I Couldn't Help But Forgive
An Seo-ra stared at Kang Cheol-jin and Pi Ah-reum with a confused look.
"Seo-ra ya. Seo-ra ya?"
"An Seo-ra!"
Her friends called out to her, their voices tinged with confusion.
"Ah, yeah?"
"What are you doing? Aren't you going?"
"Ah, no. Gotta go."
An Seo-ra awkwardly nodded and started walking again. Even as she did, her gaze couldn't easily tear itself away from Kang Cheol-jin and Pi Ah-reum.
'Are they just friends hanging out together?'
On second look, perhaps that was the case.
Pi Ah-reum was visibly doing her absolute best to tease Kang Cheol-jin.
*
I walked down the street, unable to hide my sulky expression.
"What's wrong~ Are you pouty? Kkangcheol is super pouty!"
Ah-reum, walking beside me, pressed her body against mine as she spoke. She wasn't comforting me so much as cackling and relentlessly teasing me. Don't you know you're not supposed to tell someone who's pouting that they're pouting!
"Kkangcheollie has a tiny, narrow-minded little heart. They say he gets pouty over stuff like that."
"That kind of thing? You were laughing your ass off."
"Eyy, you laughed too when I got ice cream."
"Not as much as you, okay?"
Anyone watching might say, "What kind of guy has such pathetically small thinking?" But I guarantee you, experiencing it firsthand is different. Before you say anything to me, you should try getting laughed at for almost five minutes straight.
Ah-reum laughed so hard that even the people laughing with us started looking at me pitifully. If we hadn't been on the street, she would have been sprawled on the ground laughing.
"Aaaang~ What's wrong? I said I'm sorry? Huh?"
"You kept teasing me right up until a minute ago..."
"I'll buy you dinner instead!"
"Huh? No, that's not right."
No matter how pouty I was, that was out of the question. I'd come out today saying I'd treat, but Ah-reum had already spent way more money—from lunch to snacks and various little entertainment costs.
"Forget it. Dinner's on me."
"No way. Actually, I planned to treat from the start."
"What money does a student have? You spent a lot today."
Truth be told, most of the bags in my hands were Ah-reum's. Considering a college student's allowance, she'd definitely been overspending. Getting a free dinner on top of that was just against my conscience.
But Ah-reum stood her ground.
"You carried my stuff today. And don't worry about money. I've got money."
"What money do you... Ah! Don't tell me?"
"Ehehe. Yep."
Ah-reum grinned and made a V with her fingers.
"My stream earnings got paid out~"
"Oh, congrats! No wonder you were spending a lot today. Did you make good money?"
"Yeah, yeah! Not like a crazy amount, but I made a little over a hundred. I'll probably get about the same next month?"
"Wow, you really did make good money."
I'd occasionally checked out Ah-reum's streams, but I didn't know she earned this much.
Of course, a million won wasn't a huge amount of money. But considering Ah-reum's streaming hours, it was a surprising sum. Especially lately, with exam period and club activities on top, she wouldn't have had much time to stream.
Ah-reum hummed a tune and linked her arm through mine.
"It's mostly thanks to you. You made my avatar. So today, I'm treating."
"I just gave you something I'd made for practice..."
Personally, it was an avatar I considered lacking in quality to sell for money. And from my perspective, I'd actually used Ah-reum as a test subject for the avatar.
"Anyway! A while ago, I even got DMs asking who the avatar creator was."
"Oh? Really?"
"Yeah. Asking who made it, how long it took, about pricing and stuff. Can I tell them?"
"Mm... no. I'm busy right now. And still not good enough."
"That's not good enough? People with better quality than mine are rare, you know."
I appreciated the compliment, but by my standards, it was indeed lacking.
The virtual scene was niche, so there still weren't many domestic creators, which is why the average quality was low. But if you looked overseas, the level changed. I watched a lot of overseas virtuals, so my standards were calibrated to that.
