The Urge to Kiss
Outside the café where I’d followed Lee Yu-rim.
The deep navy façade caught my eye beneath the golden lighting. I glanced at Lee Yu-rim and was about to go in first, but she reached out and held the door open for me.
“Go on in.”
“Ooh, thanks.”
Due to the difference in height, the top of my head brushed against Lee Yu-rim’s arm. The small bell on the door swayed, making a tinkling sound.
Looking around, I saw that most of the people were sitting in couples.
“It’s warm in here.”
Lee Yu-rim looked around and unzipped her puffer jacket; the warmth trapped inside spread out and enveloped my face.
“Hmm…”
I smiled gently and looked up at Lee Yu-rim, only to find people staring at us. The women were looking at me, the men at Lee Yu-rim. I was the recipient of both admiration and envy.
As if I’d been through this before, I raised my head nonchalantly and surveyed my surroundings.
The people sitting there and the subtle, savoury aroma of coffee wafting through the air.
‘Hmm, no status bar popping up.’
I didn’t need to spare a glance for women I had no connection with. As I made my way to the counter, the women scanned my body, but I didn’t bother to turn my head. Still, the barista behind the counter was quite a beauty.
‘What shall I have?’
As befits a café, samples were displayed in the window. Lee Yu-rim called out to me and walked over to them.
“Hey, look at this.”
“Oh…”
Her ample bosom was pressed against the glass. She didn’t seem to realise, so I stared blankly for a moment before shaking my head.
“…I’ll just have something ordinary.”
“Really?”
As Lee Yu-rim stepped back, her breasts sprang out from the glass. As I went back to looking at the menu, she quietly pulled out her purse.
‘Ugh, my throat hurts.’
After I’d been looking at it for a while, Lee Yu-rim raised her voice slightly and started a battle of pride.
“An Americano?”
“It’s cold. It’s winter, isn’t it?”
“Seriously?”
“It’s really cold. Don’t overdo it, you.”
“The ‘Strong Woman Special’: braving a blizzard with an Americano.”
Yeah, a real man wouldn’t fall for that.
It was far too cold for an iced Americano. Perhaps because my body’s shrunk, I feel the cold much more than I used to.
At times like this, something piping hot is the best.
“I’ll have a hot chocolate.”
“Hehe…”
Lee Yu-rim covered her mouth and giggled. She must think she’s won just because of this, even though she’s not a child. When I gave her a pitying look, Lee Yu-rim stifled her laughter and said,
“Two hot chocolates, please.”
“?”
As it turned out, what Lee Yu-rim had actually ordered wasn’t an iced Americano, but hot chocolate. When I looked up, our eyes met. Lee Yu-rim was looking down at me and nodding.
“What is it?”
“Hehe.”
The barista standing at the counter also looked down at me as she took my order. It was the expression of a cousin looking at her cute little niece...
‘What’s going on, seriously.’
With two beautiful women looking down at me, my face was burning. My lower body was starting to ache, so I threw a tantrum at Lee Yu-rim.
“I’m going to sit down. I’m tired.”
“Wimp?”
“I don’t know.”
Ignoring Lee Yu-rim’s teasing, I set off first. A man snubbing a woman by turning his back on her whilst snorting—if anyone saw me, they’d think I was sulking.
It was Lee Yu-rim who brought me a hot chocolate whilst I was lying back in the soft armchair, waiting.
“Thanks.”
“Oh, hang on a sec.”
Lee Yu-rim held out her hand to stop me. She took out her phone and started taking photos, treating it with the same care as if it were a beautifully plated dish.
“Why are you taking photos of that?”
“You’re the one who doesn’t take photos, aren’t you?”
“I don’t usually.”
I leaned back in the chair again and waved my hand dismissively.
I don’t know what men in this world are like, but I certainly aren’t. Neither ‘Yang Da-jun’ nor ‘me’.
As I rested my chin in my hand and watched, Lee Yu-rim scrolled through the photos she’d taken and muttered.
“So…”
“Hmm?”
“…but…”
Lee Yu-rim trailed off.
‘What on earth?’
Even though I tilted my head in confusion, she just kept her lips tightly sealed. I suppose it was just a passing remark. I was about to take a sip of my hot chocolate when Lee Yu-rim interrupted.
“It’s hot, so drink it slowly.”
“? I know that much.”
Lee Yu-rim looked after me like a mother. She treated me as if I were her own child, even watching as I opened the lid and brought it to my lips.
‘...How long is she going to watch?’
I asked Lee Yu-rim.
