BYB 18

Chapter 18

The man’s voice tickled Jiwoo’s skin.

“You really have lips that… ah.”

His hot breath touched her earlobe, sending unbearable goosebumps down her skin. Jiwoo flinched slightly.

“But why are you trembling so much? Is it your first time?”

Seeing her like that, the man asked.

“It’s not that…”

Jiwoo tried to say no. This exhilarating feeling was new, but kissing itself wasn’t. She’d had several relationships.

She wasn’t as skilled as him, but she wasn’t a complete novice either, so she wouldn’t fumble around like a fool. He might have started it, but in the end, she was the one who’d raised her arm and responded to the kiss, so she wouldn’t say ridiculous things about taking responsibility and bother him. They were mature adults, and also…

She’d tried to make that excuse. But.

“Answer carefully. I’m doing it for the first time.”

Huh?

Saying something unexpected, the man smiled. Jiwoo’s eyes widened. All the words she’d prepared melted away.

“Th, that’s a lie.”

The man’s kiss was unbelievably skilled. More than just skilled—even though only their lips had touched, it felt as if heat had swept through her entire body. He was a man with a talent for heating people up.

When Jiwoo gave him a look of disbelief, the man said:

“I was hoping you’d be the one lying.”

“……”

“Say it’s your first time. Any other answer would make me angry.”

Unaccustomed to lying, Jiwoo hesitated. Seeing that, he murmured lowly:

“What’s this. Even not answering makes me mad?”

Then he laughed to himself again, as if amused.

“Fine. I’ll let it slide.”

“……”

“What should we do about this accident.”

Jiwoo lowered her gaze, wanting to hide her flushed cheeks. Her heart was pounding so hard she could barely breathe, but the man seemed perfectly calm. Like someone well-practiced in kissing.

And he says it’s his first time? What a brazen lie.

Just then, the man slowly spoke.

“It was a mistake that happened in the heat of the moment.”

“……”

“We were both hasty. Let’s pretend it never happened.”

Jiwoo’s heart sank.

“Let’s go back to being comfortable with each other, like before.”

She couldn’t explain why. It just felt like her heightened body heat had dropped in an instant. Uncomfortable with that feeling, Jiwoo blinked slowly.

She hadn’t expected the cleanup to be this quick.

She’d thought that since they were both adults, they could maturely move past it, but hearing it directly hurt more than she’d expected.

“If that’s what you want to say—”

A low, deep, and composed voice.

Jiwoo raised her subdued gaze to meet his. The man was looking at her with unreadable eyes.

“—I’m not listening.”

The man lowered his head and lightly caught her lower lip between his. As if savoring fruit juice.

“For the record, it wasn’t a mistake.”

“!”

“I wasn’t hasty either.”

His firm voice brushed past her earlobe.

“So answer carefully. Thoughtfully.”

Touching her lips where the man had swept over them, Jiwoo buried her face in her blanket. She couldn’t remember how she’d managed to get home. Her mind was a mess. Her heart felt like it might burst.

Crazy.

Crazy man.

Has he lost his mind?

What kind of thing is that to do at the shop? Even if all the lights were off, the front was all glass windows. What if someone had walked by and seen them…!

She summoned every curse word she knew and hurled them at the man in her mind, but her heart still wouldn’t calm down. Rather, the more she replayed it, the more the earlier sensations came back, making even her fingertips tingle.

Are normal kisses supposed to feel this electrifying?

All the kisses Jiwoo had known before weren’t really kisses. The sensation of electricity piercing through her entire body was something she’d experienced for the first time in her life. It was as if her brain was melting.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call it her first kiss.

And yet he kept asking her to answer what?

The more she thought, the more her heart ached—how was she supposed to answer what?

After kicking her blanket in frustration, Jiwoo finally pulled it completely over her head.

“Crazy… How am I supposed to face him tomorrow.”

This wasn’t the time to be idly dating. And she’d gone and kissed a man.

She still had to pay off the enormous hospital bills her mother had left behind. Jiwoo didn’t have the money or time to waste on dating.

With the convenience store and the beer house, her financial situation wasn’t dire, but quitting her job suddenly had made things tight. Not to the point of threatening her livelihood, but with debt, the weight of each day was burdensome.

She didn’t regret a single penny spent on her mother. Still, the weight of reality that she had to repay was never light.

