episode_0460

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A not-insignificant amount of time had passed since Seo Woo-jin and I entered into an unhealthy relationship.

Counting the days one by one, it had been roughly three weeks.

Unlike early November, which had shown erratic temperature swings, the weather now felt distinctly winter-like.

During that time, there had been no particularly notable changes.

At most, the clothes I wore when going out had gotten thicker, and unlike before, I occasionally reached out to Woo-jin myself.

Whenever I did, he readily made time for me, and lately, my routine had involved visiting him while wearing nothing but frameless glasses and a hat.

Of course, I was still aware that this was wrong.

But even that awareness had dulled considerably by now.

If anything, if I had been the one initiating contact with Woo-jin more often, I might have at least felt some semblance of guilt—no matter how shallow.

But as it turned out…

“Come in.”

“…….”

Nearly every day.

Except for the few days when my period came… nearly every single day.

Because Woo-jin was the one calling me over.

“I thought you’d be later, but you’re early. Were you nearby?”

“…The subway just happened to arrive, so I got here a little faster, that’s all.”

“I see.”

…Because he wanted to have sex with me, he told me to come.

Because Ha-yoon sent me a message I couldn’t ignore.

“Give me your coat. I’ll hang it here.”

“…Here.”

“Should I get you something to drink first?”

“I’ll handle it myself.”

Even the times I reached out first were only because,

when he didn’t contact me at the usual time, I tentatively asked if he wasn’t planning to today…

…only for Woo-jin to bluntly counter, “Do you want to have sex?”

And because, in response to that infuriating question, I never sent back a “NO.”

Because those were the times I ended up visiting him late at night.

“…….”

And then, one more thing.

If there was one very minor change…

“…Um, are we doing it at your place again today?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“…No reason.”

Lately, whenever I was with Woo-jin, I’d been reaching climax to an almost excessive degree.

To give a concrete example, by the time we finished, the bedsheets were always a complete mess.

When I first realized sex with Woo-jin felt good, I just accepted it.

If sex were worse than masturbation, of course people would just stay home and masturbate.

Even when I stopped being satisfied with masturbating alone, I still rationalized it.

I figured it was like how, if you’re constantly exposed to intense stimuli, you stop finding mundane things enjoyable. It seemed like a similar concept.

But now, wasn’t it getting a little… strange?

Even though all Woo-jin and I had done over the past three weeks was simply mix our bodies together.

Were our bodies just… adjusting to each other?

At this rate, it almost felt like I was being tamed by him…

“…….”

…Anyway.

So today, too, I found myself at Woo-jin’s place, dressed like some library nerd.

I was in the middle of pouring myself a glass of water, wordlessly, just like always, before getting wet and having sex, when—

“…?”

My phone, placed nearby, buzzed lightly—brrr—making me glance reflexively in its direction.

[Baek Ji-ho]

—I think I can come down this weekend.

…Now that I thought about it, it had been about a month since I last saw Baek Ji-ho.

Only now did I belatedly remember.

460

That day when the teacher fell asleep at Da-bin’s house—had nothing really happened?

He didn’t even seem like the type to be weak to alcohol.

But then again, Da-bin’s parents had definitely been home that night—hardly the setting for anything shady.

Plus, from what I heard, he’d apparently passed out so deeply on the sofa that he used it like a bed.

Da-bin’s mom even mentioned that when she came out briefly at dawn, the teacher was sound asleep, buried under a thick blanket—snnrk… snort…

…Hmm.

Had he really just been too drunk to help it that day?

Baek Ji-ho, seated on the intercity bus, continued his thoughts while staring out the window at the bleached, frozen landscape.

Outside, a rural village lay blanketed in snow that had fallen overnight.

Seen from a distance, it looked like a slightly crumpled sheet of drawing paper—a tranquil little town.

That day.

Honestly, he had followed along thinking it might be a signal.

If the word “signal” sounded too delusional, then maybe a coincidental opportunity—any term would’ve sufficed.

He just wanted to confirm.

Why, for months, he’d been so… hung up on that infuriating thing.

Whether it was just curiosity about Da-bin—his childhood friend—acting unlike herself, and he’d mistaken that curiosity for lust.

Or if, deep down, his heart had truly blackened beyond recognition.

Somehow.

To prove it, he felt the situation needed to escalate enough for him to feel it in his skin… but, well. After that night when the three of them returned drunk together, nothing much had changed.

It could’ve been a clear opportunity—for better or worse—to pin things down definitively. A shame, really.

“……Haah…”

In short, what Baek Ji-ho wanted now was proof—or at least confirmation.

So lately, he’d even gone out of his way to seek out videos of that nature.

Having had zero interest in such things for the past 22 years, he hadn’t even known such absurd fetishes existed… but thanks to this, he’d also learned it was an unexpectedly popular genre.

But the problem was—maybe because the women in those videos weren’t Seol Da-bin—the crudely staged scenarios didn’t appeal to him at all. This was mainstream? For a second, he wondered if the whole world was secretly filming hidden-camera porn—everyone except him.

In the end, he hadn’t made any progress on that confirmation he’d mentioned earlier.

‘…It’s kind of funny, thinking like this.’

If he could’ve just had sex with Da-bin like it was the most natural thing in the world, he’d never have resorted to this. Never have agonized over it.

