There Was a Reason for Their Strained Relationship
"Then take them off."
Seol-a's eyes lingered on me. There was no trace of surprise or panic in them.
It was the face of someone who had expected exactly this.
Seol-a's hand rose.
She unbuttoned her jacket one by one. Her fingers moved at a measured pace, neither rushed nor hesitant. She folded the removed jacket in half and set it neatly on the dining table. As each blouse button came undone from the top, another sliver of pale skin below her collarbone was revealed. She folded the blouse the same way and laid it atop the jacket. She lowered the zipper at the back of her skirt, caught the fabric that slid off her feet, and placed it on the growing stack.
Even as she unclasped her bra and slid her panties down, Seol-a's movements showed no hesitation whatsoever. She undressed with the detached efficiency of someone organizing paperwork. After folding and stacking every garment with meticulous care, she lowered both arms to her sides and simply looked at me.
Her curly hair spilled messily over her shoulders.
Her breasts were white and full, a full size larger than I had guessed beneath her clothes. Below her sharply cinched waist flowed the firm, elastic curve of her hips, the kind that spoke of consistent exercise.
Even completely naked, her posture remained impeccable.
It was the kind of body any man would want to hold at least once.
And this was the daughter offering that body for her father's presidential victory.
A truly noble spirit of sacrifice.
I jerked my chin.
"Apologize."
Seol-a's waist began to bend. I stopped her before the motion could complete.
"That won't do."
I pointed at the floor. Her gaze followed my finger downward.
The tiles.
For the briefest moment, her body stiffened as understanding dawned, but she moved at once.
Both knees met the floor. Her palms spread flat in front of her, and her forehead pressed all the way down. The long, elegant curve of her spine stood out clearly. It was a perfect dogeza.
"I'm sorry."
I lifted my foot and rested it on top of her head. Golden curls compressed beneath my sole as I gradually applied my weight.
"I don't think that's nearly enough."
"...I'm truly sorry."
Her voice still carried no emotion. Even with her forehead pinned to the floor, her breathing remained perfectly steady. A woman who could be stripped naked, forced to her knees, and stepped on without a single tremor in her voice.
It was an iron mask.
All I felt beneath my foot was the soft texture of her curls. No trembling, no moans. Her forehead stayed pressed to the cold tile without a single disturbed breath. She accepted the fact that she was being trampled as though it were simply another task.
It wasn't interesting.
When I lifted my foot, the weight disappeared from her hair and her back relaxed by a fraction. Even that motion seemed calculated; I couldn't tell if it was intentional. The forehead that had been stamped against the tile rose slowly. She didn't even touch the spot that must have left a mark.
"Turn around."
A tiny flinch. The shortest pause.
After swallowing something deep inside herself, Seol-a pivoted slowly on her knees. The long curve of her spine caught the light, along with the sharply narrowed lines of her waist.
"Get down."
This time she obeyed without hesitation. She stretched both arms forward and lowered her upper body. Her white buttocks rose perkily in the shape of a heart. The smooth curve from her narrow waist continued downward, then split to reveal everything, all the way to the innermost parts. Light flowed along her spine, casting shadows in the deepest groove of her back. Yet her shoulders never once tightened.
She wore that mask over her entire body. This couldn't possibly be her true self. Any ordinary woman should have shown shame or anger, yet she displayed no reaction at all.
I tapped the rounded curve with my toe. The elastic skin dented, then sprang back.
"You seem quite experienced."
"...I have no experience."
Her words faltered for the first time. Confirming that reaction, I slowly slid downward. Following the split, I reached the tightly closed pink seam. I poked it. The perfectly smooth, clenched entrance twitched and contracted.
"A virgin?"
"Yes."
"Doesn't feel that way."
I moved lower still. My toe reached the end of her tightly sealed folds. She was dry. Not a trace of moisture. Flesh that had clearly never known a man's touch. Just as she hadn't stirred during the dogeza or while undressing, her lower body remained thoroughly locked.
"Hngh..."
Her buttocks twitched. That was all. The only reaction from a woman who had refused to budge until now was that single flinch. I couldn't tell whether it came from pleasure or simple reflex to an unfamiliar sensation. The inside of her tightly clenched fist had turned white. Whether she was enduring it or feeling nothing at all, the mask refused to crack.
A smile rose to my lips.
"There's no way lovers would have left a body like this untouched."
"I took a vow of purity."
The absurd answer made me laugh. I removed my shoes and socks, then pressed my toes firmly into the closed gap. A soft surface, smooth yet completely unexplored.
"Really? Then I shouldn't touch you here?"
Her shoulders trembled once, delicately. Half a beat passed before her answer.
"...I ask for your understanding."
I began to move my toes.
Neatly trimmed pubic hair brushed against them. Short and soft. It was oddly fascinating that a body unfamiliar with men would be so meticulously groomed even there. As I slowly swept across it like a caress, her shoulders twitched again.
I went deeper. Her hips shrank back, then returned. She wasn't incapable of feeling. She simply lacked experience; her senses were very much alive.
I slipped the tip between the closed folds. Soft flesh parted, allowing inner heat to touch my skin. Her upper body lurched forward.
"Tsk."
At the sound of my tongue clicking, her hips slowly returned to position.
I had no intention of pushing inside. I withdrew and moved upward instead. As I gently stroked along the seam, her breathing began to waver.
The clit that had shyly emerged brushed against the tip of my thumb. I gave the small, soft bud a firm poke.
Seol-a's head dropped.
Once more.
Her forehead pressed into her forearm. Accelerated breathing showed between her shoulders. She buried her face to hide her flushed cheeks and clamped her mouth shut to swallow any sounds that might escape. Yet her hips never moved away. Even as she tried to hide everything, she couldn't bring herself to leave the spot where my touch remained.
