The Grand Temptation - Chapter 38

“How far can you go?”

It was a relatively easy question, but I still couldn’t fully comprehend it. Was it because I was lying down? Or was I really drunk? My whole body felt languid and my ears were ringing as if a swarm of bees had flown over.

“…You’re too beautiful. So beautiful, it makes me angry.”

He muttered in a voice drowned in heat and brought his lips to my white skin. The dizzying sensation made me squeeze my eyes shut. My lips trembled involuntarily. The hot touch went lower and lower along my slender neckline, as if leaving a trail.

“You’re driving me crazy. …I can’t control myself at all.”

The word ‘control’ rang an alarm in my mind. When I opened my eyes, Jeho’s blatant gaze was looking down at me. His eyes, darkened with excitement, revealed unrestrained desire. As he reached for the zipper on the back of my dress, I stiffened my body.

Wait a minute! You mean here?

Only then did I fully understand his question. I hurriedly turned my head to the side. Through the glass walls surrounding us on all sides, the colorful lights sparkled.

Even if they say you can’t see inside from the outside, Hyunkyung and the others could come back at any time… No, even if they don’t come back, how can we do this here! But I was too shocked to even move a finger. Tears welled up from the bewilderment.

“Huh, you’re like this and yet…”

The heat that had filled his eyes disappeared in an instant like smoke. Jeho looked down at me with an emotionless face, brushing back his fallen bangs. After a moment, he lifted himself off of me. As he sat to the side, I quickly sat up. I pulled down the dress that had ridden up, fully exposing my thighs. I was so embarrassed and flustered that a tear dropped.

“Did I make you cry this time?”

He muttered as if talking to himself, wiping away the tears gathered in the corners of my eyes with his fingertips. I shook my head no, but Jeho pulled me into his arms. I didn’t resist and rested my face against his broad chest. He stroked my back soothingly, just like before.

“Do you still dislike it? Feel like I’m treating you like a kid?”

I bit my lower lip and shook my head. Seeming pleased with my answer, Jeho chuckled softly and cupped my chin.

“Even if I was out of my mind because you’re so pretty, I’m not the kind of trash who would take a woman in a place like this.”

In other words, he was testing how far I could pretend to be tough. I should be offended, but I wasn’t at all. Rather, a sigh of relief escaped me, and my heart fluttered a little.

“I’ll just kiss you.”

He whispered seductively, tilting his head. As our lips met, a burning heat penetrated deep inside me. The rough sound of his breathing, mixed with a sweet scent, spread deep into my mouth. He conquered the delicate membranes, sometimes gently, sometimes violently.

The kiss that seemed to suck out my very soul kept stealing my breath away. Even when I opened my mouth wide to replenish the lacking air, my breathing only grew more ragged.

My vision kept blurring and my surroundings swayed dizzily. Thinking I might melt away like this, I quietly closed my eyes. The sweet chocolate flowed down from the sky, dyeing the world around me black.

“Ha.”

Separating our interlocked lips, Jeho looked at me with an absurd expression. I had my eyes closed, breathing raggedly. I could hardly believe it even as I saw it. Falling asleep in the middle of a kiss.

As he cupped my face with his hand, I lowered my head and leaned against him as if collapsing.

At the resort and at the club, she sometimes had the habit of falling asleep completely unguarded, though of course today she was drunk.

How did she think the other person would react? She didn’t seem to know at all that every single one of her actions was a fatal temptation he couldn’t refuse. Even though he had never thought of himself as sadistic, in that moment, the desire to push her until she sobbed welled up.

Whether she knew this or not… Yuri was entrusting herself to him completely with such an innocent face.

The desire he couldn’t satisfy because he couldn’t bear to touch her squirmed inside him. As if soothing himself, Jeho stroked Yuri’s shoulders affectionately for a very long time.

[Timeline separator]

Thanks to Manager Kim, he was easily able to enter Hyunkyung’s apartment. Yuri said she was using the guest room across from the living room.

Yuri didn’t wake up even as he laid her on the bed. She only made an “umm” sound. She probably hadn’t gotten this drunk from the one glass of whiskey he gave her to calm down, so she must have already had a considerable amount to drink beforehand.

“Open your eyes for a bit. You should change clothes before sleeping.”

But the deeply asleep Yuri did not wake up. He thought about just leaving her like this, but the dress that clung tightly to her body, making it hard to even breathe, bothered him.

Not only was it uncomfortable, but the dress was also visually far too stimulating. It unabashedly revealed her near-perfect figure, from her voluptuous breasts to her slim waist and the large curves of her hips.

The moment he saw her like that, he couldn’t contain his anger. If Manager Kim hadn’t stopped him, it wouldn’t have ended with just one punch. He would have broken every single finger that had touched her, one by one, without leaving a single one.

Her round breasts rose and fell with each breath, drawing his gaze. He wanted to pull down her dress and sprinkle red petals on the white snow, blatantly leaving his mark.

She would never know how carefully he had treated her, as if handling a glass doll. He had suppressed the urge to bite down hard with superhuman strength.

