Ugh…

Hyunseo opened her eyes with a furrowed brow. She felt an extreme headache, like her head was splitting.

That lasted only a moment—when she saw the chest right in front of her, she completely forgot even the thirst that had been surging like crazy.

Understanding the situation wasn’t difficult. She also realized the strong arms holding her tight belonged to Gyeom.

No way.

Hyunseo, who’d hurriedly checked below, let out a sigh of relief. After confirming she was properly dressed, she soon carefully escaped from Gyeom’s embrace. 

Being careful not to wake the sleeping him as she pulled her body back, she discovered his knuckles covered in scratches and scrapes and turned pale.

‘Where are you going?’

‘Home.’

‘Just sleep here.’

‘I don’t want to, I want to go. Please take me.’

‘Look, just listen…’

‘Ah. What do I do?’

Flustered, Hyunseo bit her lip hard. The forgotten memory suddenly came back to life like a lie.

Though not all of it.

She didn’t remember getting in the car but remembered getting out. There were gaps in the middle like this, but it was definitely her who’d caused those wounds on his knuckles.

They seemed to have struggled. When she’d stubbornly insisted on going home and suddenly fell, he’d tried to stop her and fell together with her, and then… she didn’t know. Only that her back had felt quite cool.

Hyunseo set aside connecting the spotty memories and got up. She couldn’t just leave Gyeom’s knuckles with dried blood on them.

She slipped out of the room without making noise, stared blankly at the vast living room for a moment, then soon came to her senses. After much difficulty finding the first aid kit, she hurried back to Gyeom.

“What are you doing?”

Gyeom, who hadn’t woken even when she disinfected, finally opened his eyes when she was gently spreading ointment.

“Well, you were hurt.”

“Giving the disease and the cure?”

“…I’m sorry.”

“Is your stomach okay? Your head—doesn’t it hurt?”

Honestly, it still throbbed. But she couldn’t say it hurt in front of Gyeom, whom she’d caused to get injured, so Hyunseo held back her words. 

To her just smiling brightly like she was fine, he gestured with his head.

“Drink it. I thought you’d look for that first thing when you woke up.”

Following his gaze and turning her head, she saw a cup of water on the nightstand beside the bed. He must have placed it there beforehand while she slept. 

Thinking she might look for it even in her sleep. Or so she’d drink it when she woke up.

Hyunseo obediently picked it up and took a sip, then paused. It was very sweet, like he’d mixed in honey.

When did he prepare this? 

Admiring inwardly and turning her gaze, she saw Gyeom staring at his knuckles. He stared intently at the wound absorption bandage she’d applied like it was fascinating, then soon looked at her.

“Did you want to go home that badly?”

His indifferent tone held no hint of blame. Even so, Hyunseo, feeling guilty, could only say she was sorry. To her deliberately avoiding his gaze, he asked again.

“Why, were you afraid I’d force myself on you?”

“…No.”

“You seemed excessively desperate for someone saying no.”

“…”

“Am I that kind of guy to you, Do Hyunseo? Someone who’d force himself on a person drunk and unconscious?”

Gyeom said he’d just wanted to let her sleep comfortably. At his words that he hadn’t wanted to leave her alone when her stomach and head hurt, Hyunseo finally raised her gaze.

When their eyes met, her heart pounded obliviously. It beat so hard she was scared it might pop out at any moment.

“Your stomach must be upset, so hurry and finish drinking.”

He urged her as she hesitated. She obediently gulped down the honey water, then soon paused again.

“So I can do something.”

Understanding his meaning was easy. She saw his hand placed on her thigh and trembled, startled. He took the cup from her like he’d been waiting, as she coughed from choking.

There was no time to refuse. She stared blankly up at him, lowering his body close over her lying form. His gleaming black eyes didn’t look like those of someone who’d just woken up. His red lips moved temptingly.

“Do Hyunseo.”

“Yes…?”

“Are you sober now?”

His large hand gently swept over her hair. Her heart pounded at his hot gaze.

She hurriedly shook her head. No, not yet. He twisted his lips and chuckled.

“Still?”

“…Yes.”

“What should I do? It’s hard to hold back.”

“Ngh…”

He flicked his tongue. After licking up the honey water spilled at her mouth, he buried his lips in her nape. His breath was rough as he inhaled deeply, like breathing in her scent. His resonant voice was heard.

“I want to put it in.”

“Ah…”

“I want to thrust, I want to come. I want to lick your p*ssy too, Do Hyunseo.”

“Hng, Executive Director…”

“I have to take back what I said yesterday. I keep getting aroused just looking at you, Do Hyunseo.”

She squeezed both eyes shut as he bit her earlobe. When his hot, wet tongue lightly sucked on her nape a couple times, even her shoulders shrank. She wasn’t confident she could block him anymore.

A hand slipped inside her top. She felt a huge foreign sensation in his lower body that had been touching hers from earlier. It wasn’t that she disliked it, but. The anxiety in one corner of her heart kept making her hesitate.

“I get it. I won’t do more, so stop trembling.”

“Haa…”

Gyeom, who’d noticed her stiffened body, withdrew his hand at that point. His lips still remained on her collarbone.

