The Intruder's Declaration
"Mmm, ngh... Director..."
Eunbyul loathed those two eyes she could see from outside the bedroom door. She knew exactly who they belonged to—his ex-wife. That realization made her incredibly aggressive, as if she were determined to prove, right here and now, who held the superior position. She couldn't have known for sure that the woman was living in his apartment, but her intuition told her everything. Han Suhyun was the type of man who wouldn't tolerate any other woman in his home unless it was his ex-wife; if it were anyone else, it would have been a much bigger problem, and the ex-wife wouldn't have dared to come peeking.
So, she whispered, "Director, do my lips... taste good?"
"Yeah, they taste... fucking amazing."
He still assumed it was Seo Jia. He felt a slight difference in her touch and scent, but he was too drunk to care. More than anything, he was consumed by the urge to ravage the woman in front of him. Eunbyul continued to provoke him, speaking as if she wanted Seo Jia to hear every word.
"Some little alley cat is secretly spying on us, Director."
"...That bitch is a real piece of work."
"Hic, you know how to curse...?"
"You did it plenty last time."
Eunbyul briefly wondered if he and his ex-wife engaged in these kinds of games, and for a split second, she felt a flicker of hesitation—the kind of fear one might feel when stepping into a scene from a novel. She pulled back slightly, but he immediately grabbed her skirt and yanked her back, kissing her violently once more.
"Why are you pulling back? Do you think just calling me 'Director' is enough?"
"...?"
"Why did you leave out 'Master'? You slut."
Eunbyul trembled, unable to say a word, and began to submit to his every whim. It was inevitable. To her, he was the warm, cool, and sophisticated senior from university—the executive she looked up to. To have him in his own bed, treating her like his wife, demanding she call him 'Master' and hurling insults at her... it was a shock to her system. Yet, unlike Seo Jia, the result was the same. '...He's so cool...' In her eyes, he was nothing less than a beast. Perhaps the power of love was truly that great; regardless of what he did, she found herself aroused.
He didn't even wait to unhook her bra; he pulled her underwear down in a rush and began to bite and suck on her breasts. She didn't know if this was the "proper" way to be caressed, but seeing Eunbyul, who was experiencing such a perverse first time, trembling at the waist and unable to control her own body, it felt less like a mistake and more like the only answer. As she lay on the bed, receiving his caresses, she kissed him deeply, then turned her head to the side as their lips parted—making sure to look like a shy woman to his eyes, while being overtly provocative toward Seo Jia.
"...I'm sorry, Ma... Master."
"That's a good girl."
However, she didn't get to go all the way as she had intended. He had focused so intensely on her chest that he ended up falling asleep right there. Feeling his lips and tongue stop moving, Eunbyul watched him for a moment before gently laying him down on the bed and tucking him in. She made sure to take off his slacks and dress shirt and hang them up first. Then, she fixed her underwear, straightened her clothes, and turned to look down at him.
'...Master.'
'Has he always... done things like this...?'
'I don't hate it... but it is scary...'
'Should I do the same...? Should I adapt to him...?'
'It would be nice if he were a little gentler...'
'No, still... still, it was good.'
Back in college, whenever she studied with him at a cafe and returned home, her underwear would be slightly damp. Seeing someone she liked had always triggered those kinds of thoughts, and she had realized that getting wet was just a sign of her arousal. She hadn't understood it until now. He was her first love. Seeing him, feeling those things for the first time, she had realized what it meant to be in love. But as she looked at him now, feeling the dampness of her underwear, she realized she was more aroused than she had ever been in her life.
The hickey he left on her neck, the countless kisses, the scent of wine, his own natural musk—the arousal she felt from being forced, the way her body trembled as she surrendered to him, the low, gravelly voice of his praising her lips as "tasty"... it was all a fatal blow to her heart. She kissed his cheek and lips once more as he slept, then slowly rose from the bed, left the room, and headed to the living room.
So this is where he lives. I guess this was their newlywed home. As she thought this, she saw Seo Jia in the kitchen to her left, drinking water to calm her nerves. Eunbyul started to walk out as if nothing had happened, but—
"...It's an affair. You're seducing my husband? Do you think I'll just sit by and watch..."
But Eunbyul didn't seem to be as easy a target as Seo Jia had thought.
