Chapter 13

It had already been over a month since she signed the partner contract with Cha Do-ha.

Today as well, he kissed her and then straightened up. For an entire month, there had been no touch beyond kissing. At this point, all kinds of thoughts were crossing Soyoon’s mind.

Could it be that he simply did not see her as a woman?

Just that thought made her mood sink all at once.

“Let’s eat.”

After their long, lingering kisses ended, he always fed her. Today, for some reason, that bothered her.

“Why. Why don’t you do that?”

He, who had been heading toward the kitchen, halted and turned toward her. His face tilted slightly, asking what she meant by that.

“We made a partner contract, didn’t we. So why aren’t we having s*x?”

She asked why it was always only kissing. Soyoon truly wanted to know. Really, did he not see her as a woman, or……

“Because you’re too skinny.”

“What?”

An answer she had never imagined came back to her. Soyoon blinked her large eyes.

“If you’re skinny, it hurts when I push in.”

She regretted asking the question at all. Her mood instantly dropped, and her shoulders sagged.

“Let’s just eat, baby.”

“…Tch.”

Just how many women had he met?

Then again, he had even borrowed condoms before.

“When are you going to pay back the condom you borrowed that time?”

“What?”

Just as she thought, it seemed he had forgotten. So he had taken her condom and gone off to have all kinds of fun with it?

Suddenly her mood darkened. No, it hurts.

Just imagining him rolling around in bed with another woman—no, even just imagining him kissing one—made her heart ache as though it were being torn apart.

“Why the condom?”

His voice was lower than usual. Almost like the growl of a beast.

“What do you mean why? You borrowed mine, so I’m telling you to give it back.”

“Do you even know how that’s used?”

Because he spoke as if mocking her, Soyoon’s face turned red as well, and she clenched her fists and shouted.

“I know! Of course I know! Why wouldn’t I know that?”

He strode over in big steps and reached out a hand. He grabbed her head firmly with both hands. Then he brought his face close before her eyes and lifted one corner of his mouth.

“Kid. Let’s eat.”

Was it true that if a face was handsome enough, then everything was forgiven?

Was that why, because Cha Do-ha was the most handsome man she had ever seen in her life, she could not get away from him?

Suddenly, she wanted to hit the lips that kept calling her kid.

She wanted to leave him so startled he would not be able to say a word.

“Stop calling me kid all the time. I’m not a kid anymore, you know?”

Looking at the neatly prepared table, she noticed the side dishes she used to like.

He said it would hurt if she was too skinny, so was this spread all laid out because he wanted her to gain weight?

Soyoon glared at him.

“A kid is a kid.”

“Do you have s*x with kids too?”

“…Just eat.”

The meal continued in silence. She herself had no appetite at all and felt miserable, but watching him scoop up a heaping spoonful of rice and put it into his mouth irritated her.

“Are you good at kissing because you’ve done it a lot?”

Cough.

For the first time, his eyes widened in surprise. He covered his mouth with his hand to keep the rice from spraying out and glared at her.

“No, I mean. You were just so good at it.”

“Stop being cheeky and eat.”

She did not know why she had once found this man so difficult, why she had trembled so much every time she tried to say even one word to him when she was younger.

Maybe because she had been tossed around this way and that and picked up some of the world’s grime along the way, even when he frowned, he did not seem scary at all.

“I’m meeting Seohyeon tomorrow.”

“……”

“So should we not meet tomorrow?”

She rested her chin on her hand with her elbow on the table.

Watching him eat without any answer, Soyoon pouted her lips.

“Should we not? Hm?”

“…I’ll come by your place.”

Nodding, Soyoon also started eating again. The corners of her lips kept twitching upward. Even though they were only tied together through a partner contract, she was happy that she could see him whenever she wanted.

For a whole year, she would be able to see him to her heart’s content, and she enjoyed the time she spent with him so much that the past month already felt too short.

To her, who had once done nothing but watch his back from afar, it felt like a small gift from God.

***

She and Seohyeon had been steadily meeting once a week. Of course, her relationship with him was kept a complete secret.

“What should I buy him?”

“You don’t have anything you want?”

“I’m telling you, I really have no idea what goes on in his head.”

But then Seohyeon giggled, saying that it was impressive she had managed to date him for a whole year.

They were lying side by side on the bed, looking through gift ideas on a laptop for Seohyeon’s boyfriend.

Suddenly, Soyoon envied Seohyeon’s ordinary relationship, where they loved each other and dated normally. She could not tell anyone about what she had with him. Especially not her closest friend.

“We’ve already done pretty much everything an ordinary couple could do. Hmm…… what should I get him?”

Seohyeon pretended to tear at her hair, saying they had already matched everything from shoes, clothes, rings, and bracelets to even underwear.

“You said you’re going on a trip. How about buying him something there?”

“He has practically zero desire for material things. Ugh, he’s so completely different from me.”

