#60.

As the morning sunlight brightened the living room through the window, the sound of the front door closing signaled Lee Hyun-woo’s departure for work. Kim Eun-ju’s shoulders flinched at the sound. Not long after, a soft knock echoed, and fear and despair flashed across Kim Eun-ju’s face.

Lee Han was standing there when she opened the door. His face held his usual smile, but to Kim Eun-ju, that smile seemed threatening.

Jin-woo clapped his hands and laughed as if delighted to see Lee Han entering the living room. Lee Han naturally approached Jin-woo and picked him up.

“Our Jin-woo, did you sleep well?”

Lee Han said affectionately. Jin-woo smiled happily and touched Lee Han’s face. Lee Han held Jin-woo and entered the living room. His playful sounds and Jin-woo’s laughter filled the house.

Kim Eun-ju sat on the sofa, watching the scene. Her hands were gripping the sofa cushion tightly, and her face was pale. The sight of Lee Han and Jin-woo playing happily seemed peaceful on the surface, but it was like terrible torture to Kim Eun-ju.

‘How did it come to this…’

Kim Eun-ju repeated in her mind.

‘Is this really the punishment I deserve…’

Tears welled up in her eyes. Kim Eun-ju was even more tormented by the sound of her son’s happy laughter.

Even while playing with Jin-woo, Lee Han occasionally cast meaningful glances at Kim Eun-ju. Kim Eun-ju trembled at those glances. She didn’t know how long this situation would continue, or how much longer she could endure it.

—

Only Jin-woo’s quiet breathing could be heard in the master bedroom. In the living room, the rough breaths of Lee Han and Kim Eun-ju leaked out intermittently.

Kim Eun-ju trembled every time Lee Han’s hands touched her body. At first, it was a strong tremor caused by disgust and fear, but as time passed, that reaction gradually weakened. Emptiness began to settle in Kim Eun-ju’s eyes, and her body became increasingly numb.

Resistance to Lee Han’s touch decreased, but deep pain and despair still swirled within her. In the living room where sunlight streamed through the window, the shadows of the two people stretched long on the wall.

Lee Han whispered closely into Kim Eun-ju’s ear.

“This is the punishment for the wrong you committed. It’s the price you have to pay for your sins.”

His voice was low and cold.

Lee Han’s hand cut through the air and struck Kim Eun-ju’s ass hard. A sharp ‘chak’ sound echoed in the quiet living room. Kim Eun-ju’s skin flushed red, and pain shot through her entire body. She instinctively leaned forward and trembled, but desperately swallowed her scream, fearing she would wake Jin-woo. She bit her lip so hard that it bled.

With the sound of ‘chak’ ‘chak’ hitting her ass, Lee Han’s movements became rhythmically more intense. Kim Eun-ju’s body swayed back and forth like a doll with his powerful movements. Her fingers gripping the edge of the sofa turned white as she strained.

Tears streamed down Kim Eun-ju’s face incessantly. At first, they were tears of pain and shame, but as time passed, their meaning changed. Her eyes became increasingly empty, as if she were drifting away from reality. It felt as if her soul was leaving her body.

Lee Han’s words seeped into Kim Eun-ju’s consciousness like poison. At first, she tried to resist his words, but gradually they began to sound like the truth. Her eyes, once filled with fear and disgust, slowly clouded over and finally lost their vitality.

‘This is the punishment I deserve… because I did wrong…’

Kim Eun-ju repeated endlessly in her mind. As this thought consumed her mind, it seemed as if the connection with reality was severed.

As Lee Han’s actions continued, Kim Eun-ju’s consciousness became even more blurred. Her body was still there, but her mind seemed to be far away. The tears flowing from her eyes were no longer just an expression of physical pain. They were a sign of self-reproach, resignation, and questioning of her own worth.

As time passed, Kim Eun-ju began to accept this cruel situation as a natural price for her mistakes. Her body mechanically complied with Lee Han’s demands, and her mind was increasingly consumed by deeper darkness. The sound of her self-esteem shattering into pieces echoed within her.

In the living room where sunlight streamed through the window, Kim Eun-ju’s soul slowly but surely collapsed. While Lee Han’s words and actions destroyed her mind as if hammering it, she fell deeper and deeper into a swamp of despair. All certainty about who she was and what she had lived for wavered, and she began to accept all of this as her deserved fate.

