Chapter 30: Mine, At Last

It was, quite literally, his final ounce of patience. From this moment on, he would never again let Go Kangeun out of his grasp. Because Siheon believed this, the wait itself wasn’t entirely agonizing.

Siheon closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. His breath grew shallow at the subtle scent lingering in the conference room. The fragrance of Go Kangeun alone—the one he had craved so much—was even sweeter than his memories. He felt his blood slowly heating up.[Hello…… Hello. I am Go Kangeun, the Lead Manager of the General Support Team at Tenuto Coffee Korea.]

Kangeun’s face had been pale as she introduced herself with eyes that couldn’t hide her surprise. He had barely managed to suppress the urge to step forward, wrap his arms around her cheeks, and force her to truly register his presence.

When he locked eyes with Kangeun as she entered the room, Siheon barely managed to swallow a sigh that threatened to burst out. As he watched the emotions filling Kangeun’s eyes—the eyes that couldn’t look away from him—change from moment to moment, he was submerged in a single, solitary feeling.

The emotion that surged up and swallowed him whole in an instant was possessiveness. He wanted to strip away every gaze in the conference room directed at Kangeun. He hated that she was filling those pretty eyes with anything other than him. The blind affection that had started in childhood had become twisted and viscous during their time apart.

[I, I’m sorry, but for just a moment…….]

When Kangeun ran out of the room looking like she might collapse at any second, he had wanted to follow her immediately. He hadn’t even realized he’d snapped the pencil he was holding in his struggle to restrain the urge to pull her into his arms, soothe her, calm her down, and satisfy his own greed.

It wasn’t because he feared the eyes of others that he held back. Siheon restrained himself for only one reason.

Because Go Kangeun was timid.

Though she had played the role of the sturdy breadwinner for her mentally ill father and young Siheon, she was more fragile and fearful than anyone. Whenever Siheon was in danger, she would be the first to jump in to protect him, yet she could never hide how her small body would tremble uncontrollably every time.

So, he couldn’t let her find out the dark, twisted thoughts of her brother who had grown up this much. He had to approach her carefully so as not to frighten her. He had to suppress his desire to pounce like a starving wild dog.

At least until Kangeun found her stability. Siheon intended to play the role of the younger brother she was accustomed to. Watching her terrified, wide eyes meet his and slowly find comfort was always satisfying.

Soon, the door closed. Tension permeated the quiet conference room. Siheon looked down at the tendons popping out on the arm he was using to brace himself against the table and closed his eyes. A crooked smile hung on his lips as he silently counted numbers in his head through gritted teeth.

“Um…… I’m right, aren’t I? You’re the Siheon I know?”

He clenched his molars, which felt itchy, at the cautious voice coming from behind him. He nearly let a sigh-like moan escape his lips due to the pleasure spreading down his spine.

He turned around after a deep breath, his chest heaving. He lowered his gaze to hide the look in his eyes, which were surely spiraling out of control, but he couldn’t help the surge of euphoria reflected in his ragged breathing.

Now, the waiting was over.

Kangeun tilted her head toward the man who had turned around slowly.

“I’m Kangeun Noona. Go Kangeun. Don’t you recognize your Noona?”

She knew full well that the person standing before her was Siheon. But she asked cautiously because she thought he might not want to reveal that he knew her.

A faint smile flickered across the face of the Hyungyeong Commerce New Business Team Leader as he turned toward Kangeun. As he bowed his head and raised a hand to touch his dark eyebrows, Kangeun’s anxiety deepened.

“……I’m sorry. I must have mistaken you for someone else.”

Yes. Maybe I’m the only one who’s happy to see him. Maybe I’m the only one who waited and longed for him. It’s been so many years already. Perhaps those childhood memories were only precious to me.

Kangeun bit her lip, persuading herself. She lowered her head, trying to swallow the surging sorrow and hide how embarrassed and upset she felt. Her gaze fixed on the floor, the man’s shoes suddenly entered her field of vision.

“Ah……?”

Her gaze, fixed on his well-polished shoes, traveled upward. Only after tilting her head back as far as it would go did her mouth slowly fall open as she stood face-to-face with him.

