Chapter 18

Looking straight into Kwon Ki-joo’s eyes from right in front of him, they were so deep it felt as if they would take her breath away. Lee-jin found herself, for some reason, staring at Kwon Ki-joo’s long, jet-black eyelashes as they fluttered lazily.

Song Lee-jin, living in this d*mn neighborhood with all that useless pride in her neck. That was what Lee-jin was called. Having never even had one proper boyfriend by the time she turned twenty-three, Lee-jin had very little desire to get close to men who were all more or less the same, especially since she had hardly ever stepped outside the narrow confines of Dohyang-dong.

So Lee-jin thought that the feeling of her heart dropping with a heavy thud the moment a man so far removed from dullness pulled her in was only because it was her first time.

It was also the first time a man had come this close to her. Before she knew it, Kwon Ki-joo had been taking all of her firsts bit by bit.

“Are you normally that fearless? Or are you always this full of confidence, like you are in the ring?”

“…….”

“I heard you’ve even gone up against heavyweights, so am I just nothing to you?”

He was probably joking, but it did not sound that way. Kwon Ki-joo’s hot hand wrapped around her waist, and his eyes, darkening with a dangerous light, made it feel as though he might shove her to the floor and climb over her at any moment.

When Lee-jin stiffened with tension and could not say a word, Kwon Ki-joo gave a short laugh and pulled her in with a little more strength.

As the hem of her dress shifted, Kwon Ki-joo’s firm thigh pressed in between Lee-jin’s legs. Seeing Lee-jin’s face start to burn, Kwon Ki-joo’s strangely suggestive hand slowly stroked her waist.

“When I look at you, I really start to wonder if you actually like me. It doesn’t seem that way at all.”

“N-no. If I didn’t like you, Boss, then why would I chase after you so hard?”

“That’s exactly why it’s suspicious.”

“I’m just not very good at expressing my feelings…… And anyway, Boss, you’re a little scary too.”

“I’m scary?”

“Among the people in Dohyang-dong, who isn’t scared of you, Boss?”

At Lee-jin’s words, Kwon Ki-joo let out a faint snort of laughter and lowered his head just like that. The moment Kwon Ki-joo’s hot forehead touched her shoulder, Lee-jin stopped breathing altogether.

Kwon Ki-joo was far too close to her heart. At this rate, he was going to hear the frantic pounding of it. So Lee-jin quickly blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

“D-do you maybe like this kind of thing, Boss?”

“What do you mean, this kind of thing?”

“I mean, do you like fluttery skirts that look this feminine?”

“Wouldn’t it make more sense to say it’s Manager Kang’s taste? Since Manager Kang was the one who ordered it. Still, it doesn’t seem like such a bad preference, so I was thinking maybe I should go along with it too……”

Kwon Ki-joo lifted his head and held her gaze with a thick, lingering stare.

“To be exact, I prefer it more when it’s off.”

For a moment, Lee-jin felt terribly dizzy. Because all of this felt like nothing more than Kwon Ki-joo’s nasty little game.

Kwon Ki-joo’s eyes staring directly at her from a distance close enough for their lips to touch at any moment, his scent that kept slipping in with every breath, the hot, firm feel of his thigh settled between her legs. Every single thing seemed to push Lee-jin little by little toward the edge.

“Why is your face so red?”

“B-because you’re too close, Boss……”

“What exactly does my stalker want to do with me? Hm? You can’t even take what’s offered when the whole table is already set right in front of you.”

At that moment, Kwon Ki-joo pulled Lee-jin sharply toward him once more. Her unsteady body hit his solid chest, and then she ended up collapsing right down.

Just like on the road in front of Havana Club, Lee-jin ended up sitting on Kwon Ki-joo’s thigh. She was so startled that she tried to spring right back up, but under the steady pressure holding her down, she could not move at all.

“I’ve got about an hour to spare.”

Kwon Ki-joo’s damp voice burrowed into the nape of Lee-jin’s neck. Lee-jin, beginning to panic so badly she felt as if she might faint, tried somehow to lessen the amount of contact between them, but Kwon Ki-joo’s arm would not let her go.

