Kang Mo’s gaze, which had been staring intently at the lip of the wine glass, suddenly shifted to Seo Hee’s eyes. Captivated by Kang Mo’s unwavering, upright eyes, Seo Hee couldn’t bear the suffocating silence and turned her head away. A change of atmosphere was urgently needed.

She took a sip of wine, gulping it down, and picked up a tart with neatly arranged grapefruit, taking a bite.

The grapefruit tart, topped with plenty of syrup, was a perfect combination of the bitter taste unique to grapefruit, the sweetness of the syrup, and the refreshing taste of the thick Greek yogurt, eliciting exclamations of admiration.

“Mmm, tart art. Where did you buy this? It’s really delicious.”

Even though her voice sounded quite awkward to her own ears, she wanted to change the strange atmosphere like this, but…

“What are you mumbling about? It makes me want to suck it.”

Kang Mo didn’t seem to have any intention of doing so at all.

He gently wiped the transparent syrup from the corner of Seo Hee’s mouth with his thumb, then brazenly licked the syrup from his thumb as if to show her.

“It’s delicious. I knew you would like it. You used to like these small and pretty things before, and you still do. Enjoy it.”

Seo Hee, who had been frozen with a tart in one hand while watching Kang Mo lick his thumb, slowly put the tart down as Kang Mo’s gaze fell upon her again.

Even after taking a sip of wine because her throat was dry, or fixing her gaze on the pretty tart, the image of Kang Mo licking the syrup from his thumb kept coming to mind, making her face flush hot. An inexplicable sense of crisis rushed in, and she couldn’t stay like this.

Seo Hee glanced at her cell phone on the table and opened her mouth, pretending to be surprised and acting clever.

“Oh my, look at the time. Kang Mo, don’t you have to go to work tomorrow? We should get going soon.”

“All of a sudden?”

“All of a sudden… What, it’s almost ten thirty. Even if we leave now, we’ll be late, won’t you be tired?”

Kang Mo, who had been smiling brightly, stared at Seo Hee and lowered his voice.

“It’s not too late yet. This is still early evening for me. I usually have a lot of work and often come home close to midnight, and even if I come home early, I toss and turn and eventually fall asleep at dawn. So it doesn’t matter if I finish the wine before leaving.”

Seo Hee, who had been trying to hurry Kang Mo out the door, quickly became worried and carefully asked.

“You have trouble sleeping?”

“What, do you feel sorry for me?”

“Sorry… No.”

“I have trouble sleeping, so I’m always tired. Will you put me to sleep for a bit?”

“Lee Kang Mo, don’t tell me… you came here for this?”

At the flaring voice, Kang Mo laughed and shook his head as if there was no helping it, then pulled Seo Hee’s hand, which was resting on the base of the wine glass, and gently covered it with his own hand.

“Honestly, it’s not that I don’t have those feelings, but I’ll be satisfied with this for today. I can hold your hand, right?”

“You’re already holding it.”

One corner of Kang Mo’s lips curved obliquely. With one hand holding Seo Hee’s hand and the other hand on the table with his face resting on it, Kang Mo tilted his head and stared at Seo Hee, asking,

“How did it go with the thing you went to today? Did you decide to go to that senior’s company?”

Seo Hee felt quite embarrassed by the gaze that was staring at her intently, but she was happy about the change of topic and quickly answered.

“It’s not a bad offer, so I’m considering it. The company is good, and above all, they seem to welcome me even though they know my history, so I’m thinking of going if it’s decent.”

“What about your history?”

She realized her mistake. She hadn’t told Kang Mo about the things that had happened at the company while they were seeing each other a few years ago, so there was no way Kang Mo would know the reason she had to quit.

Seo Hee tried to find something to say to gloss over it.

“Well, I don’t have a long working history in Korea. Don’t most places want someone who will stay and work for a long time?”

Kang Mo nodded his head without saying much. His attention seemed to be solely focused on Seo Hee’s hand that he was holding.

Seo Hee’s mouth went dry as he fiddled with each of her fingers, intertwined his fingers between hers, and slowly caressed her wrist and the back of her hand with his thumb. Every time the silence that came and went, she was worried about what words to use to change the atmosphere.

Unable to find anything to say due to Kang Mo’s sensual hand movements, Seo Hee picked up her glass and downed the remaining wine. In the silence, only the gulping sound of swallowing was loud in her ears.

As soon as Seo Hee put down her glass, Kang Mo refilled it as if he had been waiting, then picked up his own glass and slowly savored it, finishing it in one go.

“Kang Mo, I’m sweating. Can you let go of this hand now…?”

“Bear with it. You don’t even know what I’m enduring right now, and you’re complaining about a little sweat.”

She was curious about what he was enduring, but she didn’t feel like asking.

“……”

“Baek Seo Hee.”

“……”

“Seo Hee.”

“……What.”

“I’m having a hard time.”

