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They say spring is the most beautiful season, when the petals of the blossoms open and the fruit begins to form.It was precisely there, where he had met her before, that a rather peculiar and strange encounter took place.
"Please excuse my delay."
The voice belonged to Karasuma Ranmaru, a young woman whose beauty transcended mere physical aesthetics, driving men wild.
Someone Douman knew through a mutual friend, or perhaps, for her, he was simply another client. Douman had always considered it ridiculous that she did this for a living, but, well, it was her job. And although he ironically detested the situation, he was resorting to those same services
No one had the right to blame him for his hypocrisy.
As a man, he needed companionship. And she, without a doubt, was his type. Douman longed to know Ran's true personality.
What kind of person was she really?
He wasn't at all attracted to that model-girl persona, that princess-like modesty so many men claimed to love. Ran simply did what the customer asked.
Douman glanced away to find his phone. The girl had ordered a strawberry soda. She was flirtatiously playing with her lips, but the customer wasn't paying her any attention
He had hired her, and yet Douman seemed rather indifferent. This had never happened to Ran before; she had never encountered indifferent customers.
Why had he hired her then?
Out of anger and offense, she should have left, but Ashiya Douman paid very well.
Even so, things didn't escalate. Ran sighed. It had been a while. Boys Douman's age should be asking for more obscene, more extreme things.
Not that Ran accepted it, but if the customer had a pretty face, a beautiful face, and his personality wasn't something that mattered much anyway.
The click of the phone's shutter echoed in the silence. Douman pressed the button again and again, capturing an image of his girlfriend. But that description wasn't entirely accurate.
Douman didn't like the idea that they didn't have anything real, and he'd only paid for three hours. He wondered why the services weren't 24/7.
After this, would Ran have another date? Maybe several.
Douman didn't want that to happen. He felt a tightness in his chest, a mixture of cruel anger and desire.
Ran offered him the drink with the same straw. "It's a lovers' deal!" she said with a smile. What they had in common was that they both loved discounts.
"I don't feel like it," Douman replied curtly. "I have money, order whatever you want." That's what he worked for, to hire Ran and please her in every way.
The low-cut neckline suited Ran beautifully, enhancing both her figure and her skin tone. She looked like a dazzling fairy.
The bodice, a deep cherry color, hugged her breasts with undeniable perfection.
Ran noticed the way they were looking at her, the undisguised interest in those eyes. Instinctively, she clenched her knuckles on the table and crossed her arms, as if seeking momentary refuge.
She didn't know why she reacted that way; she felt like prey in front of this client.
Douman, meanwhile, felt the heat rise from the back of his neck to his ears, turning his face a deep red. He looked away, unable to meet Ran's gaze.
She quickly composed herself and, with a gesture of brazen audacity, slowly tilted her glass, letting the light play with her assets, revealing them a little more.
"Stop it!" Douman managed to stammer, his voice barely a whisper, choked by embarrassment and excitement.
Ran sat up.
Was she really just going to leave like that? Douman froze, stunned by the idea. He hadn't planned to stop her!
Ran wanted him to stop her.
Was she really going to leave, even though the agreed-upon three hours hadn't yet passed? Uncertainty crossed his face.
Ran looked at him with an intensity that disarmed him. "Let's go to your place," she said, her voice a barely audible thread.
A silent question mark formed in Douman's mind. The request, so direct, left him bewildered. He studied Ran's face, noticing a slight blush rising across her cheeks; her eyes shone with a restrained moisture, as if they were about to overflow.
There was a tense silence, heavy with unspoken expectations. Then, Ran's lips moved again, uttering words that resonated with an unexpected vulnerability. "I need you, please."
The confession, so uninhibited, hit Douman like a shockwave. A wave of excitement coursed through his body, a sensation that completely overwhelmed him. It was a bold proposal, one that broke the usual boundaries of their professional relationship.
Doubt, almost fear, arose in Douman. Would he be able to refuse? Ran, for her part, felt a pang of apprehension.
She knew Douman wasn't the type of client who usually accepted these kinds of propositions, those that veered toward the purely carnal. Nor did he make any proposals. What was the point of Douman hiring her if he was just going to ignore her? Why was he doing it?
Ran's desperation was a rising tide. She had felt the weight of his averted glances, the indifference that never seemed to surround her.
