Chapter 2.4

Ibiza, a Mediterranean island where parties never stopped day or night, was truly a haven for the young.  

The lifestyle of sleeping during the day and coming alive at night felt entirely unfamiliar to Moonkyeong.  

Last night, Lee Heejin and the others had all left to enjoy a foam party.  

Using her exhaustion from overseas performances and long flights as an excuse, Moonkyeong stayed behind at the accommodation.  

By 1 PM the following day, she was the only one awake.  

“Maybe I’ll have some coffee.”  

She made an iced coffee filled with ice cubes and searched for something to tie her hair, which had been falling into her face.  

She grabbed a floral-patterned handkerchief from the kitchen and loosely tied her hair back.  

After downing the freshly made coffee in one shot, she felt a refreshing coolness in her chest. She placed the empty cup on the shelf and approached the window.  

The beach visible through the large glass windows was as serene as ever. 

Where had last night’s crowd gone?  

At 3 PM, the Russian model approached Moonkyeong, the only one awake, and started a conversation.  

Even in her casual attire, her long, slender limbs and well-proportioned figure seemed to captivate his gaze.  

“You’re a ballerina, right?”  

“Yeah. Is there a problem?”

“Not at all. I was just curious. Since you’re a ballerina, you must be good at dancing. Want to go out and have fun tonight after sunset?”  

Moonkyeong quickly shook her head.  

“I hate dancing.”  

“What?”  

“I said no. Sorry.”  

“Alright.”  

Russians often came across as brusque at first.  

Although the Russian model naturally became her “partner” after Lee Heejin’s other friend paired off with the hockey player, he thankfully wasn’t as noisy as her first impression of him had been.  

He didn’t cling to Moonkyeong, who repeatedly made it clear she had no intention of spending time or getting involved with him.  

After he disappeared from sight, Moonkyeong went to the sink to wash her empty coffee cup.  

As she turned on the water to rinse the cup lightly, she heard footsteps descending the stairs.  

Tap, tap, tap-tap.  

Since arriving here last night, she hadn’t once gone up to the second floor.  

The only people who ever went upstairs were Lee Heejin and Kim Seojun.  

It felt almost like an unspoken rule.  

Even Lee Heejin’s other friend had remained on the first floor.  

In the early hours of the morning, Moonkyeong had briefly woken to the sound of a young man and woman clattering up the stairs.  

No doubt Lee Heejin had been drunk, and Kim Seojun…  

What state had he returned in?  

The fact that her thoughts always ended up revolving around Kim Seojun made Moonkyeong feel a sense of resistance.  

Stop. Stop thinking about it, Seo Moonkyeong.  

Think about what he said to you.  

[Do you get wet just by looking at me?]  

Remembering his words, her cheeks flushed red.  

Meanwhile, the sound of footsteps on the stairs grew closer.  

Could it be him?  

Then don’t look back. Act like you don’t care.  

It’s fine. Just act like nothing’s wrong.  

Standing there, washing the already-clean cup over and over again, Moonkyeong froze.  

The sound of footsteps stopped right behind her.  

The silhouette behind her didn’t move.  

Without realizing it, Moonkyeong turned around.  

It wasn’t Kim Seojun. It was Lee Heejin.  

She playfully startled Moonkyeong with an innocent, mischievous expression unfamiliar to her.

“Boo!”

“…….”

“What? That’s no fun. Why didn’t you get scared? Did you know it was me?”

Moonkyeong turned back again, placing the cup on the shelf, and responded indifferently. In truth, she was deeply disappointed but pretended otherwise.

“Yes.”

“Why didn’t you come yesterday? I told you to come even if it was late. Do you know how amazing last night was?”

“Did you now.”

Lee Heejin tiptoed and whispered softly in Moonkyeong’s ear.

“I kissed Senior last night.”

Her eyes conveyed the atmosphere of the moment instead of words. With a rustling sound, Lee Heejin disappeared upstairs again.

For a long while after that, Moonkyeong remained alone in the living room. Out of habit, she stretched her legs, walking back and forth across the center of the living room on tiptoes even without pointe shoes. 

This time, she struck a turnout pose. A turnout refers to a perfect external rotation where both feet are spread at a 180-degree angle. Even among professional dancers, few can execute this perfectly. The reason Moonkyeong was loved by the director was that there wasn’t a single basic move or complex ballet technique she couldn’t perform flawlessly.

Sometimes, she wondered. Even though she hated ballet, seeing how perfectly she could execute it, she thought perhaps it was innate.

What began as a light stretch eventually turned into the same ballet movements she had performed on stage just the other day. At night, she transformed into Odile, the Black Swan, balancing on one leg and spinning thirty-four times. 

As she counted the rotations, what Moonkyeong wanted to forget was Lee Heejin’s words. Her words about kissing Kim Seojun last night. However, even after completing all thirty-four rotations, her words wouldn’t leave her mind.

“Hah.”

She untied the floral-patterned scarf that had been holding her hair and adjusted her long, flowing straight hair. The sunlight restored her hair to its soft, natural texture without any sign of having been tied up. Feeling thirsty, she turned toward the kitchen for a drink, and her heart nearly stopped.

He was standing at the end of the living room, watching her.

It wasn’t the disheveled face of someone who had just woken up. He seemed to have been awake for quite some time, yet he had only now come downstairs. She found this irritating. Amused by her own unreasonable thoughts, Moonkyeong couldn’t bring herself to approach Seojun, instead biting her lips in place.

