Temptation (2)
Lee Si-a swallowed hard as she looked at Han Mir. The sly expression on his face—one she had never seen there before—and the way he was practically snorting with anticipation made her legs tremble for no good reason. Every hair on her body stood on end.
There's no other choice. Not if it's for the sake of peace.
She nodded, her face flushed.
"F-fine. Then let's go to the bedroom."
"The bedroom? You've got some unique tastes."
Han Mir tilted his head at her words. Lee Si-a couldn't begin to understand what he normally did in there that would make the word bedroom warrant a reaction like that. A troubling thought crossed her mind: maybe his preferences were even more one-of-a-kind than she had imagined.
And so the two of them headed for the bedroom.
They arrived before an immaculate white bed. Lee Si-a sat down first.
"It's my first time, so... I'm a little embarrassed. Could you turn off the lights? We can just use the mood lamp beside the bed..."
"What? The lights too? Give me a break. You're being a real pain."
Han Mir grumbled as he switched them off. In that brief window of darkness, Lee Si-a carefully lay down. The soft give of the mattress met her back, and a pleasant scent of fabric softener tickled her nose.
She clutched her pounding chest and steeled herself.
"I'm ready."
"Alright. Finally get to have my dessert."
Han Mir licked his lips as he looked down at her. Lee Si-a felt a strange sensation, as if his gaze had turned into hands roaming over her body. All that was left now was to surrender herself to this beast of a man.
She clenched both hands into tight fists and slowly closed her eyes.
Han Mir's breath brushed against her face. The sweet scent of his body wash mixed with the warm press of something against her lips. Her mouth parted slowly. Something firm pushed its way inside without hesitation and met her teeth.
Crunch.
Sweet fruit juice flooded her mouth, and Lee Si-a's eyes flew wide open.
Han Mir grinned as he took a big, satisfied bite of a neatly peeled apple.
"Well? Pretty good, right? I teleported over to a fruit shop and used the Eye of the Fallen Sage to pick out the ripest apple they had. That's the kind of service you're getting."
"Huh?"
Lee Si-a stared at him in a daze. Only then did she notice the black plastic bag stuffed full of apples sitting behind him.
"You're a real weirdo, you know that? Who lies down in bed to eat dessert just because someone cooked them some ramen? You're gonna wreck your digestion."
"W-wait a second. So when you said 'dessert,' you actually meant... dessert?"
"Huh? Of course. You don't speak Korean?"
Han Mir shrugged and chewed his apple with gusto, then held out a slice to her. Lee Si-a took it in a daze.
"...So you actually just wanted to eat apples?"
"Yeah."
"Th-then looking at me like this didn't make you think anything? Huh!? A guy your age, all that youthful energy—there's only one thing you'd be thinking!"
"And what's that supposed to be?"
A hollow laugh escaped her from sheer disbelief. The realization that she had gotten all worked up and completely misunderstood the situation made her face burn with shame. She had steeled herself. She had prepared to seduce him. And Han Mir sat there looking utterly unbothered, interested in nothing but his apple.
He was infuriating, and she was so mortified she wanted to crawl into a hole and disappear. Heat flooded her face as if it might actually cook, and a slow-burning rage began to well up from somewhere deep inside.
This doesn't make any sense, does it? After everything I put into taking care of myself—after all the work I did on this body—and that's the reaction I get? Any normal guy Han Mir's age would have fallen for it by now. He would have been all over her.
But look at that vacant face. Not a shred of interest in women. Come to think of it, he had never seemed interested in girls from the start. Is this guy actually impotent? Or maybe he's gay?
Lee Si-a was already constructing reasons in her head, rationalizing why her seduction hadn't worked. Until she finally couldn't take it anymore. Her lips trembled as she opened her mouth and shouted at the top of her lungs.
"Hey!! You're impotent, aren't you!"
Han Mir, suddenly accused of being impotent, stared at her not with anger but with genuine bewilderment.
"What the hell are you talking about? Did you eat a bad apple or something?"
"That's not it! Look at me! A girl this pretty, with a body this good, invites you over for ramen—you should know exactly what that means! And now we're in the bedroom and you're just sitting there eating apples? That only makes sense if you're impotent!"
