Lee Eun-ji
Lee Eun-ji
A scene straight out of a movie was unfolding right before my eyes.
Speeding along in an open-top car.
For a moment, I almost mistook it for a foreign country, but the flashy neon K-signs that came into view instantly shattered that illusion.
"Why do you look like it's your first time in one?"
Eun-ji let out a chuckle.
It wasn't my first time, but A-ra never put the top down.
There were various reasons, but privacy was the biggest one.
The car couldn't keep moving forever, and you can't exactly open and close the top every time you stop.
"When did you get your license?"
"Huh? What?"
The sound of the wind seemed to have drowned out my voice.
I thought about leaning over and shouting in her ear, but then I remembered that talking while driving was a major cause of accidents. I just pressed the switch to close the top.
"Aww... it was getting fun."
"I was getting cold."
"You were cold? Sorry."
She apologized and then took off the sunglasses she had been wearing and tossed them toward the front.
Those looked pretty expensive...
"Anyway, where are you coming from?"
"The mart. There was nothing at home."
"Ah~ Now that I think of it, A-ra unnie was happy that you cooked for her."
"...I feel kind of sorry now."
"You should feel a little sorry."
Eun-ji's words dampened my mood.
The members all apparently knew that I hadn't been cooking.
Haa... I could only sigh.
"I'm kidding. Compared to other guys, you're practically a saint."
"......Really?"
"Just take my own older brother, for example... ugh, now I'm suddenly pissed."
Eun-ji said that and suddenly hit the horn.
So she had an older brother.
Did they not get along?
I gave a wry smile and asked her.
"You two don't get along?"
"There's no way I could get along with that bastard even if I wanted to. Didn't you have any siblings?"
".....I'm an orphan..."
".....Sorry..."
Eun-ji clamped her mouth shut, realizing she had made a slip of the tongue.
We didn't say another word until we arrived home.
Honestly, it didn't bother me at all, but I guess you could say it was hard to speak up because she seemed so sorry about it.
Watching her misunderstand all on her own was pretty entertaining anyway.
Before I knew it, we had arrived at the apartment. She parked the car in the parking lot and opened the door for me.
Just as we arrived, a delivery woman wearing a mart uniform was coming out of the apartment building.
The timing was insane.
"Oh, by the way, where's your stuff? You said you went to the mart."
"I had it delivered. I bought rice too, how was I supposed to carry that back?"
"Does it make sense for someone who went to buy rice to go without a car?"
"Mm... I can't argue with that."
This time, Eun-ji chuckled.
An idol so easygoing.
Her fans would probably never guess.
When we reached the front door, the bags were gone.
A-ra had likely already brought them inside.
When I opened the door and went in, the sound of running water was coming from the shower room.
Was she washing up?
"Noona? I'm back."
"Seong-hwan-a, you're here? Good timing. Could you bring me the towel hanging on the dining chair?"
"Okay."
I grabbed the towel from the dining chair and headed to the shower room.
She must not have heard me because of the water, so I opened the door and handed her the towel.
"Here you go."
"Thanks."
A-ra didn't take the towel right away. She only took it after rinsing the foam off her head and body with water.
Was it a man's instinct?
I couldn't stop my eyes from traveling down A-ra's chest and below.
I didn't even want to stop them.
I simply etched the image into my eyes.
A-ra looked at me with a lecherous expression.
"What, do you want to touch? You can, you know?"
"Later."
"Tch..."
My own member had perked right up, but Eun-ji was outside right now.
No matter how much I'd learned the taste of a woman and had my eyes opened to lust, I wouldn't pull a crazy stunt like that.
I handed over the towel, came out, and headed to the kitchen.
Eun-ji, curious about what I was going to do, followed me like a puppy as I came into the kitchen.
Confidently, I took the fresh mackerel out of the box.
Today's main menu was braised mackerel!
"Ooh... Are you making braised mackerel?"
"That's why I bought the radish to go with it."
"Sounds delicious... Can I eat dinner here before I go?"
"Mm... well, there are two mackerel, so it should be enough."
I washed the radish thoroughly and then sliced it into rounds.
The radish had to be moderately thick so the broth would soak in deeply and make it delicious. Too thick or too thin, and it would turn into a worthless piece of waste—either hard no matter how long it was braised, or mushy even with just a little simmering.
Then I placed the mackerel pieces on top and layered various sliced vegetables over them.
Lastly, I generously poured the seasoning sauce I had prepared over it and set the heat to low.
Half of cooking is controlling the heat.
When I took out the chonggak radish to trim it, A-ra came out of the shower.
She was completely naked, not even a towel draped on her. For me, it was a feast for the eyes, but it apparently wasn't for Eun-ji.
"Ugh, freaking—! Unnie! Put some clothes on!"
"Lee Eun-ji, what are you doing here? And this is my house, you know?"
"There she goes with the 'my house' thing again! There's a guy here too."
