22. You Must Use Contraception.
Episode 22. You Must Use Protection
"Ta-da!"
Na-eun proudly thrust her report card in front of Jin-hyuk's face, her expression clearly begging for praise.
Jin-hyuk accepted the paper. His eyes slowly scanned the improved scores from top to bottom before his lips curved into a gentle smile.
"Well done."
He reached out to ruffle her hair. Na-eun's shoulders instinctively hunched up at his touch.
"I told you I could do it."
She lifted her chin proudly. Jin-hyuk chuckled softly.
"Should I grant your wish then?"
"Of course."
"Oh? What do you wish for?"
"Ah, that's..."
Na-eun's words caught in her throat. As her lips parted slightly, memories from last night suddenly flooded back—the feel of Jin-hyuk's hands on her bare skin, the act they'd left unfinished, the burning desire she'd sworn to fulfill next time. Heat rose to her jawline.
Now that she had to voice it in front of him, her cheeks burned fiercely.
"Um... well... it's a secret for now."
Na-eun hastily changed the subject. She stopped fidgeting and abruptly raised her head.
"And you haven't forgotten about our movie date, right?"
"I remember."
"Then let's go tomorrow."
Na-eun immediately pulled out her phone. She opened the ticket app, thumbs flying across the screen as her eyes darted over the seating chart.
Then Jin-hyuk's hand covered hers on the phone.
She looked up.
Before she could voice her confusion—
His lips met hers.
A soft contact.
Just as their lips touched and parted slightly, his wet tongue slipped through the gap.
Slurp... suck.
The hot muscle thoroughly explored her mouth, entwining with her tongue and mixing their saliva thickly. He gave her no time to hesitate or panic. The slick sensation filled every crevice of her mucous membranes.
"Hngg..."
Na-eun's shoulders trembled slightly.
Eventually, Jin-hyuk pulled away.
"Your reward."
His low voice whispered against her ear. Na-eun stared up at him blankly.
"Ah... yeah."
Flames erupted in her mind. Her vision flashed white as if a fuse had blown. She couldn't even remember what she'd been about to say moments ago.
The warmth of Jin-hyuk's lips still clung to hers—the sensation of their tongues entwining, the hot breath that had swirled in her mouth, her heart pounding loud enough to echo in her ears.
Na-eun hurriedly lowered her head, burying her gaze back in her phone screen.
As she tried to select seats, her fingers kept tapping empty air. The tips of her fingers trembled incessantly over the display.
'This is too much...'
For some reason, she felt resentful toward Jin-hyuk.
"Mom, he's leaving."
Na-eun escorted Jin-hyuk to the front door. Eun-joo silently followed behind them. Her heavy gaze fixed on Jin-hyuk's broad back as he put on his shoes.
"Be careful on your way."
"Yes. I'll see you next time."
"Alright."
An utterly ordinary farewell. To any outsider, it would seem like a perfectly typical goodbye without any peculiarities. Yet in the brief moment Jin-hyuk raised his head, a sticky reluctance flickered in his eyes. That split-second glance he shot toward Eun-joo—she caught every bit of it without missing a beat.
Since that night in the study when they'd greedily entangled themselves, the two hadn't found another chance to be alone.
Jin-hyuk had his own schedule, and with Na-eun clinging to him like gum during tutoring sessions, slipping away unnoticed was nearly impossible. Eun-joo endured this suffocating thirst with her entire body, convincing herself she could hold out a little longer.
Even though they'd crossed an irreversible line long ago, Eun-joo still denied reality. Despite being completely consumed by Jin-hyuk. Despite lying in bed every night replaying and craving their sex. When morning came, she'd straighten her clothes as if nothing had happened and don the mask of a married woman.
Clutching at this precarious final pretense, Eun-joo barely made it through each day.
Beep.
Na-eun returned inside after seeing Jin-hyuk out.
Her daughter's face was flushed red as if about to burst. Her sparkling eyes and the constant smile tugging at her lips clearly betrayed a secret joy. The sensual delight of a woman tamed by a man's touch radiated from her entire body.
Eun-joo silently observed this.
She should have congratulated her. Said she'd found a good man, that this was a wonderful thing. But a bitter, acrid taste surged in her mouth. An icy weight settled below her sternum. The happier her daughter looked, the more an inexplicable discomfort pressed heavily on her chest.
Just as Na-eun turned toward her room, Eun-joo quietly called out:
"You did well on your exams this time?"
"Of course."
Na-eun turned back with a bright smile.
"So I made plans for a date with oppa."
Instantly, Eun-joo's fingertips stiffened. Her fists clenched unconsciously.
