Han Ji-eun
Han Ji-eun
I couldn't say anything for a while.
It wasn't because I failed to understand Yuna's request.
It was because I had understood it far too precisely.
"Let me get this straight."
I wet my dry lips with my tongue.
"So, for you to get pregnant, I have to sleep with another woman while you watch?"
Even after saying it aloud, I couldn't believe it.
Yuna gave a small nod, pulling the blanket up to her chin.
"Probably......"
"Probably?"
"Sera didn't say she was certain either. It's true that I'm a hybrid, and that what I saw in the Daydream was my true desire. But she says we have to verify firsthand whether that will really put me into a fertile state."
Ultimately, it meant we wouldn't know until we tested it.
And I was the person being used for that test.
"Wait."
I dragged my palm down my face.
My head was a mess.
The fact that my wife was actually a succubus hybrid.
The fact that she had to fulfill a hidden desire to have a child.
And the fact that this desire involved handing her husband over to another woman.
Even taken one at a time, they were hard to believe. Having them all come pouring out at once was overwhelming.
"Is this Daydream thing really reliable?"
"Yeah."
"And this friend of yours, Sera, didn't lie?"
"She isn't the kind of person who would."
There was no hesitation in Yuna's answer.
That actually made things feel even more hopeless.
"Let's go back to the hospital first."
"I told you, a human hospital won't be able to find it."
"Then we can go to a demi-human hospital."
"It'll leave a record."
Yuna tightly gripped the edge of the blanket.
"We might have to register as a hybrid again, starting from scratch. Then the company could find out too. I still... I still don't want to take it that far."
I couldn't immediately argue with that.
The days when being a demi-human meant legal disadvantages were long gone.
At least on paper.
But the law couldn't change people's opinions.
Especially when it came to succubi.
I could understand why Yuna was afraid to reveal the truth.
Understanding it and accepting her request were two entirely different matters, though.
"Does it have to be that friend?"
The moment I asked, Yuna's eyes went round.
Only belatedly did I realize what I had just said.
Did it have to be that friend?
It sounded like I might do it if only the partner were changed.
"No, that's not what I meant."
"The person from my Daydream was Sera,"
Yuna hurriedly said.
"And she's someone I can trust. She isn't the kind of person who would spread strange rumors or do anything bad to oppa."
"It sounds like you're already asking her to do something bad."
"That's......"
Yuna's voice grew quiet.
"Because I'll be giving my permission."
Permission.
That word only made the situation stranger.
This was about my body, so why was Yuna the one giving permission?
Of course, it was better than sleeping with another woman without my wife's permission.
That didn't make it normal, though.
"Oppa."
Yuna carefully placed her hand on the back of mine.
"If you don't want to, you don't have to."
Contrary to her words, her fingers tightened around my hand.
"If you really hate it, I'll give up."
"......"
"So could you think about it just once?"
She looked as though she might cry at any moment.
Yuna wanted a child.
I already knew that.
But this was the first time I realized how desperately she wanted one.
She had only pretended to be fine because she was afraid I would worry too.
I turned Yuna's hand over and held it palm-to-palm.
"I can't answer right now."
Yuna's eyes drooped slightly.
Seeing her expression softened me.
That didn't mean I could decide something like this while being swept up in the moment.
"I'm not saying no."
"Then?"
"Give me time to think."
I gave Yuna's hand a light squeeze.
"I'll think it through properly and answer you."
Yuna studied my face for a long time.
At last, she gave a tiny nod.
"Okay."
That night, we fell asleep holding each other.
But sleep didn't come easily.
Yuna seemed to be having the same trouble, shifting positions several times in my arms.
I knew we were both awake.
Even so, neither of us said anything.
Even if I hadn't slept properly, I still had to go to work.
No matter how big a problem arose at home, the company messenger would start ringing at nine in the morning.
Only family and friends cared about a working person's circumstances.
"Assistant Manager Kim, did you look over the material I asked for yesterday?"
Not even ten minutes after I sat down, Department Head Choi asked me that.
"I'm checking it now."
"Give me your opinion before lunch. I'll attach a new hire to you in the afternoon, too."
"You mean me?"
"We have a new hire who came in through the special demi-human admissions track. Apparently, she lived in the Demi-human Residential District for a long time and majored in demi-human consumer culture at university."
Department Head Choi pointed with his chin at the market research materials open on my monitor.
"Do you think we'll find an answer by sitting among ourselves and staring at estimates? We need to hear the opinion of someone who actually lived there."
"Even so, is it all right to throw a new hire who's barely joined straight into actual work?"
"That's why I'm pairing her with you."
Department Head Choi smiled as if he had thoughtfully arranged everything for my sake.
"Assistant Manager Kim will teach her about company work and clients, while she can tell you about aspects of life in the district that you don't know. If you fill in each other's gaps, it'll be perfect."
