Harem Quest: Love or Escape?-Chapter 14: I Hate to Become a Crossdresser Idol

Kai woke up in the back of a moving car—and instantly regretted it.

He touched his face, looked down at his outfit, and screamed.

"WHAT IS THIS?! WHY AM I A CROSSDRESSING IDOL?!"Yes, he was now fully dressed up like a sparkly member of the girl idol group The Twinkles. Wig, makeup, idol outfit—everything.

"Ahh, you're finally awake, Bakachin~ Or should I say... Bachika-chan?" Hyo-Rin beamed at him with a playful grin.

This was Kai's worst nightmare.

In a desperate attempt to escape, Kai lunged for the car door, but Hyo-Rin caught him in a tight headlock.

"Hey, calm down, Bakachin. Struggling only makes it worse~" she said with a mischievous smile.

Kai stopped moving. Not because he gave up, but because his cheek had just landed against a very soft part of Hyo-Rin's chest. It was dangerously comfortable.He froze. Not out of fear—but to prevent his anaconda from waking up and ruining his life completely.

Three more hours until the live concert at Tokyo Dome.

They were now heading to The Twinkles' agency office. Hyo-Rin and Kitty would lay out the full plan there. And Kai... unfortunately had a big role to play.

Once they arrived, they headed straight to Hyo-Rin's private room.

Kai was nervous. He had never been inside a girl's private room—let alone an idol's.

He was expecting glitter, perfume, maybe unicorns. But what he saw was... chaos.Clothes everywhere, books stacked like Jenga towers, workout gear tossed on the floor.

At first, Kai thought she was just messy. But then he noticed something else—books about idol training, vocal exercises, Japanese idol culture... Her room was a battlefield.And Hyo-Rin was clearly a soldier giving it her all.

"For all her crazy flaws... Hyo-Rin is actually working really hard."

Then came the entrance.

Hyo-Rin returned, now wearing glasses and holding a whip. Kitty followed, also armed with a whip, looking like an S&M gym teacher.

"Wait—are you going to train me with whip-based motivation?! Is this idol bootcamp or a historical war drama?!" freeweɓnovel.cøm

"That's correct," Hyo-Rin said, grinning. "You'll need to train non-stop for three hours—vocals, dancing, and stage rotation drills."

"Have mercy... I might die," Kai mumbled, already spiritually ascending.

"No excuses. Here's the lyrics for 'Makenai Love.' Start singing!" Hyo-Rin barked.

"YII-HAW!" Kitty cracked the whip in the air like a cowboy. Kai nearly passed out from shock.

"OKAY! OKAY! I'LL DO IT!" he screamed.

To his surprise, Kai actually recognized the song from a previous concert and remembered some of the lyrics. Memorizing the rest wasn't hard. Otaku training, it seemed, had prepared him for this moment.

"Hey Rin-chan... this song... it's actually really good. The lyrics are beautiful, and the structure is amazing. Whoever wrote this is seriously talented," Kai said, sincerely impressed.

Hyo-Rin blushed so hard she looked like a tomato.

She had written the lyrics herself.

"R-Really? Haha... yeah, I guess you're right..." she mumbled, eyes sparkling.

After an hour of practice, Kai had the song down.

"Wow, you're actually pretty fast, Bakachin!" Hyo-Rin praised him.

"Amazing... though your pitch is tragically off," Kitty added bluntly, stabbing Kai's confidence in the chest.

"I TRIED MY BEST, OKAY?!" he groaned.

"Well, it doesn't matter. We're lip-syncing during the concert anyway," Hyo-Rin said with a shrug.

"THEN WHY DID I HAVE TO PRACTICE SINGING?!" Kai yelled, betrayed by logic itself.

"Because I said so," Hyo-Rin replied coldly, her eyes glowing with menace.

"HIIIKH!!" Kai immediately folded.

"Alright, time for the dance lesson. Follow my moves—don't mess up!" she commanded, launching into the routine.

"Don't worry Bakachin! The dance is super simple. You'll be fine!" she reassured.

Kai finally relaxed—CRACK!

"YII-HAW!" Kitty whipped the air again for no reason.

"Stop that already, damn it!!" Kai muttered it in his mind.

And so, dance training began.

Two full hours of hell.

Every time Kai slipped up, Kitty whipped his butt. By the end, it was as red as a cherry tomato.

Drenched in sweat and barely able to breathe, Kai collapsed like a retired grandpa.

"I'm dying. This is how I go. Goodbye world..."

"This dance is NOT simple! With this dance, you can kill elderly people! There are 20 different moves—and one of them involves doing a backflip! A BACKFLIP!"

"Oh that," Hyo-Rin said casually. "I added that move just for you. It's to attract the attention of YBD's members. They'll be watching tonight, and we need them to notice you. You're the bait, remember?"

Kai felt like a circus clown being prepared for ritual sacrifice.

....

After hours of grueling training, Kai was finally done. His body ached in places he didn't know existed.

He was dragged into the makeup room, where Kitty practically threw him into the shower and made him change into a fresh idol outfit—identical to the previous one, much to his dismay.

Then came Hyo-Rin's personal glam squad, who wasted no time pinning him down for makeup and hair styling. When they were done...

Kai was unrecognizable.

As he stepped out of the room, Hyo-Rin's eyes sparkled like she'd just seen her anime crush come to life.

"Wait... Are you really Bakachin?! Whoa, I didn't recognize you at all!"

"Ugh... Just shut up already," Kai grumbled, pulling down the hem of his skirt.

And then came the big moment—introducing Kai to the rest of The Twinkles.