—

Around evening, Lee Hyun-woo came home from work. The dark night sky had seeped into the living room, and Kim Eun-ju was preparing dinner in the kitchen. Jin-woo clapped his hands happily when he saw his dad.

“How was your day? Did Jin-woo behave?”

Lee Hyun-woo approached Kim Eun-ju and asked. Kim Eun-ju replied with a bright smile.

“Yeah, it was great. Our Jin-woo played really well too.”

Her voice was calm, but deep in her eyes, there was an unknown shadow.

The three sat at the table and began dinner. Lee Hyun-woo talked about things that had happened at work and occasionally pinched Jin-woo’s cheek lightly. Kim Eun-ju smiled as she watched them.

‘To think I can be this calm… It’s okay because I’m paying the price for my sins…’

Kim Eun-ju muttered in her mind.

On the surface, they were an ordinary, happy family. The sight of them sitting around the table and smiling looked harmonious to anyone. But Kim Eun-ju’s inner self was becoming increasingly distorted. A logic to rationalize herself began to take root in her mind.

She now accepted her relationship with Lee Han as a natural punishment she had to pay.

‘Because I’m enduring this pain, our family can be happy.’

Distorted thinking consumed her consciousness. Paradoxically, this thought actually reduced her guilt towards Lee Hyun-woo. She began to believe that she was protecting her family by ‘sacrificing’ herself.

After finishing dinner, Lee Hyun-woo held Jin-woo and headed to the living room. Their backs looked peaceful and happy. Kim Eun-ju stood in front of the sink, staring blankly at the sight for a moment.

What she saw in her eyes was no longer the image of a family united by pure love. It was like a scene on a stage. An illusion that she had to desperately protect, a fantasy maintained at the cost of the pain she was experiencing.

Kim Eun-ju’s eyes clouded over. Within her, reality and fantasy, love and duty, happiness and pain were mixed together, creating an increasingly complex vortex of emotions. And in that vortex, her original self was sinking deeper and deeper.

Kim Eun-ju slowly headed to the living room, walking as if in a dream. A soft smile still lingered on her face, but that smile was now like a mask. An ever-deepening darkness settled in her eyes.

She sat down next to Lee Hyun-woo and Jin-woo on the sofa. Leaning her head on her husband’s shoulder, Kim Eun-ju repeated in her mind.

‘I am a sinner. I’m being punished to protect this happiness.’

Lee Han’s presence followed her consciousness like a shadow. His dominance was now becoming like a destiny to Kim Eun-ju.

The sight of the three people gathered in the living room looked perfectly peaceful on the surface. The sound flowing from the TV, Jin-woo’s small laughter, and Lee Hyun-woo’s affectionate voice combined to paint a picture of a peaceful home.

But within this peace, Kim Eun-ju’s inner tragedy was deeply hidden. She was smiling as she looked at her husband and child, but behind that smile, there was deep despair and pain. Even in this moment with her family, her relationship with Lee Han and the distorted reality it had brought were taking root in a corner of her mind.

Kim Eun-ju’s soul was sinking deeper and deeper into darkness. She believed that she was sacrificing herself to protect the happiness of this family, but in the process, she was losing her essence. Beneath the seemingly happy surface, Kim Eun-ju’s identity was slowly collapsing, and the distorted reality created by Lee Han was filling its place.

–

In a spacious office decorated with luxury furniture and artwork, the city’s night view unfolded beyond a large window. Chairman Park, with his white hair, sat in a top-quality leather chair, staring at the monitor. A satisfied smile spread across his wrinkled face.

The downfall of a woman was being replayed on the screen. Chairman Park’s eyes sparkled each time the woman’s eyes gradually lost their vitality. He repeatedly replayed specific scenes with the remote control.

“This is true art…”

Chairman Park muttered, his gaze shifting to the man in the screen. Chairman Park’s excitement heightened as he watched the change from the pure young man he had first seen to one gradually intoxicated with violence and power. His fingers gripped and released the armrest of the chair.

Chairman Park chuckled softly at the scene where the woman accepted her situation as a ‘punishment’. But his real interest was in the man’s transformation. He felt the greatest pleasure watching the process of a pure young soul being corrupted according to his intentions.

“The corruption of a pure soul is the greatest work I’ve ever dreamed of…”

Chairman Park leaned back comfortably and stared at the screen. His eyes were already filled with anticipation for the next ‘work’. The smile on his lips deepened, and his expression was a mixture of dark desire and anticipation.