15 — Internet Sensation
I fell asleep. A couple of hours, it seemed. The sun was still up. The warmth next to me had faded considerably, leaving only the dry remains of a morning of passion. I turned around, halfway expecting to see a mane of gilded threads splayed all over my chest.
There was none.
At some point, Mia did the right thing and walked away. A pillow talk was not on the agenda. 'Better this way…' It truly felt like a one-night stand. There was no affection, only a primal lust. It was great, really.
Except that it was not to some cheap girl looking for a good lay with the famous Jair Campinho. It was not some orchestrated move to elevate her status by fucking a professional football player.
Mia was my sister. Well, supposedly. She was not really my 'sister' in the truest sense of the term. Yes, okay, it might have sounded like an excuse to justify my actions. But seriously, I didn't think that what I did was necessarily wrong.
But Mia might have. I had a lifetime of experience as a rich man at the peak of his physical form. I've done and seen things in bed that would make your typical fetish porn video look like a child's bedtime cartoon.
Anyway. That was not the point. The point was that I could easily draw a line between love and lust. I wouldn't confuse one for the other. Mia had laid the hints bare for me to see and pick up on, and I could glimpse at the knot of emotions she was trying to figure out.
I was at the heart of that knot.
It was not complicated to understand. The behavior of the recent Mia and the past Mia was so different that, her being — potentially — in love with me was not that far-fetched.
And then there was Eun Ha. She was a bona fide Asian milf. Twice had she been on the receiving end of this body's massive 'blast'. She took everything in stride, as if it was not a big deal.
Her husband was cheating on her. And she cheated on him with me. Then Mia hopped on the bunny trail, and we all fell deep into the rabbit hole.
However, in this household, it seemed as if I was the only one concerned about the recent developments. 'Whatever…' I shook my head and got up, my back was a bit glued to the sheets. I had fallen asleep right on the sticky patches of our love-making.
A shower. I definitely needed a shower.
I crumpled the dirty sheets into a ball and headed to the laundry room to stuff them inside the washing machine. After that, I immediately ran to the bathroom to cleanse my body of Mia's nectar.
…
By the time I was presentable enough to make my presence known, Eun Ha was already busying herself with pots and pans. "Oh, Dae Ho!" She chirped as soon as she noticed me. A wide smile graced that beautiful face. "I'm cooking a big steak for you! Oh, and there are a lot of veggies too. It's all fresh and good!"
"Really?" I didn't know what to say. "Thank you." I smiled back at her.
She waved her hand in a 'don't worry about it' gesture. "You've been working hard. Mia suggested it to me, actually. You need to eat a lot more if you want to become big and strong."
"I appreciate it, Auntie." I sat down, resting my chin on my hand. "Whatever you cook, it'll certainly be delicious. You have very talented hands."
It was not in my intention to make a double entendre, yet I couldn't help but recall the night I spent with Eun Ha. And by the slight blush on her cheeks, she was also reminiscing about our time together.
"Haha, thank you…"
Good move, Auntie. Avoid the topic completely. No rabbit holes anymore.
"Hmm. Where's Mia?" Eun Ha asked, cupping her chin with a gloved hand. "I was hoping she could help me peel the onions."
I shrugged. "No idea. Maybe in her room?"
"I'm here!" The hurried sound of footfalls rang out. Mia appeared right around the top corner of the stairs, her peanut-brown oversized shirt fluttering in the wake of her stride. Her hair was done differently too, I noticed.
Instead of letting all of that mane free, she bundled those flowing locks into a low ponytail. A few stray bangs framed her face. It was exactly the get-up of a woman who had a very 'satisfying' night — or in our case, morning.
Naturally, the moment our eyes locked, she hastily averted hers. A rosy dust tinted her cheeks.
"Ohh…" Eun Ha stared at Mia. "Here you are!"
"Do you need help with anything?" Mia forced out a chuckle, hands clasped behind her back.
"Yes. Could you peel these onions for me, honey?"
"Yeah… sure…" Mia grabbed the bowl and brought it over to the table, where she sat down, and started to skillfully knife the layers off. She was across from me, a foolish choice if she truly wanted to avoid me.
"That's a nice shirt you got there. Very cute." I said off-handedly. The bear head in the middle of her chest was quite eye-catching, for various reasons.
The blush across her nose deepened a little, and in the midst of her embarrassment, she still managed to glare at me. "Thank you."
"You look like you have a lot on your mind." I continued. The fingers holding the knife trembled, and she ended up cutting a whole onion in half, instead of just the skin.