“And you say you’re not seducing me…”

Her every single action was a fatal temptation he couldn’t refuse. Even now, she was smacking her lips like a newborn baby, moistening her dry lips with her pink tongue.

“Whew, you really drive me crazy.”

Letting out a small chuckle, Jeho carefully pulled the covers over her and lowered his head to her plump lips parted for breathing. A pitiful kiss. It was the only compensation he could take from her.

[Timeline separator]

“I’m sorry, Yuri. I thought it would be okay since Manager Kim was there.”

The next morning, after hearing what happened at the club from Manager Kim, Hyunkyung apologized profusely with a face that looked like she was about to cry.

“It’s fine. It’s not like you did it on purpose.”

As it turned out, Hyunkyung and the others had moved to a completely different club. They made excuses about the mood being off that day, but it had been their plan from the start. They were providing an opportunity for Yuri and Jeho to be alone together. On the day Yuri was brought to Hyunkyung’s place, Hyunkyung and Jeho had exchanged phone numbers just in case.

A few days ago, Hyunkyung called Jeho and invited him to the club. Of course, she didn’t tell Yuri. The plan was for Manager Kim to stay at the club and guard Yuri until Jeho arrived. But there was a hitch in the plan when Yuri went downstairs without texting Manager Kim.

“But why did you do that?”

“Huh? Do what?”

“Why did you call Jeho there?”

Hyunkyung made a troubled expression for a moment. But soon, with a ‘whatever, I don’t know!’ face, she spilled the truth.

“I wanted you to make a deep memory together before getting married. A sticky memory with your first love. And if you crossed the line while doing that, well, what can you do? You’d just throw the marriage out the window.”

“You!”

It was so absurd that Yuri laughed shortly. Hyunkyung’s eyes sparkled with hope when Yuri laughed it off instead of getting angry like she expected.

“So how was last night?”

How was last night? To put it bluntly, I fainted while kissing. The whiskey I had drunk quite a bit of even before Jeho arrived must have suddenly taken effect. It seemed I had fallen asleep in his arms and come to Hyunkyung’s house like that. I vaguely remembered the conversation between Jeho and Manager Kim, though not exactly.

I faintly remembered Jeho laying me down on the bed after entering Hyunkyung’s house with Manager Kim’s help. I must have woken up halfway and changed clothes in a daze. I wasn’t sure, but that was probably what happened.

“How was it? He just brought me home and left. I fell asleep like that.”

There was some physical contact, but it would be at a kindergarten level for Hyunkyung, so there was no need for a detailed description.

“What, he couldn’t even eat when the table was all set?”

Hyunkyung grumbled after confirming nothing she had hoped for happened.

“Do I have to put the spoon in your hand too? Jeho didn’t seem like that kind of guy, but I guess he’s no good.”

“Stop it. That’s enough.”

Yuri smiled sheepishly and gently pushed the excited Hyunkyung’s shoulders. Then she spread her arms and hugged her tightly.

“Thank you, Hyunkyung.”

“Huh? For what?”

Hyunkyung rolled her eyes with a puzzled look when Yuri suddenly hugged her.

“Just… Thank you for everything. I love you, Hyunkyung.”

Because thanks to the ‘one-night escapade’ Hyunkyung planned, she had realized a very important fact.

She was so glad to have realized it before it was too late. But she couldn’t tell Hyunkyung the truth.

She had to talk to Minwoo first. It was the bare minimum courtesy she owed to the person who was once her fiancé. Minwoo had to be the first to know the marriage was off, before anyone else.

Until then, she couldn’t tell anyone.

[Timeline separator]

I was contemplating how to bring it up to Minwoo when my cell phone rang. The caller was Yuri.

[Unni, are you coming home tomorrow?]

Come to think of it, it had already been a week since I left home. Madam Ahn had suggested I stay with Hyunkyung for about a week.

[Dad said he’s going down to Geoje Island tomorrow. He’ll be there for about a week before coming back.]

It seemed he was vacating the house so Yuri could return home with peace of mind. But I couldn’t readily answer. I had to meet Minwoo and call off the marriage, and the thought of going home in the midst of that made my head spin. When there was no answer, Yuri continued.

[Then come back around when Dad returns. I’ll let you know the day before he comes back.]

“Would you do that?”

[Yeah. I will.]

After hanging up with Yuri, I got a call from Minwoo this time. It seemed he finally couldn’t stand it and called first when there was no contact at all from her.

[Yuri, what are you doing now?]

“You called at a good time. Can we meet today?”

[Of course. I’ll come pick you up now.]

“No, don’t do that. Let’s meet at the agreed place.”

[Then shall we meet at Namsan Meadowood?]

When I arrived at the appointed place, the manager personally came out to greet me and guided me to the reserved room. As I entered, Minwoo, who had arrived first, stood up from his seat with a broad smile.

“You’re here?”

He stood up from his seat and hugged her before she could avoid it. Yuri silently let Minwoo do as he pleased. Because in a little while, she had to bring up a rather serious topic.

“…Minwoo.”

Just before dessert arrived after the meal ended, Yuri carefully brought it up.

“I think we need to rethink this marriage.”

Minwoo’s face, which had been bright until then, changed in an instant to a dull expression.