I didn't want to sell work that fell short of my standards for money. Even if it was just pointless pride.
'Still, would it be good to raise my name recognition?'
After pondering for a moment, I added,
"If anyone asks, just give them the handle Kkangcheol. Though I'm not taking commissions."
"Got it~. Ah, we're here."
We'd arrived at the coin karaoke place.
I shook my head lightly as I went down the stairs.
"Hoo boy. What's so great about hearing me sing."
The reason we'd suddenly come to a karaoke was that Ah-reum asked me to sing for her.
"No, seriously, you sing really well, you know?"
"Thanks for saying so, at least."
I deliberately tried not to get excited as I expressed my thanks.
Ah-reum's compliments were a little lacking in credibility to blindly accept. Her praise was as freely given as the mischievous pranks she usually pulled. Ah-reum constantly praised me—handsome, good in bed, good at singing—calling me amazing at the drop of a hat. And she wasn't just like this with me; she showered other friends with tons of compliments too.
'Not that I dislike it.'
Probably more than half of the self-esteem I'd recovered was thanks to Ah-reum. I considered meeting Ah-reum at the freshman gathering a stroke of heavenly luck.
Yeah, if she wants to hear me sing, I should sing my heart out. Could I not do even that much for someone I'm grateful to?
We settled into a large room.
"Wow, coin karaoke places these days have incredible facilities."
"Crazy, right? Told you I didn't come here for nothing! They say the mics and speakers here are really good too!"
"Really? That's great."
I'd have to sing my heart out today. Should I take requests?
With that mindset, I grabbed the mic.
"Kkangcheol-ah, just singing normally is boring, so let's make a bet."
"A bet?"
Ah-reum, who'd said she wanted to hear me sing, grinned and challenged me.
"How about wagering a wish ticket? We'll do Perfect Score, and whoever has more songs in the Top 10 wins."
"Oh, that sounds fun!"
"Right?"
I was fairly competitive by nature, so a ranking battle seemed more fun than just messing around.
We immediately started Perfect Score mode.
Perfect Score was a karaoke system that scored down to decimal points based on rhythm and pitch.
Ah-reum picked the first song.
"Gathering the memories of that day~ we made~."
It was an emotional, gentle song with a female solo vocal. Usually so energetic and bright, Ah-reum surprisingly suited calm songs like this too.
'She's good at singing.'
For someone who showered me with compliments, she was pretty decent at singing herself. Even singing in a low register, her vocalization was good.
[87 points! Your voice is charming!]
I'd never tried Perfect Score, so I didn't know how good 87 points was. Was that high?
"Kkangcheol's turn next! Are you taking requests?"
"We're betting. Does taking requests even make sense?"
"Do it for me~."
"Good grief, fine. What do you want to hear?"
"Wind Memories!"
"Wow, that's just dirty play!"
"Ehehehe."
She was immediately requesting a notoriously difficult song.
I laughed in disbelief and searched for Wind Memories. Fine, I could do one song however she wanted.
Wind Memories was infamous among male solo songs for its difficulty.
I gradually warmed up my throat, then hit the high note at the climax.
"The wind─-faded! Memories─-!!"
Singing until my throat nearly burst, I just barely managed to hit the note.
Finally, after singing through the second verse, the song ended.
[92 points! A fantastic voice!]
"Hoo."
This seemed enough to preserve my pride. I hadn't let down Ah-reum, who'd praised my singing.
Proudly, I turned to look at Ah-reum.
"Ughhh...."
Her cheeks were puffed up and she was glaring at me.
'Ah, right. This was a bet.'
So it was because her competitive side had been triggered.
As we took turns singing, the match was already halfway through. Before I knew it, we'd each sung five songs.
Now there were four coins left.
Two songs each, and it would be over.
So far, I'd claimed the top three spots.
"I think I'm going to win."
I said, smiling smugly. Ah-reum's brow furrowed.