Hyo-Rin confidently explained that Kai was a replacement member sent by the agency. One of the original girls had gotten sick and wouldn't recover in time.

Kai, putting on his best fake girl voice, bowed politely.

"H-Hi! I'm Bachika-chan... P-please take care of me, senpai~!"

He felt like his acting was painfully bad. There was no way they'd buy it.

But to his shock...

"OMG! She's sooo cute!! Can I pet you?!"

"Like a real-life Annabelle... if Annabelle was sweet and huggable!"

"Ahhh look at that flat chest! I wanna touch it!"

Kai's jaw dropped.

"What the hell—these girls are just as crazy as Hyo-Rin!"

And somehow, none of them realized he was a guy in a wig and skirt. What kind of chaotic idol energy was this group running on?

"You're definitely going to be a hit with the fans! be careful—some of them bring cameras just to try and snap upskirt pics! hehe but i like that~"

Kai immediately covered his lower half in panic.

"Oh crap, if I get excited up there, it's game over."

"Please... please, O Great God of Downstairs... keep my anaconda asleep tonight."

After that, the girls huddled up and helped Kai understand their stage routine. Everyone pitched in to make sure he wouldn't mess up onstage.

Soon, the lights dimmed, and the sound of fans grew louder and wilder from the arena.

"TWINKLES! TWINKLES! TWINKLES!"

"RIN-CHAAAAN!! I HAVEN'T SLEPT IN A WEEK FOR THIS NIGHT!"

"AO-CHAN I SPENT MY LIFE SAVINGS TO SEE YOU!"

"MITO-CHAAAAN, YOUR COLD GLARE IS MY RELIGION!"

"CHIZURU-CHAN PLEASE SLAP MEEEEE!"

Kai blinked.

"...These people are absolutely insane."

Backstage, just seconds before showtime, Kai's heart pounded like a drum.Three hours of training. Zero stage experience. And now he was expected to fake being an idol... in front of thousands?

Suddenly, Hyo-Rin appeared beside him. She gently cupped his face and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

It was the softest she'd ever been.

Kai's heart did a somersault.

"Why is my heart beating faster?"

"Bakachin... Thank you," she said sweetly. "You followed along with all my selfishness. When this is over... I'll give you a special reward, okay?" Her smile was dazzling.

Kai had never seen her smile like that before.

Then—ding!A notification popped up.

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[Physical contact detected!]View Heroine's Status:Name: Charlotte Hyo-RinAffection Level: 1/5Thoughts:

"Kai's a real fan... he did everything I asked. But... can I really count on him? I'm a little worried..."

----

Seeing her honest thoughts, Kai smiled.

"I'll be waiting for that reward. And Rin-chan... Just this once, I'll go all out. I'll be the best damn crossdressing idol you've ever seen."

He said it confidently—not because he wanted to, but because he was desperate to finish this insane quest and get as far away from Hyo-Rin as possible.

 "I just want to finish this damn quest"

But he had no idea...

His words made Hyo-Rin's face go beet red.

"Bakachin... I..." she began softly.

But before she could say more, Kai struck a dramatic idol pose, placed a finger over her lips, and shushed her like he was in a cheesy drama.

"Enough, Rin-chan. I've got this."

He smiled coolly, totally proud of himself.

It had an unexpected effect—Hyo-Rin was completely stunned, her face now glowing red.

Trying to hide her flustered state, she teased, "Wow... acting like a real idol now, huh? Just don't actually become one, or I might keep you this way forever~"

Kai choked. "Ugh! Just shut up and let's go already!"

And with that, the two followed the other Twinkles onto the stage...

The spotlight was waiting.

...

As the stage lights dimmed and the first note of Makenai Love echoed through the Tokyo Dome, Kai took a shaky step forward.

The crowd erupted in a thunderous scream—flashing lights, waving glow sticks, and fan banners whipping wildly in the air like a festival of chaos.

"TWINKLES!! TWINKLES!! TWINKLES!!"

The fans in the front row screamed with the desperation of someone watching their favorite character die in an anime.

Then... silence.

As the lights centered on the unfamiliar face in the lineup, the audience collectively stopped breathing.

A second passed. Then—

"WHO IS THIS ANGEL?!"Someone shouted from the back, sparking a wave of confusion-turned-curiosity.

The members of The Twinkles quickly stepped forward to explain.

"Due to an unexpected illness, one of our members can't perform tonight," Rin-chan said with a perfectly timed hair flip. "So please welcome our temporary stand-in..."

She motioned dramatically toward Kai.

"Bachika-chan~!"

Kai, dressed in the frilliest idol costume ever invented by mankind, swallowed his dignity and stepped forward with a mechanical idol smile.

"My sweet smile will make your mouths taste like sugar all night~ I'm Bachika-chan, nice to meet you all!"

He threw in a heart pose for good measure. Internally, he wanted to spontaneously combust.

"BACHIKA-CHAN!!! I'M IN LOVE!!"

"SO CUTE I CAN'T TAKE IT!!"

"WHAT'S HER BLOOD TYPE? WHAT'S HER FAVORITE BENTO?? IS SHE SINGLE???"

The crowd lost their minds.

Kai did a quick wink and a peace sign. Flash! Snap! Click!

Then it happened.

The giant LED monitor above the stage zoomed in on his face—glowing with glittery sweat, eyes shimmering under the spotlight, lips slightly parted in forced cuteness. He looked like a flawless porcelain doll.

Kai smiled bitterly and screamed internally:

"Just kill me please.."

...

..