“Jju. Are we going to bed?”

Juhee said as she stood up and took Ina’s hand.

“Yes. Both of you go in and sleep quickly. You must be tired.”

“You sleep well too, Juwon.”

When Ina spoke in the most calm voice she could manage, Juwon nodded.

Ina looked at Juwon once with regretful eyes before entering the room with Juhee.

Once in the room, Juhee and Ina lay down on the spacious king-size bed, facing each other and grinning.

As Juhee chattered away, Ina chattered back in response, and the two began their third round of gossip.

At the same time,

Juwon, who had just laid down on his bed, was silently staring at the ceiling.

He felt a strange feeling knowing that Ina was now sleeping in his house.

Of course, he had slept at Ina’s house once before because of Park Jeonghun, but that was before they were dating and Juwon slept in the guest room.

But now it was shortly after they had started dating.

At this time when the desire to touch and kiss was exploding like an active volcano, a rabbit had willingly entered the tiger’s den to sleep…

It seemed like it would be a night where sleep would not come easily.

If he had his way, he wanted to gently carry Ina away to his room as soon as Juhee fell asleep. Juwon sighed and turned over with a groan.

As the clock had just passed midnight, Juhee’s words noticeably decreased.

Her eyes were almost closed and she kept yawning.

“Juhee. Are you sleepy? Let’s go to sleep now.”

“Okay. Let’s talk about the rest tomorrow.”

“Alright. Let’s do that.”

Juhee smiled at Ina and then quickly fell asleep.

Ina, who had been looking at Juhee’s sleeping face, reached out and brushed away the hair stuck to Juhee’s face.

Then she lowered her gaze to look at Juhee’s stomach.

Though it wasn’t showing enough to be noticeable yet, looking at Juhee’s stomach made her feel amazed.

There’s a pretty baby in there, right?

How beautiful would a baby resembling Juhee be?

Just thinking about it made her feel so happy.

Ina looked at Juhee’s face once more before slowly closing her sleepy eyes.

How much time had passed?

Ina, who had been tossing and turning, opened her eyes feeling thirsty.

After waiting for her eyes to adjust to the pitch darkness, she turned her head to look beside her and saw Juhee still sleeping soundly.

Checking the clock, she saw it was just past 1:30.

Carefully getting up from the bed, Ina quietly opened the door and went out to the living room.

As she was quietly walking to the kitchen and filling a cup with water from the water purifier, suddenly a large shadow appeared behind her back.

“Oh my!”

As the startled Ina was about to drop the cup from her hand, Juwon’s hand quickly reached out from behind and caught it.

Juwon put his hand around Ina’s waist and held out the cup to her.

“Did I scare you?”

“O-of course! How could you suddenly appear like that?”

Ina whispered as she took the cup.

“Sorry. I heard a sound at the door so I came out just in case.”

Ina turned to face Juwon.

“Weren’t you sleeping?”

“…How could I possibly sleep?”

At Juwon’s gaze, which held many implications, Ina made a sound and brought the cup to her lips.

After drinking about half, as she was about to put the cup down, Juwon grabbed Ina’s hand holding the cup and brought it to his own mouth.

Then he gulped down the remaining water.

In the quiet dawn,

The sound of Juwon’s Adam’s apple moving as he swallowed echoed through the kitchen, making Ina feel inexplicably tense.

After finishing the water, Juwon put down the cup and said while licking his lower lip,

“Delicious.”

“…”

For a moment, that scene appeared to Ina in slow motion, and at that incredibly sensual sight, Ina almost had a nosebleed.

As she barely regained her senses, she unconsciously swallowed.

Juwon looked at Ina as if she was cute and stroked her cheek.

“I didn’t get to see clearly earlier when we went straight to the room, but…”

Juwon bent down and gazed intently at Ina’s face.

“With your makeup off, you’re not just baby-faced, you’re actually a baby. Baby.”

“Hey, what? Don’t look so closely.”

As Ina gently pushed Juwon’s face away, he laughed and took her hand.

“Want to play in my room for a bit?”

“What?”

Ina asked loudly without realizing it, then quickly covered her mouth.

She quickly glanced towards the room, worried that Juhee might have woken up, when Juwon took her hand.

“Don’t worry. Once Juhee falls asleep, she wouldn’t wake up even if someone carried her away.”

Then he strode towards his room.

“No, what are we going to do in the room?”

Ina asked as she was being pulled along, and Juwon stopped and looked at her.

“Hmm… This and that?”

“Wh-what?”

Ina cried out in surprise and quickly covered her mouth again.

As her eyes widened in shock, the ‘this and that’ she was imagining flashed through her mind, making her face flush hot.

Feeling embarrassed, Ina tried to let go of Juwon’s hand, but he laughed and tapped her nose bridge.

“I’m joking. Just joking.”

Juwon quietly opened his room door and pulled Ina’s hand.

The door closed behind Ina with a soft sound.

Juwon’s room had an overall calm feel with deep gray tones and was the epitome of neatness.

A bedside stand lamp softly illuminated the room darkened by blackout curtains.

Juwon took Ina’s hand and sat down on the bed.

