Let's Live Together
I am currently in the middle of escapism. Why, you ask? Because I have finally met all the magical girls I am assigned to manage. To be precise, I’ve had proper introductions and heard about the defects of everyone except for the biggest hurdle: Cha Yerin. So, I am currently escaping reality. Because now, I can no longer avoid the one I dread the most.
Knead, knead, knead.
“Ugh… ah… haa, I-Ihyun-ah…”
The sweet moans of Se-ah noona coming from in front of me brought my wandering mind slightly back to reality. “Hm? Why?” I replied, my hands moving incessantly to knead that addictive mass of flesh.
“W-when are you going to stop kneading my belly fat?!”
“Ah… just a little longer…”
I was currently stuck to Se-ah noona on the living room sofa, kneading her perfectly plump belly to escape reality and soothe my exhausted mind. To be exact, I had her sitting on my lap, and with my arms wrapped around her from behind, I was kneading her belly fat over and over and over again.
“Noona.”
“Augh, why, whaaat…”
“Did you know that the belly or the side area is called a ‘love handle’?”
“W-what? What is that strange name?”
“Is it? It really suits that term perfectly. I want to touch it forever; it feels like my mind is being healed.”
“Just touch my breasts instead! Why on earth is it the belly?! Ugh, ughhhh!!!”
Perhaps because she found it more shameful to have her belly kneaded than her breasts, noona had resisted violently at first. But I, pushed to my mental limit, had overpowered her with force, sat her on my lap, and gripped her belly fat as if wringing it out. The cute shriek of “Hyaaaak!” that burst from her lips, along with the perfect plumpness and satisfaction felt in my palms, gave me a bizarre sense of fulfillment.
“Ah… noona, you smell good.”
“Don’t smell meeeee!!!”
Every time I buried my nose in her neck and hair and sniffed, she would tremble as if she were having a seizure. When I discovered that unique, slightly damp scent of her skin hidden beneath the refreshing fragrance of her shampoo and body wash, I even felt a sense of familiarity. I was constantly inhaling the scent of the woman I loved from a distance that only a couple could share, all while kneading her belly fat.
“Augh, hnn…! H-hic…!”
The noona in my arms began to tremble and gasp for air, as if her patience were about to explode. I wanted to hold her and knead those love handles forever, but it was time to return to reality.
“Haa… noona. I don’t want to go to work…”
“You said you were going to meet CEO Cha Yerin, so you have to go before you’re late… No, wait, should you be doing such lewd things before you go?”
“Lewd? It’s energy charging. It’s a precious healing time to prepare for the disasters to come.”
“O-okay. Just a little, alright?”
After hearing about the severity of my junior Park Sora’s defect, my own mind had been pushed to its limit as well. Se-ah noona had noticed that, which is why she was offering her belly for me despite hating it so terribly. I didn’t want to be apart from her, but I really had to get up now. Finally, I gripped her perfectly plump belly fat with both hands as if wringing it out.
Squeeze!
“Hiiiiiik??!!”
I engraved every detail into my cells: the sensation of the flesh squishing between my fingers, the subtle warmth, and the slight dampness of the sweat that had broken out from her tension.
“Yep. Charging complete!”
“What kind of charging is done like that?!”
She must have hated it quite a bit, as she protested strongly without even stuttering. I gave the back of my lovely lover’s neck a light kiss and stood up.
“Ugh, ughhhhh…”
Noona lay curled up on the sofa, covering her belly—which had been teased to her heart’s content—with both arms. Her hair, messy from lack of care, her slightly flushed cheeks, and her unfocused violet eyes, slightly brimming with tears, made my urge to tease her surge even more. Truly, she is a woman who is incredibly fun to torment.
“Noona. Isn’t your outfit too worn out? It feels like you’ve been wearing that for a very long time; why don’t you throw it away?”
