DH ✦ Ch 42

✦ Chapter 42 ✦

Seongbuk-dong was shrouded in quiet darkness after midnight.

Ga-young got out of the car with a large towel wrapped tightly around her entire body.

During the journey here, she had kept her mouth shut and spent the time reflecting on her behavior. She seemed to have gotten carried away, perhaps too much, from the pride of having played the role of Hyun-jae’s wife rather well at the event.

I really overdid it at the beach.

She had ruined expensive clothes and played all sorts of childish pranks on Hyun-jae.

“Let’s go inside.”

Hyun-jae walked ahead and opened the front door.

“Yes.”

Ga-young stepped inside.

Although he referred to the detached house in Seongbuk-dong as “our home,” Ga-young couldn’t agree with him.

This was a place where she was obligated to live as another version of herself.

And so, the relaxed state of mind she had enjoyed for the past few hours tightened again like a guitar string.

Ga-young watched Hyun-jae remove his shoes beside her. Unlike Ga-young, who was still damp because she had been wrapped in a towel, his wet clothes were almost completely dry.

“I should wash up first.”

At Hyun-jae’s casual remark, Ga-young suddenly became nervous.

“You should go upstairs, Executive Director. I’ll wash in the bathroom on the first floor. I shouldn’t dirty the floor because of me. I’ll go right away.”

In front of Hyun-jae’s eyes, which seemed to say What nonsense are you talking about?, Ga-young lowered her head deeply.

“Please get some rest.”

She walked down the hallway toward the bathroom on tiptoe, trying to keep her heels from dirtying the floor.

Behind her came Hyun-jae’s soft, incredulous laugh.

The back of her head burned under the weight of his amused gaze.

Maybe this isn’t right.

The instant the thought crossed her mind, her entire body suddenly floated into the air.

Hyun-jae had effortlessly scooped her up in both arms before she could even let out a cry.

Curled up like a shrimp, all she could do was stare at him with wide, startled eyes.

His expression as he looked down at her astonished face was stern.

“Are you trying to drive me crazy?”

As he climbed the stairs leading to the second floor and continued all the way to the bathroom in the bedroom, Ga-young quietly surrendered herself to his arms.

In truth, she had known Hyun-jae would react like this.

Even if he pointed out that she had knowingly teased him because she wanted to drive him crazy, she would have had nothing to say in her defense.

On a night like this, if Hyun-jae had simply backed away when she pushed him away, she might actually have felt disappointed.

The emotion she felt when he pulled her toward him like this was closer to a thrilling confusion.

Hyun-jae set Ga-young down beneath the shower and turned on the water.

She flinched when the powerful stream of cold water struck her, and Hyun-jae immediately raised his palm to shield her head from the spray.

“Are you cold?”

“No. I’m fine.”

The water soon warmed to a comfortable temperature.

Hyun-jae used his palm to wash the salt from Ga-young’s face.

His movements were slightly hurried, yet gentle, and Ga-young quietly allowed herself to be cared for.

By then, both of their clothes were completely soaked.

Seeing Hyun-jae’s clothes, which had originally been dry, drenched through made Ga-young uncomfortable. She wasn’t particularly fond of being taken care of, either.

In a timid voice, she spoke.

“Should I help you?”

“With what?”

“Your clothes. They’re completely wet…”

The hand that had been washing her long hair stopped.

His gaze beyond the falling water seemed cloudier than usual.

His breathing also seemed a little rough.

“How?”

Instead of answering his low question, Ga-young placed her hand on the buttons of his shirt.

She carefully undid them one by one.

As she opened three buttons, Hyun-jae’s chest rose and fell heavily.

Then, as though he could no longer endure it, Hyun-jae suddenly pressed his lips against hers.

His kiss was fierce.

He pushed Ga-young against the wall and breathed desperately, like a man who had finally found an oxygen tank at high altitude.

While she struggled to withstand the feverish intensity of his kiss, Hyun-jae hurriedly stripped off his own clothes.

He undressed Ga-young just as quickly.

Their discarded clothes slipped toward the floor beneath the stream of water.

After showering her with hungry kisses, Hyun-jae finally pulled his lips away.

Ga-young opened her eyes, trapped between the bathroom wall and the man before her, breathing heavily.

His breath dispersing the hazy steam was far hotter than the shower water.

His dark eyes, set beneath those arrogantly elegant eyes, burned with desire.

