CHAPTER 83

With him holding her close, even the raindrops pouring down by her head felt like warm sunlight. All the senses that had been stagnant since their parting revived like a lie. Her heart was pounding fiercely.

This can’t be. How could this…

Leeseo finally burst the tears that she had been holding back. She told herself that she could forget, that what they had was just a passing breeze, that no matter how much it hurt now, time would dull it.

She had assumed she’d never see Taegyeom again, and even if she did, she believed she could turn away and pretend she didn’t recognize him. She constantly told herself that he was someone she could never be with. But now she realized, she truly could never forget a man like him.

As if a dam had burst, her vision blurred, and sobs leaked through her lips. Despite their parting, she couldn’t deny the lingering affection she had for him. Despite the separation, her heart remained steadfast, anchored in the same place.

She didn’t want to show herself crying in front of Taegyeom, but tears flowed uncontrollably along her cheekbones. Terrified, she used the excuse that she was crying because she was scared, so the tears poured even more.

“Don’t cry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry for everything.”

Taegyeom whispered softly as he pressed his lips to the top of her head. He hadn’t done anything wrong yet, his low, raspy voice squeezed her chest with guilt.

Leeseo lifted her drenched face, wiping away the rain and tear-soaked trails under her eyes with her thumb. Taegyeom looked at her with a perplexed expression, an expression of uncertainty about what to do. Ironically, he didn’t pay attention to the thick raindrops pouring down on his own head.

“When you cry, it feels like the world is falling apart. I want to catch the bastard who made you cry and kill him, but I’m afraid I might become someone else, someone cruel.”

“…”

“So please don’t cry. It’s driving me crazy.”

Leeseo turned her head sideways. She didn’t want to cry, but the tears flowed relentlessly. Her vision was so blurred with tears that she could barely see Taegyeom. Pressing the corner of her right eye with the back of her hand, she said,

“I thought it would be nice if you came. I wished you would come and save me. But you’re in Seoul. Of course, you wouldn’t come. I thought it was foolish and naive to hope for you to come.  But then…”

Her voice was low, choked, and her eyes were wet. She held back the surging emotions, taking a deep breath.

“You suddenly appear, and I…”

“I couldn’t let you be in danger.”

“But all the things I said to you, all the things I said to hurt you on purpose, they’re still fresh in my mind. We broke up so badly, so I never dreamed you would come.”

“You probably thought that way. But I never broke up with you.”

His unwavering gaze bore straight into hers. In the past month, not once had he shown a strand of hair, yet he declared he had never broken up with her. Leeseo was stunned by Taegyeom’s assertion, and an inexplicable and peculiar emotion surged within her.

“You’re really a strange man, Kwon Taegyeom.”

“Yeah.”

He replied to such words without hesitation.

“Shameless, unconventional, and irredeemable.”

Despite hearing all sorts of criticism, Taegyeom’s mouth curved smoothly as if he were undaunted. His gaze, which had been piercing into her, briefly dropped. His gaze that lingered on her quivering lips rose again, meeting her eyes.

“So, please save me.”

With her chin held up, Taegyeom’s head tilted. Hot lips met cold ones, as the lower lip was gently sucked, savored, and slowly molded together. Their lips collided, and he whispered softly.

“Only you, Hyun Leeseo, can save me on days like this.”

For a moment, her world was filled by Taegyeom, drowning out the cold rain pelting down overhead. A feather-light tremor ran down her spine, and an eerie shiver tingled across her skin.

An indistinct sound, whether a moan or a sob, flowed out of her, lips parted, and a tongue slipped through. A strong force pulling her closer, wrapping around her nape, sent a tingling sensation along her spine. Leeseo responded by wrapping her arms around Taegyeom’s firm neck.

Taegyeom gently supported her neck, pressing down from above while kissing. The kiss alone made everything perfect.

* * *

“Hey, what the hell? Am I your personal chauffeur? You called me out of the blue in the middle of the night, and I rushed from Seoul to Songdo in thirty minutes, ignoring all signals and this is what I get?”

With a dumbfounded expression, Jinwoo alternately looked at the sprawled Minhu on the floor and Taegyeom in front of him. Taegyeom, with a nonchalant expression, shrugged his shoulders in response.

“At least you should’ve thrown a warning or something. This is ridiculous. If I get fined, I’m billing you for the whole amount, so be aware of that.”

“Whatever.”

The rain, which had been pouring down as if poured, had stopped long ago, but the asphalt ground still remained soaked with the traces of rain. Jinwoo kicked Minhu’s shoulders, sprawled on the wet ground like a drunkard, and said:

Although the rain had stopped a long time ago, the asphalt was still soaked with traces of rain. Jinwoo, looking at Minhu, who lay on the wet ground like a drunkard, kicked his shoulder with an air of annoyance.

