Everyone's Plan Sounds Plausible
Remarkably enough, Riyeon drove me home without a fuss. She didn't try anything on the way, either—no groping me like she had that morning. She just quietly got me there.
I mean, seriously—my girl wasn't even touching my dick?
Though she might have. I was so exhausted I fell asleep with my mouth hanging open on the ride back, so maybe I just didn't notice.
Still, for Riyeon, it was the equivalent of an escort with zero interference and zero obsession.
"Oppa, you look awful. Go straight to sleep the second you get inside, okay?"
If Riyeon was worrying over me like that, what kind of wreck did I look like right now?
Out of gratitude and guilt I gave her a deep kiss, then got out of the car.
"What are you gonna do once you get home, Riyeon?"
"Mmm~ Probably thrash around alone trying to escape every last NTR thought until I pass out?"
"…Yeah, I feel pretty bad about that."
"It's fine, it's fine. Thinking about our week together makes the time fly."
It was a moving line, except the things we had done that week were anything but wholesome. The woman smiling so sweetly in front of me was the same one who had gushed all over my palm just yesterday.
I wanted to keep talking, but body and mind were both completely groggy. I waved to Riyeon and headed inside.
She rolled her window down and didn't move an inch. Only after I texted her that I was home, then followed it with a second message saying I had showered and was going to bed, did I hear the Genesis pull away outside.
If I told her I missed her, she would probably make an illegal U-turn and drive the wrong way just to get back here. I kind of wanted to try it, and I also really didn't. The guy who was supposed to keep her on the straight and narrow was the last person who should be tempting her into worse detours. That would be pure insanity.
"Hwaaah~!"
I dove onto the blankets. Living alone meant I had to spread them out myself before I could dive. Solo living was full of conveniences that came packaged with equal inconveniences.
I checked the time on my phone. We had left work right on the dot and Riyeon's car was so fast that it wasn't even eight yet. I had zero appetite. Just pure, crushing fatigue.
"Aigo… I should at least plug in the charger before I sleep…"
Wow. How wiped out was I that my eyes were already sliding shut even though I was lying on top of the covers instead of under them?
Normally I would have started the training plan I had prepared for once Riyeon got home. But that was something you did when you still had energy left.
"Riyeon, if you'd just let me sleep by one in the morning yesterday, I would've done it with you today…"
The only reason I said that out loud was the gut feeling that somewhere in my place she had left day-and-night eyes and ears watching me. The very fact that she had gone home so obediently was suspicious enough.
"Hwaaaaahm."
Ah, damn it. My eyes had closed. My lids were shut and I couldn't lift them again. The darkness felt way too comfortable.
If I slept now and woke up tomorrow, it would be Wednesday, right? Fuck, this week is dragging on forever.
That was probably the last thought I had before I blacked out.
And then I opened my eyes in the middle of the night.
I sometimes woke up at odd hours anyway, but the density of the darkness felt instinctively wrong. It was way too pitch-black.
"Hweooooh…"
I made a zombie noise and turned on my phone.
4:26 a.m.
By pure sleep hours I had gotten a solid eight-plus. My head wasn't heavy and my body felt charged. For someone who usually only managed six on weekdays, this was premium honey sleep.
But I had woken up way too early. Morning jog? Nah. I didn't feel like burning off the stamina I had just recovered before even clocking in.
Once my eyes adjusted to the dark, the familiar ceiling came into view. The problem was that Riyeon's ceiling was starting to feel familiar too—wide bed, soft mattress, no back pain. And above all, her warm chest had greeted my face so affectionately that it was probably the only reason I had scraped through yesterday at all.
"…I miss Riyeon."
After being glued together for a whole week, her absence left a ridiculous hollow. How deep had she sunk into my life already, Yu Riyeon?
Well, we had gone from kissing to her grabbing my dick to full-on mutual masturbation. Feeling nothing about that empty space would have been the weirder reaction. Looking back, aside from the kissing I had mostly been on the receiving end. Hmm. That was starting to piss me off a little.
Ziiiiing—.
"Hello?"
"Oppa, did you sleep well?"
"You still haven't slept?"
"No, I woke up. Alarm went off."
"What alarm? What kind of alarm goes off at this hour?"
"There are alarms like that."
I just accepted that such alarms existed and didn't dig further. Sometimes killing your curiosity and not prying to the bitter end is how you live longer.
"Riyeon, you need enough sleep or you'll crash during the day."
"But Oppa said he missed me."
"I did?"
"Yeah."
"To you?"
"…You said you missed me."
I had. But it had been a quiet mumble to myself after waking up alone in my own place at this hour. There was no way my monologue had punched through the walls and floated all the way to her apartment just because the night was especially quiet.
"Wanting to see you is the default setting, always."
"Uung~. Oppa, you're saying such embarrassing things out loud~."
You're the one who made me say embarrassing things.
The moment I sounded confused, her voice dropped straight into low pressure.
"Oppa, you're not going back to sleep?"
"I don't know. I slept too well. You should sleep more, though."
