“Aren’t you cold?”

Min Je asked without averting his gaze from her lips, using the darkness as an excuse.

“No, I’m fine for now.”

The storage room was a bit cool as it was set to maintain the optimal temperature for storing artwork.

“Still, it would be troublesome if your body temperature drops, so let’s stay a bit closer.”

Min Je made an excuse that even he found ridiculous as he moved to sit right next to her. Their shoulders and arms touched.

He let out a short sigh, forcibly suppressing the urge to wrap his arm around her shoulder and completely trap her in his embrace.

“I’m sorry for making you go through something you didn’t have to experience.”

Ha Yeon apologized in an anxious voice, misunderstanding his sigh.

“You don’t need to apologize.”

The words came out a bit brusquely as he was hurriedly trying to hide his dark inner thoughts. Min Je muttered a scathing curse at himself internally before speaking.

“This is literally just an accident. So there’s nothing for you to apologize for.”

“I see…”

The hand he was holding twitched and then fidgeted repeatedly. Yet it was admirable that she didn’t pull away and kept holding on steadfastly.

Min Je, who had been quietly staring at the soft green light of the emergency exit sign spreading through the dark space, opened his mouth in a somewhat sentimental voice.

“I grew up in an orphanage when I was young. The incredibly strict nun would turn off the lights at 9 PM, saying it was time for bed. So even if I couldn’t sleep, I had no choice but to lie down. In this pitch-black darkness, all I could do was imagine. Thinking of the black darkness as a canvas, I used to fall asleep drawing pictures in my head every night. Suddenly, that memory comes to mind.”

Ha Yeon gazed endlessly at Min Je’s side profile as he smiled faintly. What kind of life had this man lived?

At first, she was drawn to his handsome face because it was her type. Then, she admired his discerning eye for masterpieces. And after experiencing him up close, it felt as if all her senses were flowing towards him.

Like water flowing from high to low, like the earth endlessly orbiting the sun, it felt like an irresistible, utterly natural thing.

Now she couldn’t imagine her life without him. An irresistible force, a power beyond human resistance. It felt like it was melting into this black darkness, completely dyeing her.

“It really was a wonderful canvas.”

Min Je chuckled at Ha Yeon’s response. She always had a way of putting people at ease with her answers. Perhaps that’s why in front of her, he found himself letting down the pretenses and wariness he usually wore like armor.

“Yes, it was a truly wonderful canvas. It was like a magical canvas that allowed me to draw pictures far beyond my actual skill level.”

Ha Yeon let out a low laugh at Min Je’s somewhat exaggerated words. Suddenly, she had the ridiculous thought that she’d like to be trapped with him in this darkness forever because this moment felt so good.

“Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever seen any paintings you’ve done, Director.”

“I’m not a talented painter. I know my own abilities well.”

Ha Yeon smiled, amused by how he applied such an inflexible standard even to himself.

“When I was about twenty, I realized it would be difficult to make a living by painting. Instead, I had an eye for appreciating art. That became my weapon.”

“That’s really amazing. Not everyone who can appreciate art becomes this successful.”

Min Je smiled bitterly at Ha Yeon’s praise.

“I think I lived quite bitterly back then. Success felt like getting revenge on the world.”

Min Je’s eyes darkened as he recalled the past. No one in this world can choose their parents. It wasn’t his fault that he grew up in an orphanage without even knowing who his parents were.

He lived his life ready to fight the fate given to him by the scruff of its neck. And with his discerning eye for art and exceptional strategy, he gradually accumulated wealth. But he didn’t think it was something worthy of being called amazing by someone.

“What about now? Do you still live with a feeling of revenge?”

As he met her gaze looking up at him with worried eyes, it felt as if the bitter days he had endured were being diluted and disappearing.

“No, not now.”

Seeing Min Je smile faintly, Ha Yeon also smiled, seeming relieved.

“Now, it doesn’t seem to matter at all. Should I say it’s not even on my mind? These days, there’s only one thing I see.”

Min Je’s face, revealed in the soft light, was as straight and beautiful as a sculpture. Unable to take her eyes off that face, Ha Yeon asked in a murmur.

“What is it that you see?”

Min Je turned his head to face Ha Yeon directly. The aura emanating from him somehow felt very dangerous, and she unknowingly swallowed hard.

Did she ask something she shouldn’t have? She felt tense, as if she had touched Pandora’s box.

For some reason, his deeply sunken gaze poured over her face. Thinking she might suffocate under his gaze, she blinked, and Min Je spoke slowly while caressing his chin.

“Someone keeps pestering me. To the point where I can’t see anything else.”

Ha Yeon hesitated, not knowing how to respond. Somehow, it felt like she shouldn’t ask who this pestering person was.

“Aren’t you curious who it is?”

