────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Chapter 3
‘Is he looking at me? As if her opponent had read her thoughts he immediately turned his head at that same instant.
Of course he wasn’t. Having such foolish expectations, Ravi felt pathetic.
‘Ravi, you’re fooling yourself again.’ Her unwillingness to let go of the string of hope was both admirable and pitiful. ‘Looking at me even though I didn’t even speak to him? Something like this could never happen.’ It was impossible. Just as they knew she was a woman no matter how much she dressed like a man, she was well aware that the humans in this world didn’t even notice her unless she talked to them first. To them, Ravi was like an invisible being.
‘That’s why I’m leaving and eating like this…’
She looked at her face reflected on the surface of the glass bottle. Although there were some dark circles under her haggard eyes, this radiant beauty was not covered up even by wearing men’s clothes. This atmosphere surrounding her… Who would dare to say she was treated like a pumpkin? What was the point of being born with such a pretty face? If no one could recog… nize… it…?
[tl/n: treated like a pumpkin means being called ugly]
Ravi, who was looking around engulfed in her depression, lifted her head in surprise.
“Just now… again…”
Their eyes met. This time she was certain. It wasn’t just a feeling, it wasn’t a coincidence. It was the man from before. In a table placed in a remote corner of the bar, diagonally across from her. Just a few seconds after their eyes met, the man turned his head again. Ravi followed him, pretending to not notice, and averted her gaze. But once she became conscious of it, she got more and more bothered.
Two, three times… When half of the bar was already empty, the number of times they had met eye-to-eye exceeded ten fingers.
“Hey, Glasses.”
Ravi finally spoke to the man. He had somehow recognized yet didn’t talk to her. Her heart was pounding with anticipation. The more regrettable it could become, the more advantageous it would be to hide such signs.
“You know me? Why are you looking at me?”
The man didn’t even blink an eye despite the harshly quarrelsome words. A table in the far corner of a noisy bar. The man sitting alone without a party looked very gloomy. It was because the big horn-rimmed glasses completely covered his face, so she couldn’t see his facial features or expressions well, and the black hair covering his eyes played a part.
“Just—”
But as for the voice, it was amazing. Not suited to such a nerdy-looking guy. There was something in it that stimulated his opponent. As she was carefully observing the man, Ravi heard something unbelievable.
“You’re pretty.”
“What?!”
Pretty? It was the first time she had heard such words after falling into this meager world. When she heard something anyone had said except for herself, she choked and shouted. Her heart was overwhelmed.
“Really? Why?”
“…?”
Ravi’s face, which had been stiff as if she was about to pick a fight, brightened at once. Without even asking for permission, she sat across from him and drew her face close to the man cupping her cheeks with both elbows placed on the table.
“More. Praise me with more detail. How pretty am I?” Her twinkling pink eyes said so, beaming as if she had heard the most interesting story in the world.
“Look in the mirror. Then you’ll know.”
Contrary to his gloomy first impression, Glasses looked straightforward and cool.
“So pretty that it makes me sick.”
Of course, the unhindered speech fell right into Ravi’s heart.
‘Omg, omg, omg, look at him!’
The sweet words she heard after a long time were enough to make the succubus in her thirst for more. In fact, it was unclear whether it was a compliment or an insult, nevertheless Ravi already heard it as a confession.
“Are you here alone?”
“Aha.”
As she asked while looking at the single glass on the table, the answer was evident.
‘Poor thing, it looks like he’s so ordinary that he has no partner. But don’t worry. This Noona will take you.’
“Ehem.” Ravi solemnly cleared her throat to calm her mind from going crazy with excitement. Glasses looked at her and asked,
“What if I came alone?”
Ravi, forcing control of the corners of her mouth that threatened to rise, lifted her chin, trying to look haughty, and said,
“Then you will have a drink with me.”
“…”
Contrary to the straightforward answers so far, the Glasses suddenly shut his mouth. Ravi waited impatiently, hoping that he would not leave after—and wondering if he would—noticing that she was a woman like the other characters.
She didn’t want to lose the good fortune she met after a long time.
Pfft. How long did she wait for a word to come out of his mouth? Glasses suddenly chuckled. As if laughing at her. As if flattered. The sudden laughter disappeared as the man covered his mouth with one hand. She didn’t know before, but she realized that Glasses had really big hands. Ravi ran her tongue over her lips to hide her nervousness. She averted her gaze, trying to avoid her heart getting caught.
“…?!”
