Outing with Choi Ara 2
"Ara."
"Haa! Haa! Haa!"
She kept gasping for breath, completely unaware of my approach. When I grabbed her shoulders and turned her to face me, her tear-drenched eyes quivered mercilessly, saliva drooling down her chin as she heaved.
"Calm down."
Kim Il-woo pulled the trembling Choi Ara into a firm embrace.
"Hik?!"
Choi Ara let out a small scream and thrashed like she was having a fit, trying to wrench herself free from his arms. It was like she'd poked a wounded wild animal—she bristled defensively, rejecting everything around her.
Will this work?
As Choi Ara's panic showed no signs of easing, Kim Il-woo decided to use one of the tips his future wife had given him.
"Sorry, Ara."
Still wearing his mask of the nice childhood friend, Kim Il-woo apologized in advance for what he was about to do.
"Haa! A-ah! Ah!!!... Mmph?!"
Choi Ara was still panting, struggling to escape his hold, when suddenly her mouth was covered by a firm pressure. Her eyes widened in shock, bulging as if they might tear, filled with bewilderment at what was happening.
Kim Il-woo had kissed Choi Ara.
"Mmph...?!"
The unfamiliar sensation of a man's lips and his hot breath against her face registered through the seal of their mouths. A man is touching me. The realization hit her like a freight train, dragging back the memories of being violated by her rapist. Terror seized her body, stiffening it rigid. Her arms and legs began to shake uncontrollably with fear. For several minutes, she trembled as her heart pounded like it would burst, the deafening thuds echoing in her ears.
"..."
Strangely, Choi Ara felt her body gradually calming down.
Once it seemed they'd shared enough warmth with their lips pressed together, he slowly pulled away.
"You okay now?"
"...Huh...? Y-yeah...?"
Even to Kim Il-woo's worried question, Choi Ara could only mumble dazedly.
"Sorry. I kissed you out of nowhere... Your panic wasn't letting up, so I remembered reading that kissing can help stabilize the mind and body."
Kim Il-woo put on an apologetic face, spinning his excuse. He had no idea if kisses actually had that effect. He was only doing this because of his future wife's advice.
She said she developed an obsession with kissing, right?
After the rape, Choi Ara had developed what could only be called a kissing fetish, according to her. When he'd raped her, he'd blindfolded her so she couldn't see his face—and apparently, that was the trigger. He'd been baffled when he heard the nuance of it.
[When I was raped, there was cloth over my face, right? So my lips were the only part of my body that didn't feel defiled... That's why I got obsessed with kissing afterward...]
His future wife's shy confession had left Kim Il-woo's mind blank.
[So if your past self isn't in her right mind, kiss her. It'll help her calm down faster.]
Apparently, after that, kisses sped up recovery from panic attacks, and she wouldn't have sex without one first or she'd freak out.
She doesn't even realize it yet, but it worked. Lucky.
Looking down at Choi Ara's blank, confused expression—she clearly had no clue why she'd calmed—Kim Il-woo sighed inwardly in relief.
"Ara!"
Only then did Park Jun-hyun come running from afar, calling her name desperately. Covered in dirt, it looked like he'd been rolling around on the ground with his buddies for a while before catching on late.
Park Jun-hyun's face twisted savagely at the sight of Choi Ara in my arms. It was delicious.
"You! Why are you holding Ara?! Get off her!"
Park Jun-hyun charged over, dropping even "hyung" and all politeness, losing his mind completely. Choi Ara's face paled again at his menacing aura.
"Hey, you back off. You're making Ara's hard-won calm worse."
"What?!"
Noticing her pallor at the scary vibe from the aggressive man—Park Jun-hyun now—he skidded to a halt.
"Wh-what the...?!"
She's scared of her boyfriend but fine with that sleazy bastard? Park Jun-hyun's face crumpled in confusion and rage. Kim Il-woo flashed a victor's smirk and waved him off.
"We'll go once Ara's settled. Head to the office first and handle her leave of absence paperwork."
"Urghhh...!"
Park Jun-hyun's face flushed red with fury, but realizing he was useless here, he stormed off.
"..."
Choi Ara stayed nestled in Kim Il-woo's arms, her expression subtly conflicted.
Half a day ago I was holding her mom, now the daughter. Nice.
Kim Il-woo subtly compared the mother-daughter skin textures in his mind, indulging in lewd fantasies. Oblivious that she was cradled in a beast's arms, Choi Ara clutched at my shirt, her heart still thumping wildly as she mouthed the lingering feel of those lips from moments ago.
Despite the drama, they safely submitted Choi Ara's leave application and headed home.
"..."
A strange tension hung between the three on the way back, but no one broke it first.
"Ara, you're back...?"
Lee Seo-yoon, resting at home, came to greet her daughter but trailed off at the sight of the man. Kim Il-woo just grinned at her working mouth, saying nothing more to rub it in.
"Yeah."
Choi Ara, drained from yet another traumatic university ordeal, looked utterly deflated.
"I'm tired. Gonna rest in my room."
