One-Sided Reckoning
“Hyeok… heok…”
“……Are you all right?”
“Hiik…”
Han Seo-hyun watched the girl flinch and curl in on herself when she saw her. Kim Yu-jin felt an awful pang of guilt. He had gone too far.
Sujung had reached the state where pleasure alone had wiped her mind clean. From somewhere in the middle of everything, her thoughts had vanished entirely.
Who am I? Where am I? Heueung…
Yu-jin decided to wait a little longer, just enough for her to calm down.
Her breathing gradually steadied. He spoke to her again, softly.
“Sujung-ssi…?”
“Yes… hui…”
Sujung rose, still unsteady. “I… I’m sorry. Did you… did you tell your wife about the photos?”
“Ah… yes…”
“May I take them? Ah, I’ll use your phone.”
“It’s fine… use Yu-jin’s phone.”
Yu-jin nodded and reached for his own.
But Sujung suddenly changed position. She spread her legs in an M-shape and raised both hands beside her face in a V-sign.
“……”
“D-Don’t be slow… I’m embarrassed…”
“Ah, yes… I’m sorry…”
Yu-jin was frozen for a moment. Did Seo-hyun really tell her to strike that pose…?
He hurried to finish anyway. “I took them all.”
“Ah, thank you…”
Sujung quickly covered herself with the blanket, still blushing fiercely. Her vagina was throbbing with pain. Yu-jin had been so large. She thought she was dying.
And yet… she had felt so good.
“Would you like to shower first?”
“No, I’m fine… I’ll rest a little longer. You should go first, Yu-jin-ssi.”
“All right. I’m sorry…”
Yu-jin apologized at once. She seemed to be suffering so much; he worried it was his fault.
It’s not that… it’s my fault.
Sujung startled, waving her hands. “N-No! I… I wanted to do it. And… it felt good…”
“Yes… I understand. I’ll shower and come out.”
“All right…”
Yu-jin was relieved she still said he was good. He left the room.
After he disappeared, Sujung sent Seo-hyun a message: It’s over.
No reply came.
“Huu…”
Sujung clenched her teeth. She had met so many men, yet none like Kim Yu-jin. She hadn’t even met him at the club; she had been a student then, living a normal college love life.
She had never fallen for a man until now, not even once to the point of marriage.
But Seo-hyun had appeared in a single night—her ideal man.
Naturally, the unfairness of life stung her.
“No… is this my fault…? Ha… I’m going crazy…”
Her head spun. The thought left her restless.
While she tormented herself, Yu-jin emerged from the bathroom, dressed exactly as when he had left.
“You’ve showered?”
“Yes. Sujung-ssi…”
“I’ll rest a little more.”
“All right. I’ll go first.”
“Yes. Thank you… for enduring today. Thank you for going along with everything.”
Yu-jin bowed silently and left.
Sujung watched his retreating back and decided she would clear her mind.
He had a wife. And that wife was her best friend’s husband. She had no right to feel guilty.
Still, her heart ached.
Yu-jin paused at the door and turned. He seemed to have something to say. Sujung looked at him curiously.
“Did you forget something…?”
“No…”
“……”
Yu-jin looked straight at her. “I… probably your wife won’t resent you, but I won’t resent you either. So… don’t feel sorry for me.”
“……”
Sujung stared, eyes red. “You… you told her that too?”
“And I enjoyed today. Being with a beauty like you…”
Yu-jin spoke and left without waiting for an answer.
Just outside the door he heard what sounded like a sob, but he did not turn back.
He had almost changed his mind at the last second. Was it right to say such things?
Yet the moment they met, Sujung had apologized to him.
She looked so beautiful, yet strangely lacking in confidence.
He had spoken because he feared guilt was making her suffer.
From my side it’s easy. Just tell the truth.
The final compliment was the kind of courtesy one feels toward a partner in bed—true, but not exactly kind.
