The Art of Appeasement
Does this girl take me for a fool? I stared flatly at Baek Seol-ah, my expression a mix of disbelief and amusement. "Bestowing a favor at her own expense," my foot. As if I didn't know her. I knew her personality, her relationship with me, her feelings for Lee Hyun-seong...
It wasn't just because I possessed knowledge of the original novel. As I've mentioned, I had already lived in this world for a year. While playing the part of a run-of-the-mill delinquent, I had quietly and carefully observed the main characters.
As a result, I had discovered things about the current Baek Seol-ah that were identical to her novel counterpart, as well as unexpected sides to her that I never could have anticipated. The point was, I knew this girl far better than she thought I did. And the Baek Seol-ah I knew would never try to pull a counter-deal in a situation like this. If she owed me a debt, she would grumble about it but diligently pay it back. Unless there was some external factor, she wouldn't dream of sleeping with me of her own volition, not in a million years.
Therefore, her current behavior—clutching a condom with a stiff, frozen expression—was proof positive that a "third factor" was at play. More specifically, she was likely hiding it from me on purpose.
"Is it Lee Hyun-seong?"
"..."
I asked nonchalantly. Baek Seol-ah fell silent, looking utterly blindsided. But staying quiet didn't mean she could plead the Fifth. She was a girl whose emotions were incredibly transparent, and she was even worse at hiding her true intentions. Reading her mind was child's play. Though her lips were sealed tight, her trembling gaze and visibly agitated body language gave her away. I let out a soft chuckle and continued.
"What, did he complain because we didn't go all the way last time? Saying it wasn't what you guys agreed on, or something like that?"
"H-how did you..."
"How do you think? You'd have to be an idiot not to know."
A total lunatic who willingly chose to offer his own girlfriend to another man. That was Lee Hyun-seong. Given his twisted fetish, there was no way he would want to waste this golden opportunity. He wouldn't be satisfied with a mere handjob or getting fingered a little. He probably wouldn't be satisfied until he saw Baek Seol-ah getting thoroughly plowed by another man's cock. In any case, reading his intentions was a piece of cake. Naturally, Baek Seol-ah's little scheme was just as transparent to me.
Amateur. Utterly amateur. I clicked my tongue and gave her a pitiful look. She blushed slightly, mortified that her hidden agenda had been laid bare. Anyway... her reaction confirmed it. Lee Hyun-seong had likely thrown another tantrum, and Baek Seol-ah had reluctantly given in. But given her personality, throwing herself at me couldn't have been easy. So she probably figured that since she had to do it anyway, she might as well use it to clear her debt with me. Well, not on my watch.
"I have no reason to accommodate you for something you're doing at Lee Hyun-seong's request. Obviously, that and this are two completely separate matters."
"Ugh..."
"No matter how pitiful you look, a hard 'no' is a 'no'."
Baek Seol-ah looked up at me with tearful, miserable eyes, but I drew a firm line. She should consider herself lucky I didn't give her a flick on the forehead for trying to pull such a cheap trick on me.
"C-can't you make an exception? Having to do it five times is honestly too cruel..."
"Nope. Not cruel at all."
If she thought an emotional appeal would work on me, she was sorely mistaken. It wasn't like I was her boyfriend.
"D-don't you even feel a little sorry for me? You could at least pity my situation—having to do things I don't want to do just because of my perverted boyfriend."
"You're the one who still loves that perverted boyfriend and refuses to let him go, so why should I?"
"Ngh, that's..."
Perhaps unable to find a counterargument to my slightly mocking reply, Baek Seol-ah let out a low groan but couldn't bring herself to say anything else. Regardless of what I actually thought, as long as I was the one humoring Baek Seol-ah and Lee Hyun-seong's one-sided game, I held all the cards. I was the absolute boss here. She had brazenly tried to trick me, but she wasn't completely shameless. In the end, she squeezed her eyes shut, looking utterly defeated. Her fists, which had been trembling as if she wanted to punch someone, went limp.
"...Ah, seriously! Fine, I'll do it! I'll do it!"
She brushed her bangs back irritably, forcing down the negative emotions welling up inside her. After a brief hesitation, her golden eyes narrowing, she stepped closer to me.
