“…What?”

Someone else?

Those two words made Michael’s brow furrow deeply.

The idea of him and Catherine doing such things was unimaginable enough, but the thought of her rolling around with another man felt not just unimaginable but horrific even to mention.

He glared at Catherine with hostile eyes and spoke angrily in a low voice he rarely used.

“Not with someone else either. What are you talking about, Catherine!”

At Michael’s quietly growling anger, Catherine widened her eyes in apparent surprise.

Her face showed confusion that neither option was acceptable.

Michael knew Catherine wouldn’t listen just because he tried to stop her.

He tried to calm his strangely stirring emotions and said to Catherine, who was looking at him with a face that clearly asked, ‘Well, what am I supposed to do?’

“…Someone else, I mean someone you don’t know well could be dangerous, and Catherine, you could just, you know, get married.”

“Marriage takes too long. And I’m quite cautious about marriage.”

Michael asked incredulously in response to her words.

“Someone cautious about marriage would have s*x with just anyone?”

“Not just anyone. The person I want to have s*x with most is you, Michael! And… how can you compare sleeping together once or twice with spending a lifetime together?”

Catherine narrowed her eyes and argued point by point.

It seemed both right and not quite right.

Michael was left speechless at her remarkably confident words, his lips moving without sound.

Catherine pushed out her lips and grumbled quietly.

“I don’t really want someone else either. I want to do it with you.”

“……”

Ah… what should I do with her?

Michael covered his forehead with his hand and sighed.

“Would you prefer I do it with someone else? What if, as you said, I meet a dangerous man? He might blackmail me… What if the innocent little me falls head over heels for him? And, and what if I go down the wrong path?”

Catherine began persuading Michael by pouring out scenarios that would never happen.

Michael’s old and shrewd friend wasn’t one to miss the wavering in his eyes. She touched on his desire to protect her excessively.

“You know I can never resist my curiosity, so if that man sweet-talks me, I might just fall for it completely. What if I end up abandoning my honor and family to follow him?”

“You……”

Michael glared at her and ground his teeth.

His eyes conveyed that if by any chance she met the wrong man and got into trouble, he would tear that man apart on the spot.

Catherine seized the moment and smiled broadly, emphasizing once more.

“You’re worried, right? Wouldn’t it be better if it were you, Michael, rather than telling me to meet someone else?”

“Huh.”

Michael exhaled briefly, roughly pushing back his hair as he spoke.

“You really… want to do that with me?”

“Yes. I want to. I’d like it if it were you.”

Michael’s heart strangely heated up at Catherine’s answer, which came without a moment’s hesitation.

Looking at those eyes full of complete faith and trust, he felt he couldn’t give this innocent friend to anyone else.

What if some other man harmed Catherine? What if they treated her roughly, not knowing how delicate she was…?

The thought made him dizzy. He couldn’t let that happen.

Yes, thinking about it, it might be better for her to do it with him than to let her do it with someone else and put herself in danger.

After all, he could satisfy her curiosity without hurting her.

‘…Not that I have any experience either.’

But he was quite good at learning, and he had graduated from the academy with a reputation as something of a prodigy.

Of course, studying and other things couldn’t be the same, but he was confident he could perform above average at anything he did.

Michael froze in shock as his thoughts reached this point.

He was dumbfounded that his mind was already thinking in the direction Catherine wanted.

“Michael…?”

She urged, noticing he wasn’t answering.

Michael stared at Catherine’s green eyes behind her glasses with a complicated expression.

His instinct already knew that, as always, he would do what Catherine wanted, but he couldn’t bring himself to speak easily.

It wasn’t something to answer lightly.

Catherine, sending anxious glances at his silence, suddenly opened her mouth as if she’d just thought of something.

“Are you nervous? Do you think you can’t do it with me?”

“…What?”

Catherine nodded as though she understood. Then, as if she’d had a good idea, she spoke with a bright face.

“Then shall we try kissing?”

Catherine deliberately ignored the thought that her own desire was driving this, and looked at Michael with sparkling eyes.