"He's my husband? And our Seong-hwan-ie seemed to like it quite a bit, judging by his eyes?"
Did she catch me?
Once in a while, I would stare as she changed clothes in front of me.
I had no idea A-ra knew about that...
No, this isn't the point...
"A-ra Noona, put some clothes on."
"Fine."
I smiled wryly as I watched A-ra—with just one word from me, she went into the walk-in closet to get dressed.
She was definitely older than me, but she had this childish cuteness, you know?
"A-ra unnie, she doesn't even listen to the Director. You're the special case."
"Is that so?"
"In the first place, it's a company where A-ra unnie owns the majority of the shares, so what could the CEO even do?"
An idol from the agency holding most of the agency's shares.
What kind of deformed corporate structure was that...
For some reason, I started to feel a pang of sympathy for the agency Director.
"So, you're the only one who can hold A-ra unnie's reins."
"Reins... If someone heard that, they might misunderstand."
They'd think I was taming her or something.
While talking, I finished trimming the chonggak radish and the winter cabbage, made the kimchi seasoning, and mixed them together.
Since I went to the mart anyway, I should have bought a head of napa cabbage and made some kimchi.
"Want to try some?"
"Let's see here..."
I put a cut piece of chonggak radish kimchi into Eun-ji's mouth.
The way she covered her mouth with her hand and chewed softly was cute, like a hamster.
"Wow, this is fucking delicious."
"An idol saying 'fucking'..."
"We're a girl group so it's fine? This much swearing? More importantly, give me one more bite."
I picked up a piece with the stem end attached and popped it into her mouth.
Wasn't it too salty?
She was eating it up like it was delicious.
"Want me to pack some for you when you leave?"
"Really?! I'll eat it all by myself so the unnies don't take it!"
I had only bought one bundle, so I couldn't give her much, but it would last her a week.
I put it in a LocknLock container and placed it inside a small paper bag.
When A-ra came back out, all the food preparations were finished.
Eun-ji, perhaps feeling sorry for getting a free meal, set the spoons and chopsticks and scooped rice into bowls.
When everyone was seated at the table, I opened the pot with the braised mackerel.
The powerfully rising smell of the seasoning sauce, mingled with the mackerel, created an aroma that made you feel the flaky meat in your mouth just from the scent.
I used the ladle to transfer a piece to each of our small plates. After that, I left the ladle inside the pot so we could take more freely and closed the lid. That heat was what perfected braised mackerel.
Cold braised mackerel was no longer braised mackerel.
"""Thank you for the meal."""
After that, I witnessed the magic of the braised mackerel I'd served onto their plates disappearing in an instant,
and I chuckled as I watched the two of them fight a fierce battle over the ladle.
Though the victor was, of course, the homeowner, A-ra.
***
I saw Eun-ji off as she left holding the chonggak radish kimchi with both hands, and only after finishing the dishes did I sit down on the living room sofa.
A-ra had said she would do the dishes, but what kind of face would a jobless bum have to make his wife who had worked hard all day do the dishes?
As I sat in the living room after doing the dishes, A-ra came out of the bathroom.
Seeing the foam around her mouth, it looked like she had just brushed her teeth.
Had she not looked in the mirror?
I got up to wipe her mouth, but I was stopped.
And then, I was pressed tightly against the sofa, my body unable to escape.
"Where did you meet Eun-ji?"
"Huh? Oh.. at the bus stop in front of the mart..."
"What did you talk about?"
"N..Nothing really..."
We had talked about A-ra not listening to the CEO, but A-ra didn't like bringing work talk home, so I ended up lying.
This was a lie told with good intentions.
A good deed to save Eun-ji from death.
"Hmm... Is that so?"
"Th..That's what I said... nothing much... Mmph.."
Had she seen through my lie?
She had just brushed her teeth, and with a mouth overflowing with mint flavor, she sealed my mackerel-smelling lips shut.
The teeth that had guarded my tongue and mouth like fortress walls were pierced by A-ra's siege weapon and fell into ruin.
Her tongue roamed inside my mouth, as if to suck up every last drop of saliva.
"Pwah... Noona, I haven't even brushed my teeth yet..."
"That's your punishment for lying."
"Mmph... slurp... choop..."
To A-ra, who was taking off my clothes while deep kissing me,
I decided to surrender my body.
***
"Haaah...."
Two hours had passed since then.
My spirit had been drained over and over, and I fell asleep as if I'd fainted.
Was this the final fate of Christ, having uttered a lie?
I stroked the cheek of A-ra, who was smiling mindlessly as if in pure bliss.
It did seem like this was a world where women's sex drives were stronger, but I never imagined the rate at which they wanted it and made the first move would be so high.
"...I must not make A-ra angry."
I had no idea how thoroughly I'd be wrung dry in the name of appeasing her anger, so I resolved again and again never to make her upset.