The sweat beads forming on her forehead wouldn’t be visible from where he stood, but she quickly wiped them away anyway. Seojun, who had taken a bottle of water from the refrigerator, slowly approached her. Without the courtesy of opening the cap, he handed her the bottle almost as if throwing it to her.

Moonkyeong, who accepted the water with both hands, opened the cap and drank deeply.

“…….”

She couldn’t tell whether his gaze was fixed on the sweat beads forming again on her forehead, her gulping throat, or the lips that touched the bottle’s opening. Hastily finishing the water, she wiped the moisture from her lips with the back of her hand. Already struggling to catch her breath, her breathing grew even more erratic with Kim Seojun standing right before her.

“Doesn’t spinning like that make you dizzy?”

That was all he said.

Despite asking, he had the expression of someone who didn’t expect an answer at all and laughed softly. Out of spite, Moonkyeong asked him the same question. Even though she could fully anticipate how much more miserable it would make her feel, she couldn’t resist asking him.

“Did you kiss Lee Heejin last night?”

Her reflection in his pupils appeared small and pitiful. At that moment, she couldn’t bear it.

It wasn’t as if she had expected an answer anyway. Just as she was about to turn away, he spoke.

“Yes.”

“…….”

“If you count pulling her away when she was forcing herself on me as a kiss, then yes.”

As soon as he finished speaking, their eyes locked, and Moonkyeong realized it. She had been drawn to this man all along. She wanted to cling to him desperately. Not only was she wet below, but she also realized she was willing to offer even more to this man.

“Senior! Senior Seojun, where are you?”

Lee Heejin’s voice from the stairs interrupted them. As Moonkyeong turned her gaze toward the second floor, Seojun grabbed her wrist tightly. The scarf she had been holding fell to the floor, but it was so light that it made no sound.

However, he gripped her wrist so firmly that it throbbed. Just as she was about to cry out in pain, Seojun signaled her to be quiet with his eyes. He pulled Moonkyeong into a room adjacent to the kitchen. Inside, there was nothing but a lone bed.

“Where did he go?”

Lee Heejin’s irritated voice sounded nearby. The fallen scarf nagged at Moonkyeong’s mind. As she held her breath, she found herself at his chest level. Her wrist, still held by him, remained bound, and her free hand wandered, unsure of where to rest.

Fear began to take over. Despite having enough time, Kim Seojun hadn’t locked the door. 

What if Lee Heejin opened the door and walked in?

Her heart tightened as if caught doing something wrong. 

Would she slap me upon seeing me standing here, embraced by him against the wall?

She wished she would. She wished everything would fall apart. She wished Hyeran would call her hopeless and stop expecting anything from her. She wanted to escape from this dirty, vile world where even friendships were meticulously stratified.

“Ugh, where the hell did he go!”

Lee Heejin’s voice was now clearer. She was likely only a few meters from the door. Reflexively, Moonkyeong closed her eyes.

At that moment, Seojun’s tongue parted her lips and softly moistened her insides.

It was too dangerous.

Her eyelids trembled slightly. Through the small gap in her barely open eyes, she saw him. He provocatively stimulated her soft inner tissues, tracing her teeth and curling his tongue lasciviously.

“Mm.”

Even though she knew she should push him away, Moonkyeong ultimately accepted him. Her cheeks hollowed, and her long hair swayed below her shoulders.

His hand brushed her cheek and slipped under her T-shirt. Before she could stop him, one of her br*asts was firmly cupped in his hand. His thigh pushed her legs apart, creating space between them.

The conflicting thoughts of “this is wrong” and “this is okay” clashed within her, blurring her vision.

The intense kiss drew them together like magnets. As he gripped her more tightly, her sensitive n*pple had already stiffened. He pressed the protruding tip with his fingers.

Even as the kiss continued, their lips, drenched in saliva, endlessly sought each other’s.

The sunlight streaming through the window concealed their intimate moment. It was blindingly bright.

Her disheveled chest and the nape of her neck, which had been sucked on multiple times by him, were left with reddish marks.  

Moonkyeong tried to shake off the pleasure, but her body, filled with excitement, clung to him even more.  

Her breath, reaching its peak, spilled out like a sob.  

“Huh, mmph. Mm.”  

Like someone completely consumed by him, Moonkyeong let out a faint breath.  

She wasn’t lying on a bed; she was still standing in the space between the wall and his large frame.  

The T-shirt that had ridden up to her shoulders showed no sign of coming back down. His bold, unhesitating hands now aimed lower.  

Her trembling legs shook between his thighs.  

“P-please stop.”  

Just his touch sent a red-hot wave through her entire body.  

She knew what he wanted from the way their bodies were intertwined, but she couldn’t let it go that far.  

When Moonkyeong resisted, his tongue, which had been licking her chest, dove back into her mouth.  

He was relentless. He had coldly refused her when she had asked to sleep with him before, yet now he was behaving like a completely different person.  

I don’t understand you.  

Moonkyeong shrugged her shoulders and slowly pushed him away.  

Seojun’s breathing, which had been as erratic as hers, gradually returned to normal.  

When the kiss ended and Moonkyeong opened her eyes, she saw his sharp jawline.  

It was probably because he had lowered his head to kiss her, but for some reason, that sight made her feel small.  

When she tried to remove her hands, which had somehow ended up on his shoulders, Seojun’s arm around her waist pulled her closer.  

Helplessly drawn to him again, their eyes locked once more.  

“Haa.”  

“Hoo.”  

Their languid breaths mingled as if they still wanted each other, and it felt like their lips might meet again for a deep kiss at any moment.  

“Was it your first time?”