A Gentle Intruder - Chapter 44

The hotel door slammed shut with a bang.

Jae Ho released Da Jung’s hand and pressed her against the wall, drawing close as if about to kiss her. Da Jung met his gaze without averting her trembling eyes. Jae Ho’s face contorted with despair.

Da Jung held her breath slightly as she felt his intense scent overwhelm her.

“What are you trying to do? Why did you follow me so obediently? You really…”

Ha.

Jae Ho let out a short breath as he ran a hand over his face.

He had angrily grabbed her wrist and put her in the car, but he didn’t expect her to follow so willingly. He had planned to make another date promise and take her home if she refused reasonably. But Da Jung quietly got in the car as Jae Ho led her and remained silent the whole time.

When they arrived at the hotel and went up to the room, she even walked ahead to find the room number. All those actions made Jae Ho feel more desperate. She was acting like a woman who really wanted compensation, and he didn’t know what to do.

“Da Jung.”

“You know everything about me and…”

Da Jung’s voice leaked out like the wind.

“You keep ignoring what I say, and in the end you’ll do whatever you want.”

“…”

“So I followed you. Why?”

Her deep, sunken eyes met Jae Ho’s.

“This is what you want, isn’t it?”

With an expressionless face, Da Jung stood on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to Jae Ho’s. It was an incredibly clumsy provocation. She barely managed a peck, not daring to try a deep kiss, but it was enough to make Jae Ho’s body tremble as if struck by lightning.

“…Don’t. Yoon Da Jung.”

As if determined to seduce him, Da Jung gently grasped the hem of his shirt. After briefly considering what to do next, she raised her head again and kissed him a little longer.

Hot breath invaded between her parted lips. The soft flesh met gently, stimulating the delicate mucous membrane. As Da Jung’s scent filled his mouth, Jae Ho cursed quietly between his teeth.

Using superhuman strength, he grasped Da Jung’s shoulders and pushed her back.

“I said, don’t.”

His breathing was somewhat rough.

“Are you crazy? What are you trying to do by provoking me?”

“…”

“If I take you in this state, you won’t be able to walk out of here.”

“You’re the one who brought me to the hotel, Jae Ho.”

Da Jung said faintly with unfocused eyes.

“You were the one scratching at my insides talking about compensation!”

Jae Ho cried out with a groan. As if he couldn’t bear it any longer, he wrapped his arms around her waist, then suddenly let go, pulled her chin to look at her intently, then stepped back again.

Finally, he leaned against the wall and lowered his head.

“How can I just sit still after receiving 200 million?”

Long, white arms came forward and wrapped around Jae Ho’s waist.

“You, until the end…”

The tightly clenched fist that seemed about to burst suddenly released its tension. The excitement that ran up his spine reached his crown in an instant, numbing his reason. Damn it. In the end, Jae Ho grabbed Da Jung’s cheeks and frantically kissed her.

“Mmph…”

As Da Jung’s head was pushed back by the intense movement, he cradled the back of her head with one hand and began to explore more deeply. Humid, hot breaths frantically intermingled as fireworks large and small exploded everywhere. The blood coursing through his entire body boiled towards Yoon Da Jung. He could no longer think of anything else.

Whatever.

Yes. Whatever name Yoon Da Jung gave to this relationship, it had nothing to do with him.

That kind of thing, because it wasn’t.

Jae Ho, who had been drinking her in persistently while thoroughly exploring every corner, roughly took off his jacket and threw it aside, then lifted Da Jung up.

She had become noticeably lighter after just a week, as if she had been starving. Resolving to feed her better, Jae Ho walked to the bed and threw Da Jung down, climbing on top of her at the same time.

“You’ll have to be prepared.”

“…”

“Don’t expect gentleness.”

The man with the eyes of a wounded beast caressed Da Jung’s skin as if savoring his prey. With deep desire flickering in his sorrowfully sad eyes, Da Jung was confused by everything about him. Whether what he wanted was the act of mixing bodies or love. Whether what he wanted to possess was just a woman or Yoon Da Jung.

Despite his savage warning, the breath he poured out was unbelievably soft. What was the point of growling like a beast? In the end, he wouldn’t be able to devour her anyway.

Da Jung let out a ragged breath at the man’s breath tickling her more intensely than ever before. It felt like she would melt from the softness. The soft, sweet sensation was almost frightening.

Undefinable emotions burst forth as gasps and hot breaths. The passionate moments tangled together dizzily.

In the space filled with sticky, hot breaths, Jae Ho finally reached his climax and said in a completely hoarse voice:

“I love you, Yoon Da Jung… I love you.”

I love you.

Da Jung.

Please.

Pretending not to hear the confession uttered like a moan, Da Jung turned her head and tried to get up. She had to go home now. Wanting to appear like someone who had finished a transaction, she deliberately used a more businesslike tone.

“Then I’ll be going…”

“Where do you think you’re going?”

She collapsed back onto the bed, pulled by his strong grip on her arm. The man’s body was still hot. He skillfully kneaded Da Jung as he spoke.

“Your punishment for provoking me starts now.”