But Min Je deliberately pointed out that part. His gaze, burning with heat even in the darkness, took her breath away.

She paused for a moment, like someone who had forgotten how to breathe, then unable to suppress her desire to escape this moment, she asked.

“Who… is it?”

During this time, Min Je had moved closer until their breaths intermingled. At a distance where their lips would touch with just a little more movement, Min Je whispered lowly.

“You. These days, for some reason, I can only see you.”

As she had done until now, Ha Yeon tried to hide her expression. But hiding her expression at such a close distance was impossible from the start.

Her mind, already conquered by his breath, was too muddled to escape, and her heart pounded tumultuously as if it would burst out at any moment.

He must know. That waves were rippling across the surface she had tried countless times to keep calm.

As Min Je pulled on the hand he was holding, even the small gap that remained disappeared. The tips of their lips touched lightly, sending goosebumps all over her body.

“This is your only chance to push me away.”

Every time he spoke, their lips brushed. The strange tingling sensation was so dizzying.

Ha Yeon stared directly into his eyes, feeling as if she would helplessly fall in.

‘When you come at me like this, I can’t refuse. Because I’ve already lost my heart to you long ago.’

Unable to suppress her bursting emotions any longer, Ha Yeon pressed her lips against his. It became a signal for them. Like lighting a fuse, a signal that there was no longer any need to hide their desire.

Their soft lips interlocked. The sensation was so blissfully sweet that they lost themselves in it.

Min Je firmly supported Ha Yeon’s waist with one hand. With the other hand, he cupped her cheek.

The more their lips met, an inexplicable thirst welled up. Like an oasis encountered after wandering the desert, he hurriedly explored her lips, but once he set foot in the oasis, it made it impossible for him to leave.

Hot breaths intertwined and lips mixed wildly. Even the cool air of the storage room seemed to have heated up by now.

It was a cruelly sweet pleasure that shattered reason in an instant.

Every time he delved deeper, Ha Yeon didn’t back away but diligently followed. Even gasping for breath, unable to breathe properly, she didn’t run away. Not knowing how much more maddening that made it.

The darkness that had been perfect for hiding their mutual wavering until just a moment ago now seemed to fan the flames of their surging desire.

Thinking that they wouldn’t have been able to stop if even a shred of reason hadn’t remained, Min Je slowly pulled away from Ha Yeon.

Facing her as she looked up at him with a flushed and excited face, Min Je unknowingly cursed internally. Because her defenseless appearance made his whole body burn as if engulfed in flames.

“Actually, I wanted to do this the whole time.”

Min Je murmured, rubbing Ha Yeon’s slightly swollen lips with his thumb.

Ha Yeon, getting goosebumps again from his touch, barely managed to straighten her trembling body.

“It’s okay. I started it first, after all.”

What should he do with this woman who insists she kissed first when she can’t even breathe properly? As Min Je was chuckling, suddenly the lights in the room turned on with a pop.

As they were squinting from the brightness, there was a beeping sound and Jun Won appeared.

“What on earth happened?”

Jun Won, who couldn’t understand how they could get locked in the basement of his own house, looked at the two with a bewildered expression.

“Ahem, that’s how it happened.”

Min Je cleared his throat unnecessarily as he stood up, brushing off his bottom. Then he extended his hand to Ha Yeon and helped her up.

At that moment, there was a loud noise and Yu Jin and Ji Hoo appeared.

“I went to the bathroom briefly and forgot to come back while playing with Ji Hoo. Could the door have closed because of me?”

Yu Jin said with an expression of not knowing what to do because she felt so sorry.

“It’s just a minor accident. No need to worry about it.”

When Min Je said this with a very generous smile, Jun Won gaped blankly. It was as rare as hens’ teeth, that is, impossible, for Min Je to let such a matter pass without making an issue of it.

As Min Je left the storage room first, Ji Hoo asked Ha Yeon who was following behind.

“Noona, are you okay?”

“Of course, I’m fine.”

Somehow feeling embarrassed to face Ji Hoo, Ha Yeon smiled awkwardly and hurriedly left the storage room.

“What? Noona? Did he just call you noona?”

Yu Jin, fixated on something strange, grumbled about why you’re ‘noona’ and I’m ‘auntie’ as she followed behind.

As everyone left the storage room and the noisy sounds ebbed away like the tide, Jun Won stood still, organizing his thoughts. There were more than one or two suspicious things, after all.

First of all, the most suspicious thing was why Min Je had been locked in the storage room until someone came to open it.

‘There should be an emergency button inside too, right?’

Just in case, there was an emergency button that could open the door from the inside if it got locked. Min Je couldn’t not have known about it. As Jun Won thought quietly, he had a sudden realization and muttered to himself.

“You bastard, don’t tell me…!”