OT 2

“What a tiring company.”

“That’s what I’m saying! They even gave the CEO’s son some fancy position, but the guy never even shows up. Isn’t that basically tax evasion? I took the job because I’d heard of the company on the news—they’re supposed to be a mid-sized firm—but it’s just a shit company pretending not to be one.”

At Suji’s rant, Jaehyun let out a breathy laugh.

“Oppa, why are you laughing?”

“Because you’re cute when you talk like that.”

Being called cute made her stomach churn. She was venting her anger, and he found it cute? It felt like he still saw her as some clueless little kid. Older people who saw her that way always ended up saying the same damn thing—and Suji hated that phrase.

If Jaehyun so much as mentioned “That’s just how work life is,” she’d flip the table and storm off to her room.

“Oppa! If you’re gonna say that’s just how the real world works—”

“It does sound like a scam.”

“Huh?”

Before she could raise her voice any further, Jaehyun cut her off and sided with her.

“Must be tough, having a place like that as your first job.”

If she’d said all this in front of Cheon Hotae, the one who got her the job, his eyes probably would’ve popped out of his head. But hearing Jaehyun take her side melted away a bit of her bottled-up frustration.

“You think so too, right?”

“Hiking? That’s over the line. And it’s rude for higher-ups to ask about your personal life.”

“Exactly! Sometimes I seriously think about quitting and starting a YouTube channel. My friend’s friend films vlogs and makes ten million won a month! If only I were better at talking, I’d totally try that.”

“Then go for it.”

Even as she spouted such a half-baked idea, Jaehyun simply gave her a gentle, amused smile, as if he still found her cute.

It annoyed her—how he kept treating her like a kid.

They might not have seen each other often, but still, she’d been an adult for years. Acting like he was the only one who’d seen how the world worked? So smug.

Suji sulked into silence. And with absolutely nothing in common between them, the air turned still and awkward.

She distracted herself by chewing on the chewy tteokbokki and turning her gaze to the TV.

But of course, right then, the female lead in the romance drama on screen clung to the male lead’s neck and started kissing him.

Gulp.

Suji involuntarily swallowed. Watching a kiss scene with her older brother’s friend made her cheeks flush.

Why was her mouth filling with saliva? Why was her throat so dry she felt the need to cough?

Desperate to ignore the tension, Suji took a long swig of her highball. Perhaps sensing the sudden shift in mood, Jaehyun stood up and took off his suit jacket.

“I’m gonna wash up and go to bed. You shouldn’t drink too much either—go to sleep soon.”

As he disappeared into the bathroom, Suji let out a quiet sigh of relief. On TV, the drama couple had now moved on to rolling around in bed.

“Wow… drama ratings these days are no joke.”

Glad Jaehyun had left the room, she turned the TV volume down and kept watching.

She was in the prime of her twenties, yet she was living vicariously through fictional couples. It made her feel strangely hollow. Maybe that’s why her mind kept wandering.

What would it feel like to kiss someone?

People say sex changes your whole worldview—what could that possibly feel like?

She was twenty-five, and these were the thoughts she was stuck with.

Most people had already dated plenty back in college. But not her. Living at home with strict parents meant she’d been under constant surveillance—boys weren’t even on her radar.

She remembered how her parents never even let her go on a single MT trip. Thanks to their overprotectiveness, she missed out on most school events and spent her college years as an outsider haunting the library. And still, her grades weren’t even that great.

If she’d known life would turn out like this, she would’ve at least tried to have some fun in college. All that was left from a life where she neither studied nor partied properly was regret.

“I thought I’d get to date once I started working…”

Suji stuffed the remaining tteokbokki into the freezer, then stumbled toward her room. Now that she was cleaning up, the alcohol was finally starting to hit.

“How much did I even drink…”

Suji dove onto the bed in the dark, but the moment she landed, her hand landed squarely on Seo Jaehyun’s bare, muscular chest.

“J-Jaehyun oppa?”

Her heart sank at the sight of a half-naked man lying in what was supposed to be her bed.

