Chapter 587: Bong-geun's Secret
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 587: Bong-geun's Secret
Waking up to the sound of babies crying in the middle of the night was something I’d grown used to since becoming a father.
People say childcare is incredibly stressful, but for me, it didn't feel like that much of a burden.
Maybe it was because there were six of us, but we all naturally took turns looking after the kids.
If I had to describe it, it felt like pulling night guard duty.
So, it wasn't particularly difficult.
However, we did have one unwritten rule among ourselves.
Sex must be had in a place with good soundproofing.
Usually, the only thing that made noise at night was sex, so if the kids woke up, that was normally the culprit.
But this time, the children were woken up by something very peculiar.
"Waaaaah! Waaaaaah!"
"Ugh, hic! Mommyyyy!"
The suggestive atmosphere from just moments ago vanished instantly. Without a word, we all threw on some clothes and rushed to the room next door.
Since we usually put the babies to sleep together, if one woke up, they all tended to wake up.
But this time was a bit different.
"Aigoo! Aigoo! Our Yu-na!"
"Hmm...? Seo-woo is still sleeping?"
"Look at the lungs on Chae-rin."
Only Yu-na and Chae-rin had woken up; Seo-woo was still fast asleep. I wasn't sure if he was exhausted from his first trip out or if he was just a heavy sleeper.
Thanks to that, Choi I-seo just gave the sleeping child a quick pat and stepped back out.
Choi I-seo and I immediately headed toward the source of the commotion.
Inside the brightly lit room.
There was Wang Mei, huddled under a blanket, and Bong-geun, wearing nothing but his pants.
"What the—"
"…!"
The moment Bong-geun and Wang Mei saw us opening the door and walking in, their expressions turned to pure embarrassment.
The two of them froze as if they never expected a third party to walk in on their argument.
In times like this, the man has to step up.
"We came from next door. It was so loud we couldn't even have se—!"
Thwack!
Choi I-seo immediately subdued me with an elbow to the ribs. She cleared her throat awkwardly and spoke.
"What's going on? Did you two have a fight? You woke up all our kids."
She tried to sound polite, but she made sure to sprinkle in some reproach about the children being woken up.
At the mention of the kids, the two of them flinched.
Realizing their mistake, they seemed to feel a wave of guilt as the sound of the babies crying reached them from behind us.
"So-sorry."
"I'm sorry."
When Bong-geun and Wang Mei offered sincere apologies, our irritation softened a bit.
As parents, we wanted to hand down a severe punishment, but everyone makes a mistake once in a while.
"What happened all of a sudden?"
Accepting the apology, Choi I-seo asked cautiously, wondering if something serious had happened.
Normally, you're supposed to just watch other couples fight, not get involved.
But since we were directly affected, and the things Wang Mei had been shouting in Chinese were clearly curses, we couldn't just let it slide.
"Bong-geun, you weren't trying to use your chaebol status to do something weird, were you? Like drugs or filming stuff?"
"Fuck you! That's the kind of dirty shit only third-rate scumbags do!"
It seemed Bong-geun hadn't crossed over into the "dirty" territory.
With the worst-case scenario ruled out, I could listen with a lighter heart.
"Well, you see... the thing is..."
Wang Mei glanced at Bong-geun. Bong-geun frowned as if asking if she was really going to explain this.
"Woo-jin, take James outside for a bit."
Deciding that this was a conversation for the women, Choi I-seo requested a place for the two of them to talk.
"Okay, Bong-geun-ssi. Follow me."
"..."
Bong-geun looked at Wang Mei a few more times before finally letting out a sigh and following me.
The crying had died down; the kids must have fallen back asleep. We passed through the living room and stepped outside.
Usually, smokers would light up at a time like this.
"Bong-geun, do you smoke?"
"No."
"Right. Then let's just talk. What happened?"
"I'm absolutely not telling you."
Look at this guy.
I let out a bitter breath as if I were exhaling smoke and nodded.
"Fine. Everyone has something they want to keep hidden."
"...You understand?"
"Yeah. If you don't want to say it, there's nothing I can do. I'll just have to go ask Choi I-seo."
As I turned to head back inside, Bong-geun grabbed me.
"You said you understood!"
"I do understand. But I can't stand being curious."
"Then what exactly do you understand?"
"..."
"Sigh, fine. Maybe it's better to tell you. You might actually be able to relate to me."
"Hmm?"
After all that posturing, Bong-geun finally hesitated and opened his mouth.
I was planning to kick him out if it wasn't anything significant, but—
"I asked to do it no-con."
"Holy shit."
It was significant.
Very much so.
"Wait a second. Does that mean...?"
"Yeah. I asked her to have my baby."
"Are you insane? And she said no?"
