CHAPTER 8 – Back Alley (Part 3)

She could have avoided it if she wanted to. The man moved slowly, and there was plenty of space to avoid him in the large sedan.

Seo-yeon felt for the first time what it meant to be unable to move under someone’s gaze. The man’s eyes were bright, red, and intense. They were strangely contradictory. Seo-yeon could only stare as the man’s large hand approached her.

His finger, brushing against her temple, combed through her hair. He then cupped her face and ran his thumb across the corner of her eye. It burned where he touched it.

After a couple more strokes, Dojun looked down at Seo-yeon. He spread his hands around her face and pressed his thumb against her lips. As he swept sideways, her lower lip crushed under his fingertip.

As Dojun wiped her lips, Seo-yeon felt herself becoming numb. Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion.

Her sense of reality faded away. She felt like she was floating in midair. It was a strange feeling, seeing everything that was happening so clearly yet finding it hard to believe it was actually happening.

The man lowered his head, and their lips touched. It was such a brief moment that Seo-yeon couldn’t even close her eyes. The touch and separation of their lips happened in the blink of an eye. Then, the man, slightly leaning back, looked at her with a self-deprecating smile.

I knew it would turn out like this.

With irritation, Seo-yeon narrowed her eyes. Dojun tilted his body forward. Their lips met again, this time more firmly. Seo-yeon thought Dojun’s eyes, slightly tilted, were truly red. And that was as far as Seo-yeon could think.

Lips sucked in. Tingly and hotly sucked. It felt like her whole body was melting. From the spot where the man’s lips touched to where his tongue held hers. Lungs breathing in tandem. Every part where the man’s lips and gaze touched felt like it was engulfed in flames, melting.

“Ahh…”

The breath that escaped was damp and hot. Seo-yeon’s fingers scratched the seat. Amidst her moans, the reddish eyes glanced down at her askew. They were eyes that devoured people, and through those narrowed eyes, Dojun sought her lips.

“Stop…….”

Seo-yeon said slowly. The man’s head was halfway down. It was also when Dojun’s hand dug under her loose T-shirt.

“Stop it.”

Seo-yeon barely managed to spit out the words of refusal. When Dojun paused at her words, he jerked his arm away and looked down at her. A few strands of hair had fallen over his forehead, making him look quite disheveled.

“Is that a refusal?”

Dojun asked.

“It’s… a refusal.”

Seo-yeon replied, her voice muffled. Dojun didn’t let go of his hand around her neck. Her face was small and her neck was thin enough that he could wrap one hand around it. With his thumb, Dojun gently stroked Seo-yeon’s smooth cheek. Her eyelashes quivered.

“Stop…….”

“I know.”

Dojun responded but didn’t take his hand away. He stared at her flushed cheeks and lips, then slowly pulled away, leaned back against the seat, and stared ahead.

The heavy silence gradually brought Seo-yeon back to reality. She remembered her earlier attempts at maintaining composure, saying that she couldn’t give him the file, that it wasn’t right, that she had come down to tell him in person.

And now, after all that…

Seo-yeon’s face burned with regret.

The image of herself as she must have looked to Dojun came to her, even when she didn’t want to think about it. The suppressed moans, without avoidance or rejection…

Seo-yeon clenched her fists tightly. She tried biting the inside of her lips painfully, but the self-loathing didn’t disappear.

“I have a file.”

Breaking the silence, Dojun said. Seo-yeon looked at him. He looked impishly nonchalant. His face was expressionless as if the events of a few moments ago had vanished like smoke. His voice never wavered, and she bit her lip again.

“That’s…”

Seo-yeon hoped her voice wouldn’t tremble as she spoke.

“This is none of your concern, Sir.”

With those words, Seo-yeon pulled the door handle and opened it. She vowed not to get involved with Hwang Dojun again, closing the door behind her with a solid click.

Thud.

The sound echoed. Before Dojun even looked up, Seo-yeon had opened the door. Hearing the door close with a thud, Dojun reached for his pocket and took out a cigarette. With a click, a flame flickered at the end of the lighter as he lit it.

A pungent smoke rose between his fingers. He rolled down the window and took his first drag. The white smoke dispersed outside the car window, momentarily obscuring Seo-yeon’s retreating figure.

With each resolute step she took, it felt like waves of self-loathing emanated. Even in moments like these, the woman didn’t rush.

Dojun took a deep drag of his cigarette. The flame at the end of the cigarette glowed brightly before slowly fading away.

If he wanted to chase her, he could chase her. A few big steps and she would be caught. The problem was…….

Dojun took out an ashtray and stubbed out his cigarette. I know myself well. If he caught her now, he would definitely make her submit. He could easily imagine the heated night that would follow. He could see himself pressing her wrist, licking away tears and moans, delving into her crimson flesh.

There’s a difference between letting go and chasing.

Dojun exhaled a long breath. Unfulfilled desires turned into white smoke, dispersing into the night sky. The chilly winter air, moist with humidity, seeped in through the open car window.