"If you're divorced, shouldn't you move out?"
"....?"
"Do you think I wouldn't know?"
Eunbyul, having played her trump card from the very start, stared at Seo Jia. Her expression shifted from indifference to a cold, mocking sneer. She looked at Seo Jia as if she were something utterly insignificant.
"What, what did you just..."
"I heard you were the one who asked the Director for a divorce?"
"..."
"If you wanted a divorce, why are you still staying here? At this hour, no less."
Seo Jia couldn't say a word. She tried to steady her mind, then stammered, "Even if we're divorced, we're still... in a cooling-off period, or something like that. I don't know who you are, but how dare you look at me like that..."
"How dare I? You? Your tongue is quite sharp, isn't it? For a divorcee?" Eunbyul snapped back. "Honestly, the Director was way too good for you. It's true. I always thought so."
"...."
"Even when you were walking down the aisle, I thought you'd be divorced within a year. I mean, two years is a bit longer than I expected, but..."
"What the hell are you talking about...!"
"Are you asking because you don't know?"
Eunbyul slowly approached Seo Jia. Then, she whispered, "Did you think I wouldn't know about your shallow, filthy personality?"
"...?"
"You have no idea how much the Senior suffered while he was dating you, do you? You couldn't even thank the person who endured all that to live with you, and instead, you had the nerve to get angry and demand a divorce from such a kind person?"
Seo Jia stared blankly at Eunbyul, her mouth agape. She couldn't understand how this stranger knew these things, or why she was saying them to her. She could only watch Eunbyul, speechless.
"Listen closely."
"I'm different from you. I can treat Suhyun Oppa better, and I won't get angry like you do. And when he's struggling, I won't curse at him like you; I'll comfort him, cheer him on, and help him find his strength. I'm different. I am."
"You saw it earlier, didn't you? He probably thought I was you... but next time, he'll keep doing it even while knowing it's me. I can satisfy everything he wants... and unlike you, I'm not a bad bitch."
"The Senior was way too good for a bitch like you. That's why I've been waiting for years. I'm going to stick by his side, seduce him, date him, and eventually, I'm going to marry him. ...I'll definitely get pregnant before the wedding. Well, I guess you don't have a baby yet because you couldn't accept him... I guess that's why they say people should marry their own kind."
Eunbyul spoke clearly, thoroughly ignoring Seo Jia as if she were a mere insect. She spoke with such composure, as if she had no regrets, no remorse, and no worries. She didn't know how Eunbyul knew these things, but by occasionally mentioning events that had happened between her and Suhyun—some of which Eunbyul clearly didn't have the full context for—she had effectively silenced Seo Jia.
"I'll let it slide for now, but if I ever come back to this house,"
"..."
"You'd better start looking for a new place. The moment I walk in, I'll grab you by the collar and throw you out that front door. I despise women like you—old, full of regrets, and having done nothing but things to be sorry for."
And finally, "Maybe the balcony would be better? Hehe, well, I could make sure you never see him again entirely...?"
Eunbyul flashed a satisfied smile at the frozen Seo Jia, then turned toward the front door to put on her shoes. "I trust you understand what I mean. I'll be going now. Sorry for the intrusion~"
After the door closed, Seo Jia sat slumped on the living room floor for a long time, unable to think, completely overwhelmed by the shock of what she had just heard. But then, she violently threw the water cup she had been holding at the front door.
Was it because she was angry at what Eunbyul had said? No, that wasn't it.
"The scent of apple..."
"That bitch."
"The bitch I have to kill... that whore-like bitch."
"Yeah, she's a whore. That's why she's so willing to spread her legs for him. Crazy bitch..."
"I will... definitely kill her... with my own hands..."
As her consciousness returned, the first thing she smelled was apple. That sweet, cloying scent. Looking at him sleeping peacefully in the master bedroom, she felt the sickening scent of apples lingering on the bed. She hated it with every fiber of her being. Why had she just sat there, unable to kill her, forced to listen to what that bitch had to say? She thought she should have smashed her head in with the cup she had been holding, and a maddening sense of resentment consumed her body.
But then, "...Oh, Master..."
Still, she couldn't just be angry when there was something to eat. She decided that, even if it killed her, she couldn't give up.