My Secret Partner (1)
Creeeak—
After a brutal day, I was out the moment I hit the pillow. Half-lost in a shallow sleep, I thought I heard my bedroom door ease open. Then, for a long while, someone seemed to stand there without moving at all.
I wanted to open my eyes and look, but my eyelids kept dragging shut, and I sank under again. A moment later, I thought I heard the door close. Who had been standing at my bedside?
"Dongho. Dongho."
A whisper against my ear pulled me up out of sleep. I had been so exhausted I'd gone under without even dreaming. Someone might have come by in the night, but I let the thought slip away as quickly as it came.
"Dongho, time for school."
Seongdae's mom was standing beside the bed. A gentle smile sat on her refined face — the kind of smile that made me almost believe there was love in it.
She had on a white tank top and the same dolphin pants from yesterday. A beige apron was tied over the tank, as if she'd been in the middle of making breakfast, and the whole picture of her was strangely, intensely alluring. The apron rode up over the swell of her chest and floated just off her body, which was exactly why it looked less like kitchen wear and more like an evening dress. I wondered what she would look like with the tank stripped off, wearing nothing but the apron.
"Did you sleep well?"
She asked in that uniquely soft, melting voice of hers. Hearing her morning greeting made me think of my own mother, unbidden. Mom used to wake me in a much brighter, sharper voice than this — and right then, I missed that voice terribly. It had been so long since anyone had woken me with an actual human voice.
"Yes. Did you sleep well?"
"Good. Come on, get up and eat."
"Okay...."
Still half-asleep, I rubbed my eyes and sat down at the table. A steaming pot of soup that looked freshly made, a bowl of hot rice, and an array of side dishes were already laid out. For breakfast, it was practically a feast.
"Wow.... When did you have time to make all this?"
"Mm, I usually keep it simpler, but Dongho's here today, so I went to a little extra trouble."
The thoughtfulness of it genuinely moved me. Was it possible she'd been sent down from heaven just for me? Staying at her house last night felt, once again, like the right choice.
I picked up my spoon and started eating, taking my time. No matter when I ate it, the food she made was delicious — like her, or rather, like the care she put into everything. If breakfast with her had been something you could buy, I would have gotten a monthly pass.
"How is it?"
She asked from the kitchen, still cooking this and that while I ate.
"Of course. It's really delicious."
"I'm glad, sweetie."
"Did Seongdae already leave?"
"He did. He went out first thing this morning. I don't know what that boy is always rushing off so early for. He left without even eating...."
Seongdae's mom sounded genuinely worried, her voice going soft and deflated whenever she talked about him.
It wasn't like he was going to school to study. Where the hell was he headed? Today was the day I'd planned to tail her and Seongdae. I'd ride around in her car, following him from place to place, just the two of us — almost like a couple. I made myself a promise: today I would uncover Seongdae's secret, no matter what.
"Dongho...."
She suddenly dropped her voice. She wasn't looking at me, which meant whatever she was about to say was something she couldn't easily meet my eyes for. Probably something about Seongdae.
"What happened in the bathroom yesterday....?"
Huh? The bathroom? What about it?
The question caught me completely off guard. Why was she asking about the bathroom? Had I slipped up somehow? After wrapping her underwear around myself, I hadn't even managed to finish — I'd just walked out. The only thing she could have inferred was that she'd seen me rock-hard. But that was the kind of thing that happened to any guy my age with blood in his veins. She was Seongdae's mom; she knew that better than anyone. So what had she caught onto?
"No.... Nothing happened. Why?"
I answered carefully, keeping my voice cautious.
"Ah..... There was something strange on the laundry."
"What?!"
I nearly spat out the water I was drinking. She'd said laundry. The laundry she meant had to be her own black silk panties — the ones that had wrapped around me and given me the most extreme pleasure. The ones she'd worn all day after our yoga session, soaked through with her scent.
In a flash, I remembered the feeling of my door opening last night while I was half-asleep. I'd known someone had come into my room, but I'd written it off as a dream. It had never occurred to me that it was her. Had she seen me putting her laundry back?
She kept cooking, acting as if nothing was wrong. Behind the apron, her ass twitched as she moved, the dolphin pants clinging so tight that a sliver of underbutt peeked out. Then she stopped and looked at me.
"Dongho, it happens."
"....."
