Now It's Time We Part... I Want a Baby with Daddy
Now it's time for us to part.................. I want a baby. With Daddy. With me. With Yeoreum.
The moment I grasped the meaning of those words, my legs gave out from under me. Kim Bom hadn't taken my confession the way I'd intended—as a declaration that she wanted to be my lover. In her worldview, Yeoreum was Daddy's reincarnation, making us essentially the same person. It was as unshakeable as the sun rising in the east and setting in the west. So my confession to her was...
To Kim Bom, it had been a proposal from Daddy to his daughter. And she'd accepted it with joy.
She's insane. There was no other way to put it.
"B-Bom? That's not what I—"
Before I could finish, Kim Bom shoved me. Caught off guard, I stumbled backward and fell butt-first onto the sofa. She loomed over me, looking down. Backlit by the light, her expression was hard to read, but her lips were definitely curved upward in a smile.
"I've been waiting."
She took a step toward me, where I lay sprawled on the sofa.
"I've waited so long."
Another step.
"Until Daddy said it first."
Her shadow fell over me. I wanted to run. But my body wouldn't move. Kim Bom's presence, the intangible pressure she exuded, nailed me to the spot.
She leaned down. Her knee hit the sofa as she straddled me.
"Bom..."
She pressed her index finger to my lips.
"A son would be nice. Daddy's daughter... there's only me."
She drew closer. Close enough that her breath brushed my skin. The scents of perfume, wine, and her unique body odor mingled together. I couldn't do a thing. Only now did I realize what had burst out of the Pandora's box I'd opened myself. But it was far too late.
Her face inched nearer.
............
Dawn. I opened my eyes. An unfamiliar ceiling... no, a familiar one. Too familiar. This was Kim Bom's bedroom. For the past few days—ever since I'd confessed to her—I'd been spending my nights here more often.
"Ugh..."
My whole body was slick with sweat. My joints throbbed with pain, and my back felt like it could snap at any moment. A sticky film—sweat or something else, I couldn't tell—clung to my skin, especially the insides of my thighs. The tingling in my groin brought back memories of last night. No, the past few nights.
"...I can't take this anymore."
I turned my head. There was Kim Bom's face. She slept peacefully, blissfully unaware of the world, a smile playing on her lips. And not just that—her skin practically glowed. No doubt from vigorously draining someone's vital energy these past few days.
I dragged myself to the edge of the bed. My limbs felt like waterlogged cotton.
"...At this rate, I'm gonna die for real. Die smiling."
Half-joking, half-serious. Kim Bom had been squeezing me dry every night under the excuse of "wanting Daddy's baby." By the end, I wasn't falling asleep—I was passing out. And the scariest part? It felt like she was going easy on me, in her own way. Just how bottomless was her stamina?
I finally escaped the bed and headed to the living room. The cool dawn air offered a little relief to my sticky skin. I went straight to the kitchen and downed a glass of water. The cold liquid cleared my head as it slid down my throat.
Outside the window, it was still dark. Around 4 or 5 a.m., maybe. Precious time. Time to think alone.
"Where the hell did it all go wrong...?"
I sank onto the living room sofa, clutching my head. The first world came to mind. Choi Seori. Back then, I'd lost all affection for her. She'd obsessed over me, stalked me, destroyed Lee Seoa with horrific revelations from my past, and shown not a shred of remorse. So I'd chosen to end it. In the most sensible, straightforward way: I submitted my resignation and demanded a clean break. Textbook, clean-cut.
And the result? A 3 billion won lawsuit, and within a month, I was homeless. Total ruin.
Next, the second world: Kim Bom. She was vicious in a different way from Choi Seori. The moment she called me "Daddy" on first meeting—calling it a slip-up—I should've been suspicious. But I wasn't. We grew closer, and once we did, her true colors showed. She treated me as the reincarnation of Yeoreum's dead father—essentially the same person. Still... there was a difference from Choi Seori. At least in my view, Kim Bom didn't harm others without hesitation. She just got a little—a lot—weird when it involved me or her late father.
Anyway, I'd approached her differently than I had Choi Seori. First, I flatly denied her delusion. She lost her mind and tried to strangle me. Second, I tried logical persuasion, presenting evidence to shatter the fantasy. But she twisted her memories to fit her delusion—even altering her father's illness in her recollections. Third and final: the confession. I tried overwriting her delusion by shifting to a romantic relationship.
