The Moment Instincts Grow Stronger

A fan meeting couldn't do without a fan name.

And usually, that fan name got borrowed from the idol the fans adored.

"...This is dizzying."

Their fan name was the Vigilante Corps.

Were these people actually okay in the head?

Then again, the word "fan" itself had always been a long way from normal.

But even so, I can't stand them calling me "Captain."

I'd cleaned up after the mess-maker, covered for this and that, and somehow got dragged up on stage as the "manager."

What manager in the world gets hauled onto the stage at an idol fan meeting? I wanted to ask. Instead the fans just cheered harder.

Reaping what you sow, they say.

Anyway, once the fan meeting finally wrapped up, the rest of us—including Nature—headed over to Hyewon's place for an after-party dinner.

And so—

"Oosama wa dare da (Who is the king!)!"

"....???"

We ended up drawing chopsticks.

Is this right?

The start of the dinner.

First, meat. Always meat.

But just throwing meat on the grill any old way was for amateurs.

"Beef. Beef. Pork. Chicken. Beef. Beef. Offal. Then more offal, in that order."

"Oppa, will you grill for us?"

"I eat yukhoe just fine too."

"Please just sit still."

Only Sujin turned her head from her seat to look at me.

"M-meat.... well... when you're young, it's meat, right? Eating meat makes most humans happy!"

"Sure, worries never stop whether you're young or old. But stuff a big meat wrap in your mouth and you swallow the worries right along with it."

"""...???"""

A flow ordinary people couldn't follow.

Sujin and I looked at each other and let out matching little smirks.

Nothing was more fun than a conversation only people in the know could share.

I picked up a perfectly cooked piece of meat from the grill and took a solid bite. The hellish hunger that had been scraping the inside of my stomach eased just a little.

"Oppa... we haven't even done the toast yet."

"Ah."

Sorry.

I was just too hungry.

I carefully set the chopsticks down beside my bowl. Hyewon looked thoroughly fed up as she put down the tongs and raised her glass.

"Shall we start with the toast first? Hmm... anyone want to go first?"

"""".........""""

Everyone eyed one another.

As the opening of a drinking party, the toast mattered in its own way.

Eyes darted back and forth—you do it? Me? Should I?—until:

"I-I'll try it once!"

"Sujin-ssi?"

Nam Sujin.

She lifted her beer glass high and shouted.

"Wishing for success! Wishing for development!"

Seonggi! Bal——mmph, mmph!

...There was a brief commotion.

"Ahem. How about Oppa does it? Honestly I just bankrolled things from behind. You're the one who raised Nature."

"You brought them all in... but fine, I get it."

After Sujin, I raised my glass.

...This is embarrassing.

All of Nature was looking at me.

Hyewon was looking at me.

Ayoung, unfortunately, couldn't make it because she had a kid at home.

Well, she was a mom—nothing to be done about that. So, carrying her feelings with us, I shouted:

"Protect yourself! Protect the treasure!"

Jaji! Bo——mmph, mmph!

"Kyaaaaa! Oppa, you too?!"

"Should I actually sue for sexual harassment."

"Instructor... if even Instructor does this, who is going to keep Sujin in line...."

Ice-cold ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠stares.

Something about it felt more chilling than expected.

"100 points... 100 points...!"

Sujin gave a silent round of applause and nodded.

I nodded back, acknowledging the shared understanding.

I know I really shouldn't...

Back when I was in the NTR Party, none of them had cared about anime or manga.

So I'd watched and enjoyed everything alone. Having someone who could actually share the wavelength was pretty nice.

And her chest is also hu——huff.

Had one piece of meat already topped up my stamina?

I could feel the blood slowly gathering down below.

Strange.

Especially strange today.

My heart was pounding harder than usual, and the girls' scents felt a little closer, a little sharper.

"Does a toast even matter? We can just enjoy ourselves nicely."

Yeonhwa was surprisingly clean.

You'd expect a strong sweat smell, yet among everyone here hers was the lightest.

A faint mix of shampoo and skin scent, as if showing off how well she took care of herself under that fierce exterior.

"But Unni... today's a commemorative day, right? I was looking forward to it a little..."

Harin's scent carried a hint of women's cosmetics and perfume mixed together.

Overall she was trying hard to look clean and put-together, yet the sweat and that unique female pheromone still slipped through.

The perfume layered over it like ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a thin veil, hinting that moist honey was flowing just beneath the pure surface.

"Pfft. Still, yeah. Somehow it feels better because it's us. For Nature—for us—this kind of thing might actually suit us more?"

Hyewon smelled like hard-running youth.

Simply put: sweat, perfume, human scent, and woman.

Every smell piled together should have been overpowering, yet that very intensity felt like it was speaking for all her effort.

And then—

Really, looking at it, it was only natural.

"Licht-nim.... huhi, duhu, ihihi....♪"

"...Don't stick so close."

Sujin was dangerous.

Genuinely dangerous, in multiple meanings of the word.

"Ah, I'll wrap the ssam for you! I'm really good at wrapping! At home they always scolded me—said a girl who never goes outside just piles on the fat and then eats all the wraps by herself!"

"Is that something you say while laughing like that?"

