Translator: Nox

Chapter 49

Villainous

Pure Love

49.

Yes, a moment like this.

Seongheon let out a groan that sounded like a pained sigh. He wrapped his arms tightly around Yeonwoo’s waist as if hugging a rounded tree trunk, letting out a series of aching sounds she imagined he had never made in his entire life.

“I shouldn’t have sent you home yesterday. You have no idea how much I regretted it.”

Unable to push him away yet unable to bring herself to hold him back, Yeonwoo simply stood there blankly, looking down at him.

Her heart was pounding so hard she felt as if it would burst, and she was terrified he might notice. There was no way he couldn’t hear it. She really, truly didn’t want him to find out.

“Um, Vice President. Vice President.”

Embarrassed, she called out to him. At that, Seongheon slowly lifted his head.

“It seems I was the only one who missed you.”

He looked up at her as if prompting her to quickly say she had missed him too. After a moment of hesitation, Yeonwoo opened her mouth.

“They say… if a person changes too suddenly, they might die.”

Ah. I should have just stayed quiet.

“Fine. Why don’t you hold a ritual for me then? A full-blown exorcism.”

“I’m sorry. It’s just, well, yes… I spoke out of turn.”

It was difficult to keep meeting his gaze as he looked up at her while holding her waist so tightly. It wasn’t the kind of look one could simply endure with composure.

She had missed him just as much, and thought of him just as often, but for some reason, those words wouldn’t come out easily.

Standing before him, she felt like a fool who couldn’t say a word. Her expressions, her thoughts—none of them felt free.

As she stood there hesitating, Seongheon pulled her by the arm and sat her down on his lap. Yeonwoo, ending up on his thighs in a daze, clamped her lips shut as if cutting off her breath.

Ah. The moment she was looking down at him had been much better.

Now that they were roughly at eye level, her heart raced as if it couldn’t take any more. It was difficult to look away no matter where she turned her gaze.

His solid upper body peeked through the gap in his robe; his damp hair, the scent of shampoo wafting from him, and his thighs that felt firmer than any chair.

She nodded her head repeatedly like a broken machine before stealing a glance at him. When their eyes met instantly, Yeonwoo twitched her brows and looked away again.

Seongheon then took Yeonwoo’s cheeks in his hands, straightening her face to force eye contact.

“Are you nervous, or are you uncomfortable?”

Well, it’s both.

“Are you just going to sit there like a mute who’s swallowed honey before you leave? It seems Ji Yeonwoo-ssi has plenty of time on her hands. I don’t mind, of course.”

- 2 -

“…..Ah.”

Ah. Yeonwoo suddenly remembered the Bongwan, which she had momentarily forgotten. If she stayed away for too long and someone found out, that would be a problem in itself.

“Um, there’s something I need to tell you.”

“That’s a choice of wording I’m not particularly keen on hearing. Can I decline?”

He cut her off so sharply that Yeonwoo fell silent.

Seongheon let out a small, deep sigh and reached out to pour tea from the teapot. As if his throat were parched, he took a sip of the tea, which was still giving off steam.

When Seongheon went to place the teacup back on the tray, Yeonwoo reflexively started to stand up.

“Oh, let me help you with—”

Seongheon pulled her back down firmly onto his lap as he set the cup on the tray. It was a clear sign not to move without his permission.

“Let’s hear it. Whatever it is.”

When Seongheon told her to speak, Yeonwoo’s lips quivered. As she tried to organize her thoughts to speak coherently, Seongheon suddenly shifted his thighs up and down in a large motion.

“Ah!” Her body moved up and down like she was on a seesaw, and Yeonwoo instinctively wrapped her arms around Seongheon’s neck. Once she was settled again, Seongheon asked calmly:

“If it’s hard to say, then don’t. No need to force it.”

“It’s nothing else… it’s just that I’m an employee here.”

“And?”

“So… if the others were to find out about this situation, it would be a bit…”

“A bit?”

“Wouldn’t they find it strange?”

With her arms around his neck, her lips moving at an incredibly close distance, she whispered, asking what he thought about having a secret relationship.

Seongheon tilted his head slightly as he looked at her.

“I’m sorry, but that’s your concern, Ji Yeonwoo-ssi.”

“Ah, yes. I suppose it is.”

When Yeonwoo mumbled as if giving up quickly, Seongheon couldn’t help but let out a short laugh. Looking at her, she seemed completely dazed, yet she was trying so hard to hold it together—it was quite cute.

Shall we see how long you can hold out?

Seongheon lifted and lowered his thighs once more. As her body jolted, Yeonwoo clung to his neck even tighter, and Seongheon wrapped his arm around her waist to make sure she didn’t slip.

“So, what is it you want from me?”

The distance between them grew even narrower.

“That is… I’d like it if no one knew for the time being.”

Her voice sounded absent-minded, as if her soul had been separated from her body.

“What exactly do you want them not to know? You have to speak clearly.”

His hand moved mischievously, caressing her waist. Yeonwoo winced, her voice sounding different than usual as she continued.

“That you and I are seeing each other. Our relationship.”

