The End of the Cradle
"Sleep with that guy? Gross."
"You think I wanna?!"
I couldn't help raising my voice, firing back at Seonyu's pointed finger.
Our loud voices echoed across the lawn, making Hari and Jiha's shoulders twitch in unison.
I glared straight at Seonyu's flushed, red-hot face and snapped.
"I didn't beg anyone to do anything for me! I'm freaking out just like you after hearing this, so quit looking at me like I'm some bug!"
"W-what?! You little shit…!"
Flames sparked in Seonyu's big black eyes.
She clenched her fist like she was about to grab my collar, then yelled in fury.
"Fuck that! I'd rather bite my tongue and die than do it with a loser like you!"
"Who said I wanna do it with you? I'd never touch someone with your temper even if I was dying!"
"You're pushing it now!"
Whoosh!
Just as Ha Seonyu stormed toward me in a huff.
Silver hair slipped smoothly into my view.
Before I knew it, Woohee unnie stood between us like a wall.
"Both of you, calm down."
Unnie's voice was so cool it sent a chill through the air.
But up close, even her usually pale ears were flushed red with blood.
Clearly, she was struggling to keep her composure too.
"Not all of us have to do it with Woohyun."
Unnie's precise words sliced through the garden air and scattered.
"Just one of us needs to."
The moment those words landed, the garden's taut tension snapped in a whole new direction.
Not everyone—just one!
The ripple from that tiny difference was massive.
Seonyu awkwardly lowered her raised fist, biting her lip.
"We still have 90 days. Don't get emotional—think rationally."
Woohee unnie added calmly.
Rational thinking.
But no one in this garden could manage that right now.
We knew the basics of male and female anatomy and reproduction from Mama's health classes.
But we'd never connected that knowledge to our own reality.
We'd always seen each other as family.
It had nothing to do with us.
"Just one person…."
Hari murmured in a mosquito-like voice, cupping her flushed cheeks with both hands.
Her eyes shook wildly, wandering the air, then met mine for a split second.
She flinched!
Hari hurriedly dropped her gaze to the ground.
Her nape, peeking through her long bangs, was bright red.
"So… one of us with Woohyun oppa…."
Jiha buried her face in her hands and squatted down right there.
Her face, visible through her fingers, was red enough to burst.
I ruffled my hair roughly and rubbed my dry face.
The anger from bickering with Seonyu moments ago was gone, replaced by sheer embarrassment and awkwardness coursing through my veins.
My eyes turned to Haru unnie, slumped on the grass with her knees hugged tight.
Her head was bowed, the usual warm, reliable head-of-household gone.
Only a fragile, terrified girl remained.
"Haru unnie."
I approached cautiously and knelt on one knee beside her.
Her shoulders trembled faintly.
"Let's… get up for now. Not here—let's go inside."
I offered my hand, and Haru unnie slowly lifted her head.
Tear-filled brown eyes looked up at me.
Normally, she'd take my hand without a second thought.
But she hesitated, glancing between my hand and my face.
That brief pause cruelly reminded me our air had changed forever.
Finally, she carefully placed her hand over mine.
Zing—!
The instant her fingers touched my palm, a strange heat surged across my skin.
Just from our hands touching.
Hands we'd held hundreds of times before.
I'd never realized her body heat was this intense until today.
I pulled Haru unnie up, but she quickly let go and brushed her skirt.
Her eyes never met mine.
"Haru unnie, let's go inside. We can talk more in the mansion."
Woohee unnie wrapped an arm around Haru unnie's shoulders and led her toward the house.
No one objected.
We trudged up the wooden steps and through the entrance in heavy silence, like we'd planned it.
Walking the hall to the living room, I was hyper-aware of breaths and footsteps I'd ignored before.
The rustle of clothing.
Gulps of nervous dry swallows.
Every tiny sound scraped my nerves raw.
All six of us sat around the living room sofas.
Normally, this time would've buzzed with energy.
Jiha fussing about vacuuming, Seonyu kicking my shin to hurry up and pack, Haru unnie tying her apron with a smile—a peaceful scene.
But not now.
Haru unnie and Hari huddled at opposite ends of the long sofa.
Woohee unnie sat arms-crossed on the armchair opposite.
Seonyu didn't even sit, leaning against the wall by the window, glaring at the towering concrete ceiling outside.
And Jiha, who always stuck to my side, now knelt on the floor a safe distance away, clutching a cushion tight.
I sat awkwardly alone on the middle sofa, hands clasped tight.
I had no idea where to look, so I counted the floor patterns.
Hari broke the silence.
Clink, thunk!
She'd quietly brought six glasses of water from the kitchen and set them on the table.
"W-water… have some water, everyone."
Her fingertips trembled faintly.
As she placed mine down, her slender finger brushed my hand ever so lightly.
"Ah…!"
Hari yanked her hand back in shock.
Like she'd been burned.
Her cheeks flushed peach-pink, and she frantically rubbed her hands on her apron.
"S-s-sorry! Ah, no… sorry, Woohyun."
"Huh? Oh… no, it's fine. Thanks, Hari."
My tongue tripped too, sounding like an idiot.
Just a graze, and my heart pounded wildly.
The mere touch of a girl's skin sharpened every sense in my body.
Woohee unnie sipped her water, then spoke calmly.
"Let's confirm again. Haru unnie, tell us exactly what Mama said—word for word."
Haru unnie gripped her glass with both hands, eyes fixed on the surface, and slowly spoke.