Startled, Suji quickly pulled her hand back. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, Jaehyun’s chiseled torso slowly came into view.

The room Suji currently used had previously been the guest room before she moved in. It seemed Jaehyun had gotten used to sleeping here whenever he visited Hotae’s house.

Clearly tipsy, he must have laid down like usual without realizing this was now her room—and even stripped down in the process.

“Jaehyun oppa…?”

She meant to wake him, but for some reason her voice came out barely above a whisper.

Looking at his striking features, her heart pounded wildly.

His face was sharp, but his body radiated warmth. Why was his chest so firm? What gave his shoulders the right to be that broad? His body seemed designed specifically for hugging.

When she was younger, Suji used to avoid Jaehyun’s gaze out of shyness. His perfectly sculpted features made her awkward. Getting to stare at him up close like this was a rare opportunity.

Taking full advantage, her eyes traced Jaehyun’s face and slowly wandered downward.

This was her first time seeing a man’s naked body up close. And Jaehyun’s well-built figure made the gaunt male lead from earlier on TV look pathetic by comparison.

How much must he work out to have shoulders like that…?

She had never realized how sexy a man’s shoulders could be. And that chest—don’t even get her started.

Suji couldn’t take her eyes off the solid chest her hand had just touched. After admiring it for a long moment, her gaze continued downward to his perfectly sculpted abs, like pieces of chocolate, and she found her mouth watering.

“Jaehyun oppa…?”

Pretending she needed to wake him, she poked his chest again. But Jaehyun didn’t stir, not even as she pressed into him.

A jolt of electricity ran through her palm. The sensation clung to her nerves, exhilarating. What would it feel like to be wrapped in that broad chest? Her curiosity was suddenly insatiable.

If she wanted to sleep comfortably, she needed to wake Jaehyun and kick him out. Otherwise, she’d have to give up the bed and go sleep in the living room.

There were only two options—but thanks to the alcohol, a third, more dangerous thought crept in.

Suji clutched the blanket, her heart pounding. The third option she chose was to sneak a peek at what was under the blanket—specifically, the lower half of Seo Jaehyun’s body.

Just once. Just one peek.

She knew it was completely insane to want to see her brother’s friend’s penis. But alcohol had long since hijacked her sense of reason.

Consumed by instinct, Suji gently lifted the blanket.

“Pfft. What was I expecting…”

She let out a deflated laugh when she saw that Jaehyun was still wearing Hotae’s sweatpants.

Of course. No matter how drunk he was, there was no way he’d sleep completely naked while alone with his friend’s little sister in the house. Now that she had checked, she should’ve just put the blanket back and walked away.

She should’ve.

But something about it still felt lacking. That strange disappointment clung to her.

Her reckless gaze wandered back to Jaehyun’s face. Staring at his sharp nose and the refined curve of his lips made her breath catch.

What would it feel like to kiss lips like that…?

Suji thought back to the drama she’d just watched.

Her heart had raced just watching other people kiss—how intense would it be to actually do it herself?

Slowly, she leaned closer to Jaehyun’s face. When their lips were barely a breath apart, she stared down at his closed eyes, her heart pounding like it was about to explode.

Peck.

She gave him the lightest kiss on the lips and immediately clapped her hands over her mouth.

A thrilling jolt spread from her lips through her entire body. Her cheeks flushed red, and her breath came short and fast. Her heart was beating like crazy.

This should have been her wake-up call to leave the room.

But Suji, intoxicated by the electric sensation, leaned in for another kiss.

Their lips met more deeply this time, rich and warm. She thought she heard a bell ring near her ear as she closed her eyes—

“Cheon Suji. What the hell are you doing?”

“Huh?”

When had he woken up?

Suji’s eyes flew open. Jaehyun was staring at her, his eyes sharp and full of shock.

“O-Oppa… it’s not what you think…”

Suji panicked, pulling away and bowing her head in shame.

“What did you just do to my lips?”

Mortified, Suji clamped her hands over her mouth. The alcohol surged back into her cheeks all over again.