Settling the Debt
A small cafe located on the grounds of Cheonun Academy. With only a few customers around, it was the perfect spot for a private conversation.
"Here, drink this and cool off. It's not like I did anything that bad, right?"
"...Baek Seol-gi, is that really what you have to say right now?"
Baek Seol-ah returned to our table carrying three cups of coffee she had paid for, sliding one toward me. According to her, this was an apology for the handjob she had forced on me earlier today without my consent.
There's no way in hell I'm letting this slide.
I had no intention of letting her off the hook so cheaply for a mere cup of coffee. Just an hour ago, how anxious had I been in that classroom? Retaliation was absolutely necessary, and I had no desire to postpone it. I was only holding back a tiny bit right now because we had a more pressing matter to deal with first.
Clicking my tongue, I brought the straw to my lips, and Seol-ah naturally slid into the seat next to me. She then turned her gaze to the male student sitting across from us, who looked utterly shell-shocked as he listened to our casual banter.
"Anyway... Jung Jae-ha? To continue what we were saying, what you saw in the classroom was completely consensual between everyone involved. Hard as it might be to believe."
The conversation had paused briefly when she went to fetch the coffee tray, but there wasn't much more to say anyway. Even though we had been caught doing something rather obscene in the classroom, it wasn't actually that complicated when you thought about it. After all, there was only one witness. So, wouldn't everything be fine as long as we kept his mouth shut?
Seol-ah and I had reached a silent agreement instantly, which was why we dragged Jae-ha to this cafe the moment class ended. We needed to make him understand the unique nature of this situation, especially since he was personally close with Lee Hyun-seong. In other words, we had to explain the NTS play.
Jae-ha stammered, finally opening his mouth.
"...So what you're saying is, what you two did in the classroom was done with Hyun-seong's full approval? No, wait, Hyun-seong actually asked you to do it first?"
"Well... yeah, pretty much."
Seol-ah took the lead in talking to Jae-ha. Just like with Hyun-seong, I wasn't close with Jae-ha, so it was much more effective for her to explain it directly. It was the right call. At first, despite his panic, Jae-ha had declared that he was going to tell Hyun-seong immediately. But as Seol-ah explained the intimate details of the arrangement and even showed him her chat logs with Hyun-seong, he gradually began to calm down.
Soon, after hesitating as if lost in deep thought, Jae-ha glanced at me and muttered.
"...If Hyun-seong had that kind of fetish, he should've just asked me. Why the hell did he have to ask a punk-ass delinquent like him..."
"...Huh?"
Jae-ha had suddenly turned his sights on me. I stared at him blankly for a second, then let out a scoff of disbelief. Setting aside the fact that he called me a "punk-ass delinquent" when I literally lived my life acting like one...
"Hey, 'he should've just asked me'? Did your deepest, darkest desire just slip out of your mouth?"
"...Ah."
The part before that was even more absurd. To think he would suddenly insert himself into a conversation about Netorase. At my mocking call-out, Jae-ha flinched, realizing his slip of the tongue. A look of sheer embarrassment washed over his face as he cautiously glanced at Seol-ah to gauge her reaction.
"...Jung Jae-ha, you..."
"N-No, wait. That's not what I meant."
Sure enough, Seol-ah had picked up on the strange nuance in his words just as I had, and her expression grew slightly uncomfortable. She leaned back, wrapping both hands tightly around her coffee cup. Sensing the perfect opportunity to intervene, I reached out and pulled her by the shoulder.
"...Ah?"
Since she was sitting right next to me, I simply extended my arm and draped it casually around her neck. Caught mid-lean, Seol-ah lost her balance and naturally tumbled right into my chest.
"H-Han Taeyang...?"
Her face flushed a deep crimson as she peered up at me. I smirked, looking directly at Jae-ha, who had frozen solid like a statue.
"Sorry, Jae-ha. But this girl's affair partner has been, and always will be, me. Obviously."
"...W-What are you even talking about all of a sudden?"
Seol-ah, who had ended up snuggled against my chest, grumbled in protest, but her voice lacked any real bite. It didn't sound sincere at all. Normally, she was the type of girl who would have pushed me away instantly to save face. But maybe because she was the one who crossed the line first today... she just stayed there, resting against me. Good girl.
"S-Seol-ah..."
In any case, seeing the usually haughty Seol-ah act so docile seemed to shock Jae-ha even more. Looking into his eyes, I was able to read the emotions swirling inside him and realize something.
Well, at least he's not another Kim Min-jun.
I couldn't be absolutely sure, but the emotion in Jae-ha's light green eyes wasn't romantic affection or jealousy toward Seol-ah. It felt more like pure bewilderment at her submissive attitude. If I had to guess, he probably found Seol-ah attractive, but his feelings hadn't progressed to actual love—it was somewhere in the middle. That was why a comment like "he should've just asked me" had slipped out. He wanted to participate in the NTS play and hold Seol-ah, but it wasn't driven by some gloomy, obsessive romantic feelings like that bastard Kim Min-jun. Compared to him, Jae-ha was practically a gentleman. Of course, if Ryu Chae-eun ever found out about this, she would probably rip him a new one, but that was none of my business.
"A-Anyway, Jae-ha. I'd really appreciate it if you kept today's matter a secret. Would that be okay?"
Once I finished dealing emotional damage to Jae-ha and fell silent, Seol-ah looked back at him and spoke up. I found it quite endearing that she didn't even try to pull away from my embrace while doing so. I guess I could forgive her just a little bit.
"...Ah, well. I..."
