MFYBS 22

Chapter: 22

“I’m holding myself back because of you, Yoon Hae-ru. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

The moment the question left her mouth, she regretted asking it. If she had a club, she would have wanted to smack herself with it. Lightly biting the inside of her cheek, she finally spoke.

“Ha… Stop joking.”

She wanted to dismiss everything that had happened as nothing more than a joke. After speaking firmly, she stood up.

The moment she rose, he pushed himself to his feet with his long legs. Following behind her, he suddenly swept her up effortlessly in his strong arms.

“What are you doing?!”

Her eyes widened in panic as she demanded to be put down, even kicking her feet, but without saying a word, he carried her to the large floor-to-ceiling window and sat her on the wide windowsill.

Mu-hyeok knelt on one knee before her as she glared at him in irritation. Bracing one hand against the wall and the other against the window, he completely blocked off any path of escape.

“You should’ve just stayed still while I was only looking at you.”

“This is the company. Don’t do anything.”

Sensing that he intended to do exactly that, she spoke even more sternly. But the way her face twitched with anger only made her look adorable, provoking him even more.

“Then does that mean you’ll let me do anything somewhere else?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Secretary Yoon… would you sleep with me one more time? If you do, I’ll stop here.”

“What kind of…”

It was an absurd proposal. There was nothing she could choose.

A quiet sigh escaped her lips.

“If Secretary Yoon tells me to stop, I’ll stop.”

As though he were an honor student promising to obey his teacher, Mu-hyeok looked at her with sparkling eyes.

Unable to answer him, she bit down hard on her lip and tried to stand.

But he grabbed her shoulders and firmly pushed her back down.

Looking at him with fierce, catlike eyes, she scolded him sharply.

“What if someone sees us? Let me go!”

The office door wasn’t even locked. Worried someone might walk in, she glanced nervously toward it while shoving at his chest with her fist.

Mu-hyeok couldn’t have cared less if someone entered.

He firmly grabbed her wrist.

Her gaze returned to him.

“I’ll let you go. Sleep with me, Yoon Hae-ru.”

“Why would I sleep with you, President?”

Startled, she raised her voice.

Had she answered incorrectly?

Or had it been her tone?

The instant she finished speaking, his expression froze before becoming frighteningly cold.

“So… you’ve made your decision.”

“My decision is— Mmph!”

Before she could finish protesting, Mu-hyeok suddenly smiled, lightly cupped her chin, and leaned in.

It didn’t take long before his burning lips captured hers.

Holding the back of her neck so she couldn’t escape, he swallowed her soft, sweet lips.

Originally, he had only intended to give her a brief kiss and stop.

After all, he knew perfectly well this was the office.

But as though he were being drawn into her, he wanted something deeper.

Gripping the back of her neck tightly with one hand, he slipped his soft tongue between her lips, kissing her as though he wanted to devour her completely.

The force of his kiss even pushed her body backward.

She had even less room to breathe than yesterday.

Dizzy, she rose onto her tiptoes and curled herself inward.

After thoroughly exploring her mouth with rough, relentless kisses, he finally pulled back just enough to give her a chance to breathe.

“Breathe.”

“Haa… haa…”

Thinking it was finally over, she lowered the heels she’d unconsciously lifted, placed both hands over her pounding heart, and stared at the floor while catching her breath.

But then—

Mu-hyeok’s hand suddenly slipped beneath her arms.

Startled, she looked up.

He was now sitting on the floor directly in front of her.

Lifting her effortlessly once again, he settled her onto his lap.

One arm wrapped tightly around her waist so she couldn’t escape, while the other gripped the back of her neck as he pulled her close.

Then he straightened his back and pressed his lips against hers once more.

She couldn’t reject him.

Nor did she truly want to.

The only thing she could do was grip the fabric over his shoulder as tightly as she could.

She clenched his clothes, trying desperately to calm her wildly racing heart.

Click.

Click.

The distinct sound of high heels echoed down the hallway.

Because the corridor floor was marble, anyone walking there in heels would make unmistakable footsteps.

Hearing someone approaching, she was startled.

She pushed against his shoulder with both hands, trying to pull away.

“Mmm!”

But he supported her twisting back with his palm, tilted his head slightly, and continued tangling his tongue with hers, relentlessly exploring her mouth.

The heat from his kiss spread from her lips throughout her entire body.

Click.

Click.

“Mmph!”

She let out another desperate sound, but in that moment, Mu-hyeok saw nothing except her.

The footsteps were getting dangerously close.

Left with no other choice, she bit down hard on his lower lip.