It sounded reasonable.
If I ignored the fact that I had to handle market research and new-hire training at the same time.
"She'll be joining your team, so start working together from the beginning. I'll send her to your desk this afternoon."
This was the first I had heard of it.
I was about to protest, but Department Head Choi had already turned away.
New-market research and new-hire training on top of that.
The company had a habit of piling more work onto anyone they'd once mistakenly put in charge of a task.
I swallowed a sigh and turned my attention back to the monitor.
The screen displayed materials about expanding into the Demi-human Residential District.
Population estimates by district.
Consumer tendencies by species.
Previous failed attempts by existing companies.
The more I read, the more I realized how much I didn't know.
Health drinks sold in vampire residential areas had been returned in full because they contained garlic extract.
Beastfolk clothing had drawn a flood of complaints because the tail positions couldn't be standardized.
The contract for electronics supplied to a harpy district had been terminated because they were difficult to operate with their feet.
Some problems could be understood through common sense.
But there were far more problems that couldn't be understood through human common sense alone.
Would it be the same for succubi?
My hand stopped moving the mouse.
Yuna's words from last night came back to me.
She wanted me to sleep with another woman.
This wasn't exactly something I should have been thinking about while commuting to work like normal and writing reports like normal.
I shook my head and tried to focus on the materials.
But the moment I saw the phrase "reproductive characteristics by species," my thoughts returned to where they had started.
Below it, the pregnancy conditions and fertile cycles of the major demi-human species were organized in a table.
My gaze stopped at the column labeled succubus.
Reproductive functions inactive under normal conditions.
If sexual desire is sufficiently satisfied and the mana within the body is activated, the subject temporarily enters a fertile state.
Hybrids show wide individual variation in activation conditions and cycles, and too few confirmed samples exist.
It wasn't much different from what Yuna had told me.
Until last night, I had wondered whether something had gone wrong somewhere.
But the materials from the company were confirming Yuna's words in calm, matter-of-fact sentences.
I checked the source listed below the screen.
Ministry of Health and Welfare, Demi-human Medical Research Institute.
At the very least, it seemed Sera hadn't simply made the story up on the spot.
How long had Yuna been worrying about this alone?
Even on the day she came back from the hospital, she had smiled and said she was fine.
Yuna had been the one to say first that we were still newlyweds and could take our time.
I had taken those words at face value.
I really thought she was fine.
It wasn't so much that Yuna had hidden it skillfully as that I hadn't looked closely enough.
"Assistant Manager Kim-nim?"
I raised my head at the unfamiliar voice.
A woman I had never seen before was standing beside my desk.
She wore a neat suit.
Her black hair was tied low at the back, and she wore round glasses that covered nearly half her face.
She was carrying an armful of new-employee training materials.
"I'm Han Jieun, newly assigned here."
The woman bowed deeply.
"I look forward to working with you from today onward."
The woman paused briefly to catch her breath.
"My registered species is succubus."
The sound of keyboards around us diminished for a moment.
Everyone was looking at their monitors, but it was obvious their ears were pointed this way.
Succubus.
It was the species whose reproductive characteristics I had been reading about only a few minutes earlier.
For no particular reason, I switched the report window to another page.
Yuna's friend was a succubus too, she had said.
That didn't mean there was any reason to connect the new hire in front of me to her.
It wasn't as though only one or two succubi lived in Seoul.
"Ah, yes."
I hurriedly stood from my seat.
"I'm Assistant Manager Kim. You heard that I'd be in charge of your training, right?"
"I just heard."
Of course she had.
I had only just heard it myself.
Jieun raised her head.
The eyes behind her glasses stared at me for a moment.
She looked somehow familiar.
But if I had known someone who wore glasses that large, there was no way I would have failed to remember her.
I was probably just tired.
"I'll show you your desk first."
I led Jieun to an empty desk at one side of the office.
After the previous occupant had suddenly quit, it had been used as half storage room.
Documents with no owner were piled beside the monitor, and there was even a delivery box of unknown age tucked beneath the desk.
"Hold on."
I took the materials she was carrying and set them down beside us.
I cleared away the documents and pulled out the box.
Only after wiping down the desk with wet wipes did it finally become a place where someone could sit.
"I'm sorry. I should have tidied it up beforehand."
"It's not something daeri-nim needs to apologize for."
"Still, you're on my team from today."
When I pulled out the chair for her, Jieun blinked.
"Do you always treat new hires this well?"
"I'm not treating you well. I'm just doing what needs to be done."
"Other places would call that treating someone well."
Jieun gave a small laugh.
The stuffy impression created by her glasses changed slightly when she smiled.
Her eyes were more striking than I had expected.
There was a beauty to her that even those glasses couldn't conceal.