“But why do you keep bothering me whenever some annoying thing happens? There’s Director Gong, isn’t there? Why bother me instead of leaving it to a capable executive? Am I too easygoing for you? Do you get excited and feel good when I act all crazy and worked up?”

“But Director Gong might make Leeseo uncomfortable. It’s not like I’m doing this because I want to.”

“Leeseo? Leeseo?”

As if he heard something he didn’t want to hear, Jinwoo scrunched his face.

“Since when have you been calling people by their first names? Leeseo? Seriously, I got goosebumps on my arm. Really. I swear, look.”

Jinwoo rubbed both arms as if shivering, then extended them toward Taegyeom. Taegyeom pushed his arm away with an annoyed look and jerked his chin at Minhu, who was lying motionless on the floor.

“Enough of this nonsense. Deal with that. Mix legal and illegal methods appropriately so that he won’t be able to pull off such crappy stunts again.”

Taegyeom’s words made Jinwoo turn his head and glance at the car parked under the streetlight at the alley corner. Inside the black sedan, Leeseo was sitting in the passenger seat.

Through the relatively untinted front glass of the car, her silhouette inside moved restlessly. Jinwoo waved slightly at her, who was probably watching the scene outside.

“I heard a rough explanation on the way here, but is Leeseo okay?”

“None of your business.”

Taegyeom replied coldly, turning away without a second thought. Jinwoo, baffled, opened his mouth and let out a chuckle.

“Who cares about your woman? It’s just a humanitarian concern. Look at yourself, dragging your tired body all the way here for a month.”

Although he said that, Jinwoo, after answering Taegyeom’s call, drove the car at full speed without hesitation. Despite having seen her a few times, whether any affection had developed during that time or not, the right foot that pressed the accelerator felt heavier.

“Alright, I’m going. Take care.”

Jinwoo clicked his tongue as he watched Taegyeom’s back as he walked toward his car.

“Isn’t that a classic symptom of obsessive-compulsive disorder?”

Taegyeom opened the driver’s seat door and got into the car. The sedan, which had been standing still for a while, finally started with a smooth engine sound and gradually moved away toward the main road.

Looking at the departing car from a distance, Jinwoo lowered his body and shook Minhu’s shoulders.

“Stop pretending to be unconscious. Get up now.”

At Jinwoo’s words, Minhu, who was startled, blinked his eyes and then slowly opened them. Afte he scanned the surroundings and checked that Taegyeom had completely disappeared, he quickly sat up.

He wasn’t sure how long he had been lying on the cold floor in that state, but Minhu, with a distorted expression, groaned in pain, his face contorting as if he had hit his jaw on something.

“Please, take me to the hospital.”

“The hospital? What hurts?”

“My, my c**k feels like it has exploded.”

Minhu gasped and pleaded, holding his groin and looking like he was about to collapse again. Glancing down between Minhu’s legs with a curious expression, Jinwoo said firmly.

“Cocks don’t just explode.”

Despair crept into Minhu’s pale face. Suddenly, he knelt down, and with a sobbing face, he began to whimper. Tears welled up in his eyes and trickled down.

“My, my… It feels like my t*sticles… my t*sticles exploded. I’ve been losing sensation since earlier…”

“What do you mean by your t*sticles exploding?”

Jinwoo’s face lost all expression. With a cold, disdainful gaze, he pulled away from Minhu and spat out.

“For a despicable piece of trash like you who threatens women on the streets at night, no one would be disappointed if your balls really exploded. So shut up. If you whine more, I’ll crush the other one of your balls as well.”

Grabbing Minhu by the collar, Jinwoo lifted him, causing Minhu to squirm with a groan. Still holding onto Minhu’s collar, Jinwoo, as if finding it annoying, punched him once in the crown of his head. Minhu screamed, and soon tears streamed down, his face contorted.

Saying he is sorry repeatedly like a mantra, Minhu, dragged like a ragdoll, pleaded desperately, begging for mercy. He was forcibly shoved into Jinwoo’s yellow sports car, the rough handling leaving him disoriented inside the vehicle.

“Ah, damn it. If I’d known it was going to be like this, I’d have brought an SUV. Hey, stop kicking. I’ll kill you if you leave footprints inside.”

After tidying up his disheveled appearance, Jinwoo got into the driver’s seat. The door closed with a crisp sound, and the yellow sports car, leaving behind a raucous engine noise, disappeared from the alley.