Under normal circumstances, she would have jumped up and asked what that meant. But the drunk Ha Yeon moved on instinct rather than awareness of the situation.

“Hmm… Okay.”

Min Je inhaled sharply, surprised by her answer. He was tempting her, thinking she was out of her mind, but honestly, he didn’t expect her to agree so readily.

Should I like this or not? Min Je ran his hand through his hair with complex emotions.

“Well, I’m not trying to do anything bad.”

He added such words even though no one asked. Perhaps it was something he wanted to say to himself.

The house, with just the two of them left, was the perfect environment for committing a transgression. He was trying to restrain himself in advance, fearing that if no one put on the brakes, he would go crazy like an unbridled colt.

Though he was pretending to be all noble, he knew well that all of this was ultimately just a ploy to lure her into bed. Knowing this, he still couldn’t give up this time. So he didn’t care even if he was cursed.

“Let’s go to my room.”

Min Je led Ha Yeon with a brazen face.

“It’s my first time seeing the director’s room.”

Ha Yeon entered the room and looked around with shining eyes. The room decorated in gray tones was an achromatic color that suited him well. The white wallpaper, gray bedding, silver lamp, and modern frame were in perfect harmony.

“It smells like the director.”

Ha Yeon let out another laugh that drove people crazy.

Is this okay? It should be fine, right? Min Je started to worry. He didn’t bring her to his room with the intention of embracing her. He just didn’t want to miss the time they could spend alone together.

But he’s losing confidence more and more.

“Can I sleep here?”

Ha Yeon asked, sitting on the edge of the bed.

“Yes, lie down wherever you want.”

As she climbed onto his bed, Min Je completely ignored his guilty conscience. And he lowered the lighting in the room to make it good for sleeping.

“Actually, I’ve been a bit sleepy since earlier. I barely slept yesterday.”

Ha Yeon mumbled as she burrowed into the blanket.

“Why couldn’t you sleep?”

Somehow he anticipated her answer, but he wanted to hear it from her own lips. There wouldn’t be many chances to hear such honest answers like today.

“I was excited thinking about being alone with the director.”

Saying that, she blushed deeply on her cheeks, seemingly embarrassed, and he found her lovely.

“Shall I make an arm pillow for you?”

Min Je asked, slowly stroking Ha Yeon’s cheek. She immediately nodded and answered.

“Yes.”

This time too, it was an honest answer without hesitation. Min Je thought it wasn’t bad that she was drunk in this aspect. Of course, the sweet wine scent emanating from her didn’t seem like it would bring him very good results.

The soft body snuggling into his arms gave him a dizzying sensation enough to destroy his reason at once. It was as if it was provoking, ‘Can you still hold back like this?’

But to him, Ha Yeon wasn’t just an object of carnal pleasure. She was the first precious being in his life and the only value in his life.

He calmly smoothed out Ha Yeon’s disheveled hair. A smile appeared on Ha Yeon’s lips, seemingly very pleased with his touch.

Min Je unknowingly kissed the corner of her mouth. He couldn’t bear not to press his lips against her upturned mouth corners.

This much should be okay. Yes, a kiss should be fine. Min Je persuaded himself like that and soon slowly consumed her lips.

A shiver ran through him as their soft flesh intertwined, feeling like it would melt. He couldn’t stop, repeatedly biting and releasing her lips as if possessed.

Ha Yeon exhaled a shallow breath with a dreamy gaze, as if going between reality and dream.

Even her exhaled breath was sweet. Min Je gently lifted her chin with his thumb and index finger. Her lips parted slightly naturally.

He immediately bit deeply into her lips and pushed through the parted gap. A hot and wet friction sound echoed faintly in his ears.

Min Je thought he should stop here, but he didn’t know how to stop. He felt like a runaway train with broken brakes.

Feeling an unbearable thirst, he cupped Ha Yeon’s cheeks. And he invaded deeply as if to dissect her completely.

A burning heat engulfed them. As the intense kiss continued as if to devour even her breath, Ha Yeon, with tangled breathing, lightly pushed Min Je’s chest.

Only then did Min Je come to his senses and furrowed his brow as he pulled away from her.

What confidence was it? It was arrogant to think he would be okay lying in the same bed with the woman he liked.

Self-deprecating like that and barely cutting off the swirling turbulent emotions, Min Je turned his head to see Ha Yeon breathing evenly, having fallen asleep already.

Min Je stared blankly at her face with densely closed eyelashes for a while, then let out a long sigh.

‘Do you trust me? You must trust me to fall asleep?’

The feeling of confirming that he was a man with no credibility at all wasn’t very pleasant.

Haah, he let out another long sigh. Somehow tonight seemed especially long.

At the time when the pre-dawn light was brightening, Ha Yeon slowly lifted her eyelids. The cozy feeling, completely opposite to the throbbing headache, felt quite strange, causing her eyes to open involuntarily.

‘Where is this?’

An unfamiliar ceiling and bedding came into view. She furrowed her brow and tried to recall her memories.

She remembered enjoying dinner and repeatedly drinking wine with Min Je last night. It seemed the cause of the headache was drinking too much of that sweet wine, which wasn’t low in alcohol content.

‘But why did I fall asleep here?’

She groaned while piecing together the fragments of memories that were coming back sporadically like puzzle pieces.

‘Sleep together with me.’

Suddenly Min Je’s voice seemed to replay in her ear. And her own voice immediately saying ‘Okay.’

Gasp, I must have gone crazy! Ha Yeon inhaled sharply. If her memory wasn’t wrong, this must be Min Je’s bedroom. And the source of this strangely cozy feeling must be Kang Min Je!

