Chapter 110: Side Story - Mother (31)
Chapter 110: Side Story - Mother (31)
It wasn't as if she hadn't expected this.
In fact, she had anticipated this possibility. It was evident just from the nature of the "advice" she had been receiving.
No matter how oblivious a person might be, if they see the same thing repeated over and over, they eventually catch a glimpse of the emotions hidden beneath the surface.
The way the system displayed her son’s condition and offered advice tailored to it already provided a window into its personality and character.
And as time passed, a sense of growing amusement began to seep through—the deeper she fell into depravity, and the more she pursued their incestuous relationship.
The advice became rarer, and every time it appeared, it carried an irrepressible sense of glee.
It felt as though the entity didn't even care if Lee Seon-mi noticed.
It was as if her feelings of revulsion, anxiety, and fear meant nothing to it.
Rather, it gave off the distinct impression that, despite whatever emotions she felt, her choices and the eventual outcome were already a foregone conclusion.
It was a wicked thing to think, but she couldn't help but feel it was truly demonic. Though she wasn't a Christian, there was no other way to describe such a presence.
And so, she paused her grooming and stared blankly at the message floating in the air.
[Get pregnant with your son, Kang Yu-jin’s child: 0/1]
[Reward: Change current pregnancy to a multiple pregnancy; military exemption becomes possible through this.]
The devil whispered to her: If you want to save your child, if you want to gift him survival...
Then you must gift him another life—no, perhaps two or more.
While she worried about what would become of a child born from such a union, she felt an even greater, more overwhelming sense of revulsion toward the choice itself.
It was only natural.
The transgressions thus far. The incest.
All of those depraved and lewd mother-son relations had been possible only because she had been diligent with contraception.
True, when they first had sex, she had babbled that it was fine if she got pregnant just to provoke him.
But what mother would actually want to bear her own son’s child? She knew all too well that this was the one thing she desired least.
Even though she had come to love her son, even though she found pleasure in their bodies overlapping and felt a daily yearning for the ecstasy he provided...
Pregnancy was an entirely different matter.
At least, it had been until a moment ago.
[Reward: Change current pregnancy to a multiple pregnancy; military exemption becomes possible through this.]
The message implied it to her: this was the only way to save her son.
It was saying that if she wanted to save her precious son and lover without any harm coming to him, she had no choice but to bear his child.
‘No, no. Giving birth wasn't part of the condition.’
So, even if she terminated the pregnancy as soon as it happened, the quest could still be completed.
The problem was that she didn't know if she would be capable of doing that once a life actually existed within her.
She knew her maternal instincts were not lacking, which was why she couldn't easily settle on the option of "getting pregnant just to finish the quest and save her son."
If a child was conceived, she would end up giving birth.
And she didn't care what happened to her in that process. The problem was her son’s future.
A son who had slept with his own mother and fathered a child with her.
The incest alone was enough to earn him rightful condemnation, but if a child were actually born...
How would society look at that child? What kind of future would they have?
The fact that she was a world-class ballerina also weighed on her. Although it had been quite a while since she retired and she was rarely in the spotlight now...
She still received occasional recruitment offers, and whenever there was a performance, she would receive letters or calls with tickets enclosed, asking her to attend.
In such a situation, for a woman who had lost her husband to suddenly become pregnant?
That alone would be a serious scandal, but if it were ever discovered that the child was her son’s...
‘...My son.’
Could he truly endure that level of condemnation? Worried, she looked down at him with lowered eyes.
Her son was still asleep, breathing peacefully with his eyes closed. The activities that had lasted until dawn had left him physically and mentally exhausted.
He would wake up on his own when the time came.
She agonized over it now.
Her desire to save her son had not changed.
Her willingness to do anything to save him remained the same.
The vow that she would do whatever it took for his sake was still there, so the only thing that had changed for her was the situation.
She had come to love him, and she could now accept even their physical intimacy with pleasure.
But the contrast between the fantasy before her eyes and the reality of the situation was so cold and daunting. She clutched her head, feeling a wave of dizziness wash over her.
What should she do, and what should she not do?
As the time continued to tick away, she found herself unable to decide.
Even as her son woke up and they packed their bags to return to Korea.
Her internal struggle continued.
*
They had reached the "100 times" mark, but it was unthinkable to stop just because they had hit that number.
Her son might find it strange, but more than that, she herself enjoyed being with him.
Even if the act didn't lead to her own climax, it was still the case.
