3.1

“Hey, sleepyhead.”  

The touch of someone kneading her arm woke her up.  

“……”  

She blinked slowly and rubbed her face with her free hand.  

“What time is it…?”  

“11:30 in the morning. Just how long do you plan to sleep?”  

“Huh? Aren’t you going to work?”  

“It’s a public holiday today.”  

“Ohhh….”  

She had completely lost track of the days.  

“Where’s Hyunho?”  

“He’s giving Chapssal a bath.”  

“Ahh….”  

Hyunho was diligent even on his days off. Still half-asleep, she lay quietly. Juhan, who sat next to her, continued kneading her arm.  

“How can you have no muscles at all? It’s all just soft flesh. It feels like you don’t even have bones.”  

‘Is it cartilage?’ Juhan mumbled to himself.  

Suddenly, last night’s events came to her mind, and she flinched.  

“What? What’s wrong?”  

“N-nothing….”  

“Is it your sleeping habit?”  

“……”  

Last night, she, Hyunho, and Juhan had s*x. Thinking about it made her thighs ache. The sensation of her bare body under the soft blanket also became apparent.  

So, it finally happened.  

Her mind became a whirlwind of thoughts.  

“Are you going to keep lying there?”  

Though her body remained comfortably sprawled, Juhan stretched out beside her.  

“Just five more minutes….”  

“Yeah, right.”  

He chuckled and slyly lifted the blanket to slip his hand underneath. His large, warm hand moved from her shoulder to her chest, softly caressing it in circles and gently squeezing.  

“You’re even warmer after sleeping.”  

Since their first s*xual encounter, Juhan had taken to touching her body as if it were a given. While everything else seemed unchanged and normal, this was a significant shift. She wondered if Juhan really felt nothing about it.  

While her mind was tangled with thoughts about what would happen next, her body, still drowsy, stayed still, eyes closed, simply feeling his touch. Juhan, commenting on how warm she was, continued to explore her body. His hand, which had been sweeping over her thighs, began to move inward.  

“Yebom, are you awake?”  

Hyunho entered, carrying Chapssal in his arms.  

“Yeah, Chapssal~!”  

“Chapssal is all clean from his bath.”  

He placed Chapssal on the bed beside her. The dog immediately pounced, licking her face enthusiastically. She couldn’t help but laugh as she hugged Chapssal and sniffed him.  

Oh no, her beloved doggy smell was gone, replaced by a faint shampoo scent. Still, she liked the shampoo scent and sniffed Chapssal while petting him. The dog’s warm and soft body against her bare skin felt comforting.  

“Did you sleep well?”  

Hyunho smiled, looking at her face.  

“Yeah. What about you?”  

“I slept well, thanks to you, Yebom.”  

“……”  

Why thanks to me…?  

“What should we have for lunch, guys?”  

“What should we eat? How about pork cutlets?”  

Pork cutlets again….  

“I like the mini pork cutlets.”  

“Oh, come on. You’re not a kid. Why mini pork cutlets?”  

“…Sorry for liking mini pork cutlets as a grown adult….”  

“Exactly. You’re all grown up now.”  

Juhan wrapped an arm around her chest as he lay sideways. Meanwhile, Hyunho sat at the edge of the bed, scrolling through his phone.  

“What’s wrong with liking mini pork cutlets? But it seems like no place sells them.”  

“It’s fine. I don’t have to eat them.”  

“Seo Yebom. What do you want to eat?”  

“I’m fine with anything. You guys decide.”  

“Hmm…. How about eel rice bowls?”  

“……”  

“Sounds good. It’ll help her regain her energy.”  

Wasn’t that a bit too obvious?  

“Yebom, is that okay?”  

“Yeah.”  

Since she had already given her word, she reluctantly nodded.  

“Order the special set.”  

“I’ll just have the regular one….”  

“Alright, it’ll be here soon.”  

While waiting for the food, she lazed around in bed as usual.  

Though life seemed the same, it felt slightly different.  

As she lay on her side, sniffing and petting Chapssal, Juhan mirrored her actions, lying beside her, sniffing her, and touching her body. Hyunho, sitting on the other side, answered a call from the vet while occasionally playing with her hair.  

Why are they all gathered here….  

Though her room and bed weren’t small, the two men’s large builds made the space feel cramped.  

Before long, the eel rice bowls arrived. Hyunho and Chapssal left the room, and she got up as well. Avoiding Juhan, who kept teasing her, she wrapped herself in the blanket, found some new clothes, and got dressed. She debated whether to wear a bra but decided to skip it since they’d already seen everything. It was unexpectedly convenient.  

