“At the time, I was writing trivial gossip pieces for the paper and hadn’t landed a single scoop. This was a big deal to me. It stayed with me – and frankly, something about it always felt wrong.

“What was the strangest thing?”

“The ID that wasn’t burned.”

“Are you serious?”

Soo-min felt a tight, cramping pain in her stomach. She had heard it with her own ears, but she still couldn’t quite believe it.

“They pulled a wallet out of the charred body bag. Inside the wallet was Ji Junhwan’s residential registration card. I saw it with my own eyes, clear as day.

“H-how… how could just the ID card of a burned body be perfectly intact? Does that even make sense?”

Goosebumps crawled up her arms.

“Of course it doesn’t make sense. But what’s even stranger is that the police knew about it – and covered it up.”

“How… how could they just miss something like that? Didn’t they even try to check who really died?”

“I heard the guy was a complete orphan. No family to do a DNA test with.”

“An orphan…”

Her head pounded. An orphan? An orphan? She had always thought that Junhwan was just a top student from a normal family. She had never heard of him being an orphan.

“You didn’t know?”

“Not at all…”

“Anyway, it seemed like the police didn’t want to deal with it anymore. They just stopped investigating.”

“Ah…”

Soo-min covered her mouth as a wave of nausea rose from her stomach. Her jaw felt stiff, as if it would lock up.

Her senior looked at her worriedly.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes… Thank you. That helped a lot. If you think of anything else, could you call me?”

“Sure. Honestly, I’d like to get this off my chest, too. I hate the idea of having a stain like that on my career.”

***

After parting ways with Jo Dong-sik, Soo-min wandered the streets for hours.

A familiar face, the same voice, an unburned ID card, and Beom Yuhyeon, a Korean adopted in Russia.

The pieces of the puzzle seemed to fit together, all pointing to one conclusion.

The possibility that Beom Yuhyeon and Ji Junhwan were the same person carried considerable weight.

Soo-min’s eyes widened.

She couldn’t wait any longer.

If she didn’t find evidence on his body right away…

Soo-min called a taxi.

As if sensing Soo-min’s urgency, the taxi sped straight home without running a single red light.

As soon as it stopped in front of the house, Soo-min jumped out and raced to the door.

The living room was brightly lit and it looked like Yuhyeon had been waiting for her. When she burst through the front door, she saw him sitting on the big sofa.

Soo-min bit her lip hard and walked straight toward Yuhyeon.

“There’s something more urgent than dinner.”
“…”

Without hesitation, Soo-min straddled his thighs and sat down. Then, without fear, she unfastened his belt with a click. Yuhyeon’s eyes wavered.

“Tonight… I have to see it. Your body.”

“As much as you want.”

It was after the housekeepers had gone home – they were alone in the house, just the two of them.

Soo-min met Yuhyeon’s gaze as she slowly pulled down his pants. When they fell to the floor, she gasped. Her nerves were tangled and twisted into a restless knot.

When she saw his shirt covering his drawers, she began unbuttoning it, one button at a time. His intense gaze, fixed only on her face, made her body burn with heat. It felt like her blood was boiling, but her mind remained sharply focused.

‘I’ll take everything off and see for myself.’

Rustle, rustle.

With unhesitating hands, she tore off his shirt. Only one layer remained – his drawers.

As she reached for them, her heart pounded in her chest.

“You wanted to see me n*ked?”

“Yes.”

Soo-min grabbed the waistband of his pants, but when it came to actually pulling them down, she hesitated. A small giggle escaped him. Then he suddenly stood up.

“Take a good look.”

At that moment, he pulled the drawers down himself. At the same time, his dark, heavily *rect p*nis jumped up with a thump.

“…Ah…!”

Soo-min stared at it intently, right in front of her face. No – she wanted to check if there was an initial engraved deep into the p*bic bone at the base.

The moment she saw the answer, her entire body froze.

Under the bright light, with his entire body exposed, there wasn’t a single mark on his p*bic bone.

