Turned Into the Delinquents' Hideout
"I'll head in."
"Yeah, good work~"
After finishing my shift at the convenience store, I stepped outside into the distinctive chill of dawn brushing against my skin.
The ten-minute walk home after work was the one time of day I could spend without a single complicated thought.
Working felt rewarding, somehow.
People really do need to keep moving.
I shoved my hands in my pockets and quickened my pace.
"Ugh, it's supposed to be spring soon, but the weather just won't warm up."
Freezing my ass off. It felt like it was getting warmer, but after the rain, it was still cold as hell.
I hurried home and stepped inside. The living room reeked of booze the moment I entered.
Highballs and beer cans cluttered the table, along with a half-eaten box of chicken.
Beyond that, three girls were tangled up on the sofa and floor.
The sight of them sprawled out defenselessly, their thin clothes revealing glimpses of skin here and there, drew a sigh from me automatically.
"Haa…."
I was used to it by now.
After two years of seeing this every single day, immunity was inevitable.
It was kind of sad that the image of three half-naked girls tangled together no longer turned me on.
"Mmngh."
Jo Ayoung, lying on the floor, stirred, and her shirt rode up halfway, exposing the underside of her breast. "Ahem."
Correction. It still turned me on, but I'd just gotten a little more used to it.
Truth be told, I jerked off to them as a side dish every night.
Imagining that one day I'd change, pinning them down and crushing them beneath me.
Though when that day would come seemed awfully distant.
"I told you to clean up before bed. The food's gonna go bad."
I nudged a blocking thigh with my foot and picked up the chicken box. The soft give under my sole gave me a tiny sense of superiority.
A petty act of rebellion I could only pull off when they were asleep—something I couldn't even dream of when they were awake.
"Oh, Eun-seong's back?"
As I crumpled cans into a trash bag, the bathroom door opened. I yanked my foot away and looked up.
Kang Yena. One of the invaders who'd stormed my house.
She approached casually, her damp blonde hair wrapped in a towel.
Her freshly washed face, without a trace of makeup, was so stunning it hurt to look at.
"Yeah, just now. Looks like you guys drank a lot yesterday."
"Yeah, Hyeji was whining, so I had to comfort her."
"Again?"
"It's Hyeji, for fuck's sake. You know how she is."
She smirked and grabbed the hairdryer.
Her rough mouth, totally at odds with her bright looks, was like a tattoo proving her flashy delinquent days.
Whiiiir—
While the dryer filled the house with noise, I quietly kept cleaning up.
Living with beauties might sound like heaven to others, but in reality, I was just their nanny, handling the messes of these immature brats.
How the hell did I end up like this?
After my parents passed, the silence of the empty house had been unbearable.
When the delinquent girl who'd used me as her errand boy since middle school brazenly barged in asking for a place to crash, it was my fault for not turning her away.
I'd just craved human warmth.
One day turned into two, and before I knew it, she'd invited more freeloaders until there were four of them.
Attachments are scary. This chaos had become part of my daily routine.
"Sorry about always leaving it to you. Watch the girls for me—my shift's running late."
"Sure. See you later."
Yena, already dressed to head out, said it while slipping on her shoes.
She said she was sorry, but dumping the cleaning on me was a given.
The toxic connection that started in middle school still bound us as adults—delinquents and loser, an invisible caste system.
"At least she's saying sorry now. Count my blessings."
It had taken a full year and a half to hear those words.
Unimaginable back when she first strutted into my house like she owned it.
Now that she was an adult earning money, she must've realized how huge a perk it was to freeload in a big house for free.
I heard the front door close, then shook Jo Ayoung sprawled on the sofa.
"Ayoung, get up."
"Uuuugh… Perverted otaku. Just five more minutes."
"Go to bed properly. Sleeping like that will ruin your health."
"Ugh, such a hassle…."
Why the hell was I still cleaning up after these women as an adult?
Grumbling, I picked up the blanket from the floor and draped it over her shoulders.
Damn this attachment of mine.
***
"Hey, perverted otaku. You eat all the leftover chicken?"
"Yeah, I was hungry."
"Crazy. Look at you owning it. Couldn't hold out and scarfed it all? Pig?"
They'd sleep through me trying to wake them, but now it was my fault.
Jo Ayoung, still half-asleep, mindlessly opened and closed the fridge door while slipping a hand under her shirt to scratch her belly.
"Fuck, Ayoung. Stop scratching and go wash up. You're shedding dead skin everywhere."
"What dead skin, you psycho bitch? I'm super clean."
"Bullshit. Your hair's a greasy mess. Yeah, right."
Vroooom—
The air purifier in the corner of the living room screamed.
Song Jiyoung was squatting right in front of it, puffing e-cig smoke directly at it.
"I told you, blowing smoke straight at it will break it."
"From this? Then what's the point of this piece of shit? Totally fucking useless. Worthless junk."
Hoo.
Song Jiyoung exhaled indifferently and smacked the side of the air purifier with her palm.
Why was this hothead taking it out on an innocent machine? She never listened, as usual.