Dressed in comfortable loungewear, she went to the dining table, where three generous eel rice bowl sets awaited.  

“Wowww!”  

“Hahaha.”  

The glossy eel and neatly arranged side dishes made her mouth water.  

“Let’s eat.”  

“Eat up and regain your strength.”  

“……”  

Juhan’s words made her feel like she shouldn’t eat, but she picked up her spoon anyway.  

The grilled eel, marinated in soy sauce and served over rice, was heavenly. The charred flavor of the eel was rich, and its meat was plump and chewy. With each bite, she felt warmth and energy spreading through her.  

“This is so good.”  

“Yebom, do you want some more?”  

Hyunho offered her part of his special-sized portion.  

“No, no. I’m full.”  

The two men, who didn’t seem like they needed the energy boost, devoured one and a half eels each.  

As the meal neared its end, she debated whether to bring up the topic or let it slide.  

About the fact that the three of them had s*x last night, a threesome….  

She considered glossing over it without addressing it directly, but it weighed on her mind. Slowly eating and thinking for a long time, she finally opened her mouth.  

“Um…”  

“What is it?”  

“Yeah, Yebom?”  

Both men turned their attention to her.  

“……”  

Despite her deliberation, she didn’t know how to start. She opened and closed her mouth, searching for the right words.  

“What is it? Just say it already.”  

Prompted by Juhan, she blurted out something random.  

“Are we… s*x partners?”  

“What?!”  

Apparently, it was too random. Juhan frowned deeply.  

“s*x partners?! I can’t stand people like that. Maybe I’m old-fashioned, but those people are out of their minds.”  

Right, because being old-fashioned explains having a threesome….  

“How can you have s*x without any feelings? s*x is something you do with someone you like. Separating s*x and love is ridiculous.”  

“Do you like me?”  

She reflexively asked, and Juhan glared at her before answering.  

“Yeah, I like you.”  

He said it with a completely unconvincing expression.  

What’s wrong with him?  

Flustered, she turned to Hyunho for help.  

“I really like you, Yebom.”  

But Hyunho doubled down.  

“Oh, no….”  

She felt pressured to respond in kind.  

“Of course, I like both of you too. But we’ve been living without… s*x.”  

“We can just start now. What’s the problem?”

“Wow, seriously….”  

“I’ve jerked off so many times thinking about you.”  

Juhan declared boldly. For a moment, she thought she had misheard him, her mouth dropping open in shock.  

“Have you never m*sturbated while thinking about me or Hyunho?”  

“……”  

The question made her turn her head instinctively, even more flustered.  

To say she had never thought of them while m*sturbating would have been a lie.  

The two were her closest friends and undeniably attractive. Though she hadn’t been aware of it when they were younger, as she grew older and became more conscious of such things, their appeal became impossible to ignore.  

Since their school days, both had always been popular, each handsome in his own way, with physiques that rivaled those of professional athletes. With their tall, well-built frames, it was inevitable that they occasionally appeared in her fantasies during moments of self-pleasure.  

No matter how free one’s imagination might be, there was an inexplicable sense of guilt attached to such thoughts. Even when she tried not to think about them, their images would intrude unbidden. Stopping the automatic flow of such thoughts was no easy task. At times, when she m*sturbated half-asleep, the guilt would fade, and she would consciously imagine them.  

In her sporadic fantasies, she alternated between Hyunho and Juhan… imagining their hands—three or four times the size of her own—pleasuring her, or their large, powerful bodies pinning her down. It wasn’t her own hand moving to stimulate herself or inserting a d*ldo; it was someone else—Hyunho or Juhan—touching her and thrusting into her.  

“……”  

So, she had no excuse, no words to defend herself.  

“Guess that means you have, huh?”  

Juhan chuckled wickedly.  

“Is it true, Yebom?”  

Even Hyunho was grinning, clearly amused, making her want to crawl into a hole.  

“Well, I mean….”  

“Why bother m*sturbating when we can just have s*x?”  

“Like this? The three of us together?”  

She gestured in a circle over the table.  

“Yeah. Let’s keep living like this, the three of us.”  

Unexpectedly, Hyunho spoke in a soft yet firm tone.  

“We’ve always lived like a family, the three of us. I don’t think anything needs to change, nor should it.”  

A series of fragmented memories flashed through her mind.