Seol Ah had given up and surrendered her face to Kang Mo’s touch. She thought she would be able to sleep well tonight, but her forcibly closed eyes gradually grew heavy. The gentle strokes of his hand smoothing her hair made the tension disappear, and the long-awaited sleep gently settled upon her.

Kang Mo’s strange behavior did not end that day.

She couldn’t know why he came to her room in the middle of the night while she was sleeping, or how long he stayed before returning to his room. She couldn’t ask either.

The next day, and the day after that, Seol Ah pretended to be asleep and ignored Kang Mo’s secret nightly visits. She told herself it would only be for today, for tomorrow, but it had already been four days.

Seol Ah’s patience finally ran out. Pretending to sleep, she could no longer ignore Kang Mo staying by her side every night.

Today as well, sensing Kang Mo sneaking into her room, she opened her tightly closed eyes. As expected, Kang Mo was leaning back in the soft wooden armchair right next to the bed, quietly gazing at her.

Somehow, he looked more comfortable than her lying down, and a gasp of disbelief escaped her lips.

Slowly sitting up from where she lay, Seol Ah let out a soft sigh and quietly asked.

“Lee Kang Mo, what are you doing there right now?”

“You’re awake?”

“What are you doing there in the middle of the night?”

Despite Seol Ah’s sharp tone, which contained the worries of the past three days, Kang Mo was not flustered and simply replied as usual.

“I can’t sleep.”

Seol Ah was deflated by his response, which made her own concerns seem meaningless.

“If you can’t sleep, you should at least read a book. Why come here and surprise people?”

“You were surprised? I thought you were sleeping well. You usually sleep well anywhere. I thought watching you sleep might make me sleepy too.”

Hearing Kang Mo’s voice, which didn’t feel strong at all, her anger disappeared, and her heart softened. His insomnia seemed worse than she had heard.

Come to think of it, his face illuminated by the moonlight looked quite haggard. The anger that had suddenly risen at Kang Mo’s absurd behavior was now replaced by worry for him, and her sharp voice became much gentler.

“Your insomnia… seems worse than I thought. Then you should get a prescription for sleeping pills. Aren’t you tired staying up like this every night?”

Seol Ah, feeling sorry for Kang Mo suffering from insomnia, didn’t realize that she had practically admitted to pretending to be asleep all this time with her own words.

“……”

“Kang Mo, don’t sit there uncomfortably. Try to sleep. Listen to some soothing music, or read a book. Or should I warm up some milk for you?”

“No, I’ve already tried all that. It’s no use at all.”

“Then do you think sitting here wasting time like this will make you sleepy?”

“Yes. It’s been the most effective method. Watching you sleep makes me want to sleep too. So don’t worry and just go to sleep.”

Seol Ah let out a deep sigh.

“Kang Mo, how can I sleep comfortably alone when you’re sitting there so uncomfortably?”

Kang Mo, who had been leaning back deep in the armchair with his fingers interlocked behind his head, gave a weak smile.

“Bear with me for a bit. I’ll stay like this for an hour or two and then go.”

A groan escaped from Seol Ah.

“Be reasonable. If you’re going to sit uncomfortably for two hours, you might as well just go lie down somewhere.”

“This chair is comfortable.”

“Lee Kang Mo!”

He wasn’t listening. Seol Ah glared at Kang Mo, who was stubbornly sitting and flashing a smile, then flopped back onto the bed.

“I don’t know. Stay like that or not, I don’t care. I’m going to sleep.”

“Okay. Don’t worry about me and go to sleep.”

Seol Ah hugged the fluffy blanket and pointedly closed her eyes. It was torture to keep her eyes closed when she wasn’t sleepy. Until now, she had forced her eyes closed and pretended to sleep to ignore him, but today was different.

Since Kang Mo knew she was awake anyway, there was no need to be conscious of subtle movements or breathing.

Her actions were much freer than when she had pretended to be asleep, ignoring Kang Mo’s presence. She lay on her back, on her side, and even turned her back to Kang Mo in dissatisfaction. Still, sleep wouldn’t come, and she only became more sensitive to Kang Mo.

She thought he would leave eventually, but no matter how hard she tried to sleep, she couldn’t fall asleep at all. After tossing and turning for a while, Seol Ah finally surrendered.

Opening her eyes that she had forcibly kept closed, the familiar darkness tinted by moonlight greeted her. Raising her eyes, which had already adapted to the darkness, she looked at Kang Mo. His eyes were still fixed on her.

Really, he’s hopeless.

“Lee Kang Mo, do you want to just lie down here instead?”

“…..What?”

“If you’re going to keep sitting there like that, you might as well just… lie down here. I can’t sleep because of you. The bed is big, so even if you lie down next to me… it won’t be too uncomfortable.”

Kang Mo’s eyes widened.