The man was tall and had a large build. Seeing him up close, she felt truly overwhelmed; he was far more impressive than the adult Siheon she had occasionally imagined.

He was smiling. And because he was, the dimples she hadn’t seen earlier appeared clearly. The way his lips curved beautifully when he smiled, the way the corners curled up—it was exactly the same as the smile of the young Siheon in her memories.

Furthermore, he had a small mole under his left eye. That mole, identical to the one under Kangeun’s left eye, had been a good excuse for two people without a drop of shared blood to lean on each other while calling each other family.

She had washed him, fed him, and put him to sleep with her own hands; there was no way she wouldn’t recognize him, no matter how much time had passed. When certainty flooded Kangeun’s eyes as she looked up at the twenty-seven-year-old Siheon:

“You weren’t mistaken.”

“…….”

“I recognized you right away, so I’m a bit hurt.”

“……Siheon-ah.”

“……Yes.”

His gently smiling face felt familiar yet strange. Kangeun’s lips parted slowly as she blinked her startled eyes. Seeing him answer her call with a simple Yes, just as he used to, she finally realized he was truly standing before her.

“Ah……!”

Before she could even get drunk on the joy of their long-awaited reunion, she collapsed into his arms. Glad to have found her younger brother again after so long, Kangeun also raised her hands and hugged Siheon tightly.

“It’s really you, right? It’s you?”

“Hah……. Go Kangeun.”

“Really, it’s you.”

She was so happy that Kangeun forgot they were in a company conference room, and that he was the Team Leader of the New Business Team at Hyungyeong Commerce. She had no energy to spare for such things.

“How have you been……? How are you, huh? Are you hurting anywhere? Let me see. Siheon-ah, look at me.”

She had pulled away slightly to examine him after holding him in a tight embrace, but Siheon wouldn’t budge. Instead, he simply applied force to his hands and arms, pulling her even closer.

“Siheon-ah……?”

Siheon didn’t answer. He simply buried his face deep into the crook of her neck and rubbed his nose against her blouse. As if to verify the scent of her body.

Was Siheon finding it hard to control his emotions, just like her? Glad that at least he hadn’t pretended not to know her, Kangeun hugged him again. She was just as unable to calm her excitement as he was.

After a while, Kangeun began to be swept up by a strange feeling.

Siheon has grown so big. Even standing on the tips of her heels wasn’t enough. Every time he took a deep breath, Kangeun’s feet would lift slightly off the ground; the height difference was undeniable.

There was a time when Siheon would fit perfectly into Kangeun’s arms, but now, no matter how much she stretched her arms, her fingertips couldn’t reach behind his back. Moreover, the body she touched was firm and solid. She was flustered because his chest and shoulders against her face, and the muscles of the long arms wrapping around her, were so undeniably those of a man’s body.

“Huu…….”

Siheon let out a deep breath, then inhaled sharply. The problem was that he was still buried in the nape of Kangeun’s neck. Since parting with the eighteen-year-old Siheon, she had never been in physical contact with anyone like this. That was why the hot, humid breath Siheon was exhaling now felt uncomfortable.

Uncomfortable. Kangeun defined it as a feeling completely different from repulsion. It was a sensation that was unfamiliar and uneasy. That didn’t mean she wanted to push Siheon away, but it was definitely uncomfortable. Her ears felt hot, and her mouth felt dry. The skin touched by his breath pricked, and her heart raced. All of these were feelings she was experiencing for the first time.

“Um, Siheon-ah. We…….”

The moment Kangeun raised her hands to calm Siheon down:

Clack.

At the small sound from behind, Kangeun froze.

“Siheon-ah, wait a second.”

“I don’t want to.”

“No, that’s not it…….”

Siheon, acting like a stubborn child and saying he didn’t want to, tightened his arms around her until it was almost suffocating.

“I, I can’t breathe…….”

“…….”

“I think I heard a noise, that’s why.”

Kangeun pushed Siheon away and turned around. But the conference room door was firmly shut, and the blinds-covered windows were also as they were.

“……Did someone come by, by any chance?”

Since Siheon had been standing facing the door, he might have seen someone if they had come. Kangeun looked up at him, but he was only smiling like a drawing.