After kissing with smacking sounds, he soon slowly pulled his body away. He personally helped up Hyunseo, who was still lying down, and spoke in a somewhat husky, languid voice.

“Let’s eat.”

“What?”

“You need to cure your hangover. Come out after washing up.”

He told her the location of the attached bathroom and left the bedroom. Hyunseo, who’d been staring at the firmly closed door, soon slowly got up.

Past the vast dressing room, the bathroom he’d directed her to revealed itself. Its size was bigger than her studio apartment. 

Unable to take her eyes off the luxurious floor tiles and soft lighting, she stood in front of the mirror. Embarrassed by her flushed red face, she wiped it with the back of her hand and took off her clothes.

Too many things had happened in one day. It was no wonder her overloaded head hurt. That was right. It definitely wasn’t just because of alcohol. Even her vision was dizzy with thoughts about Gyeom.

Because they kept growing. Because they seemed to increase every moment. Her feelings for him, her pointless greed.

Under the pouring stream of water, she lowered her head. It was fascinating yet somehow bitter. That she’d finally come to his space she’d never visited only after deciding to end things.

“Are you done eating?”

“Yes.”

“Doesn’t look like it.”

Hyunseo sat facing Gyeom, who’d washed up in another bathroom, solving their late breakfast. 

Actually, it was close to noon, so it was hard to definitively call it breakfast. Gyeom pointed at her rice bowl with his eyes.

“You left more than half.”

“You gave me too much.”

“No way.”

“Really. You piled it up like a mountain.”

“Then at least eat more soup to settle your stomach.”

At his words generously backing down, her eyes widened as she picked up her spoon again. He reached out, took her rice bowl, and casually put rice in his mouth. He asked calmly.

“What.”

“…Nothing.”

“Too late to regret it. You’re the one who left it, Do Hyunseo.”

So he couldn’t give it back—Hyunseo just watched Gyeom. She couldn’t believe he was eating the rice she’d left without hesitation.

He must be very hungry. Even so, to deliberately eat something with clear traces of being eaten.

Even while pretending not to notice and scooping the remaining soup, all her attention was focused on Gyeom. 

Come to think of it, eating alone with him was also incredibly rare. She realized anew. That with him, she’d always only mixed bodies.

“What’s your relationship with that person yesterday?”

Gyeom, who’d cleaned his bowl without leaving a single spoonful, casually glanced at Hyunseo while grabbing his water cup.

“She said you’re like a daughter.”

“She’s like a mother to me too. I lived with her while working there.”

“For how long?”

“About six years. She helped me a lot when I came to Seoul with nowhere to go. I could get a job thanks to her too. She kept saying it, to study. That I had to get into a good company.”

“That’s fortunate. That you had someone like that.”

A satisfied smile appeared on Gyeom’s lips as he nodded. Following him drinking water, Hyunseo also picked up her cup. He, whom she glanced at while tilting her head back, wasn’t taking his eyes off her.

She barely swallowed the water she’d almost spit out again and quickly looked for another topic. 

She thought quite a bit about what to talk about, but nothing particularly came to mind. He even propped his chin and looked at her.

“To be honest.”

“Mm?”

“At first, I was a little envious of you, Executive Director.”

Gyeom’s head tilted slightly to the side. At his gaze asking what she meant, she moved her lips.

“Just. You have two mothers when I don’t have even one.”

“…”

“But when I thought about it, I have her too. Someone I can visit anytime when things are hard.”

It had been on her mind the whole time. Hyunseo had been continuously worrying alone about Gyeom struggling, about him looking lonely when bringing up his birth mother. She was conveying in this way her hope that it wasn’t like that.

Gyeom recalled Hyunseo’s comfort telling him not to blame himself.

Clearly a story that would have been unpleasant to hear through someone else’s mouth. But why was it rather joyful and welcome? Why did he keep liking it? 

This woman worrying about him. Her gentle, calm, and modest way of speaking. Her brown eyes that rippled so prettily when looking at him.

“I wonder if Do Hyunseo is strange, or if I’m strange.”

Gyeom’s eyes narrowed. Hyunseo, who’d detected his subtly suggestive gaze, gulped down her dry saliva.

“I think I’m the strange one.”

“…What?”

“Right? Getting aroused by just a few words.”

His gesture caressing his lips was strangely sensual. She, flustered by this, was about to open her mouth.

Gyeom, who’d picked up his ringing phone, frowned. Though it had already rung several times before the meal, he hadn’t answered, and he seemed about to do the same this time. He stared at Hyunseo, who was subtly getting up.

“Where are you going?”

“So you can answer comfortably…”

“It’s fine, so just stay.”

Even at his words that it didn’t matter, she turned around. He followed and grabbed her arm, then reluctantly pressed the call button. His tone, spitting out words like chewing them, was extremely rough.

“What. I’m busy. You don’t need to know.”

The voice faintly heard beyond the receiver was probably Director Seong Sujeong. Hyunseo, who’d been silently suppressing her presence, suddenly sucked in her breath the next moment. 

Gyeom’s gaze staring straight at her was considerably sharp.

“Really? …I understand. Yes, I will.”

Soon finishing the call, his expression was somehow resolute. Hyunseo bit her lip tightly at the strange tension.