And now this was the result. She wanted a baby with her father (?), and we were sleeping together every night.
Yes. Every gentle method had failed. Kim Bom wore mental armor of madness and delusion. No attack of mine could pierce it.
So my approach had to change.
............
Flee overseas. If Korea felt too small, just leave the country. At first, it seemed too extreme, too unrealistic. But now, it looked like the only answer.
I thought of my bank balance. The emoticon had been a massive hit, and the earnings were still intact. Enough to live five years without working. Of course, five years wasn't forever. Fleeing abroad with no income would spell disaster. But Southeast Asia? Vietnam or Thailand—my savings could last ten years there. Japan or Australia... pricier, but two or three years was doable. In developed countries like those, I'd need to keep earning. Meaning I wouldn't quit working entirely. Yeoreum's main gig was emoticon design. As long as the income held, I could stay there indefinitely.
This is the only way.
Overseas escape. The last remaining option to evade Kim Bom.
The chance she'd track me abroad... not zero, but realistically slim. And overseas, I might meet normal people. I'd have to learn the language first, sure. Someone not like Choi Seori or Kim Bom—someone capable of healthy, normal love. That was how I'd pass the goddesses' trial.
Outside, the sky was lightening faintly. Around 5:30 a.m. Kim Bom was still asleep. I rose carefully. Every muscle screamed, but I ignored it. I threw on yesterday's clothes and cracked open the bedroom door. Tiptoeing to the entryway, I slipped on my shoes and turned the knob slowly.
The door opened, and dawn air filled my lungs. I hurried home.
The moment I arrived, I opened the closet. Pulled out a suitcase and backpack. Checked my passport first—three years left, good. Packed the laptop, charger, work tablet, clothes, underwear, socks, toiletries. Wallet with bank book and cards. All my cash. I'd exchange it at the airport in a panic if needed. Backpack got the essentials: laptop, passport, wallet, earphones, neck pillow for the flight.
This'll do.
Packing took less than thirty minutes. Anything missing, I'd buy there.
I searched flights on my phone. Evening flight from Incheon to Fukuoka. Decent price. Booked it.
Village bus to the town center, then bus terminal. Express bus to Seoul. Airport bus from there to Incheon. Plenty of time. As long as I didn't get caught.
Kim Bom would wake before the first village bus. I wouldn't even make it to the stop, let alone board.
Obviously, going head-on wouldn't work. I needed a bit of deception.
............
I returned to Kim Bom's house. Suitcase and backpack hidden in my closet at home. All set.
I sat on the living room sofa, pretending to work, sipping the tea she'd brought me. That's when it hit.
I lifted the cup, then paused. Let out a small but audible groan.
"Ugh."
I furrowed my brow and pressed a hand lightly to my chest. The chopping sounds from the kitchen stopped immediately.
"Yeoreum?"
Kim Bom came out from the kitchen.
"You okay?"
"Ah, yeah. I'm fine."
I forced a smile and lifted the cup again.
"My chest has been a little tingly since this morning. It's nothing."
Her face changed.
"Your chest hurts? Your heart?"
She rushed over and plopped down beside me.
"Since when? How bad? Can you breathe okay?"
Her voice rose higher. I could tell old memories were strangling her—the trauma from twenty years ago, the day she lost her father.
Perfect. Exactly the reaction I'd aimed for.
"Really, I'm fine. It happens sometimes."
I kept my tone as calm as possible. If I looked too bad, she'd call 119 on the spot, which I couldn't afford. I needed her out of the house. So I had to calibrate the act just right.
"But my meds ran out this morning, of all times."
"Meds?"
"Yeah. The ones from the town clinic last time. I took the last one this morning. They'd fix it right up."
Kim Bom shot to her feet.
"I'll get them!"
"Huh?"
"I'll hop on the scooter and grab them from town right now."
Proxy prescriptions were technically illegal. But this was the countryside. One doctor for the whole village. Local rules and flexibility trumped the law—like friends picking up meds for each other.
"Ah, I'll come with—"
"No! Don't move. Absolutely not!"
She snatched her wallet. Didn't even wait for my reply—bolted to the entryway. The door slammed. Then the scooter roared to life.
I went to the window and peered out. Her scooter was vanishing down the hill. Only after confirming her shrinking silhouette did I exhale.
Round trip to town: at least an hour. Add waiting at the clinic and getting the meds: an hour and a half to two. Plenty of time.