Her sweat scent was thick by default.

Not the fresh sweat of someone who'd just been running around like Hyewon today, but a more settled, aged smell.

The kind that appeared when you didn't wash thoroughly often enough.

The kind where the body odor had soaked right into the skin.

The soft, warm, plump flesh that naturally settled in right beside me kept pressing that squishy, melting sensation into me over and over.

"Here. A~~ open up! Aang!"

"Abubub."

"Ihi?!"

Thick.

"Toxic" wasn't the right word—thick was better.

No perfume. None of the usual cosmetic fragrance either.

Just pure body scent and pheromones.

A scent that suited Sujin, who never wore makeup at all.

And because of that, even more so—

"If I bite the finger too.... mmm.... uuum...."

"...Sujin. Don't you wash your hands?"

"Hie?! Y-yes! I will wash them! I absolutely wasn't thinking about putting them in my mouth or not washing or anything!"

"Who said anything."

Lewd.

This living Viagra-idol bitch.

Every other girl here was pure gravure-idol material, but Sujin alone was a Viagra idol.

How was it that everyone else aimed for the kind of idol that pulled at your heart, while you alone went after the kind that stirred up your crotch?

Shit for real.

My body condition was already off.

I quietly shoved my lower half under the table and pulled the whole thing closer so I could sit tighter against it.

It looked a little weird, but the state of my pants was something I absolutely could not let anyone see.

"S-so... does it... taste good?"

"...Ssam all tastes pretty much the same."

I turned my head away.

For some reason it was hard to meet her eyes straight on.

""""........""""

"...What? Why are you all looking at me like that?"

I didn't think I'd said anything strange.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

All four of them stared at me with blank faces for a beat, then Sujin suddenly shot up from her seat and shouted.

"It's dere!"

"What?"

"This is dere! The dereki has arrived!"

"What the hell does that even mean, you otaku."

"Haut! Otaku... yeah. Otaku is right, but lately looking at Instructor's photos has become more of a hobby than actual otaku stuff, so honestly even my own identity is getting confusing!"

"Sujin. Your coming-out level is a little intense today, don't you think?"

Later I'm checking your phone.

Hidden files or whatever—that field is my specialty. You know you can't hide anything from me no matter what you try, right?

I gave a small shake of my head and reached for another piece of meat, only for a ssam to suddenly thrust itself right in front of my face.

"....What are you doing?"

"Aang...?"

"Why the sudden moan."

"Mut——what moan are you talking about!"

"Ahahahaha! Moan! She said moan! Hua~~~"

I took Harin's ssam exactly as it was and stuffed it into Harin's own mouth.

She coughed a few times like her throat was blocked, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes as she chewed.

Yeonhwa seemed thoroughly entertained by the skit. She picked up a piece of meat with her chopsticks and slowly waved it in front of my face.

"Shall I feed you, Instructor?"

"You eat it yourself."

"Nona meokja!"

Oh my.

She leaned her body a little farther forward, bringing the meat right up to my lips.

Naturally her cleavage came into view, the inside gradually opening wider, and before I knew it my eyes had dropped—

"...What you want to eat isn't the meat, but this side?"

"——Hup?!"

She smirked and tugged the fabric covering her cleavage down another finger's width.

No.

I absolutely was not—!

I stood up right away to deny it.

—Creeeak.

And at the exact same moment.

—Clunk!

"Uwah?! Why did the table suddenly..."

"""......!"""

The table rose high toward me and then dropped.

It looked exactly like something had caught underneath and lifted it. Everyone's eyes ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠snapped downward.

"....Ah."

Earlier I'd said my condition wasn't great.

Correction.

"""".........""""

"....Shit."

My condition was far too healthy.

I quietly left my seat and went into the bathroom.

"Really... why am I like this today....!"

I took out my phone and claimed a little alone time.

"This... well, it's obvious."

I skipped past the expected article.

Right now what mattered to me was closer to the other side than the news.

As an aside—

—Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

"...Boss. Is the bathroom side not soundproofed normally?"

"It should be the same as any ordinary house. So this is simply...."

Sounds intense enough to carry, or...?

—Taptaptaptaptaptaptaptap

"Eut, huwaa....!"

"This is... already the third time...?"

The third.

Yet the stamina showed no sign of flagging.

"""".........""""

Everyone held their breath and locked eyes with one another.

An extremely awkward situation. Who should step up first to break the tension? They were still reading each other when—

"U-um... I have a good? idea? one..."

""".....???"""

Sujin turned to the other three and shared her thought.

With the Instructor—with Sunwoo—in his current state, wouldn't they be able to see something really interesting?

"Sujin-ssi... what are you going to do if Sunwoo Oppa actually starts something?"

"Yes? Then wouldn't that actually be better...?"

"Eh?"

"...Isn't it?"

""".........."""

In that moment.

All three of them arrived at roughly the same idea inside their heads.

And as a result—

"Number 1 feeds the king ssam by hand!"

"...Hey. You guys planned this, didn't you? You totally planned it!"

"What plan! The one who planned anything is Instructor going into the bathroom and doing that!"

"What—no, you all heard...?!"

A king game that was unfair to one specific person had begun.