TIOAWN Chapter 42

If either of the two moved, their lips would touch. Impatience swelled. Her fingertips tingled, and her lips went dry.

 

Why am I like this?

 

Heat rushed to her face, and her chest swelled. It felt as if a small ember had ignited in her heart.

 

Beep. The sound of the door lock was followed by the closing of the entrance.

 

The hand gripping the shirt dropped away.

 

Ah. Ha-yoon bit her thumbnail, tapping it against her teeth.

 

Had they gotten closer? Had their faces finally met? Why was the door closed? Did Cha Moo-geon not see her?

 

Disjointed questions surged endlessly.

 

What were the two of them doing?

 

Maybe their lips had already touched. Just like he had done to her. His tongue exploring depths unknown to her, their saliva mixing…Skin pressing against skin…

 

Ha-yoon jolted out of her thoughts. It was just her imagination, yet it felt as if someone had seized her heart and squeezed tightly.

 

That… was unpleasant.

 

Ha-yoon patted her chest lightly with her small hand.

 

“Why am I suddenly like this?”

 

She had been fine before he returned. But now, her heart pounded uncomfortably.

 

“Why am I thinking these things?”

 

What was all of this?

 

A confusion unlike any she had ever experienced stormed through her mind.

 

“This is strange…”

 

Just looking at the closed door was agonizing. She spun around sharply.

 

The voice that had called out “President” and the face that had drawn closer tangled like threads, filling her mind completely.

 

What if he didn’t come back?

 

Faced with an unforeseen situation, her mouth went dry. Her legs trembled from the shock.

 

She barely managed to support herself against the wall, but nausea surged up. Clutching her mouth, Ha-yoon ran into the bathroom attached to Moo-geon’s bedroom.

 

Urk, urk. Her empty stomach heaved violently. She flushed the bile away weakly and staggered toward the sink.

 

She rinsed her mouth quickly under running water, then turned and climbed into the bathtub.

 

Like someone trying to protect themselves, she curled up inside it.

 

“…I don’t want to see.”

 

She didn’t want to remember anymore. Resting her face against her knees, she buried herself in the moment.

 

Then—bang. The bathroom door swung open.

 

“Seo Ha-yoon.”

 

A low voice resonated through the space.

 

“…”

 

Startled by the man’s sudden appearance, Ha-yoon lifted her head and stared at him with wide, surprised eyes.

 

“Cha… Moo-geon.”

 

She scrambled to her feet but wobbled. Reaching out to steady herself, she accidentally pressed a button, and water poured down over her head.

 

He stepped inside without hesitation. His thick fingers stopped the shower, then pressed gently against Ha-yoon’s chin, fixing her gaze on him.

 

In that moment, an image flashed through her mind—his hand resting on Doctor Yang’s shoulder.

 

That hand.

 

The hand that had wrapped around that woman’s shoulder. Before she realized it, Ha-yoon twisted her head away.

 

“What are you doing?”

 

Indeed. What was she doing? Why was she entertaining such unnecessary thoughts again?

 

Ha-yoon bit her lip in silence. Her wet eyelashes drooped downward.

 

Even though she couldn’t turn away, her gaze was lowered. Watching her, Moo-geon swallowed as if trying to restrain himself.

 

Drip. Drip.

 

The sound of water droplets echoed louder than usual.

 

“Seo Ha-yoon.”

 

His deep voice cut through the misty steam, striking her ears. The fingers gripping his shirt buttons trembled faintly.

 

“What. Are you going to undress? Is this how you suggest we cling to each other, Seo Ha-yoon?”

 

His normally neat eyebrows twisted, and a flicker of light danced across his darkened eyes.

 

Ha-yoon, her head tilted back, met his gaze straight on.

 

“Why…”

 

His reflection filled her clear pupils.

 

“Why are you so late?”

 

He had arrived earlier.

 

A faint trace of resentment wavered in her eyes. She didn’t even consider whether she had the right to ask such a thing.

 

“What were you doing until now…?”

 

She wanted to know. Where he had been. Who he had met during the time he left her at home. What he had done outside that door.

 

Everything. Every single detail. She wanted to examine it thoroughly, scrutinizing it over and over again.

 

Emotions she hadn’t recognized before spilled out uncontrollably, bursting like a breached dam. Unable to contain them, Ha-yoon couldn’t stop herself from speaking.

 

“Did you… touch her….?”

 

The moment the door had shut flashed through her mind. No—more precisely, the image of the two growing closer replayed in her thoughts, staining her heart like a mirror fogged with steam.

 

Ridiculously, of all the women she had met, Doctor Yang seemed the most stunning.

 

She and Cha Moo-geon looked unbelievably perfect together, and that made her feel utterly miserable.

 

Who was she to judge?

 

What kind of relationship did they even have?

 

“What?”

 

“Her…lips.”