She had never seen Hyun-jae this aroused from the very beginning.

Even when they were approaching the height of passion, he had always been composed and bold.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to control myself tonight.”

Had he ever really controlled himself?

Before she could make sense of his incomprehensible words, Hyun-jae pulled her close again.

“Endure it well. Crying won’t help.”

And the long night began.

Hyun-jae was impatient, powerful, and relentless.

Afterward, once they had finally calmed down in the bathroom, he barely managed to dry them off before carrying Ga-young to the bed.

He kept her slender body securely within his arms.

No matter how their positions or direction changed, he never stopped holding her tightly.

The air Ga-young breathed became warm and humid from being so completely enclosed in his embrace.

Despite having just showered, she soon became drenched in sweat once again.

Hours passed.

Eventually, the intensity began to subside, and the two lay on their sides.

Ga-young was completely enclosed in Hyun-jae’s arms, his large hand resting possessively against her, while she struggled to catch her breath.

She felt as though she had nothing left.

She needed to tell him that she truly couldn’t go on.

“E-Executive Director.”

“Hmm?”

“Do you know this is our fourth time?”

Her desperate words came between rough breaths.

Hyun-jae kissed her shoulder as though soothing her.

“Wasn’t it the second? In the bathroom, and then in the bedroom.”

At least the fierce intensity from earlier had eased considerably.

His movements had slowed, though he still kept her close.

“It’s the third time just in the bedroom…”

Hyun-jae smiled faintly when he saw the expression on her face, twisted with exhaustion and lingering pleasure.

His arm tightened around her again, enclosing her entire body.

The movement stopped for a moment.

His low voice whispered gently beside her ear.

“So you want to stop?”

“I really… think I’m going to die.”

“I don’t want to let you go.”

“Please.”

“Kiss me.”

It sounded as though he meant that he would let her go if she did.

With difficulty, Ga-young freed one arm from his tight embrace and wrapped it around Hyun-jae’s head.

When she turned her head backward, their bodies twisted together.

In that awkward position, she kissed his lips.

For once, Hyun-jae didn’t take the initiative.

He simply allowed her to kiss him.

The taste that seeped across the tip of Ga-young’s tongue was strangely sweet.

They had kissed countless times, and tonight alone they had kissed until she was almost tired of it.

Yet the sweetness she savored on her own somehow seemed dangerously intense.

Hyun-jae closed his eyes and allowed himself to be kissed instinctively.

A satisfied smile appeared on his lips.

Then he pulled Ga-young into another possessive embrace.

“Do you want to sleep here? If you do, I’ll make this the last time.”

They had agreed to sleep separately after intimacy, and that rule had never been broken in this detached house.

There was clearly some ulterior motive behind his suggestion, but Ga-young had no strength left to question it.

“Yes. Yes, I will.”

As though telling her she had made the right decision, Hyun-jae gently patted her thigh.

Soon, he pulled her closer again, and the warmth between them resumed.

When Ga-young woke in the second-floor bedroom, a groan escaped her lips.

She felt as though she had been rolled up and beaten like a mat.

The pain throughout her body made her close her eyes again.

She couldn’t remember when she had fallen asleep.

She had no idea how she had slept, or in what position.

The only vague memory she had was of seeing the glass windows tinted purple.

Which meant she must have fallen asleep sometime around dawn.

Rubbing her heavy eyelids to chase away the lingering sleep, Ga-young pulled back the blanket.

Her entire body was covered in delicate, petal-like marks.

The heat she had endured throughout the previous night remained as a low fever, leaving her with a headache.

“At least I didn’t die.”

Ga-young forced herself to think positively and struggled to sit up.

After showering and getting dressed, she checked the wall clock.

It was noon.

When she went downstairs, Mrs. Eom poked her head out from the kitchen.

“Madam, you’re awake?”

“Yes. Did you sleep well?”

“Of course. It’s the middle of the day.”

Mrs. Eom smiled brightly.

It was the same smile she always wore, yet Ga-young suddenly felt inexplicably guilty.

“When did you arrive?”

“The Executive Director left a note telling me not to wake you, so I went back to the staff quarters to rest. I just came back myself.”

Ga-young appreciated Hyun-jae’s consideration.

But somehow, it also felt as though his thoughtfulness had advertised exactly what had happened during their intense night.

She pressed the back of her hand against her burning cheek.

For some reason, the detached house felt unusually warm today.