How to Make Her See Me as a Man (2)
"You were pretty wasted last night."
"Huh...?"
That was the first thing I said to her after stepping into Kang Eunyoung's house and sitting across from her at the living room table.
"Last night...?"
"I saw you at the convenience store, piling up drinks and chugging them. People were around, and you were yelling without a care."
"H-how did you know about that, son...?"
"I carried you on my back all the way home last night, so of course I knew."
Her face flushed bright red with shame the instant she heard me.
"W-wait, you were the one who brought me home yesterday? I thought for sure my daughter had... "
"Hyeun didn't even get the call. How's she supposed to pick you up if she doesn't know?"
"R-right... I didn't contact her..."
"What if no one had come? Were you planning to just pass out on the street?"
"...N-no way I'd do that~."
After a slight pause, her response finally came tumbling out, and that's when it hit me. She was in a deeply unstable mental state right now.
No matter how much Hyeun had told her not to drink at home, laying out a full drinking spread on a street table like that wasn't the Kang Eunyoung I knew. Something had triggered it—I didn't know what—but she seemed to have lost her attachment to life.
One tiny spark could push her over the edge. That psychological breaking point she could endure? It was this one-week deadline.
And my awakening ability, the Hunter Libido Manager System, was telling me that sex with me was what could soothe her heart.
At first, I'd nearly cursed out loud at such a ridiculous mission.
But looking back, it was thanks to this system that I had a chance to save her now. And letting that chance slip? That didn't make any sense.
"Eunyoung."
"Call me Mom..."
"What kind of man was Hyeun's father... your ex-husband?"
"H-Hyeun's dad...?"
Her expression shifted as old memories surfaced in her mind.
"W-well, he wasn't drop-dead gorgeous, but he had muscles for a guy, and he was pretty tall, I guess?"
"Did he look a lot like me?"
"From the back, maybe a bit... W-what am I even saying?"
She tried to take back her words too late, but I'd heard enough. At least physically, I was plenty appealing to stir her desires.
As she lifted her glass to cool off, I followed up.
"Do you miss him a lot?"
"Khk, kkhk...?!"
"Eunyoung?!"
She choked on her water like it had gone down the wrong pipe, coughing nonstop.
"W-what kind of question is that?!"
"Sorry. I overheard you last night, and it sounded like you were missing your husband."
Her face twisted into an oh shit expression.
"D-did I say that yesterday? I must've been out of my mind drunk, son..."
"It wasn't that your ex-husband popped into your head when you were on my back, right?"
"D-don't say weird stuff. People might think I'm some weepy old hag~."
She deliberately looked away, acting casual to change the subject, but by then, I was convinced deep down.
She was superimposing part of me onto her late husband. And she was desperately denying that subconscious association.
Otherwise, she wouldn't overreact like that to something she could've played off as a joke.
That alone was enough to work with. If even 5% of her gaze toward me overlapped with how she saw her ex-husband, I could build from there, bit by bit.
In one week, creating emotions from nothing was far less likely than amplifying what already flickered there.
"Your husband must've had a broad back and muscles like mine."
"...S-son! What are you saying all of a sudden?!"
"He was a male hunter by trade, so yeah, seems like we had a lot in common."
"Keep talking nonsense, and Mom might get the wrong idea..."
"What wrong idea?"
"......"
I locked eyes with her, refusing to look away, pressing her slip-up.
"Tell me, Eunyoung. What wrong idea?"
"......"
"Eunyoung?"
"I-it's nothing, don't worry about it..."
The flush already on her face deepened. Whether it was embarrassment at seeing me as a man, or shame at feeling that way about a young guy she raised, I couldn't tell.
"Hyeun says you've been drinking a lot lately."
"M-Mom's always been good at holding her liquor, hasn't she?"
"Not about your tolerance—it's the frequency. Almost every two or three days now, right?"
"A-are you interrogating Mom right now? Whether I drink or not is my business...!!"
"Yeah, if it's just Mom enjoying her drinks like always, no issue."
I stood from the sofa facing her, leaned over the table toward her.
"But Eunyoung treating her body like that? That's worrying."
"...What do you mean by that?"
"You tell me—what do you want to hear?"
"......"
As my responses grew bolder, her gaze-dodging felt more awkward. I didn't know when it started, but if I could just nurture this budding feeling she had for me...
Soon enough, we could share true, heartfelt sex.
That thought pierced my mind as our faces nearly met.
"...S-stop!!"
"Ah."
Eunyoung shoved my shoulders off the table, pushing me back to the sofa.
"Y-you little punk, don't you know to fear women...?! Even if I'm like a mom who raised you, this is too dangerous a game!!"
"Eunyoung, I wasn't joking—I meant it..."
"And 'Eunyoung' this, 'Eunyoung' that! What kind of way is that to talk to the woman who raised you?! You've always been good, never needed scolding, but today, Taekyung, you're getting it!!"
"......"
...Had I rushed too hard?
The one-week timer floating by her face had been pressuring me strangely.
Maybe I'd pushed too aggressively, thinking it was an opportunity.
I should've gently nurtured that awkward, budding attraction instead.
Turning her back from full 'mom' mode now looked tough.
"...Sorry."
"Uh, huh...?"
"Hearing you drunk-talk to me last night got me weird too. Sorry if this sounds off-base, but I thought maybe I could fill the void Hyeun's mom lost..."
"I-is that so..."
I bowed my head like I truly repented, and her sharp edge softened.
"I just wanted to repay even a little of the grace you've shown raising me."
"...Don't say stuff that'll jinx you. Grace isn't repaid like that. You growing up well like a son, marrying, living happy—that's how you repay it."
"Got it, I'll remember, Hyeun's mom."
She spread her arms toward me.
"C'mere. Mom'll hug you, son."
It was her go-to comfort from my school days whenever I struggled.
I dove straight into her maternal embrace without hesitation.
"No more of that talk from now on... Ngh, nngh...?"
Of course, the hug wasn't just for warm feelings.
But since she had offered the contact first, I seized the chance.
I buried my face in her breasts, left arm around her waist, right hand subtly grabbing her ass.
"Sorry, sorry, Mom..."
And with my mouth, I played innocent, mumbling apologies.
Since she'd opened her arms first, it'd be hard for her to push away immediately.
No better moment to let her feel I'd grown into a full man.
"S-son? This is a bit too close..."
"Mom, I'll be good from now on... I was wrong..."
"S-son..."
My height, solid muscles, thick arms, big hands.
And the sleeping dragon in my pants, asserting its presence.
I imprinted every manly advantage onto her body.
Just before she'd say 'stop,' I pulled back first.
"Hah, haa, haat..."
She panted, face even redder. I delivered my final line like a declaration.
"I'll call you noona from now on."
"...N-noona?"
"You said you hated Eunyoung. So, Eunyoung-noona it is."
"N-noona? People'll think I'm some desperate auntie..."
"Heading out, Eunyoung-noona. Thanks for everything."
"H-hey! Wait, Taekyung...!!"
I cut off her attempt to grab me for more words.
With just a tiny progress in our relationship, I left her house feeling relieved.
Her projected points—nonexistent at noon—had spiked to 20 the moment I said 'Eunyoung-noona.'
Now the real start.
My plan to save Eunyoung-noona from her fate...
...Of course, before diving in, I needed to see Hyeun first.