Chapter 29
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 29
Chapter Title: Scenario 4: Portfolio
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The omitted part before the word "BFF" was in Seoul.
Thinking about it, that made sense.
After all, I'd only gone back to my hometown occasionally over the past seven years.
"If you ever feel uncomfortable, just say the word. I don't want to film if it means ruining things between you two."
I whispered even more softly.
U Dayoung simply stroked my back without a word.
I held her in my arms, steeped in emotion, for a few minutes.
Being naked in the arms of a male friend was already a weird situation, no matter what we did.
"Was that too cringy?"
When I asked, U Dayoung shook her head from within my embrace.
"No, it's just... You've always shown me your carefree side..."
"I'm overdoing it, huh? But I can be serious when it counts."
"I know~."
I tilted my head down slightly to look at U Dayoung. She looked back into my eyes.
Breathing in the musty, worn smell of the motel blanket, I slowly drew closer to her.
In this atmosphere, a kiss would have been entirely possible.
But I veered off at the last moment and pressed my lips to her forehead instead.
"No good. If we get too emotional, I might actually fall for you. Let's keep it to forehead kisses. As friends."
U Dayoung flinched as my words snapped her back to reality.
"Ah, y-yeah."
As expected, if we'd kept going like that, we could have gone all the way.
Not because of the scenario, but the mood itself.
There was meaning in watching her change, slowly but surely, as the work piled up.
'Teasing her is fun.'
I'd never felt anything beyond friendship for her in seven years; a few rounds of sex wouldn't magically create that.
"Mm... Should we wash up first?"
After all, we'd been moving since morning, and the smell of sweat clung to our bodies.
U Dayoung lifted her arm to sniff herself and nodded slightly.
U Dayoung.
Shhhhhh.
This old motel took quite a while for the hot water to kick in.
I soaked my hair and body under the warm stream, lost in thought.
"...Just now..."
If Nam Siu hadn't stopped, I really might have kissed him.
With real emotion behind it.
"No, Woohyun... I can't betray him like that..."
Cheating on the person I loved was unthinkable.
I'd always cursed people out for it whenever I saw it in the media.
"What am I even... Haah..."
No matter how caught up in the mood I was, the fact that I'd nearly kissed him tenderly made me shudder.
"It was all... just for the shoot..."
Everything before had been excused as filming or doing it for my boyfriend—I'd lost count.
Shhhhh.
Drip, drip.
Water streamed down my body.
I pulled out the shower supplies I'd packed in my bag and started washing.
Since this was a three-day, two-night business trip for scouting, packing them was a given.
"Come to think of it..."
A doubt crept in—did we really need to share a room?—but another thought surfaced from the corner of my mind, burying it.
"Right... it was for the portfolio. Sigh."
I let out a deep breath and caught sight of the mirror. Wiping away the steam revealed my face.
As I brushed my damp long hair aside, my pale forehead came into view.
Stroke.
I rubbed my forehead with my finger.
I never expected to see such a vulnerable side from Nam Siu, who was always so flippant.
"Yeah... I should be nicer to Siu..."
He'd always shown me his bright side, but he had his own soft spots too.
Immersion: 74%
Discomfort: 41%
Discomfort had spiked quite a bit.
I glanced toward the bathroom. The sound of the shower was still clear.
"Sigh... Did it go up from that hill earlier...?"
Still, the high immersion was comforting.
She was definitely agonizing in the shower right now.
Not falling in love with me, but thinking she should be a better friend.
"If I make her fall head over heels... it'll be a huge headache after the scenario ends."
I couldn't risk Kim Woohyun catching on.
Better to disguise it as friendship.
The kind where I do it because we're friends.
Drip.
As soon as the water stopped, I closed the scenario book and shoved it to the bottom of my bag.
"Time to prep the interview, then."
I plugged in the camera—battery at half—and grabbed a towel to wait.
Click.
U Dayoung emerged, towel-wrapping her damp hair, and met my eyes.
"Hey, don't look."
"You're the one walking out naked. You're checking me out too."
"S-still embarrassing~."
"What's there to be shy about between friends?"
I gave a wry smile, complicating her feelings further.
Squeak.
The bed springs groaned as I stood.
Grabbing my towel to head in, I playfully smacked U Dayoung's butt as she stood there.
"Hey! That's Woohyun's."
"I know~. Just borrowing for shoots."
"Am I an object now?"
She pouted cutely, so I shrugged with a sly grin.
"More precious than an object."
Since it kept things from getting boring.
Thud.
I entered the bathroom, soaked under the warm water, and came out refreshed.
As I toweled my hair, she sat at the rickety vanity, applying light makeup.
"Do you really need makeup?"
"It's not makeup, it's basic skincare. Skincare. Don't you know anything about women?"
"...I know women's bodies pretty well."
"What're you saying~. Ugh, every time you open your mouth."
I kept toweling my hair and sat on the bed. Through the mirror, U Dayoung said,
"No skin lotion?"
"I have some, but it's a hassle to dig out."
"You'll regret that later. Come here."
U Dayoung beckoned me.
I trotted over like a kid, and she held out her palm.
"...?"
I looked puzzled, and she gazed up at me.
"Hand."
"Why my hand?"
I extended it, and she grabbed it, squirting something thinner than semen onto it.
"Rub this in first."
"...Sigh. I'm a real man; I don't need this stuff."
"Just do it~."
I spread it on my face, and next she spritzed something watery.
Squirt, squirt.
After several products, she reached out.
"Come closer. Neck and behind ears too."
