Misunderstanding
Whether it was her first time or not, she simply pressed her lips against mine and stayed perfectly still.
In movies and dramas, the man usually takes the lead and the woman follows his rhythm—but here she was, the one who had initiated, with no idea what to do next.
"……."
I could feel her lips trembling.
Was it just nerves, or was she waiting for me?
Ah… do I have to match her?
Do I have to accept this feeling?
Does a father have to accept his daughter’s feelings?
—We’re strangers. Strangers. Just blood-related strangers.
We really are strangers.
I didn’t even know Ye-rim was my daughter until she was this age.
Even to my own eyes, we’re nothing more than strangers who share blood.
"……."
Staying like this is too hard.
Yet the lips that usually moved so freely now only twitched, refusing to do anything at all.
Should I keep going or stop? Endless doubts circled through my head.
"Haa… haa…."
The breath I had been holding only started again once Ye-rim pulled her lips away.
She was breathing hard, staring at me with trembling eyes.
Her face flushed bright red, and tears began to well at the corners of those eyes.
"Why won’t you move…?"
"……."
"Do you hate me, Uncle?"
"No… I like you…."
Ye-rim hadn’t done anything to make me dislike her. She even brought me food every morning. There was no way I could hate her.
As family, as a relative, I liked her.
But if she was asking whether I liked her as a man likes a woman—I already had Ye-na.
I liked Ye-na enough to believe I could spend the rest of my life with her.
"Then show me proof…."
But I had no right to refuse.
Because my sister and I had crossed the line, Ye-rim had been born.
Whatever Ye-rim said, I had to listen.
Just as she said—I had promised to take responsibility.
"You won’t regret this?"
"Why would I regret it?"
"No…."
I’m already regretting it right now.
Is Ye-rim really sure she won’t regret this?
Or has her heart been broken so badly that she no longer cares what happens?
I didn’t know which it was, but I decided to respect Ye-rim’s choice.
That was a father’s duty.
"Mmph…."
As if this were her last chance, Ye-rim came close again, right up to my nose, and I couldn’t push her away.
I gently wrapped my lips around her trembling ones, and little by little she began to move as well.
Like first-time lovers exploring each other, our mouths fidgeted and searched.
Like a drama. Like a movie.
As carefully as I could, I moved, and I wrapped my arm around Ye-rim’s waist.
"Haaa…."
Only then did Ye-rim pull away from me, looking satisfied.
A thin strand of saliva stretched between us and onto her clothes.
"Ah… I did it…."
"……."
"I feel dizzy… and tingly… and so good… ah… I got way too excited, didn’t I."
"…It’s always like that the first time."
Ye-rim smiled bashfully and leaned into me.
When I gently held her, she pressed even closer, pushing something larger than her mother’s against me.
"Un…cle…."
She called me, carrying the scent of wine and her own skin.
I stayed silent, and I felt the strength slowly leave her body.
I lifted the sleeping Ye-rim into my arms, carried her to her room, laid her on the bed, and pulled the blanket over her.
That was close….
I almost got caught.
Thank god it ended with a kiss.
If she had noticed I was hard…
It wouldn’t have stopped at a kiss.
I would have repeated exactly what I once did with my sister.
"Haa…."
My head hurt from the moment I woke up.
I hadn’t drunk that much last night, but maybe the alcohol was stronger than I thought.
Passing out on someone else’s sofa with my stomach bare—it had been a long time since I’d done something like that.
"Ugh…."
At the very least I needed to wash up before fully waking, so I dragged my stiff body toward the bathroom.
According to Ye-rim, my sister would be back roughly in the evening, which meant I would have to spend the entire day alone with Ye-rim again. The thought made me a little dizzy.
Especially after what we had done to each other last night.
"Ah."
"Ah."
I opened the door without thinking and locked eyes with Ye-rim sitting on the toilet.
"Sorry!"
Only after a few seconds did I grasp the situation and slam the door shut.
Are men really such trashy creatures?
What the hell was so good about staring holes through Ye-rim’s thighs?
"You can come in."
"Ah… yeah."
Whether she was still out of it herself or had simply decided to let it go, Ye-rim came out to the living room without saying a word.
I really got the shock of my life first thing in the morning.
"You’re pretty good at cooking."
"I’ve been living on my own for over ten years, you know."
"It’s savory and delicious. Simple, though."
"I’m a simple guy…."
Thankfully we returned to normal. We cleared the wine glasses from the table as if erasing last night and ate breakfast.
Egg fried rice, made with ingredients from my sister’s kitchen.
"Uncle."
"Yeah?"
"About… yesterday…."
"Hm? Ah… don’t worry about it. I was drunk too. I barely remember anything."
"You… don’t remember?"
Of course I remembered perfectly.
Drinking wine, watching the New Year’s Eve bell broadcast, and then kissing a drunk Ye-rim…
She seemed about to apologize for yesterday, so I deliberately said I didn’t remember.
Even if I had been threatened, the fact that I hadn’t firmly refused was still my fault.
"You really don’t remember?"
"Yeah… I remember drinking together and watching the broadcast, but…."
"And nothing after that?"
"Yeah…."
"Then…."
Ye-rim took my hand.
She hesitated, as if about to place it on her own body, then let go.
"So you remember attacking me, then?"
"What…?"