And that wasn't all.
The bust straining against her suit had so much presence that I had trouble figuring out where to look.
"Let's start by logging into your computer."
I turned my gaze toward the monitor for no particular reason.
Training the new employee went more smoothly than expected.
Jieun remembered most things after hearing an explanation only once.
She picked up the internal company systems in no time.
There were even moments when I was the one being taught.
"I think the beastfolk clothing standards in this material need to be reclassified."
"Why?"
"We can't group canines and felines under the same standards. Even the directions their tails move are different."
Jieun pointed to part of the material with her fingertip.
"And harpies are different, too. The species whose wings branch off from their arms and the species whose wings are attached separately to their backs need to be separated. The current sample mixed the two species together."
"How do you know all this?"
Jieun's finger paused for a moment.
"I studied demi-human consumer culture at university."
"That was your major?"
"That, and... I happen to know some demi-humans, too."
Jieun gave an ambiguous smile and let her words trail off.
Whatever the case, it was clear that she was helpful.
I set the binder Department Head Choi had given me down on Jieun's desk.
"Then could you take a look at this, too?"
"Is this my first assignment?"
"It's the market research I was assigned for demi-human residential areas. For now, just help me review the materials."
Jieun pulled the binder toward herself as if she had been waiting for me to say that.
"I'll do my best."
Her voice was strangely bright.
I assumed it was the enthusiasm of a new hire.
When lunchtime arrived, I stood and spoke to the team members.
"We have a new hire joining us, so let's all eat together today."
The people who normally shouted out their menu choices went unusually quiet.
Manager Park glanced at Jieun.
"But can Employee Han... eat the same food as us?"
He pretended to ask cautiously, but his voice carried all the way to the opposite side of the office.
Jieun answered with a smile.
"Yes. There aren't any foods I specifically avoid."
"Oh, really?"
Only then did Manager Park nod as if reassured.
Even so, he soon pretended to check his phone.
"Sorry, but I had a prior engagement today."
"I'm supposed to eat with someone from a client company."
"I have to stop by the bank."
It took less than a minute for nonexistent appointments to materialize.
In the end, Jieun and I went down to a restaurant near the company for lunch alone.
Jieun looked completely unfazed.
If anything, she seemed accustomed to reactions like that.
"Is there anything you want to eat?"
"What about you, daeri-nim?"
"I don't have any particular preferences either."
"Then let's eat whatever you like."
"Don't do that on your first day. Tell me what you want to eat."
After thinking for a moment, Jieun pointed at the sign of a rice-soup restaurant.
"That place."
"Would rice soup be all right for a new employee's first lunch?"
"Why not? It's filling and good."
She seemed like a more down-to-earth person than her appearance suggested.
Even during the meal, most of our conversation was about work.
The company's main clients and the atmosphere within the team.
I even gave her the practical advice that she needed to be especially careful whenever Department Head Choi smiled while handing out work.
"Then when he asked you to look over those materials with a smile earlier..."
"It's urgent."
"I'll remember that."
I couldn't help laughing at the way she whispered it.
Jieun stopped her spoon and looked at me.
"Why?"
"I was just thinking, so daeri-nim does smile."
"What did you take me for?"
"At first, I thought you were a little scary."
Jieun pushed her glasses up with her index finger.
"But you're much kinder than I expected."
For a moment, I couldn't find anything to say.
It was nothing special, but it still made me feel strangely self-conscious.
"Just eat your rice soup. It'll get cold."
"Yes, sasu-nim."
Jieun smiled and lowered her head.
Her reddened ears were faintly visible beneath the arms of her glasses.
Yuna's request never left my mind on the way home.
More precisely, it kept coming back whenever I almost managed to forget it.
A family sitting across from me on the subway caught my eye.
The little girl sitting between the young couple clung to her father's arm with a sleepy expression.
What would it be like if Yuna and I had a child about that age?
I hoped the child's eyes would look like Yuna's.
It would be better if the child's personality resembled Yuna's, too.
If we had a quiet child who took after me, the house would probably become too quiet.
By the time I finished thinking about that, I was already standing in front of our home.
When I opened the front door, Yuna came out as usual.
"You're home?"
"Yeah."
Yuna watched my expression but didn't bring up what we had discussed last night first.
The same was true while we ate dinner.
How was work today?
Was the new-market research manageable?
What was the new hire who had arrived like?
She asked questions and smiled as usual.
But every time she set down her spoon, I could feel her watching my reaction.
I was the one who had asked for time to think.
It felt cowardly to keep making her wait.
"Yuna."
Yuna's shoulders flinched.
"Yeah?"
"About what you said yesterday."
Yuna put down her spoon.
I took a sip of water.
I had thought about it all day at work.
There were still many parts I couldn't understand.
