Can I Come Up Now?
Friday evening. I was lying in bed, staring blankly at a travel vlog playing on my tablet. Let's grab a drink since it's the weekend!The weather's great, so let's head to the Han River and have a blast! Even as my friends bombarded the group chat with pleas like that, I'd made excuses about my condition and turned them down, killing time sprawled out on the bed like this. Well, it wasn't exactly an excuse, if I thought about it. My stamina still hadn't fully recovered since that day—it was the truth.
Snuggled deep in my cozy blanket, savoring the pleasant heaviness of my drooping eyelids, I was idly thinking I really should go on that Japan trip next year when—ding!—an alarm chimed right in my ear, yanking my drifting mind back to reality. I slipped my hand under the soft microfiber blanket to fish out my smartphone, only to find it had slid all the way down to my butt. Pushing my messy bangs up off my forehead for face recognition, I saw the sender: Hanjiu.
I considered ignoring it, but Hanjiu wasn't the type to message first very often, so I obediently swiped over to our chat. But the lazy haze enveloping my whole body vanished the instant I opened it.
On the screen, some crazy bitch had gathered up a massive heap of jiggling flesh and was proudly flaunting her pale pink areolas and nipples. Ah, fuck... I must've really lost my mind that day... A wave of self-loathing surged up from the depths. I wanted to bite my tongue and die right there on the spot. But even if I was gonna die, I'd tidy up first—I'd probably look peacefully laid out in the casket at the funeral home. First things first, I deleted that embarrassing photo floating all alone in the chat. Of course, I knew it was like covering my eyes and crying "I can't see." Still, getting it off my screen right now felt like the only way to hold together my shattered psyche.
I debated deleting the gem-like conversation history left behind it, one by one. But facing those screenshots would plunge me into an abyss for the whole weekend, no escape. So I left them. Forcing my bleary eyes, I barely managed to check Hanjiu's message at the bottom.
A curt five words, too blunt for a message to a girl. As expected, this guy didn't see me as a woman. Not that I saw him as a romantic prospect either, of course.
The little "1" next to my sent message vanished in a flash.
Even though I was alone, I could practically hear Hanjiu's mocking laugh.
A few more rounds of back-and-forth followed. Only after I got his firm confirmation that he'd deleted it did our silly banter finally end.
Nothing special, just knocking out weekly homework together. Or rather... Hanjiu, you with your fine build and decent looks, rotting away in your room on a golden Friday night like me? What a waste of that face and body. If I had your body... ahem... Nah, I'd probably still be holed up at home. A twinge of worry and envy for my old friend. And a bit of appreciation that he'd thought of me. Vitality started creeping back into my languid body.
I fired off a "coming right in" and got out of bed, powering up my computer. I neatly tied my hair back with the band on my vanity mirror, put water in the coffee pot, and dropped a hibiscus teabag—good for cramps—into my mug. Not cramps exactly, but the pain's in the same area, right?
After logging into the game, I whispered to Jiwoo's character.
With the festival right around the corner, it was full-on early summer now. In our online game world, heading into a break for updates, this timing was near the end of the season. Still, Fire Dragon's Nest was solidly top-tier raid content, and voice chat was pretty much mandatory. Especially for the last boss's phase 2 wipe mechanic—mic briefings were essential.
But... I hate voice chat. Didn't wanna use my mic. Too much hassle. There'd been times when it got forced on me unexpectedly, and it just felt awkward, like people were watching. Me, Song Yujeong, apparently wasn't cut out to be the queen bee.
Thankfully, that's exactly what Hanjiu said. I clicked the Discord link he sent and joined the channel. Double-checked my mic was off, then tossed a light greeting into party chat: Thanks for the invite, mic's busted so I'll just listen. Will follow orders diligently, no complaints.
A mix of voices poured through my headset—five guys, one girl. And that familiar male voice. I kept my mouth shut, blended in, and hit ready.
~ It didn't take long to finish the homework. Let's see... about an hour and a half. End of season meant everyone had plenty of specs, and we were pretty familiar with the mechanics, so we breezed through. The raid chat was more chit-chat among buddies than strats or mechanics talk.
And Hanjiu—I hadn't realized he was so chatty in front of others till today! After loot distribution, I admired my slender character standing tall in the family photo, said thanks for including me, and left the party.
I dumped the cold dregs of hibiscus tea from my mug into my mouth. Thought about crawling back to bed, but since the PC was on anyway, I decided to browse summer clothes on that shopping site my friends recommended.
Truth be told, with my bust and fairly pronounced hips for a woman, I usually tried stuff on in stores. But with my current lack of girl-power knowledge, diving in blind would just leave me overwhelmed by all the women's clothes. So I studied like this sometimes. Scrolling the mouse wheel, checking out what the model sisters were wearing, when—ding!—a Discord alert from my headset.
1:1 call from Hanjiu. Eyes still glued to model unnie's cleavage, I hit accept.
"What now? Something left?"
"Nah, nothing left. You busy?"
"Just browsing summer clothes."
"Summer clothes?"
"Yeah. Two years ago I was in the hospital, last year at cram school—no proper summer stuff."
Ooh, this is cute! A gray short-sleeve knit polo on a model unnie with a build like mine. I screenshotted and sent it to my phone. Apparently knit styles were trending this summer. I didn't overheat much—worth a shot.
"So, what? Spit it out if you got something to say."
He'd called but gone quiet, and even after my nudge, he hesitated more.
"Can I come up now?"
His voice was lower than usual, snapping my focus from model unnie straight to that deep tone in my headset. Can I come up now? I knew exactly what that meant. Grinning mischievously, I replied in a playful tone.
"Whoa, Hanjiu. That why you dragged me into homework?"
"N-no, not exactly."
His gruff snap-back made him stutter a bit over the headset. Rare sight—kinda cute. Picturing him squirming in his chair, my lips curled up involuntarily. Tempting to tease more, since his reactions were tasty. But if I, the girl, started poking at this stuff, it'd burden him.
"Kidding, kidding. Why stutter like that? We agreed from the start—you want it, just say so, no hesitation."
"Yeah. So... I can come up?"
I glanced around my studio apartment. Bed was a mess... but no need to impress Hanjiu. Nothing else out of place, so it was fine for getting laid.
"Not right now—give me 30 minutes. Oh, and we used up the condoms last time. Grab some on your way."
"Gotta hit the convenience store. Anything else?"
"If you're going, grab an egg sandwich too. For tomorrow's breakfast."
Call ended there. His voice had sounded a tad excited—should've teased more. I stretched and stood.
Suspicious from the moment he nagged me about homework. No such thing as free kindness! Honestly, I wanted to say no. Unlike last week, I wasn't in the mood. My body's condition wasn't great either. Plus, I had plans tomorrow—up early to get ready and head out.
But as I said, if I, the woman, started turning down every time, this setup would tip one way eventually. And... truth be told, last week was amazing... Ah, whatever. Only 30 minutes—better hurry and prep. I stripped off my bra top and panties, tossed them in the washer, and headed to the bathroom. Might as well check his phone while he's here—make sure that pic's really gone!