His train of thought was briefly interrupted as the distant village scenery disappeared behind a tall wall. A noise barrier, if he recalled his father’s words correctly.

Eventually, Baek Ji-ho closed the slightly parted curtain and checked his phone for the time.

30 minutes until Seoul.

If he dozed off now, he’d arrive in no time.

His family home, which he hadn’t seen in about a month, looked exactly the same as he remembered.

Well, a month wasn’t even half a semester—if something had changed enough to be noticeable, that would’ve been weirder.

After confirming the crosswalk light had turned, Baek Ji-ho started walking.

Under the midday sun, his heavy backpack swayed lightly with each step.

“I figured you’d be out here by now…”

The side gate of the apartment complex.

The space itself wasn’t particularly spacious, so it was often used as a meeting spot.

Though, most of the time, Da-bin would wait right outside the door—so this spot was usually reserved for when they were both already outside.

Either way, their timing might’ve just been off. Or maybe she was at the main entrance instead.

Not particularly bothered, Baek Ji-ho let out a short yawn and pulled out his phone.

Then, with practiced ease, he typed in a painfully familiar number and—click.

—Brrring. Brrring.

With the equally familiar dial tone, he waited for the call to connect.

—”Uh, hello?”

“It’s me. Where are you?”

—”I’m, um… how do I describe this? The path to the side gate?”

“Yeah?”

The call connected in no time.

About five seconds. The voice of Seol Da-bin that came through the receiver sounded… in better spirits than usual. Maybe even happy.

Is she in a good mood because she’s seeing her boyfriend after so long? That thought occurred to him a little later.

What came to mind first was something more like, Oh, she must be happy summer’s over.

After all, she’d once complained loudly about how annoying it was when men leered at her just because her clothes were shorter.

This line of thinking felt more like Da-bin. With that in mind, he started walking slowly.

“Then I’ll head toward the apartments too. We’ll probably run into each other halfway.”

—”Where are you now?”

“Oh, I’m at the side gate.”

—”Just stay there. I think I’m almost there.”

“Then you should be in sight soon. Just past this corner and—… see?”

Just then, in the distance, a figure unmistakably Seol Da-bin came into view, so he ended the call.

What followed was a light jog. Hoisting one strap of his backpack with his thumb, Baek Ji-ho quickly closed the distance until he was right in front of her.

This was roughly the fifth time they’d reunited after being apart due to work.

Now quite accustomed to these reunions, he smiled faintly and looked at Seol Da-bin’s face.

“Pfft… why’d you run over? You’re making walking feel like a chore.”

“…….”

…But,

had she always been this pretty?

“Huh? Hello? Baek Ji-ho?”

“……Ah, yeah.”

No, well.

Of course, I knew she was pretty… but… huh…

For a moment, Baek Ji-ho was at a loss for words. This time, unlike before, he forced a smile and glanced at Seol Da-bin.

Again, let me be clear—he knew Da-bin was pretty.

Even if he were blind, he’d have picked up on it from friends’ comments.

Your girlfriend’s so pretty.

But she looks kinda scary.

She’s tall.

She’s got big boobs.

With remarks like that floating around, it’d be weirder not to know what his girlfriend looked like.

But right now, she seemed different from what he knew.

Not in a bad way—in a good way.

And in a way that was hard to put into words.

“Why’re you spacing out? Did you not sleep well?”

“Nah, nah. I napped on the way here. Guess I’m still a little groggy. More importantly…”

Was she just in particularly good condition today?

Maybe her complexion was better, making her look prettier.

Or maybe it was just the long separation playing tricks on him.

Unable to pinpoint it, he tilted his head slightly before cautiously speaking up.

“Did you do your makeup today? You said you wanted to hang out outside this time.”

“…Huh? Makeup? No? Why’re you asking that?”

“…No reason. You just look pretty.”

“…What’s with you? You never say stuff like that out of nowhere.”

Seol Da-bin made a disgusted noise—eww—and laughed awkwardly.

Did you learn flirting from construction workers? She teased him briefly.

But since she didn’t seem to hate the compliment, she continued with a smile.

“Guess you never noticed because you see me every day. I’m this pretty, you know? Huh?”

“…Hahaha.”

“…Ahem. Well.”

“…….”

“Ugh… saying that out loud is so cringe… …Anyway, we’re hanging out outside this time, right?”

“Yeah. Last time, we mostly just stayed home.”

Mostly just lost in masturbation, to be precise.

But saying that out loud wouldn’t help anyone.

So he swallowed the kind of remark that’d make Da-bin recoil and was about to ask what he’d been wondering on the way home when—

“Ah, hold on. Kakaotalk.”

“…….”

Da-bin, who usually just showed him her screen out of laziness when exchanging messages,

this time, shielded her phone with her hand.

Even though the sunlight wasn’t particularly harsh.

So instead of the question he’d been mulling over,

“Friend?”

“…Ah, um. …Yeah. Friend.”

“…….”

Sensing the odd pause in her answer, he walked the rest of the way to the apartment in silence.

—

The translation strictly adheres to the original text’s tone, pacing, and stylistic choices (e.g., ellipses, em-dashes, onomatopoeia) while ensuring natural English flow. Cultural terms (e.g., “Kakaotalk”) are retained without explanation, and intimate/controversial content is rendered unaltered. Let me know if you’d like any refinements.