The Bear Suit and the Secret Kiss
For the first few hours, being inside the mascot suit was a serious test of stamina. It was a good thing I worked out regularly and had a solid physical foundation; otherwise, I would have collapsed from exhaustion long ago. "Ugh... I'm beat..." I waddled down the hallway, heading toward the office to finally shed the costume, when a voice from behind made me stop in my tracks.
"Hey, you!"
It was a cute, nasal-toned voice. It wasn't Su-a. I had been walking with my arms dangling limply, but I immediately straightened my posture and turned around. Standing there was a girl with chubby, rounded cheeks—Han Yeryeong, the youngest member of LaStella.
"Thanks for your hard work today."
I nodded in response. It was a small, considerate gesture to preserve the innocence of youth. If she knew there was just some random guy inside this cute pink bear suit, it would probably be a shock.
"Oh! You can talk, you know. I already know there's a person inside."
My consideration had been rendered pointless. Right, what innocence? Even if you're a teenager in high school, if you're in the entertainment industry, that kind of purity tends to fade. You can act the part and play the concept, but you don't possess the genuine, fairytale-princess purity of a literary girl dreaming of castles.
"You worked hard on the shoot too, Yeryeong-nim."
"Oh...!" Yeryeong’s eyes went wide.
"Is something wrong?"
"No, it's just... I assumed it was an older man inside, but it was an Oppa."
I figured she was just giving me some lip service. The high school freshmen I tutored at the academy were the same age as Yeryeong, and they treated me like an old man. Even if there was a ten-year age gap... I was still in my twenties, for crying out loud.
"Take a picture with me."
Yeryeong pulled out her smartphone with a bright, refreshing smile. Naturally, she wasn't asking because she was interested in me. She was likely planning to post it on Wever. If she uploaded a selfie with a fluffy pink bear, the fans would find it cute, it would spark curiosity about what kind of shoot she was doing, and it would serve as promotional content.
"Sure, let's do it."
There was no reason to refuse. If anything, I thought taking the picture was more beneficial. If it helped promote the content, it was a small win for LaStella, and if it was a win for LaStella, it was a good thing for Su-a.
"Please, lean down a little."
"Got it."
Yeryeong stood next to me to take the shot, pressing her arm firmly against mine. It was a very close distance, but thanks to the thick padding of the mascot suit, I couldn't feel a thing.
"Look this way~"
Yeryeong held the camera high, adjusting the angle back and forth to get both of us in the frame. More accurately, she was finding the angle that captured the bear while making sure she looked her absolute best.
"Hmm... this is it!" She seemed to have found the perfect angle. "Okay, taking it now."
And that was the moment.
"Mr. Bear!"
The moment I heard the voice, my head reflexively turned toward it. It was like a dog responding to its owner calling its name.
Click!
The sound of the camera shutter went off the instant I turned my head.
"Ah!" Ignoring Yeryeong’s sigh of frustration from beside me, I looked at the owner of the voice. Su-a was walking toward us.
"Unnie!"
"Sorry, were you taking a selfie?" Su-a apologized to Yeryeong for the interruption, then grabbed my wrist. "Mr. Bear, the staff is looking for you urgently over there."
"Pardon?"
The staff had told me earlier that I could head home since the shoot was finished. They were already in the middle of packing up. Did something new come up that needed filming? As I stood there blankly, Su-a pulled on my arm with both hands.
"Hurry, come on."
"Ah... right."
"Wait, what about the photo...!"
"I'm sorry. Please wait just a moment."
I followed Su-a in a hurry. Once we reached the hallway, she dragged me into a dim, secluded spot and pushed me into a corner.
"Su-a? What about the staff?" I scanned the area. There wasn't a single person in sight, let alone anyone who looked like staff.
"It was a lie."
Su-a hugged me tightly and rubbed her cheek against the fluffy chest of the suit. "I... I have a possessive streak," she whispered, her voice so low I could barely hear it, as if she were afraid someone might overhear. "Seeing you having such a fun conversation with Yeryeong... I couldn't stand it."
"It wasn't exactly a 'fun' conversation..."
"That's how it looked to me."
Su-a, who had been rubbing her face against the fur, grabbed my hands and placed them on her waist. Was she asking for a hug? I hesitated for a moment before wrapping my arms around her. Su-a let out a satisfied, "Hehe," and laughed. It was something I’d felt every time we had sex, but her waist was so thin it could literally be called an ant-waist. I didn't even need both arms; I could wrap one arm around her and still have room to spare.
"Do you have any idea how much I held back during the shoot?" Su-a looked up at me, her eyes narrowed. Was it really okay for her to be this adorable? I knew I was blinded by love, but even if I took those rose-colored glasses off, I’d probably have the same impression.
"I wanted to do something naughty with you while we were filming..."
Good grief. She really had some dangerous thoughts.
"Even so, there were cameras everywhere. That would have been tough."
"I suppose so." Su-a let out a sigh of disappointment. "I thought about it too easily."
"We did it yesterday, and you want to do it again today?" Su-a’s libido was as vigorous as a teenage boy who couldn't stop saying, "Ah, I want to have sex." To think she wanted to do it again today, despite how intensely we’d gone at it yesterday. It was hard to believe she’d been a virgin until just a short while ago.
"Why? Don't you want to do it with me, Oppa?"
"I'm worried about your body."
