Je Guk waited in the study while Ha In took a bath, catching up on backlogged work from the company.

Since the legal risks of Cheonha Group exploded, the amount of work to take care of had doubled.

The report from the legal department took a long time to read through due to the difficult legal terminology.

Je Guk raised his arm to look at his wristwatch. Quite a lot of time had passed.

He had pushed her to take a bath for at least 10 minutes, but an hour had already passed. The bath salts must have been effective.

However, as time passed, he felt strangely uneasy. Taking a bath for such a long time was quite tiring.

“She must be exhausted…”

Je Guk called to see if Ha In had finished her bath and come out. But Ha In didn’t answer the phone.

Did she put the phone somewhere else?

No way…

At the fleeting thought of a bad feeling, Je Guk jumped up from his seat and ran to the bathroom.

The bathroom door was tightly closed and looking at the switch, the light was on.

The slippers were placed neatly side by side. It meant Ha In was still inside.

“Ha In.”

Although his heart was racing, he carefully knocked on the bathroom door so as not to startle Ha In.

There was no sound from inside. It seemed like a big problem had occurred, and his heart sank.

“Ha In!”

Je Guk grabbed a large towel hanging on the side and burst through the door as if breaking it.

‘Clang!’

The moment Je Guk barged into the bathroom, the sound of a wine glass shattering was heard.

Ha In opened her groggy eyes wide, saw Je Guk, and was startled, sinking her body below the water’s surface and crossing her arms in an X.

“Sir! How can you come in like this!”

Je Guk was also surprised and quickly turned around.

“Then why were you so quiet?”

They were both equally flustered.

“I accidentally fell asleep. I was just about to answer after hearing the sound…”

But Je Guk had already entered the bathroom. Je Guk wiped his startled chest, thinking that a really big accident almost happened.

Fortunately, he was relieved, but his heart was still pounding.

“Phew, I was surprised thinking something had happened to you.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know I would fall asleep either.”

She must have been so exhausted to have fallen asleep in the bathtub. Je Guk took a deep breath with his hands on his hips.

“Come out now. It’s tiring to stay in the hot water for so long.”

“Okay.”

“Can you get up by yourself? You might feel dizzy.”

Je Guk asked Ha In with his back turned.

“Alone…”

“No.”

Je Guk was about to turn around in surprise, afraid Ha In would step on the broken glass, and Ha In once again sank her body under the water.

“Be careful of the glass, the glass.”

“Ah… right.”

Ha In, who was not fully awake, had no sense of the situation at all.

It seemed like he would have to carry Ha In out.

“I won’t look. I’ll hold you without looking. If you get up alone and get hurt, it will be a serious injury.”

“No, still.”

Ha In hid her body deeper into the water. Thanks to the bath salts, her body was covered, which was fortunate.

“If you collapse like that, embarrassment is not the problem.”

Je Guk turned his head to the opposite side and approached Ha In in an awkward manner.

“Sir, be careful.”

Ha In spoke worriedly, afraid that Je Guk might get hurt by the glass shards.

Today, her requests were particularly demanding. It was really hard for Je Guk to be careful of the glass shards and not look at Ha In.

The sound of glass shards being stepped on by the house slippers Je Guk was wearing was heard with a ‘crunch’.

It was a nerve-wracking sound. Ha In was startled by that sound.

“Don’t worry. Do you think I don’t have that much motor skills?”

He unfolded the large towel he was holding in his hand.

“Hold my shoulders and get up.”

He lowered his posture so that Ha In could hold onto his shoulders.

Ha In held onto Je Guk’s shoulders and got up, and Je Guk turned his head and covered Ha In’s body with the large towel.

“Oh!”

Ha In felt a big dizziness and leaned her body towards Je Guk as if pouring herself onto him.

I knew this would happen.

Je Guk firmly caught and held Ha In.

The sharp scent of bath salts coming from Ha In seeped sweetly into Je Guk’s nose.

Right now, the most dangerous thing was not the glass shards on the floor, but the very existence of Ha In.

Je Guk took a deep breath and held Ha In safely.

Je Guk applauded his own patience for being able to stay calm even in this situation.

“See. If you had gotten up alone, you would have almost fallen.”

Ha In draped her body over Je Guk like a wet towel.

“It feels like all the fatigue is hitting me at once.”

“Taking a bath itself requires so much physical strength.”

Ha In also nodded her head in agreement.

“Let’s go like this. If there’s a better way, let me know.”

There was no better way. Je Guk wrapped Ha In in the towel and headed towards the bedroom.

Je Guk sat Ha In on the chair in front of the dressing table and looked at her.

Ha In shrank her body, tightly wrapping the towel around herself out of embarrassment.

Even though her body was covered with a towel, her slender shoulders and thin legs were clearly visible.

