Chapter 30

“Seonghee, wake up.” 

Haji, who had finished her beer, shook Seonghee who was sleeping with her head on the table.

“I don’t know……”

“What do you mean you don’t know, we need to go home.”

Just then, Seonghee’s phone on the table lit up.

[Troublesome]

The name that appeared on the screen was unique.

“Troublesome? That can’t be a name, right?”

After a moment of hesitation, Haji answered the call. She intended to find out who the guy Seonghee was seeing was or to cover for her if it wasn’t.

Shortly after, the person on the other end of the call appeared.

“No way……”

As a man who would stand out anywhere entered the beer pub, Haji realized.

“Mr. Lee Geon?”

The man walking briskly with his long legs immediately caught her eye. Even though he had covered his bleached white hair with a hat, he couldn’t hide the strands peeking out. 

“It’s been a while.”

“But why…?”

Why are you here?

Haji asked with her eyes just like that.

“I said over the phone that I would come.”

“Right? Why did you say you were coming to pick up Seonghee?”

Haji looked at Lee Geon quizzically. Then, as if something suddenly occurred to her, she covered her mouth.

“Are you perhaps not very charismatic? Are you timid and such?”

Could this man be the one Seonghee, in her drunken state, said she shouldn’t date?

“Ha, I guess so.”

Lee Geon chuckled and nodded readily as he gathered Seonghee’s things. The scene looked so familiar that Haji almost let it be, but she snapped to her senses. 

“What are you doing?”

“I have to take her home. It’s not like we can let her sleep here.”

He felt different from when she had seen him before. Of course, she had only seen him briefly then.

Back then, he had a difficult, model-like aura, but now he seemed more human, you could say.

While Haji was thinking about Lee Geon’s changed appearance, Seonghee’s body was tilting. As Lee Geon was trying to pull her towards himself to support her. 

“Where are you planning to let her sleep?”

“At her home, of course? What were you thinking?”

“Right……” 

Haji, feeling a bit stung, averted her gaze for a moment. 

“You know where her home is, right?”

“If you don’t trust me, report me. I’m a public figure, you know.” 

As if seeing through Haji’s uneasy heart, Lee Geon took off his hat and showed his face directly towards the CCTV. 

Then he supported Seonghee and put her in his sports car parked on the main road. Unlike when he had unhesitatingly shown his face, he was extremely careful when putting Seonghee in the car. 

“Be careful on your way.”

“You too, Haji.”

Haji watched the back of the car as it drove away and stretched her shoulders.

“I should go home too.” 

Hup! Haji, who had psyched herself up, headed towards the bus stop. Due to the rising intoxication, her steps were faster than usual.

***

As the door clicked open, Seojin turned his head as if he had been waiting in the entrance. As if he had been lingering there.

“Where have you been?”

Seojin, who hadn’t known Haji had gone out, asked as if he had been waiting. Because after awkwardly ending their home date, he had belatedly realized Haji wasn’t home. 

“You know the famous scene from the movie we watched today?” 

Saying words unrelated to Seojin’s question, Haji kicked off her shoes and walked in like a general, stomping her feet. 

Those steps didn’t stop even in front of Seojin. They continued forward so much that a flustered Seojin stepped back. 

“What?”

“The famous scene. The kiss scene.” 

Seeing Seojin’s rare flustered expression gave her confidence. Her small steps gradually changed to larger strides, pushing him back. 

Thump thump, her small feet pressing on the floor gained strength. 

“Yes, I wanted to see it.”

“……”

“You asked, didn’t you? If I wanted to watch it because of that scene?”

“I did. But why are you talking about that……”

Seojin’s body, which had been retreating, hit the wall. As if she had been waiting for this, Haji stretched out her arm. 

Thwack! She hit the wall with her hand, the wall slam. 

“I wanted to try it too.”

In that moment, she was the epitome of a girl crush of this era. Enamored with her own powerful presence, Haji lifted her chin.

She even had this thought:

‘Ki Seojin in the trap. Ki Seojin in the palm of my hand!’

While she was deeply absorbed in such arrogant thoughts about her appearance, the reality was different. She was just hitting the wall with her small palm while standing in front of a man more than 20cm taller than her. 

“A man, you know, if he draws his sword, even if he can’t cut tofu, shouldn’t he at least swing it?”

“I guess so?” 

Haji took a deep breath, making her chest heave. Now was the time to say those words that Seonghee had repeated until her mouth was worn out before falling asleep.

“I’m going to meet a man who doesn’t protect me!”

“…… What?” 

By the time Seojin sensed something was wrong, Haji was already preparing for the next mistake. As if the small stone thrown wrongly wasn’t a mistake.

Haji, preparing a big rock, opened her mouth wide.

