Perfect Hypnosis
The cafe was about half full with students who'd brought their laptops and textbooks to study. They'd all filter out soon enough, though — it was only a matter of time.
Jingle~.
"Welcome~."
The greeting came in time with the bell. My eyes met Lee So-eun's — the cafe manager — so I dipped my head in return.
"Hello."
"Ah! You're here. Come on in."
It was only my second time seeing her, but that voice of hers was genuinely gentle, and every movement she made was unhurried. There was a kind of ease in everything she did — a woman who had all the time in the world.
The other part-timer had already clocked out, from the looks of it. I pulled on a vest in the back, grabbed an apron, and stepped out. Lee So-eun smiled and gave a little shrug of her shoulders.
"Shall we start learning, then?"
"Ah — yes."
Her smile made my chest tighten before I even realized it. It was that kind of smile — mature, unguarded, the smile of a woman well into her thirties who knew exactly how to look at a man.
"You know the types of coffee, at least?"
"Ah... yeah..."
"Hehe. You don't, do you."
I stood beside her taking notes, studying as hard as I could. I had to work if I wanted a paycheck, and I needed a paycheck if I wanted to keep the App Subscription Fee paid.
As the hours wore on, the customers trickled out. By around eleven, most of the students were already gone.
"Alright, let's start cleaning up."
"It's not even midnight yet..."
"Aaah, don't you worry about that."
I wrung out a wet rag and mopped the floor. She wiped down the equipment she'd been using behind the counter. By the time we finished, it was about ten to twelve.
"Now then — get ready."
Lee So-eun said it with a smile, and I had to tilt my head.
"Ready for... what?"
She stowed the cleaning supplies in the cupboard and pulled out a stack of takeout cups.
"We've got a lot to sell."
"...?"
The second the clock hit midnight, students poured in all at once, as if someone had flipped a switch.
"Caramel macchiato."
"Americano, please."
"Two frappuccinos."
The University Library had just closed, and everyone was coming this way for coffee on their way out. We weren't a brand-name chain, which meant we could sell a lot of volume at a cheap price.
"W-wow... that's a lot of people."
The whole rush lasted maybe ten, fifteen minutes, but it was my first time going through it, and it left me drained.
"Of course~. There's a private study library right behind us."
"Ah..."
The thought that crossed my mind was that there were a lot of kids who actually studied hard. Compared to me, anyway.
The days were the same work on a loop. The nights, too — learning the job at the cafe, nothing out of the ordinary. With one exception.
"Ah — don't forget on your way in. Please."
"...I know."
When I finished my shift and headed over, her car was already waiting in the parking lot. That had been my "request" — that she come by every night at midnight for a counseling session.
"What color bra are you wearing today?"
"...Black."
"Could I see it? Please."
I didn't even look at her when I said it. A few days of this and I'd already gotten used to the routine.
I set my things down and looked at the teaching assistant. She really did have a voluptuous body. Even in the sweatpants-and-hoodie combo she'd been lounging around the house in, you could tell. If anything, the casual clothes made it more obvious.
Rustle.
She slowly unzipped the hoodie, revealing a white T-shirt underneath. Then she lifted the shirt with her hands, and a black bra came into view.
"Could I touch it? Just once?"
"...Sure."
Another step forward: I didn't even have to tack "please" onto the end of every sentence anymore. The more I used the hypnotic suggestions, the stronger they got — now a question was all it took.
Ssshk.
The rough outer fabric of the bra registered against my palm.
I swallowed.
This was the first time I'd actually touched a bra like this. How much work had I put in over the past week just to get to this request? I'd been dropping by constantly, issuing petty little commands whenever I had a spare moment — find me a pen, please; show me your socks, please; look up my student ID number, please. Thanks to all that, she accepted this without a hint of dissonance.
I squeezed, putting some force into my palm, and I saw the teaching assistant flinch.
"Take the shirt off too. Please."
"..."
Instead of answering, she slowly pulled the T-shirt off. I could tell by instinct. She was fully assimilated into the hypnosis now.
Time for the last one.
I took out my phone and opened the app. An unlit candle appeared on the screen, and beneath it, a number: [1].
Once I used this, the free trial was over. From here on out, I'd have to pay.
"Could you look at this for three seconds?"
I tapped hypnosis, and the candle flared to life. The light went out of the teaching assistant's eyes as she stared at it. The moment her focus dissolved, I slowly waved the phone. Her face turned, tracking the flame.
...I already know what the last hypnosis is going to be.
I had the final command decided. I needed a robot who would make the rest of my college life comfortable — someone who'd obey commands, not requests.
"What is your name?"
"...Lee Dahye..."
"And your age?"
"Twenty-nine..."
I'd developed a habit of running a quick personal inventory after putting someone under.
"Your cup size?"
"...D..."
Even just looking at that black bra, they were beautiful — genuinely large. I'd never seen breasts this big in my life.
Now it was time to implant the suggestions. The timer was counting down, same as always, but I wasn't nervous the way I used to be.
"When you hear my voice, your heart races. Is that correct?"
I asked it as a test this time — to see if the previous suggestion was still in place.
"...Yes..."
The fact that she granted my requests at all owed a lot to that fluttering-heart effect. But from this point on, I was going to make her completely mine.
"Good. You are in love with me."
"...Love..."
Unfocused pupils. A voice with no strength in it.
"However, being in love with me is deeply embarrassing, so you want to hide it from other people."
"...Love... embarrassing..."
Her lips were working soundlessly. There was a reason I'd structured the last suggestion this way. If people at school found out I was close with a teaching assistant, they might start watching both of us. And to keep using this app, I couldn't afford to get close to anyone — I had to stay an outsider. A person with no presence at all.
"However, because you love me, any command or request I make becomes something you must obey, no matter what."
"...Command... request..."
Her face was almost painfully easy to read. I packed in a few other suggestions too, covering anything that might become a problem later.
Using the Hypnosis App on the trial version, I'd figured a few things out. The first hypnosis didn't pack much of a punch. The second one got you about halfway — meaning any command would work so long as it didn't clash with the subject's environment or cut directly against their values. And the third... my guess was that the hypnosis I'd planted would take first priority over any environment, any interference, anything at all.
The timer hit zero. The candle went out.
Perfect Hypnosis
A subscription is required for further use.
₩400,000 / month
The text faded, and something new appeared in its place.
If a subscription is not purchased, all trial-version hypnosis will be deleted after one month.
Enough for exactly one person. And even that one person was on a countdown if I didn't pay up.
"Don't worry. I'll make sure it goes through."
I put the phone away. The teaching assistant's pupils returned to normal, and she looked at me. The moment our eyes met, she turned her head away.
The old suggestions are still in there, then.
I smiled as I spoke.
"Take the bra off for me."
"...Ah — okay."
She looked flustered. But she didn't register anything as strange.
Click.
The hook came undone, and a pair of plump, full breasts spilled free, nipples a flushed rose-red. I swallowed hard.
"The sweatpants too. Take those off."
She didn't even find it odd that I'd switched to talking down to her. That "hypnosis complete" on the screen earlier — this was what it meant.
Complete dominion over one person.
The teaching assistant covered her chest, looking embarrassed, and asked in a voice a little gentler than before:
"So... what is this counseling, anyway?"
The counseling suggestion I planted last time is still paying off, then.
I stood up and dropped my pants.
"Lately, whenever I think about you, TA, this thing just keeps getting hard."
There it was — bigger than most guys my age — pointing straight at the teaching assistant's face.