Senior's Kiss!
When I opened the delivery bag, the spicy smell flooded the living room.
One half-and-half chicken, tteokbokki, french fries, and even cheese balls. I was sure we'd ordered for two, but enough food for four had shown up…
"Did we even order cheese balls…?"
"Senior ordered them!"
"I did?"
"Hmm, I thought Senior ordered them… maybe they threw them in as a freebie?"
Her star-shaped pupils sparkled.
I started to check the receipt, then gave up. A few cheese balls weren't worth fretting over, and food was better eaten hot.
"Whatever. Just grab some beer from the fridge."
"Okay!"
Sirin went straight to my fridge, pulled out two cans from the back, and came back shaking them in both hands.
"Don't shake them!"
"Ah."
She stopped belatedly and set the cans down with exaggerated care.
This is the kid who scored perfect marks in training?
I wanted to crack open the Facility Director's skull and check. Did that person even have a brain in there?
I picked up a chicken leg and took a bite.
Mm.
Delicious.
"Ow, hot."
"Eat slowly!"
"I barely ate today. Still, this is seriously scorching."
"Want me to blow on it for you?"
"Who blows on fried chicken…?"
"Hoo, hoo."
Sirin actually leaned in and blew on the chicken in my hand. Her blonde hair spilled forward over her shoulders.
Too close.
This girl acted like she had no concept of personal space.
I was about to set the chicken back on the plate when I noticed sauce smeared at the corner of her mouth. She was too busy sucking the sauce off her own fingers to notice.
"Hold still."
I wiped the sauce from the corner of her lips with my thumb.
Sirin's eyes went wide.
…I only realized what I'd done after my hand was already out there.
"Senior…!"
"Why are you smiling?"
"I-it's nothing! I'm just happy!"
"You had sauce on your face, so I wiped it. What's the big deal?"
Sirin caught my wrist and brought my sauced thumb to her mouth. I tried to pull my hand back immediately, but the tip of her tongue reached my finger first.
A wet sensation.
I jerked in surprise and tried to yank my hand free.
"Hey! What the hell are you—!"
"Sauce is precious, you know. Consider it payback for wiping the sauce off my mouth!"
Sirin picked up a piece of chicken like nothing had happened.
Heat.
My ears burned.
I took two long swallows of beer in a row. The cold carbonation hit the back of my throat and went down.
Ahh…
That hit the spot.
After my body changed, my alcohol tolerance had tanked too.
I used to walk home after two bottles of soju. Now a single can of beer flushed my cheeks and loosened my tongue.
Truly a useless body.
"Senior, your face is already red. Hehe."
"It's the lighting."
"Uuuh…? Your living room lights are white, though."
"Shut it."
Instead of answering, Sirin held out a cheese ball.
I kept my mouth shut and turned my head away, but the cheese ball followed my cheek. Dodge right, it went right. Dodge left, it went left.
"Say aah, Senior."
"…No."
"Aaaah…"
"Stop treating me like a kid! Don't play with food!"
"Hiiing, so it's fine if I just eat them all myself?"
Hah…?!
I looked away for one second and she'd already finished the cheese balls?!
This girl had zero table manners…!
In the end I opened my mouth.
I wanted those cheese balls, damn it!
The cheese ball Sirin popped in was scorching hot. I flapped my hand in front of my open mouth in shock, and Sirin started blowing again—
—this time straight into my mouth.
"A-are you insane? Don't get so close!"
"Hiiing, just a minute ago Senior touched my lips first."
"Wiping off sauce is the same as this?!"
"To me they feel pretty similar."
When the beer was about half gone, Sirin pushed the empty plates to one side.
The playful smile vanished with them.
"Senior. By the way—you remember the game we were going to play today, right?"
"…Huh? Why?"
I set down the chicken wing I'd been holding.
I remembered.
Sirin had begged to try controlling me however she wanted.
—Between seniors and juniors, this kind of thing happened all the time.
"Hehe…"
"How far did we agree you could go?"
"Peck-kisses, hugging, and touching over clothes!"
"That so? Fine. Go ahead."
I set the beer can down.
The corner of Sirin's mouth slowly curled upward.
"Senior. You're really doing this?"
"Try it. Why are you dragging this out?"
"Don't regret saying that."
Blue eyes closed in until they were right in front of me.
The star-shaped patterns grew larger.
"From now on, Senior accepts everything I say as completely natural."
Something pressed down inside my head.
It felt like a heavy palm crushing my forehead. My vision blurred for a moment, and Sirin's voice came from both ears at once.
Of course.
Sirin's words were right.
The star-studded eyes drew closer and closer, and the pressure on my head intensified without end.
"Senior can't push Sirin away."
"That's…"
The words caught in my throat.
