The Weight of Her Demands
After seeing Min-a off, the walk back home felt like one long exhale. Tired. So tired. Utterly exhausted. The words slipped out again and again, almost without thought. It had become a habit—after dealing with her, his mouth moved on its own. He hadn’t gotten a wink of proper sleep last night. Watching Min-a’s reactions, watching his niece’s, he’d spent the entire night with his eyes open, enduring the miserable end of the day. When Min-a raged at him for inviting Yerin in the first place, he could only pull her into his arms and soothe her without a single word of defense. But no matter how many times he told her he loved her, she was never satisfied.
“She’s in the guest room… maybe next time? Let’s make time for just the two of us.”
“Then say you love me. Loudly. So your niece can hear every word.”
“She’s just a kid… no need to wake her.”
“I don’t care! Hurry up! I want to hear it, so stop using your niece as an excuse!”
Faced with her endless need for reassurance, all he could offer were variations of the same words. You’re the only one. You’re everything. Only you. Only you, forever. The moment morning came, he staggered out the door with Min-a in tow.
“Oppa, can’t we just go to my place right now? Hmm? Just the two of us. We can spend the whole day together. Please?”
“Yerin’s home alone. At least wait until she wakes up…”
“Why can’t she be alone? Is your niece the only one who matters? What about me? I’m your girlfriend! Why do you keep bringing her up?”
She clung to him, scolding him relentlessly. And there was nothing he could do. He could only wait for Min-a to calm down or beg her to show mercy to the man she claimed to love.
“Our Min-a is such a good girl, right? Why are you being so childish today, my princess?”
“I don’t want to be good. I want to go with you, Teacher.”
He never found the right answer. The pathetic man who couldn’t stand tall in front of his own woman simply floundered, doing everything he could to soothe her. Anything… just to make this exhausting lovers’ quarrel end.
“If it really bothers you that much, I’ll just check if she’s awake and then leave.”
“I said no! Teacher, I want to go with you right now. I want to lie in my bed with you, talk, and do everything together. Right now. With you.”
“So if we just wake her—”
“Enough, Oppa.”
After whining for so long, Min-a finally pulled away. “If you like your niece so much, then go live with her. Be Lee Yerin’s uncle instead of Choi Min-a’s husband and spend the rest of your life like that.”
Maybe it was just his imagination, but the moment she let go, he felt strangely light. “Min-a, I’m not saying I won’t go. Just wait a little until—”
“Then just keep playing uncle. I don’t want to talk anymore. I’m leaving.”
It was as if a heavy weight had finally been lifted. Only after watching her retreating back could he truly breathe again.
“Yerin, are you up?”
He’d thought she was still asleep, but when he returned home, his niece was sitting on the sofa. After the tense exchange with Min-a, he’d stayed holed up in his room and hadn’t even properly apologized. What a shameful sight he must have been as her uncle—keeping the girl who’d come home exhausted from studying from getting any rest.
“……Did Sungmo leave?”
“Yeah. I just saw her off.”
It was strange. Now that Yerin was awake, he should have run after Min-a, but his feet wouldn’t move.
“You must have had a hard time.”
“It wasn’t that bad. Really.”
It wasn’t just fear of the conflict that would arise if he went after Min-a. Right now, he simply wanted to stay by his niece’s side. Rubbing his bloodshot eyes, he sank onto the sofa. Yerin rested her chin on her hand and looked at him.
“Uncle… why do you put up with all that?”
“……”
He had no reply to the sigh that carried so many unspoken meanings. He knew better than anyone how pathetic he was.
“And that woman is ridiculous too. She keeps telling me to call her ‘unnie.’ As if she’s nothing without me calling her Sungmo.”
Her next words left him speechless. He found himself staring at her without meaning to.
“What? Did I say something wrong? Honestly, if you two broke up, she’d just be one of the women who used to like you. Nothing more.”
He should have defended his girlfriend. Said something. But he could only sit there in silence, listening to his niece’s words.
“If I’m wrong, tell me. At least pretend to reflect.”
“That’s… not it. I mean…”
The words he forced out were halting and clumsy.
“It’s not like that, Uncle. I don’t know much about love, but I know what you two have isn’t real love. You’re always fighting, and you always look half-dead from exhaustion.”
“No… Yerin. You’re only seeing us like this. Normally, we get along just fine.”
“Really?”
There wasn’t a shred of belief on her face. Of course there wasn’t—he had none himself.
“Lies. It’s all lies, Uncle. I don’t know how amazing that woman is, but you’re not the type to be pushed around. If she makes you this miserable, just leave. It’s not like her company is the only one in the world.”
“No. I’m really fine. You’re just seeing us fight and assuming the worst. I’m okay. Thank you for worrying about me.”
Unable to meet her eyes any longer, he stood up. If he kept looking at her, he might spill everything—the way Min-a used love as a weapon to torment him, whether this was even love at all, whether enduring this pain would eventually lead to some fairy-tale ending. He couldn’t dump all of that on his niece, a girl years younger than him.
“Uncle.”
Yerin caught his hand. Warmth spread through his skin. Before he knew it, his head was resting on her lap. She stroked his hair, gently touching his cheeks and ears, ready to listen.
“Tell me now. You’re suffering because of that woman too.”
“Haah… Yeah. I am.”
“Then why won’t you leave her?”
“It’s not that we hate each other. It’s just… sometimes her possessiveness is too much.”
“She’s got you well trained, hasn’t she? If it’s that hard, why don’t you just end it?”
“No, Yerin. It’s not like that.”
“It is. You’re running around for someone who isn’t even here.”
Her hand patted softly at the corners of his eyes. The redness seemed to ease. His vision, blurred by fatigue, slowly cleared.
“Did you borrow money from her?”
“……Yeah.”
“How much? For what?”
“When your mother—your grandmother—was sick, Min-a’s father helped with the hospital bills. And since I was her boyfriend, he gave me favors at the company too. He helped a lot when I bought this house, and…”
“It’s not like you can’t pay it back. Just repay it and be done.”
“How could I do that to someone? It’s not that simple.”
“What matters most is fixing what’s hurting you. If it’s because of her, just quit. If not, I’ll earn the money myself and pay it off.”
“It’s not like that.”
He reached out to pinch her cheek, but the moment his fingers touched her skin, she tilted her head slightly. His hand slid along her face until it brushed her lips—soft and warm.
One day, those lips will touch another man’s.
If Yerin ever fell in love, if she ever had a boyfriend, those pretty lips, that gentle warmth, would belong to someone else. He kept stroking them, wondering if the red would come off like paint on his fingertips.
“……”
Yerin stayed silent, simply letting him touch her. Then she leaned in and pressed her lips to his forehead. When she drew close, a warm breeze seemed to blow—sweet, like her mother’s scent, comforting enough to fall asleep in. Her warmth imprinted itself on his face, so hot it felt like his skin might burn.
She pulled back, and in a voice barely louder than a whisper, she breathed against his ear:
“Throw that woman away. I have no intention of giving you to someone like her.”
Returning to her original spot, Yerin wore the same smile she always showed him—bright, yet somehow melancholic. It made him want to protect her right then and there.
“It’s fine for me, isn’t it? I’m your one and only niece. I can decide who you meet. Who you love.”
Then, still smiling, she stood up cheerfully and headed toward the kitchen with light steps.
“Time to eat breakfast. Wait just a moment. I’ll make it for you.”
He remained on the sofa, unable to say a word, simply watching her retreating figure with a dazed, foolish expression on his face.