Page 3 of From Paris to Seoul

He paused, noticing the new red lingerie I’d put on. He grinned and gave an appreciative nod.

I felt a small jolt of triumph. With our busy schedules, it had been over a month since we’d last had sex. And while I hadn’t exactly been craving it, I was starting to worry about our relationship.

So, I made plans to spend more time together and spent hours last weekend shopping for sexy lingerie, hoping tonight would be the night to rekindle things (and maybe even score a marriage proposal?).

I just want to feel seen and desired again… and I’m ready to take the next step in our relationship.

We aren’t exactly young anymore—I’m in my mid-thirties, and he’s in his early forties. It feels like the right time to move forward, to reignite whatever spark we still have.

So when he kissed me, I kissed him back. When his hands roamed over my body, I told myself this was what I wanted.

We quickly moved to his bedroom, and he positioned himself on top of me. After a bit of fumbling, he managed to remove my new red lingerie, leaving us both naked. He began grinding against me, and I let out a small sound, adding a touch of enthusiasm.

I would have loved to have a bit more of ‘appetizer’ before the ‘main dish’, but as usual, he didn’t think it was necessary and plunged straight into action.

Buy I knew I just had to endure this a little bit more. I ‘participated’ for a bit until I heard him grunt and then went limp on top of me, his breath heavy and uneven.

Well, at least we did it, I tried to reassure myself, even though I felt… a bit like a letdown.

After six years together and a long day at work, it’s hard to keep things feeling hot and steamy anyway, I reminded myself.

We lay in bed for a while. “That was nice,” he said once his breathing returned to normal.

Nice?The word echoed in my mind, loud and insistent.Nice like the weather? Or like a decent plate of kimchi fried rice?

Then he got up, started getting dressed, and headed to the bathroom to clean up. “I’ll take you home,” he called out as he disappeared into the hallway.

Huh, I thought. Very transactional… No exchanged smiles, no giggles, no cuddles, no… nothing.

How was this any different from being a prostitute?

Lying there, doubt began to seep into my mind. Is this how I’ll spend the next 50 or 60 years of my life?

I felt the weight of my choices pressing down on me. On one hand, we’d been together forever, and he checked all the boxes for an ideal husband—at least by my parents’ standards. On the other hand, I couldn’t shake the feeling of being unwanted and… unsexy.

But the thought of starting over—dating someone new again, in my thirties, after six years in a comfortable relationship—was terrifying.

I sighed, trying to push those thoughts away, then picked up my lingerie from the floor (which now felt pretty ridiculous) along with the rest of my dress.

I guess you just have to take one small victory at a time and learn to be content with it.

2

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Baekhyun

“Mm… Samgyetang Express chicken soup!”

“Practical,” I replied with my brightest smile, looking at the camera while holding up a spoonful of the questionable chicken broth.

“Easy,” Tae-hyun, who was playing as my child, looked back at me with an equally big grin.

“And yummy!” we both exclaimed simultaneously, taking a spoonful to our mouths and savoring the salty broth.

“Alright, cut!” The director reviewed the scene on his camera screen and gave us a thumbs-up along with a nod of approval.

I exhaled in relief, eager to wrap up this day. This was already the sixth take of a supposedly simple act of pretending to enjoy some awful instant soup.

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