I wanted to say ‘No’, but my body reacted first.

“Won’t you speak?”

“……What……should I say?”

In contrast to her feverish state, he was so calm. While his hands persistently tormented her, even his voice tone remained unchanged.

“Tell me what you want.”

Yuri felt inwardly wronged, as if she was the only one feeling this way. But she couldn’t just passively go along, so she gritted her teeth and pushed Jeho’s chest with her palm.

“Jeho, from now on, don’t move an inch and stay still.”

Jeho raised one eyebrow as if he hadn’t quite understood.

“Don’t move an inch and stay still, I said. You just asked what I want, didn’t you?”

Yuri raised her chin with a prim expression.

“It’s unfair. Always just me……”

Yuri couldn’t finish her sentence and blushed. She felt wronged trying to say ‘It feels like I’m the only one affected.’ On the other hand, she felt subtly provoked by the thought, ‘Have I really been the only one affected until now?’ Words she wanted to say poured out involuntarily.

“Until now, you’ve been the only one… touching… me and stuff.”

As if embarrassed while speaking, her gaze, which initially looked straight at Jeho, had slightly shifted to the side by the end of her words. Jeho found her appearance so cute that he chuckled.

She clearly didn’t know how much her shy blushing and averted gaze stirred his instincts.

“Alright. If that’s what you want, I won’t move an inch and stay still.”

What’s the big deal.

Jeho smiled leisurely and took a step back. Then he spread his arms out to the sides.

“Okay, I’ll stay like this until you tell me to stop, so do as you please. Is that good?”

“……Ah.”

Despite telling him not to move, Yuri was now at a loss for what to do next.

Why did she say such a thing? What should she do as she pleases?

Of course, at her age, she wasn’t completely ignorant. It wasn’t that she had no experience at all. But still, now that she was about to take the initiative, her already red face turned even redder. Yet, she felt uncomfortable backing out now, as it would seem like she was just putting on airs.

Was it because she was taking too long? Jeho’s eyes narrowed as he looked at her. Only then did Yuri realize she was causing him pain.

“Aren’t your arms hurting?”

“Of course they hurt. Wasn’t this supposed to be my punishment?”

“No! Who said it was punishment? Quickly lower your arms. And don’t stand so far away, come closer.”

“If that’s what you want.”

He smiled languidly and came closer to Yuri.

“Then now, can I do what I want?”

Yuri nodded without thinking. In the blink of an eye, he stretched out his arms and pulled her into his embrace. Their bodies pressed directly against each other.

Just the feeling of holding each other tightly seemed to make her dizzy. Jeho buried his face in Yuri’s nape and breathed in her sweet scent deeply. Then he whispered tenderly.

“Now, it’s your turn. Do what you want to do.”

Even just being held still felt amazingly good, but Yuri wondered what more she could do here. She reached out her hand.

She carefully caressed his broad shoulders and back. The touch felt different from when she touched him during treatment. It was hotter, firmer, and clung more stickily.

“Is that all? Don’t hold back, do everything you want to do.”

When her touch didn’t progress and stayed only on his back, Jeho spoke as if disappointed and loosened his arms around her. As he tried to step back, Yuri hastily pulled him closer. She didn’t have the courage to expose her naked body in the brightly lit kitchen, even if it might be different in the bedroom.

“Let’s go to the bedroom.”

“Why, is here not okay?”

“This is a client’s house, isn’t it?”

She could accept the sofa or bed to some extent, but on top of the island counter? That was out of the question. It would be such an inconvenience.

“We’re not going all the way here anyway.”

“Still, we can’t.”

“Would it be okay if it were my house?”

“That’s……”

Focusing on answering, she didn’t notice Jeho moving. As he leaned his upper body forward, her body fell backward and the cold marble touched her back. Yuri, realizing too late, struggled, but she had already lost her balance and fallen backward.

“What should we do? I like it here.”

He said, looking down at her while supporting his upper body with one arm.

“Jeho, please.”

Yuri’s eyes welled up with tears, so startled.

“Stop it. This is a client’s……”

Jeho looked down at Yuri with a mischievous smile. If he went just a little further here, she looked like she might burst into tears at any moment. He didn’t want to see her cry from sadness, but he wanted to make her cry like this occasionally.

She was so beautiful. Her blushing face with glistening tears felt sweet enough to make his throat burn.

As Jeho’s face drew closer, the tears that had been welling up in her eyes finally fell. Jeho gently wiped away Yuri’s tears with his hand and put his finger in his mouth to taste them. It should have tasted salty, but it only tasted sweet. Even he knew this wasn’t normal.

I’m going mad for you like this.

“Shh, it’s okay. This is my house.”

Jeho whispered soothingly and tenderly embraced Yuri lying on the marble.

[This is the timeline separator]

“Damn it. What the hell is going on with this bastard?”

Even after arriving at the hotel, Manager Jin still wasn’t answering his phone. When he inquired through his secretary, the answer came back that he had suddenly submitted his resignation this afternoon.

When he shouted asking what that meant, they told him the exact time Manager Jin had submitted his resignation. It almost coincided with the time the Philippines-bound plane carrying Jeho had taken off.

