episode_0025

25

Shi-woo was carefully watching the expression of Ms. Gyu-ri, who was sitting across from him, as his mom and Aunt Seon-joo talked about his dad.

He was thinking that if there was a special relationship between his dad and Ms. Gyu-ri as stated in the slave contract, there would be some change in Ms. Gyu-ri’s expression when his dad’s name came up.

Ms. Gyu-ri listened to the conversation, looking at Mom and Aunt Seon-joo the whole time, but she didn’t show any significant change in expression other than nodding or bringing the beer can to her mouth and gulping it down.

Then, as if she felt Shi-woo looking at her, Ms. Gyu-ri turned her head towards Shi-woo and made eye contact.

“Shi-woo doesn’t seem to come to our house to play anymore after that?”

Ms. Gyu-ri said with a kind smile towards Shi-woo, who flinched and was surprised without even realizing it when their eyes met.

“I want to go play, but Cheol-jin seems very busy these days.”

After confirming Ms. Gyu-ri’s uniquely comforting and cozy eyes, Shi-woo spoke comfortably.

“You can come play alone even when Cheol-jin isn’t there… By the way, I don’t know what Cheol-jin is really doing these days~ He leaves early in the morning and comes back late at night and stuff like that? Shi-woo, have you heard anything from Cheol-jin?”

The only thing Shi-woo could think of in response to Ms. Gyu-ri’s question was Ms. Gyu-ri’s slave contract that Cheol-jin had sent him, but there was no way he could directly say that to Ms. Gyu-ri.

And right now, Shi-woo was more concerned about the first sentence that the aunt had said as if she had deliberately let it slip.

‘You can come play alone even when Cheol-jin isn’t there…’

Shi-woo was certain that this clearly contained a sexual meaning that could only be shared between Shi-woo and Ms. Gyu-ri.

Shi-woo was surprised and pleased by Ms. Gyu-ri’s boldness in seducing Shi-woo, the son of her friend and a friend of her son, even though her husband was home, but on the other hand, he thought that Ms. Gyu-ri didn’t seem to be a very obedient slave to her master in the first place.

For some reason, Shi-woo was feeling a strong surge of sadistic desire for humiliation and contempt towards Ms. Gyu-ri.

“Is Cheol-jin still doing the same to you when he’s at home?”

Shi-woo mischievously asked Ms. Gyu-ri about that secretive act that they had agreed not to talk about to others.

“Uh..uh..well, yeah…”

Ms. Gyu-ri stuttered as she answered, seemingly a little embarrassed.

Shi-woo straightened his knees while sitting and stretched out his legs to find Ms. Gyu-ri’s legs, who was sitting across from him.

When Shi-woo’s foot touched Ms. Gyu-ri’s foot, Ms. Gyu-ri seemed a little surprised, but soon she stretched out her leg in response, so that Shi-woo’s calf and her calf crossed.

“Is it okay to leave it like that?”

Shi-woo’s ambiguous question seemed to be testing Ms. Gyu-ri’s intentions.

“Well…I think it’s inevitable now, and I think I’m getting a little…used to it, and I just hope other people don’t find out…”

Ms. Gyu-ri didn’t clearly finish her sentence about Cheol-jin or Shi-woo, and spoke as if dragging the two things together.

“What does the uncle say?”

At the same time as speaking, Shi-woo stretched out his other leg and wrapped both legs around the aunt’s calf.

“H…he obviously doesn’t know, because we’ll keep it a secret.”

Ms. Gyu-ri looked at Shi-woo as if making a promise to him, with her eyes slightly unfocused from the alcohol.

Shi-woo used both legs to pull Ms. Gyu-ri’s calf towards him.

At the meal with Shi-woo’s family and Aunt Seon-joo’s family all present, one of Ms. Gyu-ri’s legs was in Shi-woo’s legs just as Shi-woo had made it, as if it were a secret personal possession.

Shi-woo was planning not to let go of Ms. Gyu-ri’s leg until the end of the meal.

Ms. Gyu-ri didn’t seem to want to take her leg back from Shi-woo either.

Shi-woo suddenly realized that he was the only man among the seven people gathered in this place.

At this moment, Shi-woo was a meticulous predator who had captured and possessed one of the delicious prey with his own will, like a snake coiling around it.

“Did something happen to Cheol-jin?”

Se-young, who had been quietly listening to Ms. Gyu-ri and Shi-woo’s conversation next to him, asked Shi-woo with a worried expression.

