38-51

Chapter 51: Dream or Reality 

My wife put Ho-cheol’s glistening penis in her mouth. She kept her eyes fixed on his face as she moved her head up and down. During our marriage, my wife had never given me oral sex after ejaculation. I had often asked her to do that, but she always refused. Yet now, even though her movements were a bit awkward, she seemed to be savoring the taste of his penis with a delighted expression. 

After a while of moving with his penis in her mouth, my wife slid up toward his chest with an awkward smile. I could see her breasts brushing over his body as she moved. The two of them began kissing again, about to start a new round of sex. 

My eyelids, which I had been struggling to keep open, were getting heavier, and my vision was blurring. I could feel my thoughts growing hazy as well. My sight grew dim, and the sounds of their moans and heavy breathing now seemed to come from far away. The sounds echoed in my head, growing more distant, and I felt my consciousness being sucked into that whirlpool. I began to feel again the uncertainty about my own existence, and my consciousness drifted away. I felt a strange certainty that all of this wasn’t reality, and my anxious heart began to feel at ease. With that peace, I sank into a deep abyss. 

“Wake up now…” 

I opened my eyes to someone waking me up. My wife was waking me. I forced my eyes open and frowned. My head felt like it was splitting. My wife smiled at me as I touched my head. 

“Does your head hurt? Did you drink a lot yesterday too?” 

Instead of answering, I sat up and looked around. Ho-cheol was in the corner, rummaging through his bag. Turning my head, I saw Soo-hyuk sitting against the wall with a blank look on his face. As I glanced at him, my wife said beside me, 

“The doctor just woke up too. Looks like you both have pretty bad hangovers.” 

I looked back at my wife. She smiled at me, her hair wet. I figured she’d been to the waterfall again, and that thought triggered a chain of memories. And then… 

The events of last night came back. I still wasn’t sure if those shocking scenes had actually happened. No matter how drunk I was, it was strange that I couldn’t move, as if paralyzed. The fact that my vision and hearing were clear also felt unreal. So what was it that I saw last night? It was too vivid and the memory still so clear to be just a dream. Of course, sometimes you remember dreams the next day, but most of the time you forget them or they fade with time. But I remembered every moment, every sound, the smell of semen and sweat from that night. 

“They’re giving out fish soup and fruit in the yard. Should I bring you some?” 

At that moment, Soo-hyuk staggered to his feet. 

“Soup? Oh… I need some hangover cure…” 

He walked over to me unsteadily. 

“Professor, let’s go get some hangover soup. The air in here feels stuffy and smoky-let’s eat outside.” 

I nodded and got up, saying, 

“That’s just the smell of your booze, Doctor…” 

Soo-hyuk chuckled and went out first. I turned to my wife. 

“Aren’t you eating?” 

She smiled prettily at me. 

“Ho-cheol and I helped make the soup. So we ate first. Go ahead and eat.” 

I nodded with a troubled expression and went outside. The sun was already beating down on my head. It seemed later than I usually got up. In the middle of the village square, a pot of soup was boiling over the bonfire, and people were taking soup and fruit. Soo-hyuk was already serving himself. We took soup and some fruit and sat near our house to eat. Drinking soup to rehydrate after drinking felt like ancestral wisdom. The soup was different from what I thought of as hangover soup, but it did settle my stomach. 

Soo-hyuk gulped down his soup and went back for another bowl. Watching him, I thought he really was like a child-a childlike genius, the perfect description for him. 

I was still feeling unsettled and confused. I still doubted whether what I remembered from last night was real. After eating, we got up to head back to the house. As we walked, Soo-hyuk spotted a middle-aged villager and started chatting with him, happily conversing even in another language. I wasn’t feeling well, so I slipped away and went home. 

Inside, my wife and Ho-cheol were sitting apart, each doing their own thing. I sat next to my wife. She turned to me and smiled. 

“Is your stomach okay?” 

I nodded. Then my stomach growled loudly enough for her to hear. I had a stomachache. She laughed out loud. I jumped up-I needed the bathroom. I rushed outside. 

There were no toilets here, so everyone relieved themselves outside the village. The undergrowth was so thick that you couldn’t be seen squatting, and waste disappeared quickly. As I hurried out of the village, Soo-hyuk quickly finished his conversation and ran after me. 

“Going to the bathroom? Me too…” 

So we headed out together. Most people went to a grassy clearing to the right of the village entrance. When I got there, I realized I didn’t want to go right next to Soo-hyuk. He habitually went right and looked back at me. 

“What? Not coming?” 

I just smiled. But he was in too much of a hurry and dashed off. Once he disappeared into the bushes, I turned left. I decided to take care of things somewhere away from him. 

Following a path, I came to an area with fruit trees. Since people ate the fruit, I’d never seen anyone relieve themselves here. I thought it was perfect and squatted in a corner. 

After finishing and cleaning up with leaves, I was about to stand when I heard someone approaching. I suddenly wondered if going here was taboo. I moved to a more hidden spot and crouched down. 

Soon, two people appeared in my field of vision. They weren’t villagers-it was my wife and Ho-cheol. Their skin tones-her white, his brown-made them easy to distinguish from the locals. They were chatting as they walked, carrying a basket made of tree branches. My wife stopped in front of a low fruit tree and said to Ho-cheol, 

“This is the one, right?” 

Ho-cheol looked at the fruit she pointed to and said, 

“I think so.” 

They immediately started picking fruit. They must have come out to help with village chores, unlike Soo-hyuk and me who hadn’t finished our morning routine. They seemed to be having a good time chatting as they picked fruit. 

“Why did the shaman come by again this morning? I saw you talking with her.” 

Ho-cheol didn’t answer right away, so my wife stopped and turned to him. 

“Why won’t you tell me?” 

Ho-cheol also stopped and looked at her, his expression subtle. 

“Well… um…” 

He hesitated, so my wife stepped closer, as if urging him to speak. Ho-cheol continued, 

“The shaman always goes around to every house on mating days at dawn to pray for everyone. For health… and for conception…” 

He looked uncharacteristically shy. My wife nodded, listening seriously. 

“So she came by this morning too… and saw us… She asked if you were tired.” 

A smile appeared on my wife’s face. 

“Tired?” 

Ho-cheol looked at her and replied, 

“No, I’m fine.” 

“Then… did you feel relieved?” 

Ho-cheol nodded.