“Tonight, we will go all the way, right?”

Although it was clearly words that came out of her own mouth, Yuri had to mentally retrace them once again.

Belatedly biting her tongue, but the words had already left. Having come this far, she had no intention of backing down. Her face turned bright red, but Yuri didn’t avert her gaze and stared directly at Jeho.

After a moment of awkward silence, Jeho opened his mouth.

“I was planning to take it slow. Carefully, so you don’t get hurt.”

Those words moved Yuri’s heart more than anything else. The word ‘slowly’ made her want to go ‘quickly’, and hearing ‘so you don’t get hurt’ made her think, ‘I don’t mind getting hurt.’ After all, the difference between pain and ecstasy is just a hair’s breadth.

“It’s okay. I’m ready now.”

A smile appeared on Jeho’s face as he looked at Yuri seriously.

“That’s unexpected. You even know how to openly seduce.”

She was surprised at herself too. But having made up her mind, she didn’t want to put it off any longer. Yuri smiled brightly and wrapped her arms around Jeho’s waist.

“So, did you fall for my seduction?”

“Hmm.”

As he delayed his answer, Yuri narrowed her eyes and made a slightly upset expression.

“Of course you should fall for it. Yes, tonight.”

At the same time, Jeho carefully removed Yuri’s arms from around his waist.

“Tonight is tonight, but first I need to take care of this.”

He rolled up his sleeves and approached the box containing the shrimp. As soon as he opened the box, there was a crackling sound that spread. Yuri stepped back with a scared expression once again.

“Is this your first time seeing live shrimp?”

“Not exactly, but it’s my first time seeing ones so lively.”

“I guess so. The ones you get delivered to Seoul would lose energy during transport.”

Jeho skillfully scooped the shrimp into a colander and brought them to the kitchen sink. Yuri watched Jeho clean the shrimp from about 2 meters away.

“Most die while being washed under tap water, then you soak them in ice water for 5-10 minutes.”

“I think my mom used to do that too. It was a long time ago, so I don’t remember exactly.”

As Jeho looked at her with a puzzled expression, Yuri moved a little closer to the sink. As Jeho had said, when he put them in tap water, the sound of shrimp hitting each other subsided.

“My dad only eats freshly fried live shrimp. So when mom was alive, she always received live shrimp by delivery and cooked them.”

Ms. An tried frying with live shrimp at home only twice, then immediately gave up. After that, Dr. Chae never ate shrimp fritters at home.

“Your late mother must have loved Dr. Chae very much.”

Jeho said while soaking the shrimp in ice water.

“Why do you think so?”

“Do you think it’s easy to clean and fry live shrimp one by one? Once or twice might be okay, but always? That, you can’t do without love.”

“…Ah.”

Although she didn’t know how shrimp fritters and love were connected, what Jeho just said was wrong. Her mother clearly said she never loved her father. Yet she bought live shrimp and cooked for a husband she didn’t love.

Why?

Yuri remained silent, looking down at the shrimp soaking in ice water.

After the blood-curdling time passed, finally the cell phone rang. Secretary Nam, who finished the call, turned his head from the driver’s seat to Minwoo.

“I’m not sure if they’re together, but I’ve found out where Kwon Jeho is.”

“Where?”

“He’s near Gangneung. We’re getting the exact address now.”

“Head that way first.”

“But, I think the chairman knows you’ve returned, sir. Shouldn’t we see the chairman first?”

Minwoo hesitated for a moment. If his grandfather had heard about his return, it would be right to visit him immediately. But he had no time for that. For Minwoo, Yuri was the top priority.

“I’ll see him tomorrow. Just go.”

“Yes, sir.”

Secretary Nam turned his head forward again and started the car. Minwoo’s face looking out the window grew increasingly grim by the moment.

He could understand her being very angry because he didn’t show up at the wedding, but he couldn’t forgive her for not being able to wait and going on a trip with Jeho.

He thought that regardless of the wedding or anything else, he should first definitely make Yuri his woman. But he had to carefully set a trap. He couldn’t turn Dr. Chae into an enemy.

About 30 minutes after entering the highway, another call came in.

“It’s the Gangneung villa, sir.”

After finishing the call, Secretary Nam entered the villa’s address into the navigation. As they got closer to the destination, Minwoo’s body trembled and he cursed inwardly.

Ah, shit…

Maybe because he was excited, his head wasn’t working properly. He needed to make a plan before arriving at the villa… First, safely extract Yuri, then attack Jeho when he’s alone?

There was no need to even hire gangsters. Just hire a few tough guys and make it look like a fight broke out. Lure him to a place without CCTV, beat him to near death. Should I smash his head so he can never get up from bed again?

Even if Chairman Kwon found out, it would be unavoidable if Jeho was completely broken. Then he would be the chairman’s only grandson.

For Chairman Kwon, bloodline was more important than anything else. Even if he was a flawed person, he would try to pass on the group’s management rights to his own bloodline rather than a third party. It wouldn’t be bad to remove an eyesore before it grew bigger.

Just you wait. That handsome face of yours.

Just imagining Jeho collapsing made him unbearably happy.

You must pay the price for touching my woman.

A vicious smile had already appeared on Minwoo’s lips.

“Wow, you have to remove all the intestines one by one with a toothpick?”

Yuri asked with an expression of genuine surprise. Jeho furrowed his brow as if wondering how she could not know that. His expression seemed to ask, ‘Then were the shrimp fritters we ate last time fried without removing the intestines?’