“Aren’t you having any?”
“Just watching is enough to fill me up.”
“What are you on about?”
I chuckled, and only then did Lee Yu-rim bring her lips to the cup.
‘Oh.’
Lee Yu-rim parted her tiny lips and sipped the hot drink.
‘She looks like a cherry.’
She sips the hot chocolate with her rosy lips. The rich hot chocolate slowly stains the corners of her mouth. It looks just like a girl’s lips.
‘Will I end up kissing her too…’
If I seduce Lee Yu-rim, she’ll probably want a kiss too. Then I’ll pretend to be shy and part my lips for her.
If the mood takes her, she might rest her hand on my head and pull me between her legs. Hoping I’ll soothe that precious spot of hers, hidden away in the crevice, with my mouth.
‘I’m getting so turned on…’
A heat rises in my thighs, making them ache.
I brought the straw to my lips, imagining burying my face beneath Lee Yu-rim.
At that, Lee Yu-rim stopped her hand and set the cup down. As if time had stopped, she opened her mouth and watched me suck.
“Gulp…”
Lee Yu-rim’s Adam’s apple bobbed down. Her chest rose and fell with every breath she took. She was staring only at me, oblivious to the hot chocolate smeared around her mouth. Her eyes were dangerous, as if she might pounce on me at any moment.
I let out a hot sigh and shot Lee Yu-rim a sidelong glance.
‘Go on, then…’
I didn’t know what to expect anymore. Would she cross over to my side and pounce, or drag me out and take me somewhere? Driven by the desire to be devoured, I couldn’t take my eyes off Lee Yu-rim either.
“Yu-rim.”
“Huh…?”
Unable to hold back any longer, I stood up.
“Uh…”
Lee Yu-rim closed her eyes.
“Ugh, ah, ah…”
Lee Yu-rim’s face drew closer. Her eyes were still tightly shut, and she was pursing her lips. A sweet chocolate smudge had spread across the corner of her mouth. Seeing that, my movements suddenly slowed.
“...?”
As my perspective shifted, I was presented with a choice.
▷ Kiss her.
▷Wipe her mouth.
▷Tap her forehead.
‘Ah.’
I came to my senses.
I mustn’t cross the line with Lee Yu-rim just yet. If I did that now, it would be difficult to form a relationship with another woman.
I tried to defuse the situation by teasing Lee Yu-rim.
“You’ve got something on your mouth.”
I raised my arm.
“Just a moment.”
“Eh, eh…?”
As my hand brushed against the corner of her mouth, Lee Yu-rim’s long eyelashes fluttered. She blinked rapidly, her gaze darting about wildly. Lee Yu-rim’s voice trembled.
“H-huh… hmm…”
I withdrew my hand from Lee Yu-rim and said.
“That’s enough.”
“Ah, w-what is this?”
Lee Yu-rim couldn’t keep still, trying to hide her blushing face.
“You startled me…”
“I was just joking.”
“Don’t do that. People might get the wrong idea.”
“Right.”
I pretended to be nonchalant and sat back down.
[Intimacy and Affection +1.]
[‘Lee Yu-rim’ is disappointed by your behaviour.]
Lee Yu-rim had kept her distance right until the very end.
*
Before the two of us went into the café.
Lee Yu-rim was enjoying the walk to the café. Just thinking of it as a date made her steps feel light.
‘Hehe, I want to hold hands again.’
She recalled holding hands on the way to school. It had sent a tingling sensation through her body; it was addictive. She couldn’t forget it, but when it came to taking the initiative, she felt too shy.
‘What if he thinks I’m weird?’
She was just as clueless about the opposite sex as Yang Da-jun. Having known no other man in her life apart from him, holding hands wasn’t easy.
‘...Still, I have to protect Da-jun.’
It was the confidence that came from her looks. Boys would even make the first move with her. So she believed that if she stood by his side, other girls wouldn’t dare to make a move.
But she couldn’t resist peeking at Yang Da-jun’s phone.
‘Damn... Who’s he messaging?’
She knew that apart from her, the only people Yang Da-jun contacted were his older sister and younger sister. But she wanted to know exactly what he was up to.
“What are you looking at?”
“...I wasn’t looking.”
She turned her head at Yang Da-jun’s words. She was supposed to be the cool, laid-back type who didn’t smother him. Yet seeing women flocking to Yang Da-jun’s side made her feel anxious.
‘Am I really okay with this...?’
Lee Yu-rim fidgeted with her fingers, trying not to let anyone notice.
