A Secret Time Outside the Building (4)
The moment our eyes met.
Kang Cheol-jin sucked in a breath.
Was this what it felt like to be dumbfounded? He even forgot the shame of being caught in a sexual act by someone else.
In front of him stood Team 3's leader, Lee So-yeon, frozen in an awkward posture. With one hand inside her chest and the other down her pants. She was clearly in the middle of masturbating.
"......."
Both of their pupils, eyes locked, dilated massively for a moment.
Kang Cheol-jin's gaze swept over Lee So-yeon's waist, exposed where her clothes had ridden up, and Lee So-yeon stared at the prominent bulge in Kang Cheol-jin's pants. It was an unconscious glance born of pure instinct.
After that fleeting moment of mutual observation, they came back to their senses. And what flooded in belatedly was shame.
Lee So-yeon's face flushed bright red. It was almost fascinating how fast a human face could color.
Kang Cheol-jin, on the other hand, grew surprisingly calm. Who should be more embarrassed: the person whose sex scene was witnessed, or the person caught masturbating while watching it? At least in his opinion, it was the latter.
Just then, a frightened voice came from behind.
"Ch-Cheol-jin-ah?"
Pi Ah-reum, wrapped tightly in a puffer jacket, was staring this way. Kang Cheol-jin nodded toward the frozen Lee So-yeon and whispered softly.
"Go, quickly."
And then he turned his body back toward Pi Ah-reum.
"Sorry, false alarm. It was a cat."
At those words, Pi Ah-reum slumped and let out a relieved breath.
"You scared me! All sorts of crazy thoughts ran through my head!"
"...Do you remember that you're the one who suggested doing it here?"
"Anyway!"
Ah-reum pounded his shoulder with her fist, huffing. It was less a real scolding and more a sulky complaint tinged with embarrassment.
They straightened their clothes and stood up.
"Let's just clean this up and go."
To stall for time, they cleaned up the semen he'd shot onto the ground. He stepped on it and rubbed it into the floor until the traces disappeared.
'She's probably gone back by now.'
Somewhat tense, Kang Cheol-jin turned the corner with Pi Ah-reum.
'Hoo.'
Fortunately, Lee So-yeon was nowhere to be seen. She seemed to have made a clean getaway.
"Can you walk?"
"Yeah. It's a little hard, but I'm okay."
"Sorry I was so rough."
"Mm. That part felt good, so it's fine. Let's do it properly indoors next time. The lifted pounding... I kind of like it. Hehe."
So as long as it felt good, everything was okay?
"Ah, I'm done with outdoor play though. That was way too scary. I almost died trying to hold in my voice."
"Yeah? I found the thrill a bit exciting. Though it was scary too."
So in that sense, it was actually kind of good. Even as worry and fear set in, the dopamine had spiked like crazy.
Of course, that didn't mean he wanted to do it again.
"But if we get caught, we're screwed. I think not doing it is the right call."
The dopamine had surged hard, but he didn't want to feel that way every time. Even if they got away with it a hundred times, wasn't one slip enough to ruin everything? The risk was too great.
"Yeah. I'm never doing it again. It's not my thing. I tried it once, so that's it."
Ah-reum declared firmly, crossing her arms in an X.
It seemed that nearly getting caught a moment ago had struck some real fear into her.
'That's actually for the best.' Ah-reum needed to get a little scared. She had a tendency to be too recklessly pushy sometimes.
'It's probably better not to tell her we actually did get caught.'
Since they both had something on each other, neither of them was likely to go spreading it around. Pretending not to know and covering for each other would be best for both their mental health.
'In all my life, I never thought I'd see a woman masturbating while watching me fuck.'
Around this time last year, he couldn't have imagined such a thing. After entering university, all sorts of things had happened. They said university was an animal kingdom... was it like this for everyone else too?
'Anyway, she had a nicer figure than I expected. That waist was so slim...'
He was indulging in such idle thoughts when—
Suddenly, he felt warmth in his hand. Ah-reum had taken it.
He lowered his head to look.
For some reason, Pi Ah-reum was studying his expression.
"Feeling a little better now?"
"Huh?"
He glanced at her, wondering what she meant.
Ah-reum asked with a worried look.
"You were in a bad mood earlier. Because of what those sunbaes said, right?"
"...You knew?"
"Of course. Don't underestimate a sex friend's intuition."
"Jeez."
A grin slipped out. He'd thought she'd come looking for him just because she wanted sex, but she'd actually been worried in her own way. Somehow, that made his heart itch a little.
