It wasn’t easy to escape from Ji Ho’s embrace.

His heavy arm was wrapped around Yi Soo like holding a baby.

The more Yi Soo squirmed, strangely the tighter it felt.

Rather than risk waking Ji Ho, Yi Soo gave up and remained still.

She thought she’d slip away when Ji Ho’s arm loosened as he stirred.

Yi Soo’s heart had been racing for a while, chasing away her sleep.

‘How long do I have to stay like this? What time is it now? Judging by how dark the room is, it must be evening already.’

Slowly inching backward, Yi Soo finally created enough space to look up at Ji Ho’s sleeping face.

He was a beautiful man, peaceful with his eyes closed, like a painting.

From his straight forehead to his long nose bridge and sharp jawline, everything was flawless.

Smiling, Yi Soo gazed at Ji Ho’s face to her heart’s content, her eyes lingering long on his lips.

Seeing his full lips vividly reminded her of their sweet, delicious kiss.

The mere thought sent a tingle through her.

‘The moment Ji Ho opens his eyes, he’ll surely kiss me. I wonder how sweet it will be this time?’

Unconsciously, Yi Soo bit her lower lip as if savoring the taste.

‘Ah, I’m going crazy. What am I imagining right now!’

Yi Soo squeezed her eyes shut.

Embarrassed by her own naughty thoughts, heat rushed to her face.

At that moment, Ji Ho’s loosely holding arm pulled Yi Soo in tightly.

“You’re awake. Did you sleep well?”

Ji Ho’s languid, husky voice was heard.

“Oh! Uh… You’re awake?”

Yi Soo’s voice shrank, startled like a child caught misbehaving.

Though Ji Ho couldn’t possibly know her thoughts, she felt oddly guilty and her face burned.

‘Why does even his voice sound so sensual today?’

Ji Ho pulled Yi Soo close, holding her tight without any gap.

“I woke up and found you in my arms… It feels so good.”

“Me too.”

“When did you come?”

“Around 4 o’clock, I think.”

Yi Soo had thought before how nice it would be to fall asleep in his arms, breathing in his scent. But now that it was reality, just lying in the same bed was overwhelmingly embarrassing.

While it was nice to see Ji Ho sleeping like a picture, Yi Soo didn’t know what to do now that he was awake.

‘The atmosphere is so sensual. What should I do about this mood?’

Plus, night had fallen and it was dark now.

Just as Yi Soo thought she should get up, Ji Ho loosened his arm and propped himself up slightly.

He grasped Yi Soo’s shoulders, laying her down on her back, then gazed down at her intently.

In an instant, Ji Ho’s face hovered close above Yi Soo’s, nearly touching.

Their vision was completely filled with each other’s faces.

“Yi Soo, I missed you so much.”

“Oh, uh… Me too…”

Ji Ho slowly lowered his lips to Yi Soo’s trembling ones.

His lips touched softly then parted, forming a gentle smile before pressing together again.

Sweetness flowed in through her parted lips.

The real kiss was incomparably sweeter and more delicious than Yi Soo had imagined.

Yi Soo’s eyelashes fluttered.

It felt like everything was melting away in the sweetness spreading from head to toe.

Ji Ho lightly sucked Yi Soo’s lips as if savoring them, then deeply, then delved in again, moving softly and slowly.

Who knows how long he had waited for this moment.

He had barely resisted the urge to kiss Yi Soo while she was deeply asleep, not wanting to wake her.

Having held back for so long, Ji Ho couldn’t easily stop now.

Amidst heated breaths, he savored the longed-for lips again and again.

Ji Ho pulled back just enough to see Yi Soo’s face and smiled down at her.

Her clear face with flushed cheeks, eyes closed and breathing heavily, looked unbearably pretty to him.

“Why are you so beautiful?”

At his sweet voice, Yi Soo slowly opened her eyes.

She saw Ji Ho’s gaze overflowing with affection.

Not knowing what to say at times like this, Yi Soo just smiled.

Ji Ho’s hand gently caressed Yi Soo’s face, tenderly brushing back her disheveled hair.

“Even as I look at you, I miss you.”

Had he ever missed someone this much before?

For the first time, he felt this desire to see someone even while looking at them, even after seeing them again and again.

“Me too. I missed you a lot too.”

Yi Soo shyly nodded and looked back at Ji Ho with trembling eyes.

“But I guess not enough to stay awake waiting for me.”

Ji Ho chuckled and gave a quick kiss.

Yi Soo rolled her eyes slightly.

“I gave you the passcode so you could wake me when you got home… Why didn’t you wake me?”

“I definitely did wake you…”

Ji Ho spoke quite confidently about having called her name once in a whisper.

“Oh, whatever!”

Seeing Ji Ho laugh ridiculously, Yi Soo felt embarrassed and pulled the blanket up to cover her face.

She was also too shy to show her reddened face to Ji Ho.

‘Why are you so nonchalant? Am I the only one feeling nervous and embarrassed in this atmosphere?’

For the first time in her life, she had woken up in bed with a man and even kissed him.

While Yi Soo’s heart felt ready to burst, how could this man be so relaxed?

“Don’t hide your face. I’ve been waiting all week just for today.”

With Ji Ho’s words, the blanket was pulled down.

Ji Ho’s face with a gentle smile appeared before her eyes again.

“I held back well, so you should let me look at you plenty.”

As Yi Soo continued to roll her eyes, Ji Ho’s face lowered towards her again.

It felt like kissing all night wouldn’t be enough.

Ji Ho’s hand that had been running through Yi Soo’s hair cupped the nape of her neck as their lips met deeply.

