6 a.m.

Soeun woke up alone. Taejun was not in the bedroom.

Through the slightly open door, light and the rustling sound were coming in.

He’s an early riser.

Last week and today, too. It seems her prejudice that the rich young master would be somewhat lazy was wrong. Although she was still tired, Soeun thought she had to get up. She couldn’t laze around in someone else’s house.

“Aaah.”

However, as Soeun tried to sit up, she groaned and fell back again. It felt like her body wasn’t listening. Every nook and cranny of her body ached.

“You overdid it.”

What Kim Taejun did last night was a disgusting torment. As he initially announced, he did everything as he pleased, except for turning off the lights. His skill of consoling and persistently pushing her, while she was getting tired, was frightening.

Was that all? Even after getting free from his embrace and putting on clothes brazenly, he heartlessly pulled her toward him. At that moment, she made a slip of the tongue. Instead of saying, “I’ve had enough now,” she shouted, “Turn off the lights.” She ended up accepting his advances.

She was in a hurry to insist on the lighting. Due to a momentary slip of the tongue, she didn’t fall asleep until after midnight. It was a happy, overwhelming, joyous, and breathless time. Thinking about it again, tears seemed to well up.

Even as she fell asleep, she seemed somewhat tense, thinking he might attack her again. Purposely pretending to be asleep, she really fell asleep quietly. In her trembling dream, she heard his voice.

Recalling the words she heard in her dream last night, Soeun slowly got up again.

“Did you sleep well?”

When she came out to the living room, Taejun greeted her from the kitchen.

“You left. You were mine.”

Last night. It was a moment of coming in and out of sleep, but Soeun clearly heard it. It wasn’t a dream. He definitely whispered like that.

It was a strange story that didn’t seem like something he would say to himself. Since she had her eyes closed, she couldn’t know in what state he said such words. Whether he was sleep-talking in a dream or having a phone call.

“What does that mean? Who were you thinking of when you said that?”

She wanted to know, but at the same time, she didn’t want to.

The two had become close in a hurry. Soeun confessed her feelings first, and he pushed her like a bulldozer. As fast as it was, they knew nothing about each other.

For both of them, there was only the present moment with sparks. Just as Soeun hid the wounds on her abdomen for the frictionless first night, Taejun might have hidden the past to embrace Soeun. It could be an attempt to fulfill the lack from a past lover, unable to forget.

So, I won’t say anything. We’re together for the sake of current desires.

“Yes. Did the president get some sleep?”
Soeun, who hid her curiosity, asked Taejun.

Instead of answering, Taejun approached her. The silhouette of Taejun, which was blurry because he wasn’t wearing his lenses, became clear as he came closer. As he tilted his head and smiled, memories of last night suddenly flashed through her mind.

Approaching, Taejun reached out his long arms and wrapped them around Soeun’s neck. Although it felt pleasant to be embraced, it was not entirely comfortable.

A man whose frame was incomparable to her own. A man who was entirely larger than life. Thinking about what happened to her body under him last night sent shivers down her spine.

“How’s your body?”

“I’m okay.”

“I was good, Soeun-ssi. How about you?”

More than the words saying she was fine, she was more surprised by the naturalness with which he called her by name. Amid various thoughts passing through her mind, his calling her name sounded so warm, as if it wasn’t her name. It felt like he was someone more noble and lovely than herself. To avoid revealing her feelings, Soeun deliberately replied without distinction in tone.

“Me too.”

“Crying over nothing.”

How did he know? Startled, thinking if he saw something, she raised her head, and Taejun laughed and explained.

“You can tell when you touch.”

Soeun felt a bit embarrassed. She had never shown someone that she cried. She usually didn’t have many tears. But for some reason, she cried over the trivial matter of an adult. In fact, she didn’t even know she was crying; the tears just flowed.

Perhaps because she thought the lights were off and she wouldn’t be noticed, she cried even more freely. It wasn’t necessarily because it was tough for Soeun. It was tears from a shocking experience, a bit of sorrow, and a heartwarming feeling. Of course, there was also the antler of annoyance that had come out from being tormented.

Turning her head in embarrassment, Soeun found the moon jar, which had been off-center, now sitting on the display stand in its original form.

“This is stuck?”

“I glued it with Bond.”