That was why she had faithfully complied with her son’s requests despite her troubled and heavy heart. While the message flickering in the corner of her vision changed, the mother sat by the window, staring blankly outside.
No matter how much she thought about it, it wasn't a problem with an easy answer. If she thought about it simply, and considered everything she had done so far, the decision itself wasn't difficult.
She would just do what she had been doing, conceive his child...
And use that to secure his military exemption. If she set aside her personal feelings and everything that had happened, the aftermath was also simple.
According to the quiet research she had done on her smartphone before her son woke up, it seemed that abortion was possible in cases of incest.
Even if it wasn't, it wouldn't be impossible to find a place that performed the procedure illegally.
The problem was whether she could actually go through with her first-ever abortion.
And how her son would take it.
She didn't know. If she proceeded quietly without telling him until she was pregnant, he might never know, but...
[Get pregnant with your son, Kang Yu-jin’s child: 0/1]
The issue was at what point the "pregnancy" in the quest still lingering in her vision would be recognized.
When the fetus was fully implanted?
Right before birth?
Or immediately after fertilization?
There was no way to know. Since the entity behind this quest possessed a personality and character, there was a possibility it might wickedly change the conditions halfway through.
And because of that, if she let her guard down only for her son to be sent to the military and get injured or die...
That worry now carried a completely different weight for her.
It felt as if her heart were being squeezed. It felt as if her heart were being crushed against her ribs.
It was far more painful than when she had first had that dream. Even though she was usually good at controlling her emotions, the mere thought of it made tears threaten to fall.
As she struggled to suppress them, she heard the sound of her son’s breathing as he lay with his head in her lap.
The son who had fallen asleep as soon as they sat on the plane, likely because he was so exhausted. Her precious child, and perhaps, the lover she would potentially spend her future with.
Only a short while ago, she had thought she would let him go once they reached a point where this relationship could be safely ended, but she had realized she was now unable to let go herself.
Her lovely son.
Seon-mi reached out a trembling hand and touched her son’s cheek. Beneath the supple skin, there was a clear, vibrant life.
There was the breath he exhaled, the warmth and weight she felt on her lap, and the distinct heartbeat she felt when her hand brushed against his neck.
As his hair flowed through her fingers like shattered sunlight, she bit her lower lip with a pained expression.
There was no choice. To think there was one was an illusion.
Because she had chosen to be his lover as well as his mother. That was how things had become.
The moment she stopped seeking a more moderate path, she had kicked away her own alternatives.
Now, only one thing remained. Only time would tell if she or her son could endure it.
She could only hope that he wouldn't find out until then.
Furthermore, she hoped it wouldn't cause any problems.
And she had to hope that her son wouldn't reject her.
The mother made her decision as she stroked her son’s hair, chewing on and digesting that decision over and over again.
*
After getting off the plane and on the way back home.
Lee Seon-mi leaned her head on her son’s shoulder, their fingers intimately interlaced.
Knowing that such special and affectionate behavior would become rare once they were back at the house, Kang Yu-jin felt a sense of regret even as he accepted his mother’s display of affection.
Perhaps emboldened by the mask on her face, the mother showered him with affection without hesitation.
Not just holding hands, but linking arms, leaning her body against him, and playing with his fingers.
These were all actions unheard of in a typical mother-son relationship, but neither Seon-mi nor Yu-jin cared.
As if it didn't matter even if someone saw them.
And so, on the way home, as they got off the bus and walked through the quiet night streets...
The words Seon-mi spoke left her son in a state of shock for the first time in a long while.
“...What?”
Remembering his promise to speak informally to his mother, the son asked back. Seon-mi looked up at him with eyes filled with a mixture of many emotions.
She didn't answer, just looked up at him. As if to prove that he hadn't misheard.
The son opened and closed his mouth in confusion at her gaze. Despite the vivid bewilderment, shock, and faint fear or worry, he felt a distinct surge of arousal.
Nevertheless, fear took precedence. He scanned their surroundings with anxious eyes.
“Mom, I misheard you, right?”
His choice of words was blunt because of the situation. A word that reminded him of his relationship with Lee Seon-mi.
Because of that, he expected his mother’s reaction to follow his lead, but...
“You heard me correctly.”
He was stunned by her quiet reply. Before he could even process his shock, his mother tightly gripped the hand of the man she had given birth to and whispered.
“Mom wants you to get her pregnant.”
At that sweet whisper, Kang Yu-jin felt a reaction stir within his pants and let out a sharp gasp.