"You don't know that yet. The two songs you sang are at 9th and 10th. I just have to knock those out."
It was just as Ah-reum said.
The bet condition wasn't who had the highest ranks, but who had more songs inside the Top 10.
Now, 1st through 10th place were all taken. The real match was starting.
Soon, Ah-reum sang her sixth song.
I took the mic from her.
I scratched my chin, pondering the song choice.
'It's tough since I can't sing J-pop.'
In Perfect Score mode, choosing J-pop was impossible. There were only partial selections of hip-hop songs too, so picking songs was getting harder and harder.
As I was agonizing, Ah-reum smirked and said,
"Whyyy? Got no songs to sing?"
"...Did you plan this?"
"Om mam mamma! What a slanderous accusation!"
"You totally planned it."
Put that smirk away before you lie. No, wait, you weren't even trying to hide it, were you?
I scoffed and searched for a song. A secret weapon I'd briefly forgotten came to mind. When I chose the song, Ah-reum shrieked.
"That's cheating!"
"How is this cheating? Stop whining."
"Ughhhh!"
The song I'd chosen was one of the theme songs from the anime 'Digi○on'. It hadn't been in the karaoke system before, but had recently been added as a new song after resolving copyright issues.
"Yeah! It won't be that easy─!"
I'd never sung it at a karaoke, but I'd listened to it thousands of times and hummed along hundreds. My voice came out without a single mistake.
'Hell yeah. This is a 100-point move.'
As I sang with confidence and vigor,
Flinch!
"Fly like a butter─gahhk?!"
My voice cracked.
It was because Ah-reum's hand had slipped inside my clothes.
"Heh. My hands were cold."
Spring was practically over and it was nearly summer—what cold hands?! I wanted to argue, but I was in the middle of singing and couldn't. Ah-reum's hand toyed with my upper body.
Circle, skrit skrit skrit.
Ah-reum's finger gently circled my nipple. My body flinched and trembled at the ticklish sensation.
"A comfortable and sweet space it's not!"
But contrary to my body, my voice didn't waver in the slightest. Although my voice had cracked briefly earlier, my score was still holding steady in the 98-point range.
"Sheesh...."
I heard a frustrated sound beside me.
Ah-reum, having lost her mind to competitiveness, was now blatantly trying to sabotage me.
Jjok, jjok jjok.
Planting kisses on my cheek, or...
Haljjak. Chup.
Licking my neck and gently nipping it, or...
Manjijak manjijak.
Gently stroking my crotch—she didn't discriminate in methods or means. At some point, she had slipped her hand into my pants and was outright giving me a handjob.
"Jjyuuup~ Jjup!"
No, correction.
She was giving me fellatio.
Kneeling under the table, Ah-reum buried her face in my crotch and sucked my cock. Wait, didn't you wear a white skirt? Why are you going this far?
"Yeah, like thaaat─!"
By this point, my voice couldn't help but crack continuously. With one minute left, my score plummeted like the KOSPI index on a crash day.
'Ah, I should've picked a short one!'
Why'd I go and pick a four-minute song! I held out well until the middle!
[65 points! Try a little harder.]
Obviously, it didn't make the Top 10.
I glared at Ah-reum with fire in my eyes.
"Pi Ah-reum!"
The moment I yelled,
"Jjeureureureureup!"
Ttakttakttakttakttak!
"Euh-heok!"
Ulkeok! Ulkeo kulkeok! Byureureureureureut!
The pent-up urge to ejaculate exploded. This little brat, when had she developed this level of skill? Sucking my dick while simultaneously using her tongue and stroking me with her hand—I utterly could not endure it.
"Aaaang~."
Ah-reum lifted her head toward me and opened her mouth. It was full of white semen. Post-nut clarity and satisfaction hit me at once.
"...I absolve thee of thy sin."
"Gulp!"
I had no choice but to forgive...