Lies
Lee Hyeonju woke up feeling a sticky dampness clinging to her entire body, as if she had slept under a heavy duvet in the dead of summer.
"Ugh..."
Her eyes were crusty and difficult to open from dried tear tracks, and her throat felt scratchy and dry, as if filled with sand.
As she struggled to sit up, she was startled by a profound lethargy and a subtle, aching pain throbbing throughout her body.
"What is..."
Her groggy mind wasn't functioning properly yet, leaving her unable to objectively assess her condition.
But the moment she moved her legs to step out of bed, a sharp, stinging pain flared between her thighs.
"Ah?!"
The sudden ache in such a sensitive area instantly jolted her awake.
Only then did she realize that her entire body was slick with sweat and fluids, and that she was completely naked.
"What...?"
Stunned, she blinked rapidly and looked down at herself.
Her disheveled hair fell into her field of vision. Red, bruised marks marred her skin in various places, looking as though someone had gripped her with bruising force.
The moment she saw the unmistakable bite marks and felt the throbbing ache between her thighs, a dark premonition welled up inside her.
It was just like that horrible morning she had experienced once before.
Waking up in the hospital room to a bone-deep exhaustion, a sharp pain between her legs, and above all, the sickening sensation of a foreign substance filling her lower abdomen.
"Haa... haa... haa..."
Hyeonju's eyes trembled violently as she was dragged back into the depths of that unforgettable memory.
Her frantic gaze darted around the room until she suddenly realized that this wasn't a hospital ward, but her own familiar bedroom.
"Huh...?"
On the bed, which was stained with a wide patch of dried bodily fluids, a naked man lay fast asleep.
She flinched.
An instinctual defensive reaction kicked in, sending a shiver down her spine and putting her senses on high alert.
Then, a beat later, she realized that the large, unfamiliar silhouette of the man was actually her beloved husband.
"Ah..."
She still hadn't gotten used to his recently bulked-up physique, which was why it had taken her a moment to recognize him.
Like her, he was completely naked, his body covered in marks that vividly suggested the sheer intensity of the previous night.
In particular, his massive member—which she still hadn't fully adjusted to—was smeared with dried semen, making it painfully obvious that they had made love.
"Y-You...!"
Hyeonju let out a raspy, indignant cry, her throat feeling as raw as if she had been screaming at a karaoke bar for hours.
She had never dreamed that he would take her while she was asleep.
Furious, she smacked the arm of her soundly sleeping husband with all her might.
*Smack!*
"Ow! That hurts..."
Unlike before, his arm was now solid muscle. Hitting his hard forearm only made her own palm sting.
But she couldn't just let her frustration go. She kept slapping his arms and chest to wake him up.
"Ugh..."
Rubbing the sore spots where she had hit him, her husband finally blinked his eyes open.
She glared at his dazed face and shrieked.
"Oppa!"
"Huh? W-What...? Uh..."
Realizing she was angry, her husband bolted upright in surprise.
He looked around the room in confusion, just as she had moments ago, before taking in her state and then his own. His face instantly drained of color.
"Oppa! I don't care how badly you wanted to do it! How could you attack me while I was asleep?!"
At her protest, her husband began to fidget anxiously.
At least he knows he did something wrong.
At this moment, Hyeonju had no way of knowing that Choi Jihun's panicked reaction carried a far darker meaning.
"And of all things, doing it while I was passed out from my narcolepsy! Do you have any idea how terrified I was when I woke up?!"
The memory of waking up in that hospital room after being raped by a stranger flashed through her mind.
The trauma of the assault itself was horrifying enough, but she also remembered the sheer despair of seeing red sirens flashing through the shattered window.
She had nearly lost her mind at the sight of her beloved husband, covered in blood, being wheeled away in an ambulance.
As she huffed in anger, her husband hung his head in apology, but then he suddenly froze.
"...?"
What was he looking at?
Following his gaze, she realized he was staring at her naked body.
"Ah..."
Only then did she register the fact that they were both completely, utterly naked.
Her face flushed bright red. She hurriedly grabbed the soiled blanket and wrapped it around herself.
