Side Story 3.1

Choi Dowook, as a boyfriend, was quite the nag.  

He would lecture endlessly about the rotting side dishes in the fridge of Junhee’s rented room, her habit of skipping meals out of laziness, her sleep patterns that involved staying up late to study for exams, and her carelessness in not bringing a cardigan despite being particularly sensitive to air conditioning. His sermons were trivial yet relentless.  

In comparison, Junhee’s occasional remarks like, “Be diligent in school,” or “Listen well to the director,” seemed like nothing. Dowook’s nagging had a persistent edge.  

But Junhee didn’t dislike it.  

She liked how Dowook would bring her a cardigan while nagging. She liked how he would buy her favorite food while lecturing her. She liked how he would carefully plate the food on a dish while scolding her, and how his hands would gently pat her back to help her catch up on the sleep she lacked.  

Whenever she woke up from a nap in Dowook’s arms, her rented room would have transformed. Clothes she had carelessly tossed around would be neatly organized, and the rotting side dishes she hadn’t eaten would be cleared out of the fridge.  

Junhee, who only knew how to study and was hopeless at housework, hadn’t even realized how bad she was at it until she started living alone. Back in Nonsan, her grandmother and father had taken care of everything for her.  

She only came to terms with how terrible she was at housework—and even worse than Choi Dowook—after moving out. But Dowook seemed to have known all along.  

‘You’re surprisingly lazy.’  

According to Dowook, she was lazy, shameless, forgetful, and an irresponsible troublemaker. Yet, he loved her deeply.  

Receiving such devoted affection, Junhee couldn’t argue with Dowook’s nagging. Instead, she chose to become brazen. She would smile sweetly, say, ‘Thank you,’ and open her arms. Dowook would stride over and hug her.  

‘Kiss me.’  

The reward he demanded was always so trivial.  

Here. And here. And here. And here.  

Though there were quite a few places he wanted kisses, Junhee didn’t mind. After all, he cleaned when she didn’t want to, and he took care of meals she found annoying. A kiss? She could give him a hundred.  

With just a few short kisses, Dowook would smile as if he had the whole world in his hands.  

Some people were surprised to see that Choi Dowook could even smile like that, but Dowook often showed that smile to Junhee. It made sense, considering he clung to her wherever she went.  

Just as Junhee was called ‘Choi Dowook’s girlfriend,’ he earned a nickname too: ‘Woo Junhee’s dog.’ Wherever Junhee went, Dowook followed her like a puppy.  

Not everyone viewed them favorably.  

Strangers would approach Junhee to stare at her or gossip openly as they passed by. There were malicious rumors that their relationship wouldn’t last long. Some people found the sight of them constantly together unpleasant and glared at them with sharp eyes. Others offered unsolicited advice—or curses—saying things like, ‘Don’t trust Choi Dowook. You’ll only end up getting hurt.’  

Dowook found such comments especially irritating. He seemed anxious and repentant, as if he were apologizing for some unknown past mistake that Junhee wasn’t aware of.  

‘I’m okay. They’re just saying that because they don’t know you. They don’t know the time we’ve spent together.’  

Junhee would smile while stroking Dowook’s silky hair as he rested his head on her lap.  

Back then, Junhee really didn’t care about what others said. To be precise, those words didn’t even register in her ears or stay in her mind.  

What she saw, heard, and thought about was all Choi Dowook.  

Her heart was so full of him that she didn’t have the capacity to worry about anything else. And Dowook didn’t leave her alone long enough for anyone else to intrude into her thoughts. They truly lived a life where they were never apart.  

Between classes, they would hold hands and walk around the campus. While Junhee studied at the library, Dowook would sit next to her, looking utterly bored as he read a book, reluctantly studied, or sometimes propped himself on the desk, gazing at her face with sparkling eyes.  

‘Play with me. Look at me. Hurry up and love me.’  

Under Dowook’s intense gaze, Junhee found it impossible to concentrate on her studies.  

She tried sitting far away from him, kicking him out of the library, or sometimes pacifying him with a secret kiss.  

For lunch, they explored the campus cafeterias, and for dinner, they sought out restaurants near the school. On weekends, they would take trips in Dowook’s car.  

Some days, they spent the entire day wrapped in each other’s arms, on the bed or the sofa. Sometimes at Dowook’s apartment, sometimes at Junhee’s villa. They would watch movies or eat meals while cuddled together.  

No matter what they did, it always ended the same way: passionately kissing and exploring each other’s bodies.  

The hundred-day deadline Dowook had mentioned was nearing its end. During those nearly one hundred days, Junhee had come to understand a man’s body intimately.  

