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Chapter 20
Even knowing his true intentions, she had no choice but to be swayed.
And the fact that she still couldn’t shake off her lingering, hidden affection for him—she found herself pathetic.
At Hee-jae’s bitter words, kyo-bin’s mood also sank heavily.
“Sleeping is good, sure… but I’m not trying to sleep just for the sake of it.”
He met Hee-jae’s evasive gaze, forcing her to look, and muttered quietly.
“I don’t even know what the difference is anymore.”
Even if she understood, she had to pretend not to.
There was no hope that their relationship would develop further than it already had.
The deeper it grew, the more disastrous the inevitable end would be.
“This pisses me off.”
Muttering under his breath, kyo-bin stared at her intently.
It was Hee-jae who felt unsettled by the sudden change in his atmosphere.
“Then why are you so kind to every man except me?”
He turned his chair completely, gripping both armrests, effectively trapping Hee-jae in his embrace.
“…What?”
She looked up at him, bewildered by words she couldn’t fully grasp.
“What’s with saying I wasn’t like this before, or defending me?”
“All I did was ask what happened since you seemed different.”
“That means you care.”
At a loss for words, Hee-jae let out a hollow laugh and dropped her head.
No matter how many lines she drew, how sharp or bold they were—
kyo-bin would push through, bleeding if he had to, just to reach her.
Of course a lawyer should take interest in his client.
But that he twisted even that into jealousy so sharp it bordered on madness…
He had no intention of letting her go.
No matter how much she resisted, no matter how much he was wounded in the process—
it was all meaningless.
Hee-jae stayed silent, which only stoked kyo-bin’s anger. He pulled her closer.
“And what about smiling sweetly at Cheon Eun-gang? Did that bastard confess to you?”
Suddenly, he shifted the subject.
Hee-jae’s eyes flew wide as she looked up at him.
“What the hell are you talking about?”
She had briefly spoken with CheonEun-gang once, during work.
Barely five minutes. Yet he knew it all.
What kind of man is this?
How could he know her every move like this?
CheonEun-gang was said to be kyo-bin’s secretary. Perhaps he had reported to him.
That was the most likely explanation.
But even if it had only been a short exchange, kyo-bin had taken it, twisted it, and let his jealousy consume him.
“I’m jealous.”
He wanted to shake her to her core.
To never let go of her ankle, even after she’d barely steadied her heart.
“I’m jealous, Hee-jae. I hate it when you look at anyone but me, when you talk to other men. So why do you smile like that, why do you protect them like that?”
He reached out, seized the back of her neck, and pulled her closer.
Hee-jae tensed, trying to resist.
But against a man’s strength, she couldn’t win.
Their foreheads collided, and she lowered her gaze.
“If I could, I’d lock you away in my house and never let you go anywhere.”
His hot breath carried the weight of his possessiveness right against her face.
Her lips were dry, forcing her to lick them. Slowly, she raised her eyes to look at him from up close.
Tilting his head, kyo-bin brought his lips to her ear.
“Whether I have to bind your body or break your will.”
He whispered, hammering the truth of his obsession into her again.
“That’s how badly I want to trap you in my world.”
His molten voice brushed her sensitive ear, making her shoulders tremble.
Her body shrank back instinctively, but she couldn’t push him away.
“Even letting you walk free like this is already me compromising, don’t you think?”
Chok.
He turned his head and pressed his lips softly against the rim of her ear.
The ticklish touch made her shudder, but she couldn’t move in his hold.
“And you still think I’m not serious?”
He tilted her chin, forcing her to look at him.
His eyes burned with obsession, unshakable, focused only on her.
Caught in that gaze, Hee-jae’s emotions welled up, reddening her eyes.
She didn’t look away—she confronted him head-on.
“Wanting to lock me away and loving me—how is that the same?”
She thought his feelings were twisted. They had always been.
Her own affection had been pure, foolish, naive.
His was different—dark, consuming.
Shin kyo-bin only ever treated her as a diversion.
A woman to toy with in the palm of his hand.
Never once had she believed she was more than that to him.
“You don’t love me. You just want to chain me, to hurt me, and to feel pleasure from it.”
Whether he was mistaken about his emotions or deliberately deceiving her, she didn’t know.
But she wanted to make him realize—
“kyo-bin, that’s not love. Wake up.”
Her voice was firm.
But he only laughed faintly, brushing it off.
The awakening she wanted—he had no intention of granting.
Instead, he acted as though he knew himself better than anyone.
“I’m restraining my desires, can’t you see?”
She frowned, confused by the meaning.
“For you.”
In his mind, he was holding himself back.
If he didn’t, he feared what ruin he might bring upon her.
Of course, he hadn’t held back completely.
His love was twisted, his restraint imperfect—but this, to him, was self-control.
“I’m sacrificing myself.”
He believed he had given up much for her sake.
Though she could never know it, he thought he was doing his best.
But Hee-jae tilted her head, unable to understand what he meant.
At that moment, his eyes dropped to her lips.
Her slightly parted lips revealed a glimpse of her red tongue.
His throat bobbed hard.
And the thumb holding her chin moved up to brush against her lips.
Rubbing at her lower lip, he suddenly leaned in.
“…Mmph.”
The feeling of her lip being swallowed made Hee-jae squeeze her eyes shut.
Instinctively, her hands clenched into fists, as if to resist.
But they froze in midair.
Because the heat of his tongue slipping inside—was overwhelming.
It traced her teeth, prodded her soft flesh.
And she didn’t hate it.
It was the warmth she had longed for, for so long.
She couldn’t push him away. Her body simply surrendered to his rhythm.
“Do you want me to stop?”
Pulling back slightly, panting, he asked her.
Her eyes wavered, unsettled.
She looked up at him—but quickly looked away again.
Because every time the pleasure he gave spread like lightning through her body—
she was already conquered.
She had no strength to push him away, nor courage to embrace him.
“Mmhh…!”
Caught between everything and nothing, her lips were once again devoured.
