The Fragile Breaking Point
Park Mina was sinking deeper and deeper into her relationship with Lee Han. Though she had initially felt a sense of revulsion toward his demands, she had reached a point where she would follow his lead in anything. The secret encounters in the Management Office were no longer enough; she had lost all hesitation about engaging in illicit acts in the dark corners of the apartment complex.
One night, Lee Han summoned Park Mina to a small park behind the apartment building. Leading her into the semi-open men's restroom within the complex, he kissed her roughly. Park Mina was shy at first, glancing around, but she soon surrendered her body to Lee Han’s intense caresses. Leaning against the cold wall, feeling his touch and his kisses, she felt her entire body heating up.
"We shouldn't do this here... I'm worried someone might see us."
"Shh, no one will know."
At Lee Han’s sweet whisper, Park Mina quickly forgot her fear and gave herself over to him. The sound of her pounding heart, the sticky sound of their kisses, and the rattling of the restroom partition echoed secretly in the darkness. Lost in the ecstasy of love, Park Mina closed her eyes and muttered.
"I love you... I love you so much."
She whispered to herself, convincing herself that all of this was because of Lee Han’s love, and that was why she couldn't refuse him. She felt she had no choice but to follow his demands, whatever they were, wherever they were. Park Mina hypnotized herself into believing that this was the way to satisfy the desires of the one she loved.
Park Mina pulled out her newly received business card with trembling hands. The words 'Assistant Manager Park Mina' were engraved in deep black. She slowly rubbed her finger over the name.
The promotion to a permanent position should have been a joyful and proud moment. But a bitter feeling filled a corner of Park Mina’s heart. This permanent position had been given to her to cover up an unsavory incident that had occurred within the company. It was a position accepted at the price of condoning a superior’s sexual harassment.
Park Mina’s eyes grew red. Her hands trembled with resentment and anger, but she bit her lip and suppressed her emotions. She consoled herself, telling herself it was an inevitable choice, that it was to survive.
Her steps toward the restroom were heavy. Entering the narrow stall, Park Mina locked the door with shaking hands and slumped onto the toilet. She felt suffocated, trying to hold back a sob that threatened to burst out. She could no longer contain her tears. The sorrow she had suppressed for so long finally poured out like rain. As her body shook with sobs, the business card in her hand became increasingly soaked. Swaying as if she might collapse at any moment, she sniffled and wept.
With a flushed face and biting her trembling lips, Park Mina finally let out the wails she had been holding back. She resented a world where no one understood her pain. Clenching her fists, she was engulfed in frustration. When would she be able to escape this pain? Looking at the tear-soaked business card, Park Mina felt as if she were crumbling apart.
Park Mina walked listlessly toward the Management Office. As if drawn unconsciously, she arrived in front of that familiar door. She stared at the door in silence for a long time. The cold handle felt like a silent comfort. Slowly, she opened the door and stepped into the office. Lee Han had been sitting at his desk, but he lifted his head at the sound of the door. Seeing Park Mina enter, he stood up. Sadness and despair were dripping from her face.
Lee Han watched her without a word, then slowly approached and carefully pulled her into his arms. As if she had been waiting only for that moment, Park Mina buried herself in Lee Han’s embrace. Her frozen heart began to melt little by little in his warmth. The sobs she had been holding back burst forth. Her wails shook her entire body. Buried in Lee Han’s solid chest, she cried out loud.
Lee Han held her trembling shoulders tightly without a word. Time passed as they held each other like that for a long time. Holding the sobbing Park Mina tightly in his arms, Lee Han was feeling her pain. Sharing the pain, comforting her. His gentle hand stroked her trembling back.
"Mina, it's okay. Everything will be fine now."
At Lee Han’s choked whisper, Park Mina nodded. Even amidst her sobs, she drew strength from Lee Han’s warm body temperature and his sincere words. Even if the world turned its back on her, she felt she could endure because of this person who embraced her. Even if that comfort was a fleeting illusion, for this moment, she wanted to rely on him completely.
Lee Han carried the exhausted, sleeping Park Mina home and laid her carefully on the bed. He wiped the tear tracks from her face and tucked her in securely. Listening to her peaceful breathing for a moment, Lee Han crept out and opened the front door. He pressed the handle down slowly, fearing the sound of the door closing would be too loud. Once in the hallway, Lee Han leaned against the door and let out a sigh. A bitter laugh escaped him. Park Mina’s pain felt as if it were his own.