She turned her head with an expression like she was about to cry to check beside her. It took only a moment for her guess to become certain.

The sunlight just rising shone through the curtains, clearly showing the contours of his face. Her gaze moved from his forehead and nose bridge, which looked as if carved like a sculpture, to rest on his lips.

It felt like a dream, but those lips had definitely touched her. Ha Yeon’s face turned red as she recalled how fiery his kisses had been last night.

Realizing that it was she who had encouraged that kiss, Ha Yeon wondered how she should face him, then thought she should leave this room first. But she couldn’t get up because his arm was wrapped around her.

It was a very strong and firm arm. An arm that felt as if made of granite, so firm and giving a strange sense of security that seemed able to protect her from anything in the world.

Ha Yeon, who didn’t know she would feel such a full sense of security in his arms, gave up on trying to get up and turned her body slightly to look at his face as if observing.

“How can even his sleeping face be so handsome.”

Ha Yeon muttered in admiration without realizing it. Then, as if mesmerized, she unknowingly moved her fingertip along his eyebrow. The feeling of touching his eyebrow, which was as straight as if drawn carefully with a brush by a master calligrapher, felt good.

Though her heart was pounding at the thought that Min Je might wake up, she couldn’t stop moving her fingertip. Her finger that had been caressing his eyebrow brushed down his high nose bridge.

But she froze, unable to touch his lips. What am I doing? Ha Yeon suddenly felt embarrassed, seeing herself admiring the face of a sleeping person seemed sneaky.

As she was withdrawing her hand while self-deprecating like that, Min Je suddenly grabbed her wrist as if snatching it.

Ha Yeon couldn’t help but be surprised when the man who hadn’t even opened his eyes suddenly gripped her wrist. Gasp, as she inhaled, Min Je pulled her palm and pressed his lips firmly against it as if stamping a seal.

The lips touching her palm felt as if they contained fire, so hot.

“Did I wake you?”

As Ha Yeon asked, Min Je’s eyelids lifted and his eyes were revealed. Ha Yeon shuddered once again when their eyes met. Because his eyes were burning so red that they couldn’t be thought to belong to someone who had been sleeping.

Ha Yeon couldn’t breathe as his eyes filled with passion slowly swept over her face.

“It’s very troublesome now.”

His voice was roughly cracked. Feeling like she both wanted to know and didn’t want to know why he said it was troublesome, Ha Yeon said,

“I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“Yes, I know.”

Min Je sighed. He had fiercely fought in the abyss of desire and barely fallen asleep near dawn.

Putting aside being tired, it felt somewhat unfair that his body was reacting so sensitively to her fingertips.

“Well, is this the consequence of my own actions?”

Ha Yeon looked up at Min Je with a subtle expression at his muttered words.

In the afternoon, Ji Hoo returned from camp. Ha Yeon was surprised to see Ji Hoo getting off the kindergarten shuttle. Fatigue was plastered all over the child’s face.

“It seems Ji Hoo didn’t sleep well. Maybe it’s because the sleeping place changed, or maybe the kids told scary stories before bed, but it looks like he didn’t sleep properly. Please let him rest well over the weekend.”

The teacher explained with a smile why Ji Hoo looked so tired.

“I see. Thank you for your hard work.”

Ha Yeon replied with a smile and sent off the kindergarten vehicle.

“Ji Hoo, did you have fun? You look very tired?”

When Ha Yeon asked while examining the child’s face, Ji Hoo shook his head and said,

“I’m not that tired. It was super fun.”

He said that, but the dark circles under his eyes couldn’t be hidden, so what could be done about this? Ha Yeon held back her laughter and unconditionally agreed with Ji Hoo’s words.

Night fell. Although Ji Hoo didn’t say so, he seemed very tired, so Ha Yeon prepared for bed earlier than usual.

Coincidentally, Min Je also got off work at that time, so the three gathered in Ji Hoo’s room.

Perhaps because it was the rainy season, the rain that started falling in the evening showed no signs of stopping. Occasionally, flashes of lightning could be seen outside the window.

Ji Hoo, who had been staring blankly out the window while lying on the bed, mumbled and then said,

“Um, can we sleep together just for today?”

Min Je and Ha Yeon’s eyes widened in surprise, as this was the first time Ji Hoo had made such a request.

“Or can you just lie down with me until I fall asleep?”

Ha Yeon immediately understood the reason, recalling what the teacher had said earlier, upon hearing Ji Hoo’s awkward wheedling.

“Of course we can. There’s no reason why we can’t.”

Ha Yeon said as she lay down on Ji Hoo’s right side. Then Ji Hoo’s gaze turned to Min Je, who was sitting awkwardly.

“Ah, yes. Sure.”

Min Je answered awkwardly and lay down clumsily on Ji Hoo’s left side.

Ji Hoo’s bed was quite large, prepared for when someone might sleep together. Yet it seemed to fill up completely when the three lay down.

Ji Hoo, lying in the middle, looked alternately at Min Je and Ha Yeon, then said with a laugh,

“It’s definitely not because I’m scared.”

“Right, right.”

You adorable thing. Ha Yeon found it cute that Ji Hoo’s true feelings were so transparent, so she patted the child with a smile.

Then her eyes met squarely with Min Je, who was propping his head with one arm. It was just their eyes meeting, but why did it feel like they had returned to that heated place from last night?

Min Je, who keenly read Ha Yeon’s thoughts, raised the corners of his mouth and overlapped his hand on top of Ha Yeon’s hand that was patting Ji Hoo.