 

Unable to hold it in any longer, Ha-yoon blurted it out. At that moment, something unfamiliar flickered across Moo-geon’s eyes, which had been tightly filled with tension.

 

Lips.

 

His low voice repeated the word, rolling it over his tongue.

 

“President, you’re back.”

 

A voice unfamiliar to him grew closer—it was Doctor Yang. Moo-geon immediately furrowed his eyebrows sharply and threw the front door wide open.

 

Why is she still in my house? Get lost.

 

He didn’t bother saying it out loud, but his actions made it obvious. Yet, as if oblivious, Doctor Yang clung to him.

 

She’s making me waste my breath again. Moo-geon’s gaze brushed past Doctor Yang, chilling enough to make one dizzy. With one hand, he gripped her shoulder and leaned in so close that it was impossible not to hear him.

 

Moo-geon lifted his phone with his free hand.

 

– “9 to 6. Why is this the state of your work hours, Chief Ji?”

 

Moo-geon deliberately brought the phone close to Doctor Yang’s ear and gave his instruction to Ji Kang-heon.

 

“Make sure Doctor Yang gets full overtime pay, including night shifts and extra duties. No room for complaints.”

 

He spoke precisely, not wasting a single word. Not once did he exchange a direct word with Doctor Yang. It wasn’t worth his time. Without sparing her a single glance, he walked past her and entered.

 

But what was with Seo Ha-yoon’s reaction? He hadn’t even considered it, yet she never failed to send his head spinning. Seo Ha-yoon.

 

A small smirk tugged at his lips as he leaned in. Her soft breasts pressed against him, and the tip of his nose brushed against her skin.

 

Moo-geon traced his thumb over Ha-yoon’s flushed nape, gently turning it while pressing firmly against the hollow of her collarbone.

 

“What if I touched the lips?”

 

His voice was low, decadent, clinging to her ear like humid air. His warm breath tickled the fine hairs on her skin, and his large hand teased the area near her navel.

 

“Enough to make one breathless like this..”

 

Moo-geon slipped his index finger between Ha-yoon’s bruised lips and pressed down, making them part silently.

 

He immediately lowered his head, closing the distance until their lips nearly touched. Just a breath away—so close that even a single exhale could seal the space between them.

 

“What if I crushed them?”

 

Ha-yoon clenched her jaw and turned her head with all her might. But Moo-geon only smirked, curling one side of his lips upward as he firmly grasped her face.

 

“With…your lips?”

 

A peculiar heat pulsed beneath his thumb and forefinger. A stinging sensation, an ache that pricked low in her abdomen. She could feel the humid, crackling air as Moo-geon’s lower body wedged between her thighs.

 

“Of course, not with my hands.”

 

Her damp hair clung messily, and her lips were plump and swollen as if they had been bitten in frustration. Her round eyes, stubbornly holding their pride, were filled with tension.

 

Like parched leaves on the verge of crumbling, absorbing moisture and gaining color. His arousal pulsed recklessly, a lack of restraint creeping over him.

 

Did Seo Ha-yoon actually care about Doctor Yang?

 

Just from a single touch on her shoulder?

 

That irksome, ridiculous reaction erased all the fatigue weighing him down. Instead, the restrained desire he had tamped down began to simmer.

 

“Everything is easy for you, isn’t it, Cha Moo-geon?”

 

Well, what could possibly be difficult for him?

 

That must be why he let Doctor Yang in without a word and why he shoved a painting materials at her with no explanation.

 

If Cha Moo-geon wanted something, it was only natural for it to serve its purpose.

 

A bitter resentment twisted inside her, and a sudden surge of sorrow welled up.

 

“Seo Ha-yoon.”

 

His displeased voice settled heavily in the steamy air of the bathroom. As he stepped into the bathtub, he closed the distance between them, as if searching for a hidden meaning.

 

He grasped her slender arms and leaned in, pressing her against the wall. Even though he wasn’t physically pinning her down, it felt like she was trapped on all sides.

 

Ha-yoon drew in a short breath, her eyes heating up for no reason.

 

Again. He was wielding her at his will again.

 

They hadn’t even kissed, yet it felt like he was consuming all of her senses. His warmth coiled around her wrist, racing through her veins with unrelenting speed.

 

“Do you think it’s easy?”

 

What should he do? Should he make her cry, or toy with her a little longer?

 

Moo-geon pondered, tilting his head slightly as he studied Ha-yoon’s bristling skin and let out a shallow breath.

 

“I mean… actions…. like this.”

 

Everything is hard for me. There’s not a single thing that’s easy. I always have to bite my lips and take deep breaths just to endure.

 

“…Even sending painting materials…..”

 

But nothing ever seems difficult for you…

 

Ha-yoon finally lifted her gaze and met Moo-geon’s eyes directly.

 

“Oh, painting.”

 

For a moment, his lips, which had curved faintly upward, pressed together in a straight line. His dark, heated pupils cooled instantly, a predatory glint flashing across them.