Chapter 14

“Lee Soyoon! Fighting!”

What was with all the fighting, Soyoon said, waving her hand. Leaving Seohyeon behind as she kept calling out fighting, Soyoon stepped outside and saw his car.

“You came?”

“Yes.”

She got into the car, but because she kept being conscious of the bra, Soyoon kept lifting her shoulders slightly.

“Are you uncomfortable?”

He, who had been asking if the car was uncomfortable, suddenly lowered his head sharply. He was so close that Soyoon held her breath. His cool scent pierced her nose.

“It doesn’t seem like the seat belt is twisted, so why are you uncomfortable?”

“I-it’s okay now.”

Until they reached his house, Soyoon could not even look at him properly. Only the things Seohyeon had told her kept circling in her ears.

What was it she said to do after climbing onto his thighs? Wrap my arms around his neck…… and then…… um…… chest…

She had always thought she had a good memory, but apparently not. In that short time, half of what Seohyeon had told her had flown right out of her head.

“What are you thinking about so hard? You’re even clenching your fists.”

“…I wasn’t thinking about anything.”

“Were you having naughty thoughts or something? Why is your face red?”

He would not just let it go. She had briefly forgotten that Cha Do-ha was a persistent man.

“Ugh! Seriously! Am I not allowed to have naughty thoughts?”

Her voice rose, but he paid it no mind and merely laughed.

She shot him a glare after he parked in front of the house—she had not even noticed when they had arrived—and then got out of the car. The moment he opened the front gate for her, she ran into the house. But before she could even take a few steps, her wrist was caught.

Even in the middle of this, her heart was pounding.

“With your lips painted bright red.”

“……”

She pressed her lips shut tight and looked up at him.

“To look pretty for whom?”

At his steady gaze, Soyoon swallowed.

He clearly knew who she wanted to look pretty for, and he was doing this on purpose. As he came closer with the corners of his lips lifted, she thought the moon rising brightly behind him was very beautiful.

But she was not able to hold on to that thought for long.

Because he bit at her lips like a beast.

He would kiss her politely, gently, and then every so often suddenly turn into a beast. She loved the way his kisses drove her so hard she could not even breathe, but sometimes it confused her.

It made her feel as though this man, who kissed her so ruthlessly, saw her as a woman.

It was probably just her misunderstanding, but whenever he kissed her intensely, she found herself having that illusion.

And today, before they had even gone into the house, he turned into a beast out in the garden.

She barely managed to calm him down and opened the front door to go inside. Before she could even take off her shoes, her lips were swallowed again. Knowing that before long he would draw back as though nothing had happened, Soyoon gathered her courage.

She grabbed at his hair while he was too busy licking and sucking at her tongue to think, and wrapped her arms tightly around the back of his neck.

With their lips still pressed together, they walked toward the sofa. The moment they reached it, she climbed onto his lap. She felt him pause for a moment, but Soyoon boldly pushed her tongue into his mouth.

“Haa… wait,”

Blocking the mouth that was trying to say something, she pushed her chest out. Then she slowly rubbed her hips back and forth.

He paused once again, but he did not push her away. She made a soft sucking sound as she drew in his lower lip, then slipped her tongue in and traced over his straight row of teeth. She tangled their tongues and circled it round and round.

His hand stroked her back.

It was the first time. He had rubbed the back of her neck or her collarbone before, but this was the first time for anything beyond that, and Soyoon thought her heart might burst.

After stroking her back again and again, he slipped his hand inside her T-shirt. The touch felt ticklish and strange, and Soyoon tensed her legs.

At the hand caressing her stomach, she clasped his neck tightly.

The hand that had been slowly moving upward stopped just beneath her chest. Soyoon stopped breathing too. Just a little higher and it would be her chest, so she opened the eyes she had closed, puzzled by why he had suddenly stopped.

After slowly touching each of her ribs one by one, he gripped her waist and pulled her body away.

“Who was it.”

“…What?”

“I’m asking who. Who taught you this kind of thing.”

She could not understand what he was saying.

But she could tell that he was very angry.

“I’m asking who taught you to move your hips and rub your chest like that.”

She sealed her lips shut.

Suddenly, she felt wronged.

You can go around using condoms, but I’m not allowed to do this?

“I-it’s not even my first time. You think I wouldn’t know something like this? No one ever taught me.”

“Ha!”

He laughed as if dumbfounded, then pushed back his hair.

Seohyeon had said it. Never tell him it’s your first time.

At twenty-five, if a man found out she had never done it even once, he might feel burdened. She had told her to tell him the truth right before s*x.

