An Encounter Breeds Questions
“Oh... so you're Inje's girlfriend... then.”
While Chiwon stood there wearing an inscrutable expression, lost in some thought or other, I seized the moment to shut the door quickly and slip into the room. What was with that face? Was the news that I had a girlfriend really such a shock?
Maybe he'd noticed my face stiffening, because Chiwon gave a wry smile and waved a hand in dismissal.
“No, that's not what I was thinking. It's just that Inje has never once said a word to me about having a girlfriend, so it was on my mind a little.”
Right. The two of us had promised that whoever got a girlfriend first would tell the other immediately, and once some time had passed, introduce her. I had never forgotten it. I'd fully intended to tell him the moment I actually had one — who could have guessed things would twist into this... Guilt pricked at my chest. I'd thought it would be fun to meet my friends while wearing the leather, but this was hardly the setup I'd been hoping for!
“What is he even doing, still not back yet... Does Inje even know you came here?”
“Huh? Oh, no, I came without calling because I wanted to surprise him. Sometimes I, um, stay over here... and all.”
Great. I'd fumbled my way into saying something completely unnecessary. Chiwon's expression wavered a little. I never asked how often you two have sex, and I don't want to know! It felt like I could hear that inner scream of his.
“Oh... right...”
An awkward silence settled over the room. Keeping my eyes on him head-on felt somehow unbearable, so I let my gaze drift toward the floor beside me. And then what I saw was...
“Ah!”
A gasp escaped me before I could stop it, and Chiwon's eyes followed mine. Yes — what I'd been looking at was the women's clothing and assorted products I'd ordered online, along with the dildo. I'd left them out on the desk when I went out; Chiwon must have moved them aside. We both hastily tore our eyes away.
“Ah, that stuff, um...”
Chiwon mumbled. There was no way he could bring himself to tell a woman, There wasn't room to set down the chicken, so I moved the dildo that was sitting on top down to the floor. I'm sorry for handling it without asking. I understood completely — I wanted to die of embarrassment myself. If it had at least been an onahole, I could have laughed the whole thing off.
“I-It's fiiine...”
And out came a voice that was anything but fine. It wavered on the edge of tears — the kind of sound anyone could tell was forcing feelings down. I hadn't known it was possible to be this mortified, so why was my heart pounding like this? How was I supposed to clear the air? For a while, the only sound in the room was the tick of the clock's second hand. I was drowning in shame and embarrassment, while Chiwon desperately searched through his own bewilderment for something, anything to say. And it was he who found it first.
“Ahem. Well, first I should probably try contacting the owner of the room. Let him know that you and I are here, too.”
He pulled his phone out of his pocket. Wait — hold on — that meant a call was about to come through to mine. Had I set it to silent?
I hadn't.
“Let me! I'll try calling him!”
Without a second to think, I rushed over and seized Chiwon's phone in both hands. A glance at the screen showed he'd been about to press a speed-dial number. Thank goodness — it looked like I'd stopped it in time...
“Um... Yerim...?”
“Yes?”
“I'm sorry, but, um, you're a little too close... could you give me some space...?”
Huh?
Only then did I register what I had just done. Both hands wrapped tight around his, my chest pressed flush against his body — the kind of pose couples pull, and no one else.
“I-I'm so sorry!”
I snatched my hands back and stumbled away. Now it wasn't just my face — my entire body was burning. Chiwon was no better off; his hands trembled as he straightened his clothes. This was just an accident. Nothing more than an accident, I told myself, and with my eyes firmly averted I made the call. Or rather, I only pretended to. In this atmosphere, he wouldn't be paying much attention to the sound anyway. I picked some random number from the contacts, tapped call, and hung up at once. Then I quickly powered my own phone off.
“It seems Inje's phone is off. The call won't connect...”
There. With that, my alibi was complete. Even if Chiwon called me now, there would be no problem. Perhaps relieved to have something else to talk about, Chiwon carried on in a steadier voice.
“Really? He's not usually this hard to reach... I'm a little worried something might have happened to him.”
“Me too, I'm worried. And after coming all this way to surprise him... Chiwon, if you stay out much later, you might have a hard time getting home.”