Je Guk looked at Ha In’s hands gripping the towel.

Ha In pulled the towel even tighter.

The place Je Guk was looking at was not what Ha In was thinking.

It wasn’t a desire to pull the towel open either. It was just her hands that had become wrinkled from the water.

“Look at your hands all swollen. If this is the state when you said you wouldn’t take a bath, if you had, you would have stayed up all night.”

Ha In lowered her head in embarrassment.

“You finished the wine too, but seeing that there’s none spilled on the floor.”

Ha In coughed in vain and shook her head vigorously.

“Don’t try to wake up. You need to sleep soon.”

“Ah, no. I have to go today.”

“Why are you insisting on going today of all days? Will you be okay with drowsiness and alcohol, Prosecutor?”

Ha In couldn’t argue back because there was nothing wrong with what he said.

Je Guk examined the cosmetics on the dressing table. He found a product labeled ‘body’ among them.

Ha In just looked at him, not knowing what Je Guk was trying to do.

“It’s this one.”

Je Guk lowered his posture and sat down to look at Ha In. Ha In firmly put her legs together and shrank her body a bit more.

“Your feet are swollen too. Let me see them.”

“My feet are fine.”

In fact, it seemed like no part of her feet or anywhere else was fine. But among them, the part that was the most not fine was her feet. They were skinny and ugly feet.

Just imagining it made her feel embarrassed and shudder. Ha In’s cheeks, which were flushed with heat, turned even redder.

Moreover, people think feet are dirty, but Je Guk didn’t care and told her to stick out her feet. Ha In curled her toes.

“Quickly.”

After much contemplation, Ha In stuck out the tips of her feet a little. Then Je Guk placed Ha In’s feet on his lap.

Her thin legs were only as thick as Je Guk’s wrist.

“I can do it myself.”

Ha In, who was too embarrassed to show her feet, strongly declined.

“The mirror is in front of you, look at your eyes. They’re so full of drowsiness that I would believe it if you said you were sleeping. But fortunately, your complexion seems to have returned.”

Ha In looked in the mirror as he said.

She was barely holding up her sleepy eyelids with the strength of her forehead. Ha In turned her head to look at Je Guk.

It was Je Guk who didn’t even refuse her ugly feet and placed them on his lap, caressing them with his hands.

But she felt sorry for being wary of him seeing her naked body.

The feeling of the white and soft body lotion brushing over her skin felt different from any other time.

There was strength in his affectionate touch. More than that, it was so warm that it felt like her body was burning up every time his hand brushed against her.

How can this strange feeling arise?

Ha In tried to hold back her eyelids from drooping by putting strength into her toes.

It seemed like her mind, which she had been trying hard to hold onto in this strange relaxation, would come undone. Her wariness had long been thrown away.

“Ha, I’m hot too.”

Je Guk, who felt a rush of heat, unbuttoned his shirt and placed Ha In’s other leg on his lap again.

And he spread and applied the body lotion. The feeling of Je Guk’s fingertips brushing against her was so smooth and soft that she kept losing focus.

“The bath salts seem to have had quite an effect. Ha In, your body seems to have gotten a bit warm.”

Je Guk looked up at Ha In. And he held Ha In’s hand. Her hands were warm too. While at it, he applied body lotion to her arms as well.

Ha In no longer shrank her body or avoided his gaze.

It became comfortable to entrust her body to Je Guk, who loved her more than himself.

It felt like this was being loved.

The touch flowing from her wrist to her elbow, from her elbow to her shoulder, lingered on her neck, and her body followed and rose.

Before she knew it, Je Guk’s gaze was as close as a span away from Ha In.

Ha In tried to put strength into her pupils, but her already weary mind had already taken control of her reason.

Far from strength, her eyelids were already half-closed. Yet somehow, the sensation was vivid wherever his touch reached. It was a strange phenomenon.

“These bath salts won’t do. The fragrance intoxicates people.”

It was what Ha In wanted to say too.

Je Guk didn’t move away from Ha In’s sight and swept over her forehead, pupils, bridge of her nose, and lips with his eyes.

As he was trying to overcome numerous temptations and straighten his back, Ha In’s two hands pulled the nape of his neck.

The moment Ha In’s lips touched Je Guk’s lips, he grabbed the towel she had let go of.

“What are you trying to do?”

Je Guk tried his best to suppress the emotions he had been holding back until now.

“I don’t know.”

Ha In’s body was already tightly pressed against Je Guk’s body.

Je Guk wrapped one hand around Ha In’s waist and pulled her in.

“I don’t know. My body just got hot.”

Ha In kissed Je Guk again. Ha In’s body temperature rose higher and higher, and the fragrance spread even thicker.

Je Guk hotly swallowed Ha In’s hot breath. The bath salt effect Je Guk had wanted was appearing loud and clear.