“Hyung, we’re here.”
How much time had passed while I dozed off like that? As if it were obvious, his car had stopped right in front of the real estate office. Stretching, I tried to wake up my stiff body.
By the time we arrived at the office, it was already past six. Even if it was a nearby region, we’d taken the highway, eaten, and driven leisurely, so it made sense. I should’ve just asked him to drop me off at home.
“You opening the office? Maybe we should’ve just gone straight to your place.”
“No. I need to go in and check if there were any missed calls. I’ll get back on my own. You go in and rest.”
I opened the passenger door and leaned out, about to get off, when my left arm was suddenly grabbed.
“You should give me my reward before you go. I listened well today.”
“Ah…”
It might look strange if someone saw us, so I closed the car door again and turned toward him.
Yeah. Just think of him as the neighbor’s dog.
I lightly placed my hand on Jun’s glossy hair. As I gently shook and stroked it like I was comforting him, my fingers quickly sank into his hair.
“There. Good job. That enough?”
Just as I was about to pull my hand away, my wrist was caught.
“Not that.”
“Then what?”
He took my hand and brought it close to his mouth. Then he stuck out his tongue and slowly ran it over my thumb. I flinched and tried to pull back, but his firm grip held my hand in place, leaving only my fingers twitching.
“…!”
Suddenly, Jun opened his mouth and slipped one of my fingers inside, sucking on it with a soft sound. Like he was savoring a lollipop, his tongue rolled around it before pulling away.
The inside of the car filled with wet, sucking noises you’d normally only hear during a kiss. When the tip of his tongue circled across my palm, the ticklish sensation made me clench my fist, but each time I tried, he intertwined his fingers over the back of my hand so I couldn’t close it. Every attempt to tell him to stop was cleanly ignored.
Then my middle finger was slowly licked from the base of my palm to the tip before slipping into his mouth like my index finger had. I thought it would just stay between his tongue and palate again, but after pulling it out slightly, he bit down sharply.
“Ah!”
I’d been looking away, embarrassed to watch, but the sudden bite made me turn back. Jun held my finger between his teeth, gazing at me with deep, lingering eyes.
“…Don’t bite.”
Was he biting my fingers because he was like a dog? Meeting my bewildered gaze, Jun lowered his eyes again and resumed sucking on my finger. All I could do was endure the situation, repeating, “Ah, ah, stop…” under my breath. After firmly sucking on my pinky one last time, he finally released my wrist.
I held my hand up stiffly, like it was a prosthetic limb. Like a surgeon entering an operating room, I kept my hand raised in the air, frozen, as if touching anything would contaminate it.
At the same time, a strange tingling sensation spread somewhere inside my body, leaving me confused. He’d only licked my hand, yet it felt as if somewhere else had been licked, and my heart pounded uncontrollably.
It seemed like he was done, because I saw Jun open the driver’s door and step out. A beat later, I opened the passenger side and got out too—my left hand still raised toward the sky.
“Hyung. Can I head out now?”
“Huh? Yeah! Of course. Go.”
I watched him turn away. Even as he walked off, Jun cast a brief glance at my hand before crossing the street. Within a few steps, he disappeared into his own building.
The first thing I wanted to do was wash off the saliva on my hand. Before opening the office, I headed to the building restroom. Thankfully there was soap, so I scrubbed my left hand thoroughly. Only then did the scenes from the car begin replaying one by one in my mind.
The tongue that had licked my hand so eagerly, the red lips that had chewed on my fingers. At some point, what he’d been sucking on stopped feeling like my finger and more like… something else, and heat rushed through my body. I quickly splashed water on my face to erase the images.
Why the hell was he licking my hand like that?
I let out a sigh while drying my hand with a paper towel.
When I went back into the office, the first thing I checked was the watch Jun had asked me to return. It looked expensive, so losing it would be a disaster. After confirming it was safe, I locked it inside the drawer.
I noticed a missed call and started tidying the desk, then remembered Han-woo telling me earlier to sell Relax on the homepage board. I was about to sit down and turn on the PC when I suddenly remembered the adult products delivery, so I closed the office and left.
***
The moment I got off at the bus stop, I ran nonstop toward my apartment. Adult products? I’d never ordered anything like that, and it felt completely unfair. I was about to be branded the neighborhood pervert. As I passed the security office, it was empty—maybe the guard had gone to dinner.
As soon as the elevator stopped on the fourth floor, I rushed out and headed toward my door, only to see the security guard covering something in front of it with newspaper again.
“I’m sorry. Is that… it?”
“Good grief. They really sell all kinds of things online these days.”
When I lifted the newspaper and saw the box, I understood why he said that. The outer packaging had bold phrases like “masturbation device” and suggestive promotional slogans printed right on it.
Honestly, whoever sells these adult products should reflect a little. Shouldn’t they at least wrap it in opaque packaging so the contents aren’t visible? I apologized to the guard and carried the box into my apartment. I had absolutely no desire to open it.
“Ugh… what is this, seriously.”
