“What did you just……?”

‘Say?’

Unable to finish her question, Yeon-woo pressed her lips together firmly.

Her eyes, which were already large, widened even further as if they might split open.

She must have misheard him.

There was no way that Taecho had just said he wanted them to share a room.

The trembling in Yeon-woo’s eyes gradually faded. When she cautiously studied his face, his expression looked no different to normal.

In fact, he was scowling even more deeply than usual, as though something unpleasant had happened.

Strangely enough, the sight of his angry expression reassured her.

There was no way that a man with such a forbidding look could have asked her to share a room with him.

Convinced that she must have misheard, Yeon-woo slowly relaxed.

However, he seemed determined to leave no room for misunderstanding.

“I said we’re sharing a room starting tonight.”

Tae-cho repeated himself, staring directly into her eyes.

Yeon-woo inhaled sharply.

She hadn’t misheard him.

Did he really want them to share a room?

“Why…… all of a sudden……?”

Yeon-woo’s lips trembled as she struggled to speak.

Tae-cho stared intently into her wavering eyes as he slowly approached her.

When he stopped in front of her, she looked up at him. The sharp scent of alcohol mingled with the faint breeze and wafted into her nostrils.

“……Why do you suddenly want us to share a room?”

She wished he would explain himself, but Taecho just kept studying her face.

Unable to bear his silent scrutiny, Yeon-woo bit her lip, an anxious habit of hers.

His gaze remained fixed on her lips, which she was gnawing on. Then it slowly travelled upwards and settled on her flushed cheeks.

After staring at her for a long time, Taecho finally spoke.

Yeon-woo’s gaze immediately shifted towards his lips.

“Weren’t you the one who said married couples should share a room?”

She blinked slowly.

Yeon-woo knew exactly what he was referring to.

Memories of her behavior on that drunken night had belatedly returned to her. However, she could not let him know that she remembered.

The mere fact that she had taken off her clothes and underwear before climbing on top of him made her want to bite her own tongue off.

Yeon-woo brazenly raised her chin.

“……Are you saying I said something like that?”

She decided to feign ignorance until the very end.

“Stop pretending you don’t remember.”

Yeon-woo froze.

Her heart plummeted.

Did he know something?

“I-it’s only natural for a married couple to sleep together.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

Refusing to back down, Yeon-woo clenched her fists and tried to look confident.

Then, in the blink of an eye, Taecho lowered his head and closed the distance between them.

His face was suddenly mere inches from hers.

Yeon-woo managed to keep her expression composed, but she could not hide the tremor in her eyes.

As he watched her pupils quiver uncontrollably, the corner of his mouth curled into a languid smirk.

Even at a moment like this, he was devastatingly handsome.

His insolently arrogant expression offered no hint of what he was thinking, only intensifying her unease.

Yeon-woo cautiously took a step back, but his hand closed firmly around her shoulder.

Her breath caught.

“When you say married couples should sleep together, do you mean actual sleep—or something else?”

Gulp.

Yeon-woo swallowed dryly.

She knew she had to answer, so she parted her lips. However, his piercing gaze robbed her of her ability to speak.

Unable to meet his gaze, she lowered her eyes.

All she could see was his Adam’s apple.

She couldn’t fathom why even that part of him seemed so arrogant.

Worse still, he was standing far too close. Each time he breathed, his hot breath spilled across her face.

Her heart felt as though it was about to burst. Unconsciously, she raised a hand and pressed it firmly against her chest.

“M-move aside.”

Her face was so red that it looked like it might explode.

In fact, her ears and the back of her neck were burning, too.

Realizing how flustered she must appear, Yeon-woo lowered her head to hide her face.

“Why? You were bold enough to provoke me before.”

“……When did I ever provoke you?”

“You think claiming not to remember makes everything disappear? You were remarkably confident when you stripped off your clothes and threw yourself at me that night.”

Yeon-woo’s head snapped upward.

“……You said you wouldn’t feel anything.”

She looked directly into his eyes.

“You remember?”

“……A little. I don’t remember everything.”

She could not tear her gaze away from his leisurely smile.

“Is that so? Then keep your word about checking.”

“……”

“I’m curious too—whether I’ll truly feel nothing.”

His hand felt unbearably hot on her shoulder, making her tremble.

She felt as though the slightest pressure from him could crush her. Yeon-woo couldn’t even swallow.

She felt like a helpless herbivore offered up as prey to a beast — even breathing required caution.

“Move your things into my room first. Otherwise, I’ll have someone move them for you.”

“There’s no need to go that far.”

With considerable effort, Yeon-woo shook off his hand.

It fell away more easily than she had expected, yet she was strangely disappointed by its absence.

“Then why did you have to provoke someone who was leaving you alone? Because of you……”

“Pardon?”

“……Forget it.”

Taecho turned away coldly. After ordering her to come to his room starting that very night, he left the kitchen.

Yeon-woo remained completely motionless.

All she could do was stare at his retreating back.

‘Because of you……’

What was he about to say?

Was he going to tell her that she irritated him?

She had no idea.

Yeon-woo swept her hair back and pressed her palms repeatedly against her burning cheeks.

Why had she got drunk and done something so foolish?

She regretted it over and over again.

But it was far too late for that now.

The mere thought of sharing a room with him caused her to sigh heavily.

Even standing in front of him made it difficult for her to breathe.

What if she collapsed after spending the night in the same room as him?

Reluctant to enter his room, Yeon-woo stalled for as long as she could.

She finished embroidering the handkerchief for her brother-in-law and even rearranged the cushions on the sofa, even though there was no reason to do so.