Wouldn't it be better to just head home? I suggested, wrapping it in a roundabout way. As long as Chiwon stayed here, I couldn't take off the leather. To break out of this situation, my only option was to send him off first and make my excuses over the phone afterward. From here, it took more than an hour by train to reach Chiwon's place. I felt bad turning him out at this hour, but there was no other way.
“True enough. I did come planning to stay the night, but... that would be a little difficult now, wouldn't it? With you here, and no telling when Inje will be back.”
You understand me perfectly — you really are the best friend a guy could have! Chiwon picked up his coat from the wall hook and began getting ready to leave.
“You're not taking the chicken you brought back with you?”
“Ah, I think I should leave what I bought here. It was meant for us to share, so hauling it back home would feel wrong. Will you be staying here, Yerim?”
“I thought I'd wait a little longer, too.”
“Well then, I'll be off. If Inje comes back while you're still here, could you tell him to give me a call?”
“Of course. I'll pass that along.”
Chiwon put on his shoes and opened the door to go, then hesitated a moment and turned back to face me. Was there something he still wanted to say?
“I really am sorry about today.”
With a grave expression, Chiwon bowed to me.
“I'm...? No, you didn't do anything—”
“No — I should have contacted Inje before coming over. I meant to surprise him, and instead I seem to have made you uncomfortable, Yerim. It won't happen again, so please don't worry. Well then, I'll be heading home.”
“Ah — yes! Goodbye!”
Flustered, I bowed right back. Chiwon watched me for a moment longer, then slipped out the door. I stood rooted in front of it, holding that pose until the clunk of the closing door and the sound of his brisk footsteps had faded away completely. The sound's gone now, isn't it?
“Whew... I thought my heart was going to give out...”
I flopped down onto the floor without even changing clothes. I seemed to have somehow talked my way through it... but that had been far too close. Thank goodness he hadn't walked in on me mid-change, or while I was touching myself. If he'd caught me in the middle of Futanari Play... I didn't even want to imagine it.
I stared at the powered-off phone for a while. Turning it back on now felt like more than I could face. It was far too late tonight — I would switch it on early tomorrow morning and ask, Were you trying to reach me? I'd stayed over at another friend's place and my battery died, so I never got your call. Something along those lines should do it. It was a flimsy excuse, but he'd probably let it slide, wouldn't he? Though I could already hear the retort — you don't have a single close friend besides me — and for some reason that made me sink a little.
For that to work, though, 'Park Yerim's' story would have to line up as well. I went back over the events from the very beginning one more time. I'd opened the door and come in to find a stranger, exchanged introductions, had a brief matter over some belongings, and then, trying to stop him from making a call... I had practically thrown myself into his arms.
Replaying that moment stirred up a strange feeling. His chest had seemed somehow solid, dependable even, and there was this ticklish little urge to press closer still...
“AAAAAAAH!!!!”
I screamed. My apologies to the neighbors, but I had no choice! What was this feeling? I'm a man!
I hurriedly stripped off my clothes and peeled away the leather. The moment I did, the heat that had been building in me snuffed out in an instant. So it was the leather after all. As I am right now — as a man — I like women, and Chiwon is simply my friend. But when I'm wearing the leather, I'm a woman, and, well, it seems I feel attraction toward men, too.
No — that couldn't be it either. When that college student confessed to me at the cafe, all I'd felt was a vague sense that it was nice to be confessed to. So there had to be some other factor at work... What was different between that student and Chiwon?
I agonized, and agonized some more. After a long stretch of thinking, one ominous hypothesis surfaced.
Could it be that the fondness I felt as a man turns into affection when I'm wearing the leather?
Yes — that would explain everything. Why the confession at the cafe had left me lukewarm, and why I'd felt so embarrassed closing the distance with Chiwon here. What a relief. I'm not gay. I can say it with certainty: as a man, I don't like Chiwon!
...Hold on. Then does that mean I, as a woman, have fallen for Chiwon?
It had been about two weeks since I bought the leather, and I had run headlong into the worst problem yet. Was it really okay to keep wearing this thing?