Now You're Trapped Here. Got It?
"Ugh..."
My cheeks were stinging.
It was all because the CEO kept poking and stroking them, asking if I was just a guy in drag.
"Did you sneak off to Thailand without telling me?"
"W-well, the thing is..."
In the end I knelt on the bed and confessed everything to her.
"...You woke up and your body was like this?"
That was a lie, of course. I'd hidden most of the truth—that I'd simply gone to sleep and woken up like this.
Like I'd ever tell her the real story. That one malicious comment had turned my entire body into this mess...
"Y-yes..."
"And that's why you said you weren't coming in?"
"Yes... With a body like this—"
My brain, desperately searching for any way to get hit a little less, started spitting out lies like it was nothing.
"...I went straight to the company, but the facial recognition kicked me out immediately."
"Stop lying."
Shit, how did she know?
"I-I'm serious!"
"Want me to pull up the entrance CCTV?"
"...I'm sorry."
I lowered my head, but I still didn't understand.
"...But how did you know? Was it that obvious?"
The CEO let out a long, exasperated sigh and pointed at my clothes.
"You said it happened yesterday. You expect me to believe you went outside without any women's clothes?"
"Well... I could've gone out in men's clothes, right?"
"Do you remember what time you texted me yesterday saying you were quitting?"
"Uh..."
She was right. I'd sent that message before eight in the morning.
"As if you'd actually show up at the office at that hour. You, the guy who clocks in at exactly nine every single day."
"...You have a point."
Maybe sticking to my exact arrival time like a blade had been the problem all along.
Was that why my parents used to smack me on the back and tell me to leave for school earlier?
"So, what are you planning to do from now on?"
The CEO sat on the edge of the bed beside me. I rested my chin in my hand for a moment, thinking.
"Is there really any other answer? I'll hold out as long as I can. If that doesn't work, I'll run back to my parents' house, beg for their understanding, and cling to them."
I probably couldn't convince the government like this, but maybe I could convince my parents.
Even if I had to live without an identity for the rest of my life... I could probably manage by helping them run their small shop or something.
A breathtakingly beautiful girl like this working the counter?
The daily sales would be on another level no matter what kind of store we opened.
"Instead of that, why don't you just live with me?"
"...Excuse me?"
The sudden suggestion made me blink in disbelief.
What had I just heard?
Living together? With the CEO?
"You know I have plenty of spare rooms. If you're okay with it, you can come stay with me. I'll switch you to remote work."
"Uh... Is that really alright?"
"Why wouldn't it be?"
"Well, even though I'm like this now, I used to be a guy..."
No matter how you looked at it, suggesting we live together right away was...
How should I put it? It stung my pride a little.
"Pfft!"
"You're being way too mean by laughing at me!"
Even like this, I used to be—!
"I'm fine with it. If it's you, Yeon-woo..."
With a single sentence that could easily be misunderstood, the CEO cut off my train of thought and smiled at me.
I unconsciously turned my head away from that gaze.
"...But I'm not fine with it."
"Why not?"
"When you ask why..."
Did she really need me to spell it out?
There was nearly a full generation gap between me and the CEO, but even to my eyes she was an incredibly attractive woman.
Her skin was flawless from years of careful maintenance.
Her neat features made it easy to understand why she'd once considered becoming a female cam streamer.
She had a fairly tall stature for a woman and a charismatic figure to match.
I obviously couldn't do anything to her since I no longer had the equipment, but just thinking about her usual personality made it obvious that living together would be terrible for my mental health.
"Can't you just think of it as getting free room and board in a huge house?"
"..."
But saying that outright was far too embarrassing.
In a way, it wasn't all that different from a confession.
"The other girls stay over pretty often anyway..."
Right. A perfect excuse had just come to mind.
"...That's exactly why it's a problem."
When I muttered that with a serious expression, the CEO laughed as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"Why? Are you still bothered by the kids?"
"Of course I am. Logically speaking..."
There were two members from the 0th Generation, four from the 1st, and four from the 2nd.
A total of ten people who came and went from the house at all hours.
If the mood struck them, they'd just spend the night there.
That alone was enough to make my heart ache, but on top of that, the two trainees scheduled to debut in the 3rd Generation were openly living there together.
I'd heard they'd divided the trainee dorms by floor to some extent, at least.
"I thought you'd gotten used to it by now."
"Used to it? As if!"
And it wasn't like they were ordinary-looking girls.
When recruiting VTubers, they'd specifically chosen people with real-world beauty that could be called "red pill" levels. Every single one of them was stunning.
Not as much as I was now, maybe... but they were the kind of people who would be called beautiful or pretty no matter where they went.
"For someone who says that, you handled it pretty well whenever they clung to you..."
"...Me?"
"You've received advances from all ten of them. And you've only been here for less than six months."
"Does pushing personal manager recommendations and planning documents onto me count as advances now?"
"Those girls... Never mind."
"Huh?"
The CEO shook her head as if annoyed and immediately changed the subject.
"So, are you really not going to move in?"
Her eyes were serious. I thought about it seriously too before giving my answer.
"...No."
I was grateful that she'd trusted me and hired me, but this was really too much.
"Why? If you don't take my hand now, you won't be able to live a normal life."
