The Temptation of the Sheer Shirt, Junho's Repeated Gaze
"As long as you've turned over a new leaf, that's enough."
"I never really learned much of anything, so I barely scraped by and got this job through a friend's connections."
"Don't most AS techs just handle the repairs?"
"We do the repairs and take care of filters and maintenance, but it's all commission-based."
"So that's why you were so eager explaining the water purifier and air purifier."
Junho scratched the back of his head, looking a little embarrassed.
"Still, thanks to you, hyung, it looks like I'll pull in extra commission this month."
Click.
Mijeong came out after putting the baby to sleep.
"Sit here."
She sat at the table without a word.
"So you're not seeing anyone right now?"
"I've gotten my head straight and I'm just focusing on work."
Mijeong listened to our conversation as she started on her late meal.
Once she had eaten a fair amount, she naturally began joining our drinking session.
"Oh my. You must miss your child terribly."
"After the divorce, I didn't even have a single photo of the kid left. Pretty lousy father, right?"
Junho wore a bitter expression as he knocked back the liquor in his glass.
"I'm sorry. I'm so hopeless with machines that I made you come all the way back out here… hohoho."
"Not at all, hyungsoo. Thanks to you I got dinner and boosted my numbers."
As Mijeong drank with us, her face gradually flushed a soft red.
Listening to Junho's stories, I found myself starting to talk about things with Mijeong as well.
"Even when Mijeong was working, she was famous for barely being able to handle a computer. It was frustrating as hell."
"Her husband helped her a lot."
Mijeong, clearly embarrassed by talk of her past, answered back softly.
Junho looked intrigued and leaned in with interest.
"So you two were an office couple?"
"I used to scold her every day for not even being able to put together a single document properly."
"And then?"
"Then she suddenly started crying. Right there at the office."
I explained to Junho how flustered I'd been back then when Mijeong burst into tears.
He listened with clear fascination.
At the time Mijeong had just joined as a new hire. With her introverted nature she never quite adapted, struggling alone and fretting over everything.
Then, after getting chewed out by me—her senior by quite a few years—over and over, she finally broke down crying.
She told me it was because she was so bad with machines and asked for my help.
That became the start of us growing close, and eventually we got married.
Mijeong had always struggled with corporate culture, and once she got pregnant she finally quit the company for good.
Junho seemed fascinated by the office hierarchy and culture he'd never experienced himself.
We kept trading stories about our lives, and the drinking stretched late into the night.
After we finished, Junho called a designated driver and headed home.
Monday. I was buried in work at the office when a text came in.
It was from Junho, saying he would be stopping by the house soon to install the air purifier.
I called Mijeong.
"Junho's coming over to install the air purifier."
"Okay."
"Ask him if he wants lunch. If he does, feed him."
"I will."
I was about to hang up when Mijeong hesitated, as if she had something more to say.
"What is it? Something on your mind?"
"Um… what about clothes?"
It felt like I'd been struck across the head.
The sheer thrill of the situation itself surged up inside me.
"Wear whatever you want."
"…"
After a brief silence, Mijeong answered that she understood.
Knowing her personality, she wouldn't put on anything too revealing.
She wouldn't even take off her bra on her own.
I didn't expect much, but the regret of having forgotten to reinstall the homecam I'd collected last time still nagged at me.
I wanted to check the living-room homecam, but of course a meeting got scheduled right then.
After the meeting I checked my phone and found a text from Junho.
He said the installation was done and even sent a photo.
I texted back that he'd done well.
I glanced at the photo, then looked again more carefully.
Beyond the newly installed air purifier in the living room, Mijeong was standing in the kitchen, captured in the frame.
She was wearing a thin cotton ivory shirt.
It wasn't something she usually wore.
She'd bought it online because it was cheap, tried it on at home, and been startled.
The fabric was so thin that her underwear showed right through.
In sunlight the outline of her body beneath the shirt was completely visible.
Contrary to my expectations, Mijeong had made a bold choice.
I almost regretted not being able to watch it live on the homecam app.
I texted Junho to stay and have lunch.
But he replied that his next appointment was tight and it would be difficult.
I'd have to check the living-room homecam after I got off work.
