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LOZ 113
["When you were young, was there a Korean fairy tale you read to me with a story like this? A... goddess? A fairy? Something like that descends from the sky to bathe in a pond, and some crazy guy spies on her, falls for her, and steals her winged clothes."]
It was a question so sudden and random it was almost absurd.
Jiyu, still panting softly as the peak of the heat had not yet subsided, blinked with a bewildered expression, trying to focus her hazy gaze.
Only a moment ago, her complexion had been dark as if she had lost the world, but perhaps she had simply been frustrated; now that the bout of sex was over, the atmosphere was far more stable.
[...Why are you suddenly curious about that?]
Jiyu asked in a tight, husky voice.
She immediately recognized which fairy tale Hunter was talking about.
Back when she took Korean lessons in the playroom every Saturday, Lauren had sourced a complete collection of Korean fairy tales from somewhere and placed them in the library. After the lessons ended, Hunter would pick one of those books and hand it to Jiyu, telling her to read it aloud.
He tried not to show it, but he loved traditional Korean folk tales.
Thinking back, since most of them were oral legends transcribed into children's stories, many contained characters with ethical issues and inappropriate content for children.
Perhaps because they were far more stimulating than the storybooks she usually read—where immoral characters faced brutal retribution as a result of their extreme actions—he used to listen with quite a bit of focus.
[Don't you remember?]
Hunter pressed.
[I remember. The Fairy and the Woodcutter.]
[Uh... I think that's the one. How did that story end?]
He narrowed his eyes, his eyebrows twitching as if digging through his memories.
It was a truly, highly inappropriate posture for discussing folk tales. However, Hunter seemed determined not to pull away until she answered.
Jiyu searched through her fading memories and summarized the ending roughly.
[A deer... advised the woodcutter never to return the winged clothes to the fairy until she had borne three children. But the fairy lived with the woodcutter and had two children, and I think the woodcutter returned the clothes, believing she wouldn't go back to heaven now that they had children. But the fairy said she missed her family in heaven too much, so she put on the winged clothes, tucked one child in each arm, and flew away.]
Hunter, who had been listening in silence, frowned with a hollow exclamation.
[She ran away and left the woodcutter behind? Surely that's not the end?]
Jiyu shook her head with an awkward expression.
[I don't remember what happened next. I think that might have been the end... Why are you suddenly asking about this?]
[Haa...]
Hunter let out a heavy sigh and glared at her with a distinctly dissatisfied look, as if the fairy's escape were somehow her fault.
Jiyu gave up on trying to understand him.
One moment he was burrowing into her desperately like a man being hunted, and the next, as soon as the sex ended, he was asking random questions. And after she bothered to answer, he was now angry because he didn't like the ending.
Drawing on the patience she once had when dealing with Hunter as a child, Jiyu patted his broad, sturdy shoulders.
[Hunter, those two were in a toxic relationship from the start. The woodcutter didn't just steal the fairy's clothes; he kidnapped and confined—]
[Whew... let's talk about something else now.]
Hunter dropped his head and buried his face in the crook of her neck.
Jiyu let out a short sigh. He was as willful as ever. The problem was that she didn't hate it. If she could have hated Hunter, she wouldn't have come this far.
[...What do you want to talk about?]
As he shifted his lower body slightly, a wet, squelching sound echoed from below.
[I don't know. Anything. Your voice turns me on.]
Jiyu blinked. No way.
[Hunter...?]
[What.]
He rubbed the bridge of his nose against her neck and then began to nibble at her skin.
[We... we just did it.]
[So?]
Hunter lifted his head, looking down at her as if wondering what the problem was, and pressed his lower body firmly upward.
[Ngh...]
She felt his penis twitch and grow in size again inside her.
Propping his upper body up, Hunter hooked Jiyu's leg over his shoulder and pressed her down with his weight. Their joined parts clung together without a single gap.
[Ah, Hunter... how deep are you— ngh!]
[All the way.]
Jiyu's mouth hung open, her body stiffening at the feeling of her womb being completely filled.
[Ngh. Relax, Jiyu. This time, tell me that story about the bird building a bridge to heaven. Was that a happy ending?]
[Hngh, stop making me talk, Hunter!]
Jiyu scolded him in a sobbing tone, struggling against him.
He chuckled and gave a slight upward thrust of his hips, causing the tip of his penis to slide past the cervix and lodge deeply into the small space above it.
Hunter knew very well that if he pushed up until there was no more room, there was one more spot where even a slight rub of the tip would make her lose herself in pleasure.
[Haa...]
He let out a satisfied exclamation.
