The sound of the door lock disengaging woke her up. Everything around her was dark. She could just about make out the clock. The hour hand pointed to twelve.

Sewon sat up and rubbed her eyes. She was still groggy.

Then her bedroom door opened carefully. A silhouette that seemed both familiar and unfamiliar stepped inside.

“Were you asleep?”

“Oh, yeah.”

“What about dinner? Did you eat?”

Sewon answered his gentle questions as she always did.

“I ate.”

“Good.”

Jaewoo approached her bedside. A faint smell of alcohol clung to him, mingled with the scent of cigarettes.

He dropped onto the edge of the bed. The next moment, without warning, he placed his hand on her lower abdomen.

Startled, Sewon instinctively knocked his hand away.

“Your stomach’s flat.”

“What are you doing, Jaewoo?”

“You said you ate.”

Their eyes met. His black eyes gleamed beneath their elongated outer corners as he looked at her intently, as if he could see right through her.

His forehead was smooth, and his eyebrows were thick. Beneath these features, he had a sharply defined nose and red lips. Then his eyes met hers again.

Encountering his haughty gaze sent a sudden chill through her. Even when they held no particular emotion, his eyes had an inherent coldness.

For a moment, Sewon thought of a snake.

“I-I only ate a little. And it’s been a while. My stomach doesn’t usually get very full.”

“All right.”

He accepted her answer readily. It seemed he had never intended to press her in the first place. Sewon quickly asked him a question.

“Didn’t you say you weren’t coming home tonight?”

“My plans changed.”

Jaewoo’s voice was languid with fatigue as he lay down on her bed. Sewon was utterly taken aback.

“Jaewoo? Go sleep in your room. You’ll be more comfortable.”

“I’m sleepy.”

“Go to your room…”

“I can’t move.”

He closed his eyes and murmured the words. At a loss for what to say, Sewon shifted awkwardly on the bed. Jaewoo spoke again in the same lazy tone.

“I have no strength left in my legs, Sewon.”

His breath mingled with his voice, giving it an odd quality. Sewon looked down at his handsome face for a moment.

The long lashes resting against his eyelids were perfectly still. After a brief silence, she spoke.

“Then I’ll sleep somewhere else. Make yourself comfortable.”

She started to get up, but Jaewoo was quicker. He caught her wrist, his grip gentle enough not to hurt.

“Don’t go.”

“…”

“Stay here.”

His voice was low, almost as though he were speaking to himself. Then he added,

“I’ll leave after I get a little sleep…”

His words trailed off. Sewon blinked and waited until she felt his grip on her wrist relax. Soon, the sound of his soft, even breathing filled the room.

Gently slipping her wrist free, she went into the living room. She sat on the sofa and pulled her knees up to her chest as a cold breeze drifted in through the open window.

Bowing her head, she buried her face in her knees. Her thoughts were tangled and restless.

‘Should I order pizza again tomorrow? But wouldn’t it be embarrassing to take him at his word and order again just to see him? More importantly, would Jaewoo be out tomorrow? Would he come home late again, like he had tonight?’

Sewon thought of the man sleeping soundly in her room.

He reminded her of a snake. Although she had only ever seen snakes in photographs, there was something about him that brought them to mind.

He had an air of danger about him that she couldn’t quite describe, and he had a strong, animalistic scent. Despite being warm and kind to her, her heart would sometimes give a frightened jolt when she met his pitch-black eyes.

Instinct. Yes, it was instinct that warned her of danger.

At least two or three times a week, he satisfied his s*xual urges at home rather than in a hotel. Sewon felt she had no right to complain about the women he brought home. This was his home, after all. Who was she to intrude on his private life or object to his actions?

Sewon blinked slowly. She was still tired, perhaps because she hadn’t slept enough. Her neck relaxed and her eyelids gradually fell shut.

She drifted off with her face buried in her knees.

When she woke up, she was lying on a soft mattress. The first light of dawn streamed through the window, illuminating the familiar wallpaper.

Click.

She was still looking around in confusion when the bedroom door opened. Jaewoo entered, holding a glass of honey water. As soon as she caught sight of him, she started coughing.

“I knew this would happen. You’ve caught a cold.”

“Oh…”

“You should have stayed here. Why did you sleep out there like that? You didn’t even close the window.”

