Do You Know About Netorase?
“Hey, honey. Do you know what Netorase is?”
“Huh?”
Around the time dinner had just ended, Jaeho couldn’t quite grasp the meaning behind the words his wife had tossed out so casually.
Jaeho was thirty years old and worked at Triple, a mid-sized manufacturing company. As a sales representative, his usual duties involved visiting existing clients to confirm orders, request increased shipment volumes, listen to feedback from the field, and introduce new products.
When overall sales dipped, he would also conduct cold calling and door-to-door sales aimed at completely new prospects.
In his younger days he had visited companies without any prior connection, but these days most of his sales calls came through introductions.
He had first met his wife, Kim Minji, when she was working as an office clerk at one of his client companies.
They had only seen each other’s faces a few times, but one day she looked particularly down, so Jaeho spoke to her first. That became the start of their relationship, which eventually led to dating and then marriage.
Two years had passed since the wedding. The sweet, passionate atmosphere of newlywed life had softened somewhat, but their marriage remained strong.
They didn’t have children yet, but both silently agreed that Minji, at twenty-seven, wanted to have their first child before turning thirty.
“What? What are you talking about?”
Jaeho had no idea what Minji was trying to say.
“I don’t know the details either, but I think it’s one kind of sexual preference.”
“I’ve never heard of it.”
“Apparently there are men who get sexual pleasure from watching their wives or girlfriends sleep with other men.”
“Something like that… exists? I can’t believe it.”
“I don’t know much about it, but that’s what they say.”
Jaeho couldn’t understand why Minji had suddenly brought this up, but he didn’t press her further.
That night, the words she had spoken refused to leave his head. What kind of perverted fetish was Netorase, exactly?
When he was alone, he took the chance to search for it online.
A flood of related information filled the screen.
There really was a fetish called Netorase. It seemed there were actual men who became aroused by letting other people sleep with their wives or girlfriends.
Most of it, however, consisted of fictional stories in videos, games, and novels.
Yet among them were posts that could only be real experiences, suggesting that a small number of men truly possessed this twisted preference. Jaeho found it hard to believe such men existed, but in any case it had nothing to do with him.
The very idea of letting another man have Minji was unimaginable, let alone enjoying it. Either way, it was a perversion that would never touch his life.
A few days later, after finishing dinner, Jaeho could no longer contain his curiosity and asked Minji about it.
“Hey, Minji. About what you mentioned the other day—why did you suddenly ask me about something like Netorase?”
Minji hesitated for a moment, then looked straight into his eyes.
“Oh, that. I just heard about it somewhere. Someone said their husband had that kind of hobby.”
“Hmm, so there really are men with that kind of taste.”
Minji’s eyes flickered subtly, as if searching for something, but Jaeho had nothing to hide and met her gaze calmly.
“Doesn’t it… bother you at all? That sort of thing.”
“Not at all. I can’t even begin to understand it. The thought of you with another man is something I don’t even want to imagine.”
“That’s a relief. I feel better knowing you don’t have that kind of fetish.”
Minji’s expression brightened noticeably as she let out a sigh of relief. It seemed she had been worried that Jaeho might secretly have a Netorase fetish.
But a question still remained.
“Why did you even think of that in the first place?”
He couldn’t understand why she would worry that he might possess a fetish he had never even heard of until now.
“Actually…”
Minji nibbled her lip, seemingly debating how much she should reveal.
“The truth is, someone told me you might have that kind of preference. I said there was no way, but they insisted I should at least ask… so I did, just to be sure. If it’s nothing, just forget about it.”
“I see…”
She had given him an explanation, yet something about it still felt off to Jaeho.
“Who is this ‘someone’? It’s someone who knows me, right?”
“It’s a secret. You don’t know them, so don’t worry about it. There’s no need to overthink it.”
Minji clearly didn’t want to say more, so Jaeho stopped pressing.
“I’m curious, but I won’t dig any further. Instead…”
Jaeho gently pulled her close and kissed her.
“Good. Tonight I want to enjoy myself with you too.”
Minji closed her eyes obediently and accepted his lips.
Late April, on a Friday night right before the May holiday, Jaeho invited his junior colleague Choi Hyunwoo out for drinks.
“Here, take this.”
“Thank you.”
Hyunwoo hunched his large frame and accepted the beer Jaeho poured for him.
Until March, Hyunwoo had been a new hire and had accompanied Jaeho on sales visits. Having played sports in school, Hyunwoo was taller and more muscular than Jaeho. Even so, to Jaeho he was an adorable junior on whom he secretly pinned high hopes.
After gaining some experience, Hyunwoo began making solo sales calls from April onward—specifically the difficult door-to-door visits targeting random companies. Jaeho had gone through the same thing in his youth. It was mentally exhausting, but it was also a rite of passage for shedding the “newbie” label, a process meant to temper and strengthen a person.
“How have things been lately?”