"..."
Mia gulped, concentrating a little harder. "We shouldn't talk about… that." She whispered. At least she didn't blurt everything out. Eun Ha was right behind the counter, perfectly within earshot, even though she was humming to herself.
"Perhaps. Perhaps not." It didn't really bother me, but it bothered her. And if it bothered her, then it bothered me. "But it happened. It was…" I lowered my voice. "... consensual. We're adults. And this was not your first time, was it?"
"It's… different…" Mia hissed.
'When emotions are involved, everything is different…'
"Well, I'd like to think it was. I'm big, aren't I?" I jested, smirk in place.
I had to keep things 'light' between us. And I was doing a terrific job so far.
She shrunk in her chair, an embarrassed blush on her face. "Shut up…" She reached one foot out under the table and lightly kicked my shin.
"Aggressive." I noted.
Mia seethed in silence.
…
After an unexciting lunch, I halfway expected Mia to coop herself up in her room. As a matter of fact, she did. For about 1 hour. Then all hell was let loose.
I was getting dressed to return to the football field nearby — I had to keep the rust off my skills — when the door of my room was almost torn off its hinges.
"Dae Ho!" Mia made her entrance with a mighty yell and a flustered look on her face. Predictably, I was confused, as any man would be were they in my shoes.
"Mia Noona?"
She ran up to me, not even bothering to explain. She turned her smartphone around and almost slammed it into my face. "You have to watch this!"
Thank God for quick reflexes. This woman was a menace.
I sighed, taking the device off her hands. Mia was instantly by my side, peering over my shoulder with an intensity that, quite honestly, threw me for a loop. I fixed my eyes on the app she had opened. 'NewTube'.
A video occupied a good chunk of the screen, and, under it, an exaggerated title.
'Random kid destroys U18 FC Seoul players'
A catchy title, no doubt. What was catchier, however, was that when the video started, it was to a very familiar scene. A football field. And a silhouette that blitzed past the enemy line, the ball swirling around him in a way that left everyone stunned.
"Did you upload this?" I asked as I watched myself score continuously. I was aware that Mia had secretly filmed me.
"No… I would not do something like this without your permission." Mia said with an unnatural strain to her voice. "But… that's not what's important… look here, Dae Ho!" She pointed at the numbers underneath the title.
700.000 views.
40.000 likes.
2800 comments.
I tilted my head, amused. Impressive numbers, for sure. But the World Cup alone could net billions of views. "Oh… so they were an under-18 team?"
Scrolling down, the comments started to show up, filtered by the most popular.
— Holy shit, he destroyed them so bad these guys won't recover :skull_emoji:
— The dislikes are from Seoul's players
— He's really good, but the U-18 isn't exactly known to be a strong team. He'd get his cheeks clapped if he went against the official club
I thumbed from one comment to the other. As always, the viewers' reactions were entertaining to read.
"Why are you… not… I don't know… more surprised about this?!" Mia clawed at her hair in exasperation. "Dae Ho… do you understand what this means?"
"I don't know? It means that I'm hella good?" I shrugged. "It's just a video, Mia Noona. Nothing to make such a huge deal about. It'll be popular for a few days, then the hype will slowly fizzle out."
"Yes… but…"
"Hey, Mia Noona…"
She looked at me.
"Do you think we could make money off this?" It was not as if I was in desperate need of cash, but I'd rather have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.
"I don't think so… the channel that uploaded the video doesn't belong to us." Mia sighed. "We can't monetize it."
"We can make our own channel then." I suggested, staring at the name of the channel with particular interest. 'TifaFootballUwU'.
Mia's eyes almost popped out. "Y-You're kidding, right?"
I handed the phone back to her. "No, why would I?" I scratched my chin in thought. "Football is not limited only to South Korea, Mia Noona. This is the kind of content that can get popular worldwide. If done correctly."
She still looked a bit hesitant. "I don't know, Dae Ho. What if it doesn't work out?"
"Who cares? If it doesn't, then we wouldn't lose anything besides some of our time. If it does work, though…" I trailed off, allowing her brain to conjure up the fame and riches she'd get her hands on. "I have the skills to make this venture succeed. But I need someone to film me."
Perhaps Go Bong could help me too. He was tech-savvy enough that he might be able to provide the videos with some basic edits. I'd run the idea by him later.
For now, though. "Come with me, Mia. We should hurry and get some clips in before it starts to rain."
Mia squawked out indignantly as I grabbed her wrist and made a dash for the door.