**

Bright light poured in as Da Jung opened her eyes.

The bed was in complete disarray, testament to the passionate night. Memories of clinging and lifting each other up intensely, as if living only for pleasure, replayed in her mind. They had desperately explored each other as if wishing to melt away completely. What had that night been for?

The man approached the bed at Da Jung’s stirring. Did he think they had reconciled? He greeted her with kisses all over her face.

“Why are you up? It’s your day off.”

Men are dangerous because they’re sweet. Putting away the burning memories of last night, Da Jung pushed him away. She went to the bathroom to wash up, then came out and got dressed.

She would end things with him. It was time to put into action what she had thought about all night.

The man silently watched Da Jung’s movements from behind, then spoke:

“I’m not letting you go.”

“…”

“I’ll just end up undressing you again anyway.”

She had spent the night with him under the pretext of compensation. They both knew it was just an excuse. They had simply filled the desperately longed-for time with lust, and now it had to end.

“Try scratching at me again with talk of compensation. I won’t be as lenient as yesterday.”

The man spoke of punishment again, as if he hadn’t spent a night being completely unlenient. Da Jung turned to face him with the driest expression she could manage.

It was truly time to speak now.

“This is the end. I’m going to tell you the real reason why we need to end this.”

“Yoon Da Jung, you…”

Irritation colored his furrowed brow. He got up and reached out towards Da Jung. Knowing all too well what would happen if his hands encircled her waist, Da Jung stepped back.

She blurted out the truth to stop him from coming closer.

“I found out that you’re the owner of ‘Sea Forest Pension’.”

The man froze in place.

“It became Lee Jae Ho’s property just three days before I arrived there. I had posted on the fan cafe that I was going on a trip to Taean and needed pension information.”

“…”

“I’m one of the administrators of Lee Jae Ho’s fan club, and my nickname is ‘KindJaeHo’. You probably knew all of this already. Yes, I had liked you long before I met you on that beach.”

“…”

“How was it? Was it easy? Was it fun to hold hands, kiss, and mix bodies with little resistance?”

She poured out the words she had been thinking all night while shaking in his arms.

She hoped her voice sounded as dry and emotionless as possible. Da Jung met his gaze without averting her eyes, trying to hide her trembling fingertips.

“It wasn’t fate or coincidence. If anything, it was a trap.”

The sparkling sea surface in her memories shattered like glass.

…She hadn’t wanted to say it until the end.

Because the ridiculous happening Lee Jae Ho had created was magic to Da Jung. Even though she knew everything, she had held back not wanting to break it herself, but it seemed impossible to part with the man without saying these words.

The beautifully built memories finally crumbled.

“Da…Jung. Wait. That, that…”

His voice trembled.

“How do you know that?”

The light in his eyes finally shattered into pieces.

The man cursed, rubbing his brow, and stepped forward with a confused expression. His wavering eyes had sunk darkly.

Why are there wounds in your eyes when it’s my heart that’s broken?

Da Jung steeled her weakening resolve.

At moments like this, she kept forgetting the man was an actor.

“Even so, I was happy. At first I was happy not knowing, and later I was happy even knowing. I left you because I wanted to keep only those happy memories.”

Empty, cold eyes stared persistently at Da Jung.

“…Please, let’s end it here. I won’t be your toy anymore.”

His eyebrows arched sharply upward.

“Who said you were a toy?”

He clumsily grabbed her wrist and drew close as if about to kiss her.

“Give me time. I’ll explain everything. It’s not at all what you’re misunderstanding, so don’t think strange things on your own, but you… you, that. How did you find out?”

Having lost his composure, the man looked excessively anxious.

“Tell me. How on earth did you find that out?”

Da Jung’s face crumpled.

Even the last shred of faith she had wanted to believe was a misunderstanding completely disappeared. Her eyes stung.

“…Is that all you have to say?”

Da Jung twisted her wrist free.

You should have said it was a misunderstanding. That it wasn’t the truth.

Even if it was true, you should have apologized first, what are you…

She swallowed back the tears that threatened to burst forth.

“…Let’s consider this night the real compensation. I’m sorry, but I don’t have the means to repay that 200 million. I can’t make empty promises to return it right away. To be honest, I’m not confident I can pay it back slowly in installments either. I didn’t ask you for that debt anyway. So I’ll be selfish to this extent.”

Da Jung picked up her bag and coat.

“Da Jung.”

Pushing away the arm that tried to turn her around.

“Stop it.”

She turned her back.

Behind her, the man let out a wounded animal-like groan.

Leaving the bedroom and crossing the living room, she looked down at the view reflected in the floor-to-ceiling windows. The Han River could be seen at a glance. It was a beautiful view. Last night they had been too eager to explore each other to take in the room.

…It’s pretty. The suite room.

Da Jung pulled up just the corners of her mouth in a bitter smile.

Just then, the man strode over in large steps and blocked Da Jung who was standing in front of the door. With reddened, turbid eyes, he continued speaking.

“How did you find out? Tell me. Please.”

You, to whom only that is important.

“Someone came and told me.”

Da Jung calmly opened her bag, took out an envelope of documents, and tossed it.