I'd bought her the e-cig to cut back on real cigarettes for health reasons, but her "considering us" by smoking in front of the purifier was ridiculous.
Who was gonna cover the filter costs, my ancestors?
"Aww, why hit the poor thing? That must hurt. Hoo~"
Jung Hyeji, lounging on the sofa, patted the purifier sympathetically and blew on it. My life, treated worse than a machine, was the pitiful one. If only they'd be that nice when smacking my back.
Well, Hyeji did it sometimes.
"Perverted otaku, make some ramen. Nothing beats your ramen for a hangover."
Jo Ayoung sidled up, hooked her arm in mine, and rubbed against me.
The soft pressure on my arm made my lips twitch up involuntarily.
No matter how much time passed, I could never get used to this violent volume.
The overwhelming softness of her braless fat mounds transmitted perfectly through two thin cotton tees.
"Hehe, Eun-seong~ Me too, pretty please. I want your thing~"
Hyeji plastered herself to my other arm.
Not quite as massive as Ayoung's, but her hefty breasts enveloped my left arm all the same.
My thing? Did this clueless meathead even know what she was implying?
Morning boob bombardment on both arms without mercy.
My brain melted by the squishiness, I nodded on instinct and fired up the induction cooker.
"God, this loser's grinning like an idiot just 'cause they stick to him."
Vroooom—
Song Jiyoung eyed me pitifully and blew out a long stream of smoke.
Tell me about it. I had no idea how I'd ended up like this. But any guy would lose his wits to their boob assaults.
Jo Ayoung watched my back as I boiled the water, flashed a victor's smile, and sank back into the sofa.
"Too easy."
"Huh? What'd you say, Ayoung?"
"Nothin'. You wouldn't get it, Hyeji."
Tricked again.
I knew Ayoung was sly, but I fell for it every time.
Couldn't help it. Men were designed to surrender to tits.
Instinct hardwired into our genes.
Making excuses to myself, I carried the ramen pot to the living room table.
"Whoa! Eun-seong ramen! Looks delicious. Thanks, Eun-seong~"
Hyeji beamed purely and latched onto my arm again.
"Whoa, Hyeji, don't shake—gonna spill."
"Oops, sorry~ Hehe."
Her innocent smile, one of the few kind to me, was my sole refuge.
Look how beautiful gratitude makes a woman—take notes, you arrogant bitches!
"What're you staring at?"
"Hurry up. Starving."
"Got it."
I lowered my eyes quietly and picked up the tongs.
They meekly held out their bowls, waiting to be served.
Wild horses who ran rampant otherwise, but at mealtime, they were lambs.
If only they listened this well all the time.
For this brief moment, I could almost believe I was the top dog in this house.
"Losers sure know how to nail ramen."
"Facts."
"Yeah yeah, Eun-seong's ramen is the best! Tastiest in the world!"
"That's gramps food."
Watching them slurp it down messily filled me with pride.
They say the greatest joy for a cook is people eating well.
I kinda got it now.
No, wait—wasn't this too much of a pushover mindset?
Couldn't live being used forever. I glanced at them and opened the conversation.
"So, what was the issue yesterday that had you all drinking so much?"
"That? Same old WWE shit. Hyeji bawling again."
"That's mean! Don't say it like that. I was serious!"
"That's why—it's not like you're dating the guy. Why care if he ignores you?"
"But it's sad when friends get awkward, right?"
Hyeji's face fell instantly.
Some thug must've said something to her again.
I played the fool just for them, but Hyeji was the real deal—a true pushover.
The easy girl, in other words.
Even I, after years as their shuttle, got her casual kindness, but she was kind to everyone—so in the world of hotshot guys, she was prime plaything material.
Not that I knew for sure, but probably. Obvious at a glance.
"Anyway, it was a misunderstanding. Good thing it's cleared up now."
Hyeji smiled brightly and slurped her noodles.
"Oh yeah, Eun-seong. For makeup, I wanna get him a gift. What's something guys like?"
"Why ask the perverted otaku? He'll just say figures or games."
"Yeah, losers and that guy live in different worlds. Gotta get the right stuff."
"Why~ Eun-seong's a guy too! He knows!"
"Pfft."
"A guy? That loser? Yeah, right."
In this damn house, that was my level of treatment.
I provided the house, cooked, even counseled their problems—and still, not seen as a man. Harmless existence.
Two years of cohabitation proved otaku-friendly delinquents were pure fantasy.
"No! Eun-seong's a guy too! I know it!"
"What do you know? Like you've done it with a loser."
"Haven't done it, but I saw! I saw it!"
Hyeji pouted and grumbled.
"…Saw what?"
I was curious too.
I'd barely been treated like a person, let alone a man—what the hell was she talking about?
Hyeji dropped the bomb on us curious stares with an innocent grin.
"Eun-seong's got a massive dick! With equipment like that, if he's not a man, what is he?!"
"What?"
"Huh?"
"Say that again?"
What the fuck was this nonsense?
Our peaceful morning shattered in an instant.