“I said I’m going to meet a man who will devour me!”

Devour, vour, our. Our.

It was a line that made one feel as if it was echoing in the living room.

A crease appeared on Seojin’s flat forehead. 

He had no idea where this woman had been, but he was sure it wasn’t a place he wanted to send her back to.

What should I do with this cute woman?

From the moment she opened the door and came in, her eyes sparkled as if she had been waiting, and she walked in with tiny steps. He had avoided her for fear of bumping into her, but then she hit the wall with her small hand. Even flinching in pain while doing so.

Then, she blurted out strange words while staring at him with round eyes, her pupils tense.

What should I do about this?

I’m dying to devour her because she’s so cute, really.

Seojin held back his laughter and forcibly hardened his expression at Haji’s solemn face.

“Haji.”

Flinch, Haji’s shoulders jerked at Seojin’s low voice. As if she was belatedly becoming aware of her actions.

He saw her hand that was pressing against the wall subtly falling away. But that hand didn’t return to its place, instead it went into Seojin’s hand.

“You’ll hurt yourself if you hit like that.”

“It didn’t hurt……”

Haji, who still had some of her confident air left, mumbled her words while fidgeting with her lips.

“It doesn’t seem like you drank a lot.”

“I only had two glasses. I’m fine.”

“If you’re fine, why are you provoking me like this?”

Seojin’s hand grasped Haji’s chin. As his fingertip grazed her lips, Haji’s eyelids trembled.

“Where were you planning to meet a man who would devour you?”

“……”

“Hm? Tell me. Where were you planning to meet him?”

Wherever she says, he’s not going to leave it alone.

No matter what happens, he might completely destroy that place. He might even dig it up to the underground so it can’t be rebuilt.

“I hadn’t decided where……”

Haji’s voice faltered and lost its confidence. She must have felt Seojin’s ominous aura.

“Then, what if I devour you?”

“What?”

“If I say I’ll devour you, does that settle it?”

Gulp, Haji swallowed hard. His clouded gaze really made it seem like he would.

“You’re prepared, right?”

“What? Ah!”

Seojin’s hand wrapped around Haji’s waist and pulled her close. He pressed her thin waist, which fit in one hand, tightly against his lower body.

Haji’s eyes widened in surprise at his already er*ect lower body.

“If you’re surprised already, what will you do? You haven’t even seen it.”

You’ll have to see it all.

At his low voice, whispered with breath near her ear, Haji bit her lower lip hard.

If she hadn’t put strength into her toes, her knees might have given way at the ticklish, sensual feeling on her ear.

As his grip tightened, their noses brushed and they shared breaths between their lips. The hot breath tickled her throat.

She felt even more impatient as she could clearly feel the heat emanating from his red lips.

“Close your eyes.”

“Ah……”

Her trembling eyelashes settled. She tightly closed her eyes as told, looking like an obedient child.

Seojin, who had been gazing at her intently, pulled the back of Haji’s head with the hand that had been wrapped around her back. He felt the delicate fingertips on his waist tremble.

What will you do if you’re trembling like this already?

Seojin’s lips slowly descended. Onto her eyelids.

At the brief kiss that touched and left, Haji, feeling the lingering sensation, grasped his waist. As if to prevent him from going far.

She had done a mischievous thing.

“Breathe.”

“Ha.”

Unknowingly holding her breath, Haji exhaled as she opened her mouth and slowly opened her eyes. Meeting his eyes, closer than ever, she tightened her grip on his waist.

“Don’t be impatient.”

When you can’t handle it.

What did I…?

“Hup!”

Before she could think about the meaning of his words, her lips were devoured in one go. A sticky feeling different from the previous kisses.

Seojin, who had swallowed her small lips, repeatedly rolled them in his mouth and sucked, showing his possessiveness. As if they had been his from the beginning.

When she felt something brushing the corner of her mouth, Haji pressed firmly on Seojin’s waist. The sensation of her tender parts, which had never been touched by anyone, being rubbed was more sensitive than she had imagined. Enough to make goosebumps rise all over her body.

“Haa, ha.”

Excited breaths escaped between her lips and her mind went blank. Her chest, pressed against his, pounded and heaved up and down.

The hand supporting the back of her head was so gentle that she didn’t want to part her lips. Haji stretched her body on her tiptoes and pressed her lips more firmly. Seojin, complying with this, invaded between her parted lips.

As if waiting, their tongues collided between the joined lips. The unfamiliar sensation made her whole body flinch. Though only their lips touched, the electrifying feeling spread through her body, making her mind foggy.

The tip of his tongue, which had been hiding between her lips, emerged and delved in. Haji’s lips parted at the soft sensation. The heaviness entered her mouth…