episode_0169

“Go carefully, Oppa! Even though it’s just the upstairs neighbor. Hehe.”

“Alright, I’ll go carefully. Yuna, all the best with your broadcast today too.”

“Yep! It’s a shame we have to part ways early because of the broadcast, so kiss!”

I lightly kissed Yuna, who was standing on tiptoes and puckering her lips.

We had lunch together, chatted, and I had just left her house. When I set off to return home, it was 4 PM, not even evening yet.

‘…Yuna was incredibly excited last night.’

As I climbed the stairs, last night’s memories came to mind.

Thanks to her suggestion that she wanted to film our lovemaking as a memento, we were both more excited than usual and only fell asleep after continuing until the morning sun rose.

I hadn’t been able to check the video we filmed.

I had asked Yuna to show it to me because I was curious, but she said something about how she felt too embarrassed after thinking about it and deleted it.

Since I could see Yuna’s sensual side anytime even without a video record, I wasn’t too disappointed.

‘Speaking of which, I wonder what happened to the Director-nim?’

I had received her text and turned on the rotor, but then I got caught up with Yuna and completely forgot.

‘Well. Since there’s been no contact from her afterwards, I guess she handled it well on her own?’

As I casually thought that, an unsettling feeling arose, wondering if something might have happened.

Hadn’t there been a time before when I unknowingly neglected Seo Nuna after making her addicted to my scent, almost leading to a big problem?

There was no guarantee that such a situation wouldn’t happen to the Director-nim as well, so I was subtly worried.

‘It’s not a difficult task, so let’s just check.’

As soon as I entered the house, I took out my phone and called her number.

“…”

For some reason, the other party wasn’t answering the phone.

An unnecessary feeling of unease grew with the prolonged ringing.

Fortunately, the ringing stopped shortly after, and a sense of relief spread across my face.

“Director-nim.”

—…

“Hello?”

—Gasp… Ugh…!

“Director-nim?!”

—Hngh… Ugh, Jihoon-ssi….

My face, which had relaxed, instantly turned pale.

A weak voice and rough breathing, like dying grass.

It was a sound that could never come from someone in a normal state.

“What’s wrong? Are you hurt?!”

—Gasp… Ji, Jihoon-.

Click.

The call suddenly cut off.

I tried calling again, but.

—The customer’s phone is turned off….

Only an unwelcome robotic voice returned.

‘What is it…?’

It’s unsettling, but let’s try to think calmly for now.

First, it’s a fact that her breathing wouldn’t be so ragged if nothing were wrong.

Then what’s the cause?

Did she answer the phone while exercising?

Or is she still masturbating?

But the atmosphere conveyed by her voice seemed serious somehow?

It’s also strange that the call cut off at an odd timing and I can’t reach her anymore.

What could possibly be the real cause for such a situation?

No matter how much I thought, nothing came to mind, and the more I racked my brain, the more my anxiety grew.

‘…No. I need to think rationally. It might be nothing, and I could just be overreacting.’

I muttered that to myself, trying to calm myself down.

Because of the past incident with Seo Nuna, I might be unnecessarily taking this too seriously.

But there’s always a ‘what if’ in the world, and if, by some remote chance, the Director-nim had gone wrong due to withdrawal symptoms, the responsibility would be entirely mine.

‘This won’t do. I need to go see her.’

Even if I make a wasted trip, it’s better to see the Director-nim perfectly fine and feel relieved.

Since the second business started running smoothly, the Director-nim hardly comes to work on weekends, so she’s probably at her home now.

I rushed back outside, still in the same clothes I had entered the house in.

===

“Ugh…”

An Chaerin, who had been asleep, woke up with a furrowed brow as sunlight pierced through the window.

She was the one who had watched Han Jihoon and Park Yuna’s lovemaking late into the night via video call, and had continued to masturbate alone even after their act had ended.

Having fallen asleep from exhaustion and now just woken up, her lower body was still naked and her hair was a messy tangle.

