Conflict (1)
Even if Jang Hye-yeon and Wang Sian called each other rivals, their relationship had never been that vicious when they were little. Wang Sian had always been the one to make a show of it, but Hye-yeon had still liked having a girl her own age as a friend.
Then came the incident that tore even that thin label of friendship clean off.
Something set them off, and the argument escalated. Even children that young knew how to drive a blade straight into each other’s hearts.
“You don’t even have a mom, do you?”
No matter how mature or thoughtful an eight-year-old might be, that was far too cruel a blow to take. Jang Hye-yeon crumpled right there on the spot and sobbed. She cried her eyes out, asking herself why she had no mother.
Wang Sian had never expected her to cry like that and was thoroughly flustered. She apologized, but it wasn’t nearly enough to stop the tears.
From that day on a deep chasm opened between them, and they ran on parallel tracks that never met again. That distance had lasted until now.
Jang Hye-yeon scattered feed across the surface toward the goldfish that were already gaping for more. The water slapped and churned. Her gaze drifted from the nearby pond to the distant mountains. The view was so beautiful it almost stung the eyes. She often came to sit in the rear-garden pavilion like this, simply to enjoy the natural world.
While her eyes were still caught on the brilliant autumn leaves, footsteps crunched over the gravel. Her head snapped around. It was Lee Kang-jun.
The moment she confirmed it was him, her gaze whipped away again. Her expression went rigid. Somehow the reaction was pure reflex.
“You come here a lot, huh?”
Kang-jun settled quietly beside her and asked. Hye-yeon answered in a stiff, businesslike tone.
“If you’re done with whatever you came for, go take care of your own business.”
“Why so cold? Between us?”
“Between us…”
She started to speak, then clamped her mouth shut. She didn’t want that animal seizing on her words and running off to her aunt with threats about telling or not telling.
“What about between us?”
“…Nothing.”
“Say it.”
Kang-jun casually rested his hand on her thigh. Hye-yeon startled, slapped it away at once, and swept the surroundings with her eyes, checking whether anyone was watching. Then she glared at him.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!”
“I just put my hand there. What’s the problem?”
“We’re outside. It’s daytime!”
“Ah, so if it were indoors and nighttime, that would be fine?”
“Even if I said it wasn’t fine, you’d still do it.”
“No. If you say you don’t want it, I won’t.”
Kang-jun smiled in a way that made her skin crawl.
“Like it or hate it? Tell me. Now.”
Hye-yeon clenched her teeth hard for a moment and jerked her face away.
“Not going to say it?”
“I like it. I said I like it. Happy?”
“Doesn’t sound very sincere, but I’ll let it slide today.”
More footsteps approached over the gravel. Kang-jun grinned and whispered again.
“Company’s coming.”
Hye-yeon turned toward the sound. Wang Sian—that girl. She walked over with elegant, measured steps and settled lightly opposite the two of them. …She had definitely grown much prettier since those days. More womanly.
“May I join the conversation?”
“Of course.”
Kang-jun offered a kind, good-natured smile. Hye-yeon felt something off and turned her eyes back to the pond, but the gaping goldfish no longer registered.
“You two seem close.”
“Ah, we almost were.”
“…Almost?”
Hye-yeon swallowed hard and pricked up her ears, though she pretended not to.
“I guess I didn’t really appeal to her. To Hye-yeon.”
“Ahh, I see.”
When Wang Sian chimed in like that, Hye-yeon suddenly felt uneasy—strangely so.
“Well, these days we just hang around as close friends.”
“Can a man and a woman really be friends?”
“No reason they can’t.”
“Never worked for me.”
“Depends on the people. This friend of mine, Hye-yeon—she’s a good friend.”
“Yes, she’s a kind girl. Pure-hearted, and talented.”
Hye-yeon hated every word coming out of Wang Sian’s mouth. It felt as if she were looking down from above. Still, she stayed silent.
“Is Hye-yeon in a bad mood right now?”
“Ah, we were just talking for a bit, the two of us, and I think I bruised her feelings a little. Wasn’t my intention.”
Kang-jun’s tone shifted slightly on the words “wasn’t my intention.” Hye-yeon shot to her feet and looked back and forth between them.
“I just remembered something I have to do. I’ll go first.”
She left the pavilion and strode hard across the gravel. She was angry and, at the same time, anxious. It was a truly strange feeling. Sitting in that pavilion had felt like sitting on a bed of thorns.