He, too, had had times when he struggled to find a job. The days he had spent struggling, going to countless interviews and building up his resume. The moments he had to grovel before money and throw away his pride. That was why he could understand Park Mina’s situation well. Lee Han muttered with a bitter smile.
"My signing Chairman Park’s contract isn't any different, I suppose."
He, too, had stamped that dirty contract. He had thrown his conscience far away and knelt before money and power. Deceiving himself that it was the way to survive. Clutching his head, Lee Han let out a deep sigh. It was useless to regret it. There was no turning back now.
He gritted his teeth and made a resolution. He had to move toward the final stage. That was the way to live, and the only way to satisfy his desires. He would gain Chairman Park’s trust and rise to a higher position. He was determined to solidify his standing by any means necessary. Clenching his fists, Lee Han made his vow. He would surely win this dirty game. With a twisted smile, he began the final plan to break Park Mina.
Behind the apartment, in the dark, deep recycling area. That desolate place was heated up by secret lust. The place, rising with hot heat, was spewing out the rough breathing and moans of a man and a woman. The cold air hit their skin, but it was soon forgotten by the heat of their burning bodies.
Lee Han, who had pushed Park Mina against the wall, explored her lips roughly. The sound of their pounding hearts and the intersection of their sticky tongues filled the space suffocatingly. Soon, their clothes were stripped off one by one. Lee Han grabbed Park Mina’s breasts hard, and she let out a short moan and clung to him. Park Mina gasped for air at the increasingly intense caresses.
The heat spreading as skin met skin. Two bodies violently intertwined as if exploring each other’s flesh. Lee Han spread Park Mina’s legs and entered her. Park Mina let out a moan she had been holding back at the tearing pain. She writhed at the intense pleasure that surged in. With her hands on the wall, Park Mina was shaken by Lee Han’s rough movements. Every time the climax approached, their moans became more intense. The sound of sweat-drenched skin sticking together, mixed with rough breathing and moans, echoed out.
The bodies tangled in the darkness made sticky, squelching sounds. The two people swayed rhythmically, bumping their lower bodies. The gasps that burst out every time they reached a climax were the very instinct that could not be restrained. Just as they were deeply immersed in the communion of their heated bodies, a small sound was detected by Park Mina’s ears.
The sound of a person approaching near the recycling area. A terror that made her heart drop instantly seized her. Someone was approaching this way.
"W-wait... I think someone is coming."
Park Mina, terrified, whispered as she pushed Lee Han’s shoulder. However, Lee Han, who seemed drunk on the erotic moans hitting his ears, ignored her restraint and moved his waist even more violently. Park Mina, with one hand on the wall, bit her lip with a desperate expression. Desperately trying to suppress the moan that threatened to burst out, she clung to Lee Han’s neck.
The approaching footsteps, the rustling of throwing away trash, became clearer and clearer. Park Mina’s heart was pounding like crazy. She heard a buzzing sound in her ears, and cold sweat broke out on her palms. If the owner of that sound were to approach this way... If they were to witness the shameful scene unfolding at this distance of less than a meter... Park Mina couldn't even breathe at that terrible imagination.
Unlike Park Mina, who gritted her teeth and barely swallowed her moans, Lee Han was perfectly calm. Rather, the fact that someone was approaching seemed to stimulate him. With a fishy smile on his flushed face, he thrust his body into Park Mina’s so hard that the narrow space echoed. The tearing pain, the pleasure, and the fear of being caught paralyzed Park Mina’s reason.
Every nerve in her body was on edge, and she felt like she was sitting on a bed of needles. Suppressing the scream that rose to her throat as much as she could, she buried her face in Lee Han’s embrace and prayed desperately. Please, just pass by, please pretend not to see this shameful scene...
Lee Han thrust deeply with Park Mina’s legs wrapped around his waist. Park Mina’s vision turned white at the intense stimulation that dug deep into her insides. When the climax was just before her, the moan she had been holding back burst out.
"Ah..."
At that moment, a distinct voice pierced Park Mina’s ears, who was about to lose her mind from the dizzying pleasure.
"Is someone there?"
A woman’s voice coming from the recycling area. It was Han Sujin. A chilling coldness rushed in as if ice water had been poured over her entire body. She had been caught. It was a desperate crisis where she felt she would lose everything. Park Mina, in a panic, pushed Lee Han away and whispered.
".. Please stop... we’ll be caught!"