“U-ugh… well… it’s just… I’m too lazy to go out and buy new clothes. I don’t have anywhere to go, either…”
Her attire was so sloppy that I wondered if the beautiful image of her when I took her virginity on this very sofa was just a hallucination. Her pure white T-shirt, with its collar stretched out and worn thin from age, combined with short dolphin shorts that revealed her chubby thighs, was filled with a sense of domesticity. When I narrowed my eyes and focused, I could even see her black bra through the thin fabric of the T-shirt. The sight of her skin peeking out from under the shirt and the top edge of her black panties visible above the dolphin shorts was strangely erotic, making my lower half stir, but I had to restrain myself for now.
“Even if you don’t have anywhere to go, please wear pretty clothes for me once in a while. Actually, that’s perfect. Let’s go shopping and have a date soon.”
“A-a date?”
“Yeah. A date. We’ll eat something delicious and buy some pretty clothes.”
Come to think of it, I hadn’t been on a proper date once, as I’d been busy with Care Supporter training and getting to know the magical girls I was in charge of. Noona’s eyes began to sparkle as she jumped up from the sofa, perhaps secretly looking forward to the date. Just as I felt sorry for being so thoughtless and was about to apologize, the doorbell rang.
“Hm? Who is it?”
“I’ll check. You go ahead and get ready for work.”
It wasn’t strange for noona, who had been in my life for a long time, to be at my place. But by now, Se-ah noona was naturally taking care of me like a long-term cohabiting lover or a newlywed bride.
‘Work, huh…’
Noona must have said it without thinking, but the resonance of the word “work” made my heart flutter strangely. It was because it was the kind of conversation a newlywed couple might have. It was a fresh feeling.
“Yeah. Who is…??!!”
“Hm? Noona, why? Who is it?”
Noona, who had been checking the visitor through the intercom, froze. Wondering who had come, I was about to head to the room, but the moment I checked the visitor on the intercom screen, my breath hitched.
[Kang Ihyun-ssi. Are you there? This is Cha Yerin.]
Even though noona was holding the intercom receiver, I could hear exactly what was being said as if it were right next to me. The distinct presence and aura transmitted through the screen could never be faked. It was undoubtedly Cha Yerin, the CEO of Colorful. Before I could even wonder why that person was here, my body was already moving.
“C-clothes! Clothes!”
“Me too! Ihyun-ah! I need clothes too!!!”
The two of us, who had been dressed comfortably, immediately straightened ourselves up before letting the distinguished guest into our home. We greeted Cha Yerin only after dressing well enough that no one could call us rude.
“C-CEO Cha Yerin. What brings you here so suddenly? Did I misunderstand the meeting time?”
“Hello, Kang Ihyun-ssi. My apologies for the sudden visit. We had a meeting scheduled for today, right? I thought about it, and since there’s only one conclusion, I came here to save time.”
“Conclusion…?”
I had no idea what she was talking about. Since I couldn’t keep Cha Yerin standing at the entrance forever, I guided the cold, flawless career woman into the house.
“L-long time no see.”
“Ah, Yoon Se-ah-ssi, you were here too. Hmm…”
The final tone of her voice carried a hint of consideration, as if wondering if she had interrupted a private moment between the two of us. However, Cha Yerin seemed to think that was enough; she didn’t pay any more attention to Se-ah noona and took a seat on the living room sofa without the slightest hesitation.
“CEO. Would coffee be alright for a drink?”
“Yes. Please.”
Since it wasn’t a house that usually had guests, I didn’t have much to offer, but I felt relieved and hurried to prepare the coffee. Noona, who had been standing blankly in the living room, seemed to realize she wouldn’t be of much help, so she bowed excessively to Cha Yerin and tried to leave.
“T-then, I’ll be going now, so please talk amongst yourselv…”
“Ah, Yoon Se-ah-ssi, please sit and talk with us. This is a conversation Se-ah-ssi must hear as well.”
