Date (6)
After all, just because someone chugs 40-proof vodka straight doesn’t mean they lose their mind immediately. Sure, their head might throb, their stomach might burn, and the room might spin, but that’s about it. In other words, they don’t turn into a stumbling drunk in record time just from a few sips, like in some cartoon. Baek Seolah was no exception. Even though she had downed straight Absolut vodka without any mixer, it wasn’t enough to leave her completely wasted and swaying. So… to put it another way, the real problem lay elsewhere.
“……Baek Seolah, don’t you think you should stop drinking now?”
“Eung?”
I spoke to her with concern as she sat cross-legged on the single sofa in the room. More precisely, as she sat there knocking back the cocktails I’d mixed. It was better than chugging straight vodka like before, but alcohol was still alcohol. Whether you mixed it into a screwdriver or a vodka tonic, it didn’t change what it was.
‘Maybe bringing the booze was a mistake.’
I clicked my tongue and studied Baek Seolah’s flushed face. The moment she tasted the vodka and said it was good, she’d tried to drink more, so I’d quickly made her some self-serve cocktails. That part had been fine. But no matter how much you dilute it, if you drink past your limit, you’re going to get drunk eventually. From what I could tell, Baek Seolah had a surprisingly decent tolerance for a girl, but even that was only impressive by ordinary female standards. It wasn’t enough for her to keep up with me pouring nonstop.
“Give me the cup. Drink some juice instead.”
“Aah……!”
I snatched the cup—well, the paper cup she’d been swirling around—from her hand while she giggled. Baek Seolah waved her arm a beat too late, then glared at me with a sulky expression.
“Give it back! I haven’t finished yet. Why are you taking it awayyy.”
“……You’re seriously asking why after seeing the state you’re in?”
“What’s wrong with my state, hic.”
Her words came out slurred, more like genuine drunken speech than deliberate aegyo. Yet she kept grumbling as if she had no idea she was doing it.
“Hey. You think I’m drunk right now, don’t you? No, that’s not it. I’m perfectly fine.”
“Bullshit. Just drink this.”
Everyone knows that nine out of ten people who insist “I’m not drunk” are usually on the verge of passing out. Baek Seolah was exactly that type right now. I sighed and handed her a fresh paper cup filled with orange juice. Then I downed the rest of her cocktail myself. Even setting aside the difference in our tolerances, it was a hundred times better for me to drink it than to let her have any more. She’d kept up a much faster pace than me despite already being drunk, and the moment I tried to slow her down she’d thrown a childish tantrum. Honestly, part of the blame was on me for giving in to her demands and pouring her more.
“Gimme. I haven’t finished yet.”
So now I had to clean up the mess. I pressed my finger firmly against Baek Seolah’s forehead as she tried to stand up from the sofa and reach for the bottle I was guarding, stopping her in her tracks. Even though the alcohol had made her stronger than usual, she was still a magic-type.
“Eut, uu……! Seriously, why are you being so mean! I said I’m fine! I can drink more, okay?”
“No, you can’t.”
“……Eek, I hate you! I hate you, Han Taeyang.”
In the end, Baek Seolah couldn’t break through my iron defense and flopped onto the bed with a whine. She stretched out her arms and legs like a child and kicked around, but I ignored her completely. I sat calmly in the chair, arm resting on the backrest, and tilted the paper cup to finish off the remaining drinks. Even as Baek Seolah threw her tantrum right beside me, I didn’t spare her a single glance.
Realizing her complaints weren’t working, Baek Seolah sat up with a pout and shot me a sharp glare through narrowed eyes.
“You evil, stone-faced bastard…… You’re just like Geum Taeyang, with not a single ounce of human heart. Hic.”
“I’m Han Taeyang, you idiot.”
Let her bark. I’ll just do what I need to do. With that mindset, I snorted and only responded with words. Still, I hadn’t expected her to know the nickname “Geum Taeyang.” It was a fresh feeling in its own way. I also realized she’d been calling me by my actual name this whole time instead of that nickname. Anyway……
‘……It really does feel strangely unfamiliar.’
By then, I was also feeling the alcohol a little as I glanced at Baek Seolah sprawled on the bed. She seemed to have given up on getting more drinks from me and had curled up into a ball, occasionally shooting resentful looks my way. I let out a small laugh, but inside, a single thought was slowly rising to the surface. Maybe it was because I’d been drinking her share for her, or maybe I’d secretly been enjoying our drinking contest and had gone past my own limit. Either way, the buzz was hitting me earlier and stronger than usual.
In that state, I found myself thinking about something. Really.
‘How the hell did I end up here with this girl, anyway.’
She was the heroine from the original novel I’d read in my past life, and in this life I’d deliberately tried to keep my distance from her. It was a cliché thought, but really—how had things turned out like this between us? I wasn’t talking about the location. There was no way I’d be shaken just because we were in a motel together. No, it was more like a reflection on this strange, deepening connection that I never could have predicted at the start of the year.
