The Age of Upheaval
“Any word yet?”
Seong-min’s question drew a slow shake of Hye-suk’s head. It was hardly surprising—her son Seong-jun had not answered a single call for an entire week.
“What about the package?”
“I called the courier. They said it arrived. But since I can’t reach him…”
A week earlier Hye-suk had received the delivery confirmation text for the parcel she had sent her son. She had dialed him at once to make sure he had gotten it; the phone rang unanswered. Texts went unread. That silence had now stretched a full seven days. Living in America, Seong-jun often went a week without calling—sometimes two weeks, sometimes only two or three times a month. That part was ordinary.
What gnawed at Hye-suk was the difference between not calling and not answering. Today, of all days, was also Seong-jun’s birthday.
“Maybe I should file a report…”
Awakeners, monsters—everything about the world felt unstable, and her nerves were frayed raw.
“If there’s still no contact by the end of today… then we can think about it.”
“……”
“Hyung will be fine. Don’t worry too much.”
Seeing the shadow on her face, Seong-min offered what comfort he could. His own mood, though, was no brighter.
Even as he finished getting ready and stepped outside, he turned back to the woman who had come to see him off.
“Try to take it easy, all right?”
Hye-suk nodded, but Seong-min knew her heart was nowhere near calm.
“Don’t worry about me so much. Just make sure you stay safe at work too, Seong-min.”
“I will.”
With her farewell at his back, he headed for the job site.
It’s his birthday—why isn’t he picking up?
Seong-min himself had called and texted Seong-jun. Nothing had been read, nothing answered. When Hye-suk had packed the parcel, Seong-min had slipped his own gift inside. For her son who wore a suit to work every day, Hye-suk had bought a designer suit; Seong-min had added a pair of dress shoes from the department store. Seong-jun had mentioned on their last call that he needed a new suit, and Hye-suk had remembered.
The courier texted that it arrived safely, so it should be fine.
Still, the dead phone and silent messages sat heavy on his mind.
“Hyung, something wrong?”
Apparently the worry showed enough for Min-hyeok to notice.
“Huh?”
“You look like you’ve got something on your mind.”
“That obvious?”
“Yeah.”
“Well… the truth is…”
Seong-min told him everything.
“For real? Then Auntie’s gotta be worried sick.”
“You think so too?”
“A whole week without answering calls or texts is weird. And today being his birthday makes it worse.”
“I told her to wait until tomorrow.”
“You don’t think something happened, do you?”
“Who knows…”
Even while working, Seong-min could not shake thoughts of Seong-jun. That day he finished two jobs and pocketed seven hundred thousand won. With his Status Window stats climbing, Gombang Work no longer felt like real labor. Hauling stone blocks, tiles, lumber, cement bags—everything had become almost light. He could have worked twenty-four hours straight without tiring. Once his Physicality stat had broken three hundred, his cardiorespiratory endurance had turned superhuman.
After work he headed to the Gym. Today he limited weight training to thirty minutes and spent a full hour on the treadmill. Normally he gave an hour to weights as well, but not today—Hye-suk’s anxiety weighed on him. Skipping the workout entirely, though, was out of the question. In times like these, steady leveling and the Stat Points that came with it mattered more than ever.
If there’s still no contact, I’ll go myself tomorrow.
He possessed the Teleportation Skill. One decision and he could stand inside Seong-jun’s apartment that very second. The only reason he held back was the explanation he would then owe his hyung—how he had crossed an ocean in an instant. But if silence continued through tonight, tomorrow he would act.
Workout finished, he opened the Status Window, allocated his points, and headed for the locker room.
Seong-min turned slowly into the alley and parked beside the wall next to the gate where Hye-suk’s car already sat. He killed the engine, unbuckled, and stepped out carrying two coffees and a dessert bag of cheesecake from the café.
Pushing open the gate, worry still clung to him. He punched the familiar code into the first-floor door lock. These days he no longer lived in the Rooftop Room; he lived right here on the ground floor.
He opened the door and stepped inside.
“I’m home.”
No answer. He slipped off his shoes, checked the kitchen, then moved toward the master bedroom.
Knock-knock-knock.
“Auntie?”
He eased the door open.
“Oh? Seong-min, you’re back?”
Hye-suk rose from the edge of the bed. A phone was pressed to her ear.
“Seong-min just walked in.”
“Who is it?”
She smiled and held the phone out.
“Here—talk to him.”
Seong-min took it.
“Hello?”
“Hey—Seong-min?”
“Hyung!”
The voice on the other end belonged to none other than Seong-jun.
“Sorry, man. My phone was acting up so I dropped it at the repair center. Mom said you were worried sick too?”
“Of course I was. You okay?”
“I’m fine. Living the usual life.”
“Then you could’ve borrowed a coworker’s phone or something and called.”
“I’ve been using a temporary company phone. Work’s been insane and my birthday was right around the corner, so I just got buried.”
“Even so, you couldn’t spare one call for Auntie? Phone dead, texts ignored—do you know how worried she was?”
“Yeah, I feel bad about that. Anyway, I got the package. The shoes were from you, right?”
“Yeah. It’s your birthday—I had to send something.”
“You little… thanks. I’ll wear them and think of you.”