Now, Junhee would sit on Dowook’s lap and grind her hips against him.  

Wrapping her arms around his head, she would pull him close and enjoy the sensation of her chest pressing against his. She had learned how to lock her legs tightly around his waist and how to apply pressure with her thighs to make him moan. She even came to savor the peculiar feeling of his arousal pressing against her lower abdomen.  

They no longer stopped at kissing each other’s tongues. They kissed and nibbled at each other’s necks, ears, chests, stomachs, waists, and legs. They pulled up each other’s clothes and explored hidden places with their mouths.  

Now, Dowook would get fully aroused just from licking Junhee’s wrist. He would suck her toes like candy, letting out lewd breaths. That would make Junhee drip with desire.  

Even while sharing such intimate acts, Dowook never went all the way.  

‘Come inside.’  

‘Do it now.’  

‘If you do it now, it won’t hurt at all.’  

Out of rebellion, curiosity, or playful mischief, Junhee would plead with him, but he never gave in.  

‘Why are you so impatient?’  

Even with lust clouding his eyes, he maintained his characteristic calm and teasing expression.  

‘Who told you to grow up into such a pervert?’  

As always, he would tease her and act nonchalant.  

‘Where’s that strict Confucian scholar who used to scold me over a single curse word?’  

He never failed to point out her contradictions with sharp wit.  

‘I wonder if your dad in Nonsan knows. About how much trouble his daughter causes me.’  

‘You’re the one who masturbates at my house.’  

Bringing up her father was unfair. Unable to hold back, Junhee retaliated, and Dowook’s face stiffened.  

His neck and ears flushed red with embarrassment, and after a moment, he laughed as if in disbelief. There was a determined glint in his eyes, as if he refused to lose to her. Feigning composure, he asked,  

‘You knew about that?’  

‘Of course I did.’  

‘Ah, how unseemly. You should’ve pretended not to know.’  

‘How could I not know? That smell is everywhere.’  

‘It’s all for you.’  

‘What?’  

‘If I push in now, you won’t be able to handle it and will collapse.’  

‘…Push what?’  

‘Not that I want you to die from overexertion. How embarrassing would it be to take you to the hospital for that?’  

Junhee paused for a moment at the vulgar language, but she quickly realized that Dowook was deliberately teasing her. He wanted her to get scared and stop at this point.  

But Junhee wasn’t afraid.  

Would it hurt less if we waited a hundred days? What was so special about those hundred days? 

She couldn’t understand Dowook. What was he holding back for, and what was he so afraid of?  

‘I’m really fine.’  

‘I feel a little insulted right now. Was what I’ve been doing not enough for you?’  

Not understanding her feelings, Dowook continued to act slyly.  

‘I’ll do it until you’re satisfied.’  

As he spoke, Dowook skillfully cupped Junhee’s chest and teased it while rubbing his arousal against her wet entrance. His fingertips pressed and vibrated against her most sensitive spot.  

Whenever Dowook became determined, Junhee would lose herself in no time. Every time, he focused on maximizing her pleasure. When Junhee reached climax just from his caresses and screamed for him to stop, only then would he let out a frustrated groan.  

‘You can’t even handle this, yet you keep asking me to go all the way.’  

He growled, moving his hips impatiently, unable to hide his urgency.  

Junhee knew that Dowook’s patience, which he pretended to have, was reaching its limit. Even so, she found his stubbornness—his determination to hold back—both exasperating and endearing because she knew it was his way of showing love.  

Dowook worried about her for every little reason, teased her for every little reason, found joy in her for every little reason, and loved her for every little reason.  

Her days were filled entirely with his love. At twenty-one, still immature and uncertain about reality and the future, that love overshadowed everything else.  

She knew the Taesan family wouldn’t approve of her. She remembered the hurt they had caused her.  

Still, they were the ones who had brought Dowook into her life, regardless of the reasons. Behind her stood her dependable father and kind grandmother. Beside her was Dowook, who promised to make her the happiest person in the world.  

So, she felt like she could do anything.  

She had worked hard to get into Korea University, paid off her father’s debts, and was happily dating Dowook. Dowook was regaining his grandfather’s favor and excelling in his management lessons, and even Song Yeongjoo had started seeking her out again.  

She was filled with arrogant confidence that she could achieve anything in the future. She believed that if she worked hard enough, even Song Yeongjoo, who still didn’t fully welcome her, and the rest of the Taesan family would eventually accept her.  

The tinted glasses people wore when they looked at her because of Dowook, and the massive wall of reality that stood between them, didn’t scare her at all back then.