Chapter 8.4

Her head was spinning.  

Though he had warned her not to get drunk, Moonkyeong couldn’t help it. Together, they had shared four more bottles of soju. Of course, she had only drunk about a bottle and a half herself.  

She wasn’t particularly weak with alcohol, but tonight was different. She kept losing focus.  

On their way back to the hotel, Moonkyeong finally plopped down in the middle of the road.  

“Are you okay?”  

His gentle voice reached her ears as she opened her eyes wide. A cool breeze brushed against her chest.  

Though her relationship with this man was clearly defined by a contract, she found herself wanting him more as time passed. The realization made her frown.  

“…Seojun.”  

Squatting down, Moonkyeong grabbed his shoulders as they faced each other at eye level.  

“Seojun.”  

Even after calling his name twice, he said nothing. Frustrated, she was about to call his name louder when, all of a sudden, his lips pressed against hers.  

Unlike before, this was just a simple kiss. It was a brief peck, as innocent as his wide-eyed gaze.  

After the kiss, he quickly stood up, seemingly embarrassed, and walked ahead.  

Startled, Moonkyeong ran to catch up and wrapped her arms around his back.  

“What are you doing? Why kiss me and then run away?”  

Her slurred speech and half-dazed eyes went unnoticed by her. She didn’t realize she was acting unusually affectionate toward him.  

Seojun placed his hand over hers and chuckled softly.  

“Are you drunk?”  

“No.”  

“Liar.”  

“I’m completely sober! Want to see? This is the promenade movement. You start with an arabesque pose and then spin using your heel—oh? Oh?”  

Attempting a ballet move she usually performed with ease, Moonkyeong lost her balance and almost fell sideways.  

She shut her eyes tightly, bracing for impact, but when she opened them again, she was in Seojun’s arms.  

Of course, he had caught her. He sighed.  

“I warned you not to get drunk.”  

“I told you, I’m not drunk!”  

Even after that, Moonkyeong cheerfully danced through the dark streets.  

Standing on tiptoe, she performed various ballet moves, prompting Seojun to scratch his nose.  

“I don’t dislike it. I just thought I did.”  

If Hyeran hadn’t forced ballet on her so harshly, Seo Moonkyeong might have continued dancing for another five years.  

She didn’t even know what she truly liked, nor could she discern what she disliked. That made her pitiable.  

With his hands stuffed into his pockets, Seojun leisurely watched her graceful ballet movements.  

In the hotel elevator, Moonkyeong occasionally pressed her forehead, as if feeling dizzy.  

Seojun held her close, and she leaned against his shoulder without hesitation.  

To be honest, her drunkenness had mostly subsided by then.  

Now she should have pulled away from him, but she didn’t want to. She wanted to stay in his arms and let the long night pass.  

Rubbing her face against his shoulder, she confessed her melancholy feelings.  

“Seojun.”  

“…Yes.”  

“I’m wavering for you.”  

“…”  

“If you hug me like this, I might start to think you actually like me.”  

At that moment, as if on cue, the elevator doors opened. Annoyed, Moonkyeong pulled herself out of Seojun’s embrace and stepped out first. Seojun followed her out of the elevator.  

Walking briskly ahead, Moonkyeong tugged at Seojun’s wrist as he unlocked the hotel room door with his key. He glanced at her with a sharp look.  

“Are you still drunk?”  

“No.”  

“Go inside. I know you want me to undress, but not here.”  

With a deflated laugh, he pushed Moonkyeong gently into the room.  

The suite they returned to was utterly quiet. The scent of flowers delivered earlier with room service lingered in the air, mingling with the raw, intoxicating smell of alcohol on him that unsettled her reason.  

Just as Moonkyeong, forgetting her embarrassment, reached out to unbutton Seojun’s shirt, as if he had read her mind, her body was suddenly lifted into the air. With one hand, Seojun effortlessly carried her to the high table in the center of the suite.  

Sitting her down on the table, Moonkyeong swung her legs back and forth.  

Dressed in just his shirt, Seojun loosened his tie as he approached her. By then, Moonkyeong had grown quiet. She looked down at him with a feigned indifference in her eyes.  

“What are you going to do now?”  

“A kiss.”  

With his reply, Seojun placed one arm on the table. Even through his shirt, she could see the taut muscles of his forearm.  

With his other hand, he smoothly slid his palm up her leg, unzipping her dress in one swift motion.  

Ziiip.  

The sound of the zipper sliding down was accompanied by the soft touch of his lips grazing hers. His kiss, leaning her halfway back, ignited the hidden desires they had both suppressed.  

“Mm… mmph.”  

