Chapter 49 – Episode 49 – [Side Story] Jeong in-Ae – Mother’s Infidelity (3)
After lunch, I changed into my swimsuit.
Was it too bold? When I came out of the dressing room wearing my first bikini, I felt like I was standing in front of people wearing only my underwear. My husband and children complimented me on how pretty I was, but it felt like people kept staring at my breasts that shook every time I walked. I was embarrassed by the men’s glances, but at the same time, I felt good. Even though I was a woman in my mid-30s and had two children, my body was still good enough to attract men’s attention.
After briefly soaking in the seawater, I sat in the shade of the parasol and became the guardian of the luggage. Still, I felt good. The hot sun and blue sea, the unique smell of the beach where the smell of salty seawater and people’s sunscreen are mixed together, and the sight of my husband and children happily playing in the water. Although my daughter was fully grown, she was still in elementary school. As soon as she entered the water, she turned into a child and was busy playing with her father. A healthy relationship between father and daughter that I have never experienced before. Every time I see the affectionate appearance of my husband and Su-ah, I think of my father’s face as he clings to my body, panting and shaking his back. I promised myself that I would never let Suah experience the darkness that had settled inside me and would not go away. I always wanted to grow up to be a bright and clean child like now.
Suddenly, I remembered the young group from earlier.
While talking with the owner of the bed and breakfast, they looked up at us coming down from the second floor, and their eyes soon focused on me. It wasn’t hard to guess what they were thinking as they looked up and down and smiled, as if looking at their prey. When I found out that it was the same accommodation, I must have thought, ‘What the heck, I made a fortune.’ All kinds of lewd fantasies about me would have played out in their heads, and they would have even talked dirty among themselves after we left.
As I was thinking that, my whole body suddenly felt hot. I was thirsty and tried drinking some ice water, but it didn’t help. I wanted to walk a little. Furthermore, I signaled to my husband that I would be leaving for a moment and stood up, taking only my valuables. As I stood up, I felt the eyes of several men around me move as well. My body became a little hotter as I received that gaze.
I was wearing a skirt underneath because I was embarrassed, but on top I was only wearing a bikini. As I walked a bit, enjoying the stares of men, I came across a store selling drinks. As I was waiting in line for a moment, someone touched my shoulder from behind.
I was startled and turned around to see those men. The person who tapped my shoulder was a blonde.
“Hello, are you staying in the same accommodation as us?”
“Ah, yes… Hello.”
None of the four were wearing tops. When the sweaty upper bodies of young men suddenly appeared before my eyes, I felt momentarily dizzy.
“We rode the bus together earlier, do you remember?”
“Yes…”
I didn’t see it, but I thought it must have been watching me from somewhere and following me. Since he was alone and away from his family, he was trying to do something blatant.
When it was my turn to order fruit juice with ice, the men continued to talk to me while I waited for a while. It was an obvious repertoire that I had always heard. There are also children. Are they your children? How old are they? They don’t look that age at all. They’re very young. Furthermore, they’re beautiful, etc. Etc.
I was about to leave with a drink in my hand, but the blonde caught me.
“It’s our relationship that we ride the same bus and share the same dorm, so can’t we just talk for a little while? We’re enlisting soon, so we went on a trip with friends to make some last memories, but it’s really boring because we’re the only ones having fun.”
“My family is waiting.”
“Hey, I’m sure your father will play well, I guess.”
He forced me, who was just about to leave, to sit at a table next to the store. Meanwhile, a man with an earring received the drink I ordered. He also sat down with his sports hair and tattoos.
The men kept talking to me as I sat restlessly. They all said their names, but I couldn’t even remember them all. All I could think about was what would happen if my husband or children saw this. There were tourists walking around, but they didn’t really pay any attention to us. The group looked somewhat scary, so maybe they didn’t want to make eye contact.
There wasn’t anything to talk about, and I just gave a half-hearted answer, but the four men continued their conversation without stopping. Whether you know how to swim, whether you often travel with your family, what your job is…
“You run a hair salon? Wow… Can I be a regular at that store? Where do you do it?”
“It’s just a small store in the neighborhood.”
When I told them I was running a hair salon, all four of them showed interest and tried to find out where it was, but I never answered. I started to feel increasingly uncomfortable. I wondered what on earth four men and one woman were doing to a married woman who was much older than them. What if I came alone or with friends? I came with my family. What do these guys want?
“I really have to go now. If I don’t come too long, my husband will worry.”
When I got up with a slight look on my face, the men stopped holding me.
“I’m sorry if you offended me. I just wanted to get to know you because you’re such a beautiful woman and I think this was meant to be. How long are you staying here?”
“Until the day after tomorrow.”
“Ah… I might go with you when I go up. Then, I’ll see you at the dorm later.”
The blonde said so. I don’t know what you mean by saying I’ll meet you at the hotel. It’s a different room. What’s there to do in the dorm? So I returned to my family in a bad mood.
“Where have you been for so long?”
My husband and children came out of the water, wrapped themselves in towels and were resting.
“I just walked around and looked around…”
After saying that, her husband didn’t ask any more questions.
The children played in the water all day. My husband couldn’t handle it anymore, so we sat on the mat and watched the children play near the water and talked about the children. Before we knew it, the sun was setting, and we finally pulled the kids out of the water. I took a shower, changed clothes, and had dinner at a raw fish restaurant. My husband and I drank a little beer while watching the night sea with the kids. When we returned to the accommodation, it was already midnight and the children were rolling around on the blanket, playing and eventually falling asleep, probably because they were tired. I never encountered the men on the first floor.
“I’m going to smoke a cigarette.”
After having a drink, my husband must have thought of a cigarette, so he said that and went out. Although I didn’t smoke a lot, my husband still couldn’t quit smoking despite my nagging. Especially when he drank a little alcohol, he started chain-smoking. He sighed and lay down next to the children. It was the bedding for my husband and I. If it weren’t for the kids next to me, I might have been able to have a hot night today. I thought that when the children were a little older, my husband and I could go on a trip alone. But will my husband, who is no longer able to act as a man properly, still hug me then?
While I was thinking that, my husband opened the door and stuck his head out,
“The young people downstairs want to have a drink, so what do you think?”
“What do you mean, there are kids too.”
“Hey, everyone’s sleeping. How about it? It looks like fun. Let’s have a drink.”
My husband forced me up and dragged me away because I didn’t like it.
“I heard those guys came on the same bus as us? They said they sat next to us, so why didn’t I see them? It’s okay to hang out with young kids once.”
My husband said such nonsense. Do you know how those men looked at your wife earlier? I wanted to say this, but I couldn’t bring myself to say it.
When I entered the room, there was already a drinking party going on. The men cheered and welcomed my husband and I as we entered. My husband sat down wondering what was so good about it, and I sat next to him. Sweets and dry snacks were strewn on the floor, and a strong male scent filled the room. It was the same smell he smelled when he lived with his father.
They poured soju into a beer glass and offered it to my husband and me, and my husband gulped it down without thinking. I was someone who didn’t usually drink that much, but since I was on a trip and there was no pressure to get home early, it felt like my brakes were broken.
They said they were students at a university whose name my husband and I also knew. I had already heard that it was not long before I could enlist. My husband quickly got drunk and quickly blended into the noisy atmosphere. I was a much stronger drinker than my husband, but perhaps because of the atmosphere, I started to get drunk little by little. As we talked together, it seemed like men weren’t such bad people. He really just came to hang out with his friends before enlisting and tried to go hunting, but when that didn’t work out, he seemed like he was trying to have fun and have a drink with us who were staying in the same dorm. However, that was my mistake due to the alcohol and atmosphere.