He patted Pi Ah-reum on the head. At this point in their relationship, a bit of skinship like this was probably fine.
"Thanks. I'm feeling better thanks to you."
"Hehe. Then that's all that matters. More than anything, you don't need to pay attention to what ugly sunbaes like that say. Who are they to judge anyone?"
"Haha......."
"I'm prettier, so I'll vouch for you. You're prettier and better-looking than those sunbaes."
"Oh my, what an immense honor."
"Hey! That tone is so annoying!"
"Kek."
Her elbow jabbed him in the side. No matter how soft her punches were, getting hit in a weak spot still hurt.
He clutched his side and grumbled.
"You're the one with the way more annoying tone......."
"What was that. What I said was facts."
'Well, it is true, but aren't you being a bit too brazen?'
But quibbling over it was tricky, because comparing those sunbaes to Ah-reum was absurd. If anything, her words actually gave him some confidence.
'Yeah, let's not get hurt by every little thing people like that say.'
Didn't a girl this pretty just call him good-looking? Even if it was just words of comfort, he could turn them into truth later.
'I really need to work out harder.'
A renewed motivation for exercise suddenly flared up inside him.
'I probably put on a little weight during the MT, right?'
Once they got back, he'd have to kick his diet into high gear. If his outward appearance changed, his confidence would grow a bit too.
*
When they returned to the lodge.
"Uuuuaahh......."
A horde of zombies came into view. The guys who'd been perfectly fine when they left were now mostly sprawled out, dead drunk.
"Cheol-jin, you're back......."
Among the zombie horde, Ahn Seong-hyeon, his childhood friend, greeted him in a half-dead tone.
"What on earth happened?"
"Suddenly it turned into a contest over who could hold their liquor better......."
"What kind of useless competition is that?"
"I don't know... I'm going to sleep now."
Ahn Seong-hyeon collapsed with a thud. From his even breathing, he really did fall asleep. He's got a knack for that.
"Slipping out when we did might have been a blessing in disguise."
"Yeah."
After exchanging that lukewarm comment, they headed to their respective rooms.
"I'm gonna wash up and go to sleep too. You sleep well too, Kkangcheol."
"Sure. Go on in."
Ah-reum and I were in the same team, but the sleeping rooms were assigned separately by gender. Though, looking around now, most people seemed to be just sleeping mixed together anyway.
But there was one problem.
"This is my sleeping room......."
God damn it. How was I supposed to sleep here.
A dozen or so people were sprawled in layers, making it hard to even find a clear spot to step. I had to look for another room.
I weaved through the zombies to find my bag. First, I had to brush my teeth. I couldn't stand the gross feeling.
After barely managing to retrieve my toiletries, I stepped into the bathroom.
"Aack!"
A startled scream tore out of me involuntarily. Someone was collapsed with their face planted in the toilet bowl. Wait, weren't they dead?
"Are you okay?!"
I slapped their back to try to snap them awake.
"Bleeeurrghhh─!"
Ah, fuck. Please, no.......
Vomit splattered everywhere.
*
Just washing up and going to sleep was already out of the question.
I sighed and hauled the collapsed person into a corner of the room. I couldn't bring myself to change their clothes too. They could handle that on their own.
After that, I cleaned the bathroom and barely managed to brush my teeth.
"Now I need to find a place to sleep......."
Was there another room assigned for guys?
As I was standing around looking this way and that in the hallway—
"Ah."
"Hrk."
I came face to face with an uncomfortable expression.
It was our Team 3's leader, Lee So-yeon sunbae.
"Uh, good night."
I greeted her awkwardly and turned around. Having seen something we shouldn't have, it was tough to manage any kind of normal conversation.
"W-wait up!"
Soyeon sunbae grabbed my arm.
When I turned back, she said with a flushed face.
"Le-let's talk for a minute."
"...Should we?"
This was actually a good thing. There was something I wanted to clear up as well.
We moved to find a quiet spot—
"Bleeeurrghhh─!"
The sound of someone emptying their stomach rang out. What was this, déjà vu?
'Fuck, they're seriously throwing up in the hallway?'
I was so dumbfounded that I forgot my awkwardness and asked.
"Sunbae, has Digital Content always been like this?"
"...No. It's not usually like this, it's just a lot happened today."
What the hell could have happened for it to get this bad.
*
Soyeon sunbae and I had no choice but to help clean up the aftermath. Having witnessed the mess unfolding in the hallway in real time, we couldn't just leave it.
