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Eun Ha's POV:
At first Eun Ha believed her ears to have betrayed her. Or she didn't hear correctly. There was just... no way. And yet, the following murmuring, of a 'Not sure when you're going to get back. We should try sexting though. Whatcha think?' immediately assured the woman that her brain hadn't come up with that on its own.
A pause, filled with the faint rustle of sheets—Mia shifting on her bed, perhaps—and then a giggle, breathy and conspiratorial. 'Come on, don't be shy. Tell me what you'd do if I was there right now.'
"..."
Whoever her daughter was talking to on the phone, and whatever their sexual needs and preferences may be, they weren't Eun-Ha's business, right? It's not as if she's never been a teenage girl herself before.
The world was moving fast, and Mia wasn't a baby anymore.
That didn't mean she liked what she heard. Her daughter, talking in a manner so salacious to a potential lover on the phone. So carefree, in such a crude, even borderline promiscuous way. Of course, what right had Eun Ha, whose thoughts, as of late, tuned to the same filthy channel, to judge her young adult daughter?
She didn't forget what she saw in the mirror recently. The woman she saw wasn't a prude, innocent creature. The guilt of possibly... accidentally... sexually stimulating yourself to thoughts of a minor, your own son, was not the sort of thing anyone should live with. Eun Ha would be damned, and ashamed, for the rest of her life for succumbing to the depraved.
Sex had never been something Eun Ha looked forward to, like a treat, like a carrot, dangling right out of reach. She enjoyed it, certainly, like most human beings, but to lose control over a hormonal and physical reaction in her mind... this was all too much for the woman.
Too much indeed.
She wondered just how much more of her sanity she had left to lose before it was game over.
Eun Ha shook her head. She should keep walking. Should pretend she hadn't heard, retreat to her room and bury her head under the pillow.
"Unnhh, I miss your cock."
Came a softer, sweet tone.
Mia giggled again, a sound she could tell was shameless and uncaring of whoever heard. Probably didn't think there was anyone up to hear her.
"When will you be able to come back here? Like, for real? I'm dying~"
Eun Ha, who was about to continue on her way, paused. She blinked. Frowned. And fully turned towards her daughter's room this time.
"Sure thing. Sure thing." She was quiet. Coy, and sultry. "As soon as we have an opening, we'll celebrate. Just the two of us. No interruption. Nothing."
"Hmmm." There was a hint of a smile in her words. She was teasing him. "My tongue will become a magician~"
"..."
Eun Ha nearly sputtered and fell face-first on the floor. She flusteredly stared at Mia's room.
Could her daughter really have the libido of a rabid animal at a puberty stage?
God.
She touched her face, her cheeks. Heat flared beneath them, steam seemingly curling through the cracks between her fingers. She shook her head, trying to erase that train of thoughts. Still, Mia had said something that really stood out, and rang some curious bells in her mind. She was clearly in a relationship with someone—and that someone had been here before, if Mia's words were a clue.
Problem was... Eun Ha had no recollection of him whatsoever.
Of whom, though? Who would it be?
She'd have heard something.
She was always at home, unless Mia sneaked him in the middle of the night, or in those rare intervals when Eun Ha wasn't at home. Was it a recent thing, or had it been going on for months?
She leaned in closer, pressing her ear against the cool wood. Ah, she shouldn't be doing this, but maybe just one little bit would sate her curiosity, and at the very least take her mind off her own troubles. Eun Ha sighed softly, eyes trembling a little. From beyond the door, she heard some shifting, the creaking of mattress springs.
She could hear a small intake of breath, a pause, and then the sweet voice continued.
"Haaah... I hate how we can hardly go out." Mia whined. "So fucking annoying..."
"Yeah, I understand. I know it's a gamble when it comes to that sort of thing..."
'...'
"Yes, everything's okay, just miss you a lot... miss your everything, of course...'
'...'
She laughed a little, a squeaky squeal that Eun Ha pictured her oldest daughter rolling on the bed, kicking her legs up. "That's silly! You're so cheesy sometimes, you know that?" Mia's voice dipped, playful, a little breathless. "But I like it. I like you."
A pause. The phone crackled faintly.
'...'
"No, I'm not blushing. Shut up."
'...'
Another giggle, softer this time. "Okay, maybe a little."
'...'
"I can't help it, okay?! Tch. Bastard. Anyway, the semis are coming up, aren't they? You think you'll win it?"
'.....'
"Who're the other competitors?"
'.....'
"Yeah, you've got this. Everyone's already creaming themselves over the 'godly football star.' It's not even about winning anymore, just how many goals you're gonna rub in their faces. Though, personally, I'd love it if you could rub something on my face…"
'...'
"Huuuh, are you blushing? Are you blushing? You must be blushing. Haha~"
Eun Ha, who had been intently listening so far, took a step back. A memory flickered, something half-formed, intangible, a shadow beyond the curtain. A shape. A silhouette that was vaguely recognizable in some way.