"First of all, I'd feel too guilty about freeloading..."
I bit my lip for a moment, then told the CEO something important.
"...What you want is the Star Live employee Ha Yeon-woo, right?"
"It's not necessarily just that..."
"But right now, my mind and intelligence seem to be regressing a bit to match this body... becoming all ttyuttya..."
Like how I kept blurting out things like "hawawa" without meaning to.
Or how my normally sharp mind would suddenly feel like it was getting stuck.
Living at the CEO's house was one thing, but I wasn't sure I'd be able to do my job properly as an employee.
It wasn't that I thought I couldn't do it at all, but I had no confidence that I'd be able to handle things as skillfully as before.
"Still..."
"...It would be too much of a burden like this. I don't think I could accept living that way. I'm sorry."
Since I was already kneeling on the bed, I bowed my head deeply to the CEO.
It was what people commonly called the dogeza position.
"...Are you sure you won't regret this?"
"...Yes."
I wasn't sure at all, but if I answered honestly it seemed like the CEO wouldn't give up, so I bit my lip and lied.
"Lift your head and answer me again."
"..."
I raised my head.
My eyes met the CEO's as she glared at me with a frightening look.
"This is my final offer. If you refuse, you'll definitely regret it later. Will you still refuse?"
No matter what she suggested, my answer was the same.
"...I'm sorry, CEO."
I had no confidence I could handle employee life in this body.
I had no confidence I could live with the CEO, let alone the trainees.
I had no confidence I could face the other members and treat them like I used to.
The life of Star Live employee Ha Yeon-woo was about to—
"Fine. I won't ask again!"
"Sorry... Wait, what?"
CEO?
The way she said that made it sound like there were other methods besides asking nicely?
"When I think about it, why should I have to make you an offer at all?"
"Well..."
Normally, between people, you reach a smooth agreement through conversation and—
"Besides, you don't have a proper identity right now anyway."
"...Huh?"
"Can't I just kidnap you and take you with me? Right here and now?"
"..."
When I thought about it, she was right.
I currently had no identity.
It wouldn't be wrong to say I was socially dead.
I couldn't expect any help from the government.
"Come on, no matter what, that's..."
"Can you even resist me? With that body?"
"...Ttyuttya?"
I looked down at my body.
It looked like it belonged to a middle schooler at most.
At best, it was the slender frame of someone who had just entered high school.
On the other hand, the CEO...
"Good thing I kept exercising regularly. It'll be really useful for dealing with disobedient employees."
Whoosh—whoosh!
Just swinging her arms made the air whistle.
This was the biggest reason the old me had always been afraid of the CEO.
"...You're joking, right?"
"...Does it look like I'm joking?"
"..."
The look in her eyes somehow seemed completely serious...
Was there something wrong with my eyes...?
"I-if I risk everything and report you to the police...!"
"..."
The CEO shook a smartphone at me as if to say go ahead.
"...Ah?"
It was the smartphone I'd thrown away in the hallway.
Damn it... So that's why they say you shouldn't throw people away so easily...
"Now! Make your choice, our dear Ha Yeon-woo 'Miss.'"
She pocketed my smartphone and smiled brightly at me as I sat there in despair.
"Will you obediently come with me like a good girl?"
"..."
"Or should I call all the girls who are on break today and have them drag you there by force?"
"Uh..."
"Oh! That's right. If I contact them, even the ones currently streaming will cancel their broadcasts and come running..."
After hearing that much, there was only one possible answer.
"...Could you at least give me time to pack some personal belongings?"
She'd said I'd regret it later.
I hadn't expected "later" to come this quickly...
I'd been to the CEO's house a few times before.
It was a massive residence located in Seoul's most prestigious neighborhood.
Surrounded by cutting-edge security systems that seemed to say they wouldn't accept any suspicious individuals, it was like a huge fortress.
Authentication Successful
It was a state-of-the-art mansion built on a high hill that could only be entered after facial recognition for residents.
"...Isn't this place seriously too big?"
It had two basement levels and three above ground.
Even excluding the garden, the building itself looked like it was several hundred square meters.
It was so large that living there alone would feel lonely to the point of dying in solitude. I unconsciously pouted and grumbled.
"This is all an investment. An investment. With a house like this, I can have the trainees stay over for boot camp, and if necessary gather everyone for team bonding, right?"
"No matter how I look at it, it seems more like speculation than investment..."
But my words had no persuasive power whatsoever.
"By the way, what stocks is our Yeon-woo currently invested in?"
"Ahem! Just wait a little longer. I'll definitely sell at a profit!"
I was only down about five percent.
Opening my mouth to the CEO, who had built her own fortress through all kinds of investments, was an incredibly rude thing to do.
Creak—!
The car stopped in the parking area in the corner of the garden.
"Take off your shoes there, change into the slippers inside, and come in."
Beep—!
I followed the CEO into the mansion without thinking, and the moment I stepped inside—
Click!
"Oh, and just so you know, you need facial recognition to leave too?"
"Pardon?"
"In other words, Miss Ha Yeon-woo, you're trapped here now. Got it?"
"No..."
The CEO's declaration of confinement came flying at me immediately.
"You don't need to worry too much. From today onward, I'll raise you properly."
"..."
She even declared she would raise me like a pet.
