Instead of the Wife, the Mother-in-Law Came
Kim Seok-hun's dry, cracked hand was clasped tightly in hers as his mother-in-law wept with heartbreaking sorrow. The sight only made him feel even more miserable.
"Hic... sob... ugh..."
"I'm sorry... This is all my fault..."
Her endless apologies and tears finally broke something inside him. Tears he thought had long since dried up came pouring out endlessly. Once the dam burst, there was no stopping it.
Hiccuping sobs, choking cries, and raw wails filled the hospital room for a full thirty minutes, as if they were competing to see who could cry harder.
"What about Seul-ah..." Seok-hun finally managed to speak first, his voice strained.
Seul-ah. The wife he still loved. He needed to know where she was.
"I'm sorry, Seok-hun... I've tried reaching her, but I can't get through either."
"I see..."
"Mother-in-law."
"Y-yes?"
Seok-hun called out to her with great effort.
"Please... just go. And stop crying for me."
"S-Seok-hun!!"
"I beg you... Please. I can't take any more..."
"No... Don't say that, Seok-hun. Please? It's my fault, all my fault, okay?"
It was no use. Maybe it was because he'd grown up lonely and alone since childhood. The sense of loss from being betrayed and abandoned by the one person he'd given his heart to was almost too much to bear.
What was the point of living anymore? He'd just get betrayed again. Someone else would leave him too. He hated that pain.
"Just go......"
"Seok-hun..."
His eyes, already empty of all hope, held only a dull gray void. No motivation, no will, no dreams or hopes—nothing but hollow emptiness.
"I'll... come back again."
In the end, unable to change his mind, his mother-in-law left those words behind, bowed her head, and turned away.
The next day.
Clatter—
"Seok-hun? S-Seok-hun!!!!"
Thud— Thud-thud-thud—!!!
His mother-in-law had come to the hospital room early that morning. She'd meant to visit at a more reasonable hour, but some inexplicable anxiety had driven her there before dawn. And sure enough—
"N-no, Seok-hun, please... Please don't..."
Seok-hun was climbing onto the windowsill of his hospital room.
His mother-in-law gasped in horror, dropping the late-night snacks and fruit she'd been carrying as she rushed forward. She wrapped her arms around him from behind and yanked him back. Too weak to resist, Seok-hun slipped from the railing and fell with her.
Crash— Thump, thump—
"Aaaah!"
"Mother-in-law... Why did you..."
Another failure. Because she'd pulled him back from behind, he'd landed on top of her like a human cushion. The impact hadn't been too bad for him. But—
"Ugh..."
She was clearly in a lot of pain. Seeing her like that, Seok-hun had no choice but to push himself up and try to help her.
But then...
'!!!!!!!!!!!!'
Was it the way she'd fallen? Or was it fate? Or maybe because he'd been so focused on helping her that he hadn't paid attention to himself?
Her top had ridden all the way up to her chest, and her skirt had hiked up too, completely exposing her panties.
'White...'
White bra. White panties.
In that instant, Seok-hun felt something long dormant deep inside him begin to stir—an awakening desire. Panicked, he didn't help her up. Instead, he scrambled back onto the hospital bed and lay down.
Thump—
"Ah..."
As soon as Seok-hun lay back down, his mother-in-law struggled to her feet. Of course he wanted to help her, but he couldn't. That brief glimpse of 'white' had awakened a desire he'd thought was dead. That's why he'd pulled the blanket over himself—to hide it.
"I'm sorry, Seok-hun..."
"Why... Why did you come back again?"
"W-well... I brought some braised short ribs for you..."
"It's fine. Just go home."
"But..."
"......"
Shift—
Seok-hun couldn't bear to look at her anymore. He had to turn his head away. He couldn't hold back any longer. Her enormous breasts kept catching his eye, and it was driving him crazy. The white bra struggling to contain them felt almost transparent to him now.
When he turned away, his mother-in-law simply sat down quietly beside him, holding her breath as silent tears fell. She didn't leave, nor did she try to do anything else.
The silence stretched on. An hour passed with her quietly crying.
"Give it... to me."
Unable to stand her tears any longer, Seok-hun finally reached out first.
"S-Seok-hun?"
"I'm... hungry."
At his words, her face brightened like the sun breaking through clouds. She began unpacking the late-night meal she'd cooked herself and setting the table. Watching her, Seok-hun felt tears well up again.
This was something his wife Seul-ah should have been doing. It should have been Seul-ah setting the table like this, not his mother-in-law.
But...
"Seul-ah..."
Seul-ah wasn't here.
The name slipped out before he could stop it.
Flinch—
Had she heard? The shoulders of his mother-in-law, who had been arranging the food, trembled.
A moment later—
"Here, eat up while it's hot."
"There's... so much."
"The doctor said you need to eat well. Right now, Seok-hun, you're..."
