Chapter 981

EP.981 [Reality Side Story] How to Spend the Golden Holiday No.0 Ha Shin-ra

Travel is always great.

Not just exploring new places, but sharing the journey with someone makes it truly joyful and happy.

But travel often comes with unexpected variables, and sometimes schedule troubles can arise.

And when that happens, humans get so mad their anger reaches heaven itself.

Especially if it’s not even a normal trip but a business trip—worse yet, one where your vacation days were forcibly converted into mandatory work.

Yeah, I’m pissed right now.

Right this very moment.

“What are we gonna do?”

“…I don’t know.”

Shin-ra frowned and demanded an answer from me.

But honestly, I didn’t have any clear solution at the moment either.

“Who could’ve guessed the ferry would be canceled due to wind?”

“Are you sure it wasn’t on purpose? Pfft.”

“It’s not like that!”

It was absolutely not planned.

Though I did admit, I was curious how Shin-ra might react in such a situation—but I never imagined this exact scenario would happen.

Swooshhh…

Outside, fierce waves crashed violently against the shore.

There was no way the boat could sail under these conditions, and as I received another call from my department manager, I couldn’t help but sigh deeply.

“The manager?”

“They said they won’t count this as vacation time, but told us to come back carefully without any accidents.”

“Accident? Hmm, what kind of accident are they talking about?”

“Well, obviously a fatal one.”

Shin-ra teased me while poking around.

As a guy, whenever she acted like this, it threw me off balance every single time. It was impossible to stay calm whenever Shin-ra showed her playful side.

‘Stay cool…’

If I fall for her antics, there’ll be no end to it.

After all, this whole business trip originally wasn’t supposed to include her. She forced her way in.

– “You’re not sending me alone to Jeju Island, right? There should definitely be someone accompanying me.”

– “Who says anyone’s going with you?”

– “Well, you took vacation leave already, didn’t you? So, I’ll go on the business trip and take care of your leave too.”

– “Why are you changing my peaceful island vacation into this?”

I wanted to relax at home.

But then the manager sweet-talked me into agreeing.

– “We’ll count the trip as work and push your leave to later. Deal?”

– “Why are you going through so much trouble to send me along?”

– “Because this project is huge!”

So here I am, stuck traveling with this woman, Ha Shin-ra.

When I offered to drive, she insisted we use public transport instead, leading us to ride together on the high-speed bus. And because she wanted more samples, we decided to board the ferry to reach the island village.

Then the ferry got canceled.

Luckily, since the island wasn’t completely remote, there were motels near the port, and they weren’t trying to rip people off.

The accommodation wasn’t discounted, so we had to pay full price—but now we faced an awkward problem.

One room.

One bed.

…Damn.

‘Should I just find another motel and sleep separately?’

If Shin-ra keeps teasing me like this, I don’t think I can hold myself back.

Honestly, I feel like something bad might happen—I can’t handle it.

What if I lose control?

‘This is a hard-earned job!’

If anything goes wrong between colleagues—if Shin-ra was just messing around and treating me like a plaything—and if things escalate criminally…

Instead of a shiny employee badge, I’d end up wearing handcuffs, eating jail food instead of company lunches.

‘Nah, it won’t happen.’

I trust my gut.

Even if Shin-ra sees me as more of a casual friend rather than a serious partner, I believe she isn’t scheming to scam me for money.

“Not taking a shower?”

“…Yeah, I should. But seriously… let me ask one thing.”

I turned to Shin-ra, who was already sitting on the bed, asking seriously.

“It’s not too late, right?”

“For what?”

“Answer me properly.”

“I’m being serious enough already.”

“Even on a business trip, isn’t it risky for a man and a woman to share a room?”

“I think it’s fine since it’s you, Oppa.”

“…”

Oppa means it’s fine.

This statement remains ambiguously interpretable.

Either she believes I’m trustworthy enough not to harm her—or literally, because it’s “Oppa,” everything’s okay.

If it’s the latter… well, I might snap tonight.

“Have you ever been scammed by some seductive snake before?”

“W-what…?”

“You’re awfully defensive. Are you following some fence rule or something? If that was the case, you’d have insisted on separate rooms already.”

Tinkle tinkle.

Shin-ra sipped her strawberry milk bought from the convenience store, blinking at me.

Her eyes locked onto mine, and she tapped the bed beside her invitingly.

“Sit down. Your neck must hurt from looking up the whole time.”

“…”

“Come on, men only move when given permission, right? Why so tense? You look like you’re facing your first love.”

“…Exactly.”

I sat next to her.

We were close enough to hear each other breathe. Slowly, Shin-ra reached out her hand toward me.

“…Your heart is racing.”