"Within 90 days… we must attempt the breeding act."
Her voice still quivered faintly.
"A successful… vaginal ejaculation… must occur…."
The words slipped from Haru unnie's lips, and the living room air swelled like it might explode.
Cough!
Seonyu, leaning against the wall, choked on her saliva and hacked violently.
Hari nearly spilled her glass in a fluster, while Jiha plugged her ears and shook her head no.
My face burned like fire; I clenched my fists tight.
Vaginal ejaculation.
The blunt biological term from textbooks tore viciously through our family shell.
"She said… the act only needs to happen with one person. And… afterward, the two involved must report directly to Mama…."
Haru unnie bit her lip, unable to finish.
Her white nape flushed deep red.
Woohee unnie narrowed her eyes.
"Report? Mama's dormant now. How?"
"Mama's system… detects heartbeats and biometrics to spot lies. If the two hold hands in front of her… she'll judge the truth."
Conditions that choked the breath away.
No shallow tricks allowed.
We'd have to actually do it, stand before Mama carrying the vivid memory of mingled body heat and breaths, and prove it.
"And if we fail within 90 days?"
Woohee unnie cut to the core.
"Electricity and water to the mansion… will be restricted gradually."
Haru unnie's voice grew wet.
"Meaning… we'll all die."
"…………………………"
Sticky silence bound us.
Mama, why…?
The only system we depended on in this massive concrete greenhouse was threatening us.
"So…."
Seonyu, huffing by the window, irritably swept her bangs and spoke.
"One of us has to roll in the hay with this bear?"
Her tone was still rough, but her eyes weren't fierce anymore.
Confusion and bewilderment shone through.
Her gaze flicked briefly to my crotch, then snapped to the ceiling in panic.
Seonyu's cheeks burned bright red.
"Watch your words. It's not 'rolling'—it's a survival mission."
Woohee unnie corrected coldly, but Seonyu scoffed.
"Survival or whatever! Same difference! This is insane!"
Seonyu clawed her hair and thunked her head against the wall.
Hari timidly raised her hand.
Pink eyes peeked through her long bangs, wide with fear.
"Um… but we've… never done anything like that…."
Her voice trailed off.
"We know how in theory… but no one's actually tried…."
She hit the nail on the head.
None of us had experience.
How could we? We'd grown up for 20 years seeing only each other's faces in this concrete world.
We'd never even seen each other fully naked.
Okay, I'd snuck peeks at the girls' bodies out of adolescent curiosity, but that was it.
Once mature, I'd never fantasized about undressing my childhood friends or sisters and going further.
"And Mama said…."
Haru unnie squeezed out the words.
"To refer to the… sex education books in the underground storage."
"Books?!"
Seonyu yelped in horror.
"Follow a book step-by-step? We're not robots like Mama! Plug in inputs and get perfect outputs?!"
"What else can we do?!"
Haru unnie finally snapped, raising her voice.
Tears welled in her eyes as she glared at Seonyu.
"You think I wanna say this?! It's 90 days! If no one does it, we all die! What am I supposed to do?!"
Everyone fell silent at Haru unnie's outburst—the always calm, kind unnie.
She covered her face and sobbed.
Burden as head of household, guilt for delivering this horror to her siblings, shame as a woman—all exploding at once.
"Haru unnie… don't cry…."
Hari approached and gently hugged her shoulders.
Hari's eyes were red too.
I stared blankly at my hands.
My hands, my body—now the key to our survival.
I had to enter one of these five girls and leave my mark to save us.
No one said it, but the same question hung in everyone's mind.
So, who?
I'm the only guy, so that's settled.
Which girl would share her body with me?
My eyes met Jiha's, sitting on the floor.
She looked up at me with big, clear eyes, clutching her cushion.
The pure gaze that followed me like a big brother since childhood.
But now, it held a strange mix of fear and awkwardness.
"W-Woohyun oppa…."
Jiha called in a trembling voice.
"So oppa would… in bed… me?"
"Jiha!"
Woohee unnie sharply cut her off.
Unnie's face had lost all composure, flushed beet red.
"It's too early for… such specific imaginings."
Woohee unnie pressed her forehead with a deep sigh.
My heart nearly leaped out; I cleared my throat and looked away.
Jiha's blunt words planted vivid images in my head.
The naked bodies of the girls in this room.
…Like my crush Haru unnie, panting beneath me.
Thump.
Thump, thump!
My heartbeat hammered my eardrums.
A faint stiffness stirred where it shouldn't; I quickly crossed my legs to adjust.
This was madness.
Even now, my lower half reacted like an animal.
Damn it, Jin Woohyun, you idiot.
What're you gonna do if you get hard here…?
"For now…."
Woohee unnie scraped together cold reason to wrap things up.
"Everyone go to your rooms and think it over. We can't decide this today. We have 90 days."
We all nodded silently.
No one wanted to linger in this suffocating living room a second longer.
Even standing was a chore.
Normally we'd bump shoulders and joke, but now we desperately kept distance, avoiding even clothing brushes.
As I rose from the sofa.
Something thunked to the floor.
The empty water bottle that'd rolled out of my bag, tossed on the living room floor earlier.
As I bent to pick it up, Hari and Seonyu beside me both flinched and stepped back.
Like they feared I'd pounce.
That reaction stabbed my chest.
We can never go back….
Our family bond shattered with Mama's single command.
Now we had to see each other not as family, but as man and woman who'd mix bodies for survival.