The moment she looked away she couldn’t help but feel a sense of pressure. She felt something sharp and heavy as if weighing on her stomach. A vital energy so thick that it couldn’t even be compared with the one from that couple earlier, which she had thought was pretty strong already. The source of such energy was the man in front of her. Ravi looked at her opponent with her eyes full of bewilderment, and Glasses, returning to his original expressionless face, answered indifferently.
“Of course.”
Clack Then, he took a new glass that was stacked on one side of the table and placed it in front of Ravi.
“Because you are not disgusting.”
“What is that? A compliment?”
Glasses didn’t answer and quietly poured alcohol into Ravi’s glass. In the past, she would have been very upset at a mere human ignoring her words, but to Ravi’s already covered with rose-colored glasses eyes, even that conduct seemed cute.
‘You punk. How can you be this shy?’
“Aren’t you going to drink?”
“No. I’ll drink.”
Ravi snatched the glass while inwardly cheering from joy. The spirit was so strong that it made her, a succubus, flinch for a moment. She drooled at the extraordinary luck she encountered after so long.
Discreetly gulping her saliva, Ravi paid close attention to everything about Glasses. The forearms exposed outside the slightly rolled shirt sleeves seemed to be quite solid. His face was not visible, so he was obscured by a gloomy atmosphere, but Glasses had a pretty decent body.
‘Hallelujah!’ It was such luck that it felt like a lie. To the point she felt like praising the God she usually cursed. ‘Isn’t it said that blessed are those who endure? After enduring all kinds of rejection and disregard, I can enjoy the sacred quintessential essence today!’
Ravi tried not to laugh nervously due to excitement and drank the glass of strong liquor in one draught.
“…”
She could feel Glasses staring closely at her. Ravi took a one-shot of strong liquor and then gave him a smile. It was the secret weapon she used to seduce humans. He said I looked pretty, so this will work too.
“Aren’t you drinking?”
As she had expected, the moment he saw her smile, Ravi felt strong energy rising in him once more.
“I am.”
Glasses did not hesitate to empty his liquor as she did.
Glug Glug glug~ Their glasses were full of alcohol again. A subtle, tense look came and went for a while between the two who had just met.
Clink~ Tumblers filled with brilliant amber liquid collided. In Ravi’s ears, it sounded as pure as the bells of hell blessing the hot night ahead.
One shot. Two shots. There were only one or two tables left around them, while they had been drinking without any significant conversation. The night was deepening and the stars were twinkling in the sky.
And so, when darkness completely colored the world.
Thud! Ravi banged her head on the table
“Hey.” Glasses shook her shoulders. Contrary to the way he spoke, his movements trying to wake Ravi were cautious.
“Are you drunk?”
“Ugh…”
Mumbling quietly as if she had already lost consciousness, Ravi sat still. The hand that shook her to wake her up stopped.
“I can’t help it.”
Creak~ Glasses pushed the chair and got up. Tuk, Tuk, Tuk- The sound of footsteps approaching.
Her body was lifted. Glasses held Ravi in his arms and left the bar without hesitation. She was a heavy drinker and just on the verge of getting tipsy, yet she didn’t move nor try to disturb him.
“Mmm…”
Pretending to be drunk, she buried her head in his chest and felt the firm muscles brushing her nose.
Thump, thump, thump She could hear the sound of a heart beating calmly. She could smell the thick scent of lust beyond the constant beating.
Her tailbone tingled with the thrill of excitement.
It didn’t seem like a few minutes had passed, but they were indoors again. Even with her eyes closed, Ravi immediately knew this was his home. The place was filled with Glasses’ scent. The man who went inside smoothly put her down in a soft place.
When should I open my eyes to make it look more natural? As she was measuring the timing, she felt a hot breath in her ear.
“Open your eyes.”
Her spine stood still at the firm command.
What should I do? Should I open my eyes? Should I close my eyes? What theme should I use to seduce this guy? Even if it looked like half was already accomplished since she was in his house, this was the world of a novel. A BL novel. It wasn’t over until it was over, and she had the record of losing her prey as soon as she opened her eyes in the morning. She was having a hard time hesitating inside, but the voice reached her once again.
“You, you’re not drunk.”
It didn’t sound like he was wary of her but simply pointing out that he had already caught her.
‘As expected. He’s not an easy guy.’ At that, Ravi decided to change the route. If she kept pushing the acting that had already been discovered, she knew very well she wouldn’t get the cake or the rice.
“You caught me.”
She opened her eyes with a playful giggle, revealing clear pink eyes under her long eyelashes. Unlike a person who had been caught lying, there was no sense of embarrassment or shame on her face. Ravi smiled prettily at the human looking at her.
‘Such an honest person you are.’
In a room containing only two, the succubus revealed her true colors and licked her lips in anticipation.
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────