Chapter 25

When she pushed him away once more and he still did not move aside, his face hardened in an instant. His tone, as though suppressing his anger, was ice-cold.

“You know enough already, so don’t start backing away now.”

“……”

“A woman who backs away isn’t interesting.”

She regretted not telling him from the beginning for no reason. On top of that, she had even stubbornly claimed she had seen a man’s private parts before. In a way, it was only natural that he misunderstood.

“It’s not like you’ve only dated once or twice. So why are you like this?”

Was he still angry at her?

Or was he angry now because she was rejecting him?

“Just open your legs. Did you forget the contract?”

By the terms of the contract, Soyoon should have opened her legs. But because of the scar, she did not back down. Because she absolutely did not want him to know. She was clinging to a pathetic sort of pride.

Riiip-

At the sound of the dress tearing, Soyoon’s face went so pale it looked as though she might collapse at any moment.

Because she knew how much this dress cost.

Her whole body started trembling.

“N-no, don’t!”

A struggle began between him trying to take off the dress and her resisting. Without moving much, they glared at each other for a long while. The first one to move was Cha Do-ha.

He straightened himself up completely and moved away from her.

“I shouldn’t have made a contract with you.”

“……”

“Go home.”

At those words, spoken with a chill that was painfully cold, tears welled in Soyoon’s eyes. Her heart hurt too much.

If not for the scar, then maybe tonight……

Would she have had s*x with him?

She herself did not know. It was her own heart, yet it was too difficult. She did not want to show him the scar, yet she wanted to have s*x. If only the scar were on her back or somewhere else, she could at least cover it, but a leg was a place that showed too plainly.

“Leave right now!”

His eyes, angry as he was, were too cold. Biting her lip as she raised her upper body, the torn dress came into view. And then the scar that could be seen.

Soyoon quickly covered the scar with the dress before he could see it.

She watched his back as he left the room, then lowered her eyes weakly. The rumpled bed sheets, the shoes that had come off, her fully exposed br*ast.

Even though there was no one there to see, Soyoon pulled up the dress and covered her chest.

Then came the sound of the door slamming shut with a crash like thunder.

She could tell just how angry he was.

***

After he left, Soyoon straightened the bed sheets, came out into the living room, and sat on the sofa. She had not eaten anything all day, but she was not hungry.

She kept her back ramrod straight and placed her hands neatly on her knees.

Her back hurt, but she did not like the thought of her posture falling apart.

A deep sigh rose several times from low in her stomach. After leaving like that, he had given no sign at all. There had been his order telling her to go home at once, but for some reason Soyoon could not move even a single step from this place.

She thought it over carefully.

Whether telling him about the scar was the right thing to do.

Whether she should cling to her pitiful pride or not.

She did not want him to misunderstand. What if he thought she had refused s*x because she disliked him?

The truth was that she was still here, even after several hours had passed, because she wanted to tell him that she had a scar and had acted that way because she did not want to show it.

The medicine had worn off completely, and every breath she exhaled came out hot. It had been a mistake to bring only one cold pill. The fortunate thing was that she had painkillers and had taken one.

What would I have done if I’d even had leg pain on top of this?

She took comfort in at least that much. If she told him honestly, the misunderstanding would clear up and his anger would ease at least a little, right?

Remembering the sharp edge in his face, Soyoon bit her lip nervously.

“Ah!”

She had forgotten that it had gotten hurt when he bit it during the kiss. Frowning as she touched her lip, she suddenly heard the door open.

Soyoon jumped to her feet and headed toward the door.

“Cha Do-ha! Get a grip, will you?”

At the sound of a slender female voice, Soyoon’s steps stopped on the spot.

“The key card is here! You damned……. Huh? Who are you?”

It was that woman.

The one who had been crying in his arms in front of his house.

The image of him smiling beside that woman flickered before her eyes.

At Soyoon’s unexpected appearance, the woman’s eyes widened as far as they could.

The face he had made while saying that he should never have made a contract with her overlapped with the image of him smiling next to that woman, and Soyoon’s heart gave a heavy jolt.

“Who are you……. Huh? Huh?”

She did not answer the woman’s question. Turning her gaze away, she stared at him, whom the woman was supporting.

After saying he regretted the contract, did you call that woman and drink with her?

“…What. Lee Soyoon? You didn’t leave?”

“……”

“Why are you still……. here?”

Hadn’t he told her to get the hell out? Even in his drunken state, with slurred pronunciation, he pressed her harshly, but Soyoon did not say a single word and only looked at him.

If she had left? What would he have done alone with that woman?

Again, the sound of his long sigh dug into her ears. It felt as though that sigh was crushing her and driving her into the ground.

As though she had fallen into a swamp she could never escape no matter how hard she struggled, Soyoon bit her lip hard. She tasted blood, but she did not care. Pain like this was nothing compared to the pain in her heart.

Perhaps because he was very drunk, he staggered badly. The woman standing beside him firmly grabbed his arm before he could fall. Soyoon quietly watched the sight. Her eyes stung, and her whole body tensed. Without realizing it, she took a step closer. From him, now nearer, the smell of alcohol poured off in waves.

“Please help.”

At the woman’s request for help, Soyoon grabbed his arm and supported him. She could not just let him collapse.

The two women moved him with difficulty into the room with the bed. She was looking at him as he fell onto the bed and went to sleep, when she turned her head at the piercing gaze on her. The woman was looking at her with curious eyes.

She really did not like it.

She remembered how, in the past, she had bitten his lips in front of this woman, and how that had been the first time he had gotten angry. She hated the fact that he had been with this woman until this hour. Had he been planning to do with this woman what he had done with her? Or had he already done it?

Just imagining it made her feel as though all the blood in her body was draining away.

“Hello.”

“……”

She hated the woman’s confidence. There was everything to dislike. One man and two women in a hotel room.

And on top of that, even with her being in the hotel room of the man she liked, the woman’s face remained calm as if it did not bother her at all. Soyoon was pretending with all her might that she was fine, but in truth she was so unpleasantly affected, so wounded in pride, angry, depressed, and shaken by emotions she could not even explain, as if they were exploding inside her.

How could she be so indifferent?

As a sign that she did not want to talk, Soyoon abruptly turned around, went outside, and sat on the sofa.

She sat properly, just as she had when waiting for him, with her back ramrod straight.

“That bast, no, that guy drank quite a lot.”

“……”

“He’s going to have a bad stomach tomorrow and suffer for it.”

She wanted to demand why she was saying such things to her. If she was that worried, then why didn’t she cook him hangover soup herself?

Her head throbbed painfully. She did not know whether it was because she was angry or because of the fever.