But Lee Han didn't even listen. Unlike her, who was terrified with a death-like fear, he thrust his waist down with mad eyes. The narrow space rang in time with Lee Han’s waist movements. The sound of sticky fluid bursting out, the sound of flesh hitting flesh, mixed with Han Sujin’s footsteps. Park Mina struggled to push Lee Han away with urgent hands. But Lee Han, who held her firmly, drove her relentlessly. The sound of shoes echoing on the cold concrete floor. Now, if she took just one more step, she would face this terrible scene. Park Mina, battered and bruised, gritted her teeth and suppressed her moans. Desperately bowing her head, she wept silently.
"Please... please stop..."
But Lee Han seemed to accept even that desperate appearance as pleasure. Deeply and strongly, to the point where her vision went dark, he pushed even his last remaining reason into her rugged body. Park Mina, who was struggling in a whirlpool of pleasure, pain, and shame, finally reached a bursting climax.
"Hnnng..."
Lee Han pushed even his last remaining reason to the end. As he violently stabbed deep inside Park Mina, a feeling of ejaculation surged. As hot semen poured into her body, Park Mina was also swept away by an intense climax.
"Ugh... haa... Ah!"
Biting her tongue as if it would pop out, Park Mina shuddered. A pleasure that burned from the top of her head to the tips of her toes flared up like a fire. Her vision flashed and she felt dizzy. At the same time, the extreme fear that she might be caught by Han Sujin crushed her. She felt like she was going to die.
"Hnn... please... don't..."
Park Mina muttered as she struggled to push Lee Han away. However, her waist, shaking as she was captivated by the lingering effects of the climax, was still bound to Lee Han. Her private parts, flushed from the intense intercourse, gave off a seductive glow and convulsed. The sound of shoes slowly approaching the recycling area here. Han Sujin was getting closer. Behind a single curtain, this shameful scene was about to unfold nakedly.
"Is someone here?"
The voice was heard right in front of her nose. Park Mina felt as if her heart had stopped. Holding her breath and sticking close to the wall, she barely swallowed her moan. In the tension, the time of one beat, two beats, flowed painfully. Fortunately, Han Sujin seemed to have stopped without coming any closer. The sound of pacing shoes, and soon the footsteps moving away... It was a moment when she had narrowly avoided being caught.
"Haa... haa..."
Park Mina, clutching her heaving chest and catching her breath. Her sweat-drenched hair was tangled and stuck to her face. Only then did she shed tears of relief.
"Sob... sob..."
She sat down, bursting into sobs. Slumping to the floor, she wept out loud. She had barely saved her life, but her shattered pride seemed difficult to recover. Self-loathing rushed in like a tidal wave. Why couldn't she easily escape this miserable and dirty relationship? She was disgusted with herself for being addicted to sex that was like that of a beast. In front of her trampled self-image, Park Mina was engulfed in deep despair.
"Why on earth... why do I have to end up in this state..."
Park Mina asked herself, sobbing out loud. Her face was a mess of tears and bodily fluids. Her sobs burst out even more at her pathetic and miserable appearance. It felt like she was falling into an abyss from which there was no return. Park Mina, sitting slumped on the concrete floor and sobbing, looked so miserable and pitiful. Unbearable pain and shame were swallowing her whole.
A cold silence filled the Management Office. The air, where the remnants of the passion had not yet faded, was heavy and awkward. Park Mina, who had barely managed to tidy her disheveled clothes, opened her mouth cautiously toward Lee Han. Her eyes were bloodshot, and her voice trembled thinly.
"Manager... I can't... do this anymore. Like this..."
What flickered in her eyes was agitation, guilt, and despair. A smirk appeared on the lips of Lee Han, who had been observing Park Mina sharply. He stared at her with a cold gaze and replied quietly.
"I see. Mina... it was fun while it lasted."
His tone was indifferent and cold. One could even feel an unwavering calmness. At that indifferent tone, which seemed to treat the intercourse they had just shared as a trivial prank, Park Mina’s pride was trampled mercilessly.
"I... is it ending like this?..."
Park Mina had been stuttering, but when she met Lee Han’s cold gaze, her throat choked up. As if she had lost her words to the coldness swirling inside his empty pupils. Withdrawing his ruthless gaze toward her, Lee Han spat out. Lee Han approached and took the choker from Park Mina’s neck.
"It’s your choice, Mina."
At that final blow, Park Mina’s shoulders slumped. Her body slowly collapsed to the floor in misery and despondency. Lee Han looked down at her as she crumbled, as if she were pathetic. Thus, the cold farewell ended, leaving cold air in the Management Office. Park Mina walked out of the Management Office with her head bowed, feeling the emptiness at her neck.