Chapter 13: Cracks
Before her marriage, Han Chae-kyung had had dozens of A-grade sponsors or higher.
At the same time, she managed up to four. While juggling those four, she’d even taken on a fifth on a one-off basis. Broadly speaking, you could say she’d handled up to five at once. And she’d never once slipped up.
With that much experience under her belt—
“Ungrateful bitch.”
There were times she had to deal with men like Kim Ho-chang, who’d explode in rage.
Of course, the man standing before her now wasn’t a boyfriend who handed her allowance money. He was her husband. Her spouse of eight years. For the past three years, since his erectile dysfunction had begun, they’d been less husband and wife than business partners… though even before that, they’d been closer to a showroom couple. What could you expect? One was a politician, the other a businessman.
Still, they were married.
But the tricks she’d learned with her body during her active years could still come in handy.
“Honey, please calm down.”
Han Chae-kyung forced a smile, dredging up memories from the past.
Now that she thought about it, there had been one sponsor with a particularly severe stamina complex. Not completely impotent, but fundamentally fragile. She’d kept up a relationship with him for about six months. He was a mid-level corporate executive… with both a size issue (under nine centimeters when erect) and a tendency toward premature ejaculation (climaxing within a minute of penetration).
Han Chae-kyung remembered him vividly even now.
He’d threaten to kill her, then finish in fifty seconds and complain it was the first time it had ended so quickly, blaming her beauty before sulking… or fly into a rage over some other sponsor of hers he’d never even met.
She had her own methods for soothing men like that.
Focus on emotional support to protect his pride, preemptively offer excuses for the fifty-second finish (“You were just so focused on me, right?”), and instead of giving feedback on the sex, smoothly transition into aftercare to calm him down…
Do that, and the rage would vanish. The next day, she’d even receive luxury gifts.
If she’d just mumbled something vague like “It was fine” and checked her phone or gone to the bathroom?
The relationship would’ve ended sooner. Fundamentally, it was about money, but if the basics didn’t work, trauma was inevitable.
‘I can handle this too… wait?’
Han Chae-kyung’s face went pale as she faced off against her husband.
It was true she was experienced. It was also true that many of her sponsors had poor stamina. But.
“Fine. I’m an impotent bastard. …But is it right to tell your friend who does favors for you? If you had any shame… No. Let me ask you this first! The stem cell injections were only until the beginning of this year, so why spread fake news like you’re still getting them? The stem cell shots didn’t work, so I quit them long ago, you bitch…!”
Her husband, who hadn’t even scratched the surface of the problem, was completely impotent. A man who couldn’t have sex.
The last time they’d had a normal relationship… honestly, whether you could call it normal was another question, but the last time penetration and ejaculation had occurred was a year and a half ago.
…Wasn’t it? Or was it longer? It had been so long she was starting to get confused.
Fortunately or unfortunately, her husband insisted on confirming it.
“Why are you so calm? I’m doing this and you don’t care… Of course. Thinking back, that’s the problem with you! The year before last, on Christmas Eve, I got a blood flow enhancement injection in my dick, right? Do you remember?”
“Honey, please.”
“You shut up and listen.”
“…….”
“I got injections in my dick—hyaluronic acid, polydeoxyribonucleotide, plus vasodilators all at once to force it up. The broker bitch who set that up told me… if you keep doing this, you’ll get corpus cavernosum fibrosis as a side effect, so be careful! Think about it!”
The last time they’d had sex, after he’d gotten injections in his dick.
Her furious husband was insisting on saying it out loud.
“Do you remember, you bitch!!!”
This situation was equally unfamiliar and bewildering to Han Chae-kyung.
All she could think was: What the hell is he trying to do?
Getting injections in his dick to have sex wasn’t something to brag about. And the fact that it made his condition worse afterward, making it hard to get an erection at all, wasn’t something to brag about either. Why was he pouring his heart out about this? All it would do is lower his self-esteem.
Does this man even want to talk to me?
“Han Chae-kyung… Chae-kyung. I’m asking you. Do you remember? When I got injections in my dick and fucked you, what did you say? You didn’t even worry about my body, did you? You just pretended to be happy! You didn’t even ask how I got it up.”
“Honey, I know your personality. How was I supposed to ask…”
Thud!
Her husband slammed the table with a pained expression.
Conversation was clearly impossible. But getting angry together was the worst option, and neither was fleeing the scene with a “Let’s talk tomorrow” — judging by her husband’s current reaction, he’d chase her to the dressing room and grab her hair.
After much deliberation, Han Chae-kyung’s conclusion was:
‘Just listen.’
She’d be a punching bag for a while until her husband calmed down.
“I was too careless back then. I thought I was being considerate.”
“Too careless? Is that your excuse?”
“I didn’t want to say anything and make you feel worse.”
“I stuck a needle in my dick and!! Burned through 600 million won in one year!”