First, I checked the sender. Thankfully, the seller’s contact number was listed. Though it was already past 7 p.m., so I wasn’t sure they’d even pick up.
If you only look at the name, you’d think it’s a fruit shop.
[Hello…….]
“Is this BananaPeach Mall? I received some weird products, but I never ordered anything like this.”
[Unit 412?]
“Yes, my place is 412.”
[Was this your phone number?]
The voice had been quiet at first, so I didn’t recognize it, but as the tone lifted, I instantly knew who it was.
Blue tracksuit.
[You don’t like it? I put a lot of thought into sending that.]
“…Take it back. I’m throwing it away.”
[It cost 200,000 won. Should I just charge your card? We even offer up to 24-month installments.]
“What kind of bullshit is that, sending stuff without permission?”
[Returns aren’t possible, customer.]
“If you don’t come get it, I’m throwing everything out. If you want to dig through the trash, be my guest.”
[Wait. If you dump my babies in the trash, I won’t let it slide. I’ll be there soon.]
Fine. I decided to go all in. If he came into my place and started causing trouble, I’d just act crazy right back.
I didn’t know why today had been so chaotic. First, I’d been flustered by the Panty Guy’s package, then I’d accepted Jun’s strange proposal and gotten even more tangled up, and now I was being forced into buying adult products. My patience had finally hit its limit.
Ding-dong—
The moment the doorbell rang, I flung the door open without hesitation. The guy in the blue tracksuit looked like he’d been about to knock, but froze when I opened it so boldly.
“Take it.”
I tossed the box at him like I was handing over a watermelon, and he caught it quickly.
“Hey, 412.”
I tried to shut the door, but he wedged one foot firmly in the entrance.
“I’m just going to close it, you know?”
“Don’t think this is the end. I’m not leaving because you won. I came because I didn’t want my babies getting contaminated in some dirty place. But it’s weird. If it were me, I’d have already opened it and gotten off once—ow, ow!”
Whatever he was saying, I just tried to slam the door shut. He dropped the box to the side and grabbed the door with both hands to hold it open.
“You trying to cripple my foot?”
“Should I really close it for real?”
“Alright, wait! Ow! Wai—!”
As I loosened my grip slightly so he could pull his foot back, he slipped inside through the gap.
“Hey, aren’t you leaving? I’m calling the police. This is trespassing.”
“Not sure if the cops will get here faster, or if I’ll smear shit all over your house first.”
“What…?”
He looked perfectly normal, so why was he acting like such a pathetic weirdo? I at least wanted to know why.
“Seriously, what’s your problem? Are you still like this because of that parking argument back then?”
“No, that’s already settled.”
“Then why are you acting like this?”
“There hasn’t been a single place that didn’t move out after messing with me.”
“So what? This ends when I move out too?”
He said it wasn’t necessarily like that, answering calmly. But then he started rambling about how his reputation had taken a hit and how, now that he had this kind of image, nobody bothered him anymore, which actually made life comfortable.
His flimsy blue tracksuit fluttered uselessly, but thanks to his broad shoulders, it still looked structured. After stretching his neck side to side a few times, he held out his hand to me.
“I’m Kim Roban. I live in unit 813 of the building next to yours.”
I had no idea what he was trying to pull, but I lightly touched his fingertips before pulling away. He grabbed my wrist with his other hand and shook firmly anyway, pumping it up and down like a declaration of war.
“Let’s get along.”
“……”
“What other choice do you have if you want to stay here without getting forced to move? If you and I become friendly, people will accept it. And nobody will bother you either. Honestly, rumors probably already spread that you’re some masturbation virgin. Oh, and I saw you getting shaken down by that kid at the playground before.”
“…I just gave it to him. I just want to live quietly.”
“That’s exactly why I’m doing this.”
I couldn’t understand Roban’s words at all. Saying, “Mind if I sit for a bit?” he plopped down onto my sofa. When he asked for something to drink, I steeped a green tea bag in hot water—who knows when I’d even bought it.
“I run an adult product business from my place. I personally delivered that stuff too.”
“There was a shipping label on it.”
“I just wrote that and stuck it on. These days, if you send stuff normally, they don’t even pick it up. You’re not thinking ahead, are you?”
“And you thought ahead by leaving that kind of thing at my door?”
When he’d chased me outside earlier, he looked completely insane, but now, holding the teacup carefully with both hands, he seemed almost normal. Then, out of nowhere, he apologized. I nearly dropped the TV remote I was holding.
“What… all of a sudden? Do you have multiple personalities or something?”
“I did some crazy stuff, didn’t I?”
“At least you know that. But why do you act like such a lunatic?”
“Me…? I was just trying to feed some cats.”
“What?”
This time I really did drop the remote. It was beyond absurd. Hearing the reason made him sound even less normal. What did feeding cats have to do with acting like a complete psycho?
A vein near my temple throbbed like it might burst. A migraine was definitely coming on. Trying to have a serious conversation with someone like this had been a mistake from the start. I felt like an idiot for briefly thinking he was normal. An emptiness even worse than when that kid had shaken me down at the playground washed over me.
