Part 1: Desperate Enough for Such Thoughts
Part 1 How desperate was I to even have thoughts like that? Of course, I didn't actually act on them. If I recklessly caused trouble without any way to fix it, there was a very high chance that this blissfully happy relationship would come crashing down. But seriously, how was this woman the mother of two kids? Even the panties peeking out from under her hiked-up dress were insanely sexy, drawing my eyes there over and over. The panties Gayeong was wearing had about half of the back—the part covering her ass—made of see-through mesh. Thanks to that, the pale white curves of her buttocks were fully visible through the black fabric, something that shouldn't have been seen at all. What would it feel like to wedge my cock in that valley and grind like crazy? The thought flooded my mind before I could stop it, and I quickly tore my gaze away from Gayeong. I had a feeling I'd lose control and do something stupid if I kept staring.
Whether she knew what was going through my head or not, Gayeong, who had been sleeping soundly on her stomach, let out a soft "Mm..." as if her position was uncomfortable and shifted slightly to her side. That's when I realized it—the see-through material wasn't just on the back.
I'm going insane for real... Did she shave it herself? No, forget that. Afraid I'd actually do something reckless, I squeezed my eyes shut and spread the blanket—which had only been covering her stomach—wide to cover her body as much as possible. In the process, I naturally leaned forward, overlapping my upper body with hers... and at that moment, her plump, light pink lips suddenly filled my vision. It was pure coincidence, or so I'd say. Nothing else registered; only those lips.
As if entranced, I leaned in a little more. Just a bit closer, to see them better. Repeating that to myself over and over, before I knew it, my lips were pressed against Gayeong's. The moment I realized it, my heart pounded like mad, and an indescribable rush of intense pleasure slammed into my head. We hadn't even tangled tongues—just a simple lip-to-lip touch—and it was this good? What would it feel like if we went further? Unfortunately, that curiosity went unsatisfied.
"Yuhan!"
A voice calling me from the living room rang out. It hadn't been long since I'd gone into the bathroom, but had they already finished washing up? The voice seemed to come from near the stairs leading to the second floor. I hurriedly pulled back from where I'd been hovering over Gayeong's body. Then, I rubbed the back of my hand over my lips—which had just been pressing firmly against hers—wiping away any possible traces, while gently shaking her shoulder with my other hand to wake her.
"Mm..."
"Auntie, wake up. You need to have breakfast."
She must have drunk a lot. Even after shaking her this much, Gayeong just flailed her hand in the air as if telling me to stop, without opening her eyes.
That was when Jina opened the door I'd closed myself and poked her head into the room.
"Oh, there you are?"
"Yeah, Auntie wouldn't wake up."
"Hm, she did come home late last night..."
"Did she drink a lot?"
"Not that much, but enough to get properly buzzed, I think."
I was thinking maybe we should let her sleep more when...
"Ugh..."
A hoarse voice echoed from behind. I turned back to see Gayeong blinking her eyes as if she'd just woken up, her mind slowly booting back online. Seriously, how was this widow with two kids? Her cute actions matched her face perfectly, making me sigh inwardly. As she kept blinking to shake off the drowsiness, Gayeong suddenly scrunched her face.
I noticed right away. That guy who always showed up the morning after drinking had come calling. You know, the hangover headache.
"Ugh... my head..."
Gayeong groaned and shook her head lightly. Was the dizziness not going away? Her eyes squeezed shut tight.
"Are you okay, Auntie?"
"Y-Yuhan?"
Her head must have been throbbing from the hangover, so she hadn't noticed her surroundings. Realizing she'd shown me this embarrassing side—groaning in hangover misery—maybe made her shy. Her voice trembled slightly, unlike usual.
"Yes. Are you alright? Want me to get you some water if you're really dizzy?"
"Y-Yeah, could you? Thanks..."
I'd thought she might refuse, but she was in no state to.
"Can't move yet, huh? Stay here. I'll get it."
I started to get up, but Jina stepped in for me.
"Cold water?"
"...Yeah."
Even nodding slightly hurt her head, it seemed. Gayeong's face scrunched up again. Meanwhile, Jina pulled her head back from the room and headed to the kitchen.
"You okay? Did you drink a lot?"
"No, just a little."
She smiled faintly as if to say not to worry, and it was unbearably cute.
"I made breakfast. Think you can eat?"
"Of course I have to eat what you worked so hard on since dawn. But you should've just left it to Auntie and rested..."
Was she sorry for making me get up early to prepare breakfast? Even with her face scrunched from the hangover, she gave me an apologetic look.
"Just special service for today. Today only."
"Got it. Oh, by the way, how'd the stream go last night?"