"You took my clothes off and everything… you know."
"I did…?"
"And then you put your… on me——"
"Ye-rim."
"Euk…."
I grabbed both of her shoulders and she flinched.
"Lying isn’t right."
"H-how do you know I’m lying?"
"Because I remember. Everything from yesterday."
"……."
"And I would never do something like that if Ye-rim didn’t want it."
There was no way I had done that to Ye-rim.
I had agonized and agonized just to manage a kiss. Forcing myself on her on top of that?
If someone attacks another person simply because they love them, that isn’t love—it’s just an animal.
"Why did you lie, Uncle?"
"That’s…."
As if admitting the lie, Ye-rim got angry instead.
"Did you want to pretend yesterday never happened?"
"It’s not that…."
"Then what is it? You stared holes through my thighs."
"……."
Honestly, if possible, I wanted to act like it never happened.
What was already done couldn’t be undone, but at least I could stop it from going any further.
I didn’t want to repeat this with Ye-rim.
Even if it meant cutting off the relationship we had built up until now.
"Yesterday was unavoidable, but… this still isn’t right…."
"What isn’t right…."
"Family… doing things like this…."
"……Fine."
Ye-rim shoved me hard and disappeared into her room.
"Haa…."
This is better.
I can’t make the same mistake twice.
Right now it only ends with me hurting Ye-rim, but if I had chosen differently, I would have ruined her entire life.
Yeah… this is enough.
"I’m home…."
"Yeah. Welcome back."
"Did something happen?"
"No… just."
After staring at the black TV screen for a long time, my sister finally walked in.
She had said she was going on a trip with my brother-in-law, but her expression looked terrible.
"Where’s brother-in-law?"
"Don’t know."
"Didn’t you come back together?"
"I came alone."
"……."
My sister sighed and sat down next to me.
Did they fight?
I didn’t think those two had ever had a real marital fight before.
"Where’s Ye-rim?"
"In her room."
"Did something happen between you two?"
"…Why?"
"Your face is really dark right now."
"Ah… yours is too, Noona."
"Is it…?"
We both kept sighing while staring at the dead TV for several minutes.
Then my sister started fiddling with my hand.
"I’m so tired."
"Of what."
"Just. Everything."
This wasn’t the usual angry Noona.
When she got mad she yelled. The way she looked now—completely resigned—was closer to lament than rage.
A lament she couldn’t even tell anyone about.
What the hell happened?
"Cheol-ah."
"Yeah."
"Am I that bad?"
"……What do you mean?"
"I feel weird saying it myself, but… I still think I’m in my prime."
My sister took off the cardigan she was wearing, and the tight dress underneath came into view.
Beige fabric that openly showed the black bra beneath.
"Well?"
"What are you trying to say…."
"Isn’t this still pretty good?"
"……It is."
Twenty years ago, and still now.
My sister was just as beautiful.
At least in appearance, she was a perfect woman with nothing lacking in my eyes.
"What… did brother-in-law lose interest or something?"
"……Yeah."
"……."
A rare adult joke. Thankfully it landed with her.
I hadn’t expected it, but so that was it.
When they were young it might have been different, but at their age you couldn’t really demand anything just because your husband had no sex drive, and even if you did, it wouldn’t fix anything.
There was no way she could talk about a problem this fatal with other people.
That was why she looked so drained.
"Was it like that before too?"
"Before… it wasn’t. We were young back then…."
"It’s probably not your problem… most likely."
"That’s a relief…."
My sister, who had been playing with my hand the whole time, leaned against me.
Her scent still hadn’t changed.
I had already settled my heart, so why did hearing this story make me feel like I could take his place?
I was so strict with Ye-rim.
I really am trash.
"When was the last time?"
"……With you."
"Ah…."
That time before I met Ye-na.
Back then, right on this sofa, I had taken my sister over and over…
"Wait… so you really haven’t done it with brother-in-law at all?"
"He’s always busy. And it feels like he’s gone cold on me."
"Gone cold…?"
"You wouldn’t know, but… the second he gets home he just sleeps, and on weekends he only watches TV. Even if I suggest going somewhere he tells me to go with Ye-rim."
"That bad…?"
Not just the sexual side—had his heart gone cold too?
I never thought brother-in-law was like that.
No solid proof, but it was basically a midlife crisis.
"That’s why I suggested going out yesterday. For once he actually agreed to come. But then…."
"I see."
The situation was worse than I thought.
It wasn’t simple sexual frustration on my sister’s part. If things went wrong, the whole family could sink into emptiness.
So that’s why Ye-rim….
The reason she longed for love from me, a stranger.
The reason she said even a forbidden relationship didn’t matter.
Because her father’s love had been lacking.
"You’re lucky."
"Why?"
"You’re still working fine."
"……."
My sister casually stroked my thigh.
She saw my expression, gave a quiet smile, and withdrew her hand.
"What happened with Ye-rim?"
"Nothing…."
"Don’t lie. Every time you come over she sticks to you like glue. There’s no way she’d suddenly pull away like that."
"……."
"Just tell me. As long as you didn’t put your hands on her while drunk or something, it’s fine."
"……Ah, of course not."
Does this house have CCTV?
A chill ran through me and my body trembled.
"……Right?"
"……."
My sister’s gaze was extremely sharp.