Seohyeon had said that a man she had dated before had done that. After finding out Seohyeon was a v*rgin, he had said it was too much pressure and asked to break up.

Remembering that, Soyoon lifted her chin.

“Then stop trembling so hard. Or at least lie properly.”

“What did you say?”

“If you didn’t hear it, then forget it.”

He, who had practically been lying back on the sofa, got up. Soyoon also stood up after him. Seeing him roll up his sleeves, it seemed he intended to cook himself. Most of the time he ate food made by the housekeeper, but about twice a week he cooked for her himself.

Even when she said she would do it, he pushed her out of the kitchen and told her she should rest instead. Not wanting to sit alone on the sofa, she sat at the dining table and watched closely what he was doing.

“Get ready for the party.”

“When are we going?”

“Next week.”

A party. When she was younger, she used to go to a lot of parties.

“I’ll send someone for your hair and makeup.”

“Yes.”

“And your dress and shoes too.”

“Yes.”

She was worried. It had been so long that she was afraid she might make a mistake.

“You just have to stand next to me.”

As if he knew what was in her heart, he said it first, and she forced herself to smile.

***

He had suddenly gotten busy with company work, and she had not seen him for three days. Soyoon, who had been seeing him every day for over a month, felt restless and had no appetite at all.

She was lying weakly on the bed when her mother came in and asked if she was not going out today.

“Not really today.”

“Really? I’m thinking of signing up for the gym.”

“The gym?”

“Yeah. It’s the gym inside the apartment, so it’s free.”

Exercise is good, she murmured vaguely. After moving into the apartment, her mother had become brighter than usual. She did not cry anymore, and with a face full of some kind of anticipation, she cleaned and cooked cheerfully.

After her mother left the room, Soyoon sent him a text.

〈Will you be very late?〉

〈No. Things suddenly got resolved, so I just got off work now.〉

But she could not ask why, why exactly he was not saying he wanted to see her.

〈I see. You must be tired, so get some rest.〉

There was no reply. He had definitely said he got off work.

This had never happened before, so Soyoon felt a little uneasy. He had no idea that she was worrying over things like this, of course.

He had clearly said that he made the partner contract because he did not think she would cling to him. That unlike other women, she would not drag things out and would keep it clean.

The moment that thought struck her, she grew depressed and sat on the bed, drawing up her knees and burying her face in them.

That was not true. In reality, she was the clingiest and most pathetic one of all.

As the end of the contract drew nearer, she was growing afraid.

Just because she had not seen him for one day, she missed him so much that she could not do anything.

Soyoon, who had only been sighing deeply again and again, lifted her face as if she had made up her mind. Her eyes looked unexpectedly resolute.

If she missed him, then she could just go and see him.

Since he had said he had just gotten off work, if she took a taxi now, she would probably be able to see him going into the house. She thought she would just go and see his face for a moment.

She called a taxi on her phone.

She rarely took taxis normally, but since this was urgent, she had no choice.

She could not wait until tomorrow with this feeling of missing him.

“Thank you.”

She intentionally got out not right in front of his house, but a little farther away. Having gotten out of the taxi, Soyoon was walking toward his house with a face full of anticipation.

But then, suddenly, the gate opened, and startled, Soyoon quickly hid behind a utility pole.

“I’ll go.”

“Thanks.”

“If you’re grateful, then buy me something tasty! You’re always like this.”

It was that woman.

The one who was always beside him.

The sight of him together with the woman who had made Soyoon steal his lips entered her eyes, and she could not move.

What was more, the woman was coming out of his house. She wished again and again that it was a lie as she watched the woman get into the car with ease, lower the window, and say something to him.

Unlike six years ago, she could not throw herself at him now.

It felt as though her heart was being torn open and blood was pouring out. Her past self had been much braver, after all. Soyoon stood there completely frozen until he saw the woman off and went back into the house.

At first, she did not even realize she was crying.

They were only partners under a contract, after all. What had she been expecting from a man who had been kind to her—what exactly had she hoped for?

Really, there was no fool like this fool.

She roughly wiped her soaked cheeks with her hand.

It was the moment when, as if fog had cleared and revealed the truth beneath, she came to realize the reality she had failed to see because of her excited feelings. To him, she was only a partner, nothing more.

Don’t expect anything.

So that condom must have been used on that woman-

Her shoulders gradually drooped.

Then why not ask that woman to be his partner. What kind of relationship did he even have with her……

The questions kept multiplying and branching into more questions.