The Relationship Begins
My mother had already run off with a man who had a daughter of his own, abandoning me completely.
The man she left with had cast aside his previous wife. His profession was that of a male escort—a pretty boy who lived off women. His looks had earned him plenty of money and no shortage of admirers. Among the women he entertained, he married a beautiful one and fathered two pretty daughters with her.
But he had a vicious little hobby. Whenever money came his way, he gambled it away in the most predictable, insane fashion. He poured every hard-earned coin into it, even mortgaging the apartment he'd received through marriage to borrow more for the tables. He burned through everything he owned. He even dipped into his daughters' money.
After they were thrown out onto the street, the notice that came down was divorce. Taking his two daughters with him, he met the woman who would become my mother. Of course she had no idea he already had children. Smitten with his handsome face, she used the settlement from her own divorce to find them a place and took him in. By the time she learned about the daughters, she was already too far gone for him.
He had quit the escort work some time back and, true to a promise he'd made her, took a job at a small company, scraping by on a pathetic monthly wage. The fortune my mother had brought with her ran dry. He mortgaged the house they lived in, turned to loan sharks, and slid right back down the gambling path.
The result was a mountain of debt. He could no longer bear it. From a two-hundred-million-won home he had fallen into tens of billions in debt. The collectors heard the news and showed up every day to threaten him. In the end he couldn't take it. He left a single word of apology and killed himself.
All that was left for her was a death benefit of a hundred twenty million won. The house went to auction. Every one of my mother's cards was frozen.
The last option that came to mind was her ex-husband—my father. When she heard he had already passed away, she reached out to me instead. The moment she got through, she bought a crumpled cash bus ticket and came running to me without a second thought.
"So... how much do you need?"
"Just a place to live for now... sob... sob... would a hundred million for a jeonse deposit be too much?"
"Hahaha... you come looking for the son you threw away for ten years over a mere hundred million..."
"!!"
Mother stared at me with rabbit-wide eyes.
"C-could you maybe lend it to me? I'll... I'll figure something out somehow..."
"You said the debt is over ten billion. How do you plan to pay it back?"
"I can work at a restaurant or something..."
"That kind of pocket change—even if you worked till you dropped, would you even scrape together five hundred million?"
"Sob... sniff... I'm sorry..."
"For what?"
"For abandoning you... and... sniff... for finding you so late..."
"I actually thought you'd come because you missed me."
"..."
To her credit, Mother didn't lie.
"Drink."
"I've had enough..."
"I said drink."
I held out the soju bottle I'd already been drinking from.
"If I drink any more..."
"You won't be able to say what you need to say sober either, will you?"
I fixed her with a hard stare and set the bottle down in front of her.
"...All right."
Mother squeezed her eyes shut and gulped down the rest of the soju.
"Pwah... ugh...!"
"Hold it."
"Mmph... hic!"
Hiccuping, she barely managed to keep from throwing up. The sudden flood of alcohol made her eyes go soft and vacant.
Looking at her now, I realized Mother still had the body of a woman in her twenties. Full breasts, a narrow waist, wide hips, and thick thighs. To a stranger that figure would look downright dangerous. She carried a little softness, but she had clearly taken care of herself—no ugly spare tire, just a flawless frame.
Wrapped up tight so you can barely see anything.
Even in summer the bra under her shirt didn't show through. She was thorough about that kind of management too.
"Ah... ah... I...! Mmph!"
Mother suddenly stood and looked for the bathroom. I rose with her and helped her there.
"Uuugh-weeeeh~!"
"Ugh."
I did my best not to look at the mess. Instead I rubbed her back, and without meaning to I found myself studying the line of her body from behind. When she bent forward her ass tightened naturally, the panty line standing out sharp against her sweatpants.
Fuck... that's hot...
I swallowed without thinking, just watching.
"S-sorryyy..."
"Wipe your mouth and come out."
The toilet flushed. Mother cleaned herself up and came back out. I was already looking through the photos of the daughters in her gallery on her phone.
"Your daughters?"
"Mm-hmm..."
"They're pretty. Looks like they got the full genetic jackpot too."
Mother kept her head down as if under interrogation, still not fully present.
"Fine. I'll lend you the money. But there are conditions."
"R-really?"
Her eyes lit up as she looked at me.
"If I lend you the money, will you do anything?"
"Y-y-yes, yes, yes."
Mother nodded over and over as she answered.
The next day arrived.
My head ached a little, but I woke feeling clear. I had let Mother sleep on a blanket on the floor of the empty room.
She was completely out of it last night.
"Nnngh~!"
I got up and went to the kitchen. Mother was still asleep; the door to the room stayed shut. I thought about cooking ramen for a hangover cure, then decided that since Mother was here I should make something proper and boiled a seaweed-soup ramen instead.