From the look of things, he had carried her back to her room. Jaewoo set the tray on the bedside table and placed a hand on her forehead.

“Sorry about last night. I startled you, didn’t I?”

“No, it’s fine. You were drunk. Does your stomach feel okay?”

Her voice came out hoarse, with a rasp to it. Jaewoo fell silent for a moment after hearing it, then chuckled softly.

“I don’t think you’re in any state to worry about me.”

“…”

“Drink this. You have a fever.”

Jaewoo held the glass of honey water to Sewon’s lips. She took a sip, and warmth quickly spread through her throat.

“I’ll get you some medicine.”

“I’m fine.”

“I’ll ask the housekeeper to make you some porridge. Eat it later.”

“…Okay. Thank you.”

The housekeeper came twice a week to clean, do the laundry, and restock the fridge with side dishes. By the time she had washed all of Jaewoo’s bed sheets, which were piled in the laundry basket, she was exhausted.

After making sure that Sewon had everything she needed, Jaewoo left for work, promising to come home early.

Sewon had initially brushed off her cold, but the symptoms soon caught up with her. She developed a dull headache, her breath felt hot and her legs grew weak. Only then did she realize how unwell she was.

He surely wouldn’t bring a woman home today. Not when she was lying here, sick.

In her current state, she doubted she could even leave the house. Curled beneath the covers, Sewon let the hours slip by. Maybe she could just rest peacefully at home today.

But that hope was soon shattered.

“Ah…! Ah, ngh, haa…”

Please! Just stop!

Sewon kicked off the covers in frustration. She didn’t want to hear any more. She couldn’t bear it. The sound of her stepbrother’s ragged breathing made her feel sick. She had no desire to see or hear anything about their animal-like mating.

She tossed and turned, pressing her hands over her ears, before finally sitting up. Hastily throwing a coat over her thin T-shirt, she forced her weak legs to carry her outside.

She shuffled out in her slippers. She knew exactly where she wanted to go.

The sun had set, but the main road was illuminated by bright neon signs. She hurried along until she reached her destination.

“Yu Minjae! Get a move on!”

“Yeah. I’m going.”

Leaving the middle-aged man’s shouting behind him, Minjae pulled on his helmet. He climbed onto his motorcycle and rode away before Sewon could stop him.

She hadn’t even thought to stop him, yet she felt disappointed. She wished she could have said one more thing to him.

Then a thought took hold of her.

Could she make him stay?

Her hair, which fell just past her shoulders, whipped around in the fierce wind. Fine strands lashed against her flushed cheeks, stinging them further.

She kept coughing, but she had nowhere to go back to.

There was somewhere she could go, but it didn’t feel like home.

Yu Minjae.

Sewon silently mouthed his name.

Yu Minjae. Yu Minjae.

My first love from back then.

***

Sewon returned to see Minjae several more times. As always, she could only watch him from a distance.

Just seeing his face made her happy. Whenever her longing for those days became too much, she sought him out. Looking for him had become part of her routine, even though he made her feel lonelier while simultaneously filling the void inside her.

About a week after she had recovered from her cold, Jaewoo told her that he was going on a business trip.

Recently, Sewon had been waking up before dawn more often. She sat up with a groan. She had often woken with an inexplicable sense of unease recently, which affected her mood.

Still half asleep, she rubbed her eyes and got out of bed. Her throat was parched and she needed a glass of water.

She had just opened her bedroom door and started towards the kitchen when a strange feeling made her stop.

“Ngh.”

A strange sound came from the living room. The only people who should have been in the house at this time of night were Sewon and her stepbrother.

If Jaewoo had brought a woman home, the sounds would have come from his bedroom. He had always confined those encounters to his own room.

Perhaps it was a small consideration for her. Whatever the reason, as far as she knew, he never used the other rooms.

So who was making those sounds?

Sewon approached on trembling legs. Cold sweat trickled down her back with every step, and she felt each nervous swallow catch in her throat.

Stifled m*ans, ragged breathing, and the creaking of the sofa mingled into an unsettling rhythm.

It sounded like more than one person.

Should she turn on the light? It was only then that the thought occurred to her.

As the fog of sleep lifted, the sounds became clearer. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness, slowly revealing what lay ahead.

At last, Sewon could make out the figures that had drawn her towards the noise.

A few steps away, two figures were lying entwined on the sofa.