Chapter 75: Jun’s Gambit
“Jun-oppa…”
The voice was small, hesitant, and lacked the usual bubbly confidence of the “Nation’s Sweetheart.” Jun looked down to see Hana walking beside him in the Academy hallway, her fingers fidgeting with the hem of her skirt. She wasn’t looking at him, her gaze fixed on the polished floor, her cheeks dusted with a soft pink hue.
“Are we… are we really going ahead with it?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. “The livestream? Our first time?”
Jun slowed his pace, glancing at her. “It’s your choice, Hana. If you’ve had a change of heart, we can pivot. I can ask Leni to set up a private recording—something just for us, or for a limited circle. You don’t have to expose yourself to the world if you’re not ready.”
Hana stopped walking, finally looking up at him. Her eyes were wide and shimmering with a mix of anxiety and desire. “I’m willing,” she insisted, though her voice trembled. “I want to. It’s just… after seeing you with Professor Leni… I’ve never seen you like that. So aggressive, so… in control. I’m afraid I’ll look silly in front of the camera. What if I can’t handle it? What if I look ridiculous while you’re… you know…”
Jun found the sudden vulnerability adorable. Hana was usually the one driving the energy, the one teasing and poking. Seeing her this flustered was a rare treat. Without a word, he reached out and gripped her waist, pulling her flush against his side.
Hana let out a tiny gasp, her body reacting instantly to his touch. Jun leaned in and planted a firm, lingering kiss on her cheek, his breath warm against her skin. “Don’t worry about looking silly,” he murmured, his voice a low, teasing rumble. “I’ll make sure you’re too far gone to care about the camera. In fact, I’ll make sure you have a complete ahegao face by the time I’m finished with you.”
Hana’s face exploded in a deep crimson, the heat radiating from her cheeks. “You—!” she huffed, her habitual feistiness returning in a sudden surge. She reached out and pinched his stomach with a sharp, playful force, twisting slightly to make him react. “You’re such a tease! Just you wait. I’m going to milk you dry on that day! You won’t be able to walk for a week! You’ll be the one begging for mercy!”
Jun let out a dramatic, exaggerated groan, arching his back and clutching his stomach as if she had dealt him a lethal blow. “My heart… my poor, fragile heart,” he teased, his voice dripping with mock agony. “I thought you were the ‘Sweetheart,’ Hana. I didn’t realize I was dating a tiny terror.”
Hana giggled, the sound bright and melodic, her eyes sparkling with mischief. “Maybe I am a terror. Maybe you just haven’t seen my ‘scary’ side yet,” she retorted, puffing out her chest and trying to look intimidating, though her petite frame only made her look more adorable. She leaned in closer, her nose almost touching his. “Don’t get too cocky, Oppa. I’ve had years to think about this. I know exactly how to make you lose that calm, cool composure of yours.”
Jun’s gaze darkened, his playful expression shifting into something more intense. In one swift motion, he wrapped his arm around her waist and yanked her flush against him, the sudden movement catching her off guard. Hana let out a small, startled “eep!” as she was pulled into the hard plane of his chest.
Before she could regain her footing, Jun tilted her head back and claimed her lips. It started as a sweet, lingering kiss, but it quickly deepened, his tongue sweeping across her lips with a possessive intensity that silenced her mid-breath. He didn’t just kiss her; he devoured her, his hand sliding from her waist to the small of her back, pressing her so tightly against him that she could feel the heat of his body through their clothes.
Hana’s world narrowed down to the scent of him and the overwhelming pressure of his lips. Her hands, which had been playfully pushing against his chest, instinctively curled into his shirt, clutching him as her knees turned to jelly. The teasing was gone, replaced by a raw, electric current of desire.
When Jun finally pulled back, just a fraction of an inch, Hana was left breathless, her lips parted and her eyes hazy with a sudden, intense arousal. She blinked, her face flushed and her expression completely dazed.
“Is that all you’ve got?” Jun whispered, his voice a low, dangerous rumble against her lips. “Because if that’s your ‘scary’ side, I can’t wait to see it on camera.”
Later that week, the group was gathered in the dorm. The atmosphere was relaxed, but the conversation shifted toward the logistics of Hana’s career.
“I noticed your contract renewal is coming up,” Jun mentioned casually. “Are you still on a month-to-month agreement with your agency?”
Hana nodded, her expression turning a bit somber. “Yeah. Still the same. It’s… a bit stressful.”