I lazily traced circles, pressing and releasing. When I paused with pressure, her waist trembled faintly. When I eased off, she pressed back as if chasing the sensation. She seemed unaware of what her own body was doing. By the time her back began to quiver, love juices started to flow from where we touched.
Seeing that, I withdrew my foot.
I raised it higher and brought it to her tightly closed rear entrance. The moment my wet thumb touched the wrinkled skin, her spine shuddered violently.
"Hngh..."
A real moan escaped her. It was the first genuine sound I'd heard from her tonight. I pressed firmly against the contracted ring.
"Shall we do it here, then?"
It took her a moment to answer.
"...If that is what you desire."
It was astonishing. Stripped naked, forehead pressed to the floor, lower body being toyed with, and still her polite speech never faltered. This demeanor hadn't been formed simply by growing up in a politician's household. It wasn't normal.
I removed my foot completely and gave an order.
"Stand up."
"...Yes."
She rose slowly. Red marks from the tiles remained on her knees. Clear love juice trickled down the inside of her thighs. Her face was flushed, the red spreading all the way to her neck and vivid under the lights.
Yet her hands were already moving toward the neatly folded clothes on the table. Her fingers showed no tremor as they buttoned her blouse. She pulled up her skirt, zipped it, and slipped on her jacket in one fluid sequence. She even pressed her legs together modestly, as if planning to clean up the mess between her thighs in the bathroom, before stepping into her shoes. The woman who had been prostrated on the floor had vanished.
"Since today is the first day, we'll stop here. From now on, come the moment I call you."
"...Due to the nature of my work, I may not always be able to come immediately."
"I know. I'll make allowances for that."
"Thank you."
Even the angle of her bow was precise. When she raised her eyes after the greeting, every trace of her earlier flush had been wiped clean. It was hard to believe she was the same woman who had moaned on the floor just minutes ago.
"You may go."
She turned and walked toward the door. The rhythm of her heels against the tile was identical to when she had arrived. Without glancing back once, she closed the door behind her.
What a strange woman.
Someone who could erase everything that had just happened as if it had never occurred. To maintain a mask like that, she must have been raised for it from birth, or come from a household that demanded it. It was a hardness Ayeong and Jinhui simply didn't possess.
I would need to dig deeper into Seol-a and that family.
I drove back to school.
I parked and waited. Soon Jinhui came running toward the car. Normally she would have glanced around to make sure no one was watching, but this time she opened the passenger door immediately and climbed in.
"Not being cautious anymore?"
"After what you pulled in front of the staff room, is there any point?"
She snapped at me in a tone that suggested I was hopeless, yet her hands moved quickly to fasten her seatbelt. After I had stood beside her earlier and erased every teacher's gaze one by one, it must have felt like a public declaration. By now, everyone in the staff room knew about our relationship.
Listening to her grumble made me smile.
"Nothing happened, right?"
"Something did, actually."
"What?"
"Are you planning to keep skipping the exam prep class?"
"Is there any reason I need to attend?"
"Then why did you sign up in the first place?"
"To see you."
Her mouth snapped shut. Her eyes sharpened. When I gave her a bright smile, the tips of her ears turned scarlet and she whipped her head toward the window. She pretended to look outside, but the flush had spread all the way down the back of her neck.
"...So you're not going to attend anymore?"
"No. I'll finish what I'm working on first."
Before I even finished speaking, she buried her face against my shoulder. She pressed her nose into my clothes, sniffing intently, then narrowed her eyes. She tugged my collar aside to smell my neck. She was practically a detective.
"What is this? You met a woman, didn't you?"
"Yes."
There hadn't even been much of a scent, yet she had detected it like a bloodhound. Between her and Ayeong, just how sharp were these women's noses? Since they were all going to live together anyway, there was no reason to hide it.
"Haa... How annoying. Let's just go home."
Still pouting, she crossed her arms and turned toward the window. I shifted into gear and rested my hand on her thigh. She didn't push it away. Her mouth might be sulking, but her body quietly accepted my touch. After we'd been driving for a while, her fingers slyly crept over and laced with mine.
When we arrived home, the front door opened from inside before we could even reach it. Seeing Jinhui behind me, Ayeong naturally said, "Welcome back," and a small "Yes..." returned. The rhythm between the two of them had already grown smoother than it had been just days ago.
The three of us ate the dinner Ayeong had prepared and spent the evening together. The sight of Ayeong and Jinhui sitting side by side at the table was beginning to feel completely natural.
After spending time with both of them, I waited until they had fallen asleep.
When I sat up, Ayeong stirred for a moment before settling again. Jinhui, on the other side, was using my arm as a pillow and wouldn't budge, so it took some effort to free myself. The warmth of her body lingered on my forearm.
She must have been tired after all that.
Even so, Ayeong's hand rested protectively over her belly.
I leaned down and kissed her forehead lightly. A faint, sleepy smile curved her lips.
Something that sounded like grumbling came from the other side, so I kissed Jinhui as well before slipping out of bed.
In the living room, I opened my laptop. There was a file from Grandfather waiting in my inbox. Information on a politician's family wasn't easy to obtain through normal channels, so I'd asked him specially. He'd already had it.
Grandfather had been watching Jeong Min-tae for a long time.
Still, the fact that he handed the file over without comment when I asked suggested he didn't entirely trust the man.
If Jeong Min-tae had been someone Grandfather managed, he wouldn't have passed it along so easily. The old man was meticulous about business.
I opened the document. Family registry, personal information, education, career history. I flipped through the pages until my hand stopped.
A soft laugh escaped me.
They were half-siblings?