As Choi Ara headed to her room with those words, Park Jun-hyun followed, saying he had something to say. Lee Seo-yoon hurried after her daughter too, but my looming presence at the door irked her.
"Slept well? Looks like your legs don't give out anymore."
"You...!"
Lee Seo-yoon recoiled at his blatant sexual harassment, glaring daggers to shut him up.
"I'm beat too, so I'll head out for today..."
Bam!
Suddenly, a loud crash erupted from Choi Ara's room where she and Park Jun-hyun had gone. Lee Seo-yoon and Kim Il-woo, locked in standoff at the door, whipped their gazes toward it.
"Ara!"
Lee Seo-yoon bolted into Ara's room first, with Kim Il-woo right behind.
"Let go...! Let goooo!!! Let me goooo!!!"
"Why?! Tell me! Why him and not me?!"
What Kim Il-woo walked into was a scene beyond imagination—a total shitshow. Park Jun-hyun was pinning Choi Ara down like he was about to assault her, while ashen-faced Lee Seo-yoon sat frozen, too shocked to even scream.
"No idea what's going on, but gotta peel that fucker off first."
Kim Il-woo was possessive as hell. With Lee Seo-yoon and motel clerk Kang Jeong-min's threesome, he'd dominated and made sure to use condoms with Park. Unforeseen bullshit like this was enough to make his blood boil.
"Get off her, you fucking dog!"
The bizarre scene almost looked reversed—boyfriend and childhood friend swapped. Shoving Park Jun-hyun off as he crushed her, the rage-blinded man roared like a beast and lunged.
Thwack!
"Crazy bastard?!"
Like how even a small person can drag you down drowning, Park Jun-hyun unleashed insane strength, reason obliterated.
This is bad... way bad.
After an all-nighter of exertion and the university fiasco draining his stamina, brawling with another guy was tough.
"Haa...! Haa...! Haa...!"
Choi Ara's panic had flared again; she huddled in the corner, gasping in terror.
"Ara!"
As the two men tangled in a fight, Lee Seo-yoon snapped to and rushed to hug her daughter, checking for injuries. Even in her mother's arms, the panic wouldn't subside, burning her up inside.
Can't breathe.
Choi Ara sucked in air endlessly, yet it felt insufficient, her panting worsening. Watching her childhood friend and boyfriend roll on the floor through blurring vision only made her breathing rougher.
"Haak! Haak! Haak!"
In soul-crushing terror that she'd suffocate, Choi Ara suddenly recalled the university incident. In her near-death panic, she lunged at the nearest person—her mom—and kissed her.
"Mmph?!"
Lee Seo-yoon froze under her daughter, clueless what was happening.
The noise of Choi Ara shoving her mom down drew the eyes of the two men grappling on the floor to the source.
"Huh...?"
"What...?"
Both men stiffened mid-fight at the absurd sight.
"Mmph... mm... mmmph..."
From the mother-daughter's overlapped lips leaked muffled, oddly sticky moans. Lee Seo-yoon trembled visibly, unable to push her daughter away or do anything, pure panic on her face.
As the kiss dragged on, Choi Ara suddenly bolted upright.
"Haa...! Haa...! Haa...!"
"Puha...?! A-Ara...?"
Choi Ara still panted raggedly, scanning blankly around, while Lee Seo-yoon's bewildered call hung empty in the air after the forced kiss.
Staggering, Choi Ara approached the tangled men. Grabbing Park Jun-hyun's head—who was straddling and pinning Kim Il-woo—she suddenly kissed him too.
"Mmph?!"
"??!!"
Lee Seo-yoon and Kim Il-woo froze again at the sudden couple PDA.
"Mmph...!! Mmph, mmmph...?!"
Park Jun-hyun was just as flustered, moaning muffledly through the kiss until, like before, her lips pulled away without warning.
"Haa...! Haa...! Haa...!"
"..."
Only Choi Ara's harsh gasps echoed in the silent room. Shoving Park Jun-hyun aside like an annoyance, she climbed atop the fallen Kim Il-woo and kissed him the same way.
"Mmph..."
Caught off guard despite suspecting, he couldn't stifle a muffled groan entirely.
The soft lip feel from before returned. Sweet peach-scented body warmth and ragged breaths transmitted vividly.
"Mmph... mm... chup, churp..."
Unlike with Lee Seo-yoon and Park Jun-hyun, this kiss was long and deep. Kim Il-woo went along with her rampage, clueless what the hell was happening.
With her atop him now, it was the total opposite of when he'd raped her. Matching her fierce, devouring lip clashes, how long did the kiss last? Suddenly, she slumped like a puppet with cut strings, collapsing with her face buried in his chest.
"Sh-she fell asleep...?"
Park Jun-hyun's panicked voice confirmed Choi Ara's state, echoing through the room.
Like an anxious child clutching a parent's hem, she gripped Kim Il-woo's shirt tight in sleep.
"..."
The tiny room, battered by the unforeseen storm, held three stunned people—breath held, frozen in confusion.