Of course, Sujung heard only the first part. Instead of relief, she felt even more confused and heavier.
***
Han Seo-hyun lay on the sofa in her home, staring at her phone. She had not gone to Jin-u. She had never even contacted him.
She could not stand the thought.
Yu-jin’s card statements. The photos he had sent. The messages he had received from Sujung…
“She got waxed too…”
She had learned something she never wanted to know. Her mind spun. Anger, sadness, regret—her regret was so fierce she had felt it the instant the words left her mouth.
Her Yu-jin was no longer entirely hers.
He was still hers, yet another person now knew him.
She had the right to be jealous, but she did not want to share that knowledge with anyone.
She was the type to hide her treasure.
The front door opened. Seo-hyun rushed to meet him.
“Ah… dear. I’m back.”
Without a word she pulled him into a crushing embrace, as if she would never let him go again.
Yet a different scent clung to him. A woman’s scent. Different shampoo.
Yu-jin had noticed the same thing every time he returned from another woman, hadn’t he?
The realization hurt worse. Her eyes stung with tears she refused to let fall.
She buried her face in his chest. She did not want him to worry.
Yu-jin stroked her hair. “Did it hurt?”
“Yes… a lot.”
She had planned to complain, but now she simply wanted him to know how hard it had been for her.
“You didn’t see the doctor?”
“No… how did you know?”
She had put on makeup and her best outfit, waiting, yet he had noticed at once.
“A… smell?”
“……Nice smell.”
“Yes.”
“My dear. Go shower quickly.”
“All right.”
She had showered, but she knew why he wanted her to. Still, she simply answered.
“No, I’ll wash you. Wait in the bathroom.”
“Yes… please.”
Seo-hyun let go, her eyelashes slightly red. Yu-jin pretended not to notice.
While he waited in the bathroom, she rushed into the bedroom and held back her tears.
In the mirror only her eyes were red; her cheeks were already flushed like a rabbit.
“He’ll know I was discovered…”
Yu-jin could not possibly not know her condition. He was deliberately hiding it, so of course he knew.
She started crying right there.
“Huuu…!”
Yu-jin came in behind her and hugged her tight.
“My dear.”
“Sniff… you said to wait in the bathroom…”
“Yes. I’ll go if you stop.”
“Sniff… hic…”
Finally she turned and buried her face in his chest again, sobbing freely.
With him holding her she could not stop anymore. She hated the woman Yu-jin had slept with. She hated Sujung for going to him. And she hated herself most of all for being the one who had encouraged it.
She had slept with other men several times, yet Yu-jin had done it only once—and only because she had asked.
The thought that she herself had caused him such pain made her sick.
She stroked his head while he began to speak.
“My dear, I know what you’re thinking. It’s my fault. Not yours, all right?”
“Sniff… hic… no!”
“My dear, look at me.”
Yu-jin gently pulled her away so they faced each other.
Seo-hyun’s face was a mess—tears, snot, makeup smeared everywhere. Yet to him she had never looked more beautiful.
He wiped the tears from her lashes and spoke.
“Seo-hyun, your fault? I told you to sleep with other men. I asked you to go to Sujung-ssi. You did nothing wrong.”
“What are you talking about! Huuu…! I… I chose to sleep with other men! And I asked you to go!”
Seo-hyun wailed, but Yu-jin kept wiping her eyes calmly.
“I pushed you. I was the one who pushed you. You had no choice. You did nothing wrong.”
“Don’t lie! What kind of lie is that!”
“It’s all right. What are you thinking? Because you slept with another man, you think you can’t scold me? You can. Scold me all you want.”
“I won’t! I hate myself most of all! I’m the most pathetic, disgusting woman!”
“Han Seo-hyun, do not say that. Are you angry?”
“Sniff… hic… I’m sorry… I’m sorry… I did everything wrong…”
“Yes. It’s all right. I forgive you. Come here.”
Yu-jin pulled her close again. She sobbed against his chest for a long time.