“Aren’t you going to sleep?”

Taecho asked why she had not come inside when it was already so late.

Yeon-woo stared at him without answering.

He could have simply gone to sleep first.

Had he actually been waiting for her?

“What?”

Her reflection filled Taecho’s pitch-black eyes.

“……It’s nothing. Let’s go inside.”

When Yeon-woo tucked her hair behind her ear, his gaze settled upon the back of her hand.

She quickly lowered it and hid it from view.

The heat she had barely managed to suppress rushed back into her face.

As she followed Taecho into the room, her heart pounded wildly.

‘……Please stop racing and stay still.’

The bedroom door closed behind her.

Yeon-woo could see nothing but the bed.

Everything else in the room disappeared from her awareness.

Taecho sat on the edge of the bed and looked at her with a puzzled expression.

“Why are you standing there like that?”

Did this mean nothing to him?

Was he not at all uncomfortable about sharing a bed with her?

The bed was spacious, but they would still be sharing it. For some reason, her spirits sank.

“I’m replacing the bed.”

She announced her decision as she walked toward him.

“Why? What’s wrong with this one?”

“……Then are we supposed to sleep in the same bed?”

She could not understand why she suddenly felt so upset. Irritation without any apparent cause rose to the back of her throat.

“Weren’t you the one who said married couples should sleep together?”

“……I only said that because……”

He knew perfectly well that she had spoken impulsively while drunk, yet he continued clinging to her words.

Yeon-woo could not understand him.

“And……”

Taecho suddenly reached out, caught her arm, and pulled.

!

It happened in an instant.

By the time Yeon-woo regained her senses, she was already lying on the bed.

Blink.

Blink.

Her eyes trembled anxiously.

Taecho was straddling her, his arms braced beside her head as he silently stared down at her.

The same thing had happened when they stayed at her parents’ home in Seongbuk.

His black eyes were as deep as a bottomless void, threatening to pull her inside. Yeon-woo’s mouth went completely dry.

Even the slightest movement seemed likely to bring their bodies together.

“When married couples sleep together, it means they do things like this too, doesn’t it?”

Unlike Yeon-woo, who barely dared to breathe….

“Gasp!”

….Taecho boldly closed his hand around her br*ast.

Yeon-woo’s face turned deathly pale from shock.

“Wh-what……?”

She could not even form a proper sentence.

Seeing her stammer helplessly, Taecho smiled in satisfaction.

“Why? How will you manage if having one br*ast touched is enough to make you look ready to faint? You had no problem rubbing them all over my face, so why are you pretending to be so innocent now?”

The shock was so overwhelming that her vision darkened.

“……That only happened because I was drunk.”

Her voice would barely emerge, but she somehow forced out an answer.

“Do you rub your br*asts against any man whenever you’re drunk?”

“……”

His vicious words made it clear that he wanted to hurt her, and Yeon-woo’s anger steadily rose.

She glared at him and answered each word distinctly.

“I’ve never done it before, but perhaps that’s simply what I do when I’m drunk.”

A heavy silence descended between them.

“Ha. You never let me win even once, do you?”

A sigh escaped through the lips that uttered nothing but cruelty.

“And yet everyone keeps insisting you’re kind and calling you an angel. Somehow, I’m the only villain. You don’t even know what you do in your sleep……”

Yeon-woo’s chest heaved violently.

“What does that mean?”

She could not understand what he was implying.

“What did I do?”

‘I did something in my sleep? Me?’

“Do you want me to tell you?”

She did not know what he meant, but for some reason, she did not want to hear the answer from his lips.

Yeon-woo shook her head.

“Ugh! Let go of me.”

She caught the wrist of the hand kneading her br*ast.

“Didn’t you say we were trying?”

However, Taecho showed no intention of releasing her.

Instead, his fingers tightened.

Her br*ast was crushed so roughly within his hand that it felt as though it might be torn apart, making her squirm beneath him.

“Then we should make an effort.”

The corners of his mouth turned up, but there was no hint of amusement in his eyes.

Yeon-woo finally understood what he meant by ‘making an effort’.

She had lied to her mother-in-law, and now Taecho was using her own words against her.

Each time his fingers tightened and relaxed, her n*pple rubbed against his palm. It hardened and sharp tingles spread through her br*ast.

“Taecho! Wait……!”

Her desperate pleas fell on deaf ears as he suddenly pushed her pyjama top up.

When he pressed his lips against her neck, she felt as though her heart might burst.

Suddenly, he slipped his large hand beneath her bra.

Before she could stop him, he found her n*pple with his fingers.

……The problem was—

“……Hng.”

She didn’t hate it.

In fact, she liked it.

Her toes kept curling up involuntarily. Wriggling them against the bed, she let out a breathless m*an of excitement.

They were married.

Wasn’t this perfectly natural between them?

Hadn’t this already been delayed far too long?

After pinching her n*pple between his fingers, Taecho sat up and pushed her bra up.

Her br*asts bounced free.

As he stared at them silently, his eyes darkened considerably.

His Adam’s apple bobbed dangerously.

When he started to lower his face, Yeon-woo covered her mouth with a trembling hand, afraid that she might hiccup.

She had never experienced anything like this before and did not fully understand what was happening.

Yet she thought she knew what he intended to do.

“T-Taecho…… Ah!”

Rather than turning away, Yeon-woo closed her eyes.

Her hands and shoulders trembled violently.

Perhaps her heart had already burst.

Then she felt something warm and wet touch her n*pple.

Yeon-woo stopped breathing.