The Paper That Sees the Future (2)
Rustle.
Paper brushed against my fingers. A twice-folded instruction sheet.
An instruction manual usually meant something I was seeing for the first time—though the Pocket did sometimes send manuals even for items that had already appeared more than once.
No. Something was stranger than that.
Earlier today I had clearly pulled something out of the Pocket to give Han Ahyoung a cigarette. Right now, nothing should have been able to come out at all.
The Pocket had definitely changed.
I yanked my hand free of the bag. Nestled in my palm was something small and stubby, barely large enough to be hidden behind the instruction paper. No matter which angle I turned it, I couldn't tell what it was. Its size made it look almost trivial—like a rubber sticker, maybe.
I unfolded the instruction sheet.
Manual: A device combining a microphone and a recorder, capable of storing any sound. Attach it wherever you like and the recorder turns transparent and begins recording.
A recorder that could store any sound.
Lately the Pocket kept handing me things—things that overlapped with what I'd already prepared myself. The Massage Oil had been the same way. It was as if the Pocket were saying, You've got something better now. Try this instead.
I set the sticker-like recorder on the back of my hand. The moment I thought about attaching it, it turned transparent in an instant. No weight. No sensation at all.
Curious, I ran my fingers over the back of my hand.
"Huh?"
A dazed sound slipped out of me. I couldn't feel the recorder—only bare skin. Stunned, I kept stroking the back of my hand. Nothing but skin.
It isn't even tangible? Did it disappear? How do I take it off?
The second the thought formed, the recorder reappeared. I picked it up and turned it over. No buttons. No screws. No seams of any kind. It really did look like nothing more than a rubber sticker.
I read the manual again, and the text vanished in real time as I finished each line. If recording started the moment it turned transparent, then it had already been recording just now. So how was I supposed to check the audio?
Wasn't that exactly the kind of thing a manual was supposed to explain? I was still fretting over it when—
Ding!
A silent file arrived on my phone. A recording titled with today's date and time.
I hit play.
Shaaaaa—
Sound so vivid it raised the fine hairs on my arms flooded out of the speaker. I sucked in a sharp breath. For a second I was sure I was hearing the back of my own hand being stroked.
I wasn't even wearing earphones—just the phone's bare speaker—and it was this clear, this clean. That shaaaaa in particular was the exact sound of my fingers dragging across my skin. Only that sound. No ambient noise. No hiss. No static. It felt less like listening through a phone and more like listening through professional audio equipment.
I opened YouTube and tapped a random video, then instinctively turned the volume down. The sound felt filthy by comparison. I almost wondered if my phone had broken, and played the recording again just to check. I wasn't even particularly sensitive to audio, and the contrast still hit me that hard.
I reached back into the bag. This time I pulled out the expensive microphone I had prepared myself. I went to the table first and set it up, placing my original mic on the desk—then stuck the Transparent Recorder to the edge of the table.
"Wow. Our Cookie's getting serious. Master will work hard too."
"No… Master, please just enjoy yourself."
I explained carefully.
"I want to capture Master eating the way you always do—happily. Naturally."
"Okay. Does Cookie like watching Master eat?"
"Yes. When Master eats, it's like watching an angel. Anyone would fall under your spell."
Without warning, Master leaned in close. Her lips worked softly against the nape of my neck.
"Ah♡"
She shifted, trailing down toward my collarbone, leaving a sheen of saliva in her wake.
Slurp-slurp♥
She sucked at my skin, then nipped it—as if she were devouring me.
"Hah♡"
"It's true. Cookie really does get bewitched watching Master eat…♥ Your face is a total mess…♥"
Mwah-mwah♥
"Hahk…♡"
"Does it drive you crazy when Master eats Cookie?"
"Yeheh♡ Th-that's why you can't… eat me…"
"Don't wanna. I have to mark Cookie's body as Master's. Cookie is mine♥"
"Hah♡"
For a long while after that, kiss marks were stamped all over my skin. Master devoured me thoroughly, sticky and relentless.