At her perfectly reasonable request, Jae-ha's expression darkened as his voice trailed off. The situation was so shocking that he couldn't bring himself to give a quick answer. Honestly, anyone would react the same way. Catching a normal couple doing something obscene in a classroom would be jarring enough. But to make matters worse, the couple was me and Baek Seol-ah? How could anyone process that quickly? Especially for someone like Jae-ha, who seemed to harbor a subtle, unconscious envy toward me.
I let out a soft chuckle at his transparent, yet honestly relatable gaze. Well, regardless of whether he had a girlfriend or not, Seol-ah was undeniably an incredibly attractive woman. He was at an age where his blood was boiling, so it was only natural to have those kinds of thoughts. Just thoughts, of course. I didn't know if Seol-ah would see it that way, but she continued to persuade him.
"I even bought you coffee, didn't I? Please. Just keep this between us."
"...Mmmgh."
Fortunately, the persuasion didn't take long. After wrestling with his thoughts for a moment, Jae-ha let out a sigh and nodded.
"Fine. If Hyun-seong agreed to it, it's not my place to interfere... and it's not exactly something I can go around bragging about anyway."
"...! Thank you, Jae-ha."
Seol-ah's face instantly lit up as she thanked him. Her smile was so bright and beautiful that both Jae-ha and I flinched at the same time.
"Ahem..."
Of course, the moment quickly passed. To hide his embarrassment, Jae-ha took a sip of the coffee—his "bribe"—and looked away. With that, the purpose of dragging him all the way to this secluded cafe on the edge of campus was fulfilled. By the time the three of us finished our drinks in a quiet, yet not overly awkward atmosphere...
"...But, uh, just out of curiosity."
"Yeah?"
As Seol-ah gathered the empty cups back onto the tray, Jae-ha asked with a hint of anticipation in his voice.
"As a reward for keeping this a secret, do you think you could give me a handjob too...?"
"..."
"...Sorry. You can pretend you didn't hear that, so please don't look at me with those terrifying eyes."
In the end, he gained nothing but a look of sheer disgust from Seol-ah. I scoffed from the side, staring at Jae-ha as if he were some kind of rare specimen.
...Well, damn.
He was certainly honest about his desires. Still, somehow, he wasn't entirely detestable.
"...Ah, Taeyang, wait a second."
"...?"
As we stepped out of the cafe and prepared to go our separate ways, Jae-ha carefully stopped me, keeping his voice low enough so Seol-ah wouldn't hear.
"You know... if you don't mind, can I get your number?"
"What?"
He stepped closer and slid his smartphone toward me, the dial pad already open. I stared at him with a bizarre, highly skeptical expression.
"Don't tell me... since you couldn't get what you wanted from Seol-ah, you're trying to..."
"...No! What kind of crazy bullshit is that?!"
I had asked out of a very reasonable suspicion, but Jae-ha immediately shrieked in denial. Fortunately, it didn't seem like he was trying to get a consolation prize from me.
Whew, I almost had to beat him to death.
I felt a wave of relief knowing that one of the original novel's male leads wasn't secretly gay. Feeling much more at ease, I asked.
"Then what is it? What do you even need my number for?"
"Ah, well..."
Jae-ha hesitated, his lips parting as he struggled to find the words. A guy who had treated me like a common thug and ignored me up until now was suddenly asking for my number. Of course I'd be curious. I took his phone and began typing in my digits while keeping an eye on him. By the time I finished, Jae-ha muttered in a quiet voice.
"...I don't know for sure yet, but I might have a favor to ask you someday."
"?"
"Just like Hyun-seong did."
I heard his answer, but it was so wildly unexpected that my brain failed to process it immediately. As I blinked in sheer bewilderment, Jae-ha snatched his phone back. His face flushed slightly with embarrassment as he quickly spun around.
"I-I mean, it might not happen, so don't go waiting around for my call! Anyway, I'm off!"
"Hey, wait—"
I didn't even have time to grab him. For a mage, how the hell was he so fast? By the time I reached out, Jae-ha was already a distant figure. The only thing left in his wake was the faint, refreshing scent of grass, fitting for a nature magic user. I stared blankly at my empty hand, then sighed and rubbed the back of my neck.
A possibility I had once pondered to myself... The possibility that there could be two ultra-level perverts like Lee Hyun-seong in Cheonun Academy...
...No way, right?
Just like before, I dismissed the absurd thought, telling myself there was no way. But this time, a lingering doubt remained. Smacking my lips, I turned around. And then...
"Where do you think you're sneaking off to?"
"...Hnyah!"
While I was talking to Jae-ha, a certain stray cat had been quietly slipping away, trying to put some distance between us. I caught her. First, I stopped her in her tracks with a calm word, then slowly walked over and grabbed her by the scruff of her neck. Seol-ah broke into a cold sweat, avoiding my pathetic look. I narrowed my eyes.
"I believe we still have a debt to settle between us."
"I-I don't know what you're talking about..."
"You really don't know?"
"Yeah, hya—?!"
Squeeze. I slid my other hand under Seol-ah's skirt and firmly grabbed her butt. It was incredibly soft and plump, fitting perfectly in my palm with a delightfully thick, voluptuous feel. Seol-ah let out an involuntary gasp and quickly covered her mouth. Her face flushed deeper by the second. Her trembling eyes darted back to look at me, and I whispered with a chilling smile.
"Paying the price for acting as selfishly as you want... that's just how the world works, isn't it?"
"...Ah, hngh..."
"I trust you're prepared. You're going to pay back every bit of that cheeky little handjob."
Now that Jae-ha, our unexpected variable, and all the issues surrounding him were cleanly resolved... it was time for her to face the music. Get ready, Seol-ah.