🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter – 16
Have you been waiting long?
I soon lowered my hands and took a deep breath. I took off all the clothes I was wearing and picked up my underwear. I slipped my legs, one after the other, into the small piece of fabric no bigger than a baby’s palm. I draped the bra straps over my shoulders and fastened the hook.
I turned around. Standing in front of the wall mirror with its blurred, faded edges, I looked at the reflection of the person I would show to Cha Young-hoon.
This is insane… My hand, moving without my conscious thought, flew up and covered my small face.
‘He’s someone who is extremely wary of others, so there’s no need to act exaggeratedly on purpose.’
The advice I’d received from Mi-jeong last time came to mind.
“Just… in a way that’s as much like me as possible…”
Eun-hee whispered to her reflection in the mirror as if casting a spell. Then, she smoothly pushed the shopping bag with the luxury logo into a corner.
She went straight to the wardrobe. Droplets from her wet hair slid down her spine, raising goosebumps. She pulled hard on the handle, and a drawer opened with a creak. She took out a set of underwear. The plainest one, even among the others which were all equally unremarkable.
Then, she slowly slipped her arms into a white cotton t-shirt and fastened a beige cotton skirt around her waist.
Late at night, the hotel room was engulfed in silence.
Like a part of the set dressing, Eun-hee sat motionless on the living room sofa. Her gaze was fixed, as if in prayer, on the small lamp on the table, the only source of light.
Just as she was about to check the time on her phone, a small click sounded from the entrance, and a vertical strip of light pushed back the darkness.
The sharp sound of dress shoes split the stillness. In an instant, the man’s presence weighed heavily on the air. Eun-hee’s body sprang up like a coil.
Young-hoon walked towards her, his long gaze sweeping over her as she stood stiff as a tree.
When the cold sound of his shoes stopped, he was standing across the table from her.
“Have you been waiting long?”
His tone was casual, as if this night was just one of many passing indifferently. His face, stripped of any personal feeling, was quite attractive, but no emotion could be detected on it.
His aura was markedly different from Eun-hee’s, who seemed as if she had thrown her body to the wolves. Feeling an awkward sense of dissonance, Eun-hee averted her eyes.
“No, it’s fine…”
A soft voice flowed from between her light pink lips.
Even though the answer was somewhat off, Young-hoon didn’t question it and gave a slight nod. Keeping his eyes locked with Eun-hee’s, he pulled his tie off in one swift motion. His movements were unhurried yet seamless. He tossed his jacket over his shoulder and draped it on the back of the sofa.
His expressionless yet dreamy, dawn-haze eyes remained fixed on Eun-hee. Her long eyelashes, meeting his gaze, fluttered nervously.
Thud. Thud. With each piece of clothing the man discarded onto the sofa, a dry rustling sound split the space.
“……”
Afraid of his persistent gaze that seemed determined to find something in her, Eun-hee lowered her chin as if to avoid it.
When she raised her face again at the sound of soft footsteps above her head, Young-hoon was unbuttoning his white shirt.
“I’ll take a shower.”
Young-hoon spoke indifferently. Yet, his downward gaze felt like a clear warning: if her suggestion to meet at the hotel was a momentary impulse, it wouldn’t be that easy.
“…Okay.”
Meanwhile, the shirt in front of her slowly fell open.
Eun-hee’s eyes widened into circles as she faced his exposed chest. Despite the small action of unbuttoning, his pectoral muscles twitched like living creatures.
She had guessed, given his large frame. Last night, when he had pinned her fallen body beneath him, his body had felt like an impenetrable shield.
But this physical superiority only magnified Eun-hee’s fear. Wasn’t he the bad person who used force against his fiancée with that monstrous body?
It felt like a heavy iron weight was pressing down on her solar plexus. Eun-hee wished her flowing long hair would hide her anxious face, even just a little.
The tall man moved without a word. His leisurely walk towards the bathroom was neither hurried nor noisy.
The man’s long strides came to an abrupt halt.
Young-hoon slowly turned his head to the side. Unfastening the last button of his shirt, he asked.
“Will you join me?”
At this sudden, bait-like suggestion, Eun-hee’s body stiffened instantly. She had resolved not to act like a fool, yet her tongue felt rough, and the words wouldn’t flow smoothly.
“I… I…” While Eun-hee stammered, Young-hoon’s pupils slowly moved over her small shoulders. His gaze briefly touched, then left, her hair that wasn’t completely dry.
He let out a light laugh. As if it were a joke. Or perhaps as if he had already forgotten the words he might have just tested, he headed towards the bathroom without a trace of hesitation.
Click. The sound of the door closing brought Eun-hee back to her senses. She immediately began taking out the food, one by one, from the insulated pouch where it had been sleeping peacefully.
The dosirak she had gotten from the hotel again was still warmly steaming.
The menu was pine nut porridge. A suitable menu to lightly fill the stomach late at night. It wasn’t something she prepared because she thought Cha Young-hoon would want to eat it. It was merely a tool to plausibly package the explicit goal of sex. As always, she also placed a packet of herbal medicine beside it.
Eun-hee set the table, recalling the countless scenarios she had rehearsed in her head for today.
She had placed several condoms on the bedside table in the bedroom. In the small drawer beneath it, she had placed the electric stun gun she received from Mi-jeong.
‘Even while you’re seducing him, if you feel like you’re in danger, don’t hesitate and use it. I don’t want to put you in the same danger under the pretext of protecting you…’
‘Ms. Sa Eun-hee… I just hope you don’t end up like me… Please, try your best to coax Cha Young-hoon…’
Eun-hee memorized Mi-jeong’s advice, repeating it over and over in her head. The drip, drip sound of water from the shower chilled her ears.
She flinched and sat back down on the living room sofa. Once again, she became like a stone statue.
The man finished his shower and came out.
Young-hoon approached Eun-hee at a pace that was neither fast nor slow. Eun-hee reflexively stood up again. Her head tilted back as if looking up at the sky because of his height.
The heavy scent of skin care products wafted from Young-hoon, who wore only a bathrobe. Startled by it, Eun-hee stepped back.
Young-hoon’s head tilted. As if he were enjoying this situation, the corner of his mouth slanted upwards.
“So, what shall we do now, Ms. Sa Eun-hee?”
Simultaneously, the loosely tied front of his bathrobe fell open, and a droplet of water slowly trailed down his chest.
Even slower than that, the man’s pupils shrank to the size of tiny grains. Feeling his gaze clinging to her face and body, Eun-hee’s own breath tightened in response.
“Shall… shall we eat first, Examiner…?”
At that, the persistent gaze that had been chasing her instantly softened. Young-hoon snorted as if he found it absurd. He turned his body and sank into the sofa as he spoke.
“Did you really ask to meet here just to unpack a dosirak and eat?”
At the sarcastic tone, Eun-hee felt as if she had been caught, and her eyelids fluttered shut.
At the same time, her gaze shifted to the space between his casually parted legs—purely by chance.
At the edge of her vision, although obscured by the robe, a massive outline was clearly visible. Clear enough to gauge its approximate size.
Haa. Eun-hee let out a silent moan.
Although she had no experience in matters between men and women, it was clear that any woman would have difficulty handling a size like that. She had never imagined there would be a variable like this.
A low laugh flowed around the flustered Eun-hee.
“It’s just an excuse.”
Suddenly, a large shadow fell over Eun-hee’s face.