"I woke up because I heard Oppa's voice."
"Then should I hang up? You need sleep to recover."
"Why do you have to hang up?"
"Huh? Because you said you couldn't sleep…"
"Why do I have to hang up to sleep?"
"…You said my voice woke you up."
"I woke up happy because I heard Oppa's voice, so why do I have to hang up?"
Why had she gotten so sharp all of a sudden?
The possibilities that came to mind were as follows:
One: she was sulking because I had fallen asleep last night and she hadn't been able to contact me until now.
Two: she hadn't gotten enough of my voice yet and I had abruptly suggested hanging up.
Three: today was the one-week anniversary of us starting to date and I was dragging my feet without mentioning it.
Conclusion: all three.
Why number three out of nowhere? Anyone asking that question doesn't know Riyeon. I had already seen through it long ago. The fact that only I had seen through it was exactly why she liked me and was head over heels.
Hmm. Saying that myself felt a little awkward. But it was also the truth, so I wasn't taking it back. If anyone tried to force me to retract the statement, they would meet their end at Riyeon's hands.
Anyway, the entire time we had been dating I had only been on the receiving end of her aggressive advances. At this rate the balance of our relationship—dating included—was going to stay completely off. We needed to set the hierarchy so neither of us crossed the line too far.
So I decided that starting now, the training would begin. I should have started last night, but I had been too wiped out. Since that had been skipped, I was going to push hard from this early hour.
"Riyeon. Do you know what day it is today?"
"What day is it?"
Tch. I had made her sulk earlier for no good reason, so now she was answering my question with a question. I had meant to apply pressure and instead I was the one getting pressured. Mildly annoying.
"I asked you first."
"I know, I just wanted to see if Oppa knows too."
Her voice was stiff. Suggesting we hang up had dropped her mood all the way to the floor.
Not allowed.
Yu Riyeon, from now on you will only be allowed to be happy or sad with my permission.
"Then how about we say it at the same time and match answers?"
"…What happens if Oppa gets it wrong?"
"Riyeon."
Now I put force into my voice.
"Why do you assume I'm going to get it wrong? You don't trust Oppa? Am I that untrustworthy to you?"
"Nooo…. That's not what I…"
"We say it together on three. One, two, three."
"Sixteen hours and eleven minutes until our one-week anniversary of dating."
"Sixteen hours and eleven minutes until our one-week anniversary of dating."
We spoke in perfect unison at the exact same moment.
I heard a sharp intake of breath on the other end of the line. Then she was immediately sniffling and apologizing.
"Oppa, I'm sorry… I'm sorry for doubting you…"
"It's fine."
"Aaaang! I was wrong. Don't be mad… okay? Yeon did something wrong."
"I said it's fine."
"Oppaaa…"
"You think a few apology lines are going to fix this? What was that—‘What happens if you get it wrong?’"
"Nooo… huiiiiing…"
She was flustered and completely at a loss.
How does it feel?
I hadn't consumed that much yandere material, but I had never once seen a situation where someone flipped the script and cornered the yandere using the depth of her own affection. A purebred yandere might react differently, but Riyeon was the kind of woman who sat right on the fuzzy border between normal and not-normal. So the odds that she had fully assumed I would get it wrong had been extremely high.
But Riyeon.
I'm not exactly ordinary either. Ordinary observational skills and attention to detail wouldn't have been enough to dig up the evidence that let me destroy my previous company through the labor board.
"From the very start you asked like you were already certain I would get it wrong, didn't you?"
"Oppa… Oppaaa…"
"If I had asked you instead what would happen if you got it wrong, how would you have reacted? Now I'm really curious."
"……."
"Hmm? What were you going to do?"
"…Huiing."
"Yu Riyeon, you're not answering?"
"…I was wrong."
"What was that? Don't trail off. Answer properly."
Getting attacked and pressured by the person you like, using your own affection as the weapon. For a yandere it was unfamiliar and suffocating. Even a normal person would struggle under this kind of treatment—let alone Riyeon.
In the end, she burst into tears.
"I'm sorry…! I'm sorry! Oppa, I was wrong. I won't doubt you again. I won't, so please stop. I'm so scared. Oppa, you're scaring me like this."
"What's scary about it?"
"Your voice isn't gentle like yesterday either… you're just scolding me… I know I deserve it because I did something wrong… but I'm scared… You know how much I like Oppa, right? I didn't do it on purpose."
"Didn't do what on purpose?"
"That… the… I didn't do it on purpo—"
Pressure stops here. She was panting so hard she was heading toward hyperventilation. I could hear her choking on her own breath all the way through the phone.
I deliberately loosened the tension in my throat.
"Riyeon."
"Ung… ung!"
"Oppa is really disappointed. Don't do that again, okay?"
"Okay! I won't ever do it again!"
"Even after getting scolded like this, do you still like me?"
"Yes, I like you! I really like you!"
"Yeah?"
In that case…
"If you like me that much, you must've gotten wet even while I was scolding you, right?"
Time to offer a little carrot.