“Call Auntie once in a while from now on. She frets herself sick.”
“Got it~! Still, I’m glad you’re there with Mom.”
“Y-yeah…?”
Seong-min managed an awkward smile.
“She said you really helped her through it. Keep looking after her for me, okay?”
“That… you don’t have to worry about. Just text or call more often yourself.”
“All right… moments like this, you really do feel like my real little brother.”
Seong-min gave a wry smile.
“I’ll put her back on.”
“Yeah. Thanks for the gift.”
He handed the phone back to Hye-suk.
“You heard what Seong-min said, right? …Mm… okay~… don’t worry… just text or call once in a while… that’s enough… yes… are you eating properly? …Mm~ my son… yes~!”
She ended the call.
“He said he left the phone at the repair shop.”
“Honestly… he has no idea how much I worry. Friends always come before his own mother…”
“Hahaha…”
Seong-min let out a hearty laugh.
“Still, good that he finally called, right?”
“Yes… I was so scared. Now I can finally breathe. Hohoho~”
The light returning to her face lifted Seong-min’s spirits as well.
“Come on out. I brought coffee and cake from the café.”
“Cake?”
“You haven’t eaten dinner, have you?”
“No… I was too worried.”
“Figured as much, so I grabbed cake.”
“Seong-min always has the best sense~”
He settled onto the living-room sofa while Hye-suk carried the cheesecake to a plate, added forks and a tray, and brought everything out.
“Cheesecake?”
“You love cheesecake.”
“I do. It’s the best~”
“That’s why I picked it.”
She took a sip of iced Americano, then cut a bite of cake with her fork and slipped it between her lips.
“Mmm~ it melts right on the tongue~~”
“Glad to hear it.”
“Glad about what?”
“That you’re finally looking like yourself again.”
“All thanks to you fretting over me~”
“You know what?”
“Hm?”
“Seong-jun hyung told me to take good care of his mom.”
“S-Seong-jun said that?”
“He did. Of course the ‘take care’ he meant probably isn’t the kind you’re thinking of right now. Hehehe…”
“Oh my, this boy—there’s nothing you won’t say.”
A rosy flush spread across Hye-suk’s cheeks.
They finished the cheesecake and iced Americanos, filling their empty stomachs with quiet pleasure.
“Tonight I’ll take care of you…”
“You will, Auntie?”
“Mm… you’ve always been the one on top, so…”
Her hand closed gently around Seong-min’s already stiff cock, kneading and massaging it with soft, practiced strokes. Then she spread her thighs, guided the swollen head to the entrance nestled in her thick bush, and rubbed it slowly back and forth against her wet folds.
“I’m putting it in…”
She sank her hips and took him herself.
Schlick…
Her hole gradually stretched open, swallowing the glans into her heated depths.
“Nnngh…”
A lewd moan slipped free at the same moment Seong-min felt the tight, silken grip coil around him from tip to shaft.
“Mmm…”
His cock had grown thicker and longer since they first started, yet Hye-suk’s pussy still wrapped him in scorching, greedy pressure.
“Haaa… it’s… all the way in…”
When she felt him kiss her cervix she straightened her upper body, knees spread wide, and settled fully astride him. Even in her forties her waist remained slender, her figure sleek and toned, her full breasts still firm and springy with life. Seong-min knew the truth well enough: more than a few men had tried to get between these thighs. Hye-suk herself had told him so, and looking at that body and face, he could only believe it.
Schlick…
“Nnnngh~!”
She rolled her hips, grinding the cock buried inside her, working herself on him with slow, deliberate circles. Wet sounds filled the room as she leaned forward; Seong-min looked down at her.
“Does… my pussy… feel good…?”
“It’s… the best.”
“Seong-min…”
She lowered her head and kissed him of her own accord, sliding her tongue into his mouth.
“Mmh… chup… mmph…”
While their tongues tangled she slowly lifted her hips. His cock slid free, glistening strings of her juices trailing after it. Just the way her swollen lips clung and drooped told him how greedily they had been sucking him in.
“Chup… haaa… really… if you hadn’t been here, Seong-min… I… would have had such a hard time.”
Schlick… schlick… schliiiick.
She twisted her waist again, massaging the shaft still sheathed inside her.
“Seong-jun hyung must have been worried too… nngh… leaving you alone in the house…”
Hye-suk rested her head against his chest. In that position she began bouncing her hips, driving him deep with wet, rhythmic slaps.
“Nngh~! Aaaah… S-Seong-min… it’s hitting… all the way inside… I… really… ungh!… just… being with you like this… makes me so… happy… haaa…!”
Schlick-schlick-schlick!
Seong-min stroked and gripped her frantically rising and falling ass, savoring the hungry squeeze of her pussy around him.
“I… I’m gonna cum…!”
“C-cum… cum inside me… Seong-min… let’s go together… nngh!”
Schlick-schlick-schlick!
Her hips slammed down even harder, urging him to fill her.
“Nngh!”
Seong-min did not hold back the rising climax. He came hard, flooding her depths.
“Nnnngh…”
She pressed her hips down, clenched tight around him, and kept rolling her ass in slow circles, milking every last spurt from his cock.
Schlick… schlick… schlick…