Chapter 59: Gaslighting
Chapter 59: Gaslighting
A warm meal was set upon the table.
Having finished his workday, Do-jun sat lost in thought as he ate the dinner his wife had prepared.
His mind was a tangled mess of worries and suspicions.
Unable to focus on his work because of them, Do-jun had been making constant mistakes and facing rebukes from his demanding boss. Yet, despite the professional pressure, his head remained filled with nothing but doubt and anxiety regarding his wife’s recent change in attitude.
Do-jun stole a glance upward.
‘…Should I ask her?’
His wife was silently and meticulously chewing her food.
He could endure the stress from work and his boss’s scolding, but his wife’s sudden shift in behavior was becoming unbearable.
It felt as though a distance had grown between them, though he couldn't pinpoint exactly when it started.
Even during their phone call yesterday, her voice had been thick with an inexplicable, honeyed stickiness. Yet now, facing her across the table, only a heavy silence hung between them.
Do-jun cleared his throat and spoke.
“Honey. Did you have fun yesterday?”
“Hmm? Oh, yeah, it was fun. It’s been so long since I saw my friend that I ended up drinking more than I intended.”
“Are you feeling okay? No hangover?”
Seo-hyun gave a light smile.
“I’m fine now. I had a bit of a headache this morning because of the hangover… but I’m perfectly okay now.”
Was it just his imagination?
Something about his wife’s answer bothered him.
For someone who claimed to have suffered from a hangover that morning, her complexion seemed unusually bright, and there was a lingering sense of excitement about her.
Suddenly, last night’s phone call flashed through his mind.
—I’m eating ice cream… slurp, smack.
The wet, squelching sounds of saliva he’d heard over the phone.
At first, he had simply thought she was eating ice cream, but the more he thought about it now, the more things felt strange.
It wasn't that he wanted to doubt his wife.
But his heart remained restless.
“Honey. Can I ask you one thing?”
“Sure. What is it?”
“You… you still love me, right?”
“Of course I love you.”
Seo-hyun answered quickly, her expression turning puzzled at Do-jun’s sudden question.
“What’s this all of a sudden? Did I do something wrong?”
“It’s just that your attitude seems to have changed a lot lately. You barely talk to me anymore, and you’re always staring at your smartphone. And your clothes and makeup… they’ve become so provocative lately.”
“…My clothes and makeup are provocative?”
Seo-hyun set her chopsticks down.
Her husband’s sudden interrogation.
Of course, it was exactly as she had anticipated.
‘……I knew he was suspicious.’
Her husband wasn't a fool.
Seo-hyun had already expected that he would try to feel her out like this eventually.
Because of that, she responded with perfect composure.
“Honey, do you know you sound a little strange when you talk like that? Can’t I just want to look pretty with my makeup and clothes? And it’s not like I’m dressing that provocatively. I’m just wearing what’s in style these days.”
“You’re a mother. You should still be a little more mindful of—”
“Am I not a woman just because I’m a mother? There are times when I want to make myself look beautiful, too. Am I just someone who takes care of the kids and does housework?”
Seo-hyun stared at Do-jun with a cold expression.
Encountering that angry gaze—one he hadn't seen since the very early days of their relationship—Do-jun found himself momentarily speechless.
“Ho-honey……”
Seeing the deep hurt in his wife’s eyes, Do-jun’s mind fell into chaos.
Just as the anxiety that his attempt to probe her had been a mistake began to rise, Seo-hyun spoke in a chilling voice.
“Fine. It’s true that my attitude has changed lately. I’ve been acting a bit cold toward you on purpose, and I’ve been dressing up and doing my makeup more intentionally. Do you have any idea how much stress I’ve been under lately?”
“.....What?”
Do-jun stared at her blankly.
Seo-hyun spoke each word with sharp clarity.
“Because of your erectile dysfunction, I’ve been feeling miserable lately.”
“Ho-honey. I……”
“Do you even remember the last time we had sex?”
Seo-hyun’s question was blunt.
Do-jun had no words as his wife brought up the erectile dysfunction that they had both implicitly avoided mentioning.
In the face of his wife’s cold, hardened expression, the only thing he could do was hang his head and listen to what followed.
“At first, I thought it was all my fault. Did I lose my charm as I got older? Do you not see me as a woman anymore? Those thoughts tortured me every night. Because you can’t get an erection even when you’re looking at me.”
“Ho-honey, that’s absolutely not it! You’re still beautiful!”
“Then why can’t you get aroused when you see me?”
Do-jun was silenced by Seo-hyun’s gaze, which seemed to demand an explanation.
He knew in his head that erectile dysfunction didn't mean his love had cooled, but his heart ached when he thought of the wounds and stress his wife must have endured because of his condition.
“That’s why I dressed up more. I did my makeup prettier and wore nicer clothes. I felt like that was the only way I wouldn't feel so small when I went outside.”