I could feel my face burning. I wanted to bolt out of that house right then and there. This was supposed to be the stage where we built up goodwill, where we became real friends — and instead she'd caught me at my most shameful.
I remembered the load that had come pouring out in a thick handful while I rubbed her panties against my cock. By the time she found them, they must have been caked with my cum, giving off that deep, musky night-bloom smell. I pictured her lifting those panties to her face and breathing them in.
"Dongho, do you think of me as a woman?"
"What?"
Yes. I think of you as a woman. No — I think you're the only woman who even qualifies. Do you know that?
Every part of me wanted to shout it at her and crush my mouth against hers. But I couldn't. She wasn't my friend yet. I had to get a grip, and fast.
"I'm sorry....."
"Just this once, though. Don't do it again."
She said it in a firm, settled tone. She wanted a promise from me.
"Yes....."
I couldn't look her in the eye. I hung my head and answered. Worse, today's drive with her was probably off. Being alone with me would be too much for her now. Shit. I was screwed. A slow burn started building in my gut.
"You came so much, though.....? You should've just told me....."
She tossed the words out just loud enough to hear, then turned her focus back to the cooking.
What? Had I heard that right?
I concentrated, trying to parse what she actually meant. Tell her? Tell her what? That I wanted to jerk off? That I wanted to blow a load thinking about her? I couldn't make sense of it no matter how I turned it over. But I couldn't ask her again. I didn't have the guts to bring it back up. All I could do was sit there wondering whether those offhand words were the truth, and what they were supposed to mean.
I bolted down the rest of my breakfast and got ready for school, my head a mess of how to even handle this. How was I supposed to look her in the face......
"I'm..... off....."
I mumbled the goodbye in a voice that barely made it out of my throat. She came all the way to the front door and opened it for me. When she stepped close, I caught the clean, bright scent of her shampoo. And through the gap in her tank top, a sliver of cleavage showed.
"See you later. I'll text you when I'm heading out."
"Huh?"
"You didn't forget about today, did you? Seongdae..... We said we'd do it together."
Yes!
I almost shouted it. The drive date with her — no, the Seongdae-tailing operation — was still on. A woman who kept her personal feelings and her plans in completely separate boxes. I couldn't help being moved all over again.
"Of course! I'll see you later."
I bowed politely, fighting to keep the leap in my chest from showing, and turned away. The thought of being alone with her in the car later made the walk to school feel light and clean.
Time was dragging like a son of a bitch. 11:30. It felt like eight hours had already passed, and lunch still hadn't come. My heart was already hammering at the thought of the date with her later.
When time refused to move, I replayed everything that had happened with her. Or more precisely, I replayed her body. That ass, packed lush and full inside white leggings. The narrow cinch of her waist. The chest that sat just right. If she walked into a modeling contest tomorrow, her age alone would make her the story of the year.
I let out a long breath. Just thinking about her body and my lower half surged up, burning. Imagining her figure was a natural Viagra all by itself.
"Yo, look at this fucker. The hell is this?"
What now. Someone always had to wreck a sacred moment.
I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned my head. Standing there was our class's Nuclear Pig, Wumin. One of his hands was on my shoulder. The other was pointing straight at my crotch.
"Yo, check his pants, hahaha. Dude's pitching a serious tent."
"What?"
I checked my lap. The mushroom-shaped outline was stamped clean through the fabric. Anyone looking would have thought, yeah, that thing grew up just fine. Wumin was pointing at my pants and cackling.
"The fuck were you thinking about, you little shit?"
Ever since the cafeteria incident, he'd clearly marked me as his designated punching bag. He'd promised to make me pay dearly for ignoring him. But this was just cheap.
"Hahaha, yo, Suyeon, look at this guy. Look how hard he is."
Wumin flagged down Seongdae's girlfriend, Suyeon, as she was walking past, and pointed at my crotch. Suyeon, with that haughty look of hers, stared dead-center at my pants.
Hey, man. That's too far! A girl, at least, you don't—
"It's pretty big."
What?
Suyeon looked from my pants to my face and back. I was about to yell at them to knock it off when the next thing out of her mouth froze me solid.
"Looks delicious."
What?
Delicious? As in, delicious?
Was I actually hearing things today? Was I possessed? Why the hell was she doing this to me?
Suyeon came toward me slowly, her face still cold and untouchable. For a split second, something white seemed to flash between her smooth legs, under the hem of that short skirt.