“I bought pre-cleaned shrimp and fried them. The ones with the heads and shells already removed.”

Saying that, Yuri felt it sounded somewhat insincere, so she quickly added:

“But I made the rest myself. I mixed the batter with cornstarch, flour, pepper, garlic powder…”

The next words disappeared into her mouth. Because he lowered his head and pressed his lips to hers.

Though his hands were unusable from cleaning the shrimp, his lips precisely captured Yuri’s, as if biting them. A fresh citrus scent enveloped her. It was an electrifying kiss, made even more so because only their lips were touching.

Finally, as their lips parted, Yuri inhaled with a hint of regret. But she couldn’t cling to the man cooking and beg for more kisses.

She could only blink while silently looking at him. Unlike her, Jeho who had ignited the heat had an irritatingly calm face.

“From now on, don’t fry things at home. I get worried you might get hurt.”

Jeho laughed briefly, recalling the day she cooked. How pretty she was, smiling brightly at him without realizing flour was stuck to her bangs.

Even if there were intestines in the food she made for him, he could eat it deliciously even if there was something worse in it.

“This is TMI, but my mother isn’t good at cooking. No, she hates cooking itself. So I’ve rarely seen my mother cooking.”

Jeho said as he put the cleaned shrimp in the oven.

“When she came to live with her in-laws after marriage, she was scolded by the chairman. He asked how she couldn’t cook even one dish properly.”

Yuri’s eyes sparkled at hearing about his mother for the first time from him.

“Then my mother told the chairman that she married Kwon Jewoong, not got a job at a restaurant.”

As far as Yuri knew, Jeho’s mother was a second-generation Korean-American. She heard that Kwon vice chairman met her at university during his studies in the U.S. and married her despite family opposition. She had also heard in passing that there were big and small conflicts with Chairman Kwon even after marriage.

“My mother is probably the only person in the Kwon family who can argue with the chairman.”

A faint smile appeared on Jeho’s lips, as if just thinking of his mother made him feel good.

She sounded like a good person just from hearing about her. But in a relationship with no future, one shouldn’t be interested in the other person’s parents. She didn’t want to get hurt later by vain imagination.

Jeho turned towards Yuri, who had set the oven temperature and pressed the timer.

“We have about 30 minutes left, what should we do in the meantime?”

“We should clean up.”

Although she knew perfectly well what he meant, Yuri pretended not to understand and started cleaning the sink and surroundings. The heat ignited by the kiss earlier was still lingering in her body.

If physical contact occurred with him in this state, she might pounce on him first. But before she could even empty the sink, Jeho approached from the side and took her hand.

“I’ll do the cleaning. Don’t get your hands dirty.”

After saying that, he washed his hands in the sink while holding Yuri’s hand. After lathering up and washing thoroughly to the tips of his nails, he walked to the sofa still holding her hand. He sat on the sofa hugging Yuri from behind and rested his chin on top of her head.

Ah, now he felt alive. Actually, he had wanted to do this for quite a while. Regardless of the shrimp flailing in the box or whatever. He wanted to hug her tightly so she couldn’t breathe and kiss her.

How would he endure tonight? Looking at the clock, there was still a lot of time left.

“Haah.”

Instead of kissing Yuri, Jeho took a deep breath. If he put his lips on her now, he felt he absolutely wouldn’t be able to stop midway.

One of the reasons for planning the trip was an ominous feeling that they would just roll around in bed the entire vacation. He was afraid of acting worse than a beast while not even being one. While knowing rationally that he shouldn’t, he wasn’t confident he could control his desires.

Today was the same. He bought seafood to distract himself a little. But even while cleaning the seafood, all his attention was on Yuri. He hoped she wouldn’t make scared expressions. Every time the shrimp flailed, she flinched, and each time heat rushed to his lower abdomen. He had to forcibly push away the urge to make her flinch with other actions, the desire to shower her with breathtaking kisses.

“Yuri.”

Just holding her quietly made his heart pound so much it felt like it would burst. He had never been shaken by any temptation until now. There had been women who jumped into his bed in the middle of the night, and women who openly handed him hotel keys.

But he had never even glanced at the many women who actively approached him. Yet now, just looking at Yuri made excitement dominate him to the point his spine tingled.

“What should I do?”

“What is it?”

“I don’t think I can wait until night.”

For a moment, Yuri’s shoulders trembled slightly. After a while, she turned around. Their eyes met in the air. Yuri said nothing, blushing as she turned her head forward again.

“Do we need to wait until night?”

He whispered in a low voice filled with heat. Yuri bit her lower lip tightly as goosebumps rose from his gently caressing touch.

In fact, she too had been glancing at the clock thinking, ‘How will I wait until tonight?’ She was also regretting, ‘Why did I say tonight? I should have said right now.’

As if demanding an answer, his gentle touch began to persistently attack her body. Finally, Yuri turned her head towards him and pressed her lips to his. Just as their breaths deeply intertwined.

Ding―. Ding―. Ding―.

Jeho’s cell phone on the table rang. It was an unfamiliar ringtone that seemed to be set for a specific contact. Jeho’s face noticeably hardened for a moment.

He quickly picked up the phone and pressed the call button, pulling his lips away from Yuri.

“Hello? …Yes, go ahead.”

His voice answering the phone was heavier than usual.

“…What did you just say?”

Yuri quietly inhaled at the suddenly changed atmosphere. Jeho’s face looking at her contorted with dismay.