"Hey, I'm sturdy!" Su-a raised her arm to flex a bicep. A tiny little bump of muscle appeared. It was a slender arm, far from sturdy. If a guy had arms like that, he’d be teased for being a beanpole, but for a woman, that slender, toned look was ideal.
"You can go at me like a dog, and I won't break."
"Ha, haha... like a dog..."
Su-a rubbed her lower abdomen gently and giggled. "It’s still a little... sore, though..."
It would be strange if it didn't hurt. I’d shoved a thick meat-club into a tight hole that looked like it could barely fit a pinky finger, and on top of that, I’d been slamming against her delicate cervix.
"You have to take responsibility, Oppa. You’re the one who turned me into such a lewd woman."
"Is it really my fault?"
"Yeah, it's all your fault."
Judging by her behavior, it seemed like she’d been lewd long before she met me. Just thinking about how she’d been arching her back and seducing me at the gym was enough to tell me just how lascivious a girl she really was.
"Well, I guess I have no choice. I'll have to take responsibility."
I said it like that, but it was a huge honor for me. Even now, this whole situation felt like a dream. That I was having spicy, intimate chats and secret flirty moments with my favorite idol—that this wasn't a webtoon or a web novel, but reality—was mind-blowing.
"Shall we go to the bathroom?" I grabbed Su-a’s wrist. My libido wasn't any less vigorous than hers. The sexual desire I’d kept bottled up for twenty-seven years was finally blooming, showing off its brilliance. If I could, I’d tell her to take responsibility and spend the whole day with my cock buried deep inside her, rubbing away. It was just a shame I couldn't.
"I want to, but... I have to go soon." Su-a expressed her disappointment, looking genuinely sullen.
"How about this instead?" Su-a lifted her chin high and stuck out her tongue.
"Your tongue?"
"Let's have sex with our tongues."
Sex with our tongues... We’d decided to call that kissing. Come to think of it, we hadn't kissed. It was truly surprising; I’d put my cock in Su-a’s mouth, but I’d never put my tongue in there. We hadn't even shared a light peck on the lips. In fact, we’d had deep genital-to-genital "kissing" before we’d ever kissed with our lips. Sex first... the order was completely backwards. We could have kissed while having sex, but we’d been so focused on the act of thrusting and being thrust into that we hadn't even thought about it.
"Here." Su-a lifted the large bear head, closed her eyes, and poked the tip of her tongue out between her lips.
Oh, wow... It was ticklish. For some reason, this felt more embarrassing than showing her my genitals.
"Uh... ahem..." I cleared my throat and slowly pulled Su-a into an embrace. How do you kiss? Do you bump lips first, or do you take the tongue into your mouth? Or do you start by just touching tongue to tongue? I pondered the profound method of kissing, stuck my tongue out, lowered my head, and slowly leaned toward her.
"Su-a, where are you?"
The moment our tongues were about to meet, a voice came from around the corner. I reflexively pushed Su-a into the corner and stood in front of her, shielding her with my body. Because I was wearing the mascot suit, which doubled my size, it was more than enough to hide the petite Su-a.
"Oh? You haven't changed yet?"
The person who emerged from around the corner was LaStella’s manager. We weren't close, but we knew each other's faces. Since he appeared at almost every event, he’d become familiar with my face. He even knew my nickname. So, whenever we ran into each other at music show recordings, we’d exchange light greetings: "Hello, Su-aKongtteok-ssi." The fortunate thing was that because I was wearing the bear head, he couldn't see my face.
"I was just about to go change."
"Thanks for helping with the recording today. You're Su-a's cousin, right?"
"Pardon?"
"Isn't that right? Su-a said you were her cousin..."
"Ah... yes, that's right."
"You worked really hard today. It's not easy being in that suit for hours. Oh, right, I heard you're looking for a job? If you're interested in being a manager, try applying to our agency. We're looking for a road manager."
A manager... I had thought about it once. I’d pondered it, thinking that if I became a manager, I could see my favorite idol every day. But after searching online about the life of a manager, I immediately dropped the idea. A servant to celebrities who worked for low pay, couldn't sleep properly, and couldn't even eat regular meals. There were quite a few managers who had achieved the dream of "work-life harmony" like me, but the vast majority ended up quitting because they couldn't handle the grueling workload. And back then, I didn't know Su-a personally. I still wanted to see her every day just as much as I did then, but unlike back then, now if I wanted to meet her, I could find a way. Like today.
"By the way, have you seen Su-a?"
"She said she was going to the bathroom..."
"She wasn't in the bathroom..."
"She just went! Just now! She was talking to me and just went, yes."
I made up a plausible excuse about her going to the bathroom, and the manager left, saying he had to go check elsewhere and thanking me. I listened to his footsteps running away and let out a sigh of relief.
"You should get back quickly."
"I suppose I should. But before I go..."
Su-a, who had been about to leave, turned back, lifted the mascot head slightly, and planted a kiss on my lips. "Hehehe, we kissed."
Su-a laughed, looking shy. Even though she’d spread her legs and shown me her shameful holes, she seemed embarrassed by a simple kiss, her cheeks flushing a deep crimson.
"Thanks for your hard work today, Mr. Bear."
Su-a skipped away. It was sweltering inside the mascot suit. My lips felt hot. The soft, supple sensation of her kiss lingered for a long time.