Chapter 106

Si-Jin pulled her by the nape of her neck and kissed her. Their tongues mingled messily, but as soon as their lips briefly separated to reunite in a new kiss, instead, Si-Jin carefully suckled the edges of her lips as if he did not dare dig in. That said, with moderate persistence.

Na-Yool’s lower lip was bitten and sucked on till moistened. She panted brokenly through her slightly opened lips. She also seemed to hear a peal of soft laughter.

“Kim Na-Yool, I know that you at least don’t hate me,” Si-Jin said in a whisper as he gently rubbed her lips with the tip of his thumb. His other hand moved away, covertly brushing between her thighs in passing.

Na-Yool blankly raised her blurry eyes.

“It’s just that now I need more than that.”

“……”

One serious sentence that was too much to handle, her still restless breath blowing towards him, his obviously aroused stare fixed on her… Na-Yool felt a burning fire raging inside.

However, she eventually recalled that they were close to the company. Si-Jin was the first to turn his head.

“If you don’t get off, I might take you straight to the parking lot.”

“……”

“Well, if you’re ok with doing it once in the car before work—”

“—I’m getting off, I am.”

“I’ve been thinking about it.”

“About what?”

“The parking lot, my office, the washrooms, the 40th floor residence—”

“I was wrong. I should not have asked.”

“While we were flirting just now, I kept thinking like a madman about where I can have sex with you—”

“—Stooop.”

“—But I thought you might hate it, just like this.” Si-Jin grinned like a child, brightly but with a hint of mischief. “I’m painfully holding back, so please get off already.”

Na-Yool peeked once at his face, then at his lower half. Proof that it was not empty words, the half-erected tent below his belt immediately caught her eyes.

The child-like, wry smile grew deeper.

“If you keep looking at it this way—”

“I’m getting off! Thank you for driving me.”

Na-Yool jumped off her seat as if running away. Si-Jin’s soft, teasing chuckle kept ringing in her ears.

Chapter 27 – Wednesday afternoon 1:23 p.m.

“Ms. Na-Yool, what are you doing?” Seung-Jae came up to her, sucking the soy milk from its pack.

“Apartments,” Na-Yool answered without looking at him.

“Apartments?”

“I’m looking at apartments.”

She quickly scrolled through the photos with her mouse, closed the tab, and clicked on another offer. It was a site where real estate agents often posted lease rentals or monthly rentals. [T/N: If you’re curious about the difference, you can google jeonse and wolse for further details.]

A big and clean house, a nice bathroom, a bathtub to fully relax her body, and meals always prepared for her… Of course, dinner was usually at night, but Si-Jin’s house was perfect. So perfect that it was problematic.

It had already been five days since Na-Yool moved in under the pretext of being in his care for a while, and she was still living there, as though she secretly had no thought about leaving at all. And soon it was Wednesday.

She appreciated Si-Jin’s self-motivated goodwill, but she refused to be someone who takes it for granted. Na-Yool had always held such people in low regard. She really could not become one of them.

Also, she was concerned about having such a comfortable and natural relationship right from the beginning of their romance.

They had very easily gotten over the wall that she did not get through even with her boyfriend of almost 2 years. It felt reassuring to note that Si-Jin was an exceptional case, but still, now that they were dating, they needed to cherish the time it takes to build up such a sense of natural closeness. Or else, what if she becomes an easy woman who can effortlessly be tossed aside?

No matter how much a woman kept her distance, drew a line, or built a wall, many men behaved as if sleeping once with her made her their property. Of course, Si-Jin was not like that, but…

…Whatever. After all, people dated because they trusted the good first impression they got of the other party. Who would date a weirdo right from the start? Indeed, how things would develop in the future was unpredictable.

Na-Yool bitterly laughed at herself. It appeared that she was no longer able to trust anyone, and she rather felt disheartened. The reason she ended up thinking so was because of the phone call from the police this morning and the memory of how all this happened.

The police tried to persuade her one last time, but she hung up on them after firmly restating her refusal to settle. What was a million won or so anyway? It indeed was no small money for an ordinary office worker, but it was neither great enough to offset the fear, the anguish, and the disgust she felt towards Sang-Hoon back then nor to restore her trampled self-esteem.

The police once again dismissed it by arguing that it was the same thing whether Sang-Hoon paid the penalty fee or the settlement money — it simply was a question of to whom the money will go [T/N: settlement money goes to the victim, while penalty fee goes to the government]. But Na-Yool still had a different opinion. If she settled, Sang-Hoon would just pay the money and that is it.

He would definitely use financial means to deal with the next time as well. And no doubt some  of this money would remain. He hushed up this incident with money, so next time too for sure. After all, he was even fine with her going to the police to ask for a few million. Nothing was more ironic than people putting a price on bullying others.

Na-Yool felt refreshed, as she had no intention to put a price tag on herself. However, it bothered her that there still was no news from Sang-Hoon despite clearly being informed of her refusal. It was obviously for the best to end it like this without further contact, but after all, it was realistically difficult…

“Are there any good apartments? Let me see.” Seung-Jae went to his desk to briefly check the monitor, then came back to Na-Yool’s side.

“There are a few, but nothing really to my liking.”

All were inferior to her previous apartment. Although some were clean and of a similar size, they did not fit her current requirements, and even when some did, the location was much worse. As for the ones which somewhat fit her requirements and had a better location, they were in poor condition. She would find a nicer one if she had plenty of time to look into it. But right now, with all her belongings still at her apartment, while she lazed around at Si-Jin’s place, she did not feel like she had that much time to spare.

“Maybe I should rent an officetel…” [T/N: Na-Yool’s apartment is a oneroom, the term is self-explanatory. Officetel are similar but usually bigger in size (so more expensive), and as the term implies, are located in a business area rather than a residential area.]

“It is obviously better! And a safer option for a woman living alone…”

“But all are far away. A little over my budget too.”

“If you just decide on a lower deposit… you will have way more options.”

“Until now, I had paid a huge deposit to live, paying only minimal monthly rents. I think it’ll be a waste if I suddenly must pay higher ones. I’m only at home to sleep anyway. And I won’t be able to move out of my current apartment right away, so I’m going to pay double rents every month…”

Fortunately, the rental contract ended soon, and she had saved quite a bit of money apart from the deposit. It was not that surprising since she had not much time for personal leisure.

“Still, you should move out soon.”

“…Yes, I should.”

“Out of fear, I do not think the bastard will harass you more. But it is for your peace of mind, Ms. Na-Yool. Feeling scared and unsecure every day, how could you…”

Na-Yool sighed. In the end, the incident had reached even Seung-Jae’s ears. Hyung-Wook had confessed that he got caught by a passing-by Park PD while he was whispering on the phone with the police, and he had no choice but to divulge the whole story under Park PD’s relentless questioning. Persuaded that it was no small matter, Park PD had insistently asked about it, and Hyung-Wook had cracked. It happened on Monday, and he had only told some insignificant details and beseeched Park PD to keep it a secret between the two of them.