“I, why…”
Noona looked at me, currently preparing the coffee, with a desperate, mournful expression as if she were about to cry. Even if she looked at me like a pathetic puppy caught in the rain, there was nothing I could do. She was someone Se-ah noona, a once-famous magical girl, had to be careful around due to social status; how could I possibly block the intentions of Cha Yerin, a civilian and, furthermore, the boss of the organization I belonged to? I could do nothing but quietly prepare one more cup of coffee.
I placed a cup of coffee in front of Se-ah noona, who was sitting there with a tearful face, to soothe her nerves, and finished preparing to talk.
“CEO, do you take it black? Or with sugar? Milk?”
“Ah, please add plenty of sugar for me.”
I had asked for her preference, but just in case, I set out sugar and milk so she could drink it to her taste.
“Here, Se-ah noona, milk as always.”
“Thank you…”
As I familiarly took care of Se-ah noona’s coffee to her taste, Cha Yerin watched us with interest for a moment before drinking her own coffee.
Slurp…
Only the sound of Cha Yerin drinking coffee echoed through the living room. Even though she had added sugar, it still didn’t seem to be to her taste, so she kept adding more. ‘She’s going to get diabetes at this rate.’ Cha Yerin took a slurp of the drink, which was nearly half sugar and half coffee, and then, seemingly satisfied, a faint smile appeared on her lips. I had only seen her working once, but I could clearly feel how exhausted she was. Thinking she might be craving something sweet due to overwork, I brought out a few snacks I had at home.
“Ah, thank you.”
They were cheap snacks, so she might have refused, but Cha Yerin ate them as if she were pumping energy into a body on the verge of death.
“……”
“……”
Se-ah noona and I just sipped our coffee, waiting for this uncomfortable silence to end quickly. Cha Yerin seemed satisfied once her hunger was somewhat sated and her brain began to function. After taking another sip of coffee to soothe her throat, which had become parched from the snacks, she finally brought up the purpose of her visit.
“You were surprised by my sudden visit, weren’t you? I’m sorry. But Kang Ihyun-ssi, you were scheduled to have a meeting with me as my Care Supporter today anyway, and there is only one thing that needs to be done.”
I don’t know how grand a thing she was expecting, but Cha Yerin seemed to have already reached a conclusion about what she wanted me to do. ‘I haven’t even heard the details about the defect yet, so what is she trying to make me do?’ To be precise, I had seen Cha Yerin once when her defect had manifested. From the moment I witnessed her absurd transformation, it was as if a leash I couldn’t take off had been placed around my neck. The only way to remove this leash was for the original Care Supporter assigned to Cha Yerin to return, but since they were likely buried in overwork due to a manpower shortage, that was impossible for a while.
Cha Yerin looked back and forth between me and Se-ah noona and continued speaking.
“As my Care Supporter, please cooperate in mitigating my defect.”
“That goes without saying. However, I haven’t heard the details about your defect yet, CEO. And…”
I trailed off, implying that since we had to talk about the defect—the biggest weakness and a source of shame for a magical girl—was it really okay for an outsider like Yoon Se-ah to be here? At this, Cha Yerin gestured to noona, who was at a loss for what to do, as if to say that Se-ah noona absolutely had to be in this seat.
“Yes. I plan to talk about it one by one, but to tell you the reason I came here first, I came to live together. Since I’m going to be living here anyway, there’s no need to have meetings at the company.”
“……Yes?”
“……??????”
I was so startled that I asked back, wondering if I had heard some nonsense. I felt my vision go white for the first time. I closed my eyes tightly due to the dizziness, and after calming my heart, I looked at Se-ah noona, who had heard the bombshell declaration with me, to confirm if what I heard was real.
‘Ah, I’m not crazy.’
Noona was frozen stiff, her eyes wide open as if they might pop out. The career woman who had dropped a bomb on me and Se-ah noona without a care in the world was calmly drinking her coffee as if she had said everything she needed to say. It was clear that my life had been ruined the moment I got involved with the retired magical girl living next door.