He simply stroked her hair and waited for her to calm down.
***
When her sobs finally eased, Yu-jin took her to the bathroom, carrying her. The tub had already been filled before they went to the bedroom.
He undressed her while she sat on the edge, letting him guide her without a word.
Once naked, they stepped into the warm water together. Yu-jin sat first; Seo-hyun leaned against his chest.
“Feeling better?”
“Yes…”
She still could not look at him; the memory of her own shame burned.
“Um… this is a little awkward to say, but… there’s something I want to tell you.”
“What?”
“I praised Sujung-ssi and left. She kept apologizing, so…”
“……I’ll forgive her.”
“Thank you.”
Seo-hyun felt a pang of jealousy, yet she forgave him. She had always known he was like that—gentle and serious even when he seemed foolish.
Then the photo came to mind.
“My dear, delete the photo on your phone.”
“I sent it and deleted it right away.”
“……Good.”
He had known she would. Still, she felt a flicker of annoyance at herself for not trusting him.
“Y-You told her to take that pose?”
“Yes. It’s my prize for playing with my own.”
“……”
Yu-jin said nothing.
Sujung had looked pitiful. And Seo-hyun was a little frightening. Just a little.
“My dear.”
“What?”
“……How was it?”
“…….”
Seo-hyun’s question made Yu-jin hesitate. He had been crying and wailing not long ago.
Seo-hyun pierced his heart with her gaze. “Tell me honestly.”
“Yes… it wasn’t bad…”
Still, it had been hard. He did not know how to describe it, so he answered vaguely.
Seo-hyun pressed further. “……Good?”
“……Yes.”
“Better than me…?”
“No.”
Of course the answer was no, but he still felt uneasy.
“How did you feel…?”
“Um… I thought a lot about you… I even compared…”
He felt guilty for comparing, yet the comparison had happened anyway.
“It’s all right. Keep going.”
“You like it here, but she doesn’t like it here at all…”
“How many times…?”
“Once.”
“……Even once made her feel that good?”
“I told her to trust only me.”
Seo-hyun almost smiled, but she did not. She still did not want to laugh.
She steadied her expression and looked Yu-jin in the eye.
“My dear.”
“Yes.”
“From now on you will always look at only me.”
“Yes.”
“Never. You may not know what you feel, but I absolutely cannot bear it.”
“Yes. All right.”
“If I say I can endure it, I will. If I say I hate it, I will. Never sleep with another woman. And I will never ask you to sleep with another woman again.”
“All right.”
“If you ever think of sleeping with another man, I will cut you off. Do you understand?”
Seo-hyun glanced down, then met his eyes again.
Yu-jin shivered despite the warm water.
“……”
“Why aren’t you answering?”
Seo-hyun glared at him fiercely.
Yu-jin had no choice. “All right.”
She would not sleep with anyone else. The thought had been instinctually terrifying.
“All right.”
With that answer Seo-hyun’s expression softened slightly, but she still looked serious.
“Your body and heart are mine. I cannot bear to see someone steal what is mine. I finally realized that today.”
“Yes. I understand.”
“But… my heart will always belong to you. No matter who I meet, no matter whose body I share, my heart will always go to you. No matter what happens, it will be only you.”
“Yes. That’s enough for me.”
“Then… from now on, enjoy yourself without worry. Never feel anxious. Your heart is mine. Enjoy the pleasure I give you safely. And I will enjoy watching you look only at me. I will work hard for you because I know you only want me.”
Yu-jin stared at her in surprise. Seo-hyun remained serious.
Finally, her words were about the fear they both carried.
What if, even by chance, her heart slipped away? That was the greatest worry.
Seo-hyun had just declared she would throw that fear away herself.
Yu-jin could not help believing her. She would never change.
“……I understand.”
“Good. Then seal it.”
“Yes.”
He already knew what “seal it” meant.
Yu-jin leaned slowly toward her lips.