I tried to lift my hands and shove her shoulders, but my arms stopped halfway up. I clenched my teeth and forced them, and my palms finally managed to touch her shoulders.
Sirin's body rocked back a little.
"Huh? You're tanking this much intensity while drunk?"
—Augh?
Sirin made an aggrieved face.
Strength drained from my body by degrees.
Seizing the opening, Sirin shoved me down onto the sofa. My back sank into the soft cushions, and her blonde hair spilled down on either side like a curtain.
Sirin carefully settled herself over my waist.
She barely put any weight on me. One hand rested beside my wrist; the other stayed near the table.
When I pushed her shoulder with my palm, her body swayed.
Sirin hurriedly grabbed my wrist.
"Uwaa, seriously! Why won't you just go under?"
Sirin locked eyes with me again.
My head went white.
The beer can on the table doubled, then overlapped back into one. Whether from being full or something else, even tensing my body was hard. Having stuffed myself with chicken and tteokbokki and then lain down on the sofa, drowsiness was creeping in too.
"Then how about this? From now on, Senior loves my hands so, so much! For thirty minutes! When I touch you, it feels amazing!"
"Uh?"
When Sirin stroked my cheek, my eyelids sank on their own. Warm. Like it. Like it. Love it.
Tuk.
Something snapped.
Strength left my hands.
"Senior? Did it take?"
I tried to answer, but my lips wouldn't move properly. Sirin held up her fingers right in front of my face.
"How many is this?"
Sirin smiled.
Why was she smiling?
She pulled out her phone and started a timer.
The numbers ticked down.
Chup.
Lips touched mine.
My first kiss was…
Ugh…
Sirin had been the one to propose playing around in the first place, yet her lips kept hesitating right in front of me.
Chup, chup.
They touched, pulled away, checked my expression and my face for cues, then kissed again…
Churp.
The second kiss lasted a little longer. Warmth seeped in between our lips. Sirin's hand traveled from my cheek to my neck, from my neck to my shoulder.
It moved slowly over my short-sleeved top.
Hnh, ahnh…
Every time her palm brushed the upper part of my chest, my body flinched.
Sirin stroked the same spot over and over, like she was committing the reaction to memory. She never pressed hard, never slipped her hand under my clothes. She just watched where my body tensed and where it went soft.
"…That tickles."
Sirin's hand drifted slowly downward.
Srrk.
It passed my ribs and stopped on my stomach. Through the thin fabric, the heat of her palm came through.
Srrk… srrk…
When she rubbed slow circles over my lower belly, the tteokbokki I'd just eaten felt like it was being pressed down, and my stomach turned a little queasy.
Sirin shifted her hand.
Srrk… srrk…
When she slowly stroked above my navel, the tension in my stomach melted away. Every time her touch drifted lower my body tried to react first—but Sirin always stopped before she reached the waistband of my pants.
Sirin lifted my hand and pressed it to her own cheek.
It was soft. The way she nuzzled her cheek along my palm looked just like a big cat.
"Senior! Show me your tongue!"
Ah.
I opened my mouth.
Mmm…
Sirin hesitated a moment, then overlapped our lips. The tip of her tongue carefully brushed mine.
Churp.
The touching tips of our tongues pushed and pulled playfully. Unlike the rushed first attempt, this time she waited for my reaction.
When the kiss ended, Sirin's face was redder than mine.
She gave my cheek a light pinch.
Then she glanced at her phone with a regretful expression and muttered to herself.
"Ah, I don't want to wake her up. Why is her resistance so strong for real."
Chup.
Sirin pressed a kiss to my forehead.
Snap!
The sound of fingers flicking.
The weight covering my head vanished, and my eyes flew open.
The first thing I saw was Sirin sitting on my waist. Next came my captured wrists, my rumpled top, and the heat still lingering on my lips.
I sat up on reflex.
Sirin lost her balance and toppled into my arms.
"Kyah!"
I caught her falling body. Blonde hair covered my face, and a sweet scent touched the tip of my nose.
"…What?"
"S-Senior! Why are you suddenly doing that?"
"No, it's just… a weird feeling."
"Huh? All of a sudden? We were just sleeping together on the sofa!"
Were we…?
I wasn't sure.
I stroked Sirin's hair once.
—Because that was the natural thing to do.
Sirin lifted her head from my chest. Her star-shaped pupils dropped to my lips. I cupped her cheek with one hand.
"What are you looking at."
"Ugh… that hurts."
Sirin whined and planted her chin on my shoulder.
From the table came the smell of cold chicken. Condensation beaded thickly on the open beer can.
Ah… how am I supposed to clean this up.
Tomorrow-me would figure it out, right?
Hehe.
While I was briefly lost in thought, Sirin buried her face in my chest and laughed.