CHAPTER 4
He stroked her leg from top to bottom to restore the circulation, pressed firmly against the sole of her foot, and bent her toes back.
Little by little, Ha-eun’s painful groans subsided.
Even in the middle of all this, desire quietly stirred within him, and Seo Jae clenched his teeth.
I’m insane.
How could he harbor such thoughts toward Jung Ha-eun, who was practically his younger sister?
He had completely lost his mind.
“It’s better now. Thank you.”
Once the pain faded, Ha-eun seemed to realize how awkward the situation was and slowly pulled her foot out of his hands.
“Oh no. You got soaked because of me.”
Her long black eyelashes fluttered like the graceful wings of a butterfly, and her cheeks, flushed from the alcohol, looked as fresh as ripe peaches in summer.
Beneath her small, elegant nose, her vividly red lips looked so inviting that Seo Jae unconsciously tightened his jaw.
The soft sensation he had felt against his palm moments ago still burned in his mind.
Ha-eun reached out and wiped the foam from his cheek, giggling.
“Oh no. I was trying to clean it off, but I only made it worse.”
Ha-eun was drunk.
The half-empty bottle of wine beside the bathtub was proof enough.
“You know that, right? You’re really handsome, Oppa.”
Yeah, she was definitely drunk.
Ha-eun looked up at him.
His reflection wavered in her clear, glass-like eyes.
“Oppa.”
His chest tingled as if he were about to sneeze.
His gaze remained fixed on Ha-eun’s soft lips.
As she brushed his cheek, her fingertips accidentally grazed his lips.
Her soft fingers touched him like flower petals before slipping away.
Mixed with the bittersweet taste of wine was a strangely alluring fragrance he had never noticed before.
And on top of that was the impossibly soft and warm sensation of her touch.
“Sorry. I think… I must be drunk.”
Seo Jae forcefully pushed back the impulse rising inside him.
His mind told him that he should not cross the line, but his body refused to listen.
Looking into her widened eyes, he struggled to regain control.
The first taste of Jung Ha-eun’s lips lingered vividly in his thoughts.
The wine on her breath was cool and refreshing, while the warmth between them only made his emotions more confusing.
He wished that Ha-eun would push him away and tell him to stop.
He wished she would ask him what he thought he was doing.
Then perhaps he could somehow suppress this impossible impulse.
Instead, Ha-eun only clung to him more tightly.
“Mm…”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned against him.
The warmth of her body, still damp from the bath, stirred emotions he had desperately tried to ignore.
Her dizzying, irresistible presence made him want to pull her into his arms.
The thought alone made him curse himself.
“Oppa…”
Ha-eun called to him in a hazy voice.
His thoughts were clouded, and his blood burned beneath his skin.
“Ha-eun.”
“I’m cold.”
Her upper body, already half out of the bathtub from clinging to him, trembled faintly.
Seo Jae quickly grabbed a nearby towel and wrapped it around her shoulders.
—
Ha-eun lifted her hazy eyes and looked at Seo Jae’s handsome face.
The soft light beside the bed cast shadows across his features, making them seem even sharper than usual.
He was normally impeccably neat, but now his hair was slightly disheveled, and his dark eyes were filled with an unfamiliar intensity.
She had known him for years, yet she had never seen him like this before.
Her gaze drifted from his unusually red lips down to his chest.
The front of his bathrobe had fallen open, revealing the firm muscles beneath.
Wait.
Why am I grabbing Seo Jae’s robe?
Am I dreaming?
The situation felt so unreal that a dream seemed like the only explanation.
But if it was a dream, it was an incredibly strange one.
Why was she lying on the same bed as Seo Jae?
And why were they in such an awkward position?
“What’s… going on right now?”
A sleepy voice escaped her lips.
She remembered soaking in the bathtub and drinking wine.
Then her leg had cramped, and everything after that was a blur.
Apparently, she had drunk far too much.
“Don’t you remember?”
“…?”
As Ha-eun blinked at him blankly, Seo Jae let out a quiet sigh.
“You asked me to hold you.”
“And you kissed me first.”
“I-I did?”
What kind of nonsense was that?
No matter how drunk she had been, she could never have asked Seo Jae to hold her.
Just as she was about to shake her head, fragments of memory flashed through her mind.
She vaguely remembered clinging to him while drenched.
She even remembered him carrying her out of the bathtub.
“That can’t… be.”
The hand gripping his collar slowly dropped.
She wanted to deny it, but the scattered memories kept her silent.
Besides, her body had been washed and dried.
She had no memory of doing that herself.
That meant Seo Jae had taken care of her and brought her to bed.
The unfamiliar sensation of being close to him in the bathtub flashed through her mind again.
Her lips still tingled.
The weight pressing against her was unmistakably real.
How could she have done something like that to Seo Jae, even while drunk?
Was she out of her mind?
“Do you remember now?”
“Oppa, I… I was too drunk, so I don’t remember…”
“It’s too late to deny it now.”
“You were the one who put me in this state.”
He muttered hoarsely.
“Huh…?”
“So you have to take responsibility, Jung Ha-eun.”
“R-responsibility? W-what responsibility?”
Seo Jae gently brushed her lower lip with his thumb.
“You tempted me, so shouldn’t there be consequences?”
“Oppa…”
Her mind went blank with confusion.
“I mean, I…”
Before she could finish speaking, his lips silenced her.
His lips were warm, soft, and impossibly gentle.
They felt nothing like she had imagined.
The distance between them disappeared once again.
Everything felt strange and unfamiliar, yet she could not deny that her heart was racing.
Without realizing it, Ha-eun wrapped her arms around his neck and tilted her head toward him.
The scent that always surrounded him filled her senses.
Despite his broad frame and powerful build, being in his arms did not feel heavy at all.
The brief clarity in her mind vanished once more, replaced by warmth and excitement.
He was incredibly good at this.
It was easy to understand why women were drawn to him.
The mix of restrained self-control and overwhelming emotion was enough to leave Ha-eun completely breathless.
She ran her fingers through his soft hair and held him close.
For the first time in her life, she found herself desperately wanting someone.
And Seo Jae wanted her too.
Seo Jae wants me.
The thought sent a thrill through her.
When Seo Jae finally pulled away and lifted his head, Ha-eun let out an involuntary sigh of disappointment.
She was breathing heavily.
She had been so overwhelmed that she had forgotten to breathe properly.
“Oppa… this feels strange.”
“Ha, Jung Ha-eun, you really…”
Without taking his eyes off her for even a moment, Seo Jae slowly lowered his head once again.