“Ugh!”

At last he pulled away, pressing a hand against his lips as he frowned slightly and looked at her.

Panting heavily, she hurriedly climbed off his lap.

“I’ll… be going now. Ha… ah… ha…”

Her breathing was still completely uneven, but she hurried toward the door.

Normally she would have demanded to know what on earth he thought he was doing.

But after hearing someone approaching, escaping became her only priority.

As she walked toward the door, she lowered her head to inspect herself, brushing off her clothes and quickly straightening her appearance.

By the time she finished tidying herself, she had reached the door.

She grabbed the handle and opened it.

Just then, a woman reaching for the handle from the other side jumped back in surprise.

“Oh my goodness!”

“Oh… did I startle you?”

The woman placed a hand over her heart, bent over slightly, and let out a long breath.

Hae-ru knew her.

She was Lee Seo-young, granddaughter of Jehan Fashion and a famous designer.

Seo-young’s maternal grandmother was the renowned hanbok artisan Kim Jung-sook, and Seo-young herself was someone the company—now expanding into the fashion industry—had been eager to recruit.

“A little.”

“I’m sorry.”

As though everything that had just happened had completely slipped her mind, Hae-ru greeted Seo-young with a bright smile.

Seo-young smiled warmly.

“It’s okay. But it’s been such a long time, Hae-ru unni.”

Lee Seo-young had lived in the same neighborhood when they were younger.

She was four years younger than Mu-yeon and had always followed him around, which naturally led to her becoming acquainted with Hae-ru as well.

“Yes. It’s been a while. Chairman Lee Tae-hyeok has been doing well, I hope?”

“Of course. Thanks to your concern, he’s doing just fine. Um… I heard Oppa Mu-hyeok became the new president?”

“Yes. Please, go on in.”

Stepping aside and gesturing toward the office with a smile, Hae-ru left the president’s office.

At moments like this, she seemed talented enough to be an actress.

Mu-hyeok was still sitting on the floor inside, clutching his trembling heart, unable to get up.

Yet she calmly exchanged greetings as though nothing whatsoever had happened.

Seo-young entered with a smile.

As Hae-ru closed the door behind her, she caught a glimpse through the narrowing gap.

Mu-hyeok was getting to his feet.

Seo-young had spread her arms as she approached him.

For a moment, it looked as though she were about to embrace him.

Seeing that sight, Hae-ru’s brow furrowed ever so slightly.

Why?

She stood frowning before the closed door for a brief moment before turning back toward her desk.

As Seo-young walked toward Mu-hyeok with her arms spread, intending to hug him as he stood, Mu-hyeok frowned.

Lowering his head, he deftly avoided her outstretched arms and walked past her before sitting down on the sofa.

Embarrassed, Seo-young slowly lowered her fingers before folding her arms completely and sat diagonally across from him.

Looking at him, she pouted.

“Oppa, you came back to Korea, and you didn’t even contact me once?”

“Did I have to?”

His answer was blunt.

“You really won’t contact me unless I contact you first.”

“There wasn’t any reason to.”

The truth was, they had spent their years studying abroad together.

If anything, she was like a younger sister to him.

Normally he wasn’t so cold toward people close to him.

But there was a very clear reason he kept his distance from Seo-young.

She had confessed her feelings to him.

It had already been two years since then, but he already loved another woman and had absolutely no intention of giving Seo-young false hope.

From that day on, he had deliberately kept his distance.

“Do we really only contact each other when we have business? That’s disappointing.”

Seo-young was the kind of person whose emotions were impossible to hide.

She was as transparent as a clear glass cup.

That disappointment was written plainly across her face.

“So you’re disappointed.”

Treating her this harshly weighed on him as well.

He let out a deep sigh while looking up at the ceiling.

As Seo-young happened to notice his lips while he tilted his head back, she frowned.

Tilting her head, she slowly leaned closer and carefully examined his face from every angle.

Feeling uncomfortable under her intense gaze, Mu-hyeok leaned back slightly.

Then Seo-young’s eyes suddenly widened.

“Huh? Is that… blood?”

“What?”

He was startled.

His lip had hurt where she’d bitten him, but he hadn’t thought it had actually split open.

He touched his lip with a finger before bringing his hand in front of his eyes.

A small smear of blood stained his fingertip.

“Huh? Oppa! Why is your lip bleeding?”

The center of his lower lip had split slightly, with a small bead of blood forming there.

Without thinking, Seo-young extended the hand she’d already been reaching out with, intending to wipe the blood from his lip.

She believed they were close enough for at least that much.