"So what is it you want me to do?"
"H-huh?"
Han Mir pushed the bag of apples aside and leaned in close, his face suddenly right in front of hers. A faint, sweet scent of apple drifted from his lips.
"Tell me what you want. Out of your own mouth."
"Th-that's...!"
Lee Si-a couldn't finish the sentence. She looked away, unable to meet his eyes. They were sly and yet somehow earnest, a combination that left her completely thrown.
"What's the matter? Can't say it? Want me to just show you, then?"
Han Mir pressed down on her shoulders and forced her onto her back. Caught off guard by his sudden aggression, Lee Si-a had no time to resist before her body hit the soft mattress and stayed there. The Han Mir straddling her now was a completely different person.
Forceful. Rough. The way he looked at her, like he might do anything at any second—Lee Si-a was startled, but she steeled herself, squeezed her eyes shut, and waited for it to be over.
But what came back was—
"Pfft! You're shaking like a leaf. What were you even planning to do?"
Han Mir's teasing laugh. Just as he had said, her shoulders and arms were trembling violently. Anyone could see she was tense and terrified. When she opened her eyes again, tears had gathered at the corners.
She slowly unclenched her lips.
"W-what does that matter? If you want it, I can do it. As much as you want."
"Then let me ask you something. What would be the point?"
"Huh?"
Han Mir sat up with a smile that was somehow bitter, then perched on the edge of the bed beside her.
"Did the Management Bureau actually give you some boneheaded order like, 'Just sleep with him once and he'll go all gooey and start cooperating'?"
Lee Si-a said nothing. Her silence made Han Mir let out a disbelieving scoff.
"Ha. I don't know whose brilliant idea that was, but I'd love to dunk their head in a toilet. Even if I did sleep with you, what guarantee is there that I'd just roll over and do whatever you say?"
He was right. Lee Si-a knew perfectly well that J's advice had been nothing more than wishful thinking. But her superior had given the order, so she had had to act on it—and now that the seduction had failed, she was left with no choice but to try something, anything.
"Besides, you're not my type."
"W-what's wrong with me! Be honest. Are you gay? Huh? That's why you're being so cold, isn't it? Because you like guys."
"What are you even talking about. I already have someone I like."
"W-what!? You have someone you like!? Wh-who is it?"
Lee Si-a shot up from the bed as if she had been launched, reeling from the bombshell that Han Mir already had a girl he liked.
"I-is she in our class? Don't tell me it's Park A-yeong?"
"Ugh. I'm starting to get a pretty clear picture of your type. Too bad—I don't have the slightest interest in the trash that used to make my life hell."
"Then who is it!?"
"She's not here. She was in the Other World."
Lee Si-a caught something strange in the way he had phrased it. He was speaking in the past tense. She swallowed hard and asked again.
"Was?"
"Yeah. There was a girl I started adventuring with, back at the beginning. She was genuinely kind, and strong. When I couldn't take it anymore and tried to end my own life, when I was about to die in a monster ambush, when I took down a powerful enemy—she was always there. She always had my back."
Han Mir paused, opening and closing his hand. Then he clenched it into a fist, hard enough that his arm trembled.
"When I was with her, I actually felt like I was becoming a real hero. A proper one. Maybe it was just because I was that age, all that youthful energy like you said—but I fell for her fast. I wanted to stay in the Other World with her. I didn't even want to come back."
Lee Si-a said nothing. It was the first time she had ever seen Han Mir smile like he was genuinely happy. His eyes were brighter than she had ever seen them, full of life. But the light faded almost immediately, going cold, and an emptiness she couldn't put into words took its place.
"But everything went to hell. The world I saved wasn't some dream-and-hope fantasy where the hero unlocks cheat-tier abilities and becomes a total munchkin. It was a goddamn dark fantasy, overflowing with despair and rage."
Han Mir tilted his head back and stared blankly at the darkened ceiling. Then, slowly, he turned his gaze back to Lee Si-a.
"She was murdered."
"...By the enemy? The Demon King's army?"
"No. She was murdered by a person."
"A-a person!?"
"Yeah."
Han Mir smiled faintly and pointed at himself with his thumb.