‘Or should I be the one to make a move?’
She wondered if he was waiting for her to cross the line first.
*
Lee Yu-rim stayed right by Yang Da-jun’s side until they reached the café. She was pretending to be his girlfriend, keeping watch over him.
As they entered the café, she even held the door open for him, emphasising their height difference.
“Go on in.”
“Ooh, thanks.”
Lee Yu-rim watched Yang Da-jun’s back as he walked away.
‘So cute.’
Even though he lowered his voice to say ‘Ooh, thanks’, he was still nothing more than a cutie she could easily tuck away in her bosom.
Lee Yu-rim’s heart was racing.
“I’ll have a hot chocolate.”
Perhaps because it was cold outside, he pursed his lips and chose a hot chocolate instead of coffee. She looked down at Yang Da-jun and stifled a laugh.
‘He’s just too cute…’
Even the way he sipped his hot chocolate was adorable.
‘Ahh… I just want to stroke him.’
She wanted to sit him next to her—no, on her lap—and give him a big hug. If she stroked his hair whilst he drank something warm, he’d probably nod off. Lee Yu-rim kept staring at the lips of the boy she liked.
‘Ugh, he shouldn’t drink like that…’
He’s sucking on the straw in a way that could easily be misinterpreted. Any girl would inevitably have naughty thoughts seeing that.
‘Really, does he know what he’s doing?’
I find myself wanting to press my lips against his. Instead of that hot chocolate, I want to feed him the girl’s sticky saliva. Or perhaps I wanted him to suck on my erect nipples with those lips.
‘Seriously… don’t do this in front of other girls.’
Otherwise, I might have to give the boy in front of me a proper lesson.
I stroke his hair, make him kneel, and pull him between my legs so he buries his face there. Then I could make him my own man, one who sends kisses only to a single girl’s mouth, from top to bottom.
‘Mmm…’
A wave of heat surged between Lee Yu-rim’s legs, and she let out a breath of excitement as a tingling sensation spread through her lower abdomen. Then she met Yang Da-jun’s gaze.
“Ah.”
He gave her a shy smile. She’d been having such lewd thoughts, yet he was smiling at her so sweetly. A sense of guilt made her feel a tingling sensation between her legs.
‘Is that smile just for me to see?’
My childhood friend, who knows nothing of women. Because, both then and now, she is the only woman who can be by his side.
‘So we’ll date, and eventually get married…’
In her imagination, they were already nurturing their love as a married couple.
At the same time, she felt a twinge of worry.
“It’s hot, so drink it slowly.”
“I know that much…”
She felt compelled to say something else. She couldn’t bring herself to tell him that he was far too provocative and unguarded, driving women wild with desire.
‘I’ll have to look after him.’
After all, she’d had her eye on her other half for well over a decade. Lee Yu-rim had to suppress the urge to make absolutely certain he became her man.
“Gulp…”
Her Adam’s apple bobbed with every swallow. Lee Yu-rim considered herself better at holding back than most, but her heart was beating faster and faster.
“Yurim.”
“Hmm…?”
Her heart skipped a beat. It felt as though he’d caught her in the act of harbouring naughty thoughts. As though he’d caught her about to give in to her feminine instincts and pounce on him.
‘Oh, I mustn’t…’
Yang Da-jun drew closer and closer.
‘Will I be able to do this? Ugh.’
I closed my eyes and waited.
“You’ve got something on your lips.”
‘I’m, I’m trembling… Huh?’
I opened my eyes again.
“Just a moment.”
‘Huh?’
Yang Da-jun’s hand brushed against the corner of my mouth.
“Huh, huh?”
‘Huh!’
A jolt of electricity shot through me, making me flinch, but realising it wasn’t a kiss, I just blinked.
“That’s it.”
“Ah, w-what…?”
‘Lee Yu-rim, have you gone mad!’
I’d just been beating myself up for no reason.
‘Damn…’
Yang Da-jun looked completely clueless.
“You gave me a fright.”
“It was just a joke…”
He was the sort of bloke who needed a bit of a telling-off.
“Don’t do that sort of thing. People might get the wrong idea.”
“Right.”
Yang Da-jun was grinning away, completely oblivious to the fact that she was seething inside.
‘I’ll let it slide because he’s cute.’
The fact that I’d nearly leapt up and pounced on him was a secret.
*
On the way home from the café.
My phone was ringing non-stop, but I ignored it and looked at Lee Yu-rim. She had an uncharacteristically demure expression on her face.
‘Is she sulking?’