She’d agreed to listen to his “madness” — the year before he became impotent, and the year and seven months after — as he tried to regain his function.
She even had to listen to his useless tales from his youth… stories about devouring a Miss Korea finalist, eating Haegudong hot pot and having sex four times in one night with a Malaysian woman, sleeping with a married female employee… She wasn’t sure if this was right, but Han Chae-kyung forced herself to endure and listen.
“I’m sorry, honey.”
“Sorry!?”
An hour later.
“Hoo… hoo.”
Kim Ho-chang was panting heavily, drenched in cold sweat.
Not from exertion, but from sheer exhaustion.
His physical condition was that bad. He’d been pretending to get into health lately (though he was actually just covering up), but in reality, he was so wrecked he struggled even climbing stairs… Finally, he had the upper hand over Han Chae-kyung, who had been nodding along.
“Honey, it wasn’t me.”
“Bitch. Still making cheap excuses to the end,”
“But I think I understand why you suspect I did it. Honestly, I was worried about the treatment you’re getting. Especially the Cheongdam-dong seminar — I’m not criticizing, but it’s basically simulated sex, right? Calling in a Chinese woman for ‘sensitive area massage’?”
“You… Huh. What gives you the right.”
“But I really didn’t do it.”
Han Chae-kyung explained calmly.
I didn’t do it. I never spread the word that you’re impotent. I didn’t even know what treatment you were getting…
I really didn’t do it.
“I’ll do anything.”
“Anything?”
“Yes. As long as I can prove it wasn’t me.”
Han Chae-kyung vowed firmly.
Her husband finally quieted down. But it didn’t seem like he’d quieted because he was convinced.
He was clutching his right side with a pained expression, his breathing growing ragged.
“Hoo, hoo. Hic…”
“Honey…?”
“Hic!”
His face was drenched in sweat. Han Chae-kyung noticed something was wrong.
As she approached, she saw the whites of her husband’s eyes turning yellow.
They’d always been a bit cloudy, but now the color was changing in real time. He let out pitiful groans, as if even moving his body was painful.
This wasn’t normal.
Han Chae-kyung, flustered and unsure what to do, hesitated.
“Bitch! Hic…”
“Honey, it’s okay.”
“Damn, true colors.”
Her husband spat out a curse with difficulty, then shakily reached for his phone.
The number he pressed was 119.
Han Chae-kyung snatched the smartphone from him and relayed his condition, requesting an ambulance. She had a feeling about the meaning of the word “true colors” he’d spat out while drenched in cold sweat. She had to prove it wasn’t her.
Just because they’d had a fight, she didn’t wish for her husband to die.
“B… bitch.”
But even as he was being carried away, her husband glared at her as if he wanted to kill her.
Bitch. He called her a bitch.
Han Chae-kyung stood there, mouth agape, unable to believe the situation.
It was her husband who’d wrecked his body with cocktail hormone therapy, PRP injections, super Viagra, maca powder and male power boosters, cordyceps, Haegudong, and musk agarwood pills. It was her husband who’d raged alone for an hour and caused the emergency.
‘I didn’t do anything. I was just trying to protect his pride.’
But in the end, she was the one who’d become trash. It was unbelievable.
Rumors spread that Han Chae-kyung’s husband had been taken to the emergency room.
In a city with over 600,000 people, it might seem strange for such rumors to circulate. But this was the nature of the workplace I worked in.
Local politicians were always quick to spread rumors. If word got out that the Honam Alumni Association head of Annam City and a candidate for the local election had eaten tuna at Gojindong, the city council would buzz all day. And Kim Ho-chang was a billionaire and the husband of re-elected councilor Han Chae-kyung.
-“He was hospitalized, right? They say his liver’s bad.”
-“Oh my.”
He’d gone through the emergency room and ended up admitted to the gastroenterology ward. From what I heard from the doctors, he’d gotten an IV in the ER and was admitted… so it wasn’t hepatic coma. Just acute jaundice.
He’d probably be discharged after a few days of detox treatment. There was still no evidence that this was caused by the email I’d sent to a mutual acquaintance of the Han Chae-kyung couple.
But my judgment was that it wasn’t unrelated.
73 / 887 / 1 year 7 months ago
Han Chae-kyung finally showed up in the afternoon, looking dazed. She didn’t even greet the civil servants or fellow councilors.
Just from that, I could guess what had happened between the couple last night.
‘It worked.’
More than I’d expected.
After waiting a bit, I even got a message from Han Chae-kyung. She must’ve decided I was better than most operators.
I firmly shut her down, reminding her of the oral sex from before. I also made it clear that if she tried to drag me in again, it wouldn’t end with just swallowing semen.
There was no reason to be so blunt.
Because of the bait I’d thrown, trouble had already arisen, and I’d confirmed that the relationship between Han Chae-kyung and her husband had deteriorated rapidly.
Since a crack had formed between the couple, I was ready to move to the next step immediately.
This time, I’d go for something stronger.