Chapter 4 – It’s Indecent, Captain! (Part 3)

It was time to leave work, but the captain didn’t tell her to go home. Glancing at him, Alhendore didn’t move an inch.

‘What did he do while I was eating lunch to make him like this?’

Since she returned from lunch, his mood seemed particularly heavy. Yet she didn’t mind much. He was just playing tricks on her, but he was always a serious person.

Without much thought, she glanced at the clock and grumbled.

‘Ah, it’s almost 5:30.’

This won’t do.

If she stayed like this, she would waste time, so she quickly grabbed the approval documents for the month and stood up. It was the same approval list she had mistakenly handed over earlier.

There were still parts that needed to be supplemented, but she decided to ask what needed to be fixed and naturally continue the conversation.

Then, she planned to say, ‘Oh! It’s time to leave?’ and move on.

“Um, Captain!”

She was hurrying to his desk with the documents in her arms.

Suddenly, Lena tripped and almost fell, placing her hand on his desk. The problem was that she placed it right on top of the stacked documents.

“Huh?”

“Lena?”

As her palm, which had been placed on the documents, slid off, each sheet of paper scattered all over the place.

Alhendore, who rushed over, grabbed her arm and pulled her to prevent her from falling.

“Kyaa!!”

“Lena!”

Lena, who suddenly found herself in his arms, unknowingly placed her hand on his chest.

Since it was indoors, Alhendore was wearing a simple dress shirt. So, behind that thin layer of fabric was bare skin…

“Kyaa!!”

Startled by the warmth she felt from his body, Lena hurriedly tried to pull away. However, his firm arm, which was wrapped around her waist, didn’t let go.

“Ah….”

“Lena.”

In the situation where her retreat was blocked, Lena, flustered, tried to push him away, but his firm chest showed no sign of moving.

‘This is too… close…’

Wanting to move away, she pushed against his chest, feeling the solid muscles with her palms. Surprised, she quickly withdrew her hands, but due to the close distance, she felt his breath approaching.

Flustered, she repeated putting her hand on him and taking it off several times, her face blushing red.

‘Ah, really!’

It was a distance where they could easily touch each other’s skin. His sunlit golden eyes were staring at her. Beyond their gazes meeting, she found herself unable to look away from him.

Blushing from the sudden flutter in her chest, Lena quickly turned her head. And then she saw it.

Ah….

Held in his arms, she shifted her eyes. The office floor was covered with scattered documents.

“Oh, um, um. I’m sorry.”

Alhendore, who had been solely focused on her, finally took an interest in the scattered situation. His deep sigh tickled the bridge of her nose.

“Haa, Lena. If you keep this up, you should just stop working for today.”

Lena’s eyes widened at his dismissal.

It wasn’t the direction she had thought, but since he mentioned leaving work first, she wasn’t going to miss this chance.

“Ugh… Ha! Then I’ll leave work right away. But, um, could you let me go first?”

Despite her words, Alhendore didn’t budge.

Giving up on pushing his chest, Lena put all her strength into pushing his arm away from her waist.

She thought she might at least be able to move his arm, if not his whole body.

But it was a vain hope.

‘Why is his arm so strong…?’

You’re telling me to leave, so why aren’t you letting go? 

With teary eyes, she looked up at him pleadingly.

“Do you have something to say…?”

“There’s so much I want to say.”

Something to say. Something to say. Ah!

Realizing her mistake, Lena quickly moved her lips.

“Oh, haha! Of course, there must be a lot you want to say. You must be so frustrated and angry!”

I’ll clean up all these documents before I leave! 

She was about to shout.

“…You don’t even know what I want to say.”

“Huh?”

Was it just my imagination, or did his eyes look lonely?

His long eyelashes drooped, half-covering his gently wavering golden eyes.

“Never mind. You always give good answers.”

“Ugh…”

Her tense arms and the resistance from her waist created a taut standoff.

Alhendore watched her, sweating, with a steady gaze. He had finally decided to confess properly.

“Lena.”

“Yes?”

Startled like a rabbit, Lena flinched at his call from this close distance.

“Am I too much for you?”

“What?”

“Am I making you uncomfortable?”

“No, not at all?”

Would it not be uncomfortable for you?

She bit her lip to swallow the words rising in her throat.

Too close. It’s insanely close.

