The Burner Account Girl (5)
Areum came running over in tears.
"Huaaang. Kkangcheol, what am I going to do?"
"Wha—what's going on? What's wrong?"
I wondered what on earth could have happened.
"My mom says I have to come home right now! Can you try persuading her for me?"
"...Seriously, this girl."
I immediately wound up a ddakbam.
Ttaaak!
A crisp sound rang out.
"Kek! Ahh, it huuurts!"
Areum, who'd been fake-crying, clutched her forehead, real tears now streaming down and dangling at the corners of her eyes.
I delivered another ddakbam to her head as I spoke.
"Just go home, okay? If your parents are calling, just go."
"Stop iiit!"
"What do you mean, 'stop it'? Do you want to get grounded again? It's late—the buses are about to stop running."
Here I'd been, startled out of my wits, thinking something serious had happened. She's making me worry for nothing.
"I'm saying I want to hang out more!"
"What do you want me to do about it? Damn it all. And how exactly am I supposed to persuade your mom? I'm sure she'd be ecstatic if some guy called her up to talk."
"She might be!"
"You want another ddakbam?"
"You brute! Thug!"
"I'll show you what a real thug is. Today, you're dead."
"Kill me, go ahead, kill me!"
"I'll bury you in a sunny spot."
I grabbed Areum by the scruff of her neck and dragged her along. Back to the table I'd bolted from.
"Seonghyeon, hand me her stuff."
"Uh, uh. But Areum really looks like she's in pain—are you sure she's okay?"
"She can handle a little pain. And did you not see her throwing a tantrum just now?"
"Kkangcheol, you've got no blood or tears─!"
I ignored Areum flailing about and took her stuff. No matter how much the little thing struggled, it was useless.
I gave a small nod to the club members, who were staring at us in surprise.
"Sorry for causing a scene. I'll just be sending this one off."
"S-sure. Get home safe."
Seora nuna said, a bit dumbfounded.
As I took big strides, dragging Areum along, I heard voices murmuring behind me.
"Wow, I've never seen Cheoljin act like that. I thought he was just a really gentle kid."
That was Seora nuna's voice. Up until now, all she'd ever seen from me was huffing and puffing during workouts, so it was no surprise she was shocked.
"...Did he actually hit her for real? Should we just let them be?"
I had no idea why Han Saebyeok had to make it sound so grave. Anyone listening might actually think I was committing a crime.
"So his nickname really is Kkangcheol."
"Cheoljin, you're scaring meee......."
"Oh, forceful."
"That startled me."
"This batch of freshmen is unique."
Other people's comments followed one after another as well.
"No, that's not it. Cheoljin is nice."
Still, Ahn Seonghyeon, you're covering for me, huh?
"He's only like that with Areum. Once you get close to him, he tends to be a little rough... I think?"
...I was a fool to have believed that, even for a second. I'll smack him with my shield.
Leaving the club members behind, I exited the restaurant. Goddamn, my image was completely fucked today.
*
Once we were outside the restaurant, Areum grabbed my arm and rubbed her chest against it as she spoke.
"Kkangcheol, should we just go to your studio and have sex?"
Kung!
"Kkeuk! I'm getting dumber! Aren't you hitting me too much today? And you hit me hard, too!"
"Compared to how you hit me normally, I'm being generous."
The number of times Areum had headbutted me or thrown her marshmallow fists at me was more than one or two. Lately, pinching had been added to the mix.
"Uuuu!"
"Don't puff your cheeks out. It's annoyingly cute."
"...Heh. Cute? I did it to be cute. Now I want you to tap tha— Ack!"
"Crazy bitch, please, for God's sake. People are walking by here."
"Do I care? Do I give a damn?"
"That's such an old phrase."
She actually busted out a buzzword she used to use back in elementary school.
I looked at Areum with the most pitiful expression in the world and said,
"Staying overnight again won't be good for you, will it?"
"Ugh. My mom and dad need to get a little used to this kind of thing. I was too well-behaved for so long that they have zero tolerance for me being a little late. They call me the second it's 10 p.m."
"They're saying that for your sake."
"What are you talking about! I'm doing this for my parents' sake, too, you know. Originally, the most effective cure for something like this is frequent misbehavior. That way they get used to it and worry less."
She'd misunderstood. I'd meant I was saying it for Areum's sake—not that Areum's parents were thinking of hers.
Persuading Areum was simple. You just had to talk to her on her level. For example, by switching the subject to sex.
I lowered my voice a little and said with a serious expression,
"Think about it. We have exams soon, right."
"So what?"
"That means, unlike before, it's a comparatively legal opportunity to stay out overnight. For instance, you can say you're studying for exams with friends who are good at studying and not go home."
"?!"
Areum's expression changed. Was I seeing things, or did an exclamation mark actually appear over her tiny head?
"In reality, the library is open 24 hours, and according to what I heard from Soyeon nuna, the department itself opens all its lecture rooms. There are some people who study there all night."
"Oh, oooh."
