Sometimes life forces a choice between two joys.
"Damn it… I missed my evening exercise."
Jae-min had always been obsessive about his body.
But for the past two days, ever since he had been reborn, his priorities had shifted.
Not that he didn't care about being fit or looking good.
It was just that money could buy nearly every pleasure, and he had ultimately chosen to intercept cash from the thugs, skipping two days at the gym.
Because of that, he hadn't noticed the missed calls from his sister-in-law.
Back home, the absence of the familiar swaying, round hips in the kitchen made him oddly irritated.
"So… my stepmother and Min-seo noona went to a wedding celebration. Damn it."
"On second thought, maybe it's a good thing. If that woman had seen me with this travel bag…"
After a moment, he shrugged internally.
Whatever happened, happened for the best; it spared him the trouble of explanations.
He sent a message to his sister-in-law, telling her to enjoy the wedding and eat plenty...at least enough to justify the gift they had brought.
A smiling emoji bounced back almost immediately, with a brief reminder to take care of the house.
It was funny… only a few days ago, she had been the bride.
Now she was representing the family as Kim's daughter-in-law.
Jae-min then took a quick shower, though he had almost considered skipping it entirely.
The thrill of being a little rich was intoxicating.
Soon, he opened the yellow travel bag.
His eyes sparkled like a child's… no, like a demon's, greedy and relentless.
"Alright… fifty-thousand-note bundles. One, two, seven, fifteen…"
The bag had been stuffed mercilessly, the cash pressing against itself as if the thugs had tried to crush every last note into it.
"Single dollars… this comes out to 1.5 billion won. Jackpot, damn it."
He raised a finger and started counting... but quickly switched to his phone's calculator.
"1.225 million dollars… in cash. With this, I can push my crypto investment plans forward."
It was clear that sleep would not come easily tonight.
Jae-min tossed the bundles onto the bed, hugging them like a girlfriend, resting his head against the soft pile of money.
"Yeah… I need to make sure no one knows where this came from.
Damn it… I still need to find a handler to turn it into legal currency."
With those thoughts, he checked the apartment once more, locking every door, securing the trolley suitcase, and double-checking his room.
...Finally let himself drift into dreamland, where he impregnated his sister-in-law.
...
The night fed me honey, but the morning brought me vinegar.
Sometimes you have the best sleep only to wake and meet an unpleasant person who ruins the day before it even begins.
For Jae-min, facing the woman who despised him most was nothing short of a nightmare.
"The first thing I see in the morning is the son of a whore."
"Better than seeing a bitter woman drowning in her own hate."
Last night had been blissful, so deep he hadn't even noticed when his sister-in-law and stepmother returned from the wedding.
Since his father was away in Busan, the dutiful daughter-in-law had urged Park Soo-jin to stay over, and so this poisoned breakfast was inevitable.
"Don't you feel any shame, living off this family's hard-earned money? To think a dog like you dares sit at the same table, my husband is truly pathetic."
"Can you please not start your bitching early in the morning? Or do you feel some sort of ecstasy when you talk to me like that... dear mother!"
"Hmph, someone has to remind a dog of his place, and since your mother never knew hers, at least you, her bastard son, should not repeat her mistakes."
In the past those words might have broken him, might have made him bow his head and chase approval or even feel guilt for his mother's sins, but the Jae-min sitting here was not the same boy anymore.
Jae-min of today was not the Jae-min of the past.
For once he let the silence stretch as it didn't matter, studying the woman in front of him as though seeing her for the first time.
Park Soo-jin sat in her grey gown like an iceberg queen.
In a world where even mediocre girls could summon a horde of simps, Soo-jin was already a national-level catastrophe.
It was as if God had given special attention to every detail.
Her breasts were so massive the straps of her gown looked more like bridges stretched tight from her shoulders, digging into her smooth skin as though they couldn't contain the weight pressing forward.
Her waist drew the eye to wide hips made for sin, her long black hair spilled like a river down her back, her sharp cheekbones framed lips that glowed with both elegance and danger, and those gorgeous almond-shaped eyes were so large and alive they felt like a trap.
Jae-min might despise her personality, but he couldn't deny her figure.
For the first time across both his lives he allowed himself to look at her body where once he never would have dared.
"You vulgar thing, I'll gouge your eyes out if you dare stare at me again, don't think I'll be merciful just because Min-seo is here."
"It's nothing, dear mother. I was just wondering, if with such a lewd body you still got cucked by Father, then the problem must lie in your rotten, bitchy personality."
"HOW DARE!"
Splash!
Soo-jin's fury broke like a storm, her hand twitched as if to slap him but instead she seized her glass and hurled the water in his face.
'No character, just like his mother. How dare he say those things to me.'
Even so, the disgust boiling inside her refused to ease.
"You really ought to be careful, dear mother, if that temper of yours ends in a heart attack your filial son will be devastated."
"Shut up, you damn rat."
Of course, the filial son in question was Tae-hyun, not himself.
"Mother, everything's ready!"
From the kitchen Min-seo's sweet voice carried through, breaking the clash as if nothing had happened at all.
At once they rearranged their faces, masks of warmth slipping over the venom still dripping from their words.
"Min-seo, Tae-hyun is truly lucky to have you."
"Thanks, Mom."
"Sister-in-law, it looks delicious."
"Really."
And so, his first morning with his stepmother ended in the most unpleasant way.
But truly, he had expected nothing less from that woman.
...
A real man takes a single step forward and never rests until the journey is complete.
Even though Jae-min made some quick cash, he didn't let it go to his head; his social standing remained that of a humble man.
As always, he rose at five, splashed cold water on his face, hit the gym for a grueling morning workout, pounded out ten kilometers on his run, and returned home by 8 a.m. to shower and dress.
It was only then that he met his stepmother in the dining hall, who soured his mood.
With Soo-jin now at her boutique shop, his mind shifted to more pressing matters, and he checked today's news outlets.
After what he had done yesterday, it was only a matter of time before it hit public.
Thankfully, there was no news about Green Villa, so he could relax for now.
But that wasn't his only concern.
Jae-min, a recent high school graduate, faced a challenging path ahead.
"Jae-min, missing the CSAT doesn't mean your life is over,"
"But…"
"I didn't take that wretched exam either, and I still got into Sungshin University."
"Thank you, noona, but… you were a prodigy, an art student with many awards to your name."
When Min-seo realized today was Jae-min's interview at Korea University, she felt, as an elder, the need to counsel him to ease his nerves.
She held Jae-min's hands, looking at him with passionate eyes to motivate him, but seeing his lowered head, she thought he needed more encouragement.
"Just be yourself...You can do it"
What Min-seo didn't realize was that Jae-min needed no pep talk...
His eyes weren't cast down in defeat...
They were locked on the tantalizing view before him, stealing every second to drink in her curves.
As always, she wore a blue tank top with thin straps.
Jae-min traced how it clung to her chest, the swell of her breasts straining the fabric, the hem teasingly riding up over her hips.
On second thought, both his stepmother and sister-in-law had beautiful, full breasts.
This led him to imagine an even more enticing scenario.
If they were this curvy on the outside, how delectable would their pussies be?
He couldn't wait for the day he'd savor the pussy sandwich of both.
"Thank you, noona. I'll do my best."
And so, Jae-min, dressed in neat black casual attire, stepped out of the room to walk a different path from his previous life.