Smoooch♥
A string of saliva clung to her lips as she pulled away. The way she wiped her mouth with her wrist was unbearably sensual. She pressed down on my nipple and smiled.
"What are we going to do with Cookie…? Master's completely marked you up♥"
I twisted to look myself over. Bright red marks covered me everywhere—kiss marks Master had left in every place she could reach.
"I wike it…♡ Because I'm Master's. I wike it."
"Aww♥ Why does Cookie say such pretty things♥ Just being with Cookie makes Master's heart race…♥"
After that she pulled me into her arms and touched me all over, greedy and unhurried. Eventually the chicken arrived, and I arranged it prettily on the plates. Pickled radish in a clear dish. Sauce poured into another clear dish so it would show on camera. Last of all, I sprinkled on the Red Salt—only on a few pieces for now. The drumstick and the thigh.
"Sometimes even Master used to watch videos like this for vicarious satisfaction."
Master smiled as she watched me prepare everything.
"Master eats so deliciously that people are going to love it."
"Hehe. Yeah. But Master… only needs to like Cookie."
Smooch♥
Before I knew it she was at my side again, sucking on my nipple. The bud, already hypersensitive from how thoroughly she'd worked it earlier, twitched open under her mouth. The kiss mark there flushed even redder as she sucked it again.
"Feel good?"
"Feels good♡"
"Then shall we eat now?"
"Yes… I'll start right away."
Master sat down, and I moved behind the camera. Once I confirmed the angle was perfect, I spoke.
"Just eat and enjoy it. You can talk if you want. You know ASMR, right? If you do talk, it'd be nice if you whispered."
"Ah, whispering. I like that. Master always wanted to try it."
"You don't have to feel any pressure. Do whatever you feel like trying. Even if something doesn't work, we can just edit it out."
"Okay. Got it."
That was all the direction she needed. This couldn't feel like work. I wanted it to be a place she came to rest after working hard—a window for talking with the subscribers who would come later. A way to blow off stress. And once she got used to the camera, maybe she'd be less tense when she acted, too.
I hit record and gave her the signal that she could start eating.
Master picked up the drumstick at once. With the camera zoomed in, her jawline and hands stood out sharply—so white, so lovely, that I swallowed without meaning to.
Without any preamble, she bit into the drumstick.
Crunch!
The crisp skin of the fried chicken shattered, and the sound rang through the quiet room. The camera didn't catch it, but Master's eyes went round. The Red Salt had maximized the flavor of the fried chicken. She smiled with her eyes, looking genuinely happy. You could feel it—she was someone who truly loved food.
I watched the camera feed. Strangely, even though only her mouth was visible, that happiness came through completely. Just looking at it made me feel warm.
Chomp. Chew.
She chewed with her mouth closed, and the soft wet sounds of eating spread through the room—not annoying in the slightest, but a magical noise that made the saliva pool under my tongue. The Transparent Recorder was supposed to have a microphone effect as well, and maybe that was why the sound hit even harder.
Master crunched a piece of pickled radish, brushed on some sauce, and moved on to another cut. Now and then she whispered something.
It took roughly twenty minutes. The whole time I couldn't react at all—I just watched, completely entranced.
When the recording ended—
"Hoo. Already finished. That was delicious."
The urge to upload the video immediately surged up in me.
"Master, that was so good. Even the way you eat is entertaining…"
I told her so.
"You're beautiful, you have an amazing body, you act well, and you eat well. Is there anything Master can't do? You have everything."
"Ahn…♥ Cookie, come here. What am I supposed to do when you keep seducing Master like that♥ I'll eat Cookie for dessert♥"
Smooch. Smooch. Haaauump♥
After that she thoroughly devoured me again. She was gnawing gently at my ear when she murmured,
"Should we eat a little more…? Why is this chicken so good?"
"Please hold back for today… If we save it, it'll taste even better this way. Want to film again tomorrow? I'll cook something delicious for you."
"Okay. Then I'll hold back. Tomorrow I want to eat Cookie's cooking… And eat Cookie too♥"
Smooch-smooch♥
She ate me up all over again.
