Blessing of Beauty

Blessing of Beauty.

Eunjeong-ajumma, who always seemed so pure and naive about the world, is actually doing something like this? …This is the real deal.

A mix of laughter and surprise rose inside him.

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The intention to seduce him was right there on the surface, yet the way she went about it was somehow clumsy and completely honest.

Taeseok sent the message and then fretted for a moment.

Was that a little too blunt for Eunjeong-ajumma to handle…?

But the reply that arrived a moment later wiped the worry clean away.

Taeseok let out a short breath and set his phone down.

For my sake? Or… just to satisfy her own desires?

Either way… everything she did was ridiculously cute.

“Maybe… I should go.”

Taeseok opened the door of the rooftop room and stepped outside.

At the narrow stairwell entrance, the dampness unique to old buildings clung to the air in a thin film.

He stood at the top of those stairs and stared down the flight that led below for a long time.

They were familiar stairs.

Before the accident, he had gone up and down them several times a day.

But now, the tips of his toes refused to move an inch past the edge of the first step.

One year.

One step.

It was such a simple motion — all he had to do was put one foot forward.

Yet his body would not obey.

Cold sweat ran in rivulets down his spine.

Hey, you bastard… You can’t even go down a flight of stairs? You’re pathetic.

He closed his eyes and drew a deep breath.

This is nothing. It’s just… stairs.

But the terror did not fade so easily.

Damn it… Am I… really not able to do this?

Taeseok closed his eyes again.

If I just get down these stairs… I can fuck Eunjeong-ajumma, who’s waiting for me in that sexy see-through slip.

Then he opened his eyes.

He exhaled short and sharp, and finally set his foot on the first step.

“……Hah.”

Thud.

The sound of his foot landing rang out more clearly than he had expected.

What the hell? Is this for real? I overcame it by thinking about fucking a woman?

He felt pathetic and amused all at once.

He snorted a laugh and shook his head.

Then he took the second step, and the third, one after another.

With every stair he descended, his legs grew lighter.

It felt as though his body, which had been locked away, was finally reconnecting with the world.

The moment he reached the first floor, everything somehow felt as if it had ended far too easily.

That was way too easy. That’s it?

Which only made him feel emptier.

But he knew the truth.

If it hadn’t been for Eunjeong, even a movement this small might have taken him years of dragging his feet and hesitating.

What had made him take that single step wasn’t so much his own courage as it was Eunjeong’s heart and effort.

I want to go hold her right now.

Everything after that was effortless.

Taeseok headed straight for Eunjeong’s house.

The hesitation that had lingered a moment earlier was already gone.

Standing at the front door, he opened it without a second thought.

It wasn’t locked.

As the door swung open, warm air rushed out — and with it, the first thing that filled his eyes was Eunjeong herself.

She looked exactly as she had in the photo.

No — she felt far more real, far more present, than any photograph.

“Taeseok. You came. I knew you could do it. Really…”

Taeseok steadied his breathing and looked at her.

“It’s all thanks to you, Ajumma.”

Before the words had even finished leaving his mouth, Eunjeong came to him.

And without a moment’s hesitation, she wrapped him in her arms.

It wasn’t a simple emotion — it felt like something long suppressed finally coming loose.

Taeseok stiffened for a second, then slowly raised his arms and accepted her.

She was warm.

For a while neither of them said a word.

Only their breaths mingled.

“But… aren’t we going to eat?”

At Taeseok’s words, Eunjeong let out a small laugh.

“Ah! Right. Come here, Taeseok.”

Eunjeong and Taeseok sat across from each other at the dining table, sharing dinner.

It was the first proper, comfortable evening meal he had had in a long time.

The Emotion Level changed from moment to moment.

Ordinarily it stayed below 10, but when things heated up even a little it would climb as high as 20.

And when Taeseok’s hands were on her, when she took him into her body and reached orgasm, it could soar past 70.

Emotion Level is basically an indicator of her current state.

Dominance had risen quite a bit as well.

It had climbed to 40 fairly quickly, but ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠after that even sex didn’t push it up by much.

Once he had more or less finished analyzing the Status Window, Taeseok kept glancing at Eunjeong even as he moved his chopsticks.

In the flesh she was far sexier, far more alluring, than she had looked in the photograph.

Beneath the thin slip, a black lace bra and panties showed through faintly, and under the light the soft gleam of her skin and the full curve of her breasts stood out all the more.