"Oppa...!!!"
"Ah...! T-That's...!"
Too embarrassed and angry to say another word, she spun around and stormed into the bathroom.
"H-Hyeonju! Hyeonju! Listen to me!"
Ignoring her husband's desperate excuses as he knocked on the door, she washed herself clean.
When she finally came out dressed, her husband was waiting for her, looking thoroughly contrite and remorseful.
"Hyeonju, about that..."
"..."
She debated whether she should scold him harshly to make sure this never happened again.
Even between married couples, there were boundaries that needed to be respected.
Until now, they had always been considerate of each other, communicating and building their love together.
They had been the ideal couple.
Since he had never done anything like this before, she would normally have stayed firm and angry. But given everything they had been through recently, her heart softened toward him.
Feeling a wave of pity, she began to look for the cause of this incident within herself rather than blaming him.
Come to think of it, when was the last time Oppa and I made love?
So much had happened lately that they hadn't had the peace of mind to share an intimate moment.
Perhaps that was why a saying she had heard somewhere popped into her head: a man's sex drive is as strong as a woman's appetite.
At the same time, she wondered if her husband was truly satisfied with their sex life.
I was always satisfied, but maybe Oppa wasn't?
His gentle touch had always made her feel deeply loved.
Her satisfaction had been high, but she couldn't help but wonder if it had been different for him.
He must have been so desperate to do it the very day he was discharged... and to even resort to taking me while I was asleep...
Looking at her husband standing there so pitifully, the maternal instinct and patience she had developed during her years as a kindergarten teacher began to stir.
"H-Hyeonju. I can explain everything..."
"I'm sorry, Oppa."
Her husband's face turned pale at her apology.
Seeing him look so terrified, as if he expected her to ask for a divorce, made her feel even guiltier.
"Oppa. Now that I think about it, it really has been a long time since we last made love, hasn't it?"
"Huh? Ah, y-yeah."
She stepped closer and gently cupped his cheeks with both hands.
His newly broadened chest felt unfamiliar, but she leaned into him anyway, finding comfort in his sturdy embrace.
The distinct, musky scent of his sweat washed over her, making her heart flutter in a strange way.
Suppressing the sudden warmth rising within her, she continued.
"If you want to do it, just tell me. We're married. I don't want you keeping it all bottled up inside."
"H-Hyeonju..."
"I'm sorry. I'm still a bit inexperienced with these things, so I didn't think about it. But still, taking me while I was asleep was a bit much."
She swallowed the words that it had almost triggered her trauma from that night.
Looking at the surgical scars on his body, a warped sense of maternal protectiveness welled up inside her, telling her she shouldn't push him too hard in any aspect.
"N-No... that's..."
"Hmm?"
Her husband hesitated, his lips parting and closing as he struggled to find the right words.
What is it?
Seeing the anxiety and anguish etched on his face, she instinctively sensed that he was hiding something from her.
What could he possibly be trying to hide at a moment like this, when they were on the verge of a marital dispute?
What was weighing on him so heavily that he had to choose his words so carefully?
A flurry of questions bubbled up in her mind and vanished just as quickly, but because she loved him, she waited patiently.
Finally, her husband opened his mouth and offered a feeble, apologetic thank you.
"I-I'm sorry. And thank you. To... to be honest... it's been... really hard..."
It was a lie.
Her husband was lying to her right now.
She didn't know what the lie was about, but she was absolutely certain of it.
Should I pretend not to notice?
He had always tried so hard to maintain the boundaries of their marriage, which she often spoke of.
Knowing how gentle he was, she had no doubt that this was a white lie meant for her sake.
Since he was the man she had sworn to spend the rest of her life with, the man she loved so dearly, she chose to turn a blind eye to the lie.
"Okay. I accept your apology, so let's leave it at that! I'll do my best to make sure you don't have to jump me in my sleep anymore. Let's... do it more often."
"At her words, her husband's eyes shook violently, like a ship caught in a raging storm.
Is it because his personality is still the same despite his bigger body? Why is he so cute?
Truthfully, her face was still burning from exposing her naked body in the bright daylight and seeing his member so clearly, but they were husband and wife.