"Is that so?"
Her voice was eerily calm—a forced tranquility dredged up from her depths.
Na-eun, about to grab her doorknob, suddenly paused. She quickly studied her mother's expression.
"...Um, Mom."
"Yes?"
"Can I... stay out overnight?"
"Overnight?"
Eun-joo repeated.
"With... with oppa. Is that okay?"
Na-eun stammered, her eyes darting nervously to gauge Eun-joo's reaction.
For a brief moment, Eun-joo's breath stopped.
Should she refuse? But she lacked any legitimate reason to outright forbid it. Deok-su had already approved their relationship. Moreover, Na-eun was twenty—a legal adult.
The impulse to scream No! struck her throat. This outrageous request to take her man away for the night. Her lips dried instantly. No way. The words rose to the tip of her tongue.
Yet Eun-joo swallowed them. She exhaled slowly, suppressing the sharp sensation. Blocking this outright would only raise suspicions.
As rationality suppressed instinct, the suffocating rejection subsided. In its place, a strange calm flooded in. Eun-joo's eyes took on an odd glow.
Relaxing her expression, she slowly smiled.
"...Hmm."
"......"
Na-eun swallowed dryly, staring intently at Eun-joo's lips, clearly desperate for permission.
Eun-joo gazed down at those flushed cheeks before asking quietly:
"You'll be careful, right?"
"About... about what?"
"What do you think? Protection."
"Eeek...!"
Na-eun's face turned explosively red. She covered her cheeks with both hands, flustered. Eun-joo let out a silent laugh.
"Wait, let's sit and talk."
"Okay."
They sat side by side on the living room sofa. Eun-joo turned slightly to face her daughter. After a brief silence, she spoke slowly:
"You know I had you at your age, right?"
"Yeah."
"Sometimes... I miss being twenty."
Eun-joo's gaze drifted into space. At twenty, she'd gotten pregnant with Na-eun and immediately became a married woman. She'd skipped all the romantic college experiences and youthful dating her peers enjoyed.
She reached out to cup Na-eun's cheek. The scorching skin nearly burned her palm.
"But I don't regret a single thing."
"Mom..."
"You'll be fine too. But your twenties, college years... I hope you get to experience them fully."
Her voice carried a mother's pure affection, wishing her daughter could fully enjoy her youth.
Yet beneath that tenderness flowed something darker. Imagining Na-eun in Jin-hyuk's arms that night made her stomach clench coldly. Eun-joo caressed her daughter's cheek, mixing maternal love with carnal desire until even she couldn't distinguish her true feelings.
"...Yeah."
"So you must, absolutely must use protection."
"Ughhh..."
Na-eun's head drooped completely. She fidgeted with her fingers, avoiding eye contact.
Eun-joo watched her daughter's bowed head and continued deliberately, as if implanting each word:
"Men don't take care of these things properly. So the woman has to take charge. Understand?"
"Yeah."
The words leaving her own lips echoed in her ears. The woman has to take charge. Yet Eun-joo herself had never once used a condom with Jin-hyuk.
She'd taken his hot, hard weapon bare. Ignored all rational warnings to protect herself. Knowingly, thoroughly dismissed them.
That primal pleasure of flesh grinding against flesh without any barrier. The act of receiving Jin-hyuk's lust while artificially containing it—Eun-joo's body rejected such shallow compromises.
Deeper. Raw.
She wanted to absorb every last drop of his seed inside her without waste. Even as she advised her daughter to use protection, Eun-joo had been indulging in the most primitive mucous membrane communion.
Recalling the sensations that had pressed into her all night, Eun-joo laughed darkly inside. Even she couldn't define the meaning behind that laugh.
"Don't go to some cheap motel. I'll book you a hotel room."
After speaking, Eun-joo quietly savored the smile on her lips. The words had come out lighter than usual.
The venom that had surged when swallowing rejection had completely evaporated. Like discovering a new detour beyond a blocked wall, one corner of her chest felt strangely at ease.
"...Thanks, Mom."
Na-eun beamed. Facing that bright expression, Eun-joo drove in one final nail:
"Hold onto him tight."
The deception of handing her man over to her daughter's grasp. Yet Eun-joo completed the sentence without hesitation. Beneath those words flowed a female's vicious possessiveness—unwilling to let her daughter have Jin-hyuk's seed.
Strangely, saying this didn't constrict her breathing at all. The inner turmoil that had erupted at the word "overnight" had quieted as if it never existed.
"Don't worry."
Na-eun answered confidently. Letting that spirited voice flow past her ears, Eun-joo smiled slowly.