As if sensing his gaze, Eunjeong set down her spoon and lifted the corner of her mouth.

“What are you staring at so sneakily? You can look openly. After all… I only dressed like this because of you.”

Caught in the act, Taeseok gave an awkward little laugh.

“You startled me. I never thought Ajumma would go this far.”

“Well? Is it… too shameless?”

“No. You’re just… too beautiful.”

“Really?”

Eunjeong propped her chin lightly on her hand and tilted her head.

In her eyes there was a flicker of playfulness mixed with genuine, earnest expectation.

Taeseok scratched the back of his head as he answered.

“Yeah… Thanks to you… I managed to come downstairs.”

At that, Eunjeong smiled softly.

“I’m glad. So what if I act a little shameless? What matters is that you came down.”

“Honestly… it was pretty hard, but I got through it by thinking about seeing you. That’s… the truth.”

Eunjeong’s face lit up with real delight at his words.

“How did you even come up with that idea?”

“Guys your age, full of youthful energy… sometimes something like this is all the motivation they need. I’ve lived long enough to know that much.”

Taeseok snorted a laugh.

“So you’re saying you’ve got a lot of experience luring young men this way?”

For a second Eunjeong’s eyes narrowed as she glared at him.

“Hey, are you crazy? I was just speaking in general.”

She put on a stern face, yet the soft smile never quite left her lips.

That expression made her look strangely even prettier, even more lovable.

They ate in silence for a while, until Eunjeong set down her spoon and glanced at Taeseok.

“But… don’t you think I’ve gotten a little prettier?”

“Huh? Ah… yeah, you have. You always were.”

When Taeseok answered on reflex, Eunjeong let out a sigh that was half a laugh.

“Haa… Do you really not pay any attention to me at all?”

“No, it’s not that…”

Taeseok trailed off and studied Eunjeong carefully once more.

The truth was, he had noticed it too.

Compared to when he first saw her, the Eunjeong in front of him now was unmistakably different.

It wasn’t simply a matter of makeup or clothes.

Something more fundamental had changed.

What struck him most of all was the way she looked when she smiled.

The fine lines at the corners of her eyes seemed fainter than before, and her overall impression was far younger.

Along with that thought, one section of the Status Window flared bright in his mind.

At first he had glossed over the phrase without giving it any real meaning.

A passive skill was supposed to activate on its own without any special action, yet no matter how long he waited he had never felt any particular effect.

But looking at Eunjeong now, he began to wonder whether that skill might be the very thing making a woman more beautiful.

While Taeseok was still turning it over in confusion, Eunjeong smiled with a touch of shyness.

“And I… my waist is three inches smaller.”

“What? Three inches?”

Taeseok’s eyes went round as he asked again.

Eunjeong gave a little nod and spoke playfully.

“Mm. You can tell when you put clothes on. It feels completely different from before.”

It had been barely three days since they first slept together.

For her waist to shrink three inches in that short a time — he was now strongly convinced that something was definitely at work.

Taeseok studied the lines of Eunjeong’s body carefully once more.

Before, her chest and hips had already been voluptuous, but her waist had never been particularly slender.

Now that he looked, prompted by her words, her waist had clearly grown thinner.

And the slight belly she had once had was almost gone.

Because of that narrower waist, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the curves of her breasts and hips stood out in even sharper relief.

Maybe that was why she looked even more sensual than before.

Her face seemed a little more sculpted as well.

Taeseok gazed at her in silence for a moment, then thought to himself.

Is it really true… that I can make a woman more beautiful?

It was all connecting far too naturally to be mere coincidence.

“Can I… finish dinner first and then check properly?”

The moment she understood exactly what he meant, Eunjeong’s face flushed scarlet.

“Hey…!”

She gave his arm a light, embarrassed swat, but a smile was already spreading across her lips.

“Who said you could check anything?”

“How can you say that? You send a guy a photo like that, shake him up completely… and then you told me I could eat if I wanted to.”

“I don’t know…”

When Taeseok grinned teasingly and stared straight at her, Eunjeong dipped her head a little.

Then, all of a sudden, he asked in a serious voice.

“But… Ajumma…”

“Hm?”

“Mr. Yang from the real-estate office… is he still bothering you?”

“Huh? How do you know about that…”

Eunjeong’s eyes widened slightly.

Taeseok smiled inwardly.

As expected… the Status Window never lies.