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Chapter 28
It had already been seven hours.
Kang Da-som had been practicing ballet without rest. Maybe it was because she hadn’t danced in so long, but she moved like a fish that had found its way back into water.
Even Seo Mi-young couldn’t stop Da-som from performing at the charity event.
Her feet, which had just been suspended in midair, touched the floor again. Her whole body was drenched in sweat. She wiped her face with a towel and turned around—only to see Yoon Jin-woo standing there, watching her from the edge of the practice room.
Though he had seen her briefly before, this was the first time he had ever witnessed her dance properly. Before meeting Yoon Sung-hoon, Kang Da-som had planned to join an overseas ballet troupe.
He had thought, How good could she really be?
“You’re… really good.”
Jin-woo had seen ballet performances before, but this was different. Compared to expensive stage productions, Da-som’s nameless ballet struck his heart more deeply.
There was a power in her dance that pulled people in. It was strange. It was mesmerizing.
Da-som, breathing heavily, restarted the music. The soft sounds of piano and violin filled the wide practice room. Just as she was about to move again, Jin-woo spoke.
“You’re going again?”
“Yeah.”
“Since when have you been here?”
“Morning? I don’t even know.”
“Why push yourself so hard?”
“Because it’s been a while.”
Without caring whether Jin-woo was there or not, Da-som leapt again across the wooden floor. The room was vast, but her presence alone filled it completely.
Jin-woo watched, spellbound. She danced, and he had no words.
There was no need for conversation between them. What was clear was that Jin-woo was beginning to understand—just a little—why Da-som clung to dance so desperately.
The two of them were alike in many ways.
They were birds that longed to fly, but could not.
For Da-som, ballet was her wings. For Jin-woo, acting was a way to erase himself, to seek comfort in becoming someone else.
And in Da-som’s movements, he felt a glimpse of freedom. Maybe it wasn’t the world binding him all this time. Maybe it was… himself.
Da-som’s dance ended. Her legs trembled so badly she could barely stand. Yet her expression was radiant, refreshed.
It was desire. And perhaps… it was love.
Jin-woo stepped closer to her.
“Noona.”
“……”
“You have something… that drives people insane.”
He had felt it from the first moment he saw her. He hadn’t known what to call this feeling, this storm inside him. But now, he thought he understood.
It was like opening Pandora’s box. And once opened, it could never be closed again.
“So? Do you hate it?”
Her sweat-soaked fingers brushed lightly against his chest.
“I don’t know.”
Da-som’s body tilted, resting against him. Her weight surprised Jin-woo—she was so light, it was as though she wasn’t leaning on him at all.
She lifted her head slowly. The scent of sweat, ragged breaths, the trembling of her body, and the pounding of her heartbeat all pressed against him at once.
Her long fingers grazed his dry lips. Startled, Jin-woo caught her wrist.
Her wrist was so fragile it fit easily into his hand. How could someone with such a delicate body even stand?
His mind screamed no, but his instincts as a man rebelled.
No, who could reject a woman this beautiful, this perfect, when she leaned in?
Jin-woo pressed his lips to Da-som’s, like a man possessed. Her body was burning from the practice, and he felt the heat spread into him.
“Haa…”
Her warmth flowed through him, filling the emptiness inside. Just a kiss, yet he had never felt anything like it.
When their lips parted, Jin-woo gasped for breath. He tried to close in again, but Da-som’s hand pushed him back. He staggered. As he leaned in once more, she raised her hand.
“That’s enough.”
“Why…”
“For today, this is it.”
“How much longer are you going to drive me crazy?”
“We haven’t even started yet.”
She bent down, picked up the towel from the floor, and draped it over her shoulder. Jin-woo couldn’t take his eyes off her movements.
His head was filled with her, and only her. He felt cursed, bewitched, like he was no longer himself.
But the truth was, she was that powerful. She was worth it. Slowly, Jin-woo felt himself waking from the dream.
“There’s a good hanjeongsik place nearby. Want to go?”
“I’ll wait.”
“I’ll be quick.”
She showered, changed clothes, and came out.
“Taking the subway again today? Why not drive?”
“I don’t hate it. I like watching people.”
She wasn’t famous enough yet to be recognized if she wore a cap and sunglasses.
“I like seeing how ordinary people live.”
Perhaps that was what Jin-woo truly wanted—not this extraordinary life, but a normal one like everyone else’s.
For others, his life might seem like a dream. But for Jin-woo, it was a prison.
“I brought my car. Let’s go together.”
“……”
“I’m alone.”
Kang Young-jun was overseas, and Baek Sung-tae was probably keeping watch somewhere else. Recently, Da-som had secretly found Young-jun’s email account and passed it to Baek Sung-tae. While Young-jun was away, she had told Sang-an’s household staff that she needed to find something she’d lost, and searched his room, checking his laptop.
Now, Baek Sung-tae and the household were completely on her side.
She opened the car door. Jin-woo got in.
Almost immediately, his hand moved over her clothes.
Da-som didn’t entirely reject his touch, but she held her ground.
“That’s enough.”
His hand, which had been slipping inside her clothes, froze.
“Good boy. That’s better.”
Instead, she stroked his hair gently. His face flushed red.
“You’re kind of cute.”
“I’m still a man, you know.”
“With this face?”
Da-som laughed quietly. Compared to how she remembered him before her regression, Jin-woo was still so young.
Jin-woo fiddled with her hand, and she softly ran her fingers through his hair. He stayed there in her arms, saying nothing.
He couldn’t remember the last time someone praised him, or touched him with such kindness.
The evening sun spilled through the windows.
Luxury cars pulled up one by one to the lounge floor of the Aria Foundation headquarters.
The private event was invitation-only. “No Photography” signs were plastered everywhere, and security guards prowled the premises.
Still in her casual clothes, Da-som wandered out into the lounge and spotted Yoon Sung-hoon and Yoon Jin-woo.
“Oppa, wow—you two came together?”
“Together? We just ran into each other on the way. He’s an actor—shouldn’t he be filming instead of hanging around?”
“They said most of the early shoots are already done.”
“What kind of celebrity isn’t busy?”
“I’m not that famous yet.”