Back in her room she scrubbed her face raw. The light makeup washed away in moments. She gripped the edge of the sink for a second, lifted her wet face, and looked in the mirror. Strangely, Wang Sian’s face rose in her mind and she began comparing herself. Could she look that pretty if she put on makeup too?
No. What am I even thinking?
Hye-yeon dried her face with a towel and sat back down at the vanity. As she smoothed on lotion, the thought crept in: were the two of them still talking in the pavilion?
…What does it matter if they talk or not?
Then, almost in defiance, she found herself wishing they would just get together already. If that happened, Kang-jun would be pulled away from both her and her aunt.
Yeah. If those two connect, I’ll be free of this hell.
Thinking that, she flopped face-down onto the bed. …The place where she had spent those intoxicating nights with Kang-jun. The hazy memories of those nights flickered through her mind.
I’m crazy. What am I thinking?
Hye-yeon squeezed her eyes shut and gritted her teeth. She forced the excuse that it was just youthful blood, an unavoidable physiological reaction.
But her body, which had gone so long without a man, would not be governed as easily as her mind. It wanted him. It wanted the pleasure that tore screams of ecstasy from her throat.
She wanted to touch herself.
She wanted to touch between her legs.
But Hye-yeon endured. She held on and held on again. This was exactly what that bastard wanted. If she lost even this, she would truly be defeated.
So she quickly changed into her training uniform and fled to the dojo as if escaping the room. Disciples were already practicing with sharp shouts. Her father had gone into the city for work yesterday and would return the day after tomorrow.
Everyone stole glances at the dojo’s single flower. That bare, pure face without a trace of makeup was far too beautiful. …None of them knew she was desperately fighting the lust boiling inside her.
Master the heart. In the end the body follows the mind—
Hye-yeon went to a corner, sat facing the wall, and controlled her racing emotions with deep breaths.
Cooling a body already flushed with heat was no easy task. Yet she held firm and overcame it, the way she always had.
Then she rose, swung her sword, and sat again. Repeating that cycle, two hours slipped past before she knew it. Her body was already soaked in sweat.
Her heart felt considerably lighter. But the moment she happened to meet the pair of them in the corridor, that peace shattered in an instant.
Wang Sian spoke first.
“Oh, coming from the dojo?”
“Yeah.”
“Then see you at dinner. Oh, and I’ve decided to stay the night. Father’s just having dinner and leaving.”
Even Hye-yeon, who clung to indifference, couldn’t help asking.
“Why?”
“Work. Oppa’s going to drive me to the branch tomorrow.”
“Ah… is that so?”
“Mm. Well, bye. Ugh, I need to wash up quick. I smell like sweat.”
Ah. Hye-yeon pressed herself against the wall for no good reason, afraid Kang-jun might catch her own sweat scent.
No—what does it matter if he does or doesn’t!
The two of them brushed past her. Her mind was in turmoil. …Her heart was far too unsettled.
Back in her room she immediately stripped off the sweat-soaked uniform and stepped into the bathroom. Under the cascading water she glanced for a moment at her own sex. The sparse hair there still left the flesh pale and bare.
That animal. That devil. That perverted bastard.
She scrubbed her body hard with a towel.
Oppa? Ha, fine. Birds of a feather, go play together. Perfect. Let them screw around however they want. All I need is Auntie.
But even that failed to console her enough. Auntie no longer gave her the same attention as before. …Every scrap of her aunt’s interest was fixed solely on Kang-jun.
Hye-yeon felt like an outcast. Tears threatened to rise. She forced them down. She mustn’t cry. Crying meant losing. Her chin crumpled, but she held on.
After wrestling with her emotions in the bathroom for a long while, she came out—and nearly screamed at the sight of a dark figure sitting on her bed. It was Kang-jun.
“Y-you can’t just walk in without a word—!”
She hastily covered herself with the towel.
“Why are you here again!”
“Just because. Am I not allowed?”
She meant to say no, but somehow the words wouldn’t leave her mouth. Without answering she walked stiffly to the wardrobe. When Kang-jun rose quietly, Hye-yeon sensed something and whipped her head around.
“What are you doing right now?”
“What does it look like? Watching.”
“Then why are you coming closer? I-it’s not even night! There are people everywhere!”
“Lie down.”
“No!”
“Lie down.”
“I don’t want to…”
Kang-jun crouched silently in front of her and simply smiled. Still.
