Pleasure Addict Duo
Of course, I didn't hate Yuu. I couldn't hate her to begin with. To me, she was an object of admiration. Sure, now that I knew her true face, those feelings had dulled a bit, but she was still the person who'd hugely influenced me to start drawing in the first place. Meaning, I couldn't treat her coldly.
...And Rito had asked me as a favor.
Ah, if it had been anyone else, I'd have just given a half-assed reply and booked them a nice hotel nearby.
But it was Rito's request, of all people. What artist wouldn't grant a favor when the mangaka they'd idolized since childhood came at them with such humility?
"Thank you...!!"
Yuu was grinning ear to ear beside me for some reason. She wasn't planning on trashing the place, was she? I felt a twinge of worry.
Just in case, I gave her one more warning, mangling some Japanese out loud.
"Heya o chirakasu no wa zettai kinshi! (Absolutely no messing up the house!)"
No matter how close someone was—even if it was my mom—I hated anyone dirtying up my place. That's why I always kept it spotless.
Not quite OCD levels.
It wasn't like I needed zero dust specks or anything pathological, but I couldn't stand clutter right in front of my eyes.
"Hai!"
Yuu replied brightly. Fine, whatever. She was Japanese—they valued manners. What weirdness could possibly happen?
I let my guard down a little as we arrived home.
"Ooh..."
Yuu looked around in awe. This scenery must be unfamiliar to her. And it made sense—this neighborhood had plenty of spots for nightlife, like bars.
I've gotta move soon.
It got pretty noisy around here at night. That was why the rent was so cheap.
With those thoughts, I led Yuu to my apartment. The door was all that stood between us now.
...This is nerve-wracking.
I'd cleaned before leaving, but it might still look messy to someone else. I considered asking permission to do a quick check, then scrapped the idea. It felt like overkill.
Besides, unpacking her stuff would dirty things up anyway—I'd have to clean again.
"Can't wait..."
Yuu sat on her suitcase, fidgeting for the door to open. Why was she so excited? It wasn't anything special. I hoped she wasn't building it up too much.
I punched in the code and opened the door.
Honestly, I had huge expectations.
Peeking into artists' homes was always fun. Rito-sensei's place alone was packed with quirky stuff.
...His art sense has me so hyped.
Sino's drawings always had that artistic edge—not just skilled, but building his own unique world. I was dying to see his interior.
I calmed my racing heart and checked out Sino's place.
Manga volumes neatly stacked in one corner. His work desk by the computer was spotless, not a speck of dust.
Little figures dotted the desk too.
"Oh...! Kenji figure..."
A Kenji figure. A limited edition one, at that. Not easy to snag. I'd seen constant pleas on X-Net for a reprint—I remembered despite trying not to. The first print run was tiny.
"Ahem, it was a pain to get."
Sino blushed, embarrassed about owning it. That side of him was charming. Made me wanna get closer.
...And I'm the only one who knows his secret.
Everyone knew Sino was Korean now, but almost no one had seen his face. That info gap gave me a smug thrill.
Anyway.
"Where should I put my stuff...?"
Unpacking was tricky. Sino seemed to have assigned spots for everything—no room to just dump bags.
"Ah, your stuff..."
Sino pondered, then—
"Here."
He cleared the spot where his manga had been. Guess that was her spot from now on.
"Korekara yoroshiku onegaishimasu! (Please take care of me!)"
Even though it was just for one night.
"...All dressed?"
"Hai!"
Her voice was annoyingly chipper. Damn. I'd never brought a girl home, so I had zero immunity.
Especially not in such casual clothes. Even my usual home routines now required second thoughts before acting. It was seriously uncomfortable.
"Anyway... let's talk about the Rito collab. That's why you're here."
"Eh..?"
Oh, right. Tough sentences needed the translator app.
Tap tap.
I ran it through and showed her.
"Ah, yeah..!"
Yuu nodded vigorously, pulling out her laptop from her bag. Tablet too.
She was gearing up for serious talk. But we didn't need that for collab stuff.
"Sit here."
My powerful PC was right there—no need for her laptop unless it had key files.
"Ah, right.."
I unfolded the spare chair I'd prepped for guests and sat. Yuu just stood there blankly.
"Sit."
"But... I'm a guest.."
"It's fine."
Yuu eyed me cautiously before sinking into the cushy chair. Probably felt bad hogging it when she was crashing uninvited.
Whatever.
She's not a stranger—Yuu's fine. Rito asked specially.
Anyway.
"Ahem."
Hard to keep my eyes still. Was it even possible to perch like that on a desk? Thought it was manga-only. Guess not.
I forced my gaze away and started the discussion.
"Rito-sensei wants it like this here...!"
"Ah."
I couldn't follow Yuu's words perfectly, but her tablet sketches made it clear. It also clicked why Rito wanted a face-to-face.
The collab's more complex than I thought.
Pretty ambitious scale for teaming with an X-Net ero-art guy.
I listened, intrigued, as she explained—
Ding-a-ling-! Ding-a-ling-!
My PC alert blared. Ah, forgot to mute it. Always telling myself to do it...
"Eh..?"
Yuu looked flustered, so I gently took the mouse from her and silenced it.
"You stream, Sino..?"
"Just a hobby."
"Ooh.."
Wait. Yuu's eyes were gleaming dangerously—like she'd found treasure.
"How popular?"
"Eh, decent?"
Not a ton of viewers anyway. Sure, I could brag peak like "top what?" in games, but—
That's embarrassing..
As I thought that—
"Lemme watch your stream!"
Yuu said something ridiculous.
"No."
What nonsense. Coming here was already weird enough—now she wanted to watch my broadcast too? Absolutely not. For real.
A few hours later.
"...You're really just watching? No noises from behind? For real?"
"Hai..!"
She answered fine. Sigh.
I'd seriously not planned to stream, but here's why I caved.
She said she'd streamed for a year.
She showed clips from her Japanese platform, pleading—
'I'm curious about Korean streams...!'
Surface reason aside, the real kicker was my own "stream withdrawal." Dopamine drought from skipping lately.
Hope no incidents.
If shit hits the fan, just quit. Not a facecam anyway. Easy.
With that, I hit start.
> Stream started.
Viewers flooded in as the "stream started" message popped up.
A spike of tension—and weird thrill. Was it because Yuu was behind me? Risk of getting caught?
...I'm hopeless.