A marriage couldn't survive if only one side was doing all the giving, so she waited patiently for his response.
Finally, her husband managed to squeeze out a strained but firm reply.
"Yeah. Thank you."
At that moment, Lee Hyeonju had no idea.
She had no idea that they had just crossed a point of no return.
Choi Jihun stood blankly under the hot stream of the shower.
What had happened last night was not a dream.
The countless marks left not only on his own body but also on his wife's battered his exhausted mind, forcing him to face reality.
His mind was already in tatters, and now he had even lied to his wife.
Why did I do that...
The moment he saw his wife's naked body bathed in the warm morning light, his heart had pounded furiously.
If her sharp, angry voice hadn't snapped him back to reality just as his erection was about to swell, he would have made a pathetic fool of himself.
He had intended to confess everything and beg for forgiveness.
He had the video, so he was going to use it to convince her somehow, but all he received was his wife's gentle understanding.
Damn it... Damn it! Damn it!
When she suggested they make love more often, he should have denied it and told her the truth.
But the dark seed of lust buried deep within his chest reared its head, whispering, Are you really going to reject that offer?
The memory of the terrible yet ecstatic sensation of Jang Mansu using his body to hold his wife, along with the raw excitement of it, surged back, eating away at his sanity.
He felt a burning thirst, his head growing hot, as if he had consumed a forbidden fruit he should never have touched.
And so, the words that escaped his mouth had been an agreement.
"Phew... Phew... Phew..."
Beneath the cascading water, his erect member caught his eye.
Standing tall as if last night's relentless coupling hadn't been enough, it looked monstrously hard and grotesque.
F-First... let's just observe the situation.
He needed to figure out what on earth was happening to him first.
After finishing his shower, he put on a mask of normalcy and went about his daily life with his beloved wife.
Thus, their precarious daily life continued, like walking on heavily cracked glass.
Whenever he looked at his wife, his lust boiled over, filling him with a desperate urge to thrust into her. His physical affection increased dramatically, and his wife accepted it, treating him like a mother soothing a spoiled child.
There's been no sign of Jang Mansu waking up over the past few days.
Monitoring himself to ensure his wife didn't notice anything off was no easy task.
At the same time, he closely observed her to see if she found him strange, all while gathering information about the phenomenon happening to him.
But he couldn't find the answers he wanted.
"There's no information..."
Even if he wanted to search, he didn't know what to look for, how to search, or where to seek help. It was incredibly difficult to uncover anything about his condition.
"Should I just tell her the truth?"
There was no telling when Jang Mansu might wake up in his body again and assault his wife.
Honestly, assaulting only his wife would be the best-case scenario.
He could end up attacking random women on the street or committing violent crimes.
Since he was essentially carrying an uncontrollable time bomb, he had to take action as soon as possible.
So, for the time being, he hid the parts that might reopen his wife's trauma and broached the subject using metaphors to help her understand.
"Memories you don't know?"
"Y-Yeah. I know it sounds weird, but sometimes memories of things I've never experienced pop into my head, and my taste in food has changed too."
"Like you've become a different person?"
Her casual remark shook him so deeply that his shoulders visibly flinched.
Seeing his serious expression, his wife seemed to realize that this wasn't just some absurd joke.
"Since when has this been happening? Is it really hard on you?"
She took his hand, her face filled with deep concern.
The warmth of her hand triggered a chaotic storm of conflicting emotions within him—sorrow and lust, two feelings that should never coexist.
"No, I'm fine. But if I ever start acting strangely..."
"Don't worry, Oppa! I'll take good care of you!"
Her bright, innocent declaration left him utterly speechless.
What he had actually wanted to say was that if things got bad, she should run and hide from him.
But why?
His heart began to race frantically, and his body grew hot.
"...Gulp."
Swallowing hard against a burning thirst, his trembling eyes swept over his wife's body.
A fierce desire to ravish the soft, feminine body hidden beneath her clothes welled up inside him.
The nightmare-like video, over two hours long and saved in his phone's album, replayed in his mind.
The ecstatic sensations felt as if they were engraved onto his very flesh, returning to him with vivid clarity.
