Chapter 021: Footage
Chapter 021: Footage
**
I took out the USB drive and memory cards and placed them on my desk.
Finally finished with work, it was already midnight.
I stretched wearily.
With work done and nothing to distract me, my worries came flooding back.
Had Yumi called me? Was she worried about me at all?
Unfortunately, my phone was dead and turned off, so I couldn’t check.
At that moment, I felt not the slightest bit sleepy. My eyes fixed on those memory cards.
A sudden thought flashed through my mind.
I remembered Yumi’s change in tone during our calls while I was away on business.
I hadn’t paid much attention to it at the time, but my professional instincts had sensed something off.
Since tonight’s mix-up had happened, might I find some clue in the surveillance footage?
I retrieved the card reader and copied every video from those memory cards onto my computer.
After copying, I opened all the footage using my video software and synchronized the timestamps.
Now, the footage from different cameras began playing in sync on my computer.
I adjusted the footage to the first evening, the time Yumi and Jihoon returned from school.
That morning, I had already left home for a business trip.
As the synchronized videos sped forward, the clock ticked toward dismissal time.
Yumi and Jihoon entered the house. After arriving home, both seemed perfectly normal, showing no signs of anything unusual.
“Your dad’s gone. It’s just us girls for dinner tonight. What do you feel like eating?”
Yumi said to Jihoon while putting on an apron.
Even though Jihoon doesn’t call me Dad, Yumi still uses that term for me.
“Let’s skip cooking tonight. How about we order takeout?”
Jihoon seemed unusually lively now, a stark contrast to his usual reserved self at home.
Without me around, he appeared completely at ease.
“Sure! What do you want?”
Yumi was delighted to hear Jihoon actually make a request and show initiative today.
“Spicy hot pot…” Jihoon blurted out his favorite dish.
“Spicy hot pot?”
Yumi frowned at his suggestion. It wasn’t expensive, but it had a wide appeal… I loved it myself.
I hadn’t expected this kid to share my taste.
Back then, Yumi wouldn’t let me eat it, considering it junk food.
“Sure, I haven’t had it in ages either…”
To my surprise, Yumi agreed. This was completely unexpected.
Soon, the hot pot arrived. Mother and son ate while watching TV.
In the past, when I was away on business, Yumi would feel lonely and down at home.
Now, with Jihoon around, she no longer seemed lonely after I left.
“Jihoon, I haven’t been sleeping with you these past few nights. Have you been okay on your own?”
Yumi asked Jihoon during dinner, still seemingly worried about whether the child was eating and sleeping well.
“It’s okay. I still have dreams, but no nightmares. I wake up startled in the middle of the night sometimes…”
Jihoon frowned, thinking for a moment before answering without denial, a hint of subtle hope flickering in his eyes.
“Oh…”
A flicker of hesitation crossed Yumi’s face as she heard his words, a hint of worry visible.
Seeing her concern, I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of anxiety.
Would Yumi agree to sleep with Jihoon again? After all, I hadn’t been home these past few nights.
But in the end, I breathed a sigh of relief—Yumi didn’t offer to accompany him to bed again.
After dinner, Jihoon sat alone on the sofa watching TV while Yumi began tidying the room.
She hadn’t changed clothes immediately upon returning home and was still wearing her teacher’s uniform skirt.
After tidying for a while, perhaps feeling warm, she considered removing her jacket.
But before taking it off, a flicker of hesitation crossed her face—she wore a strappy top underneath.
With Jihoon present, she paused, then shook her head.
Apparently, she decided she was overthinking it; this top was far more modest than her usual nightgown.
After tidying up for a while, Yumi took off her jacket and began cleaning the room.
Once she removed her outer layer, her sensual figure was perfectly revealed.
Now clad in a sexy spaghetti-strap top, her deep cleavage was tantalizingly visible, and the outline of her bra was clearly defined beneath.
Her already voluptuous breasts, lifted and supported by the straps and bra, appeared even more rounded and perky.
Jihoon, who had been engrossed in the TV, flashed a hint of excitement in his eyes upon seeing Yumi undress.
After all, he was a young man in the prime of his youth, full of vigor and vitality.
Yumi was intently tidying the room, occasionally bending over, revealing glimpses of the view beneath her skirt and her deep cleavage.
Jihoon, who had been engrossed in the TV, no longer focused on the screen.
Through the surveillance feed, I could clearly sense that Jihoon’s peripheral vision was constantly fixed on Yumi’s figure.
When Yumi bent over to mop the floor with her back to him, Jihoon stopped pretending altogether.
He turned his head and openly admired her alluring silhouette with a lecherous gaze.
At that moment, I realized: in Yumi’s eyes, Jihoon was merely her son.
But in Jihoon’s eyes, Yumi was far more than just his foster mother…