The Cruel Reality of a Succubus’s Dream
Wait, was meeting Yerim all just a dream?
“...Op- ...pa! ...Wake up!”
I could hear someone calling me from far away. Who was it? “Oppa, what are you doing! ...Wake up!”
I jolted awake. It felt like I’d been sleeping while standing with my arms crossed. The menu board in the kitchen had over twenty orders backed up. Soon, Yerim walked in from the hall, looking like she was about to cry.
“Kangmin-oppa! The orders haven’t been coming out for a while now—were you sleeping?”
“No, I wasn’t!” I stood up, wiping the corner of my mouth. What was that? When did I fall asleep? I felt like I’d been having an incredibly erotic and pleasant dream just a moment ago.
Wiping the cobwebs from my muddled brain, I looked at the pile of orders. Strawberry latte, five-grain crunch, misugaru, Oreo Frappuccino. What a pain in the ass to make! As I scrambled to keep up, Yerim stepped into the kitchen to help. She squeezed strawberry syrup into cups, tossed crushed Oreos into the blender, and carried out the finished drinks as soon as they were ready.
“Oppa, is something tiring you out?” Yerim asked with a worried look once the rush had settled down. I shook my head, but something felt off. I had this distinct feeling that the person I usually worked part-time with wasn’t Yerim, but Yeongseon-nuna. Wait, who did I work with again? But the thought slipped out of my mind in an instant. I work with Yerim—what am I even thinking?
Yerim approached me as I struggled to regain my composure. “Oppa, do you want to just leave early today? You look a bit strange.” She made eye contact and placed her hand on my forehead to check my temperature. Ugh, this girl! The problem with Yerim is that she initiates skinship so casually, without a single ulterior motive! I’d told her to fix that habit before, and I could vividly recall her scratching her head shyly, saying, “It’s just a habit, I can’t help it.” It was because she kept doing things like this that I kept getting the wrong idea!
“Yeah, I think I should go home early and get some rest.”
Suddenly, Yerim pouted, looking sulky. What was that?
“I guess you aren’t very curious about my answer, Oppa.”
Answer? What answer? “You confessed to me last time... and said you’d give me an answer this evening. Don’t you remember?”
“What? No, no! I remember! See, I’m totally fine. No fever. Not even tired. Don’t worry!” I crunched on the ice in a nearby cup to prove how healthy I was. That’s right. She said she’d answer my confession! I almost forgot!
Yerim went back to the counter. I secretly pinched my cheek in the kitchen. It hurt! Damn it! What was going on? I definitely... I definitely had an incredibly intense dream. One where Yerim was naked. It was hard to look her straight in the eye.
“This is weird... I definitely had a super erotic dream.”
I pushed the fuzzy memory aside and worked hard. But I couldn’t focus properly. Every time I looked at Yerim at the counter, I felt something erotic. Strangely, I kept finding myself staring at her slender waist, the plump line of her hips wrapped in jeans, and her G-cup breasts hidden beneath her sleeveless turtleneck. Under those jeans, I imagined she was wearing nothing but a tiny, incredibly lewd black lace slip. No, that couldn’t be right.
I shook my head and waited for the shift to end.
“Oppa! Let’s go!”
Once the shift was over, Yerim loosened the hair tie she’d used for her ponytail and greeted me brightly. Her hair cascaded down like a curtain. I shook my head, feeling dazed, and followed her.
The dark alleyway. We had to pass through this long stretch to get to the main road where the bus stop was. Yerim always told me she was too scared and asked me to walk her home. She said it was too long and dark. But when I was in love with Yerim, this alleyway felt far too short. I just wished this path would never end. We were already halfway there.
I gulped, waiting for Yerim’s answer. There was a single streetlight in the middle of the path. She had been pouring out a constant stream of words—*“Part-time is great, but there are just too many customers—why did you fall asleep today, Oppa? Are you really that tired?”*—but as we passed the streetlight, she fell silent.
Yerim’s face, standing between the streetlight’s glow and the darkness, was bright red. After a moment that felt like time had stopped, Yerim reached out and interlaced her fingers with mine. My heart hammered so hard I thought it might burst. I could feel my own ears turning red.
“Um... I’ve been thinking about it ever since you confessed, Oppa. But I think you’re a truly good person, and I wanted to try believing in you.”
I swallowed hard. No way. Then—
“You’re the first boyfriend I’ve ever had. Please take good care of me, Oppa.”