Creak.
Mother came out of the room clutching her head.
"Oh my... look at the state of me. Did you... sleep well?"
"Yeah. Do you remember last night?"
"Last night...? Hmm~ I don't remember all of it."
"Come eat first."
"Okay~"
Apparently all she recalled was the pleasant conversation from the evening before.
"So how much do you want to borrow?"
"Hm? Cough...! Cough...! Wh-what did you say?"
"You came to borrow money. How much do you want?"
Mother set down her chopsticks and lowered her head again like a criminal.
"Did we... talk about something last night...?"
"You said you needed money. Just tell me how much."
"I'm sorry, Junwoo..."
I said nothing and kept eating my ramen.
"W-would a hundred million... be possible?"
"Sure. I'll lend you a hundred million."
"Really~?"
"Would I lie? But what if your account gets traced?"
"Ah..."
"If you need a hundred million for a jeonse deposit, that just means you need a place to live, right?"
"Yes, yes! Exactly! If I just have a home I can work and pay it back somehow."
"Pfft~ Working it off at a restaurant, you said."
"W-well, for now..."
"This place is big enough. Move in here."
"Really? Into this nice apartment...?"
"Yeah. But if I do that for you, will you really do anything?"
"Of course~! Mom will do whatever you want. Cook if you say cook, clean if you say clean, read to you if you ask..."
"What if I tell you to sell your body?"
"...Huh?"
"If I tell you to sell your body, will you sell it?"
"Junwoo... how can you..."
"You said anything."
"A-anything, yes..."
"Then sell your body."
"..."
Mother's face twisted with discomfort. She couldn't afford to anger her son. But she also couldn't agree to a condition that absurd.
"How am I supposed to sell my body... and to my own son..."
"So you won't?"
Drip... drip...
Tears welled thick in Mother's eyes.
"Even so... sob... even so... how..."
"How did it feel when you abandoned me?"
"..."
"You don't remember, do you? Back then I felt like I'd lost the whole world. And how do you feel right now? Like I'm just talking nonsense?"
"What are you saying...?"
"Right now it looks like you have the choice to refuse without taking the money, but you don't. One daughter is a high-school senior, the other a college sophomore, right? Think you can live on the streets? Loan sharks will chase you for the rest of your life."
"...How do you know that..."
"You told me yourself."
"...You're right."
Mother admitted it at once.
"You have no choice. No choice but to accept this ridiculous condition. I want you to feel what it's like to lose the whole world."
"..."
"Forget selling your body. Then strip for me right here."
"Wait... I can't..."
Mother started to stand.
"Spend the rest of your life running from loan sharks. You said you don't even have bus fare home."
She had told me everything last night. No money to go back. Nowhere to borrow. No one she knew, no bank loans, no loan sharks left—suicide or nothing.
"Nowhere to borrow money, loan sharks showing up every day. The only other answer is suicide. Want to try that?"
"...N-no..."
"What?"
"I don't want to!!! I don't... sob sob... I said I don't want to..."
Mother sobbed and shouted at me.
"Then strip in front of me. That's the only way left, isn't it? Becoming a sex slave."
"A sex slave...?"
Mother stopped sniffling and asked.
"Exactly what it sounds like. Become the slave who satisfies my sexual needs. Put simply, a maid who handles my lust. Do that and I'll wipe out every last bit of your debt."
"If I just... do that?"
Mother was starting to calm down.
"Yeah. Paying the debt isn't even an issue. In exchange you become my sex slave for about five years."
"Five years... Then give me something I can trust."
"Twenty million in cash sound good? Strip first. So you remember clearly who's the inferior here."
The hand supporting her on the table trembled hard.
"I... I'll do it..."
"Strip. Show me your trust."
Mother lifted her shaking hands and carefully pulled off the grubby T-shirt. Pale skin appeared, along with a thin camisole. A white bra peeked out underneath.
"Do you really need to see... Mom's body?"
"We barely lived together. What kind of 'Mom' is that?"
"...Do I have to keep going?"
"Stop asking and strip."
Mother cried as she forced the clothes off. When the camisole came away, the white bra that had only peeked before was fully revealed. Lace-trimmed, expensive-looking underwear.
"Did you pick out special underwear just to come here?"
"...No."
Mother twisted her body as she answered. When I said nothing more, she pulled off the sweatpants on her own. Underneath she wore plain green panties with a rubber band and a brand logo printed on them.
"Great body. You've been taking care of yourself."
"...Is that enough now?"
Mother reached for her clothes again.
"What are you talking about. Stand right there properly."
Mother froze solid in front of the table, as if iced over. This slender woman with every curve in the right place was my mother. Calling her my real mother almost felt wrong—the woman standing before me had a truly magnificent figure.