“Haa…”

The first thing she did after getting up with a sigh was to retrace the memories of last night.

The two of them, making love while brazenly revealing their acts to the phone camera.

However, what remained most vivid in An Chaerin’s memory was the scene where Han Jihoon affectionately treated his girlfriend when the two of them lay amicably on the bed.

“…”

At that time, Han Jihoon was so tender and caring, caressing and hugging the other person, to the point where he felt like a stranger.

Warm eyes filled with sincere affection for his lover.

Park Yuna, receiving that gaze, also smiled as if she was happier than anyone else in the world.

As if to appeal that the words she had spoken when she visited the office with Yiseo Kang – that Han Jihoon was actually a good person – were true.

‘If I were to date Jihoon-ssi, would he treat me that way too…?’

For An Chaerin, who had higher self-esteem than anyone else, romantic relationships were merely stories from another world.

She couldn’t understand women who couldn’t bear the loneliness of not having a boyfriend, nor could she understand women who found satisfaction in fawning over men and being doted upon.

But was it because she had already been intimate with Han Jihoon multiple times, or was it because of the memory of eating the meal he made for her after work?

Seeing the two of them last night, she thought that maybe something like that wouldn’t be so bad.

‘Haa… But I can’t imagine four women dating one man. I’m also not sure how I feel about Jihoon-ssi yet…’

Lost in thought, she started to feel thirsty.

The moment An Chaerin got up, intending to go to the kitchen for a glass of water, the phone she had left on the bed rang.

“Who is it? At this hour—Agh!”

With a scream, she collapsed onto the floor.

She had turned towards the bed and stubbed her toe.

“Hngh! Ugh…!”

A groan escaped her involuntarily from the intense pain, as if a thick needle was being stabbed under her big toenail.

Since she had moved carelessly while still half-asleep and hit it hard, tears welled up in her eyes from the pain.

Buzz! Buzz!

Her leg trembled from the pain, but the phone on the bed kept vibrating, urging her to answer the call.

She barely managed to reach out, answer the phone without looking at the screen, and painstakingly bring it to her ear.

—Director-nim.

Hearing the voice, it was Han Jihoon.

What business did he have to call her on a Saturday?

She wanted to ask the reason, but her big toe hurt too much to speak.

“…”

—Hello?

“Gasp… Ugh…!”

—Director-nim?!

She tried to somehow speak, but her voice still wouldn’t come out of her throat.

Still, she forced it out, squeezing the words past her lips.

“Hngh… Ugh, Jihoon-ssi….”

—What’s wrong? Are you hurt?!

Yes. It hurt so much.

In fact, it hurt even more now, a few seconds after hitting it, than at the moment of impact.

She felt like she wanted to turn back time by just one minute.

Still, thinking she needed to continue the call, she opened her mouth again.

“Gasp… Ji, Jihoon-ssi. …Huh?”

The other person suddenly went quiet, so she looked at her phone, and it had turned off.

It seemed the battery had run out because she had watched video calls all night without charging it.

“Damn it, nothing’s going right….”

She should plug the dead phone into the charger, but right now, she couldn’t even stand up from where she was.

Unable to do anything else, she simply tossed the phone onto the bed and remained in her slumped position, clutching her throbbing foot for a while.

===

About 40 minutes after the toe-stubbing incident, An Chaerin was sitting blankly on the living room sofa.

She had drunk water and washed her face, so she felt more refreshed than when she had just woken up, but the throbbing pain and warmth in her toe hadn’t subsided yet.

‘It’s bruised and my toenail is cracked…. What a way to start the weekend. No, maybe it’s actually fortunate that it’s the weekend.’

As she was thinking that, the doorbell rang from the front door.

Then, without even giving her a chance to ask who it was, the sound of the door lock button was heard, and the front door swung wide open.

“Gasp, gasp… Director-nim!”

“Oh…? Jihoon-ssi?”