Moreover, the betrayal she’d felt in her last relationship hadn’t healed yet. Kim Daejin’s face, looking at her like she was vermin, still occasionally appeared in her dreams and choked her.

She’d told him over and over that the rumors about her sleeping around easily were just malicious slander, but he hadn’t believed her.

*—I thought you were… dirty.*

Recalling that past incident, tears welled up instantly. The wound of her lover, whom she’d wanted more than anyone to be on her side, turning his back on her with harsh accusations was impossible to forget.

*—If I’d known my girlfriend went around using her body like that, I wouldn’t have dated her.*

Then came the memory of Kim Daejin rushing around to colleagues, acting like he was the victim. This time, nausea rose up. More than the dirty rumors, Daejin’s attitude had been a deeper wound to Jiwoo.

So she’d submitted her leave of absence. Because she couldn’t bear to keep facing her ex-boyfriend who’d openly insulted her.

Even months later, Jiwoo still hadn’t recovered from the aftermath of the breakup. Not because she couldn’t forget him. But because the humiliation and disappointment she’d experienced during the breakup process didn’t easily erase.

She’d tried not to date again. She’d resolved to live without giving affection and without expecting it.

But then Song Chunsam, who’d appeared out of nowhere as if dropped from the sky, had turned her life upside down.

Though he sometimes did unpredictable things, he was generally a diligent and kind man. He’d never been late once and never refused dirty work. Moreover, judging by the knowledge that occasionally popped out in conversation, he seemed quite well-informed.

He’d often used advanced vocabulary that seemed more suited to experts. The man was well-versed in stocks and economics and could rattle off major corporate issues.

Even though he sucked on candy like a cigarette and acted like a thug, there was something special about him. An indescribable, unique vibe.

So that’s why I fell for him so helplessly.

She’d tried to be wary, but she knew herself that she’d already given quite a bit of her heart. Jiwoo quietly touched her lips and gently closed her eyes.

It was time to first look at her own heart—the one that could have refused but in the end hadn’t been able to push him away. Jiwoo thought of him quietly from under the blanket.

How… should I answer? He’ll definitely ask again tomorrow.

In the end, he’d done it.

Eunho laughed in disbelief. Today she’d been especially pretty, and his gaze kept drifting to her. So he’d tried desperately to avoid looking.

*—Hey. Why do you keep ignoring me?*

Why did she have to provoke him like that?

Her particularly red lips looked sweet like luscious fruit. If he wildly ravaged and explored them, would they bruise? And if they bruised, would sweet juice burst forth?

He’d have to have her. At least once, he’d have to take her. Only by quenching this terrible craving did it seem he could breathe. The moment that thought crossed his mind, he came to his senses and found himself already biting the woman’s lips.

Fireworks exploded in his head.

Fruit? Berries?

It was a sweetness that couldn’t be compared to such things. The woman’s lips could only be described as poison that stimulated every nerve in his body. Otherwise, how could his blood boil this much? The strange impulse toward the woman was almost frightening.

*—What should we do about this accident.*

What answer had he wanted to hear?

As his overwhelming excitement subsided, reality finally began to come into focus. It was also around then that Song Juho—one of the reasons he should push the woman away—started creeping back into his thoughts.

His half-brother, who would grab and shake anything that was his, eventually breaking it. Would he really stay still?

Song Juho had despised Eunho, who’d lived with his birth mother until age eighteen before belatedly entering the Songhwa household. Seeing Eunho must remind him of their father’s infidelity, so it was natural he’d dislike him. Eunho understood that sentiment, but in his opinion, his brother’s actions had gone too far.

When Eunho first entered the Songhwa household, Juho had cruelly killed the cat that had been the first to give Eunho affection, thrown it at the entrance, and observed Eunho’s reaction. Like a psychopath. He hadn’t even bothered to hide that he was the one who’d done it.

And so, the cat had met a cruel end simply because Song Eunho had shown it favor.

And that wasn’t all. During Eunho’s adolescence, his only close friend had been seriously injured in a suspicious traffic accident. It was a major incident that still weighed heavily on Eunho’s mind. The person who caused the accident was Song Juho’s secretary at the time, and without proper investigation, it was treated as simple negligence, settled through insurance, and the case was closed.

Through such experiences, Eunho had resolved never to open his heart to anyone for the rest of his life.

Would it be alright to bring a woman like Cha Jiwoo into a life like this?