I slowly brought the spoon to my mouth.
Then the hot soup rushed down my throat, warming my body.
“Is the food to your taste?”
“……Yes. Very much.”
Tears were about to spill.
Not because of anything else, but because of the food right in front of me.
It wasn’t fancy in appearance, but the taste was sweeter than any dish.
It warmed my heart. Only Dania-eonni could make food like this.
I truly missed it so much.
As tears welled up in my eyes, Dania-eonni rested her chin on her hand, smiling as she looked at me.
“You’ve changed a bit, Hera.”
Shudder-
Her words made my body tremble.
“Is…is that so…?”
“Yeah. You should have been a bit more graceful. Hehe.”
“……”
Though she said it casually, I couldn’t help but feel a growing fear.
Anxiety swirled in my chest.
Did she really notice that I had changed?
Though I said I became graceful…
Maybe it meant I became timid and weak.
My delusions began to surge in my mind again.
What if she hates me?
What if she is disappointed in me?
I really shouldn’t have come here—
Thud-
“Ugh.”
While I was lost in thought, the spoon suddenly entered my mouth, and as I slowly chewed, the sweet broth flowed over my tongue.
As I dazedly blinked and looked up, Dania-eonni’s emerald eyes were gazing intently at me.
“What are you thinking about?”
“Uh… um…”
I couldn’t tell her the truth.
It wasn’t something I wanted to share.
How could I possibly say that I wondered if she hated me?
In the end, after struggling to find my words for a long while, Dania-eonni gently patted my head and spoke.
“How about a drink tonight?”
*
Time passed unnoticed as night deepened.
Lily went to bed first, saying she’d give us some time alone.
Now, Dania-eonni and I were exchanging greetings over drinks.
Clink-
The sound of our glasses clinking filled the air.
As I slowly sipped the wine, the sweet grape-scented drink slid down my throat. Dania-eonni across from me also slowly took a sip.
I barely tasted the drink, quickly setting my glass back on the table.
I still hadn’t forgotten what happened last time.
The memory of being kidnapped by Sephir after getting wasted still lingered.
Since then, I had almost stopped drinking. If I did, I made sure to do so in moderation.
While I was lost in thought, Dania-eonni took another sip of wine.
“Do you like wine, Eonni?”
Curiosity made me ask, and she replied with a somewhat mysterious smile.
“Yes. Tasting it, I found it suits my taste.”
“Really…?”
“Thanks to you. I heard from the housekeeper that you asked him to look after us?”
Dania-eonni, who had been sitting across from me, placed her glass on the table and leaned closely next to me.
SFX-
Suddenly, one of her excessively curvaceous breasts brushed against my body.
“Uh… right…”
That time when I became Athena’s slave.
I had asked to please take care of Lily and Danya-eonni in exchange for becoming a slave.
“Thanks to the money she gave me, Lily and I could live comfortably here.”
Though it hadn’t been a happy experience.
As she muttered softly, I tried to pretend I didn’t hear the bittersweet undertone in her words, but the sadness in her eyes pierced my heart.
Seeing my facial expression, Dania-eonni let out a faint smile and laid my head on her shoulder.
“Sorry. I spoke about something gloomy.”
“Ah… no, it’s just that I really missed you this whole time.”
“Liar. Then why didn’t you come to see me even once?”
“W-well that…!”
I jumped in surprise, and she chuckled softly before speaking again.
“Just kidding, Hera. You must have had your reasons… But I’m really happy that you approached me first like this.”
“…You’ve changed a bit too, Eonni. You’re joking now.”
“Oh my… really? Have I changed in any other way?”
I couldn’t seem to look away from her enchanting smile.
Speaking of changes…
I had felt something odd since earlier. Dania-eonni seemed a bit different than before.
Her laughter had a slightly more peculiar aura, and I could feel that her body was much more mature than before.
Even though it was hard to take my eyes off her before, for some reason, it felt even more captivating now.
What should I say…
“You’ve become a bit seductive…”
I unconsciously blurted it out.
For a moment, I worried that I might have offended Dania-eonni, but surprisingly, she gazed back at me with deeper eyes.
“That might be due to my recent work.”
“Really…?”
…..Huh?
I suddenly caught something strange in her words.
“Y-yes?!”
I jumped up from my seat, looking at Dania-eonni.
“What… what kind of work are you doing?!?!”
Her words sounded strange.
Something that makes a person seductive?
C-could it be that Dania-eonni is doing something like that?
My not-so-smart brain could only conjure up less-than-innocent thoughts.
“Yeah. I’m doing massages.”
Thud-
“Ah… massages…?”
Massages?
The kind of massage that I think it is…?
My eyes began to tremble as if an earthquake hit.
Of course, it could just be my overblown imagination.
It surely was.
It could be that she’s simply doing harmless, straightforward massages…
But still, I didn’t want to picture her massaging another man’s body.
What reason could Eonni have to do massages?
Could it be that Athena isn’t paying her enough?
So, she started working out of financial necessity?
If that’s the case, I might genuinely grow to dislike Athena.
“Eonni, you need to quit that job right now. I’ll give you money.”
As I grabbed her shoulders tightly, she opened her eyes wide for a moment and then began to giggle with a slightly reddened face.
“Ha ha! You’re cute, Hera..! Was it really that shocking?”
“….Eonni…”
“Ha ha… But it’s not entirely a lie. I’ve been learning massage for a while now.”
“…But why massage all of a sudden?”
I puffed my cheeks slightly as I asked, and Dania-eonni appeared to express a touch of regret.
“I wanted to do something for you if I ever got to see you again.”
“Eh…? Me?”
As I pointed to myself in confusion, she gently placed her hand on mine.
“Hera, do you remember what I said before?”
“What did you say…?”
Leaving me with a puzzled expression, Dania looked at me with deep, emotional eyes.
“Before I met you, my days in Drax were hellish. And the one who saved me from that was you.”
“Um… I… I know that…”
“No. I owe you so much. I’ll spend my life repaying that debt.”
“E-eonni…”
Her intense feelings toward me made my heart start to pound.
For some reason, unable to resist her hand that was still holding mine, I simply gazed at her in a daze.
“But Hera, I don’t have a powerful strength like Athena or the exceptional talent like Lily.”
Dania-eonni looked at me with slightly sad eyes.
“I thought a lot. What could I possibly do for you? In the end, I found my answer.”
She gently laid me down, placing my head on her soft lap.
Then, she began to lovingly stroke my hair, one strand at a time, and spoke tenderly.
“I want to be your refuge, Hera.”
“A refuge…?”
As I spoke with a trembling voice, she lowered her head and left a brief kiss on my forehead.
“A place where you can come back at any time when you’re struggling and rest comfortably. A refuge like that.”
Why was it?
I couldn’t take my eyes off her green eyes.
Was it the alcohol?
Or was it because I was enchanted by her heartfelt affection?
I felt as though I was about to drown in the way she looked at me.
“So, Hera, you don’t need to feel any guilt toward me. You saved my life.”
“…Eonni…”
…..You really did notice, didn’t you?
That I had been watching for your reaction.
After all, she always had a quick understanding of my feelings.
“No matter how you change, no matter who you become… I will love you the same.”
As she said that, our faces drew near, with her slightly flushed cheeks close to mine.
A clear signal of a kiss.
“Ah…”
Ah… This isn’t good…
Kissing is… not something we should do as women…
But was it due to the alcohol?
Or perhaps it was just how happy I felt to see my dearly missed Dania-eonni again?
I too, in a longing way, closed my eyes and tilted my head up.
And so—
Smooch-
Our lips met, and we shared a sweet, sticky kiss that lasted for a very long time.
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