She placed her delicate hand over my chest, pressing lightly against my shirt as her fingers moved across my heart.

“Why is it beating so fast? Does it do this when you meet coworkers from other departments?”

“…No.”

“So if it only happens with me, does that mean I can start believing something?”

Shin-ra whispered softly into my ear.

“…I’ve liked you for a while now, and I’ve been waiting for a day like today.”

Thump.

All doubts and misunderstandings began turning into certainty.

I realized those viral internet couple stories aren’t fake—this kind of thing could really happen to me.

‘No, not yet.’

She might still twist it at the last second with something like, “Is this what you wanted? Pfft.”

So I shouldn’t trust it.

But I can’t stop thinking…

Smack.

“…It tastes like strawberries.”

“…”

Shin-ra froze in shock.

So did I after realizing what I’d done.

“…If you don’t want to, just say so.”

“…”

Shin-ra clamped her mouth shut.

While I knew her silence might not necessarily mean consent, no man would stop in a situation like this.

Chuuck, chuuck.

I kissed her deeply, our tongues intertwining. Her initial awkwardness gave way as she started moving her tongue in sync with mine. Slowly, I slid my hand down her body.

Rustle, rustle, rustle.

With every layer of clothing I peeled away, Shin-ra quietly watched me.

Her face seemed to silently beg for something, and she grabbed my hand as it moved lower.

“Um…”

“Hmm?”

“…Really, I’m sorry, but…”

Shin-ra’s eyes trembled slightly with fear.

“…Can we just stick to kissing today?”

“…Are you scared?”

“…Embarrassed, actually.”

Blushing furiously, Shin-ra lowered her head.

“It’s also… my first kiss.”

“…”

I’m not an animal.

Which means I can restrain myself.

I have to.

“Then…”

I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her closer.

“…Let me touch your breasts.”

“…”

“If you touched mine, it’s only fair I get to touch yours, right?”

“…Hmph.”

For a moment, Shin-ra looked baffled and let out a small scoff, but soon turned her gaze away.

Rustle.

“…Seriously?”

Turns out, the color and size exceeded all expectations.

“Blue…”

“Imported ones…”

Thump.

“I’ll take them off.”

“…”

I continued kissing her while slowly sliding my hand underneath her clothes. Cupping her soft, full breasts, I quickly unhooked her bra with my free hand.

“…They say doing it one-handed makes you seem experienced.”

“Not true.”

“You’ve probably done this a lot, huh? Like, sixteen times?”

“What’s with the random number?”

“Just a feeling. Hmph.”

“…”

A bead of cold sweat trickled down my back, but I stopped her thoughts by diving back into another kiss.

“…Mmm.”

Her lips still carried that rich strawberry scent.

I kept moving my tongue to keep her focused on the kiss, using the opportunity to unbutton her shirt entirely and slide the bra up her chest.

“Haa… Haa… Haa…”

The motel’s orange light illuminated Shin-ra’s flushed cheeks.

Taking advantage of her breathing pauses, I lowered my face toward her neck.

Smack.

I licked her collarbone, tickling her skin, and slowly moved my head downward.

All the while, my eyes stayed locked on hers, ensuring her entire focus remained on my gaze and tongue.

Just as I was about to reach her chest…

“Kyaa?!”

Shin-ra yelped and instinctively scooted back.

She noticed my hand sneaking inside her skirt.

“…”

Frowning, Shin-ra glared at me.

Worried I may have made a mistake, my heart sank—but she simply glared without moving further.

“…Do you want me to do that?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m a guy?”

If I didn’t feel this way about a girl I like, I wouldn’t be much of a man.

“Didn’t you bring me here for that reason?”

“…Your sudden confidence is kinda annoying.”

“We’re not backing down here.”

“…”

I pressed my body against hers again.

Kissing Shin-ra, I pushed forward with my tongue and body, causing her to slowly fall backward onto the bed.

Gently, I slipped my hand between her legs.

Her constant wriggling caused her skirt to ride higher, giving me access to the hidden area beneath.

“…”

“Ugh…!!”

She was wet.

Leaning closer to her increasingly red face, I asked softly,

“Can I proceed?”

“…Even if I refuse, you’d probably do it anyway.”

“If you refuse, I’ll stop. But if you don’t say anything, I’ll take silence as permission.”

Final warning.

Shin-ra hesitated, biting her lip, then finally whispered faintly,

“…Do whatever you want. We came here for that anyway…”

“Alright.”

From the moment the ferry was canceled and we entered the motel room with only one bed—

Both of us knew why we were here.

“…Isn’t that why we came?”

“Yeah. We’re here to…”

I kissed her again as I slid my hand further down.

“To have sex.”