He sat up straight from the chair he had been half-leaning on, wondering if he had heard correctly.

“Really… lie down? Next to you?”

A resigned sigh escaped from Seol Ah.

“Yes. Rather than sitting like that, if you lie down comfortably, you might feel sleepy. Lie down for a bit, and as soon as you feel sleepy, go straight to your room. It’ll be less tiring for you to lie down for a while than sit for an hour or two.”

Kang Mo’s eyes sparkled with uncharacteristic liveliness for the late night.

Controlling his twitching lips, Kang Mo confirmed once more.

“To be clear, you suggested it first.”

“Yes, I proposed it first. However, no touching on the bed. Got it?”

“Yes, no touching. But if you touch me first, I won’t be able to control myself either. You know that too, right?”

“That won’t happen, so don’t worry. I’m just going to sleep.”

Seol Ah, hurriedly covering her yawning mouth with her hand, rolled her body to the edge of the bed. Since she usually slept still without thrashing, she only needed enough space to stretch out her legs, so she gave Kang Mo more than half of the bed.

As if he had been waiting, Kang Mo entered under the blanket without hesitation and stretched out his sturdy body. Seeing this, a chuckle escaped her lips.

Wait, he didn’t plan this from the beginning, did he? No way, Kang Mo couldn’t be that cunning. Wait, he’s not going to fall asleep here, is he?

Two grown adults, a man and a woman who had feelings for each other, got into the same bed. Wasn’t she being too careless? The realization came late, very late, and her brows furrowed.

But Seol Ah trusted Kang Mo. Even if his desires were abundant, he was not the type of person to force her to do something she didn’t want. Then what about herself… could she trust herself?

Seol Ah’s mind suddenly became complicated. Strangely, a heat spread through her body, and Kang Mo, lying on his side facing her, tapped the empty space between them lightly and spoke in a low voice.

“You’ll fall off like that. There’s plenty of space, so why don’t you come a little closer?”

“Oh… it’s okay. I can sleep well anywhere as long as there’s space for my body.”

“…Right, you do sleep well anywhere. To the point where you wouldn’t even notice if someone carried you.”

“That’s right. So don’t worry about me and make yourself comfortable. You need to relieve your body’s fatigue during the night to work well at the company…. Sleep well. I’m going to sleep first.”

“…Okay. Sleep well.”

Seol Ah closed her eyes that had been facing the ceiling, not knowing what Kang Mo was thinking. Confusingly, all sorts of dizzying visions began to appear behind her closed eyes.

Whoa, whoa. Baek Seol Ah, calm down. Let’s calm down.

Seol Ah barely pushed away the naughty fantasies unfolding in her mind and carefully controlled her breathing. Anyway, wasn’t it more comfortable now that Kang Mo was lying down next to her rather than sitting uncomfortably…?

Yes, it’s not comfortable. It’s not comfortable at all. What should I do?

She thought if she could at least make Kang Mo’s body comfortable, the uncomfortable feeling would subside a bit, but a completely unexpected and different discomfort swirled in her mind.

Lying with her eyes tightly closed in an upright position, reciting poetry in her mind, Seol Ah didn’t know. She had no idea how interesting Kang Mo’s gaze was as he looked at her, or how his expression had brightened beyond words as he inwardly cheered.

Lying in a proper position, looking at Seol Ah, Kang Mo recalled what she had said a little while ago, and the corners of his mouth twitched.

‘Your insomnia… seems worse than I thought. Then you should get a prescription for sleeping pills. Aren’t you tired staying up like this every night?’

Every night, as expected, Seol Ah had been closing her eyes and pretending to sleep every night. He had suspected it, but hearing it directly from her mouth, he couldn’t help but smile.

In fact, he had already confirmed Seol Ah’s feelings, but there had been no real progress in their relationship.

They now hugged and shared passionate kisses quite naturally, but due to Seol Ah’s consistently defensive attitude, it was virtually impossible to go any further.

He had already done all sorts of things to Seol Ah in his imagination. Not only that, but he had also caressed her entire body with just his intense gaze while watching her walking around in front of his eyes, sending telepathic messages with his mind. But Seol Ah always looked at him with innocent eyes.

It was hard. It was too hard to just wait for Seol Ah, who seemed to not want anything more.

Kang Mo wanted more. He wanted to have all of Seol Ah completely. He knew her very well, but he wanted to know everything about her, even the parts he didn’t know. He wanted to see her in a state of complete vulnerability, not the defensive attitude she showed in front of him.

He wanted Seol Ah to lie languidly on the bed and look only at him. He wanted only himself to be fully reflected in her shining eyes, for her to desperately desire him, to crave his love.

He wanted their bodies to fit together without any gaps, for her to allow him into her deepest depths, to writhe in ecstasy with him, and in the end, to cry out love at the peak of extreme pleasure.

But when? When on earth?