Unable to endure his gaze any longer, she finally lowered herself slowly to the floor. Her still-damp skin trembled.
“Spread your legs.”
Hye-yeon gave a tiny shake of her head.
“Now.”
Strangely, her body obeyed his words without resistance. Sensing it, Kang-jun smirked.
“Rival shows up and you start feeling the pressure, huh?”
“Bullshit!”
Defiance made her snap her legs shut again.
“Not going to open them?”
“No.”
“That so? If you don’t want to, nothing I can do.”
Ah—
“W-where do you think you’re going!”
“Wherever I damn well please.”
“Fine, fine. I’ll do it.”
Kang-jun grinned. He hadn’t even mentioned going to her aunt. Whether she had jumped to conclusions or something inside her had shifted, he would have to watch a little longer.
Hye-yeon spread her legs again. Pubic hair had grown in like a day or two of stubble.
“Pussy hair’s grown a bit, huh?”
She averted her eyes a little.
“Open it.”
She obediently reached down and parted her sex.
“You know how to ask for it, right?”
Of course she did. Still she hesitated.
“P-please suck my pussy…”
Kang-jun pressed his face right against her crotch and began licking and sucking her sex. Fresh from the bath, she smelled of soap.
“Eup, hhk.”
She struggled to kill the moans. If anyone else heard, it would be disaster.
Kang-jun’s tongue drew her pleasure upward with exquisite, deliberate skill.
It felt too good. Everything she had been holding back burst free at once. All that restraint was finally being rewarded—
“The rest… next time.”
Kang-jun pulled away abruptly. Hye-yeon stared at him with a face that asked why he had stopped. He smiled crookedly.
“Want more? Say so if you do.”
“…Why would I want that!”
“Then whatever.”
Kang-jun left her room without so much as a glance back. Still lying there with her sex spread open, Hye-yeon suddenly realized the state she was in and scrambled up.
…It had felt good. Just a little more and—
She thought she might go insane. This time it was truly hard to endure.
That bastard’s testing me. He’s toying with me.
Hye-yeon clenched her teeth. She would never move the way Kang-jun intended. She went back into the bathroom, turned the cold water on full blast, and cooled her body. It was autumn now, so she shivered quite a bit, but it was better than writhing in heat.
Haa, haa—
Will he come to me tonight?
The instant the thought formed she slapped her own cheek hard. Crazy bitch. Crazy bitch!
She put on clothes and lay down on the bed for a moment.
Jang Hye-yeon went to find her aunt. The moment she saw Jang Hwa-young sitting gracefully and reading, everything felt washed clean.
“Auntie.”
“Yes, Hye-yeon. What brings you?”
“I just… wanted to see you.”
Jang Hwa-young’s eyes widened a little; she hadn’t expected her niece to act so spoiled. But she soon opened her arms with a gentle smile. Come here.
They held each other tightly. Warmth passed between them.
“Auntie, you know… you’re all I have, right?”
“Hye-yeon… I’m sorry. Auntie is sorry.”
“…What?”
Just then a man yanked the sliding door open and strode in. Lee Kang-jun. He suddenly stripped off his clothes, shoved Hye-yeon aside, and covered Jang Hwa-young. In an instant both were naked and began coupling.
Ang, ang, ha-eung, ha-ang—!
“How’s my cock?”
“Mm, mm, ang, Kang-jun’s cock, ah, mm, good, so good—”
No, no—
Hye-yeon covered her eyes and ears and shook her head. Kang-jun finished once inside Jang Hwa-young and came toward her.
“I don’t want to, I don’t!”
“Then don’t.”
Kang-jun turned back toward her sprawled aunt. Ah—! Hye-yeon panicked and clung to his leg.
“No, I’ll do it. I’ll do it. I’ll do it. Please, please leave Auntie alone—”
And so the two of them coupled relentlessly. The same Kang-jun who had taken her aunt so roughly caressed Hye-yeon with unexpected sweetness.
Sweetly, lovingly—
It felt so good. Truly good. As if she could fly into the sky.
“Feel good?”
Yes, it feels so good—
…Ah—!
Hye-yeon sat up gasping. It had been a dream. She pressed a palm over her face.
Haa, haa.
She must have dozed off from exhaustion and dreamed. She checked the clock. 5:11 p.m.
Huh…?
She felt the dampness in her panties. No. It couldn’t be.
Slowly she lifted the blanket and looked at her pants. Sticky fluid soaked them.
…A reality she wanted to deny.