"Isn't face enough?"
"You gotta care for the neck too."
I crouched beside her, and she personally applied to my neck and behind my ears.
This was straight from the scenario.
Nonstop sex would wreck my body in no time.
Not just for guys—women too.
Even if she wanted to, swelling down there would make it impossible, so breaks were needed.
And during those breaks, slipping in synopses to grow our intimacy was essential.
"Done. What friend does this? Impressive, right?"
"Seriously, how do you even use all this? Amazing."
Meaningless chatter, but these little talks were key to building closeness.
She unwrapped the towel from her hair and started blow-drying.
Vrrrrm.
Meanwhile, I opened the scenario book to check immersion.
Immersion: 78%
Discomfort: 37%
Immersion up, discomfort down. My instincts were spot on.
"Whatcha looking at?"
She set down the dryer and asked.
"Ah, checking tomorrow's scouting spots. Might need a drone for the actual shoot."
"Yeah? We done scouting today?"
"Yeah, got all the angles framed. Just need to organize back at the office."
U Dayoung spun around to face me, sincere.
"You're really working hard."
"Huh? Isn't that obvious? How do you think Woohyun scored this gig? It succeeds, we eat."
"..."
Instead of replying, she pursed her lips, then smiled softly and resumed drying her hair.
Vrrrrm.
I approached her drying her hair and took the dryer.
"Gimme. My turn to dry yours."
"Suddenly...?"
"Yeah, you did my skincare."
At this point, calling us lovers wouldn't be far off.
Vrmm.
I gently grasped her wet hair and dried it slowly.
U Dayoung entrusted her hair to me, shy but relaxed.
Whenever she sneakily checked my face in the mirror, I'd flash a grin back through it.
No need for talk while drying hair.
"You’re surprisingly good at this...?"
"It’s just drying; what’s to it?"
I responded nonchalantly after finishing and setting the dryer aside.
"Yup~."
She flopped onto the bed cutely and looked at me.
"What's next on the schedule, PD-nim~?"
"Mm, interview video this time."
She shifted from lying prone to sitting properly.
"What kind?"
"The daytime stuff goes in the portfolio; this is for the overview. Like, who you are and what you do. You know."
I fixed the camera lens to the bed, charging cable attached.
"Questions are straight from the attached file in the proposal."
"Really? I didn't see it."
"Yeah? Didn’t know if you'd do it then."
I set a chair behind the camera and held the question sheet.
Her high immersion had her focused.
"Start with a greeting. 'U Dayoung, close friend here.' Like that."
"Ah, okay okay. Got it. Wait—shouldn't I do makeup then?"
"No. It says bare-faced."
I stopped her from dressing.
"Naked. For the gender sensitivity thing—clothes defeat the purpose."
"Ah... right."
With immersion high, she got it without explanation.
I held up the sheet and signaled her to prepare.
Snap.
I finger-snapped, and she stared into the camera, high energy.
"Hello! U Dayoung, your close friend here~!"
"I'm Nam Siu! Doing an interview today. Dayoung~."
U Dayoung beamed at me.
"First, what's your name? Asking even though I know~."
"U Dayoung~!"
"Got it. Age?"
"27!"
Light questions at first, to ease into the interview.
"Hometown?"
"Mm... Seoul~! Parents too!"
"Ooh, nice. Walk me through elementary to university?"
The first page was basic info.
For my personal collection.
Flip.
Now the real questions.
"Got a boyfriend?"
"Yes! I do!"
"Nice. His name?"
"Kim Woohyun! Do we need this?"
When I said curiosity, she playfully pretended to punch with tiny fists.
"Haha, first time when? First sex."
"Uh, that... Mm... College? Ah, right—before Woohyun enlisted!"
"His first too?"
"Yeah, this a question?"
I shook my head, and she puffed her cheeks.
"Experiences besides boyfriend?"
"...Uh..."
"See? It’s a question."
"...Yes! My close friend Nam Siu. No one else."
I ramped up the intensity gradually.
"You orgasm a lot with your close friend—usually that sensitive?"
"Uh... No... Not really."
"Be clear."
"No, I'm not that sensitive."
Next: first orgasm.
"That... During the close friend shoot, the dildo review... Felt it first time."
"Mm, got it. Next: fuck buddies with current partner?"
"F-fuck buddies? No! Absolutely not! Only during shoots... s-sex friends."
Hotter than just fuck buddies. Sex for work only.
"Videos show various plays—are those regulars?"
"Eek? Ah, no... Only with Nam Siu during shoots..."
Things stirred below as I sat.
"Two questions left. Between boyfriend and Nam Siu, who's better in bed?"
"...That’s really a question?"
"Look, right here."
Of course it was—I prepped it.
"Uh... Nam Siu’s... better, I think. Experience, probably."
She rambled, embarrassed.
"Last one: between boyfriend and Nam Siu, who felt better, better chemistry?"
She pondered silently. I waited; finally, in a tiny voice,
"H-honestly... Better with Siu. Chemistry... not sure. Used to be boyfriend... but..."
"Used to be?"
"Yeah... But shooting close friend stuff... feels better with you now... No! Still love boyfriend more!"
"But my sex is better?"
U Dayoung flushed beet red and wailed.
"Hey! That’s not a question!"
"Curious. Better sex with me than Woohyun? Just answer this~."
"...Y-yes."
Perfect—camera caught it all.
"Good, interview over."
Short and sweet, wrapped it.
"Hungry? Let's grab dinner."
"What about you?"
"Ate already."
I saved the video and prepped to head out for food.