"Yes..."
There was nothing actually wrong with Seok-hun physically. He was simply malnourished. He'd pushed himself to the brink of death from not eating. He was in a state of total exhaustion. The IV fluids at the hospital were enough to help him recover. But even after being admitted, he hadn't eaten a proper meal once.
Clink— Ting—
"Oh no..."
Was it because he had no strength in his hands? The spoon slipped from his grip. As Seok-hun stared in embarrassment—
"I'll feed you. Just stay still."
His mother-in-law picked up a fresh spoon and began feeding him small bites of rice and side dishes.
It felt good... If only it had been Seul-ah here instead of his mother-in-law. How happy would he have been? The sight of his wife nursing him back to health... Just imagining it made his heart race with excitement and joy.
Stream—
"Seok-hun..."
Once again, his tears flowed. His mother-in-law gently wiped them away with a sorrowful expression. In the end, he couldn't eat more than a few spoonfuls before the meal was over.
Seok-hun, who had cried himself back to sleep, woke up four hours later. It was nine in the morning. The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was his mother-in-law, asleep with her head resting on the edge of his bed.
"Why... Why are you doing this? Why on earth..."
He couldn't understand it. What was he to her that she would go this far?
His mother-in-law lacked nothing. Money, beauty, age, personality—she had it all in abundance. So why would someone like her go to such lengths to care for a son-in-law her daughter had abandoned?
If she had a child of her own, maybe. Blood was thicker than water, after all. But despite the hundreds of times he'd been with Seul-ah, they had never conceived. They'd never used condoms, and as far as he knew, Seul-ah hadn't been taking birth control. So why?
At first, he'd wondered if he was infertile. Azoospermia. But tests showed that wasn't the case. So was the problem with Seul-ah? He hadn't checked, but at twenty-one, it seemed unlikely. In the end, they'd decided it simply wasn't meant to be yet and put the idea of children aside for now. In fact, he'd been happy they could have sex as often as they wanted without worrying about pregnancy.
"Just... leave me alone. We don't have any connection anymore, do we..."
Just let him go. Let him leave this world without any lingering attachments. Let him slip away quietly...
That was when it happened.
Had his voice been too loud? His mother-in-law slowly lifted her head.
"Why wouldn't we have a connection?"
"You're... awake?"
"Seok-hun... You're still my son-in-law. You're family."
"Not anymore."
"No, nothing has changed."
"I'm divorced, Mother-in-law!!"
Nothing had changed? So much had changed. Seul-ah was gone. The ink on the divorce papers had long since dried. How could she say nothing had changed?
"Seul-ah... Seul-ah isn't here anymore!!"
Finally unable to hold it in, Seok-hun exploded. The anger he'd kept bottled up since Seul-ah left burst out—not at his wife, but at his mother-in-law.
And the woman who received that anger said...
"I... I'm still here."
"What do you...?"
"I'm still your mother-in-law. We're still family. You're still my son-in-law."
"But..."
It didn't mean anything. What mother-in-law kept treating her ex-son-in-law like family after a divorce?
"I'll take care of you in Seul-ah's place. Can't I do that?"
"What are you saying?"
"I'll clean for you, do your laundry, cook your meals. Isn't that... enough? Please don't leave, Seok-hun..."
Mother-in-law... That's just what a maid or a housekeeper does. That's not a wife.
"Please... Please don't leave me, Seok-hun. Don't think those terrible thoughts anymore... okay?"
Seok-hun couldn't understand it. Why was she doing all this for him? What did she really want? He couldn't begin to guess.
But—
"Sigh..."
He couldn't just ignore her when she was begging like this. It felt like if he left, she might follow right after him.
In the end—
"...Alright."
"Seok-hun!!"
He accepted her wishes. The moment he did, she pulled him into a tight embrace, pressing her enormous breasts against him. Seok-hun had to clench his teeth to endure it.
Several days passed.
He did his best to eat well, and with her help, he even washed himself. It was embarrassing, but since he'd decided to live, he couldn't stand the smell coming from his own body. How on earth had his mother-in-law endured it without showing the slightest hint of discomfort all this time?
"You're finally being discharged! Congratulations, Seok-hun!"
"Yes... Thank you. You've been through so much."
"Alright! To celebrate, let's go out for some beef!"
"Huh? Ah... Sure, I guess..."
About a week later, Seok-hun was discharged. Unlike when he'd been admitted, he'd put on a healthy amount of weight. A few more days after that, his mother-in-law came to his house.
"Haa!! Seok-hun!! I'm here!"
"Ah... Mother-in-law, are you really planning to live here?"
"Of course! We're family, aren't we?"
"Still..."
Into the empty space left by Seul-ah, his mother-in-law moved in. Dragging two clearly heavy suitcases behind her...
And so, their life together began.