Saturday's Torment
Saturday dawned, but Jaeho and Minji didn’t go out anywhere in particular. They spent the day quietly at home. The appointment with Hyunwoo wasn’t until evening. It would have been fine to leave the house during the day, but Jaeho used the excuse that Minji shouldn’t get tired and stayed in. The truth was, he himself was in no mood for it at all. As evening fell, Minji began preparing to head out. No matter how you looked at it, she was taking far more care with her makeup than usual. Do you really enjoy throwing yourself at Hyunwoo that much? The words rose in Jaeho’s throat, but he forced them back down. After all, he was the one who had encouraged all of this. He didn’t even have the right to complain.
“Honey. I’m heading out now. Are you really going to be okay?”
Minji, having finished dressing up beautifully, looked even more stunning than usual. She was so captivating that even Jaeho found himself falling for her all over again. If he could, he would have asked her out on a date right then—a hot, passionate night together.
“Yeah.”
Jaeho answered in a deliberately curt tone.
“You don’t look well. Are you okay? If you’re not feeling good, we can cancel tonight.”
Jaeho’s complexion was clearly terrible to anyone who saw it. The unpleasant emotions he couldn’t voice seemed to have drained every last drop of color from his face.
“No… Hyunwoo’s been so excited all week. Canceling now would feel too cruel…”
If it had been an ordinary promise, Jaeho would have canceled in a heartbeat, but the thought of Hyunwoo’s face stopped him. After building the man’s expectations so high only to crush them at the last second, how devastated would he be? He never should have brought it up in the first place. Now he could no longer stop Minji from leaving.
“If that’s how you feel, then I’m relieved… So, I’m really going? You’re sure it’s okay?”
“Yeah… It’s a promise. But remember what I told you earlier. You must keep those conditions no matter what.”
He couldn’t stop her from giving her body, but he had drawn an absolute line at kissing or finishing inside. Both Hyunwoo and Minji had to honor that promise. It was the final pillar barely holding together Jaeho’s crumbling heart.
“I know~”
Minji answered lightly, and Jaeho had no choice but to trust her.
“And… even after doing something like this, you still…”
“Of course I love you.”
“I love you too… that’s why.”
“Thank you, honey.”
Was it only his imagination, or did Minji’s smile feel somehow more sensual than usual?
“Well, it’s about time.”
Checking the clock, if she left now and walked slowly to the station, she would arrive right on time. Hyunwoo might already be waiting out front.
“It’s already… come to this.”
There was no longer any excuse to hold her back.
“Minji… you’re going. But… please keep in touch.”
“Yes, I will. But when would be a good time to message you?”
“Anytime. As many times as you want. I’m just… worried about you.”
If he set specific times, each incoming message would let him guess exactly what she was doing in that moment. That seemed too much to bear, so Jaeho left the timing open. Still, he wanted to believe she would message him faithfully.
“Okay. I’ll be late if I keep talking. I’m going.”
Jaeho held back the words threatening to spill out and saw her off at the front door.
“Have a good time… Minji.”
Even after her figure had completely vanished, Jaeho remained rooted in the entryway for a long time. It hurt far more than he had imagined. It was a feeling he never wanted to experience again. He couldn’t believe there were husbands in the world who actually enjoyed this.
Only a few minutes after Minji left the house, the first message arrived.
The fact that she had safely met up with Hyunwoo brought the tiniest sliver of relief. At least she hadn’t been grabbed off the street by some strange man and dragged away. With Hyunwoo beside her, clumsy creeps probably wouldn’t dare approach her. But the fact that she was destined to end up in that same Hyunwoo’s arms meant he couldn’t relax. Instead, the anxiety rolled in like waves, exactly as scheduled.
A few minutes later, another message from Minji arrived.
Hyde was a rather upscale family restaurant. Hyunwoo probably had no experience dating women and didn’t know any proper atmospheric places. A family restaurant, at least… gave Jaeho some small sense of reassurance. Even if the prices were a bit high, Hyunwoo could probably cover it, and it wasn’t the kind of place that would sweep Minji off her feet.
Soon after, a photo came through. It showed Minji smiling brightly with a mouthwatering steak placed in front of her. Since Minji was in the shot, it had clearly been taken by Hyunwoo. And the smile on her face in the picture looked completely genuine. Jaeho tried hard to believe she was simply happy because Hyde’s steak was delicious. He refused to even consider that she might be smiling because she was enjoying her date with Hyunwoo.