‘Ah… was it really just a misunderstanding?’

Soo-min felt lost, not knowing what to do. When she looked up, his eyes – heavy with desire – were fixed on her.

“If you saw it, shouldn’t you do something about it?”

He pressed lightly against her lips. Hesitating, Soo-min finally took him into her mouth.

He gently ran his hand over the top of her head as if to comfort her.

She took his full p*nis in her mouth even though it was almost too much to hold.

Even though she had just seen it with her own eyes, she couldn’t bring herself to believe it and kept looking at his p*bic bone.

‘Is he really… not Junhwan?’

Even though she had checked for a mark to confirm that he wasn’t Junhwan, a part of her still hoped that he was alive.

Her heart ached. Just like Yeon-joo had said – if Junhwan had lost his memory, she believed she could accept him no matter what.

But the moment she realized that hope was nothing more than her own wishful thinking, a wave of bitterness followed.

No miracle happened.

The man who would never know her true feelings thrust his fully aroused p*nis into her mouth. He let out soft moans and moved his hips gently.

Soon the hand that had been caressing her hair gripped the back of her head and his movements became more forceful. The intensity of his *rousal showed no concern for Soo-min’s comfort, pressing so deep that it almost hit her throat.

After a while, as his hips continued to move, his hand slipped under Soo-min’s clothes.

“It’s not fair if I’m the only one n*ked, is it?”

He grabbed Soo-min’s waist and pulled her up. Without pausing, he began to undress her in a frenzy.

It took barely three seconds – maybe even less – for her to be completely undressed. Her t-shirt and bra were lifted at once, and her pants and underwear were pulled down together.

He wrapped his arms around her n*ked body and held her tightly. The firm, heated sensation of his skin pressed against hers felt vividly real.

As warmth trickled between her thighs, Soo-min caught her breath with a small gasp. Even in the midst of the turmoil, her body responded with raw honesty.

Her emotions ran wild – confused, intense, and out of control.

While her heart longed for Junhwan, her body desired Yuhyeon.

Her hips writhed. She wasn’t the only one overwhelmed by primal urges – Yuhyeon was, too.

Fireworks exploded in her mind. Consumed by sharp, overwhelming sensations, she wanted him to push her even further.

“Ah… ahh…”
“Ahh… ugh…”

Caught between ecstasy and euphoria, her thoughts wavered – was it time to let go of Junhwan once and for all?

The more she thought about Junhwan, the more guilt she felt towards Yuhyeon – and that had to stop.

It really was time to let go.

‘Ji Junhwan… I have to remain the bad woman until the very end.’

She felt her legs spread wider – but she didn’t resist. Every time his thick, burning p*nis pushed deeper into her, a moan escaped her lips. She reached a climax she couldn’t escape.

“Ah… ah…”

Every point of contact burned with overwhelming heat, as if they were melting into each other. Her thighs trembled uncontrollably with each hard thrust.

Her vision blurred from the heat and intensity.

Tears fell – reflexively, unstoppably. He gently licked them away, like a mother soothing her baby. The tenderness in that small act made her chest swell with emotion.

“Let’s just say these tears are for me, Han Soo-min.”

Thrust.

His hips swayed powerfully again.

There was a faint smile of satisfaction on his lips – but Soo-min could not bring herself to smile with him.

***

In the middle of the night, with even the moon hidden behind the clouds, the man sat motionless in the dark.

Yuhyeon, who was always impeccably dressed, was now only wearing his pants. He stared blankly at Soo-min lying on the bed.

The disheveled sheets and kiss marks on her skin made his chest tighten. Every breath he took seemed to draw cold air directly into his lungs.

He furrowed his brow.

Why… why did he feel this way?

Even though he had shown her proof that he wasn’t Junhwan, it didn’t bring him any peace.

There had never been a tattoo on his p*bic bone.

He’d had it removed during the skin transplant surgery after the burns.