A long while later, Master went to wash up. I opened my laptop. I was itching to get the video online. I'd done a little editing before—nothing professional. Just making meme music out of people who'd gone viral. AI tools had gotten so good that simple cut edits were more than enough now. The audio was already perfect; there was nothing to touch. And the footage itself—Master was so beautiful that color correction or any other polish was completely unnecessary.
I was wondering how to get the audio file onto the laptop when it downloaded on its own. This time it wasn't an MP3. It was an MP4—a video with the Transparent Recorder's audio already laid over it.
The moment I hit play, I nodded. Even on a second listen, the sound quality was absurd. The air conditioner was running, and you couldn't hear a trace of it—only the eating sounds, razor-sharp and clean.
I made a few simple cuts while listening, and my mouth watered the entire time until my stomach actually growled. I let out a hollow laugh and finished getting ready to upload.
I'd already created the YouTube channel in advance. After a lot of thought, I'd settled on the name tjdk—just Seo-ah typed out on an English keyboard. There had been plenty of prettier, more elegant candidates. I'd even asked an AI. But in the end I went with that one. I left the profile picture and banner on the defaults on purpose. I wanted the channel to feel a little careless—like a hobby, like something thrown together without overthinking it. More specifically, like a top star dabbling in YouTube out of simple curiosity. We'd keep her face hidden for now, and once she was famous as an actress we'd reveal it. I wanted the excuse ready: I just tried it for fun. Somehow that felt more like something a real actor would do.
I'd discussed it with Master, of course. All she'd said was, Do whatever Cookie wants. Master likes anything Cookie does.
So I uploaded the video.
After Master finished washing up, I showered too and came out.
"Cookie, hurry up. Master wants to fall asleep with you sucking on her chest."
"Yeheh♡ Ah—just a second…"
"Mm… I'll wait, so finish whatever you need to."
Before bed, Han Ahyoung crossed my mind. She'd told me to contact her every day—when I woke up, and before I went to sleep. Glancing at Master's expression, I moved as far from the bedroom as I could get.
It was already very late. Past midnight, nearly one in the morning. I considered just sending a message, then decided to try calling first.
Beep—click!
She picked up immediately. The ringtone didn't even get to sound once. As if she'd been waiting the whole time.
"Going to sleep now?"
"Yes… I was worried it was too late. Noona, you haven't slept yet?"
"I was lying down because I wanted to sleep. But I stayed up waiting for Cookie's call."
Thump♥
My heart kicked hard.
"Noona thinks about Cookie all day long, you know. If you hadn't called—"
She left a beat of silence, then whispered to me.
"I really would've been so sad… Thinking, Cookie didn't even think about Noona…"
Thump-thump-thump-thump♥
"Nnh♡ I—I did♡ I thought about Noona…"
"You did? Really?"
"I did♡"
From the whole "Master Cock" business onwards—that haughty Han Ahyoung putting on this kind of aegyo was something I simply could not get used to. Every time I heard it, it felt like my heart was being seized in a fist.
"Starting today, don't forget to contact me properly. Understood?"
"Yes… I absolutely won't forget."
"Now that I've heard Cookie's voice, I can sleep."
Going to sleep right away. She really had been waiting only for my call.
"Have a good night, Noona. Sleep well, and I'll see you tomorrow. I'll call earlier from now on."
"Our Cookie should dream about Noona and sleep well too. Think only of Noona. Soon you have to become Noona's little puppy."
Twitch-twitch♥
"Answer me."
"…Yes."
The next day, I moved my mouth out of pure habit.
Smooch-smooch.
"Nngh♥"
I came to my senses while sucking on Master's nipple right in front of me. It was almost like meditation. My head cleared. My cock swelled. And with that, I remembered uploading the video yesterday.
It'd be nice if there was at least a little response. If it caught the algorithm, maybe the views would start climbing right away.
I unlocked my phone and opened the channel. With Master's pretty lips on the thumbnail, anyone would tap it. Or so I thought.
…Huh?
I rubbed my eyes several times, certain I had to be seeing it wrong.