From the photo alone, Jaeho couldn’t tell which it was.
It was time for him to eat dinner too. He reheated the meal Minji had prepared earlier and sat alone at the table for the first time in a while. The lonely meal was over in the blink of an eye. With nothing else to do, Jaeho turned on the TV, but the noisy voices on screen didn’t register at all. He scrolled through news on his smartphone, yet the letters simply spun in front of his eyes while his mind remained completely blank. He no longer knew what to do with himself.
Jaeho collapsed onto the sofa and closed his eyes. Sleep was impossible. All sorts of dark, obscene fantasies swirled chaotically through his head. Then his smartphone vibrated briefly, announcing a new message. Jaeho shot upright and snatched the phone from the table.
He felt he should reply with something, but no words came to mind. He didn’t want to admit it, but once he had given permission, he could hardly tell her not to go through with it now. And even if he sent no reply at all, Minji would still walk into that love hotel with Hyunwoo. In the end… he had to say something.
Was this really fine? Shouldn’t he have stopped her? Endless conflict tore through him as he gripped the phone so tightly it felt like it might shatter. Then the smartphone rang again. Another message.
If he was going to stop his wife, Jaeho knew this was the last chance. But when he thought of Hyunwoo’s anticipation and Minji’s determination, he couldn’t bring himself to block them.
That was all he could send.
The decisive moment was approaching. Jaeho suppressed the urge to beg her to stop and barely managed a reply.
But the message from his wife refused to change to “read.” Of course, if she had really gone to wash, that was only natural. Still, Jaeho waited desperately for a reply. After that, convinced the next message might come at any second, he clutched the phone and waited endlessly. About thirty minutes passed before another message from Minji arrived. At that length of time, Jaeho could still endure it.
It seemed to have ended without any major issues. Considering the time spent washing up, it felt surprisingly quick, but since it was their first time, that was probably normal. In any case, it was over now. He could finally relax.
He believed she would return immediately.
It seemed Hyunwoo had finished before he could even do it properly.
It was true—the goal had been to give Hyunwoo confidence. If they left him traumatized instead, the whole thing would be meaningless. But Jaeho didn’t want to grant permission so easily.
Even if Jaeho refused, it didn’t seem like Minji or Hyunwoo would easily accept it.
Now Jaeho would have to endure another stretch of this hellish time.
Minji’s reply came immediately. Beyond the message, Jaeho could clearly picture her face smiling brightly.
Jaeho decided to cling to the “I love you” she had given him as emotional support.
Once again, his messages remained unread for a long time. After that, no further messages came from Minji. No matter how he tried to reason with himself, right now—at this very moment—she was almost certainly in Hyunwoo’s arms. He had permitted it, so it was only natural. He had no one to blame but himself. Only now did crushing regret wash over him in waves, sinking into his bones as he wondered why he had ever allowed this. And he still couldn’t believe there were men who actually took pleasure in this kind of agony.
Jaeho couldn’t hold back and sent several messages, but Minji didn’t read them. Either her phone wasn’t nearby, or… she was too occupied to look. Was she lost in passion with Hyunwoo right now? With no way of knowing, Jaeho could only burn with anxiety and endure the time helplessly. The idea that anyone could feel excitement or pleasure in a situation like this was simply impossible.
When his sense of time had grown completely hazy, a message from Minji finally arrived.
Guessing what “over” meant made his stomach twist even more, but the fact that Minji was returning filled him with joy.
He wanted to see her face as soon as possible, so Jaeho replied in a hurry. No matter where she was, he was ready to run to her.
He wanted to reach the place Minji had told him about even a second sooner, so Jaeho moved frantically. Even though rushing there would be pointless if she hadn’t arrived yet, he still couldn’t slow his steps.
“Did you wait long?”
When Minji finally appeared a few minutes later, Jaeho was so overwhelmed with relief and joy he didn’t know what to do.
“No, I just got here too.”
He had tried not to show that he’d arrived early and waited, but Minji seemed to have noticed anyway.
“Really?”
He felt the soft press of Minji’s breasts as she wrapped herself around his arm. It was the same skinship as always, yet in that moment Jaeho’s excitement surged at the warmth of her body.
“By the way, what about Hyunwoo?”
He asked about Hyunwoo, who was nowhere in sight.
“Who knows.”
Minji gave a vague answer, and Jaeho didn’t press further. Right now, the most important thing to him was that Minji had returned safely to his side, that they were together again.