Honestly, I was afraid, too.
Even before we got married, Yuna often talked about having children.
She said it didn't matter whether it was a son or a daughter.
The child didn't have to be good at studying or possess any special talent.
But there was one thing she definitely wanted to give her child.
A home where someone was always waiting when the child came back from school.
A home where the child could open the refrigerator without worrying about anyone's reaction.
A home where the child wouldn't have to throw away their belongings every time the family moved.
She wanted to build a family like that.
Back then, I had thought Yuna simply wanted to become a good mother in some vague way.
I only heard after we were married that Yuna had moved from one relative's home to another when she was young.
No one had thrown Yuna out.
But she had never been able to stay anywhere for long.
Whenever the seasons changed, she packed her things and had to watch the mood of the new household she was staying with.
Maybe that was why, even on the day she first moved into our home, Yuna asked me several times if she could really continue living there.
I had laughed and asked why she was questioning something so obvious.
Only now was I beginning to understand what those words had meant.
Yuna didn't merely want a child.
She wanted to complete the first home she had ever had with the family she had never had.
And she didn't want to pass on the same loneliness she had experienced to the child who would grow up in that family.
I didn't want to make Yuna give up that wish.
"I'll try."
Yuna's lips parted slightly.
"Really?"
"But there are conditions."
I held up my fingers one by one.
"It can't be forced. If I say we're stopping, it ends immediately. And I have to meet your friend first."
"Okay."
"And if either one of us changes their mind, we call the whole thing off as if it never happened."
"Okay. We'll do that."
Yuna nodded several times.
Her eyes quickly turned red.
"Thank you."
Yuna stood up and threw herself at me.
I barely managed to catch hold of the chair.
"Wait, that's dangerous while we're eating."
"Thank you, oppa. Thank you so much."
Yuna wrapped her arms around my neck and wouldn't let go.
Even as I comforted my wife while she cried from happiness, I felt conflicted.
I had effectively just received permission from my wife to sleep with another woman.
Yet Yuna thanked me as if I were someone who had decided to make an enormous sacrifice.
She might not have been entirely wrong.
"When are you going to tell your friend?"
"I'll ask her first."
"She might say no."
Yuna's expression turned awkward for the briefest moment.
"Sera will probably be okay with it."
Her answer came far too quickly.
Yuna avoided my gaze and started clearing the table.
"I haven't asked her directly yet, so I can't say for certain."
Her words were cautious.
But there was no sign on Yuna's face that she was worried Sera might refuse.
Instead, the tips of her ears turned red, like someone hiding something that would be troublesome if discovered.
It was a little suspicious, but I didn't ask any further.
We'd find out when we met her.
We'd find out when we met her.
A week passed after that.
At work, the amount of time I spent with Jieun naturally increased.
Department Head Choi decided that the demi-human residential-area research was suitable for training a new hire.
I wasn't sure whether it was suitable for training, but it certainly seemed suitable for dumping work on someone.
Jieun followed me around without complaint.
She organized the materials, called the companies, and stuck small notes on anything I had overlooked.
Every time we left work, she would bow deeply and say,
"See you tomorrow, daeri-nim."
The title that had felt unfamiliar at first had become fairly familiar by then.
Friday evening.
A message came from Yuna.
She said her friend had accepted the request.
Then she asked if she could bring her home that day.
It was more sudden than I had expected.
After thinking for a moment, I replied that it was fine.
Meeting her first had been my condition, after all.
It didn't mean we had to do anything right away.
That was what I told myself.
But the closer I got to home, the heavier my steps became.
I was only meeting my wife's friend.
It was an ordinary introduction.
Except for the fact that this friend might sleep with me in the future.
It wasn't ordinary at all.
I took one deep breath in front of the door, then entered the passcode.
When I opened the door, I saw a pair of unfamiliar women's shoes.
"You're home?"
Yuna's voice came from the living room.
"Perfect timing. We were just talking."
I took off my shoes and went inside.
Yuna gestured toward the living room.
"Say hello. This is Sera, the friend I told you about."
The woman sitting on the sofa stood up.
A gray suit and black hair tied low at the back.
Even the round glasses covering nearly half her face were exactly the same as earlier that day.
She was Employee Han Jieun.
The smile that had been hanging around Jieun's lips froze in place.
I stopped, too.
"Assistant Manager Kim-nim?"
"Employee Han Jieun?"
Yuna looked back and forth between us with an expression of complete confusion.
"Huh?"
Only belatedly understanding the name that had come out of my mouth, Yuna turned toward Sera.
"Han Jieun?"
Sera pushed up the frame of her glasses with a stiff expression.
"That's the Korean name I use at work."
At that moment, everything connected.
She was the new employee I'd spent the past week looking after as her sasu.
She was the very friend my wife had asked to fuck me.