Just as I was sighing and cleaning up, a few members of the student council came to help, which was fortunate, if you could call it that.
"Whew. We'll go handle cleaning up the other rooms. Cheol-jin, you get some rest. Ah, Soyeon, you have to come help!"
"Ah, fine. But I need to talk for a minute first."
"Come quick."
The student council left, and I was alone with Soyeon sunbae.
We went all the way down to the first floor and sat facing each other at a table.
Soyeon sunbae started off like this.
"Don't pay any mind to what those bitches said earlier."
"...Excuse me?"
"Those girls, the ones who were running their mouths about your face. I had a huge row with them. They'll be too ashamed to show their faces at school for a while."
What is she talking about. I'd naturally expected the earlier incident to be brought up.
I silently listened to her.
Since Soyeon sunbae was also a party to that earlier event, I got to hear the details.
When the story finished, I asked back, still dazed.
"Seongju hyung did that? Even Seong-hyeon, that guy?"
A lot had happened while I was out there fucking. I never imagined Seongju hyung would step up for me. No, more surprising than that was Ahn Seong-hyeon stepping in. That timid bastard.
But the most surprising thing of all was the Soyeon sunbae right in front of me. Even though we were in the same team, we'd only seen each other for a few days. That she'd stood up for me like that made me feel nothing but gratitude.
"Thank you, sunbae."
"No. I already didn't like those bitches, that's all."
The face she made when she said that was pretty fierce. I'd kind of guessed it, but she really did have a temper.
Soyeon sunbae relaxed her expression and added.
"More importantly, just call me nuna. Our department doesn't really have a sunbae-hoobae culture, so that title feels super awkward."
"Yes, nuna."
When I replied respectfully, Soyeon nuna gave a little laugh.
But there was still a loose end to tie up before we could laugh comfortably.
Soyeon nuna chewed on her lip for a moment, then cautiously opened her mouth.
"So, about what happened earlier......."
The end of her sentence trailed off, like she didn't know how to continue.
I jumped in instead.
"Did something happen earlier?"
"...Huh?"
"I was so hurt by those sunbaes that I shut myself up in the bathroom. So I have no idea what happened."
If I said it like this, she'd catch on, right?
When I said that with an awkward smile, Soyeon nuna's face brightened immediately. She nodded vigorously, picking up the thread.
"Ri-right? Yeah, I didn't see anything either. I mean, who would do something like that outside. You'd have to be a total pervert."
"......?"
What was this, was she picking a fight?
"Doing that kind of sleazy stuff outside......."
She really was picking a fight. This was basically a duel challenge.
"Ah, no, that's not what I meant......!"
Too late for that.
My lips twitched at the corners as I agreed with Soyeon nuna's statement.
"Absolutely. There's no way someone would sleazily masturbate outside like that."
"Wha-what? Hey!"
"Isn't that right? As if someone who isn't in heat would do something like that while watching other people......."
"Enough!"
Soyeon nuna shouted and glared at me.
...Had I gone too far? But you started it.
Still, it was a bit intimidating, so I averted my gaze. Soyeon nuna dropped her head low and said.
"Let's stop. I'm sorry. I was flustered and misspoke......."
"...I'm sorry too."
"No. More importantly, we both saw nothing. Got it?"
"I'm the one who should be asking that."
We bowed our heads deeply to each other.
After that, an awkward silence fell.
Soyeon nuna clapped her hands once, then spoke with a face so composed it was as if nothing had ever happened.
"Wow, you're actually feistier than I thought, huh? Earlier you couldn't say a word in front of those girls."
"...I guess so."
I scratched my head sheepishly. Honestly, I'd surprised myself a little by snapping back. It just made me angry in the moment. Maybe it was because it felt like she was insulting Ah-reum.
'But Ah-reum really is a pervert, isn't she?'
Wait, so there wasn't even a reason to get mad?
While I was grappling with this fundamental question—
"Oh! Cheol-jin, Soyeon!"
Someone called out to us.
"Who, Yu-bam sunbae?"
Yu-bam sunbae had come out of the bathroom and was waving at us. Why did she come out of there? She hadn't heard our conversation, had she?
Fortunately, she didn't seem like she had.
"Where did you go? I was looking for you for a long time, Cheol-jin."
"For me?"
Why would Yu-bam sunbae be looking for me?
I listened to her story. The reason was:
"You two, won't you join my club? No, please join!"
Yu-bam sunbae clasped her hands together tightly and pleaded.
Her teal eyes sparkled with an intensely burdensome light.