“Then how about making a cake yourself or preparing a meal for him?”

Seohyeon suddenly sat up on the bed.

“That’s good! I like that! I’ve never cooked for him before. Why didn’t I think of that?”

“What kind of food are you going to make? Want to practice?”

“No. I can do pretty much any cooking. I went to classes. I just don’t do it because it’s bothersome, but if I do, I’m really good.”

She said she would cook for Soyoon too, then started rubbing her head all over.

“Since you helped me, I’ll give you a present.”

“A present?”

“Yeah. I bought underwear for my trip this time, right? I bought yours too while I was at it.”

Saying she had checked the size from the underwear Soyoon had once left behind, Seohyeon went to the dressing room and came back carrying a shopping bag.

“Open it.”

“…Thank you.”

She had known that Seohyeon had ordered her new underwear after seeing the old worn-out ones. Feeling her friend’s heart in it, she accepted the shopping bag.

“Hurry and open it.”

As Soyoon opened the bag and pulled out the underwear, she threw it away.

“Wh-what is this!”

“Why? Isn’t it killer?”

“How is this underwear!”

Even as Soyoon shouted with her face burning red, Seohyeon only burst into loud laughter, apparently finding it amusing.

The underwear was nothing more than scraps of cloth that could not perform the function of underwear at all. The panties, smaller than the palm of a hand, were tightly meshed on one side, while the other side was so open that it had only a single thin string. It was underwear so revealing she could not even tell which side was the front and which was the back.

The bra was lace that showed everything through.

Since it was her first time seeing underwear this daring, Soyoon could not even look at it properly and tried to move the underwear lying on the bed aside.

“What do you think? A woman has to wear at least this much for a man to get excited.”

Seohyeon lifted the bra and held it up to her own chest. Just that alone made Soyoon feel so embarrassed she thought she might die.

“Men are sensitive to what they see. So you have to wear something like this and tempt him a little for him to come at you like an animal.”

Saying that her boyfriend being too gentlemanly was her problem, Seohyeon sneered that this was not even that daring.

The mocking smile looked a little like his, so Soyoon rubbed the underwear between her fingers. It felt very soft.

“But…… wouldn’t this tear if you just pulled on it a little?”

Seohyeon laughed so hard that even her shoulders shook.

“So what if it tears? It’s going to come off anyway.”

“…Have you done it with your boyfriend?”

“This girl, isn’t that obvious? We had s*x first and then started dating.”

Flushing red with embarrassment, Soyoon pretended to straighten the underwear. After only fiddling with the shopping bag, Soyoon carefully asked Seohyeon a question.

“When do men want to have s*x?”

“….”

Seohyeon blinked, as if asking whether that question had really come from her.

“What, do you have a man now, Lee Soyoon?”

“N-no, it’s not like that……”

“It’s not?”

“There is someone I like.”

Seohyeon’s eyes narrowed, as if trying to judge whether she was telling the truth.

“How long has it been?”

“About a month?”

Unable to look Seohyeon in the eye, Soyoon took the underwear out again and rubbed it with her hand. The texture really was nice.

“How far have you gone? Have you kissed?”

“…Yes. But he only kisses me. Could it be that he doesn’t see me as a woman?”

“No way. Line up ten men and ask them if you don’t look like a woman.”

But the words, Your brother treats me like a kid, rose all the way to her throat and went back down.

“It’s really strange. How can a man stop in the middle of kissing? He hasn’t even touched your chest once?”

“No.”

“So you’ve been seeing an even bigger fool than my boyfriend.”

She wanted to say that her brother was not a fool, but Soyoon stayed quiet.

“Are you meeting him again today?”

“Huh? Yes. Later……”

When her face turned red, Seohyeon pinched her arm and asked what she was so embarrassed about.

“Then wear this and go.”

“N-no. I’ll wear it next time.”

“Then at least wear the bra! Today, let him touch your chest, okay?”

If he had not said that it would hurt if he pushed in while she was too skinny, if he had not kept calling her kid, baby. She would have refused. Soyoon wanted to know.

How to stir a man up.

How to make him burn.

“When you kiss, don’t just stay still—climb onto his lap……”

Soyoon listened with complete focus, not even blinking, afraid she might miss a single word Seohyeon said.

So there was a method like this.

“You understood everything, right?”

“Do you think I can do it?”

“Why wouldn’t you? You can. So change into the bra before you go.”

Led by Seohyeon’s hand, she was forced to change into the bra. Seohyeon was pleased, saying it looked even more provocative because her chest was fuller.

To Seohyeon, who said she would make her an especially delicious dinner, Soyoon said she had plans and asked her to do it next time instead. Seohyeon readily agreed to do it next time.

〈Come out.〉

He sent the same text every time, so she knew who it was from without even checking.

“I’m heading out.”

“I’m going on a trip next week, so let’s meet the week after next.”

“Okay. Have a good trip and call me.”