“That should be enough time to do it once, lightly.”

“W-what, what, what do you mean?”

At Lee-jin’s stammering voice, Kwon Ki-joo let out another thin laugh. As his hot breath brushed over her collarbone and moved along her skin, Lee-jin truly felt as though she might faint just like this.

She was not even the type to trust people easily, so she had no idea what exactly about Kwon Ki-joo she had trusted enough to follow him all the way here.

“Song Lee-jin.”

As though he had no idea what kind of thoughts were tormenting her, Kwon Ki-joo called her name in a low voice, then reached a hand toward her hair. Then he wound the ends of her still slightly damp hair around his fingers and brought them to the tip of his nose.

“Mmm,” a long, lingering sound of breathing came, as if he were breathing in Lee-jin’s scent.

“So it’s not an innocent soap scent.”

“Um, Boss……”

“Have you ever had s*x with a man?”

At the blunt word that came at her in an instant, Lee-jin sucked in a startled breath, and as if he did not even need to hear the answer, Kwon Ki-joo laughed again.

With her heart seeming to have surged all the way up into her throat and no longer able to endure it, Lee-jin pushed hard against Kwon Ki-joo’s shoulder. But he did not budge at all.

At that rock-solid strength, she even thought that the fact she had managed to push him away in front of Havana Club had truly been a miracle.

“Ah!”

At that moment, Lee-jin was so startled that she stopped breathing. Kwon Ki-joo’s other hand had begun to slowly stroke her thigh.

At the soft rustle, goosebumps rose all over her body as Kwon Ki-joo’s fingers toyed with the end of her skirt.

“B-Boss……”

When the startled Lee-jin barely managed to speak in a trembling voice, Kwon Ki-joo slowly slid his fingers upward. Her skirt stirred, and the heated skin beneath it seemed to boil under a body temperature even hotter than her own.

She hurriedly caught his hand with a sharp motion, but as if that much were laughable, Kwon Ki-joo did not stop.

Kwon Ki-joo’s fingers moved lazily across Lee-jin’s thigh. That hand was too large, too hot, too suggestive. Enough to make her forget even how to breathe unless she did it consciously.

“No…… you can’t, Boss.”

He must have heard Lee-jin’s voice trembling so badly it was almost pitiful, but Kwon Ki-joo did not look at her. As if he had no intention of stopping his hand at all, he instead buried his face even deeper into the nape of Lee-jin’s neck.

At last, when Kwon Ki-joo’s soft, hot lips touched her neck, Lee-jin spoke in a voice that sounded close to tears.

“I, I don’t want this. Please, Boss……”

“What don’t you want.”

“I like you, Boss, but f-for my first time, I want it to be with someone I’m dating. With someone who likes me.”

Perhaps he heard the desperation in Lee-jin’s voice this time, because Kwon Ki-joo lifted his gaze and looked at her.

In that moment, Lee-jin was startled again. Seeing how he had been quietly trying to touch her, she had thought Kwon Ki-joo was obviously aroused, but his eyes were still clear and cool. As if all of this had been nothing but her misunderstanding alone.

“What difference does that make.”

But only the voice asking the question still carried that same suggestive interest.

“It’s not a crime to have s*x with a man you like.”

“Of course it makes a difference. You d-don’t like me, Boss. I know perfectly well that you just find me amusing.”

“So I’m asking what difference that makes. A first experience is something you’ll never forget for the rest of your life, so wouldn’t a skilled man like me be better instead?”

“If there are no feelings, then what’s the point of that?”

At Lee-jin’s words, answering stubbornly even as she trembled all over, Kwon Ki-joo stared at her intently. Lee-jin thought about how ridiculous she must look right now.

Sitting on Kwon Ki-joo’s thigh, with her hair taken captive, her heart pounding at the heat of his body against her skin, yet still forcing herself to resist with all her might.

“I’m not like you, Boss. I c-can’t do that with someone when our feelings don’t connect. I’m sorry.”

“……”

“If you need a woman, then ……I can leave my seat for you right now.”