I rushed through the rest of my work and arrived home to find Mijeong greeting me.
The first thing that caught my eye was the black bra clearly visible through the shirt.
Under the entryway light the outline of her body showed through completely.
Even the slight swell of her belly and the exact position of her navel were plain to see.
Under the shirt she wore navy shorts.
It was a casual outfit, yet the atmosphere it created was anything but casual.
"You're home."
"Yeah."
The air purifier standing in the living room caught my attention.
"Is the air purifier working okay?"
Mijeong launched into an excited explanation—how the red light had come on while she was cooking in the kitchen, how after a while it turned green and shut off automatically, and so on.
I changed clothes and came back out to find she had set dinner on the table, then gone into the room with the baby.
I ate alone, cleaned up quickly, and headed into the master bedroom.
The living-room homecam was connected to the Wi-Fi, so I could pull the saved footage over right away.
In the video the living room was flooded with bright sunlight.
Mijeong headed toward the front door as Junho arrived.
The ivory shirt she wore turned almost transparent in the sunlight.
Her black bra stood out sharply, and the soft curves of her breasts and even the position of her navel were fully visible.
Unfortunately the camera angle didn't cover the entryway, so Junho's expression when he first saw her clothes wasn't captured.
Once again I regretted not watching it live on the app.
"Hello, hyungsoo."
"Come in."
Mijeong and Junho appeared on the footage.
Junho set a large box down in the living room.
Mijeong went to the kitchen and brought back a glass of water.
Junho's gaze flicked instantly to her chest.
But he hurriedly redirected it to the mug in his own hand.
Mijeong, clearly aware of his stare, asked casually,
"Hot, isn't it?"
"Yeah. The weather's suddenly gotten warm."
Junho looked at her, then let his eyes slowly travel downward.
This time he lingered longer, tracing over her body.
Mijeong seemed to ignore the gaze.
"I'll install the air purifier. It won't take long."
Junho opened the box, checked the filters, and fitted them into place around the unit.
Then he plugged the cord into the outlet.
The installation didn't take long at all.
He began explaining the air purifier to Mijeong.
"So I just press this button?"
Junho's Adam's apple bobbed slowly.
As he continued the explanation he let his eyes brush once more over the lines of her chest and waist.
There was a new ease in Mijeong's movements, as if the experience of wearing something bold once before had left her more comfortable.
Junho's pupils followed her every motion, flicking between the line of her neck and the space between her breasts—almost as if he were searching for the kiss marks he had seen before.
Even on the homecam the outline of her underwear beneath the sheer shirt was unmistakable.
Because it showed through, it looked even more obscene.
Junho couldn't tear his eyes away, yet he still kept a careful distance, never stepping any closer.
Mijeong continued to pretend she didn't notice his stare, standing in front of the air purifier and watching the lights change.
I sat in front of the monitor and scrubbed quickly through the footage.
Even while Junho packed up his tools, his gaze kept returning to Mijeong again and again.
Once he finished, he took a photo of the installed air purifier with his phone and texted it to me.
"All done, hyungsoo. I already told hyung I have another appointment and need to head out."
"Thank you for your hard work, Junho."
And that was how it ended.
The anticipation that had been tightening my chest flipped almost immediately into disappointment.
I never expected Mijeong to be this bold.
Having already experienced exposure once, she now displayed her body with even greater ease.
Junho's eyes kept returning to her over and over.
Yet between the two of them a subtle distance still remained.
Just the level of exchanged glances—nothing more, no further approach.
That was the moment expectation turned to letdown.
At the same time a quiet relief brushed past me.
It was still okay.
They still hadn't gone any further.
And yet a corner of my chest ached.
The excitement this situation itself produced mixed with the hollow emptiness that followed, leaving my head spinning.
I grabbed a cigarette and stepped outside.
I lit it and drew the smoke deep into my lungs.
The nicotine raced through my lungs and hit my brain with a dizzying rush.
The hope that if a little more time passed, an opportunity might appear.
I told myself not to be impatient, but it wasn't easy.
My mind was still a mess.
The fear that once the things I imagined actually happened there would be no going back, and the contradictory self that still chased desire anyway—two selves at war inside me.