"Good. Sena noona helped out a lot, so it was fun thanks to her."
"Glad to hear that."
As I picked out a few highlights from last night's stream to tell the smiling Gayeong, Jina came back into the room with a half-full glass of water.
"Here, chug this cool one down and come eat."
"What about Sena? She up?"
"Still sleeping, I think? Looked like she was awake until dawn again."
"Again?"
"Yeah, I saw her room light on when I went out for my morning workout."
"She didn't fall asleep with the light on, did she?"
"Maybe."
While Jina and I chatted like that, I watched Gayeong sip from her glass now and then, then cautiously reached out to gently stroke her back.
"Stomach okay? If it's really hurting, want me to make some hangover soup?"
Did my hand on her back bother her? Gayeong's expression turned awkward, her body stiffening more than when I'd first touched her.
"N-No, Yuhan... Auntie’s fine."
"Your face is pale."
"Yeah, Mom. Time to cut back on the drinking."
Gayeong shot Jina a slight glare as she joked that she'd fall apart if she kept drinking like before.
"Don't get sassy with your mom."
"When did I ever? As the eldest daughter, I'm just deeply worried about Madam Yoo Ga-young's health."
With that, Jina recommended exercise to Gayeong.
"No thanks. Worry about teaching Yuhan properly instead."
"Yuhan's already under my special care, so don't worry."
"Oh yeah, how was it? Working out with Yuhan yesterday."
"What do you think... It was bad."
"That bad?"
"Yeah, I thought I was training some old geezer."
I couldn't let that slide.
"Hey, I did everything you told me to!"
"Oh, right. Yuhan got a modeling offer too?"
"Really?"
"Yeah, you know our gym director? She asked if he wanted to try modeling."
"Oh, that... Ye-ri, right?"
"Yep. But I could tell she was into him and using modeling as an excuse, so I told him to turn it down."
"...You did?"
I shrugged lightly at Gayeong's sudden question.
"Just a misunderstanding on your part, noona."
"No way. I could totally tell she was interested."
"If so, why'd she try to kill me?"
"Huh? What’s that mean?"
"Well... Yuhan's body was super stiff."
"Really?"
Gayeong listened to Jina's explanation while sipping from her glass, then promptly shooed us out.
"Keep this up and all the food Yuhan made will get cold. Mom's just gonna change and come out, so wake Sena and eat first."
"Okay."
"Sure."
I took the glass from Gayeong's hand in Jina's place and left the room.
The moment Yuhan and Jina exited, Gayeong's expression—which had been mostly normal aside from the hangover grimace—shook violently. It had to. Because when Yuhan impulsively kissed her, she had been awake.
To be precise, she hadn't been awake before that; she'd woken up reacting to his presence the exact moment he pressed his lips to hers. At first, she thought it was a dream—someone kissing her. She hadn't even realized it was Yuhan. So she'd been inwardly scoffing at herself for dreaming up something so ridiculous when...
Jina's voice from outside shattered the illusion, making it all too real. That clear voice calling for Yuhan—it couldn't be a dream. The instant it reached her ears, Gayeong realized: the lips that had been pressing firmly against hers until then belonged to Yuhan.
Yuhan had kissed her. That simple, crystal-clear realization plunged her into panic. How could it not? Others might gossip that she was after something shady by taking in Yuhan, calling him "just some guy," but to Gayeong, he wasn't someone else's child—he was her child, her son.
From the moment she decided to bring home the lonely boy standing at his parents' funeral. Of course, raising Yuhan wasn't easy. Raising a boy was completely different from raising Jina or Sena. Unlike the girls, who voiced their feelings right away, young Yuhan—having lost both parents—kept his heart and true thoughts hidden.
That had left her feeling neglected at times, even breaking down in tears hugging him tight. And when he finally opened up to her for the first time, the joy was like conquering the world. To Gayeong, Yuhan was her "son." Not born from her womb, but precious because they'd weathered every hardship together.
And that son had kissed her—stolen a kiss while she slept. It was only natural to panic; not panicking would be weirder.
Still, she desperately acted like nothing happened. Drawing on every trick from dealing with salon customers, she played her usual self. She had no choice. If her expression slipped and Yuhan realized she'd been awake when he kissed her secretly, the aftermath was obvious.
Her family—the life she'd poured everything into protecting—would crumble. Like a sandcastle before the waves. Influenced by the homely personality setting Yuhan had given her when creating her, Gayeong valued her family above all. She had to prevent it at any cost.
So she acted unaffected... but the real problem was next.
Yuhan...
How was she supposed to face him now? No answer came no matter how she racked her brain. Amid the unrelenting storm of panic in her heart, all Gayeong could do was bury her face in her huddled knees.