#2. Timid Blackmail
#2. Timid Blackmail
My train of thought came to a screeching halt.
What the hell had I just seen?
Why was the illustration I'd commissioned right there on her laptop?
The star of that illustration was Nam Ga-yeon, the seventh Heroine in my novel.
Lately, I'd been thinking I needed something a bit more provocative in the pose, so I'd gone back and forth with the artist over email multiple times.
[So, wouldn't it be better to drop the hips a little more?]
[No way. The higher women lift their posture, the more shame they feel.]
How the hell do you know that?
Did you pick it up somewhere?
Or maybe you're some pro with tons of real-life experience, huh, artist-nim?
I'd requested it be drawn to really capture that peak sense of shame, but the artist's draft was straight-up vulgar as hell.
[Yeah, but will the composition come out pretty like that...?]
[You have to trust me completely.]
That tone, like if you just believe in me, success is guaranteed.
[Hmm... If you're saying it that confidently, artist-nim...]
Faced with the artist's reply brimming with conviction, I decided not to push back.
Well... she's got the track record so far.
She'll pull it off just fine.
[I'll draw it so your crotch twitches the second you lay eyes on it!]
When I acted like I trusted her, the artist shot back in half-joking fashion.
Not like we were personal buddies or anything, but is this what it feels like to have a business partner...?
Han Na-eun slammed her laptop screen shut with a kwang! that echoed.
"...Take it."
"Huh?"
"Spray Paint. You said you needed it. Take it and go already."
Han Na-eun, head bowed low, urged me on like she wanted me gone ASAP.
I stood there stunned for a sec before nodding and slowly heading back to my spot.
"What? You scored some Spray Paint?"
Hwi-min held out a pink can of Spray Paint next to me.
"Checked the drawer and there it was. Sorry about that. Hey, use it if you need to. Doesn't matter if you finish it off."
"...Yeah. Thanks."
Even though it was crunch time and I should've been hustling on my work, I just sat there like an idiot, blinking dumbly at my cutting mat.
I hadn't seen wrong, right?
If it was nothing, she wouldn't have slammed her laptop shut like that.
HNE... HNE artist-nim...
Han... Na... Eun...?
For real?
Was this Han Na-eun seriously the artist I'd been fiercely debating what gets you hot and bothered with?
I snuck a glance up and turned toward Han Na-eun's spot again.
She didn't look like she'd gotten back to work, but her face was super calm.
Maybe the artist was someone else and she was just looking at the illustration?
Nah, but why would the artist send an unfinished draft to Han Na-eun...?
But that thought didn't last. She suddenly slammed her forehead into the desk.
Oof...
That's gotta hurt...
She must've felt it too—she grabbed her forehead with both hands and lifted her head.
Tears were welling up in her eyes.
In that same pose, Han Na-eun buried her head in the desk again.
...Yeah. Whatever the truth is, it'd be embarrassing as hell.
A grown-ass adult caught peeking at porn by her college senior.
I figured even a couple more head-bonks would be understandable.
Han Na-eun was bugging me big time, but I couldn't just keep staring her down.
I grabbed my human figurines from my pocket, picked up the Spray Paint, and headed out the Design Room door.
Once I was out of the College of Architecture building, I slowly laid out newspaper on the ground and taped the human figurines upright.
"Argh, stand up straight, you little shits. Why do you keep falling over?"
The one dying to collapse right now was me, though.
After barely getting them secured, I carefully sprayed them down.
Gonna take about 30 minutes to dry...
I capped the Spray Paint and headed back up to the fifth floor.
I'd return Hwi-min's Spray Paint... and now I had to give this back to Han Na-eun...
Was she in a better state now?
I glanced toward the window area again, and there she was—Han Na-eun, looking wrecked after just 20 minutes.
Eyes half unfocused.
Her hair, which had been neatly styled like she'd used a curler, was now a total mess, like she'd been yanking at it.
...Still, if I used it all up, I should return it, right?
I swallowed hard and strode right up to Han Na-eun's spot.
"Uh... Na-eun-ah?"
No clue what she was thinking, but she didn't even look my way until I was right in front of her desk.
Only when I spoke up did she finally lift her head and look up at me.
"Ah...!"
