“Hah.”

Her breath came out in short gasps at Do Hyun’s persistently teasing lips.

Do Hyun wanted to devour every part of Shin Joo that was squirming inside him.

So even though he could clearly see Shin Joo struggling, he relentlessly pushed her into a corner.

Do Hyun’s fingers reached under Shin Joo’s rolled-up top.

His long fingers traced the supple curves of Shin Joo’s side.

Shin Joo took a deep breath, her ribs aching.

The air in the bedroom became thick with tension.

A little more, a little more. Do Hyun, who had been invading Shin Joo, tilted his head.

Shin Joo’s lips, rubbed this way and that, were pressed and teased again.

As tingling sensations arose, Shin Joo’s warm hands gently pushed Do Hyun away.

“It’s too fast, senior.”

“…”

“This is moving too fast.”

The words she had been holding back finally fell from her lips.

Even though the kiss had stopped, her heart, which had been pounding wildly, refused to calm down.

As Shin Joo closed her eyes, feeling dizzy as if about to faint, Do Hyun stroked her long hair.

The sound of hair sliding through his fingers faintly echoed in her ears.

“I won’t devour you.”

“Really, you won’t devour me?”

“For now.”

“…”

“For now, yes.”

Do Hyun didn’t know how long he could hold back.

He wanted to take back the words he had just said, but reassuring Shin Joo was the priority.

As Do Hyun lay down on the bed, Shin Joo burrowed into his arms, her face visibly more relaxed.

She wrapped her arms tightly around Do Hyun’s waist and squeezed her eyes shut.

“I’m suddenly sleepy.”

“Sleep, I’ll put you to bed.”

Unaware of the predator’s true intentions, Shin Joo felt sleep washing over her.

Try as she might to lift her heavy eyelids, they refused to open.

Finally giving up, Shin Joo rested her forehead against Do Hyun’s chest.

“I like you.”

The whispered words seeped into her ears.

She listened to his voice mixed with warm breaths.

“I like you a lot, Shin Joo.”

Using his pleasant confession as a lullaby, she fell into a deep sleep.

***

“I’ll be leaving work first.”

Shin Joo, who had been waiting for 6 o’clock, put on her sky-blue coat.

Yang Mi, who seemed to have no intention of getting up, as if overtime was confirmed, lay her upper body on the chair.

“Enjoy your date today.”

“How did you know I’m going on a date?”

“You’ve done your makeup prettily and are wearing clothes I’ve never seen before, so it’s 100% certain.”

Shin Joo blushed shyly and smoothed the coat tied at her waist.

“Do I look okay today?”

“Just okay? At your age, you look pretty no matter what you do.”

“Well, I do feel good hearing I’m pretty.”

“Go on now. The CEO will be waiting.”

Leaving Yang Mi behind, who was waving her hand, Shin Joo left the office.

Originally, she was supposed to take Do Hyun’s car to the theater, but he had urgent business to take care of, so they agreed to meet at the theater on time.

Shin Joo, who arrived at the theater by taxi, ordered popcorn and cola for her and Do Hyun to share.

The movie was about to start soon, but Do Hyun was nowhere to be seen.

Shin Joo looked around and sat down at a nearby table.

As she waited quietly, her hand naturally reached for the popcorn out of boredom. Her hand busily moved to her mouth, filled with caramel popcorn to her taste.

“Didn’t you buy that to eat with me?”

“Senior.”

Startled by Do Hyun’s voice suddenly coming from behind, Shin Joo jumped.

Do Hyun, leaning on the table, lowered his upper body and bit the popcorn in Shin Joo’s hand.

“It’s delicious.”

Shin Joo was momentarily lost, seeing Do Hyun smiling next to her face.

She couldn’t take her eyes off his flawless, neat smile.

“Why are you staring so intently?”

“Because your smile is pretty, senior.”

Do Hyun’s lips curled up once more at the unadorned, honest answer.

“Your smile is prettier.”

No, it’s not. Anyone would see that you’re prettier, senior.

Do Hyun straightened up and picked up the popcorn from the table.

“Let’s go up. It’s about to start.”

“Okay.”

Shin Joo, holding Do Hyun’s hand habitually, headed towards the theater.

The theater, where admission had begun, was mostly filled with audience members who had arrived earlier.

Shin Joo sat in the reserved seat and placed her coat on her lap.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been to a theater.”

“How long has it been?”

“I haven’t been since graduating college.”

Shortly after graduating, her family had fallen on hard times, and she had to find a job immediately to earn money without a moment’s rest.

She didn’t even have time to watch TV, let alone enjoy cultural activities.

Do Hyun, resting his chin on one hand, cast a sideways glance at Shin Joo.

“Seems like you haven’t had a boyfriend since college.”

Do Hyun tried to say it casually, as it was already in the past.

However, his raised eyebrow couldn’t completely hide his discomfort.

“You’re my first boyfriend, senior?”

“Didn’t you date Chan Woo in college?”

“Chan Woo senior from our department?”

“Yeah. Park Chan Woo, was it? The guy who was the class representative a year above you.”

