Chapter 24: I’m Going to Try Liking It from Now On

Chapter 24: 24: I’m Going to Try Liking It from Now On

When something like this happened, the important thing was not to panic.

"That’s right. TwiXter. Do you use TwiXter too, Manager Selena?"

"...N-no."

Turning the question back on her was enough to rattle her.

"I only said it because the screen obviously looked like social media."

She was trying to play innocent.

Cute, Manager Selena.

I knew she had sent me message after message yesterday, asking to meet.

Naturally, I played innocent too.

"Ah, I see. I’ve been doing a lot of my communication through TwiXter DMs lately. I was replying to a few."

"Through... TwiXter DMs?"

That was complete nonsense. Who handled work through TwiXter?

It wasn’t as though I managed the company’s social-media account.

But the word DM caught Selena’s attention.

The manager who had been scolding me leaned in slightly.

"Ed, have you sent many TwiXter DMs?"

"Sure. I use them in all sorts of places."

"...You do?"

Selena bit her lip and hesitated.

She seemed to be debating whether she could ask me.

I deliberately cracked open one of the Monster cans on my desk.

Hiss—pop!

"..."

I saw her eyes follow the can.

"Um... Ed."

"Yes, Manager Selena?"

"If the other person hasn’t read my DM, could that mean I’ve been blocked?"

Her voice sounded worried.

No. More than worried.

A glance at her face showed a woman beside herself because she couldn’t reach the man she liked.

"Blocked?"

"Yes."

"If someone blocked you, then of course they wouldn’t see your DM."

"R-really...?"

Her brows drooped.

"But you wouldn’t be able to see their posts either. That’s how you can check whether you’ve been blocked."

"Their posts too?"

"Yes. If you’re blocked, it only shows a warning."

"Ah... I-is that so?"

Her expression brightened again.

"That’s a relief. I can still see the posts... so I’m not blocked."

Manager Selena breathed a sigh of relief.

Wasn’t she making it a little obvious?

Of course, I could only read her this clearly because I knew the full story.

Anyone else would probably have no idea what Selena was thinking.

"Did you send someone a DM and they haven’t read it, Manager Selena? Something like that?"

"Ah... Mm. Something similar."

Similar? It was obviously exactly that.

The reason was simple.

I had deliberately left Selena’s DMs unread since yesterday.

When I checked earlier, she had sent around twelve messages.

She probably wanted to send hundreds.

But with Selena’s personality, she was suffering in silence because she didn’t want to look obsessive.

"In that case, all you can do is wait. Or leave a reply on one of their posts asking them to check their DMs."

"A public reply...?"

"Yes. Comment under one of their posts and—"

"I can’t do that."

Selena cut me off sharply.

Afraid someone else might see it?

"If that’s not possible... then waiting is your only choice."

"I have to wait..."

"If you know the person, calling or texting would be faster."

"Calling or texting...?"

"Yes."

"...All right."

Selena nodded, looking faintly lonely.

Of course. She believed she had no way to call or text MonsterCam Guy.

But, Manager Selena...

You already have MonsterCam Guy’s phone number.

You would probably discover that soon enough.

***

"Doesn’t Manager Selena seem strange today? Think something happened?"

Rhea appeared while I was taking a break after lunch.

Rhea. Twenty-six.

She had joined the company at the same time I did.

...Though our positions were a little different now.

We held the same employee rank, but Rhea had already become permanent last year.

I was still a contract employee.

"Strange how?"

"What? Can’t you tell just by looking? You really have no awareness at all."

I knew Manager Selena was acting strange. I was pretending not to.

But why did this woman always open with an attitude?

When we first met, she had been incredibly friendly.

After she became permanent while I stayed on contract, she gradually started looking down on me.

Now she treated me like this.

"Maybe things aren’t going well with her boyfriend..."

"Her boyfriend?"

"I was talking to myself. Why are you listening in? God, you’re irritating."

You came over and muttered beside me, bitch.

She really did cross every line when she snapped at me.

The funniest part was that I was the only person in this office she dumped these hysterics on.

Around the Cuck-lord Barry and Manager Selena, she played the sweetest woman alive.

Was it because I was the only person below her?

"Anyway, pretend you didn’t hear that. Ed."

"Hear what?"

"The thing I just said."

"About Manager Selena’s boyfriend?"

"Stop saying it! I told you to forget it!"

...Endure it.

Endure and endure again.

Once I used Selena to make some real good money on OnlyF*ns, I was quitting this company immediately.

"Why are you glaring at me like that?"

"I wasn’t."

"You were! Just now!"

"..."

No.

I had changed the plan.

I wasn’t quitting until I fucked this woman.

But how the hell was I supposed to do that?

It would be much easier if she had DMed MonsterCam Guy like Hana or Selena.

Had Rhea messaged me too?