“Relationship? You and I haven’t done anything yet, so what relationship are you talking about? Something has to happen for there to be a relationship.”

“Ugh…”

At her long sigh that she finally couldn’t hold back, Seongheon’s shoulders shook with laughter. He lowered the hand that had been lightly holding the back of her neck and shifted his thighs again, bringing her arms back to their original position.

“A secret relationship… fine, let’s do that. I suppose I should consider your circumstances. Since they are the circumstances of my girlfriend.”

“Ha… thank you…”

Ever since yesterday, she found herself feeling moved just by claiming her rightful dues.

“Then will you consider my circumstances too, Ji Yeonwoo-ssi?”

Yeonwoo couldn’t answer readily and hesitated. Her instincts were telling her that one wrong word would lead to trouble.

Seongheon asked again with a businesslike expression.

“Even between lovers, there should be a clear give and take. I don’t like favors that come for free.”

Yes. I know that.

“Since I’m looking out for your situation, you should think of mine as well.”

“…….”

“Answer me.”

“That’s…”

“Louder.”

“Yes……”

When Yeonwoo answered in a faint voice, Seongheon stared at her intently.

“You agree? Without even knowing what my situation is?”

Ah. I should have asked what the Vice President’s situation was. The problem was that she felt she knew it so well even without asking that she had skipped the question.

It was just as Yeonwoo’s eyes widened at the late realization. Seongheon pulled her lower back toward him, tilted his head, and kissed her.

It took a long time for her to follow his lead and close her eyes.

His hand pressed against her back, the breath that was gradually becoming ragged, and the heat dancing inside her mouth—it all blurred together, making her dizzy as she tried to figure out what to process first.

She could feel the heat he held within him, and his breath spreading across her face felt as if it were coloring the entire room.

Still holding her in a kiss, Seongheon stood up. Yeonwoo, who had been sitting on his lap, was lifted up with him. Seongheon held her with one arm and moved toward the middle of the bed.

Because he wouldn’t let go of her lips, it was hard for her to keep her balance on her own. Yeonwoo managed to pull her lips away as she lay on the bed, her startled eyes blinking as she looked at Seongheon, who filled her vision.

The words wouldn’t come, as if she had lost her voice. Trapping her between his two arms, Seongheon looked down at her.

The orderly atmosphere he usually carried was nowhere to be found; right now, he was acting on pure instinct, like a lion at the top of the food chain deciding the fate of a startled rabbit.

“Right now, I want to sleep with you.”

The thirty-five-year-old man was more direct than she had expected.

“I’m not in a calm enough state to be able to consider my girlfriend’s situation.”

Trapped within his arms, she could only blink. Her lips had already been turned a deep red by his heat.

Speech was cut off. They only looked at each other.

After watching Yeonwoo for a moment, Seongheon moved his hand and touched her uniform. The brief silence he had given her was to buy her one last moment to choose.

A frozen Yeonwoo could only swallow hard. Every time Seongheon’s hand passed over her, her very thoughts were severed.

“I’m disappointed. You didn’t even say you missed me.”

When Seongheon, who had buried his face in the crook of her neck, murmured lowly, Yeonwoo replied as if making an excuse.

“I did miss you. I… I missed you.”

“And you didn’t even call me first.”

“That’s because I thought you might be busy…”

“You couldn’t call because you were afraid I’d be busy. I like that. Then continue to be very considerate of my position in the future.”

Just like now.

Seongheon became increasingly bold, as if there were nothing to stop him. Yeonwoo, who found there wasn’t much she could do, wrapped her arms tightly around his neck.

Yeonwoo suddenly wondered if she could fully handle Seongheon’s emotions, which seemed so thirsty for that one simple phrase—that she had missed him.

What was so special about those words?

What was so special about that greeting that he was sincerely disappointed by its absence? Could she truly take in all of his heart?

She couldn’t tell how far this man’s heart had gone, nor could she find where she herself was positioned. In the meantime, her lips were claimed several more times, and her eyes squeezed shut repeatedly.

As she was tossed about by emotions she had never handled before, she opened her eyes again to find him looking down at her with an expression she had never seen.

…I don’t know him.

And he doesn’t know me.

And yet, what on earth is this feeling, this situation where instinct pulls her toward a stranger?

Falling into a state of profound confusion, Yeonwoo looked as if she were struggling to keep her senses.

Swimming somewhere between dizzying thoughts and feverish sensations, Yeonwoo let out a hot breath through her teeth. This thing, this emotion that they were falling into so headlong before even knowing each other—how was she supposed to explain it?

The more she squeezed her brain for an answer, the more the clutter disappeared, leaving one word standing clear at the end of the question.

A single word born at a primitive moment.

“You can open your eyes.”

Yes, love.

Love, which had grown silently, piercing through the pile of confused and messy reality.

If it wasn’t that, then it made no sense. Because there was no other way to explain this heart that wanted to be as close as it wanted to be far away.

“Breathe.”

“………….”

“Leave it to me.”

As if it had been waiting, Yeonwoo’s deep breath broke free.

Seongheon looked down at her.