With Manager Jin having vanished now, there was no one who could grasp the situation. The only option left was for him to contact President Park directly.

Minwoo, who had committed so many frauds here and there, had assigned only one person to handle each corrupt deal. That way, if something went wrong later, he could just make one person take responsibility and cut them loose.

Manager Jin had been in charge of handling all the corrupt dealings involving President Park. Even the secret information leak to Prosecutor Cha this time was known only to Manager Jin. Not even Executive Director Kwon knew about it.

And yet Manager Jin had disappeared without a trace. Before disappearing, he had neatly handed over his work, saying there was a problem with the Philippines project, but still, something felt off.

Was he perhaps laying a smokescreen because he was being chased by President Park’s side?

He tried calling again. Finally, the dial tone was heard. Color began to return to Minwoo’s face. But the voice that followed wasn’t Manager Jin’s.

[The number you have dialed is not in service. Please check the number and try again.]

His pent-up patience finally burst.

“Argh!”

Minwoo screamed and threw his cell phone against the wall.

He felt like he was going crazy with curiosity about how things were unfolding.

[This is the timeline separator]

Beep beep―.

An alert sounded from the espresso machine indicating the coffee was ready. Jeho rose while still embracing Yuri. He lightly kissed her forehead and went to get the coffee.

How can he return to normal so quickly?

Yuri muttered inwardly as she watched Jeho’s back while he poured coffee into cups.

She regretted if she had provoked him unnecessarily. She quickly got down from the island counter and fixed her disheveled hair and clothes before he could seduce her again.

“I talked with my father.”

Yuri quickly spoke up as Jeho offered her a coffee cup. There was a need to change the heated atmosphere.

“He said we could cancel the wedding if I wanted to. Whatever the reason, since Minwoo unilaterally didn’t show up at the venue.”

“Is that so? That’s good.”

He didn’t seem very surprised. He nodded with an indifferent face. Yuri added a few more words to help him understand.

“It seems Hyunkyung investigated Minwoo’s background. I’m not sure what, but it seems she found a fatal weakness enough to cancel the wedding.”

Jeho furrowed his brow slightly but listened silently to her words.

“When Minwoo returns, this time we won’t wait and will definitely cancel the wedding by having the elders of both families meet.”

Again, he just nodded without saying anything. He picked up his coffee cup again with a thoughtful expression. After a while, he spoke slowly.

“Is that why you confessed your love to Hyunkyung earlier?”

“Even if not for that, Hyunkyung is the most precious person to me.”

“Precious enough to share all your secrets with each other?”

For a moment, a crack appeared in Yuri’s expression. Jeho didn’t miss her slightly lowering her gaze. The words Elder Chae had told him came to mind.

―Why are you asking me that? You should ask Yuri directly. But will she really open up to you? When she couldn’t tell even her best friend Hyunkyung for 10 years?

Yuri ultimately didn’t answer Jeho’s question. She just sipped her coffee with her gaze averted. Jeho checked the time on his wristwatch. It was a little past 8 PM.

“Shall I take you home?”

It was a natural question he could ask, since she had already said she wouldn’t go to Hyunkyung’s house. Yuri gripped her coffee cup tightly and turned her gaze to Jeho.

“Can I stay here tonight?”

Although his teasing was troublesome, she didn’t want to leave his side. How long had it been since she last saw him, how long since she was held in his arms? Even in this moment together, she still felt longing and yearning…

“Just for tonight?”

“If it’s okay, I’d like to stay here until Minwoo returns.”

“Of course it’s okay. You can stay even after Minwoo returns.”

He said in a gentle voice as he brought the coffee cup to his lips. Yuri recalled what he had just said.

He had clearly said this was his home. She didn’t know how the client’s house had suddenly become his house, but she didn’t think it was a lie. Whatever the story was, she could find out gradually.

“But there’s only one bed.”

Jeho continued as he put down his coffee cup. It was perhaps natural that a guest room wasn’t prepared since the construction had only recently been completed.

“I can sleep on the living room sofa.”

“I can’t allow that. Decide. Either we share the bed or you go home.”

When Yuri couldn’t answer readily, he smiled with narrowed eyes.

“Don’t worry. If you don’t want to, I won’t lay a finger on you. If you just want to sleep, we’ll just sleep. I have good self-control.”

He had already proven his self-control just moments ago. The man who had been so passionately heated, as if he would push to the end, immediately got up and let her go at the sound of the coffee being ready. She couldn’t understand how that was possible.

“Okay, then.”

Seeming pleased with her answer, Jeho smiled. He opened the lid of a wide-mouthed glass jar and took out a cookie.

“Let me tell you in advance, I don’t like rushing things.”

Jeho whispered as he held the cookie to Yuri’s lips.

“If it were candy, I wouldn’t chew it in one bite, but suck on it very slowly. If it were chocolate, I’d lick it with my tongue and melt it slowly. That’s how you properly savor the taste.”

Though it was clearly talk about dessert, Yuri felt a thrill throughout her body. Jeho held the cookie forward as if urging her to eat. As Yuri carefully took a bite of the cookie, he smiled gently.

“You should taste it cleanly and greedily, without leaving anything behind.”

Jeho lowered his head and deeply savored Yuri’s lips where cookie crumbs remained.