Na-Yool absentmindedly stared at Si-Jin’s wide back, herself unaware of it, then lowered her gaze feigning indifference. His food, his dining table… Indeed, this place was full of danger. She focused on listening to the washing machine running from afar and decided it would be better to get out of this place as soon as the sound stopped.

Her spoon resumed rattling. She was slowly chewing on the remaining rice when, shortly after, Si-Jin came back with 2 white mugs. A ceramic mug without a single pattern, spotless and neat like his personality, was placed in front of Na-Yool. The scent of coffee filled the tip of her nose.

“Are you dating Lee Seung-Jae?”

“…What?”

“You said that you can only eat when you’re dating. Since you’re a pure and innocent maiden.”

Si-Jin smirked and pointed out with an ambiguously cynical tone.

“What does it have to do with anything?”

“You didn’t sleep with Lee Seung-Jae, you didn’t sleep at his house either, and you did not wake up and have a meal together, so it’s okay.”

“Seung-Jae is my coworker.”

“So am I, no?”

Could he get more shameless than trying to put himself on equal footing with Seung-Jae while putting on his unique boss-worthy egomaniac smugness?

“If you’re fine with Lee Seung-Jae, then you’re fine with me too. Unless you’re particularly interested in toying with your subordinate.”

“Who is toying with who—”

“You said confusing people was the same as toying with them. Look at Lee Seung-Jae’s face.”

“I see it every day, even if I do not want to. Not only are our desks facing each other, but it also is just the two of us since staff is lacking, thanks to you.”

“But thanks to me you make a lot of money, don’t you?” Si-Jin shrugged. “So next time you go to work, take a good look. Look at that bastard losing his head in confusion every day.”

“……”

“That’s why you have no right to say that to me. Who prettily laid beneath me from morning until now? How scandalous. Aren’t you the one playing with me?”

“Who do you think laid me there to begin with…!” Na-Yool cried out in shock.

“You drove me crazy with desire, acted cute, then spoiled my mood with a few words… I’m confused too. Isn’t it your fault?”

“Forget about that and think about who caused such confusion in the first place.”

“Anyway, we’ve slept around a few times already. That alone seems to have broken half of your principles.”

“……”

“So stop being so fixed on it. Nothing big is going to happen just because we ate a meal face to face.”

Sure, nothing big would happen. There was no way he did not know the problem was not the meal itself. Nor that he did not know how different the situation now was compared to when he said he only wanted her body. She had no idea what he was thinking. Nothing had been explicitly confirmed, yet if she were to entertain the crazy idea on her own that there was something more between them, how would he see her? What would happen if she troubled him, who hated troublesome things?

“It’s not like you would fall for me because I made food for you either.” Si-Jin said conclusively. The words gave Na-Yool a strange relief, and she subconsciously nodded.

“Indeed. I would not fall for you.”

“Right.”

“Yes. At least, nothing such as that.”

Na-Yool did not realize at all how her words caused Si-Jin’s face to twist into an annoyed expression. She was diligently scooping more when he suddenly said:

“Now that you’ve been well fed, I’m sure you will survive two more rounds?”

“… …?”

“Sex. You can bear it a few more times, right?”

“……”

“Hm?”

“Huh?”

Her bewildered gaze and his extremely calculative one collided in the air.

“I’m asking if eating helps with your stamina. In general.”

“We are eating, yet why… se-…” How can you keep mentioning sex, making me lose my appetite! Na-Yool silently muttered, unable to let the words out. A rotten expression crossed her face.

“Now that you have eaten enough, it’s fine if you’re lacking some.”

“… I will be the judge of that.”

“Because I will feed your lower mouth its fill too anyway.”

“So dirty, really…!”

Right when Si-Jin stood up, Na-Yool brutally put her spoon down and bolted towards the sound of the washing machine.. But her breakout attempt was over after only a few steps. Just as she reached the living room, Si-Jin was already lightly holding her close by the waist with one hand.

“I will find my clothes and go home…!”

“If you can’t find it, you can’t go.”

“You washed them on purpose! Didn’t you!”

“Think as you want.” he replied aloofly.

Na-Yool thought he would inevitably head for the sofa, but instead, he laid her back against the cold low table. He grinned and whispered in a low voice.

“I don’t think you can get out of here until your clothes are dry.”

“……”

Na-Yool’s legs got spread apart. Just as she mentally cursed his craziness, Si-Jin’s lips came in contact. The strength in her fingertips employed to push him away wore out.

Chapter 16 – Sunday morning 5:20 a.m.

It was a time when even the daytime tasks seemed daunting. Na-Yool glanced at the screen of her cellphone on which the date had already changed to Sunday before she knew it, then stared for a moment at the ceiling in a dreary mood.

Her clothes must have been left aside for more than a half-day after they finished drying in the washing machine, but she could not put a single one on again.

“…I completely lost it…”

Even if she got caught up in Si-Jin’s pace, how could she to that extent! She could not bear to watch him confidently return to bed, only wearing his training pants to cover his lower half.

Laying on the bed, his muscular upper body was exquisitely exposed naked, but Na-Yool looked away without regret. She had seen his body enough to get sick of it, so there was nothing to regret. They had just done it once more, and all she had was a blanket to cover her stark-naked body.

She could not count how many times they did it. After she got savagely pinned once on the table, Na-Yool had then fallen asleep the whole time and, when she had opened her eyes, her gaze had crossed with Si-Jin’s expecting one. Like a signal, another round had started. And Na-Yool, moaning sweetly as she laid beneath him half-conscious, had dozed off before even the deed was done for good.

These events had then repeated themselves, even so easily. Through her fuzzy memory, she seemed to remember Si-Jin had washed her once again in the bathroom, but she was not sure.

“Sleep more. I will wake you up in the morning.” said Si-Jin sternly without looking back at her. Na-Yool answered with a frown.

“I had way too much sleep.”

“You mean you want to go for another round, then?”

“I had even more than enough of that.”

“Then sleep more.”

Was there a need to, though? The first bus would soon start running anyway…

Anxious Si-Jin might soon switch to his lewd self, she decided it was for the best to quickly find dry clothes to wear and leave this place.

But as if he had read her mind, Si-Jin added:

“Once you’re up, I won’t lay a finger on you and obediently take you home, so stop nervously twitching your eyes like this.”

Na-Yool stayed silent as she licked her lips without a sound. All this time, Si-Jin had yet not looked her way.

Still in a sluggish mood, Na-Yool set aside her phone that she was holding. While lying back down on the bed, her gaze remained fixed on Si-Jin’s own phone held in his hand, glancing at the screen. It made no doubt that it was work-related. She could tell because all the screen displayed each time it came into her view were mails about draft proposals and the likes.