The two of them talked a little longer about inconsequential topics. Mia would frequently add random tidbits of affection and 'love', some cheesy words that any girlfriend would use to describe their significant other. And some other dirty phrases too, just so it wouldn't get boring.
Eun Ha frowned a little, taking a few seconds to think. The context clues, and what she'd heard so far, it all combined to paint an interesting, almost heart-stopping, image. A possibility she'd overlooked.
Something she couldn't quite believe.
"No... it can't be..."
It simply couldn't.
Mia's voice dropped to a purr.
"Bet you're still hard from earlier, huh? Bet you're touching yourself right now, little bro."
Eun Ha's blood turned to ice.
A soft, wet sound—Mia's tongue against her teeth.
"Tell me where you want me first. My mouth? My tits? Or you wanna slide between my thighs and pretend it's an accident?"
Eun Ha's knees locked.
Little bro.
Not a pet name.
Not a joke.
A confession.
Mia laughed, low and filthy.
"God, I love when you get all quiet. Means you're picturing it. Means you're close."
A rustle—sheets kicked aside.
"I'm so wet I can feel it on my fingers. Want proof? I'll send a pic. Just say the word."
More laughter bubbled free.
Eun Ha's hand flew to her mouth.
The hallway shrank.
The air thickened. Eun Ha could hardly breathe with her hand over her mouth. Her heart was beating fast. Her knees trembling. No, she must've misheard her. She must've misinterpreted something. After all, she couldn't hear that well with the door between them.
Mia's voice again, syrupy, cruel. "What if we film it? It'll be our little secret. And you'll get a reminder of what we look like fucking on your phone."
'...'
"Oof. I know, I know it's dangerous...."
Another sound, different this time, almost unrecognizable. Almost, but not quite. A rush of breath, a stifled grunt, an edge of hunger, of relief.
Mia's laugh was darker.
"Goddamn, how're you that hot. Look at that body, seriously."
A laugh. And then silence. Silence, save for the faint hum of Mia's voice, and the rush of blood pounding in Eun Ha's ears.
Time spun out, long and slow and leaden.
Her heart slammed against the underside of her ribs, and when she managed to catch her breath again, the walls still throbbed dizzily.
She pushed herself away from Mia's door.
Heard Mia's laughter fading yet haunting.
Shit, that was stupid, and could've been a grave mistake if the two heard, or even worse, Mia found her standing right next to her room. Listening. To the absolute filth her daughter was uttering, apparently a common occurrence.
But could Mia and... and...
Eun Ha screwed her eyes shut and ran back to her room, before her legs gave in. She shut the door and curled on her side on the bed.
Her skin was scorched with the memory of Mia's voice. So self-indulgent. So free. So assured, in a way only someone in a fully-fledged relationship would have.
The feeling came rushing back again.
What were her children doing?
What the fuck...
What the ever loving fuck.
What the fucking fuck.
No. No. No. No!
There was no proof.
No confirmation.
Eun Ha's eyes crinkled and trembled as she held her head, so confused and scared and desperate. Her imagination was wild, it was free to fly. Yet there was no logical and solid proof yet. All she heard were baseless assumptions and her daughter talking to her boyfriend.
As of now, things were mere speculation, and a horrible gut feeling. But... the topic and context was, in no way, normal and unambiguous. And the more she connected the pieces, the more it started making sense—and it started not. Because it was not normal!
It simply wasn't!
Eun Ha lay stiff as a corpse on the bed, the sheets twisted around her legs like restraints.
Little bro.
Little bro.
Little bro.
The words scraped at the inside of her head until she wanted to claw them out.
Mia wasn't talking about Jae-il.
She could've just been teasing her boyfriend with the nickname, a silly little game in the middle of all that filth—nothing concrete, nothing to scribble down and swear by. No. Mia would never. Her and her siblings had a strong brother-sister relationship. One of the few good things in this household. A rock she could count on to depend on when the house was so, so fragile.
Right now, though, with the sickening knot in her stomach and the memory of her daughter's dirty, nasty talk, Eun Ha didn't know anything at the moment. Not even her own mind seemed to belong to herself anymore.
Tears welled up in her eyes, even as she tried to convince herself everything would be fine.
Eun Ha had once tried to convince herself that her husband, Yeong Gu, wasn't cheating on her. That he didn't have an affair with a cheap whore. That he didn't continue this sordid behaviour with each trip he left their house and family behind.
Now, as she lay there, eyelashes fluttering, eyes blurring, the shadows in the ceiling pointing fingers at her...
Eun Ha tried to convince herself that Mia hadn't... gone crazy, or sick in the mind... and fallen for her own younger brother, to the point that she'd want to commit an act so disgusting, so taboo.
And...
Eun Ha tried to convince herself that she didn't develop some sick and forbidden feelings for Jae-Il either.