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Chapter 2: One-Night Stand
A-ryeon walked down the hotel corridor, swallowing nervously. Images of the man she had spent dinner with kept resurfacing in her mind.
When he had sat down and taken off his jacket, his firm, well-built physique had been unmistakably visible beneath the thin fabric of his dress shirt.
Even the slightest movement made the shirt stretch tautly over his muscles, as though the fabric might burst at any moment.
It was true that she had avoided his eyes, just as he had said. But more accurately, she simply hadn’t known where else to look, so she had kept her gaze fixed on the table.
The closer they got to the room, the colder A-ryeon’s hands became with nervousness.
She was about to experience a one-night stand for the first time in her life, and with a man chosen for her blind date by Madam Han, no less. Now that she had actually gone through with it, a slight wave of regret began to creep in.
But it wasn’t so much that he was a man Madam Han had chosen for her. Rather, she was afraid she might have picked someone she couldn’t handle.
The man hadn’t said a word since they had entered the elevator. Even when she stole occasional glances at him, she couldn’t read a single emotion on his face.
Perhaps it was all in her head, or perhaps he was simply an expert at concealing his true feelings. Either way, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she had somehow lost control of the situation.
While all sorts of thoughts swirled through A-ryeon’s mind, the two of them arrived at the room before she knew it.
What caught her attention was not an ordinary hotel room, but the most expensive suite in the entire hotel.
“Your company must have excellent employee benefits.”
At A-ryeon’s question, the man slightly raised the corners of his mouth before replying.
“Let’s just call it a privilege I’ve earned. For now, anyway.”
When the door opened, a spacious and luxurious room came into view. It was far too large to be called an ordinary hotel room.
A-ryeon had always wondered whether rooms as extravagant as the ones she saw in dramas and movies actually existed. Now, she could hardly believe she was standing right in the middle of one.
The ceiling was high, and one entire wall consisted of floor-to-ceiling windows, offering a sweeping view of Seoul’s nighttime skyline. The scenery was incomparable even to the view from the restaurant, leaving A-ryeon’s mouth hanging slightly open.
For a moment, she forgot why she had come here and simply stood admiring the dazzling city lights.
As she placed her hand against the glass and gazed blankly at the illuminated city, she sensed the man approaching from behind. The warmth radiating from his body against her back made her briefly hold her breath.
His hand slowly rose and settled over the back of hers.
Before A-ryeon even had a chance to turn around, she found herself trapped against the window by him. She hadn’t even noticed when he had taken off his jacket. Now, wearing only his dress shirt, he leaned close to her ear and whispered in a low voice.
“I’ll ask you one last time. Are you absolutely sure about this? I’m not that gentle in bed. And I have no intention of stopping after just once.”
His tone was polite, but to A-ryeon, it sounded like a warning. As though he were telling her that if she was frightened, he would give her one last chance to run away.
This man seemed to have an extraordinary talent for making people feel foolish.
“I’m the one who made the offer. Do you really think I’m going to back out now?”
A-ryeon spoke while looking at his eyes reflected in the glass.
“Or is it you who wants to back out, Mr. Jeong In-cheol?”
At her provocation, the corners of his mouth curved upward smoothly, as though he found her adorable.
“Even if you cry, I won’t stop. I’ve never been particularly good at comforting people when they cry.”
His hand slowly caressed the back of hers. Then his thigh gradually slipped between her legs.
A-ryeon instinctively tried to close her legs, but his thigh had already settled into place.
For the first time in her life, A-ryeon, who had never once strayed from the straight and narrow, experienced the thrill of doing something forbidden. Fear and excitement mingled within her, creating a complicated whirlwind of emotions.
It was exhilarating.
Only then did the reality of his actions begin to sink in. Feeling the tension slowly building inside her, A-ryeon turned her head and opened her mouth.
“But first, let me go wash up—!”
Before she could finish, the man swallowed her words with a kiss.
It was hard to believe he was the same man who had been so composed just moments earlier. Now, he pressed his lips against hers with an almost desperate urgency. His large, strong hand cradled the back of her head, leaving her unable to pull away even if she wanted to.
Unable to breathe, A-ryeon struggled to pound against his chest, but she could do nothing except endure his rough, breath-stealing kiss.
Only when her upper and lower lips had swollen red did he finally release her.
“Haah… Hah…”
With tears gathering in the corners of her eyes, A-ryeon gasped for breath as she leaned against him. Wearing a relaxed smile, the man cupped her face and wiped away the tears streaming down her cheeks.
“I told you not to cry. I’m not good at comforting people.”
Faced with his composure, so different from her own, A-ryeon realized that she had chosen a man she might not be able to handle.
After wiping away her tears, the man wordlessly scooped her into his arms.
“Ah!”
Startled by the sudden movement, A-ryeon instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist.
She placed her hands on his shoulders and looked up at his face as he carried her toward the bedroom. With a deep smile playing on his lips, he looked so self-assured that A-ryeon could only stare at him in bewilderment and let him carry her.