“Sigh…”
Hyunwoo stared down at his beer glass and let out a weak sigh. Of course Jaeho already knew that after nearly a month of cold-calling with zero results, Hyunwoo hadn’t closed a single deal. His slumped shoulders made it obvious to anyone that his spirit was broken. That was exactly why Jaeho had arranged this drinking session—to encourage him.
“You already know, right? I haven’t achieved anything in a whole month.”
It was Jaeho’s role as his senior to lift the spirits of his junior as he grumbled over his beer.
“It’s normal to have no results after only a month. You don’t need to worry about it at all.”
“Maybe I just don’t have any talent for sales?”
“No, that’s not it. I couldn’t close deals easily at first either. I probably only managed ten in my entire first year. Other guys were even worse. It’s normal, so stop overthinking it.”
“I might be at absolute zero. If that’s the case…”
Having achieved nothing for an entire month, Hyunwoo seemed to have completely lost confidence.
“Don’t worry about it. The purpose of door-to-door sales is to build guts and gain experience. From the company’s perspective, it’s a bonus if you happen to land a new client.”
“Is that so? But if I stay at zero, they’ll just label me as useless, right? I’ll be treated that way.”
Hyunwoo was clearly in a pessimistic spiral. In times like these, it was better to change the subject and lighten the mood. So Jaeho shifted topics.
“By the way, you joined mid-career, didn’t you?”
“Well, yes.”
Hyunwoo had worked at another company for three years after graduating before transferring to Triple as a mid-career hire. Yet he was still being put through the exact same training as brand-new employees, so he was probably anxious on the inside. That being the case, Jaeho wondered if they could make use of his previous experience.
“Why did you leave your last company?”
“There were various reasons.”
“Various reasons? Like what? Did they dump an unreasonable workload on you? Or was it a black company that didn’t pay overtime?”
Despite his impressive build, Hyunwoo had a gentle personality and was weak under heavy pressure. Jaeho suspected that might have been the issue. If the previous company was a notorious black company, they would need to avoid it as a sales target in the future.
“No, it wasn’t anything like that. The biggest problem was interpersonal relationships.”
It seemed the company itself was fine; the issue had been with certain employees.
“Was there bullying or something?”
Even as he asked, Jaeho found it hard to imagine the solidly built Hyunwoo being bullied.
“It wasn’t exactly bullying… I was teased a lot. They kept mocking me with the same words over and over, so…”
“What kind of teasing? You’re big, strong, and you graduated from a good university. What could they possibly tease you about? What exactly did they say?”
“It’s… a bit embarrassing to say.”
Hyunwoo clearly didn’t want to talk about it. Normally Jaeho would have respected his feelings and stopped asking, but the alcohol had loosened his tongue and he kept pressing.
“Come on, tell me. You can talk to me. I might even be able to help. I absolutely won’t spread it around the company.”
“No, it’s fine.”
Hyunwoo tried to dodge the question, but after Jaeho persistently asked several more times, he finally relented.
“Then… I’ll tell you. But you have to keep it an absolute secret. You really cannot tell anyone else. If I get teased about it again, I might not be able to stay at the company.”
“Yeah, I got it. Man to man promise.”
“Then… I’ll say it.”
Hyunwoo’s voice shrank until it was barely louder than a mosquito’s buzz.
“The truth is… I’ve never had any experience with women. I’m still a virgin.”
“Oh… I see.”
The completely unexpected confession left Jaeho momentarily speechless.
“Well, there are guys like that too.”
Having been in the sports club during university and possessing such a strong physique, Jaeho had assumed Hyunwoo would have been popular with women. To learn he had zero experience was surprising. For a brief moment, the ridiculous thought Maybe he’s gay? even crossed Jaeho’s mind.
“But why?”
“I’m interested in women, but… I just haven’t met anyone I really liked.”
Upon confirming that Hyunwoo was straight, Jaeho breathed an inward sigh of relief.
“In that case, there are places for that sort of thing.”
“I know, but it feels wrong to go to those kinds of places at this point.”
It seemed that besides his sunken mood from failing to close any contracts, he had other worries as well. But this particular problem seemed solvable. And if things went well, it might even blow away the very issue weighing him down.
“Do you have a woman you like, by any chance? If you do, I could set up a proper meeting so you could confess. You might start dating.”
“No, there isn’t anyone I want to date.”
Hyunwoo said it plainly, but Jaeho sensed something evasive in his tone.
“Then is there at least a type of woman you like? I don’t know that many people, but I can still ask around.”
“It’s not that I don’t have a woman I find attractive…”
It looked like there was someone he had feelings for, but he was having trouble saying it out loud. In that case, Jaeho thought he could look into it first, and if she was single, give Hyunwoo a push from behind.
“Then gather your courage and ask her out for coffee. You’ll be fine, Hyunwoo.”
“No, I couldn’t possibly. I’d feel too guilty.”
Jaeho couldn’t understand why he would feel guilty.