"If you take a picture of yourself actually studying and send it as proof, what could they possibly say? And are we really just going to study there?"
"...Secks?"
"That's right. Sex is... well, it's correct, but can't you talk like a human being, you monkey?"
"Ookiki!"
Don't ball your fists up and make a cute face like that. You want me to actually kidnap you and drag you back to my studio? I want to fuck anyway.
Exercising self-control, I spoke.
"Anyway, you get it, right?"
"Yessir! As expected, now that I'm a college student, I have to secretly do it at least once in a lecture hall— Ow! Why are you hitting me again!"
"Sorry, my hand slipped because that was so vulgar."
"You're the one who suggested it first!"
That was just to persuade you.......
"Alright, go home quietly today."
"Yep."
Phew, that's one problem solved.
After escorting Areum to the station, I turned my steps back toward the restaurant.
While I was walking, bored and looking at my phone,
[You have unread notifications.]
a message popped up on the Trickster app.
'Another commission order?'
I checked it for now, but—
- Backside_Of_One: lol lol lol lol lol lol
It was a message from Bback-sa.
- you are such a fucking lunatic lol lol lol
= ?
- i enjoyed the otaku explosion pfft lmao pfft
= you fucking bitch?
I suddenly felt the alcohol hit me all at once. Even without looking in a mirror, I knew my face had turned beet red.
Bback-sa's messages continued.
- your real-life nickname is Kkangcheol too, that made it easy to find lol
- so hey, are you Kkangcheol because your name is Kang Cheoljin? or are you Kkangcheol because you're a Steel fanboy? why do you even like that no-fun anime? lol lol lol lol lol lol lol
That bitch, thinking she'd sniffed out a weak point, was teasing me nonstop. She even insulted Steel. She was asking for it.
Feeling steam rising from my head, I typed out a message at high speed.
- you really are the dumbest bitch in the world. saying shit like that, isn't that basically just admitting you're at the dinner spot?
- you're practically begging me to fuck you.
- come outside the restaurant right now. i'll drag you to a motel and pound you until you're begging me to let you live.
At least one thing became clear. Bback-sa was at the dinner location. That story about getting the post-it from a friend was a lie after all.
So I sent the message brimming with confidence, but—
- what are you gonna do, otaku? i know your real name and your face but you don't know me, do you? try fucking me. in your imagination, that is lol lol lol
- nyeh nyeh nyeh nyeh.
"Wow, this, fucking...!"
This was pissing me off so much. I wanted to educate her with my dick, right now.
- as a special treat, here's some jerking-off material. jack off to it, you virgin lol lol
- (Photo)
- it's a piping hot photo i just took. enjoy your fap~
That characteristic ass photo arrived.
From the spine down along the waist to the thighs. The photo especially emphasized the ass. Regrettably, no clothes were visible.
'But she sure works hard to hide her personal info. From the way she talks, you'd think she was an idiot.'
A delicate photo with not even a single edge of clothing exposed. Could she have taken it completely naked?
I trembled for a moment, then sent one final message.
= you asphalt-gum-stain ppong-bra bitch.
Bzzzzzt!
Bzzt!
Bzzzzzt!
A huge flood of messages came back, but I didn't open them. This was my victory.
*
When I came back into the room, the club members greeted me.
"Oh, Cheoljin's here."
"Did you get your girlfriend home safe?"
At Jeong Mina's question, Kang Cheoljin waved his hand in denial.
"Areum and I are just close friends."
"Really? Soyeon said you two weren't a thing either, so I just assumed you were dating Areum."
"Nah, I'm not thinking about dating right now. I think I said that earlier."
"You didn't say you weren't thinking about dating. You just said you weren't dating Soyeon."
"Did I? Sorry, I must've been mistaken. People misunderstand that sometimes."
Just then, someone came in through the entrance.
"Oh, you came back?"
It was Park Mincheol, who'd been playing hand games with Yoo Hyeonjeong. He wore a lecherous grin as he continued.
"I figured you wouldn't come back. Heh heh."
"Huh? What do you mean...."
"Just, well, you left with your girlfriend, you know? So naturally, I thought you wouldn't come back?"
"......."
Kang Cheoljin frowned and stared at Park Mincheol.
'His tone is pissing me off.'
If it were just his tone, I might not have cared, but his expression really rubbed me the wrong way. The meaning behind his words was blatantly obvious.
I could handle it myself, but Park Mincheol's words were ridiculing Pi Ah-reum, too.
If I had my way, I wanted to spew every curse word I knew, but I didn't have the nerve to go that far. Glaring at him silently was the best Kang Cheoljin could manage.
However, that alone was enough to fluster Park Mincheol.
"Ah, n-no, can't a guy make a little joke...."
Kang Cheoljin wasn't aware of it himself, but his physique was quite intimidating to others. In fact, because he was glowering silently, it created an atmosphere where it looked to everyone else like he might throw a punch.
A situation on the verge of exploding. "This crazy son of a bitch." A curse word finally burst out.