Academy Preparations
After that, the manager claimed me another five or six times. Unlike with Miho, I was wearing my necklace, so I could see her sanity slowly returning with each round.
"Hic! Hic!" She covered her eyes in shame as she slammed her hips down. One look at her told the whole story. At first, she'd locked eyes with me, flicking her tongue like she wanted to devour me whole. But now? She was clearly embarrassed, even from a glance.
Splurt... Spluuurt! I came hard, my body twitching as I spilled inside her. The manager clamped her thighs together, savoring the afterglow in silence.
"Manager?" This time, I figured her reason had fully returned. But she just shuddered, pressing her hands tighter over her face.
She'd definitely snapped out of it.
"Manager, let's talk this through calmly first..." I gripped her shoulders gently, ready to explain everything, but she bolted upright.
Drip... drip! The remnants of our mess trailed down, but she didn't care—she dashed into the storage room.
I followed, and there she was, pulling a long coat from the closet and wrapping it around herself.
"H-Hanjun... I'm sorry. I'm really, truly sorry!" Long coat dragging to her calves, she bowed deeply to me. Her face still flushed from the heat, she kept apologizing over and over.
"I must've lost my mind, doing that to you... to you... I'm... I'm just a crazy bitch." Her voice cracked as she pulled the coat's hood over her head, bundling herself up tight. Then she brushed past me and fled outside.
"Manager!" I reached for her, but she was already halfway out the door. She glanced back one last time.
"I'm sorry, Hanjun. I'm disappearing to the other side today anyway, so... just think of it as a nightmare and forget it." With that, she sprinted off at an incredible speed.
I stood there dazed, chasing her shadow with my eyes before looking down at the spot where I'd been. Milk and sticky saliva pooled on the floor.
"...Guess I'm gonna be late today." I sighed and headed for the cafe's cleaning supplies.
I scrubbed and wiped like mad, but that rich milk scent clung to my nose no matter what.
* *
I finally made it to school an hour late. Cleaning the cafe, heading home to change out of my milk-soaked uniform—it was inevitable.
My phone was flooded with texts and missed calls from Miho. I swapped shoes at breakneck speed and burst into class. Our homeroom teacher laughed heartily, joking, "Someone's gotta go soon, huh? Heading out already?" before letting me off easy.
But the real problem wasn't the teacher—it was Miho. She sat by the window in the back, glaring at me with half-lidded eyes.
I plopped into my seat, sweating bullets, and she whispered, "Hanjun, why're you late? I was worried."
"Uh... yeah? I overdid it this weekend and slept in. Sorry, Miho."
She eyed me suspiciously for a beat, then twitched her nose.
"But why do you smell so strongly like milk?"
"......"
I stayed silent, then flashed an awkward grin. "Tried to scarf down some cereal in a rush... spilled the milk."
Miho shot me another dubious look before bursting into a smirk. "What the hell, Hanjun. That's too cute."
She giggled, looping her arm around mine. Seemed she liked the milk smell—her nose twitched eagerly, occasionally nuzzling into me. Relieved I'd dodged that bullet, I made it through the rest of class unscathed.
* *
On the walk home from school, our usual trio—me and Kim Charyeok—picked up an extra.
"Hm-hmm~ hmm." Miho skipped alongside me, humming happily. She'd had a free afternoon slot and tagged along.
"Oom...! What a fine couple." Charyeok spotted her clinging to me and gave a thumbs-up.
Miho squealed and latched on tighter. "Really~? Hehehe. Hanjun, he says we're a perfect match!"
She looked up at me with those brown eyes, expectant. I managed an awkward smile and nodded.
"Not me, but yeah—you're the fairy here, Miho."
Her expression turned peculiar. "Charyeok, Hanjun's really never dated, right?"
"Yep. He'd push 'em away before letting 'em close."
"How does he..." Miho pressed her body flush against my arm. "...say all the prettiest things?"
A strange glint flickered in her upward gaze. For a split second, I flashed back to her red eyes, hypnotizing me before. My body jerked involuntarily, but she switched back to her cutesy smile like nothing happened, falling into step beside me.
Before long, we reached my place. A black van was parked out front. Recognizing it, the three of us approached—and the driver's door opened. Out stepped someone sipping coffee: Kim Jihye, head sorcerer of the Seoul branch.
Dark circles as always, she planted herself in front of us.
"Jihye unnie?" Miho blinked in confusion.
Kim Jihye set her coffee down wordlessly and fixed me with a stare. "Kang Hanjun. We need to talk. Come with me."
She spat it out and hopped back in the driver's seat. We exchanged awkward goodbyes, used to her bossy ways.
"See ya, Miho."
"Yeah! Work hard today, Hanjun." Miho glanced at my apartment building, counting floors on her fingers. She stopped at mine and beamed. "This is you...? I'll come visit sometime!"
With a bouncy wave, she headed off. Charyeok clapped my back a few times before trudging home. I watched them go, then slid into the passenger seat of the black van. Cigarette stench everywhere. Kim Jihye gripped the wheel and drove off.
I sorted my thoughts in silence before speaking up. "Yesterday... the necklace. You messed with it, right?"
She glanced at me, then grunted. "Yeah. My doing."
"Haa..."
Just as I'd suspected—Kim Jihye was the only one. No one else could've tampered with a necklace that binds itself tight just by wearing it, except a sorcerer like her.
I shot her a resentful look as I sighed. She chewed her cigarette and added, "Told you—deal with it. Gotta keep doing this."
"I get that, but..." I recalled my morning chat with the manager. She was heading overseas again for some big job she'd handled before. It'd seemed normal at first, but after seeing her youkai side? I got the real meaning now.
"More importantly... the manager's crossing to the other side today, right?"
"...Yeah."
Her quiet affirmation clicked it all together. She'd timed this knowing I'd meet the manager today.
"Urgh."
I wanted to gripe, but words failed me. Bluntly put, my constitution demanded I take youkai virgins to survive—and she'd helped with that.
I slumped against the door, sulking. She tacked on, "And once you're over there, you'll see Han Yuu."
"Huh? The manager...?"
She nodded. "Yeah. She's the school nurse at the Sorcery Youkai Academy you're enrolling in soon."
"The manager's the nurse...?"
My brain short-circuited. Ignoring my shock, she pulled up at the vacant lot where Charyeok and I had trained over the weekend. She strode out, beckoning me impatiently.
I stumbled after her in a daze. Lighting a cigarette, she said, "Shit situation lately. I tried not to touch Han Yuu since you two were close... but just in case, I acted on my own. Sorry about that."
Her gruff apology—for my sake, no less—left me no room to complain. I scratched my head. "...It's fine. I'll explain when I see her next."
She inhaled deeply on her cig, flicked her fingers with a snap.
"Good. Thanks. Now—use Jin Gang Ri Ling."
Out of nowhere, demanding sorcery. I asked what the hell, but she just waved me on dismissively.
She always acted annoyed, but she did it for me, so I focused despite my doubts.
"Hoo..."
I unclasped the necklace, took a deep breath. Felt the alien energy inside me, visualized in my mind: sun-baked water evaporating into shimmering steam, manifesting through me.
I thrust my hand forward, willing it. "Jin Gang Ri Ling."
As always, I meant to blast straight ahead—but this golden surge swept forward, clearly tracing its form as it went.
Unlike before, when it just ravaged everything indiscriminately, this one had shape.
"Wha... huh?"
I stood there blankly, registering the difference. Kim Jihye nodded beside me, satisfied.
"Figures. That damn talent of yours."
She trailed the fading Jin Gang Ri Ling, muttering under her breath.