This is the first time this has happened , she wanted her client to look at her, to desire her, but it's always been the other way around! This man has broken what she swore she wouldn't feel, just to please others and not enjoy the feeling of a love that was only a contract.
Douman... Douman was undeniably attractive, a presence that radiated an unusual warmth and coolness, treating her like a person, and even more so, not just like a rental girlfriend, and that was truly strange.
If this was the last time she would hire his services (which it surely would be), Ran longed for it to be an unforgettable memory, an experience where she could surrender completely to the caress and genuine pleasure. She wanted, for once, to be seen and desired, not just as a service, but as a person.
..........
.........
.................
Or rather, to be seen by Douman, who seemed indifferent to her. It was a dirty trick, Ran knew it. She knew she wanted to at least prove she could conquer this man. The man she herself desired.
This wasn't in the contract. Screw that stupid rule she signed.
The car ride to Douman's house was filled with an inevitable silence.
Not a hint of reaction from Douman.
"Acchan," she called him with that gentle nickname. She quickly placed her hand on Douman's shirt. He, still driving,blurted out a reproach
"Don't do this!" Douman's body weakened, and clearly, after months of not being sexually released, he would get agitated. For God's sake, they were in the middle of the road.
Ran could wait. The problem was if Acchan took her to his own house and not Acchan's.
That's why she had to find a way to make that man tense up and sexually hungry. It was a bad idea, but in her mind, a good one.
The front door burst open and slammed shut just as suddenly.
Douman collapsed onto the sofa, and, as expected, Ran lunged at him, kissing him passionately.
Douman responded with an imperturbable calm that he didn't actually feel.
"Ran!" he whispered, gripping the young woman's narrow waist and burying his face against her chest.
That dress, that neckline, bothered Douman as much as it bothered Ran. Douman gently removed it from her body. As he gazed at the young woman's figure, his mind remained restless, consumed by a sense of rivalry. He wanted her to belong to him completely.
He longed to erase any trace of anyone else. Deliberately, he sank his fangs firmly into the smooth, delicate skin of Ran's neck.
"Acchan!" She shuddered and wrapped her arms around Douman's back.
The inevitable happened; Ran's warm body ended up enveloped in the embrace of someone icy.
Ran wouldn't hesitate to admit that she felt a strong attraction to Douman. Or, to be more precise, she desired him and loved him.
It would be the last time they were together like this.
Douman closed his arms around her, stretching her arms out onto the pillow.
"Beautiful," he murmured as he watched her. Douman's tone and his fixed gaze, as if trying to etch her into his memory, made her feel the urge to pull away and hide her face.
"Acchan!"
"You're too cute!" Douman insisted, repeating the compliment.
The alarm sounded, marking the end of their agreed-upon time.
Ranmaru's lips formed an O as she turned toward the phone on the nightstand, trying to stand up, but Douman held her tightly, pulling her back to him.
"You're mine!" Douman declared; his crimson eyes flashed, heavy with an intense shadow, brimming with possessive love.
"!!?!"
"After surrendering myself and you surrendering yourself to me , you just dump me like this?"
Douman lay down completely against her body, preventing her from leaving. "Did you really think that after this, I'd let you go?" Douman's voice, which always sounded indifferent, was the same but now more ironic and possessive, as if he would do anything to make it happen.
"I guess...I should quit!" she thought, although it didn't sound so bad to her.
Ran scoffed. "As the saying goes, the most indifferent are the most savage!"
"Something wrong with that?!" Douman complained, still hugging her and brazenly touching his girl's bare hip. "It's your fault!!"
The truth is that Douman wasn't satisfied with just that passion, but he enjoyed it immensely and desired it even more. "Now. Let's continue...because," he whispered. Ran's face turned red.
Ran's face turned bright red.
"Acchan's a pervert!"
How could three hours not be enough? Hadn't Douman said he wasn't interested in her? But Douman had never said that. Ran had only interpreted it that way because she'd never seen the reactions she was witnessing now: this surrender, this possessiveness, this desperate love.
Does Douman really want her, just like she wants him?!
Douman behaves this way because they are already a couple.
Are they a couple now?!
Are they really?
That was the question neither of them dared to ask aloud.
Ran couldn't deny it. She felt satisfied that she hadn't been indifferent to Douman, that she'd managed to break through his icy shell. But it was also clear that she would have to stop him soon, when his body was completely exhausted.
How could Douman have so much energy?