Yi Soo’s soft lips were crushed, swallowed, and sucked into Ji Ho’s mouth without a moment to breathe.

All the pent-up feelings boiled over at once, and heat spread throughout Ji Ho’s body.

Ji Ho’s weight pressed heavily onto Yi Soo, who lay with nowhere to retreat, burying her into the bed.

It was a completely different, intense kiss from before.

With their bodies pressed together without any gap, Ji Ho’s violently beating heart was clearly transmitted.

Yi Soo felt dizzy, as if this wasn’t reality but she was being constantly pulled into somewhere.

The wet sounds of their lips meeting filled her ears, further stimulating her senses.

As the kiss grew increasingly rough, a pained moan escaped Yi Soo’s lips.

“Ah…”

At that sound, Ji Ho painfully pulled his lips away.

Having barely reined in his burning desire, he looked down at Yi Soo.

“Haa… Sorry…”

Yi Soo managed a faint smile, as if frozen.

She wanted to say it was okay, but the words wouldn’t come out.

“…Don’t be nervous. I won’t do anything more.”

Ji Ho smiled as he tapped Yi Soo’s cheek, having caught his ragged breath.

Thinking Ji Ho was a bit annoying for suddenly smiling so casually, Yi Soo slowly sat up.

She felt somewhat upset at being the only one still flustered.

“It’s past 8 o’clock.”

Ji Ho said, looking at the digital clock on the nightstand.

“It’s already this late? I napped like it was nighttime.”

“Now that you’ve slept well, let’s do what we planned. Starting with dinner.”

Yi Soo, who hadn’t realized she was hungry, now felt her appetite.

Come to think of it, aside from the sandwich she ate this morning, all she had was the beer from earlier.

I wonder what’s in the fridge.

With an uneasy feeling, Yi Soo walked to the kitchen and flung open the refrigerator door.

Water, beer, kimchi, a few onions, and a few eggs were all there was.

The large fridge looked ridiculous with how little was in it.

Ji Ho, who had followed, stood behind Yi Soo looking into the fridge as well.

“You don’t eat at home at all, do you?”

“Yeah. Not for the past few days.”

There was nothing, and staring longer wouldn’t change that.

Yi Soo closed the door of the empty fridge and turned around.

“We’ll have to order delivery. What do you want to eat?”

Even if there were ingredients, Yi Soo didn’t have the skills to make a delicious meal.

Inviting her boyfriend over and serving a home-cooked meal was just something she saw in dramas, not her reality.

“You said you like meat, right? I wonder if we can get steak delivered. Or should we order bossam or jokbal?”

Recalling what Ji Ho had said before, Yi Soo opened her phone screen.

“Don’t worry about me, order whatever you want.”

“Hmm. Then I’ll choose… I’ll order sushi.”

Yi Soo ordered sushi through the delivery app.

**

Soon after, appetizing sushi was placed on the dining table.

It seemed like her hungry stomach was screaming to eat quickly.

Having skipped both lunch and dinner, Yi Soo started eating the sushi deliciously, forgetting to even speak.

“You’re eating well. You must have been very hungry.”

Ji Ho, who had been watching silently, spoke for the first time as Yi Soo was finishing the sushi.

“Yeah. It’s the first thing I’m eating since breakfast.”

“Then have some more of this.”

Ji Ho moved three pieces of sushi onto Yi Soo’s plate one by one.

“Why? Don’t you like sushi?”

“I feel full just watching you eat.”

“Aish, what’s that. You’re not my mother.”

“I know. I guess it’s because I like you so much.”

Yi Soo smiled awkwardly at the cheesy remark, but didn’t refuse and ate all the sushi Ji Ho had given her.

By the time they cleaned up the neatly eaten sushi containers, it was well past 9 PM.

Yi Soo had many things she had put off until after her exams.

The first priority was meeting Ji Ho, and the second was catching up on sleep.

Though the order had changed, she had already done these two things anyway.

“Now that we’ve had dinner, shall we drink and watch a movie?”

“Sure. Let’s do that.”

Yi Soo took two cans of beer from the fridge and went over to Ji Ho, who was choosing a movie.

“Have you picked one?”

Ji Ho, holding the remote in one hand and carefully selecting a movie on the TV screen, paused on a fantasy romance film.

“We’re watching this?”

Yi Soo, who had hoped for anything but a romance movie, was a bit taken aback.

Why romance of all genres, with so many other options available?

The movie Ji Ho chose was about an ordinary high school girl falling into a fatal love with a handsome vampire, a globally popular and successful film.

It was decidedly a movie that women would like, and Yi Soo herself had seen it several times, even memorizing key lines.

“Yeah. This just caught my eye. Is it okay if we watch this?”

“Sure.”

‘At least it’s not R-rated. This much is fine.’

Recalling the movie scenes from her memory, Yi Soo also readily agreed.

As the movie started, Yi Soo became increasingly absorbed in the male lead’s expressions and lines.

During the scene where he secretly visits the female lead’s room late at night to kiss her, she held her breath and stared at the screen.

Yi Soo’s body, which had been loosely leaning on the sofa, gradually leaned forward.

Hugging a cushion with one hand, Yi Soo smiled, reacting to each of the male lead’s lines as if she had become the female protagonist in the movie.

Grinning.

Forgetting that Ji Ho was beside her, Yi Soo unknowingly covered her mouth and giggled helplessly whenever the male lead said something heart-fluttering.

As she was watching intently, suddenly Ji Ho appeared in front of Yi Soo, completely blocking the movie screen.

Ji Ho’s face, close enough for their noses to touch, instantly filled Yi Soo’s field of vision.

“Wh-what? Why?”

“Do you like that guy so much?”