As it wasn’t true, Shin Joo quickly shook her head.

“No. Chan Woo senior and I weren’t like that.”

“I guess I misunderstood. I thought you two were dating since you were always together.”

“What about you and Ji Eun senior…”

Suddenly, the interior went so dark that nothing could be seen.

Thanks to that, Shin Joo had to close her lips, which had parted.

As sound flowed from the speakers on the wall, theater etiquette appeared on the large screen.

“What did you say?”

“Nothing, it’s nothing.”

When Do Hyun, who hadn’t heard what she said, asked, Shin Joo swallowed her unfinished words.

Shin Joo was relieved that the movie started just in time.

She had almost blurted out the fact that Do Hyun had dated Ji Eun.

She didn’t want to remind Do Hyun of something that happened 7 years ago.

It wasn’t that she wasn’t bothered by him still keeping in touch with his ex-girlfriend.

But she didn’t want to nag Do Hyun, who was already treating her like a friend, and appear petty.

The etiquette video ended, and the movie began.

Tap tap.

Do Hyun’s index finger tapped the back of Shin Joo’s hand, who was lost in thought.

As she turned her gaze, popcorn was pushed into her parted lips.

The sweetness filling her mouth made her tongue tingle.

“It’s too sweet.”

“Don’t you like sweet things?”

Shin Joo whispered close to Do Hyun’s ear.

As she leaned her head back, Do Hyun stared at Shin Joo and answered in a low voice.

“That’s not the case.”

Do Hyun’s body leaned infinitely towards Shin Joo.

Without giving her time to retreat, Do Hyun crashed his lips against hers. Do Hyun’s face filled Shin Joo’s wide-open eyes as he pulled away.

“This is sweet, but I like it.”

“Senior! There are people around!”

Although the seat next to them was empty, the seats a little further away were occupied.

Shin Joo’s eyes shook violently, wondering if anyone had seen.

Do Hyun calmly placed his index finger on Shin Joo’s lips.

“Shh. Didn’t you hear the etiquette earlier? They said not to make loud noises.”

Removing Do Hyun’s finger blocking her lips, Shin Joo protested with a breath full of air.

“So it’s okay to engage in indecent behavior?”

“That wasn’t mentioned.”

“If we get kicked out, it’s your fault, senior.”

Do Hyun, leaning back in his seat, made no attempt to hide his excited mood.

“I’d like that. Even now, I want to take you straight home.”

Wow. Really indecent.

Shin Joo couldn’t help but admire, as if about to applaud.

As Do Hyun nodded towards the screen with a gentle smile, Shin Joo belatedly straightened her back against the seat.

***

Of course, while some risky things happened in the theater, they were able to enjoy the rest of the movie pleasantly.

They had a delicious meal at a restaurant near the theater, and their happy date was drawing to a close.

Do Hyun, who had retrieved his car from a nearby parking lot, stopped in front of Shin Joo standing on the sidewalk.

Shin Joo got into the passenger seat and looked at the clock embedded in the car body as she fastened her seatbelt.

“It’s almost 10 o’clock already.”

“Are you tired? Let’s go home, wash up, and go straight to bed.”

In her heart, Shin Joo wanted to wander around aimlessly with Do Hyun all night.

Regretting the journey home, Shin Joo took in the passing scenery through the window.

As she lowered her hand that had been holding the seatbelt, something caught her hand on the seat.

She hadn’t noticed when she hurriedly got into the car, but there was a black lipstick similar in color to the seat cover.

‘I must have dropped a lipstick.’

Shin Joo’s eyes trembled as she belatedly discovered the brand logo embedded at the bottom of the lipstick.

It was a lipstick from a brand so expensive that she hadn’t even looked at it recently.

Therefore, it wasn’t her lipstick.

Had he given a ride to another woman in the passenger seat?

Maybe it was a company employee, maybe an acquaintance. But what was this strange anxiety?

She wanted to ask right away, but with little distance left to home, she suppressed her curiosity.

Finally, the car entered the underground parking lot of the apartment and stopped.

“Senior, there was something like this here.”

Do Hyun looked at the lipstick without much interest.

“Isn’t it yours?”

“No. I’ve never bought a lipstick like this.”

Do Hyun, who had been thinking for a moment, parted his lips as if something had occurred to him.

“Ji Eun must have left it behind.”

“Ji Eun… senior?”

She had guessed a woman had been in the car, but she hadn’t thought it would be Ji Eun.

The back of her head throbbed, and a lump of breath got stuck in her throat.

Do Hyun’s emotionless gaze was still fixed on the lipstick.

“I gave her a ride to the hotel yesterday evening after work.”

How can he be so nonchalant?

He had said he was late because of work that day, but in the end, was he late because he was giving Ji Eun a ride?

No matter how much she tried to understand, she couldn’t.

There was no way to understand giving a ride to an ex-girlfriend late at night. Would any woman understand that?

It had been a perfect day. Just a moment ago, she had been so happy.

Her faith, which had been as steady as the setting sun, had toppled over.