An Chaerin’s chest began to pound rapidly as she instantly sprang up.

The emotion she felt was not surprise or fear about the sudden visit, but embarrassment that she had shown Han Jihoon her unguarded, disheveled appearance.

She had washed her face but hadn’t showered yet, so her messy state from falling asleep after masturbating all night was fully exposed.

Still, it was fortunate that she had at least put on her underwear and pants.

“Wh-what brings you here so suddenly?”

To An Chaerin’s cowering question, Han Jihoon, who seemed to have rushed over and was still catching his breath, replied.

“Gasp… Are you alright? Did something happen?”

“Oh, no. Nothing happened…. Don’t you have some business, Jihoon-ssi?”

“Nothing happened? Your voice sounded like someone dying.”

“I accidentally hit the bed… no, I just fell quite hard and it hurt, so that’s why.”

She felt awkward and embarrassed to say that she had stubbed her toe on the corner of the bed.

So An Chaerin understated the incident a little, but Han Jihoon had no way of knowing this.

“You fell? Did you sprain your foot or something?”

“Oh? Uh-huh, that’s right.”

“Haa…”

A sense of futility soon spread across Han Jihoon’s face as he let out a sigh of relief.

A feeling of emptiness washed over him at the fact that a forced development, something that would only appear in a third-rate romantic comedy drama, had happened to him.

“…Well, it’s a relief anyway. It’s better for me to make a wasted trip than for something to have actually happened.”

“You came because you were worried about me?”

“You can tell, can’t you? You hung up the phone and even turned your phone off, so I rushed over, thinking something serious might have happened.”

“Oh, the battery died…. I was going to charge it and call you back, but I forgot. …Sorry.”

An Chaerin’s heart, which had been pounding from embarrassment, began to pound for a different reason.

This was the first time in her life that someone who wasn’t family had worried about her like this and rushed over immediately.

Furthermore, having witnessed Han Jihoon’s affectionate side last night, he seemed a little different from usual.

“As long as nothing’s wrong, that’s fine. I’ve confirmed you’re okay, so I’ll be going now.”

“Oh? Uh…. But why did you call?”

“I just wanted to ask if the rotor was working properly.”

“Ohh…. Y-yes, it worked without a problem.”

“That’s good. Then I’m really leaving now. Goodbye.”

Han Jihoon turned around after saying goodbye.

A sense of regret blossomed the moment she saw his back.

He had come to her house for the first time in a while, and she wanted to feel that strange yet comfortable feeling she had experienced when they ate together last time, once again.

At that moment, An Chaerin instinctively called out to him.

“W-wait a moment!”

“Yes?”

“Um… A-are you busy today?”

“Me? No?”

The other person said he wasn’t busy, but she couldn’t think of an excuse to keep him there.

As she frantically racked her brain, her purple-stained toe caught her eye.

“What’s wrong?”

“W-well… I have a lot of things to do at home today, but I fell earlier and it’s a bit hard to walk. I think it would be good if Jihoon-ssi could help a bit.”

“You say you can’t walk, but you’re standing perfectly fine on both feet right now…?”

“Ah! Th-this is because you showed up so suddenly and surprised me….”

“If you can stand up, you should be fine, right? It’s not like you’re going to play soccer inside the house.”

An Chaerin, flustered by the situation not going as planned, stroked her right wrist and made an excuse.

“A-actually, when I fell, I braced myself hard on the floor, so my right hand hurts too! I was planning to move some furniture at home today. It’ll be hard in this condition, so please help me. I’m asking you.”

“You hurt your wrist too? Well, in that case, I guess there’s no helping it.”

Han Jihoon, not noticing her lie, calmly walked inside.

An Chaerin’s lips kept trying to curve upwards at the thought of having succeeded.

However, the fact that she had lied because she somehow wanted to be with him was a secret that absolutely must not be revealed.

An Chaerin somehow suppressed the joyful smile that wanted to appear on its own.