Jiyu squeezed her eyes shut. Every time her inner walls twitched and contracted, a dull thrill spread through her, making her shiver like someone caught in a chill.
[Open your eyes, Jiyu.]
The lethargy gone, fire ignited once again in Hunter's blue eyes.
Jiyu looked back at him as if possessed. Then, he began to move slowly.
Before long, her vision melted into white. Once, twice, three times... giving up on counting, she lost her mind and swayed as if she were a part of Hunter.
Hunter, who had been staring at her obsessively while enduring all those peaks, grit his teeth and tensed every muscle in his body. His jaw tightened, and a boiling groan leaked through his teeth.
The shadows that had been shaking incessantly finally stopped, tangled together as one mass.
Hunter was used to the cleanup. He wiped his traces from the fallen-asleep Jiyu, dressed her again, and smiled bitterly. Knowing her stamina was weak, he had lost his reason and pushed her relentlessly once more.
He glanced at the wall clock and pulled a small pouch from his pocket.
[I wanted to give this to you while you were awake... but it's past midnight.]
Muttering, Hunter opened the pouch string and held it upside down in his palm. A thin chain densely studded with sparkling diamonds poured out.
Hunter went to the foot of the bed, lifted Jiyu's left ankle, and carefully fastened the anklet. A small diamond pendant engraved with initials dangled.
Bending down to kiss those initials, Hunter slowly stood up. He then pulled the bedsheet up to her neck to cover her.
[Happy Valentine's Day, Jiyu.]
Whispering softly, Hunter turned off the lamp and quietly left Jiyu's room.
In March, Hunter achieved the feat of reaching the quarterfinals as a wild card at the Indian Wells Open in California. The Indian Wells Open is a Masters 1000 tournament, just one tier below the Grand Slams—the US Open, Wimbledon, the French Open, and the Australian Open—and is a tournament where Grand Slam players also participate.
To manage his condition, he skipped the Miami Open immediately following it and participated in the Monte Carlo Open in the first week of April, held at the Monte Carlo Country Club in Monaco, where the Hamilton family holds memberships.
Because it is a tournament with a large number of European players who are strong on clay courts, it has traditionally been a tournament where American players' results are lackluster.
However, for Hunter, who had played tennis at the MCCC since he was a child, the place was practically his home ground. Thus, the Monte Carlo Open was a tournament as special to him as the US Open.
Hunter surged through to the quarterfinals, surprising everyone and emerging as a legitimate dark horse. Then, in the early hours of Friday, after a fierce battle that lasted two and a half hours, he suffered a defeat against a Spanish player ranked 5th in the world.
Having easily lost the first set to his opponent, he fought fiercely to take the second. Then, in the third set, the score went to a tie-break at a 6:6 deuce, and he lost 5:7.
Jiyu, who had woken up at 5 AM to watch Hunter's match, burst into heartbroken tears upon seeing Hunter run his hand through his hair and drop his head after losing points in the tie-break.
The quality of the match was truly irreproachable. Moreover, the opponent was a world-ranked player with far more experience and skill on clay courts.
The fact that a rookie who had just debuted as a professional this year became the dark horse of the tournament and firmly caught the attention of tennis fans was a significant achievement in itself.
However, Jiyu knew all too well how disappointing this loss would be for Hunter. Regardless of her complex feelings toward him, her desire to support him remained unchanged.
On her way to her Friday morning class via the crosstown bus, Jiyu hesitated for a long time before sending him a text.
「You did great, Hunter. Regardless of the result, it was a really great match.」
A reply came quickly.
「Where are you.」
「On the bus. On my way to school.」
「Go to my house.」
「Okay. See you Sunday.」
Lauren, who had spoken with Hunter immediately after the match, said he would be resting in Cap d'Ail on Saturday and returning to New York on Sunday afternoon.
Jiyu planned to wait for Hunter at his house over the weekend, working on assignments and her writing, and then return to the Hamilton residence after seeing him briefly upon his arrival on Sunday afternoon.
Saturday, 4 PM.
Sitting at the dining table reviewing proofs, Jiyu's eyes grew tired. She walked over to the floor-to-ceiling window in the living room, pressed her forehead against the cold glass, and stared blankly down at the lush green of Central Park.
The weather was still no different from winter, but seeing the light green buds sprouting on the vegetation, she could clearly feel that spring was coming.
There was so much to do before graduation, and living crushed under assignments and writing, she was almost terrified by how quickly time was passing lately.
The settlement date from the publisher, which she had been waiting for, was finally set for the last Friday of April.
What should she say to Hunter when she pays him back?
And after that, what does she want to do, and how?
While Jiyu was lost in deep thought, the front door swung open.
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