Yerim! She was my girlfriend! I wanted to jump up and down and make a scene, but I held it in. But I guess I couldn’t hide the expression on my face. Seeing my reaction, Yerim shyly hooked her arm through mine. “Are you that happy?”
“I am! And... I had a really scary nightmare yesterday. A dream where you rejected me, and, um... people around me were saying nasty things, like how you weren’t a virgin... It felt so real, I think I’m still confused.”
At that, Yerim stopped walking. A chill ran down my spine. What was this?
“Oppa, that wasn’t a dream.”
Yerim wore a smile as wicked and seductive as a demon’s. I panicked and looked around. I pinched my cheek. It hurt. The ground was asphalt, and it felt gritty when I rubbed my foot against it. I grabbed Yerim’s arm, and it felt soft and warm. Was this all a dream?
“How can something this real—”
“Dreams are the domain of the succubus, after all.”
Yerim smiled sweetly and kissed my forehead. Suddenly, the streetlight flickered out, and the ground beneath our feet cracked open. We plummeted into the abyss. Falling toward a bottomless cliff—
“AAAAAAH!”
I screamed and bolted upright in bed. Charlotte had burrowed under the covers, and the blanket was wriggling. She had already stripped off my pants and was kissing me here and there, whispering in my ear.
“Why do you keep thinking about Yerim? Your dreams are nothing but Yerim. And what you want is just holding hands, hugging, and walking her to the bus stop? Even elementary school kids go further than that these days.”
“Then... is everything from the part where Yerim accepted my confession just a dream? How can reality be so cruel? This can’t be! A man could go insane like this!”
Charlotte grumbled, but she kept kissing my thighs diligently. At the same time, she kept belittling Yerim. “Yerim acting all innocent is the real nightmare. She’s a total slut, and you’re just being fooled by her.”
Still unable to shake the lingering feeling of the dream where Yerim accepted my confession, I answered sullenly, “That can’t be...”
But Charlotte kept poking at my heart. “That’s why people call you a pushover. You’re going to end up cleaning up someone else’s leftovers. Yerim might already be pregnant. And after she tells you it’s a safe day and you can finish inside, she’ll cry to you later saying she’s carrying your child, and a soft-hearted pushover like you will...”
“STOOOOP—!”
My heart hurt so much I thought I might die! Charlotte giggled.
“So just forget about that woman and play with me. If you date Yerim, she’ll act like the most modest woman in the world and won’t even let you touch her. Don’t you like me better than a lying slut? I only sleep with men in dreams, but I’m a virgin who’s never slept with a real man. You’re my first, Oppa.”
I don’t really want to right now! My brain, having suffered extreme psychological warfare, was exhausted. No, more than that—how did she manage to create the Yerim I wanted inside a dream?
“Do spiders need to learn how to build a web to build one? I’ve been able to do it since I was born. Don’t ask me how. The dream world is the domain of the succubus; I can read anything and create anything exactly as you want it.”
“No, if you can do that, why bother having sex with me in reality! Can’t you just do what I want in the dream?”
But Charlotte shook her head. “I don’t want to. The magical energy I can get from a dream is less than 10%. There’s a limit to how many erotic dreams you can have in a day. Why would I do that when I can get ten times more energy by having sex with you directly?”
I slumped. It seemed like Charlotte just found the sex I wanted in my dreams to be a total hassle. No, she wouldn’t even give me what I wanted!
“Then why did you make me have that dream?”
“To figure out your tastes. But it wasn’t any help at all. I’m confident in sexual services, but I can’t pull off acting innocent.”
Charlotte sighed deeply and threw her body next to mine. The bed springs pushed her back for a second before settling. She lay next to me, staring straight at me. “So, do you hate me now?”
No, that wasn’t it... The way she spoke with sadness in her eyes was exactly like Yerim. I mumbled, looking over Yerim’s—no, Charlotte’s—naked body.
“I know you don’t hate me, Oppa. The contract hasn’t heated up yet. You want to enjoy both the pure and the perverted sides, right?”
She kissed my neck, her body pressed tight against mine. “I’ll try my best with the pure stuff later, so can we do the perverted stuff first?”
Damn it, how am I supposed to resist this! In the end, I knew we’d be having sex from the morning until the bed springs creaked. I sighed and climbed on top of her.
“I love you, Kangmin-oppa...”
The succubus spoke with Yerim’s face. I couldn’t resist. No matter what anyone said, Yerim was the woman I loved deep in my heart. For now, I had no choice but to do as she wanted, slowly pushing my morning-hardened cock into her...