“Why would you feel guilty? Don’t give up before you even try. Tell me at least. Just confess it to me.”
“No, it’s okay. I really can’t tell you, Jaeho-ssi.”
It really seemed like there was someone he liked, but no matter how many times Jaeho asked, Hyunwoo wouldn’t open up. The fact that he specifically couldn’t tell Jaeho bothered him. Did Hyunwoo think he had such a loose mouth? Jaeho wanted to earn more of his junior’s trust.
“Why can’t you tell me? I promise I won’t get angry, laugh, or tease you. I really mean it. So just tell me.”
“If you insist…”
After being pushed so hard, Hyunwoo finally yielded. After a heavy silence, his voice came out trembling faintly.
“Then I’ll tell you. Are you… really sure it’s okay? I’m saying it. The woman I have feelings for… is Minji-ssi.”
“What?”
He had never imagined his wife’s name would come up, so Jaeho froze, breath caught in his throat.
Come to think of it, he had brought Hyunwoo home with him a few times during joint sales visits. Hyunwoo had met Minji then.
“It’s your wife, Minji-ssi.”
Hyunwoo spoke again, as if driving the nail in, yet his voice carried a note of resignation. Of course it would be harder than dying to confess to the husband that he liked the man’s own wife.
“Minji? You mean my Minji?”
It was true that Minji was an attractive woman, and Jaeho could understand why Hyunwoo had fallen for her. Still, an uncomfortable feeling stirred in the corner of his heart.
“Why her of all people?”
“Yes. Minji-ssi is beautiful, has wonderful taste, and above all she’s deep and kind. She’s different from other women. She’s truly amazing. More so than any woman I’ve ever met.”
Hyunwoo’s eyes sparkled like a pilgrim gazing at a holy site.
“Well, that’s true, but…”
Jaeho couldn’t find the right words to respond.
***
“I’m home.”
After wrapping up the drinking session at a reasonable hour, Jaeho returned home. The moment he opened the front door, the familiar scent of home greeted him.
“Oh, you’re back early.”
He had told Minji he was going out for drinks, so he had expected to return later, but the conversation had ended sooner than anticipated.
“Yeah, it just turned out that way. I was trying to cheer Hyunwoo up, but he was completely down in the dumps.”
“Did something happen?”
“You could say that.”
Minji served Jaeho a warm bowl of miyeokguk. The tender seaweed and plentiful rice grains in the broth felt like comfort itself.
“It seems door-to-door sales isn’t going well for him, so he’s really struggling. Well, it’s hard for a newbie to succeed right away, so he doesn’t need to worry so much. But he’s lost quite a bit of confidence.”
Minji sat across the table and listened quietly to Jaeho’s story. Her calm gaze helped settle his heart.
“Hyunwoo-ssi always seemed like someone who lacked confidence in himself.”
“He definitely lacks confidence. So I asked him what was causing it…”
Jaeho hesitated over whether he should tell Minji that Hyunwoo was still a virgin. Since he had promised not to tell anyone, it was probably better to stay silent.
“He seems to have various circumstances too.”
“I see.”
Minji seemed to sense there were things he couldn’t say and didn’t ask any further.
“Does he not have a girlfriend either?”
Minji naturally changed the subject.
“Doesn’t look like it. But here’s the thing.”
“What?”
Since the topic of Hyunwoo’s love life had come up, this might be a good time to mention it. It wasn’t something he had been asked to keep secret.
“Apparently he does have someone he likes.”
“If there’s someone like that, it would be good if she could encourage him. Wait… it’s not that the person he likes isn’t a woman, is it?”
“No way. Hyunwoo isn’t like that. He doesn’t have that kind of preference.”
Jaeho let out a small chuckle realizing Minji had been harboring the same silly worry he once had.
“But the thing is, that woman he likes…”
Jaeho hesitated for a moment. But having come this far, he couldn’t stop now. He swallowed once and continued carefully.
“That woman… the one Hyunwoo likes… is you, Minji.”
“What?! Me?”
Minji looked clearly surprised, but not entirely shocked. Instead, she slightly furrowed her brow as if something now made sense.
“Now that you mention it… there were a few signs.”
It seemed she had vaguely noticed something during their previous meetings.
“I see.”
“I had a feeling. He would stare at me intently, but the moment I looked back, he would quickly avert his eyes.”
“That happened?”
Jaeho had been completely unaware, but Minji had picked up on it sharply.
“But to me, Hyunwoo-ssi is nothing more than your junior. Nothing more, nothing less. No matter how much he likes me, that’s all there is to it. I would never even consider having an affair with him.”
Minji spoke firmly. There was no wavering in her voice.
“Of course. I trust you, honey.”
Jaeho scooped up a spoonful of miyeokguk and put it in his mouth. The warm, deep flavor slid down his throat.
Jaeho firmly believed that neither Minji nor Hyunwoo would ever betray him.