Just as they entered the bedroom, A-ryeon met his gaze.
“Wait a moment…!”
The man stopped, and she cautiously added,
“Please turn off the lights… You can do whatever you want otherwise, but please turn off the lights.”
The man looked less than pleased with the request. However, at the sight of A-ryeon pleading with him, the corners of his mouth lifted, and he turned off the lights as she had asked.
“This is the only concession you’re getting.”
His low voice sounded through the darkened room. After that, all that could be heard was A-ryeon’s tearful moans.
A heavy sensation settled over A-ryeon’s chest as she slept.
“Mm…”
She opened her eyes sleepily and discovered that the man’s arm was wrapped naturally around her.
Turning her head to the side, she saw him sleeping beside her, his body turned toward hers. His face looked remarkably innocent and peaceful.
It was hard to reconcile that serene expression with the intensity of the previous night, as though nothing had happened at all.
‘After all that last night, how can he sleep so peacefully?’
Suppressing a slight sense of indignation, A-ryeon gently lifted his arm and carefully slipped out of bed.
Looking out the window, she saw the first faint signs of dawn. The sun had yet to rise, but the outlines of the city were gradually emerging from the darkness.
As soon as she stood up, pain spread throughout her body. She felt so heavy and sore that it was as though every bone in her body had been shattered.
“Did I really have a one-night stand without even drinking?”
A-ryeon asked herself with a self-deprecating smile.
The man hadn’t been bluffing when he said he wouldn’t stop even if she cried. Recalling how she had writhed in pleasure in his arms the previous night, tears streaming down her face, made her cheeks burn with embarrassment.
‘Make up your mind whether you like it or not. It’s so dark in here that all I can hear is you crying, so I can’t tell. Or are you crying because you like it so much?’
As much as she hated to admit it, the man had completely dominated her in bed. Unable to resist the pleasure he gave her, she had been tossed about at his mercy.
His desire had seemed endless, and he had explored her body with relentless persistence. Strangely enough, however, his touch had also been incredibly tender.
Of course, he hadn’t stopped just because she cried. Still, she remembered how his hands had continually wiped away the tears rolling down her cheeks.
Casting a glance at the man lying in bed, A-ryeon gathered her clothes from around the room one by one and went into the bathroom.
“Haah… He really had to leave me covered in bite marks…”
A-ryeon sighed as she looked at her reflection in the mirror.
Her body was marked with reddish bruises here and there, revealing just how relentless the man had been. Even her neck had not been spared.
She hastily put her clothes back on, then took the scarf hanging from her bag and wrapped it around her neck to conceal the marks. Fortunately, the weather in March was cool enough that wearing a scarf wouldn’t make her uncomfortable.
After straightening her clothes, she left the bathroom. On a sudden impulse, she quietly opened the bedroom door and peeked inside once more.
The man was still fast asleep, looking as innocent as an angel.
‘If he acts innocent one more time…’
As A-ryeon stood there watching him, the man rolled over in his sleep. Startled, she hurriedly took a step backward.
Fortunately, he didn’t wake up.
Just then, a large scar on his shoulder caught her eye. It didn’t look like a recent injury.
She wanted to take a closer look, but afraid of waking him, she suppressed her curiosity and stepped away.
A-ryeon took out her wallet and removed all the cash inside, placing it on the bedside table.
The more she thought about it, the less likely it seemed that his company would pay for a suite like this for a secretary. Since she had stayed the night here, too, she figured she should at least contribute toward the room charge to avoid any trouble later.
After casting one final glance at the sleeping man, A-ryeon quietly left the suite.
After leaving the hotel, A-ryeon climbed into a taxi. Her body felt as heavy as a stone, and she sank into the back seat.
For a while, she closed her eyes and tried not to think about anything.
After some time, she forced her eyelids open and switched on the phone she had turned off the previous night. As soon as she had finished work the day before, a severe migraine had hit her, prompting her to shut down her phone completely.
The moment she checked the screen, she found exactly what she had expected.
Her missed-call list was filled with calls from Madam Han, and several text messages had arrived as well.
[Where are you? Have you completely lost your mind? Come straight home as soon as you’re finished.]
‘Lost my mind? Who are you calling crazy? I spent the entire day cleaning up the messes you made yesterday.’
A-ryeon closed her eyes again and leaned back against the seat.
Perhaps she should never have gone to law school.
When she was younger, she had enrolled because she wanted to earn her father’s approval. But in the end, it had all been for nothing.
She had even maintained a top ranking at law school, thinking that if she became a prosecutor like him, perhaps he would finally spare her a glance.
However, Madam Han had thrown a fit, insisting that she would rather die than see A-ryeon become a prosecutor. In the end, A-ryeon had been forced to become a lawyer instead.
Under the title of lawyer, all she really did was clean up the messes made by the Han family.
With a sigh, A-ryeon rolled down the window and let the cold predawn breeze wash over her face. The wind whipped her hair fiercely around her.
Then she picked up her phone again and sent a message to Madam Han.
[I’m on my way home now.]