A cool forest-like scent filled her lungs with every breath.

“…It seems like I’m only making you uncomfortable.”

“No, no, I’m not uncomfortable at all!”

With her eyes tightly closed, Lena struggled against the scent. Alhendore looked down at her endlessly.

Being this close to you makes my heart feel like it’s going to explode, but you’re just uncomfortable with me.

The hot pounding of his heart gathered a heavy heat in his lower body.

He wanted to press his lips against hers and suck out all her saliva. The burning thirst ignited an unbearable urge.

He wanted to lick her. He wanted to see her cheeks bulge with his tongue filling her small mouth.

If he tore off her tightly buttoned shirt, her ample chest would bounce out through the gap.

If he greedily sucked on her ar*olas like a newborn seeking milk, he wondered what kind of voice she would cry out with.

If he twisted her waist and pulled off her uniform, stripping her down to her underwear, he wondered what color her luscious skin would be.

“Haa, I’m going crazy…”

The news of Lena’s broken engagement was making his barely held sanity slip away.

“No, really! I’m really not uncomfortable at all!”

Misinterpreting his sigh, the innocent young lady earnestly tried to show that she wasn’t uncomfortable.

‘Ha, right. What am I doing with this kid?’

Does the beast in front of her not look like a man at all?

Alhendore, pondering where to start his confession, decided to first build up some rational affection.

Finally, he released his grip on her waist. As soon as she was freed, Lena quickly put some distance between them.

She looked like a cat with its fur bristling in caution, making Alhendore chuckle softly.

“Shall we have a company dinner?”

“Suddenly?”

Just as she was catching her breath from embarrassment, Lena tilted her head at the unexpected question.

Alhendore spoke in a tone as if doing her a favor.

“You’ve been so out of it, I thought I should feed you something.”

“Oh, I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not fine.”

It was a blatant excuse. Lena felt a sudden clarity but nodded obediently. Considering her frequent mistakes, she thought he might see her as not fine.

Was his teasing also part of this intention?

His playful teasing had made her momentarily forget the chaotic reality. Usually, she would have been jumping around, but now she scratched her cheek in embarrassment.

“Oh, yes… Well, maybe I’m not fine.”

The place they found after the Captain’s not-really-persuasion was his unexpectedly chosen lounge. But, surprisingly, Lena felt better and eagerly grabbed a wine bottle.

Not just anywhere, but the Captain’s lounge wine cellar, which she loved the most in the world? Look at these colorful wine bottles!

“Do you like it that much?”

“Yes!”

Oops. Did I show my excitement too much?

Sitting on the Captain’s lounge sofa, Lena hurriedly composed her voice. She looked around, pretending to be surprised.

“So, why are we here? There are plenty of other places….”

“You like it here.”

“What?”

“You’ve been sneaking in and out like a stray cat every day.”

H-how did he know?

Though Lena had been caught raiding his wine cellar, she hadn’t realized he knew she’d been doing it all along, even before getting caught.

“Cough… you knew?”

“Did you think I wouldn’t know?”

“Ah….”

How amusing must it have been for him to see a little rat running around his front yard. Embarrassed, she lowered her head.

As Alhendore took a heavy sip from his glass, he gazed at her hesitantly.

Rational affection. How on earth do you build that?

‘Ha, this is driving me crazy.’

He had given her things she liked and brought her to a place she loved, so why wasn’t she happy? 

Why… did she look so dejected?

Feeling melancholic, he aimlessly swirled his glass.

“I specifically stocked it with things you like.”

“What?”

“You didn’t know?”

Lena blinked her wide eyes at him in confusion. 

What does that mean?

“If you don’t know your own taste, that’s not good.”

“Uh, uh….”

“It’s fine. I know your taste, so I can cater to it.”

His hand pouring the wine and his gaze remained calm.

Lena, unable to grasp what was going on, quietly drank the wine he poured for her.

‘So, is he confessing right now?’

Not knowing what to say, she just accepted and drank what was given to her.

Was he really confessing? Does he like me? Or not? Did he just say it casually, and I’m misunderstanding?

Her mind became a jumble. Asking directly, ‘Captain, do you like me?’ would be awkward to handle if it wasn’t true.

Thus, the night deepened. At some point, the pile of empty bottles filled and overflowed the long table attached to the sofa.