“Cheol-jin must be going through a rebellious phase these days~ Se-young, you don’t have to worry~”

Ms. Gyu-ri gave her unique reassuring eye smile and answered Se-young instead of Shi-woo.

Mom was vaguely sensing the subtle tension between Shi-woo and Ms. Gyu-ri.

-Because she saw the photo of Ms. Gyu-ri that Shi-woo sent-

Mom looked at Shi-woo and turned her head away shyly whenever their eyes met.

Then, she was drinking the alcohol she was holding, not knowing how many glasses she had already had, as if she was embarrassed.

Her face seemed to be slightly flushed, perhaps because of the alcohol.

**

“Hey, sis, the thing we talked about before, are you really starting it next week?”

Aunt Seon-joo looked at Mom and started the conversation again.

“I have to! We agreed to start next week~ I can’t live my whole life eating away at the insurance money.”

Mom was talking to Aunt Seon-joo’s question as if something had already been decided.

“Your brother-in-law left you plenty of money, right?”

“Something might happen to the kids later, so I need to earn at least enough for living expenses, and anyway, I’m just doing it part-time for a little while when I have time during the day.”

“I’m grateful if you say you’ll do it, sis.”

Shi-woo’s family had plenty of wealth left behind when his father passed away.

On top of that, they had accident insurance money, so they had no trouble living.

But even so, Mom was worried about what if, and was trying to do a part-time job using her spare daytime hours.

Aunt Seon-joo was running an agency business that specializes in managing freelance models.

Sometimes she would do modeling herself or mobilize acquaintances around her, and she seemed to have made several offers to Mom, who has a good figure, before.

That kind of thing had now reversed, with Mom asking Aunt Seon-joo for a favor.

-Originally, Mom was planning to tell the family about it at the dinner party-

With those various stories going back and forth, lunch was coming to an end.

The children moved to the living room sofa, sat around, watched TV, and ate fruit, and the mothers seemed to be about to start chatting with alcohol in that spot.

-They seem to have forgotten the agreement to drink in moderation-

**

“Hey, oppa, what are you doing after intermediate class on Monday?”

Se-young, who was sitting next to Shi-woo eating fruit with Soo-ah, asked Shi-woo.

“Huh? Monday?”

Shi-woo asked Se-young back, wondering what was going on.

“Yeah, Monday! I have a parent-teacher conference at the academy, but could you come with me?”

Se-young carefully asked, placing her hand lightly on Shi-woo’s arm.

“Didn’t you go to the academy with Aunt Seon-joo?”

Se-hee asked Se-young, sounding strange, from across the room.

“Yeah, I went with Aunt Seon-joo, but they said it has to be a direct guardian who lives with me for the parent-teacher conference, hehe.”

Se-young said with a cute expression as if she was also troubled.

“Shouldn’t you talk to Mom about it? Is it okay for an intermediate student’s older brother to go?”

Shi-woo said to Se-young, watching Se-hee’s reaction.

-Anyway, we agreed to go together for two weeks-

“Yeah, the academy said it’s okay for oppa to go, and Mom said to talk to oppa about it because she might be busy with work during the day starting on Monday? I also want oppa to go with me this time, hehe~”

Shi-woo was touched by Se-young’s last admirable words.

He glances at Se-hee, wanting to go with Se-young no matter what.

Se-hee shrugged her shoulders as if there was nothing she could do.

A gesture that was practically giving him the time off.

“I’m going to be at Soo-ah’s house after I go to beginner class on Monday, so oppa, just come pick us up right after intermediate class, okay?”

With Se-young’s request, Shi-woo ended up having a parent-teacher conference at the magic academy on Monday.

**

Quite some time passes,

Se-young and Soo-ah went into the room to play.

His sister also lay down on the sofa, looked at her smartphone for a while, and then went into the room.

Shi-woo was sitting alone in the living room watching TV.

The moms were chatting, fueled by alcohol, and the topic of Se-hee’s clothes seemed to have come up again.

“You gave her even the underwear?”

Mom said to Aunt Seon-joo, as if she was getting angry again.

“We’re family, so we see each other naked and live like that.”

“That doesn’t work in our house, okay? Ugh~ How many times do I have to say it?”

“Because of Shi-woo?”

He was absentmindedly listening to the moms’ conversation.

Shi-woo was taken aback by his name suddenly popping up.