Seo-hyun deliberately shifted the blame onto Do-jun.
It was a classic gaslighting tactic.
As she blamed her recent behavior and changed attitude entirely on Do-jun’s erectile dysfunction, the life slowly drained from his expression.
“Ah.....”
Do-jun’s shoulders shook.
He had been so caught up in his own insecurities and suspicions that he hadn't truly considered the stress and pain his wife must have been feeling.
Seo-hyun glared at him slightly and said, “Do you have any idea how hard it’s been for me?”
“I-I’m sorry. I really……”
“Forget it. I don’t want to blame you anymore either.”
Seo-hyun set her chopsticks down and stood up.
“I’m going to go out for some fresh air.”
“…….”
“I’ll be back in about thirty minutes.”
With that, Seo-hyun threw on a light coat and walked out the door.
Left alone in the house, Do-jun blankly set down his chopsticks and sank into thought.
.
.
.
After his wife left the house.
The dinner she had prepared for him was growing cold on the table.
Do-jun sat alone, lost in a daze.
—Do you have any idea how miserable I’ve been?
Her voice echoed in his mind like a recurring nightmare.
While he hadn't even thought about properly resolving his erectile dysfunction, he had never truly considered how anxious and stressed his wife—who had to endure all that time by his side—must have felt.
Why hadn't he realized it until now?
‘My wife... is a woman, too.’
Had he been too bound by the formal relationship of "husband and wife"?
He had momentarily forgotten the fact that his wife was simply a woman who wanted to be loved.
Seeing her husband unable to get an erection no matter how hard he tried, her pride as a woman must have been utterly shattered.
Sex is important in a marriage.
No matter how deeply a couple loves each other, the affection that comes from a physical relationship cannot be ignored.
—I’m going to go out for some fresh air.
The way his wife had stood up as she said those words.
Her eyes had been cold, and her expression looked as if she were completely disappointed in him.
As he recalled that chilling gaze—one he had never received from her before—Do-jun suddenly felt a thrilling surge of excitement run down his spine.
At the same time, his pants bulged.
“Ugh……”
Do-jun let out a groan of bewilderment.
His thing, which wouldn't get hard no matter how much he struggled, had easily become erect just by thinking of his wife’s cold eyes.
He had experienced a similar reaction recently, and seeing his member become erect so tactlessly even in a moment like this left his mind in a whirl.
‘It never reacts when I want it to…’
Why did it have to get hard now, of all times?
He felt embarrassed, ashamed, and on one hand, utterly pathetic.
Yet, at the same time, a thought occurred to him.
‘……Maybe this is the clue to solving my erectile dysfunction.’
For his wife’s sake, he felt he could no longer turn away from this situation.
He became convinced that the reaction in his lower body wasn't just simple lust, but a clue that could lead him to the root of the problem.
Do-jun immediately headed for the bathroom.
“Whew……”
A throbbing sensation pulsed in his groin.
His cock was still rock hard.
Do-jun sat on the toilet, lowered his pants, and gripped his long-dormant erection in his hand.
Stroke, stroke, stroke—
“Ugh, honey……”
Do-jun pictured his wife.
His always kind and beautiful wife.
His other half, whom he had sworn to spend his life with.
However.
<Honey, I’m disappointed in you.>
As he imagined his wife’s cold demeanor, an indescribable, thrilling excitement made Do-jun’s cock even harder.
Since her attitude had actually been cold lately, it wasn't difficult to imagine.
But Do-jun went a step further in his imagination.
He imagined a version of his wife that had completely changed.
<Still can’t get it up?>
In his mind, his wife sat in a chair with her legs crossed, wearing a noble and arrogant expression.
And Do-jun was kneeling abjectly at her feet.
<You pathetic piece of shit.>
The imaginary Seo-hyun spoke.
Even though it was just a fantasy, the thought of his wife swearing at him made his cock twitch.
<No wonder you have erectile dysfunction.>
<Ha, you really walk around with that tiny thing and call it a cock?>
The imaginary wife poured out a torrent of insults.
With her legs crossed, she toyed with him, mocking his small penis—something that had always been an inferiority complex for Do-jun.
These were words the wife he knew would never say, but strangely, imagining her degrading him brought on an uncontrollable wave of arousal.
Stroke, stroke, stroke—
“Haa. Haa……”
Do-jun jerked his cock like a madman.
And in less than a minute, he ejaculated.
Spurt—
By normal standards, it was a meager ejaculation, but for Do-jun, it was the most semen he had produced in years.
That was how incredibly aroused he was.
By imagining his wife degrading him, he had felt an excitement unlike anything he had ever known.
“Haa, haa…….”
Twitch, twitch—
Do-jun checked his member, which remained erect even after ejaculating once.
He decided that when his wife returned home, he would have a serious talk with her about his condition.