38-59

Chapter 59: An Unpleasant Dream 

I couldn’t understand my wife. If she had woken up in that situation, wouldn’t it have been normal to move the man’s hand away first, before checking if I or the man were awake? But instead, she checked whether I or the man were awake first. My wife’s hand moved slowly, as if she was trying not to let either of us notice. Her hand moved to the man’s hand, which was covering her genitals. I thought, finally, she’s going to move his hand away. 

My wife’s hand covered the man’s hand. But instead of moving it away, she just placed her hand on top of his. Then, she slowly began to spread one of her legs. When there was a slight rustling sound, she stopped moving. Then, very slowly, she moved her leg a little more. Her groin was now slightly open. 

The hand covering the man’s hand was her left. She slowly turned her head toward the man, looked at his face for a moment, then slowly raised her right hand and placed the back of it on the man’s left cheek. The man was still fast asleep. 

The man had a beard. It was less than the man she’d been rubbing bodies with earlier, but his already dark face looked even darker. My wife moved her hand from his left cheek to his right cheek and placed her palm there. 

Just as I was wondering what on earth she was doing, the hand she’d placed over the man’s hand on her genitals began to move. She slowly moved the man’s hand downward. Until now, the man’s hand had just been resting on her pubic mound, but she moved it further down. Now, the man’s finger must have reached her vaginal opening. I saw her belly move as she let out a deep sigh. 

Her legs spread a little more, and now the man’s middle finger was probably right over her entrance. Her belly heaved as her breathing became rougher. For a while, she just breathed heavily. 

The hand that had been on the man’s cheek slowly moved down to his chest. Even though he didn’t seem to work out, his chest muscles were well developed. She rested her arm, back of her hand down, on his chest for a moment, then moved her hand again. Before falling asleep, the man had been wearing a loincloth, but now it had come undone, probably from tossing and turning. His limp penis was fully exposed. 

The man had coarse hair on his chest and stomach, which connected to his pubic hair. My wife’s hand slowly followed that hair downward. When her hand finally reached the man’s penis, her belly moved again as she let out a big sigh. 

She gently grabbed the man’s penis. Though it wasn’t erect, it was quite substantial. Without an erection, it was hard to judge its true size, but its heft and texture suggested it was not small. My wife must have been thinking the same. 

She started fondling the man’s penis, touching various parts. Still, the man seemed to be in a deep sleep. My wife’s head was turned toward his face, and from the movement of her belly, her breathing was becoming rougher. 

The left hand that had been covering the man’s hand now moved to cover her own mouth. She was trying to suppress the sound that was about to escape with her roughened breathing. The hand that had been fondling the man’s penis moved back up to stroke the hair on his stomach and chest. Her belly began to heave faster, and her hips started to move slightly up and down and side to side. 

Rough breaths leaked out from between her fingers. Her right hand moved back to the man’s face, stroking his cheek. I was amazed the man didn’t wake up despite all this stimulation. My wife’s hips started to move more, and watching her, my heart felt like it would burst, and so did my penis. 

Just then, there was a loud thud in the room. My wife quickly pushed the man’s hand away, turned toward me, and lay on her side. The noise had been another man in the room rolling over and kicking the wall in his sleep. My wife closed her eyes and curled up. I could hear her rough breathing, and I felt like I could feel her breath on my own face. 

Her rough breathing continued for a long time, and I couldn’t even open my eyes a sliver, just listening to her. After quite a while, her breathing finally calmed, and when I peeked a little, she had fallen asleep. I realized that this was what it meant for your heart to be shredded. I couldn’t put this feeling into words. And after two nights of barely sleeping, my mental strength was at its limit. I hugged my collapsing heart and, against my will, fell asleep. 

I had a very unpleasant, nasty dream. And as I slowly woke up, I realized it was a dream. The moment I opened my eyes, all the content of the dream vanished, leaving only a dirty feeling. When I opened my eyes, my wife was still sleeping just as I’d last seen her, and the man who’d been lying next to her was gone. 

I sat up. The other man and woman who’d been sleeping in our house were still there. Looking outside, I saw that the sun had already risen, though not fully. As I sat up and looked at my wife, she slowly opened her eyes. She rubbed her eyes, sat up, looked around, and said to me, 

“Where are we? And who are these people? How did I get here?” 

I couldn’t tell if she really didn’t know or was pretending. Up until she passed out from the smoke, I was sure it was the effect of the smoke. But her actions in the middle of the night, groping the man, still left me with questions. I looked into her eyes and said, 

“You don’t remember?” 

She shook her head. 

“I remember dancing in the smoke last night, but after that…” 

I kept looking at her and asked, 

“Do you remember the dancing?” 

She frowned. 

“I remember thinking the smoke was a little harsh, but after a bit, I started to feel good, almost floating… and then my memory got fuzzy. But who are these people? And where are Ho-cheol and the doctor?” 

Now that I thought of it, I hadn’t seen Ho-cheol or Soo-hyuk since last night. I shook my head. 

“I don’t know either. I helped you inside when you were about to collapse, and at that point, no one else was here…” 

She bit her fingernail, thought for a moment, then said, 

“This place was supposed to be our space… but now the tribe people are sleeping here. Maybe it means they no longer see us as outsiders.” 

I looked at her with a blank expression. She frowned and said, 

“My head hurts and my throat is dry. Let’s go get some water.” 

As she got up, she realized her loincloth was missing, looked around, and found the one I’d brought for her, which she wrapped around herself. She didn’t seem to think anything of the situation. 

We left the house and walked to the water jar. My wife held her forehead as if her head hurt. There were already a few people moving about in the village square. But something was definitely different: when they saw us, they smiled brightly and greeted us. My wife greeted them back and said to me, 

“See? I think I was right.” 

I neither agreed nor disagreed. We drank water at the jar. My wife turned to me and said, 

“See? Now that we’ve opened our hearts, they’re opening theirs to us.” 

I wanted to say, “Is that what last night was for?” but held my tongue. I still wasn’t sure if my wife had acted consciously last night. I didn’t want to start an argument over something so uncertain. 

When we got home, Soo-hyuk and Ho-cheol had returned, and the villagers were all gone. 

“Where were you?” I asked them. Soo-hyuk, holding his head, replied, 

“I don’t know. I don’t remember. I was dancing in the smoke, and when I came to, I was sleeping in some house. I came straight back. What the heck was that…”