“Wouldn’t we know after kissing? Whether you and I could go as far as s*x or not?”

“…Kiss?”

“Yes, kiss! Let’s try it right now!”

Catherine stood up abruptly, giving a confident answer.

Then she strode toward him before he had time to prepare for her.

In an instant, her small hands grabbed both of Michael’s cheeks.

He caught a glimpse of her downcast eyelashes beneath her glasses, then her plump, red lips pressed firmly against his.

“…!”

Their lips met as softly as snow covering the earth. They were so soft that Michael didn’t dare apply pressure, afraid Catherine’s lips might melt against his.

He stared blankly at her as she freely rubbed her lips against his, unable even to breathe.

Boldly, Catherine was savoring the sensation of Michael’s lips with her eyes closed.

As he stared at her in stunned silence, Catherine slightly opened her eyes to look at him. With their lips still touching, she smiled, her eyes curving like moons.

Michael’s lips parted slightly in disbelief, and Catherine bravely bit them.

“Mmm……”

A satisfied moan escaped between her lips. As Michael’s body flinched, Catherine pressed herself even closer to him.

‘Oh my…… This feels too good.’

Unlike Michael’s seemingly stone-hard gaze, his lips were as soft as whipped cream.

How could they be so pillowy? The sensation was more pleasant than she had imagined.

Just a little more, just a little more…

Catherine gripped Michael tighter, pulling him closer.

Before she knew it, her body had climbed onto Michael’s lap as he sat. Even in this situation, his hands wrapped around her waist to prevent her from slipping.

Feeling his strong hands around her waist, Catherine kissed him more deeply from a more stable position.

Thump, thump.

Just from licking his lips, her heart fluttered at the unfamiliar sensation and emotion.

Her breath came rapidly. From just one lick of his lips, she had to struggle not to pant.

‘The kiss I saw then seemed more intense and erotic than this…’

An urgent thirst surged through her, making her impatient. Could a friend’s lips be this sweet?

Even the slight sense of guilt in her mind completely vanished. She just felt good. So good that her body kept squirming, her shoulders hunching.

How was Michael feeling? Curiosity washed over her.

He should find this kiss as wonderful as she did…

Catherine slightly lifted her trembling eyelids to look at Michael, who was right in front of her.

Her heart dropped and then leaped.

He seemed not to have closed his eyes at all, staring directly at Catherine. She felt a faint heat from his pupils so close to her.

Was it because the look in his eyes felt slightly different from usual?

Catherine felt a strange trembling spreading from inside her chest. It felt like hundreds of butterflies were fluttering around inside her.

As she carefully sucked on Michael’s lower lip, she decided to be even braver.

If Michael, unlike her, felt this kiss was wrong, if he didn’t think it was as good as Catherine felt it was, this could be their last kiss.

With that thought, the kiss carried a sharper edge of desperation. Catherine decided not to leave any regrets after their lips parted.

The movements of Catherine, who had been sucking on his lips like a kitten nursing, stopped. She murmured without even controlling her slightly panting breath.

“Michael.”

“……”

“Could you… open your lips a bit more?”

In that moment, just for an instant, Catherine thought she heard something like a moan. After that small sigh, exhaled as if in pain, Michael’s actions became a little rougher.

Even so, all he did was hold her tightly on his lap so she couldn’t move, and open his previously closed lips wide to devour Catherine’s lips…

But just that made Catherine feel like she couldn’t breathe. An enormous force pressed down on her. Michael’s lips, which had felt only soft and sweet, roughly and violently invaded her inner flesh.

It was similar to the kiss she had secretly watched. His firm, thick tongue, which surged in at once making it impossible to breathe, wrapped around Catherine’s small tongue. Under his strong sucking force, her tongue clumsily slipped into his mouth.

“Hah, mmm…… Hng.”

She squirmed weakly, feeling slightly suffocated, but Michael didn’t stop.

It was different from his usual behavior, always considerate of whether she might feel even the slightest pain.