The moment she twisted her waist to look at Kang Mo, his head fell on Seo Hee’s shoulder with a thud.

“What’s wrong with you all of a sudden? Are you not feeling well?”

Seo Hee thought she could feel the heat from Kang Mo’s forehead that was touching her shoulder. She raised her hand that wasn’t being held by Kang Mo to feel his forehead, and sure enough, he had a fever.

“Lee Kang Mo, you have a fever. You must be sick somewhere. What should we do? You shouldn’t be drinking wine, you need to go to the hospital, gasp.”

Kang Mo’s lips, which had turned his head slightly, touched Seo Hee’s neck. The lips on her neck moved slowly.

“I know my body well. There’s no point in going to the hospital.”

The sensation of hot lips and the heat escaping from his mouth were fully conveyed to Seo Hee’s delicate skin.

The strange sensation that started from her neck quickly spread throughout her body through her blood vessels. Seo Hee had to try hard not to let Kang Mo hear the sound of her heart beating like crazy, worrying that he might hear it, and not to reveal her quickening breath.

“…You must be tired. Wouldn’t it be better to go and rest now?”

“Hoo…..”

Seo Hee closed her eyes tightly. With a single hot breath from Kang Mo, an unknown heat spread throughout her body.

“I must be crazy. I thought I could endure it. I thought it would be enough just to be by your side. I didn’t know it would be this hard. Being next to you, being right next to you like this, not being able to touch you or hold you, I had no idea it would be this hard.”

“……”

Seo Hee bit her lips tightly, unable to find anything else to say. It’s dangerous. Kang Mo, who was deliberately rushing in, was too dangerous no matter how she thought about it. Her head said she had to kick him out right away, push him away, but her heart was getting weaker and weaker.

She didn’t know why she always got so weak in front of Lee Kang Mo.

“So, what… what are you trying to say?”

“Just one kiss.”

“Lee Kang Mo. You said you’d take it slow, you said you’d match my pace.”

“You leave me speechless.”

The moment Kang Mo finished speaking, something hot and soft lightly brushed past Seo Hee’s neck.

“Gasp.”

At the sound that clearly revealed her surprise, Seo Hee quickly bit her lip, but there was no way Kang Mo couldn’t have heard it. Even without looking, she could feel his lips stretching long against her skin.

“You should go now.”

Even when she pushed his shoulder away, he didn’t budge.

“Lee Kang Mo.”

“It was a mistake. My lips were dry, that’s all.”

“I know it wasn’t a mistake. Who are you trying to fool? Are you playing with me now?”

“Yeah, I admit it wasn’t a mistake. But there’s no need to jump to the conclusion of being a fool, is there? I’m not playing with you, I’m courting you. I have no choice but to use such low tricks because you don’t understand my ardent heart.”

“While talking about taking things in order?”

“That’s right. I didn’t know what I was saying. I shouldn’t have said that.”

“What, what?!”

Kang Mo, who had pressed his lips firmly against Seo Hee’s neck, raised his face to look at Seo Hee.

“Let’s just kiss. We’ve already done that much anyway.”

I already know, Seo Hee, the feeling of your lips, your breath, the thrill when your heart is fully conveyed, your taste. I already know everything, so how can I resist?

“I won’t ask for more. Today, I’ll really only go as far as kissing. If I ask for more, I’ll be the younger brother you’ve always wanted.”

Seo Hee was at a loss for words at the term ‘younger brother’ that he only used when it was advantageous to him. She didn’t know whether to trust him again after he had already gone back on his word about being satisfied with just holding hands today, and moreover, she didn’t have confidence that she could endure a kiss with Kang Mo with a sound mind.

Hadn’t she already confirmed it from past experience? She was definitely weak to Kang Mo’s kisses. The moment their lips touched, her reason flew away, and only the maddening sensations came alive, didn’t they?

No matter how she thought about it, it was too dangerous a proposal.

“No. I can’t trust you.”

It’s not you, Kang Mo, but I can’t trust myself.

She couldn’t bear to face Kang Mo’s disappointed face, so she got up from her seat. She tried to pull her hand out of Kang Mo’s grasp, but his strong grip wouldn’t let go.

Kang Mo, who had also gotten up from his seat, seemed to let go of her hand, but then he immediately pulled Seo Hee tightly into his arms without any gaps.

“Okay. If you don’t like it, I won’t do it. I’ll just hold you like this. Just for a moment, just stay like this for a moment.”

Unable to push Kang Mo away at the desperate-sounding voice, she was held in his arms. The sound of his heart flowed directly into her ears.

The heated beating of his heart and the heat emanating from Kang Mo’s body seemed to represent his sincere feelings, making the tip of her nose tingle with tears for some reason.

Ha….. Lee Kang Mo, you really…

Seo Hee, who had been unable to raise or lower her tense arms, slowly brought them up and carefully wrapped them around Kang Mo’s waist.