As Ina stood there with an awkward expression, Juwon pulled her waist and hugged her.

Standing and embraced by Juwon, Ina gazed at him with a pounding heart.

But… Juwon was clearly sitting and she was standing, yet how was their eye level the same?

As Ina blinked, about to lament her own growth that had stopped too soon, Juwon cupped the back of her head with his large hand and kissed her.

First a light peck, then a sweet kiss like cream, and finally a deep, intense kiss expressing his burning feelings, consuming Ina’s lips.

At some point, Ina had also wrapped her arms around Juwon’s neck, endlessly accepting his hot breaths.

After some time passed, the two slowly parted their lips, and only their heated breathing quietly echoed in the silent room.

Looking at Ina with a sweet smile, Juwon suddenly lifted her up and laid her on the bed. Ina’s eyes widened as Juwon’s shoulders, broader than the Pacific Ocean, cast a shadow over her.

Placing his arms on either side of Ina’s head as she lay there, Juwon lowered his head and gazed intently at her face.

Smiling, he stared at Ina’s cute face for a long time before lowering his head.

Then he gave her five kisses – one on her small round forehead, two on her pretty chestnut-colored eyes, one on her adorable nose bridge, and lastly on her moist pink lips.

After giving a total of 5 kisses, Juwon flopped down beside Ina and pulled her into his broad embrace.

As she was suddenly enveloped in Juwon’s wide arms, Ina’s heartbeat began to quicken.

“Stay like this for just a little while before you go.”

Juwon’s sweet voice and the faint scent of fabric softener from his clothes…

In this quiet dawn, Ina felt she could become completely intoxicated by the charm endlessly emanating from Juwon.

Feeling both heart-pounding excitement and languid comfort at the same time, Ina reached out and hugged Juwon’s waist.

And as she snuggled into Juwon’s warm chest, she replied with a soft “Mm.”

Thinking that at this moment, she was so happy.

How much time had passed like that?

She had clearly meant to stay for just a little while before leaving…

Juwon had also clearly intended to hold Ina for only about an hour before sending her back to Juhee’s room…

The two, feeling each other’s warm body heat as they embraced tightly, had fallen asleep at some point without realizing.

Ina had fallen asleep first, and Juwon, who had been stroking Ina’s back, also drifted off to sleep without realizing as he listened to Ina’s steady breathing.

Juwon woke up first, and blinking his eyes, he checked on Ina in his arms before turning his head to look at the clock.

The LED clock beside the bed showed 5:20.

‘When did it get so late?’

As Ina mumbled and stirred in her sleep, Juwon stroked and patted her back.

Then Ina snuggled deeper into Juwon’s arms, burying her face.

Looking at that lovable sight, Juwon smiled and gently kissed Ina’s forehead.

Then Ina, who had been stirring, slowly opened her eyes in a half-asleep state.

Facing the handsome Juwon before her eyes, Ina slowly raised her hand and touched Juwon’s cheek.

“…This isn’t a dream, right?”

At Ina’s words, murmured as if sleep-talking, Juwon chuckled and took Ina’s hand on his cheek.

“No, it’s a dream.”

Then Ina smiled faintly and was about to fall back asleep when she suddenly opened her eyes wide.

“Wh-what time is it now?”

Ina sat up abruptly and looked at the clock.

“Oh no!”

Seeing the time, Ina hurriedly got off the bed.

“I, I should get going now.”

“Juhee is probably still sleeping.”

As Juwon reached out to grab Ina’s hand regretfully, Ina let him hold it for a moment.

“You never know. I should go now.”

Ina gently opened the door, looked around like a meerkat to check the situation, then carefully closed the door and left.

As the door closed, Juwon sighed and flopped back onto the bed.

The warmth of Ina, whom he had been holding until just now, still remained.

Feeling regretful, he pulled the pillow close and hugged it, when suddenly Ina’s scream was heard.

“Ahhh!”

Juwon jumped up and burst out the door like a bullet.

“What’s wrong?”

As Juwon shouted and ran out to the living room, he saw Ina fallen over in shock and Juhee sitting on the sofa emanating a dark aura.

Juwon hurriedly turned on the living room light.

He saw Ina, pale white with shock, and Juhee, who slowly turned her head to look at Juwon while holding a baseball bat at her side.

“What is this? What’s going on?”

Juwon asked with a frown and a bewildered expression.

Then Juhee slowly stood up and walked step by step towards Ina who had fallen on the floor.

As Ina looked up at Juhee with a tense face, Juhee held out her hand to Ina.

Ina swallowed and took Juhee’s hand in confusion, and Juhee helped Ina stand up.

“Ju-Juhee. This is what happened…”

As Ina tried to speak, Juhee silently took Ina to the sofa and gestured for her to sit.

“You just sit here for now.”

Then she walked towards Juwon, who was standing with a bewildered expression, dragging the baseball bat.

Walking up to Juwon with eerily ghost-like movements, Juhee looked up at him with sharp eyes.

“Lee. Ju. Won.”

Then she called Juwon’s name one syllable at a time in a voice like the grim reaper.

At this, Juwon frowned and looked at Juhee.