‘I definitely didn’t plan for this……’
It had been a year since I fell into this world without knowing why—now closer to a year and three months. Anyway, back at the beginning, when I still didn’t realize this was the world of a novel I knew, I’d made one resolution after waking up in Han Taeyang’s body on the day of the entrance ceremony and getting tangled up with “her” without understanding anything. I decided that, as much as possible, I wouldn’t get close to the heroines from the original story, and I especially wouldn’t repeat the things the original Han Taeyang had done. I’d trained both my mind and body for that goal, even honing my awakening ability to control my instincts. Honestly, I thought I’d done the best I could. And I’d seen some results, too. After all, I was no longer being swept away by the original Han Taeyang’s instincts.
But still……
“……What are you thinking so hard about?”
“……”
“You look a little tired. You.”
I still felt proud of that grueling period, but at the same time a hollow feeling crept in. After all that effort, the main characters from the original story had ended up making my life difficult instead. I glanced sideways at Baek Seolah, who had quietly approached without me noticing and was now crouching beside me, looking up. When she said I looked tired, I tilted my head slightly and thought about it. Was I tired? Well, I was a bit worn out from stopping a drunk girl from pouring herself more alcohol. But it wasn’t serious enough for the drunk girl to be worrying about me.
‘Rather than that, well……’
Right now, it wasn’t so much fatigue as it was uncharacteristic sentimentality. I gave a small smile as I looked at Baek Seolah, who was staring at me with round eyes and poking my arm like a cheeky cat checking if its owner was okay.
“I guess I really don’t suit you. Here I am, lost in pointless sentimental thoughts.”
“……Uung?”
After muttering that almost to myself, I suddenly stood up. Baek Seolah’s eyes widened in surprise as I scooped her up without warning, princess carry and all.
“Ehet.”
“Oh……”
I slid one arm under her back and the other under her knees, completing the classic princess carry. I let out a wry laugh, a little surprised that I’d needed more strength than expected.
“You’re heavier than I thought, Baekselgi. How much do you weigh?”
“……Wh-what? Hic, what’s with you all of a sudden. You wanna die?”
Baek Seolah clenched her fists and glared at the obvious teasing. Her eyes were hazy from the alcohol, and she kept hiccuping. I ignored her threats and strode toward the bed with her in my arms. All the idle thoughts, the memories of the past—everything was brushed aside for now. There was only one thing I needed to remember in this moment. One clear, undeniable fact.
No matter what, I really liked Baek Seolah. I found this charming girl lovely. So why hesitate any longer?
“Hey, Baekselgi.”
“……?”
All the hesitation and conflict I’d been wrestling with. The feelings I’d tried so hard to ignore and avoid.
“Let’s stop drinking for now. Instead, I’ll make you feel even better in a different way.”
“……Hue……?”
I laid Baek Seolah gently on the bed and tenderly brushed my fingertips across her lips, which were slightly pursed like a baby’s. Before she could say anything in response—
I decided to face my true feelings head-on. By overlapping my lips with hers in a kiss.
—I wanted to take her.
“……Humph.”
This wasn’t the original Han Taeyang’s instincts taking over, nor was it even partially influenced by his desires. This was purely affection and attraction born from “me,” and beyond that, the lust and greed of a man. Without a single moment of hesitation, I stole Baek Seolah’s lips. Her eyes widened. After all, this was our first kiss. A kiss through lips and mouth—our very first. It was only natural for her to be flustered. Only natural for her to flinch. But she didn’t put up any real resistance. Baek Seolah just trembled her eyelashes and looked at me, showing no sign of rejecting the tongue that pushed past her lips. If she had, even in her drunken state, she would have shoved my chest away long ago.
“……Heup, mm, ah.”
Instead, Baek Seolah slowly but surely, timidly but honestly, accepted my tongue. At some point she even closed her eyes—and began moving her own tongue. Our first kiss lasted quite a while. Sticky, wet, and just as passionate. On top of the lust between man and woman, there seemed to be a mutual attachment as well—though that might have just been my imagination. Even if that feeling was still small, in the world of possibilities, one is always worth more than zero.
“Pwah……”
Eventually our lips parted, and we both drew in the breaths we’d been holding. Baek Seolah’s mouth twitched at the corners as she murmured, her eyes clearly trembling.
“Ah, mm. We shouldn’t…… Kissing, we shouldn’t……”
“……”
“We’re not that close, are we……?”
Her words and her expression were completely at odds. How could her smile be so bright? I let out an amused chuckle at the blatant mismatch between her words and actions.
“Right, then.”
In other words, it was a counter-question.
“If kissing’s not okay, what about sex?”
“……”
“Is that okay, Baekselgi?”
Maybe the question was too difficult to answer with her face as red as a ripe apple. Baek Seolah didn’t make a sound, nor did she even nod. But the thick desire in her gaze as she looked at me in that moment clearly contained her answer. I pressed down on her thigh, where the plump flesh was visible through her jeans, and muttered,
“Take off your pants, Baek Seolah. Even if you say no today— I’m going to fuck you because I can’t hold back anymore.”
And with those words, it was enough.
“……Hut, huaa.”
Baek Seolah’s face flushed so red it looked ready to burst, yet she reached out with eager hands that contradicted her embarrassed expression. She was trying to take off her pants just as I’d told her to. Click! Before long, her hands trembling, she managed to unfasten the buckle of her jeans.