"Yeah... She said she still has her career, that I was being too hasty, and asked if I'd lost my mind."
"Hah, it is hasty. Look at your age."
"..."
At my words, Bong-geun lowered his head.
I felt like I might be partially responsible for this.
"Was it because seeing us raise our kids looked so good?"
I said it with a bit of a smirk, but it was a possibility.
The moment people usually start craving marriage is when they see others married and living well.
Seeing us having a good time with the kids might have made Bong-geun envious.
Bong-geun let out a sigh at my remark.
"That was part of it. No... it's true that was the trigger. But that's not all."
It was the trigger, but not everything?
I thought he was just being stubborn.
"What are you talking about? If you're going to say it, say it properly, you prick."
When I snapped at him out of frustration, Bong-geun covered his mouth and hung his head.
The way he was crouched there looked both pathetic and pitiful.
'What is wrong with this guy?'
No matter how I looked at it, it seemed like a trivial concern, yet he was acting like he was carrying all the karma in the world.
"What's the problem? I know it wouldn't be an issue even if you suddenly got married. She's your fiancée, so it's going to happen eventually anyway."
"..."
"But why were you in such a rush? Hey, say something! I'm starting to want to kill you!"
His silence was so frustrating I genuinely wanted to beat him up.
After glancing at me, Bong-geun finally nodded. It seemed he had finally gathered the courage to be honest.
"Hey, so... the truth is, my taste in women is a bit, uh..."
"You son of a bitch!"
I immediately kicked the crouching Bong-geun.
I felt like I was going to die of frustration.
Surely this was legally justifiable.
"Rice only tastes good if you let it sit for the right amount of time! You're just burning the whole pot! Do you want to die?!"
"Agh! Okay, okay! I got it! Okay, bro!"
Bro, my ass.
"Sigh, I'm telling you this because I trust you'll understand. Okay? You're a bit of a loose screw yourself, unlike other people."
Should I kill him, Master?
"Where was I? Alright, the thing is... my taste in women is actually... I like women who are 'cozy.' Like an older woman who can embrace me, that kind of vibe."
"You mean you like women with big breasts?"
"Fuck! Fuck you! That's not what I mean! Someone who wraps around your heart and comforts you! That's the kind of person I like! Got it?!"
"Ah, confirmed. You should have just said so from the start."
"...I did say that from the start."
Anyway.
I basically got the gist of it.
"So you like the older, big-sister type? Right?"
"To be precise... I like women who feel like a mother."
"...You mean 'mother-like,' not an actual mother, right?"
"Fuck you! You piece of shit! What do you take me for?! My own mother was never even affectionate toward me in the first place!"
"Ah."
Usually, this meant he was looking for the affection and comfort from a girlfriend that he never received from his parents.
It seemed Bong-geun's mother had been quite strict.
And so, he wanted to receive that warmth and kindness from his partner.
"I'm glad my friend isn't a crazy incest freak."
"Fuck! Please! Stop saying shit like that! It's absolutely not that!"
"Alright, alright, I get it. You want someone cozy with a motherly feel. So what? Did you think it would be great if your girlfriend became an actual mother?"
"...There's that, but also..."
After hesitating some more, Bong-geun finally glanced at me and confessed with a sigh.
"I... I wanted to try lactation play."
"..."
"Fuck! Everyone has different sexual fetishes! As long as it's not illegal, you should respect it, right?!"
"Man, I'm starting to dislike you as a person."
"Wh-what about you?! You haven't tried it? I thought you'd understand! Since you've probably already done it!"
"Ah..."
Had I just "tried" it?
I was the man who had tasted and appraised the breast milk of my wives and ultimately declared it superior to Seoul Milk.
"Shit. When I told her that, she just got really angry. She asked if I'd always been such a pervert."
"Hmm."
"I-it's just a part of play, isn't it? Right?"
This was something I could neither deny nor confirm.
"That's something you should resolve through conversation and agreement with your girlfriend."
Just then, Choi I-seo poked her head out from behind the front door. It was a signal that Wang Mei had calmed down and he should go talk to her.
"I-seo seems to have cheered your girlfriend up a bit. Go on."
As I gave him a nudge, Bong-geun left while muttering "thank you."
Following Choi I-seo, Seo Ye-rin and Yoo Ah-rin also came out to join me.
"...Woo-jin, it's actually quite amazing."
Choi I-seo looked at me with a faint sense of wonder.
"Gross! If it's not Woo-jini, it's all just gross!"
Seo Ye-rin displayed her classic double standard—it was fine if I had those tastes, but disgusting if any other man did.
"I told you, birds of a feather flock together."
And then there was Yoo Ah-rin, who clicked her tongue, lumping me in with him as a set.