Chapter 240

She had always thought kissing was no big deal. At the same time, she considered it vulgar. Tangling gross, slippery tongues and exchanging dirty saliva—if that wasn't vulgar, what was?

Besides, the thought of kissing right after eating and making each other blush from the reek of food was incredibly off-putting. She had promised herself that if she ever got a boyfriend, she would only hold hands. If she had absolutely no choice, she would stick to a light peck. That was what she had sworn to do.

But every thought she'd ever had about kissing turned out to be completely wrong.

"Mmph...!"

When Matsuda ravaged her gums and worked his tongue between her clenched teeth, a thrill shot through her entire body like a jolt of static electricity. When his tongue pushed fiercely inside to explore every corner of her mouth, a high-pitched ring echoed through her head. In an instant, the world faded into a hazy blur, replaced by a strange, overwhelming ecstasy.

She didn't have a single worry about it tasting weird from the lingering scent of the Popcorn and sweet latte they'd had. She couldn't taste anything at all. Or rather, it almost tasted sweet—though that was entirely in her head.

Thud! Crash!

[Hey! You crazy bitch!]

[What, you son of a bitch!]

Renka remained completely oblivious to the loud shattering noises echoing through the Screening Room and the actors' vicious curses. She simply surrendered her body to Matsuda, focusing entirely on accepting his tongue as she lost herself in the deep kiss.

Slip.

How long had it been? Her mind completely blank as she let Matsuda's tongue do whatever it wanted, Renka suddenly flinched. A large hand had slid up onto her side.

"...Hup...!"

When he touched the sensitive area around her ribs, a sharp breath instinctively escaped through her nose. Perhaps feeling that ticklish sensation, Matsuda's tongue paused for a fraction of a second.

In that moment, a rush of hot breath pushed into her mouth. Matsuda had chuckled, blowing air past her lips.

Just as she started to worry—'He's not laughing at me, is he?'—Matsuda pulled her tightly against him and worked his tongue even more boldly.

That aggressive motion put her at ease. If he was getting even more passionate, it meant he wasn't mocking her. That was a relief, but she still had another problem.

'T-this is too hard...'

She just couldn't figure out how she was supposed to move her tongue. Matsuda was clearly experienced, but she was completely clumsy. Lying perfectly still felt awkward, but if she actually tried to do something, she was terrified he would laugh at her stiff, amateurish movements.

She had seen and heard plenty about how it was done. But thrown so suddenly into this insane situation, her mind had gone completely blank. It was driving her crazy.

Just as those thoughts ran through her head, Matsuda gently pulled his face back. A string of sticky saliva stretched between their lower lips, which he neatly caught with his tongue, pulling it into his own mouth.

Renka had been looking at him in confusion, but seeing that incredibly explicit display made her heart skip a beat. It was so erotic, so nakedly raw. She felt an indescribable emotion swirling inside her—what was this? The only thing she knew for sure was that it wasn't a bad feeling.

Gulp.

Swallowing without realizing it, Renka decided that the sensation of the sticky liquid sliding down her throat actually wasn't that bad. She stared back up at Matsuda.

"President."

"Wha...? Huh...?"

"You don't have to do anything."

Hearing Matsuda's calm voice made Renka flinch. He had completely read her mind. Had he learned telepathy or something? Seeing that sly, knowing look on his face, she felt a little irritated—but at the same time, maybe not.

"W-What are you talking a—Mmph...!"

Hating the thought of losing to him, Renka tried to play dumb, but squeezed her eyes shut the second Matsuda crashed his lips against hers again. His tongue pushed its way in, even more aggressive than before, exploring every inch of her mouth. Feeling that, Renka let all the tension melt out of her body.

At the same time, his hand began gently caressing the space between her ribs and the underside of her breast. Startled, she instinctively grabbed his wrist.

"Dah... dohn-hih..."

She wanted to tell him to stop touching her, but only a muffled groan slipped out. Why hadn't she realized her mouth was sealed shut by his? No matter how flustered she was, this was just embarrassing. It wasn't like she was a complete idiot.

Still, he must have understood her intent. Matsuda's hand froze right there, softly patting her side. Deciding that the sensation actually felt pretty nice, Renka finally eased the tension around her squeezed-shut eyes.

Just then, Matsuda's hand crept upward again, and she could feel his fingertips tensing. He was trying to grope her breast again.

What an absolute pervert. Was he seriously crazy? Sure, people groped breasts while kissing in movies, explicit manga, and anime all the time... but was it normal for people to do this in real life?

'I don't know...'

She'd never done this before, so how was she supposed to know? She was going to go crazy. Would it ruin the mood if she kept pushing him away? He wasn't fully grabbing her breast anyway, so maybe it was okay...

Squeeze...

As she agonized over what to do, Matsuda's five fingertips firmly pressed into her ribs and the soft side of her breast. Renka jolted hard.

"Hnn..."

Letting out a stifled, nasal groan, Renka lost the strength in her hand gripping Matsuda's wrist. She hadn't let go on purpose; her grip had just melted away. That tingling static was rising from the exact spot he touched, blooming into a strange, dizzying pleasure.

Meanwhile, Matsuda's hand slipped up under her tucked-in T-shirt, gliding softly against her bare skin to caress her waist.

Having surrendered her bare skin in a flash, Renka gripped the bucket of Popcorn in her other hand so hard it felt like it would crack. And all the while, she never broke the kiss with Matsuda.

Like she was addicted to a drug, not a single part of her wanted to stop. She could only hope that Matsuda would keep himself in check, choosing instead to focus entirely on accepting his tongue.

@@

Bump.

"Ah...!"

