Chapter 012: Puberty
I pondered for quite some time, unable to decide whether to tell Yumi.
This indecision kept me awake long into the night, even past my usual bedtime.
Yumi played with her phone for a while, yawned, then stretched, revealing a graceful curve.
Though I was playing with my phone, my mind was elsewhere.
“Honey, why aren’t you sleeping yet?”
Yumi leaned closer, wrapping her arms around mine.
I felt the soft curve of her breast against my arm.
“Can’t sleep. Why?”
I replied indifferently, still staring at my phone.
“Nothing,” she said gently and obediently.
“Every night, I wait until you fall asleep before going back to keep Jihoon company. I don’t want you to lose sleep because you miss me.”
“Oh, then go ahead. I’ll fall asleep on my own soon. I’m not a child…”
As I uttered the last sentence, I could feel the thick jealousy in my own words.
“No, I’ll stay with you. Your sleep is important, and you’re so tired…”
A flicker of concern crossed Yumi’s eyes as she spoke.
“Yumi, there’s something we need to discuss…”
Seeing the concern and care in her eyes, my heart softened. I decided to speak up. If something irreparable happened later, I’d regret it forever.
“What is it?” Yumi asked, her face full of confusion.
“Well… Jihoon is almost fourteen. When boys reach that age, they enter… that… adolescence… Should I offer him some psychological guidance?”
“Being a man myself, it might be easier. I’m worried he might go down the wrong path.”
I finally managed to stammer out what was on my mind, speaking rather vaguely afterward. I couldn’t tell Yumi about the time I secretly filmed the two of them sleeping together.
“Oh, that. I understand. Most of the kids I teach are that age, right in the thick of puberty.”
“Otherwise, why would so many boys send your wife—me—all those anonymous love letters and crush notes…”
Yumi’s expression remained calm and matter-of-fact.
But as she reached the last sentence, something seemed to occur to her. A fleeting, unnatural flicker crossed her eyes, one I caught clearly.
Right. My wife has been teaching students this age all along. She should know more about this than I do.
“So, should we provide Jihoon with any psychological counseling? Do you need my help?”
I asked cautiously, keeping my eyes glued to my phone, afraid to give away any hint of my unease.
“Jihoon is a good kid. He’s grown up now and understands right from wrong. Kids these days don’t need counseling.”
“If he were troubled, no amount of counseling would help. If he’s a good kid, no temptation will lead him astray, right?”
Yumi replied after a moment’s thought.
Though she hadn’t agreed to counseling for Jihoon, her reasoning made perfect sense.
Back when I was a teenager, fathers rarely got involved, and no one offered guidance. Didn’t I still grow up just fine?
“Well, that’s good… Sigh…”
Feeling my words hadn’t alarmed Yumi, I couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed.
“Actually, I’ve known for a while that Jihoon has entered puberty, and it’s the stage when sexual urges are strongest.”
Just as I was about to stop talking and close my eyes to sleep, Yumi spoke again.
As she said this, she slowly got out of bed, apparently preparing to go to the next room to sleep with Jihoon.
There was nothing I could do. I wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight, and Yumi couldn’t wait forever.
“How did you know?”
Her words made me tense.
How did she know Jihoon was in the peak phase of sexual desire? Had she noticed his nighttime antics?
Had she been pretending to sleep, deliberately letting him have his way? I waited for her answer.
“Hehe, because when I washed Jihoon’s underwear a couple days ago, I found a lot of semen stains on them.”
“And today’s freshly changed pair had them too. That means he probably has wet dreams almost every night…”
Yumi walked to the doorway, her hand on the doorknob, then turned back to explain.
Though she maintained a calm expression throughout, a hint of embarrassment crept into her voice by the end.
She stuck her tongue out at me before flinging open the door and scurrying away.
Clang.
As the door slammed shut, I lay on the bed, stunned.
Yumi’s last remark was surprisingly candid. But then again, from an outsider’s perspective, it wasn’t such a big deal.
After all, I’d wet the bed in my youth too, though not every night.
Usually, it happened after having erotic dreams, fueled by fantasies before sleep.
But this kid, Jihoon, wet the bed nearly every night. That points to two possible scenarios.
First, he has a raging libido, powerful sexual function, and testicles that produce massive amounts of semen. The result? Some of it just leaks out uncontrollably.
Second, he’s probably fantasizing or having erotic dreams every night.
In short, he’s a horny kid, which explains the nightly wet dreams.
I’d rather hope it’s the first possibility. After all, that would mean he’s not a bad kid.
If it’s the second possibility, though, he really could be heading down the wrong path.
As Jihoon’s current mother, Yumi naturally oversees his daily care.
Discovering her adolescent son experiencing nocturnal emissions is perfectly normal.
When I went through it, my mother washed my underwear and pointed to the stains, saying, “See? Semen traces. Your son is growing up…”
This is an inevitable experience for any boy’s mother. A mother’s first reaction is often simply recognizing her son’s maturation… a pure, innocent thought.
After pondering for a while, feeling my mind in turmoil, I turned off the light.
The entire bedroom fell silent.
Unable to sleep, I strained my ears to listen to every sound in the room.
Soon, faint noises drifted over from the next room.
For some reason, even the slightest sound now made me incredibly tense.
I quickly slipped out of bed barefoot and pressed my ear against the door.
What I heard were Yumi and Jihoon talking, punctuated by their occasional laughter.
It seemed Yumi was having a heart-to-heart with Jihoon, perhaps fulfilling last night’s promise to recount how she met me, her husband.
I don’t know when I drifted off to sleep.