oh… ahem, sure."
I didn't understand at first, but when I saw Her Highness sitting in front of the mirror doing her makeup, I sat down on the bed with an awkward feeling.
Once I understood that she was putting on makeup because she was going out with me, I felt a strange swell of pride — and a little guilt besides.
Exaggeration aside, Her Highness's bare face really wasn't much different from her made-up one.
Her makeup had always been subtle and understated rather than heavy, so I suppose that was part of it.
"All done, oppa. Sorry, did you wait long? Let's go."
The monster, now speaking in Her Highness's voice, gave me a bright smile and hooked her arm through mine.
Her chest naturally pressed against my elbow, but thankfully — perhaps because of all the intense stimulation I'd been through — it affected me less than it had yesterday.
"Hmm…"
"You look beautiful today, too."
When Her Highness shot me a briefly displeased look — loaded with several possible meanings — I hurriedly said something to smooth it over.
"Thanks. You look great today too, oppa."
It was the kind of empty compliment couples exchange all the time, but it was my first time ever trading such pleasantries, so I felt bashful and happy all at once.
As we started walking down the street toward the mart, countless people stole glances at the two of us.
Unsurprisingly, most of the attention was fixed on Her Highness's looks. A small fraction of the gazes landed on me as well, but their meaning was to compare me with her.
Why is a woman like that with a man like…? I didn't need to ask what those looks meant.
Since it was honestly the truth, the stares didn't feel all that unpleasant.
Objectively speaking, there was nothing off-putting about my appearance, but at best it was average — and subjectively, a little below that.
So I thought it only natural for people around us to look puzzled.
"Wow, the weather's great today."
"R-right? It was hot for a while, and then suddenly it's autumn."
"Yeah, yeah. I love weather like this. No mosquitoes, either."
Chatting about nothing in particular with Her Highness — small talk, but precious to me — I gradually forgot about all the eyes around us.
Her gentle, affectionate, couple-like manner was clearly different from how she'd been with me when we were lovers before… but honestly? I liked this better.
Shy as I was, I couldn't take the lead in conversation the way a man was supposed to, but without a hint of reproach, Her Highness chattered away here and there, generating topics on her own.
She reacted big to even my most insignificant remarks, and where my poor conversational skills left gaps, she smoothly stitched the exchange back together.
Before I knew it, I'd found a little confidence and started saying things I normally never would.
We'd stopped at a red light, still chattering away, when my eyes drifted, without my meaning them to, toward a career woman standing across the street.
A neat bob cut that came down to her collar, an immaculate business suit — and beneath the sheer black stockings covering her pale skin — she was a beauty who could stand shoulder to shoulder with Her Highness.
She looked to be in her early thirties, radiating a sophisticated, mature office-worker presence that Her Highness didn't have.
As if chasing something, she kept checking her watch, waiting anxiously for the light to change.
"Is that kind of woman your type?"
The monster asked in a voice pitched just for me, arms still linked with mine.
Caught looking, I flinched and hastily darted my eyes elsewhere, scrambling for an excuse.
"What are you talking about? You're the only one I—"
"You may speak honestly. I do not grow jealous or hateful if you come to like another woman. For a male to seek out the bodies of many females in order to spread his seed is biologically natural. However… I would prefer you not sow your seed in the bodies of other women. Not for any moral concern like pregnancy — it is simply that I wish to monopolize your semen for myself."
"Ah… yeah. I'd never do anything like that. Don't worry."
From our conversations, brief as they'd been, I'd come to understand at least this much: the monster saw the world through a lens fundamentally different from a human's.
At first it had puzzled me, but as time passed I realized that the things she told me not to worry about weren't said lightly — she meant them, completely.
If I truly had an affair with some other woman, the monster really would, just as she claimed, neither rage nor resent me.
But that didn't mean I'd fallen so far as to flaunt an affair in front of her.
"…Did you despise me for it?"
"For what?"
When the monster suddenly asked so carefully, I echoed the question with a note of surprise.
"My saying that I want to monopolize you. I am aware that some men grow weary of that side of a woman."
"No way. If you're only thinking of me, then of course it's good — that's what being a couple is."
Certainly, if she'd clung to me excessively I would have been terrified too, but nothing the monster had done so far could properly be called obsession.
If anything, one-sided though it was, it was better described as the devotion and attentiveness of a lover.
"I see. But… still, I want to satisfy your desires as well."
"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?"
Even as I voiced my confusion, the light changed, and I had to start walking without getting my answer.
Whoosh.
The woman across the street brushed past us, and I did my best to keep my eyes fixed straight ahead so as not to look at her.
"Remembered."
The monster suddenly murmured something while looking at someone, but as I pushed through the crowd my attention scattered, and I forgot the words almost immediately.
"We got a surprising amount of stuff."
Having placed a delivery order for everything we'd bought at the mart and returned home, I collapsed onto the bed, worn out.
When I checked the clock, the second hand was already pointing into the early evening.
"I'm sorry, but for dinner tonight I'd like you to make do with what's in the fridge."
"That's fine, but… where are you going?"
I asked, watching the monster with puzzlement as she immediately began preparing to head out again.
"Something has come up."
Curiosity pricked at me, wondering what it could be, but I decided prying wouldn't be right and didn't ask any further.
"Okay. Come home safe. Dinner… um… you're coming back to eat, right?"
I asked while picturing her eating a human meal as usual, then quickly realized that wasn't what she meant, blushing as I asked more carefully.
"I do not believe I will need to feed today. I ate plenty yesterday."
Gripping the door handle, the monster looked at me one last time, her face a perfect poker mask.
"Uh… right. Call me if you'll be late."
What is this… why do I feel a little disappointed…
"Understood."
With that curt reply, the monster left, and a silence settled over the apartment.
It felt familiar and yet strangely foreign at the same time, which surprised me a little.
The monster had only been here a few days, and yet the room where I'd always lived alone now felt emptier than ever.
Gazing blankly around the unremarkable room once more, I lay back down on the bed.
I didn't have any particular hobbies, so under normal circumstances I'd have spent this hour watching porn on my computer, jerking off.
But yesterday I'd had my semen drained from the very depths of me, and the urge simply wasn't there.
Even if it had been, all I had to do was wait a little while and I could release it in reality — not on a screen — with many times the pleasure and no conditions attached. There was no reason to masturbate.
I'd been lost in one thought and another for a while when the mart delivery arrived; I put the things away roughly where they belonged and ate.
Glance.
Watching TV with one eye on the clock, I saw it was already past eleven.
Kind of late, isn't it…
Only a few hours had passed, but no notification had come — no call, no text.
Starting to worry, I sent a message first. No reply, so I called. Stonewalled silence.
Then anxiety began creeping up on me, curling through my gut, and I hurried to get ready to go out looking for her.
Ding-dong.
Oh, she's back.
Relief and gladness flooding through me, I flung the door open — and only then, a beat too late, did it strike me as strange.
She — the monster — knows the door lock code… doesn't she?
When the door swung open, someone I never could have imagined was standing there, wearing a businesslike smile.
It was the beautiful woman in the suit who had been standing across the street at the crosswalk just hours ago.
"Hello there?"