Her shoulder clipped the corner of the restroom wall, throwing her off balance. Renka hurriedly bent her knees and dropped her upper body to catch herself. Having caught her balance, she immediately whipped her head around. She was terrified that Matsuda might have seen her stumbling like an idiot.

Thank God, Matsuda wasn't there. He had said he was going to throw away the trash; he must have already left. Breathing a massive sigh of relief, Renka scurried into the restroom. The very first thing she did was check her reflection in the mirror.

"Haa..."

Her T-shirt was half-untucked from her pants, her hair was sticking to her face, and her skin was practically gleaming with sweat. She was a complete mess. What would people have thought if they'd seen her like this? Thank God theirs had been the only Screening Room letting out, and that the theater was mostly empty.

Even her jaw felt numb, and her lips looked swollen and raw. They actually kind of stung. This was what happened when you made out until the movie was practically over. To think she had given in to the devil's temptation instead of actually watching the movie... It was ridiculous.

The red lip tint was completely gone, leaving her lips their natural pink after Matsuda had bitten and sucked it all off. It was supposed to be a long-lasting product, and she had been pretty happy with it until today... Apparently not.

"This is driving me crazy..."

Planting her hands on the sink with a heavy sigh, Renka grabbed a tissue and gently dabbed her face. A bit of her makeup rubbed off onto the paper. Just how much had she been sweating? She was suddenly mortified, terrified that she might have smelled bad.

Her only comfort was that her makeup hadn't noticeably smudged. She had just bought it; the staying power really was top-tier. She would definitely have to buy it again.

Wait, why was she casually thinking about makeup? She had just experienced the monumental event of her first kiss. Was she just incredibly adaptable? Or was her brain desperately focusing on anything else because she didn't want to face reality? She wasn't sure.

After taming her messy hair and smoothing out her clothes, Renka glared into the mirror. She felt absolutely terrible about Chinami. How was she even going to explain this to her?

"Haa..."

Matsuda's words—saying he really liked her—were still echoing in her ears. Honestly, it made her heart flutter. Her pulse had pounded violently in that moment.

'No...!'

Thinking over his words, Renka vigorously shook her head. This little lapse in judgment stopped today. She was absolutely never going to fall for that sleazy Matsuda again.

Swearing it to herself over and over, Renka rapidly slapped her own cheeks a few times to snap out of it. She finished her touch-up by reapplying her lip tint, then walked out of the restroom and headed toward the lobby.

"How much is this?"

She froze when she heard Matsuda's voice coming from around the corner. Curious, she peeked past the edge of the wall and spotted him buying something at a nearby Cell Phone accessory kiosk.

In his hand was a tiny, blueberry-shaped Cell Phone charm. The moment she saw it, Renka remembered him telling her that she smelled like blueberries. He was buying it for her. He actually had an unexpectedly sweet and romantic side.

Her heart suddenly fluttery and conflicted, she debated the right moment to step out and show herself—

'Huh...?'

Her brow twitched when Matsuda, having just finished paying, started eyeing a Cell Phone strap that looked remarkably like a collar. Was he going to buy that, too? It even had a little bell attached. Sure, someone who was into the training genre wouldn't be able to just ignore a collar, but... why was something like that even being sold at a kiosk in the first place? She didn't understand it.

'Son of a bitch...!'

Cursing him out in her head, Renka let out a relieved sigh when Matsuda finally stepped away from the kiosk without buying the collar. At least the sleazebag had some conscience left.

"Ahem...! Ahem..."

Feeling inexplicably awkward, Renka cleared her throat a few times and casually stepped out from around the corner. Spotting her, Matsuda flashed a bright smile and walked over.

She always felt this way, but that smile was an absolute cheat code. Seeing that bright grin on his handsome, masculine face felt like a direct attack on her specific tastes, and it annoyed her to no end.

"There you are."

Her face was already burning up again, yet this guy was acting completely unfazed by what they had just done. It annoyed her. Nodding wordlessly, Renka gestured with her chin toward his hand, pretending she didn't know what he was holding.

"...What's that?"

"This? It's a present for you, President."

"A present?"

"A Cell Phone charm. It's a blueberry."

"A Cell Phone charm...? I don't need that. My case doesn't even have a hole for one."

"You can figure that part out yourself. Make sure you have it attached by tomorrow."

Delivering the ultimatum, Matsuda shoved the little charm into her hand. It was a cute little blueberry. Granted, there wasn't much variation in how a blueberry could look, but she found herself kind of liking it.

Renka was staring down at the little charm when Matsuda's characteristically rude tone snapped her back to reality.

"Say thank you."

"..."

"Say it."

"...I'm not thankful at all."

"Good job."

Matsuda patted her back, praising her like a kindergarten teacher. Was it just her imagination, or was his hand resting dangerously close to her butt?

Regardless, this would be the perfect time to just go over to the kiosk and buy a case with a strap hole... but with Matsuda standing right there, it felt too embarrassing.

Maybe she could let him walk her home, pretend to go inside, and then sneak back out to buy one? She wasn't doing it for his sake, of course. She just really liked the charm...

"Shall we get going?"

As she was desperately trying to justify it to herself, Matsuda casually grabbed her wrist and started leading her toward the elevator. She jumped in surprise.

"D-Don't touch me!"

"Sure."

"Listen to me!"

"I am listening."

"No you're n—"

Ding!

Renka was about to snap back when the cheerful chime of the arriving elevator cut her off, and she snapped her mouth shut. Her mind was spinning all over again. It felt like she had developed a sudden phobia of loud noises. She was losing her mind, and she didn't even know in what direction it was spinning.

'Ugh, whatever!'

Whatever happens, happens. Seriously, why were his hands so massive anyway? They were hard, but felt surprisingly warm and comforting. She liked it.