"Oppa?"
"Ah..."
His wife's voice calling out to him snapped his lust-drowned mind back to reality.
What on earth am I thinking...
To think he actually wanted to see his wife panting in another man's arms again!
He had to be going mad.
"N-No, it's nothing. I'm sorry. T-Thank you, Hyeonju. If anything like that happens..."
Contrary to his intentions, his voice trailed off.
He had to tell her to run away from him, to stay far, far away.
But all that rose from his throat was the damp, stifling heat he had tasted that night.
Choking on that heat, he couldn't utter a single word. His wife spoke to him gently.
"Don't worry, Oppa. Just trust me. Let's go consult a doctor first."
She gave him her usual sweet smile.
That smile was blindingly beautiful.
After making that half-hearted confession to his wife, they went to the hospital to consult with his primary care physician.
Once the consultation was over, the couple sat side by side in the park they had visited once before, organizing the information they had just received.
"The cellular memory hypothesis..."
Upon hearing about his situation, the doctor had introduced the concept of the cellular memory hypothesis.
The doctor explained that while the hypothesis lacked scientific evidence, it was the closest match to his symptoms.
He described it as a rare phenomenon sometimes observed in organ transplant recipients like Jihun.
Recipients might suddenly develop an interest in a new genre of music, gain the ability to ride a bicycle when they couldn't before, or experience inexplicable emotions and sudden flashes of memories.
"It's okay, Oppa. The doctor said other people have experienced it too, even if it's rare. You'll get better in time."
His wife laced her fingers through his to reassure him.
The touch of the wedding ring on her left ring finger felt incredibly foreign and chilling.
It instantly reminded him of the night he suspected his wife had first been assaulted by Jang Mansu.
Even with his eyes closed, he could vividly picture her slender hand twitching above his head, and his groin grew heavy.
When he closed his eyes and let out a low groan to suppress his lust, his wife seemed to misinterpret it.
"Oppa. Should we get something delicious to eat before going home today?"
"Huh? So suddenly?"
"It's been so long since we last ate out. We can change the mood, have a drink at a nice place... and..."
Though she maintained her usual quiet and calm demeanor, she suddenly spoke in a soft, sultry voice as she closed the distance between them.
His heart pounded at the blatant invitation that no man could possibly mistake.
Sitting on the park bench where their misfortune had first begun, she was wearing the exact same outfit she had worn the day she was diagnosed with narcolepsy.
A woman with a voluptuous body that even her pure white dress couldn't hide, her gentle impression highlighted by a bright yellow cardigan.
This mature, married woman was looking up at him with a sultry gaze, her cheeks flushed.
His mind understood that he had to refuse, knowing that the beast named Jang Mansu could emerge at any moment. Yet, the words that escaped his lips were the exact opposite.
"Should we...?"
He knew his wife was acting this way on purpose to keep her promise of making love more often.
The realization that he was acting like a beast, taking advantage of his wife's gentle consideration and goodwill, filled him with self-loathing—and a bizarre sense of arousal.
"..."
A sudden thought struck him: was his very existence being contaminated by Jang Mansu's lust and way of thinking?
The unforgettable, ecstatic sensations, the dizzying excitement, and the suffocating heat he had felt that night clung to his body and mind, refusing to let go, twisting him from within.
But for now, he decided to ignore it.
Just once should be fine, right? Yeah, there won't be any issues. He's been quiet all this time. In fact, keeping it bottled up might cause more problems. I can't just keep running away.
Things had been quiet lately, and surely nothing terrible would happen just from making love to his own wife.
So, just this once would be fine.
No, if anything, he needed to test it.
Having finished rationalizing his decision, he took a step forward, following his wife as she walked ahead.
"Oppa, hurry up. I'm hungry."
"Alright. What do you want to eat?"
"Hmm~ let's see~ Since it's been a while, should we have some wine? How about a nice Western restaurant with a good atmosphere?"
Walking ahead of him, his lovely wife turned back to look at him with a bright smile.
He smiled back at her.
Though he was smiling, he could feel his member twitching beneath his trousers, as if it, too, were starving.