Her pupils trembled.
"Here. Used it good. Thanks."
With deadline eve already hectic for her, I figured shorter the awkwardness, the better, so I turned to head back.
But the warm grip on my wrist stopped me dead.
"Uh... excuse me."
Han Na-eun had stood up and grabbed my wrist.
"You saw it..."
She whispered in a voice that barely came out.
Hmm... What's the best play here?
Pretend I didn't, probably?
"What?"
"My monitor screen..."
"Nah? Didn't see? Why, what'd you have up?"
Should've just stopped at "didn't see."
"No, you saw it. Oppa. My picture."
Not just any picture... my picture...
Meaning Han Na-eun was actually...
"You can't tell anyone. Got it?"
She grabbed both my hands, her face anxious.
Her expression, like a scared little puppy.
...I really shouldn't, but this situation felt way too familiar.
Zero real-life experience, sure, but after cranking out over a hundred long-form Erotic Novels...
A beauty with a weakness exposed.
And an average guy who never lets prey slip away.
I could feel another side of me stirring inside.
'Lee Min-ho. Your novels aren't fiction anymore! Go for it!'
'No! You psycho! You gotta know where to draw the line between fantasy and reality!'
'You, the Erotic Novel hack—when have you ever even chatted up a girl like Han Na-eun!'
'Why not! Once I make bank, I'll quit this double life!'
"Oppa...?"
No answer from me, so Han Na-eun tilted her head slightly, peering at my face all anxious.
Design Room work clothes.
Just tracksuit and hoodie, but her beauty was still shining through.
Delicate features. Slim jawline.
...A once-in-a-lifetime chance had dropped right into my lap.
"H.N.E."
With every letter I spat out, Han Na-eun's big eyes grew wider.
"Ah... uh... wha..."
Three letters, and she was speechless.
Her body jerked like a glitchy doll.
One step. Two steps.
I slowly closed in on her.
"You want me to keep that quiet with no bribe?"
A sleazy smirk crept onto my lips.
Meanwhile, Han Na-eun's face started filling with despair.
"Wh-what... do you want?"
Like a cornered rabbit, her body began to tremble.
"...Your phone number."
"Huh?"
"Gimme your number."
I held out my phone to her.
[010-**88-0923]
I dialed it right then.
A cheery pop song melody rang out from behind her.
"Save it. That's my number."
I cut the call and flashed her a grin.
Sweet. Now I've got...
Lee Min-ho. Had to be the bravest day of my 25-year life.
I wanted to applaud myself inwardly for the bold move.
Mosol me, being this rude to a knockout like her?
I'd scored big time saving Han Na-eun's number, I thought.
"Yeah..."
I turned to head back and prep for my deadline right away.
What to try via her contact? I'd figure that out later.
Ask her to meet outside? She'd come, right? Yeah.
Lost in those thoughts as I turned, but Han Na-eun grabbed my shirt collar.
"Why?"
"That's it?"
She stared at me, face full of confusion.
"Huh?"
"That's the end? The price for keeping my secret."
...For now, yeah.
Her reaction wasn't clicking for me.
She'd looked scared shitless a second ago, but the vibe had shifted a bit.
"Yeah."
She frowned like something didn't sit right.
"Got it. Then. Don't call that number or give it to anyone else."
...I was clearly the one holding the cards, but her subtle put-down vibe was starting to piss me off.
Did she not get the situation?
If this were my novel... you'd already be...
"Fucking lame as hell."
Her mutter as she turned away burned into my brain.
Ha. Not grasping your place and pulling that shit?
I stopped in my tracks and grabbed Han Na-eun as she tried to sit back down.
"Again. What."
Her gaze, like she was looking at a bug.
Yeah. The Heroines in my novels always reacted like that at first.
"Wanna see your life end for real?"
I glared down at her with a menacing scowl.
Should be tense now... right?
But her reply threw me off.
"How you gonna end it?"
What? How? By exposing you as the perv illustrator...
I hesitated, and she looked at me like I was pathetic.
"Sigh... No real plan, just fronting like a tough guy—it's fucking disgusting."
...Was this chick, a star Erotic Novelist, seriously dissing me for no buildup?
I felt that other self inside me blaze up hot.