"Anyway, don’t tell anyone I said that. Understood?" ℯℯ𝑙.

"Yes, yes. Understood."

"Ugh. You’re so annoying."

This rude little bitch.

I didn’t know yet. But I could test her and check the water level.

"Would you like this as an apology?"

I offered her one of my Monster cans.

"What is it?"

"Monster. It’s a famous energy drink."

"Monster...? Ah, that’s..."

"You know it?"

I gave the can a light shake.

Rhea’s eyebrows twitched.

"I-I know it. Obviously. Did you think I wouldn’t?"

"Would you like one? It has a hundred milligrams of caffeine."

"..."

Her eyes followed the can as it moved.

No way...

"...Give it here."

"What?"

"Give it to me. You offered."

She snatched the can from my hand.

"...It’s fairly large."

"It’s three hundred fifty-five milliliters. About the size of one of those tall cans."

"...Seriously?"

Rhea turned it this way and that in her hands.

Hmm.

I might be seeing an opening here...

"Well... At least you noticed what I needed. I’ll drink it."

"Yes. Enjoy."

Rhea returned to her desk, gripping the can tightly.

Judging by that reaction...

Right?

I couldn’t be sure whether she had DMed me.

But one thing was certain.

She had seen the cam-show video too.

Of course she had. It had been a hot topic online for over two days.

There was no way gossip-loving Rhea had missed it.

The first button was fastened.

Now should I check the next?

That was when—

"Ed."

Manager Selena stopped beside my desk as she returned to the office.

"Yes, Manager Selena?"

"Here."

She rummaged through a plastic bag and handed me a Monster can.

"You like this, don’t you?"

"Ah, yes... I do."

"Take it. It’s for answering my TwiXter questions earlier."

Manager Selena...

Was giving me a thank-you gift?

"...Thank you."

I accepted the cold can, apparently fresh from a convenience store.

"Do you like Monster too, Manager Selena?"

"...I never used to drink it. I drink coffee."

"That’s true."

"But it tastes better than I expected."

Selena turned away, looking slightly embarrassed.

I couldn’t see what expression she was making.

"I’m going to try liking it from now on."

***

"Haa..."

The electronic lock chimed as Selena stepped into her apartment.

It was silent and empty.

A small studio where she lived alone.

She stood in the dark for a moment, then removed her heels and went inside.

Without changing out of her uncomfortable suit, she collapsed onto the bed with her face down.

Her phone remained in her hand.

╭─ [TwiXter — Direct Messages]

│ Are you free again tonight?

│ Is tonight difficult?

│ Tomorrow would be fine too.

│ Contact me when you have time.

│ Are you... very busy?

│Hey?

╰─

Message after message she had sent.

And yet—

(Unread)

Still no reply today.

"Haa..."

Thinking calmly, it was only natural.

She couldn’t possibly be the only woman who had DMed a man like MonsterCam Guy.

Perhaps it had been a miracle that he replied to her at all, let alone met her in person.

Still, they had met twice.

Why hadn’t he contacted her?

Selena reviewed her actions.

The first time at the hotel.

Then the time outdoors...

Was it because she had said, This is the last time?

But even then, they had spoken as though there would be another meeting...

"Mmh..."

Imagining that day heated her body again.

Her hand slipped between her thighs.

Wet sounds began beneath her clothes.

She had not even changed, and she was already masturbating...

Her old self could never have imagined doing this.

But now...

"Mmh...ah!"

This was a side of her that neither her family nor her coworkers could ever know.

If anyone discovered it, they would despise her...

But that man knew.

He had seen things far more perverted than this.

Every corner of her body...

A man whose face and name she did not even know...

Selena suddenly turned toward her bag.

Inside was the plastic bag she had received at the convenience store earlier.

She opened it and found one remaining Monster can.

’I bought two and gave one to Ed...’

Of all things, that man also liked Monster, making her unnecessarily conscious of it.

She wrapped her hand around the can.

It had warmed to room temperature.

Heavy in her grip.

A little smaller than the man’s actual cock, of course.

Still, holding it created the strange illusion of gripping him again.

She pressed the can against her panties and rubbed.

"Nnh...!?"

The metal over her clitoris drew an immediate response.

The unfamiliar pressure was stimulating enough by itself.

But thinking that it was him rubbing her...

Before long, the drink can in Selena’s hand felt like something else entirely.

’That man’s cock...’

Maybe this could ease the loneliness.

Then—

Bzzzt! Bzzzt!

"Ah!?"

Her eyes flew open at the notification.

She grabbed the phone.

Could it be?

The man who had been silent for more than two days.

MonsterCam Guy... Master...♡

╭─ [TwiXter — Direct Messages]

│ Manager Selena. Sorry to contact you on a Friday night.

│ Something needs to be handled over the weekend. Could you help me?

│ It’s important.

╰─

...No.

It’s company contractual employee Ed Roth?