*Grab.*
"?"
She sat beside me on the sofa and reached for my waistband, but I caught her. Reaching out casually, I ruffled her white hair and pressed my hand against her forehead, stopping her in her tracks. Baek Seol-ah, who had swallowed her pride and steeled herself to serve me, blinked blankly and looked up. Her face was a canvas of confusion, her eyes demanding to know what the hell I was doing.
"Well, think about it."
Her dazed reaction was so absurd it almost made me chuckle. I spoke with a hint of amusement in my voice. "Now that I think about it, I'm starting to feel a bit annoyed. I don't really see why I should just quietly go along with this."
"...What? Huh?"
"When you approach me with a face that miserable, it completely kills my mood."
Baek Seol-ah's eyes widened. She looked as if she had just heard the most unbelievable thing in the world. After a brief moment of her brain short-circuiting, she stammered out a response a beat late. "What... what do you mean? No, are you kidding me right now?"
"I'm dead serious."
When I replied in the most nonchalant tone possible, her wide eyes instantly flared with anger. If her previous reaction was shock and disbelief, now she was openly furious. "...Don't make me laugh, Han Taeyang. You expect me to believe that? You were practically obsessed with the number of times just yesterday, and now you're suddenly not in the mood?"
"Yep. Not in the mood."
"..."
Baek Seol-ah, who had been about to spit out more words, fell silent at my casual dismissal. My hand was still resting on her forehead. Her pupils trembled slightly as she tried to gauge my true intentions. Not a chance. I struggled to suppress a smirk, carefully maintaining my poker face. I put on an expression that looked visibly displeased—not outright offended, but clearly showing I wasn't thrilled about receiving her half-hearted service. Striking that perfect balance, I gave her a cold, indifferent look. Right on cue, she took the bait.
"...Han Taeyang, are you mad? Because I tried to trick you?"
Hook, line, and sinker. Ah, I almost burst out laughing again. I had to work hard to keep the corners of my mouth from twitching. Instead of answering her immediately, I paused for a moment and turned my head away. I completely broke the eye contact we had been maintaining. From my perspective, I was just looking away to hide my laughter, but how would it look to her? Sensing the shift in the air, Baek Seol-ah's shoulders slumped slightly. I feigned a struggle to suppress my irritation and muttered coldly.
"I'm not really mad."
"...You clearly are. Why are you lying?"
"Geez, I told you, I'm not."
When a hint of annoyance crept into my voice, Baek Seol-ah looked even more flustered. Her anxiety was written all over her face. This was what made her so entertaining. Whenever she realized she had made a mistake, even if it was with me, she would genuinely panic and feel guilty. Perhaps it was these multi-faceted charms that drew me to her in the first place. Just as that thought crossed my mind...
"...?"
Suddenly, I felt a slight tug near my waist—specifically, on the hem of my shirt. I blinked and looked down. Baek Seol-ah's delicate hand was awkwardly clutching my shirt. When I looked up, her shimmering golden eyes met mine. It was an expression I had never seen her make before, at least not toward me... An unusually desperate, pleading look. She murmured softly, her voice laced with a faint sense of guilt.
"...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you mad."
"..."
"I didn't mean any harm. I just wanted to see if I could get something out of it, and..."
Her voice trailed off. She seemed to think better of it and fell silent. I swallowed hard, completely caught off guard by her unexpectedly devastating expression and attitude.
"I'm apologizing, so please don't be mad..."
Baek Seol-ah stole a timid glance at me, then slid off the sofa to lower herself. She knelt on the floor right in front of me—or rather, beneath me—her legs folded in a neat 'W' shape while I remained seated on the sofa. From this angle, she had to look straight up at me. She awkwardly reached out with both hands, grasping my waistband, and whispered, her face flushed a deep, burning crimson—
"...I'll use my mouth, just this once."
"..."
"This is a really special exception... So once I'm done, you have to stop glaring at me, okay...?"
Baek Seol-ah shyly licked her lips, leaving them glistening with a thin sheen of silver saliva. This was a turn of events I hadn't anticipated in the slightest, a reaction I never could have expected from her.
"Holy shit." In an instant, my rationality evaporated into thin air.