As time passed, the thirst only deepened, and the hunger buried within her throat now craved even greater stimulation.  

“Haa… ha…”  

He, too, seemed to have reached his limit. The breath escaping from Seojun’s lips looked like the remnants of pent-up longing.  

As if he were someone too overwhelming to handle, he began to quicken his pace. Pulling down the top of her dress and her bra strap in one swift motion, he immediately sought out the most prominent part of her body and sucked hard with his tongue.  

The flesh in his mouth quickly melted and quivered.  

The more he indulged, the more Moonkyeong gasped for air. Like someone showering in the rain, her entire body felt drenched.  

“I… right now… haah… my body feels like it’s melting. Is… is this… mmph… normal?”  

Annoyingly, he didn’t offer any response. His thumb, which had been leisurely teasing her n*pple, now moved lower.  

He gazed at Moonkyeong, who was exhaling heated breaths, before slipping his hand under her dress and removing the rest of her underwear.  

Touching her already soaked skin, he indulged himself freely.  

The creaking sound filled the once-quiet suite, and the sturdy legs of the table groaned under the weight of their movements.  

“Mm… ah… Seojun, Seojun…”  

As he overwhelmed all her senses, Seojun grabbed her chest and flashed a devastatingly mischievous smile.  

“Does it feel good?”  

“Mm-hmm.”  

Though she thought she had sobered up, it seemed she hadn’t. She couldn’t recall a time in her life when she had felt such ecstasy.  

Running her fingers roughly through his hair as he kissed every inch of her, Moonkyeong felt a thrill.  

Wherever his lips touched, it felt incredible.  

Seojun’s kisses were wild, yet they carried a certain reverence for her body.  

Regardless of the circumstances of his birth, whether abandoned by his parents or not, his touch made her feel like the most dignified human being on earth.  

She felt happy to be alive, and the simple act of breathing felt overwhelmingly warm.  

“Let’s go… to the bed.”  

His voice cracked slightly. He seemed to be holding onto the last threads of his sanity.  

But Moonkyeong found his expression—one that seemed desperate to continue without delay—amusing. Just before he could proceed, she grabbed the buttons on his shirt.

Her trembling wrists made it difficult to undo them, so Seojun leaned in and whispered as he licked her ear.  

“I’ll do it.”  

“No, I want to.”  

Though she had practiced tying ties every morning, she had never undone the buttons on a shirt before, and it was proving harder than she thought. Her hands kept fumbling, and the buttons were annoyingly small.  

A laugh escaped her lips. As Moonkyeong giggled, Seojun sighed.  

“Is this funny to you?”  

“Mm-hmm. There are only two left now.”  

“You’re doing this to drive me crazy.”  

“One more.”  

When she undid the final button, he quickly shrugged off the shirt.  

Seojun’s finely chiseled chest muscles caught the light from the ceiling, captivating Moonkyeong’s gaze like a painting.  

She reached for the scar on his shoulder that she had seen before and gently touched it.  

“Does it hurt?”  

“No.”  

“Liar.”  

He gave a languid smile before changing his expression. With a face as fierce as it was cruel, he warned her,  

“I said we should go to the bed. You’re the one who stopped me.”  

“Huh?”  

Seojun didn’t take her to the bed. Instead, he took her right there.  

Through the fabric of her dress, he pushed into her, starting a fierce rhythm that felt as if it would tear her apart.  

The vibrations he sent through her body, like unrelenting waves crashing from end to end, didn’t stop.  

Thud. Thud-thud.  

The more the surroundings shook, the deeper the pleasure seemed to sink.  

Staring into the void, Moonkyeong let out unabashed moans, showing no intention of suppressing herself.  

As her voice wavered, Seojun kissed her again, entangling his tongue with hers in a sticky embrace.  

With lips as dazzlingly beautiful as his, he left a clear mark on her.  

At some point, Moonkyeong’s body, having left the table, was now pressed against the full-length glass window at the top of the hotel. Her dress, which had barely covered the lower half of her body, had long since been removed.  

With her perfectly bare body, she leaned against the glass. Though their first encounter had ended, the traces he left clinging to her thighs somehow felt comforting.  

Moonkyeong leisurely admired her reflection in the transparent glass.  

Her long black hair covered her back, but Seojun brushed it aside. He, too, was completely unclothed.  

In the dark, blackened glass, their n*ked bodies seemed to overlap.  

“Seo Moonkyeong.”  

As Seojun called her name, he ran his hand along her back. Stimulating her sensitive spots, he blew a warm breath into her ear.  

As if bewitched, Moonkyeong tilted her head back and leaned into him without hesitation.  

Tonight, it seemed, would be an even longer night for them.