Sora, Akane, and Mei looked at her in genuine confusion. To them, Hana was the “Nation’s Sweetheart,” a mega-influencer with a reach that spanned the globe. “I don’t get it,” Sora remarked, her brow furrowed. “With your status, why aren’t you on a long-term, high-security contract? I would have thought the agency would be fighting to lock you down for years with preferential treatment.”
Hana gave a small, bittersweet smile. “They tell me it’s to ‘keep the talent competitive.’ They say that if I know my contract could end at any moment, I’ll work harder to stay relevant. It keeps me on my toes, they say.”
Jun let out a cold, dismissive snort. “It’s a corporate game. All agencies are like that. They sell the dream that anyone can become an idol or a streamer, but in reality, they’re just harvesting. Once they’ve milked all the profit they can from a talent, they cut the cord and move on to the next rising star before the current one peaks. It’s a conveyor belt of disposable fame.”
Hana looked down, her shoulders slumping slightly. Jun had mentioned this to her before, and while she had tried to ignore it, the reality was becoming harder to deny. “I know,” she whispered. “But no other agency offers the same reach. It’s a case of the lesser of two evils.”
“Which is why,” Jun said, his voice regaining its commanding edge, “I think it’s time you stopped being a ‘talent’ for someone else. For this livestream, and moving forward, I want you to become an independent streamer.”
Hana’s eyes widened. “Independent? Jun-oppa, that’s a huge risk! We wouldn’t have the media support, the promotional machinery, or the distribution network that the agency provides. I could disappear from the charts in a week.”
Jun didn’t respond with words. Instead, he turned his tablet around, showing the group a trending platform that had been exploding globally over the last year. “Have you heard of NetFuk?”
Sora, Mei, and Akane leaned in, their eyes scanning the screen. The platform was relatively new, barely a year old, but the subscriber growth was vertical. The production quality of the content was staggering, and more importantly, it featured full VR integration.
“NetFuk,” Sora murmured, her analytical mind clicking into gear. “I’ve heard of them. They’ve been aggressively popularizing the ‘DiveVR’ technology. It allows the user to feel like they’re actually inside the movie, experiencing the environment and the sensations first-hand. It’s a complete immersion.”
The room went silent as the realization hit them. Jun wasn’t just suggesting a platform; he was suggesting a total evolution of Hana’s brand.
“You’re thinking of using the VR capability for the stream,” Mei noted, her voice filled with newfound respect. “The impact would be visceral. The viewers wouldn’t just see the ‘Nation’s Sweetheart’—they’d feel the atmosphere, the heat, and the intensity.”
“Exactly,” Jun replied. “And Leni has already developed similar, more advanced sensory prototypes. If we integrate her tech with a platform like this, we don’t need an agency’s media support. We create our own gravity.”
Sora nodded, her analytical mind already calculating the advantage. “It’s a massive edge,” she added. “Most people don’t realize that Leni actually designed the original haptic feedback core for the commercial DiveVR pods. The company just polished the exterior and branded it. She’s the reason the technology even works.”
Mei and Akane looked at Sora in surprise. They knew Professor Leni was brilliant, but the scale of her influence was staggering.
“The standard pods are decent,” Jun explained, his voice calm. “They can simulate basic touch—the feeling of a breeze, a hand on a shoulder, or the pressure of a hug. But Leni’s private prototypes are on a different level. They don’t just simulate pressure; they translate digital data into precise physical nerve responses. If a user is using her upgraded tech, they don’t just ‘feel’ a touch. They feel the texture of skin, the warmth of breath, and the visceral sensation of being rubbed or even fucked.”
He looked at Hana, whose expression was a mix of shock and anticipation. “If we use Leni’s tech for the stream, the viewers won’t just be watching a video. They’ll feel the friction, the weight, and the pulse of the moment. It’ll be the first time a livestream has provided a full-body sensory experience. It’s not just a view; it’s a shared physical event.”
Hana swallowed hard, her imagination running wild. The thought of millions of people feeling Jun’s touch through her was both terrifying and incredibly erotic. It turned the livestream from a simple broadcast into a massive, synchronized sensory experience.
“Imagine the impact,” Jun added. “The world won’t just see that I can handle Hana. They’ll feel the intensity of it. It transforms the ‘Nation’s Sweetheart’ into a shared experience.”
Sora looked at Akane. “Contact the development team. Tell them to prepare a briefing. I’ll speak with Leni first to see how we can coordinate the tech side. If we’re doing this, we’re doing it with the highest specs possible.”