Chapter 8: It was a Chilled Night

As he murmured against her neck while their lips were pressed together, a vibration hummed against Seohee’s lips.

She gasped, inhaling sharply, and Leehyun, looking displeased, engulfed her lower lip with his own. His tongue grazed her front teeth as if syncing their breaths, then softly swept across the roof of her mouth.

Without realizing it, Seohee wrapped both arms around Leehyun’s neck. At that familiar gesture, Leehyun let out a short, soft laugh and drank in her breath to his heart’s content.

As if it were the most natural thing in the world, Seohee mirrored his breathing.

“Ah.”

With a faint sigh, Seohee’s head tilted backward, and Leehyun held her firmly in place.

A myriad of emotions danced across his usually monotonous face. Beneath his dark pupils, long-suppressed desire slowly bloomed. Leehyun did not hesitate to ravish her lips.

He nibbled on them achingly, grazed them lightly, and when they were gasping for air, he tangled their tongues together, thirsting for her saliva. He sucked on them hungrily, as if it were the water of life, and then rubbed the underside of her tongue vigorously.

Dizzy and dazzled by the sensation, Seohee didn’t dare to push him away. Her body tilted little by little, and Leehyun’s upper body pressed completely against her.

Lying on the bed, Seohee breathlessly followed Leehyun’s movements. Leehyun’s pupils dilated, loose and hazy, as he looked at her softly disheveled hair and her dreamily clouded brown eyes.

Pressing his lower abdomen firmly against her, he pushed his upper body forward even more. At the same time, a tear that had gathered at the corner of Seohee’s left eye trickled down.

Leehyun watched it blankly, then, as if finding it unacceptable, pushed his tongue deeper. He pushed in, pulled out, repeating the motion so rhythmically and deeply it was reminiscent of the act itself, until Seohee went half-limp.

Her eyelashes fluttered like ripples on water. Suddenly, Leehyun sat up and downed the strawberry juice he had brought.

Having approached the bed, he supported Seohee’s chin with his right hand and pushed his tongue back into hers.

The familiar, sweet scent flowed across their tongue tips. Seohee clung to him, wrapping her arms around the back of his neck like someone dying of thirst.

“Ugh, Leehyun.”

At the word Seohee uttered habitually, Leehyun stopped moving.

As the sensation she had been so desperately searching for and calling for permeated her with such familiarity, something inside Leehyun snapped.

He was, quite simply, in rut. Leehyun licked the tip of her chin while subtly rubbing his lower body against her stomach.

Huu, ah… He swallowed every one of Seohee’s moans without missing a beat, yet moved his lips at a frantic pace. As he teased her earlobe with one hand and rubbed his tongue slowly against her neck, Seohee trembled, at a total loss.

“Huu…”

The more Seohee’s moans burst forth in small fragments, the more obsessively Leehyun suckled. Like a dog that had finally found its master, he was reckless, urgent, and unhesitating.

He swept across her teeth, sucking on her tongue until it felt like it might be pulled out, then buried his face in her collarbone, his hand gently pulling open her hospital gown.

Leehyun sat up and growled in satisfaction at the sight of her fair skin. Like a dog marking its territory, he bit and grazed the area around Seohee’s soft breasts and collarbones with intensity.

As his soft lips bit into her tender skin achingly, Seohee ran her fingers through Leehyun’s hair, letting out a soft, “Huu, huut,” moan.

Leehyun’s left hand, which had been rubbing her knee, lightly stroked her thigh and moved forward immediately. As Seohee’s legs, clad only in the hospital gown, parted toward Leehyun, he let out a ragged breath.

He could draw the red, hidden flesh beneath her underwear even with his eyes closed. How sweet that place was. How ecstatic.

The place that had conquered him time and again beckoned for him to come quickly. His lower abdomen hardened, and he put all his strength into his lower body.

Leehyun buried his face right there. His lips, which had been teasing her thighs, left a bruised mark as if inhaling deeply, then pushed upward.

From the recoil, Seohee’s arms, which had been wrapped around Leehyun’s neck, fell limply. Leehyun gripped the wrist of the limp Seohee to move in for the real thing.

Ah. As Seohee rustled, his pitch-black pupils, half-crazed, slowly touched her wrist.

At the needle marks covering her bony wrist, Leehyun’s pupils shook violently.

You mad bastard. Biting his lip until he could taste the metallic tang of blood, he fixed Seohee’s half-open gown.

Leehyun stared blankly at Seohee’s stomach, then rubbed it with his large hand a couple of times. Then, he smoothed back her disheveled hair.

“Ah.”

Only then realizing her own actions, Seohee bit her lip lightly.

“I…”

Why isn’t this strange? Why is it so natural? This wasn’t behavior one could have with a person they had only met a day ago.

As Seohee’s eyelids fluttered as if she were half-out of her mind, Leehyun wiped beneath her eyes to soothe her.

“Seohee.”

Looking at her brown eyes, now murky and clouded, Leehyun lifted her chin with one hand.

Leehyun’s pupils, like a pitch-black night sky without a single star, absorbed her anxiety.

“It’s okay.”

It was a magic phrase.

His heavy, low-pitched voice cleared her foggy mind. Even so, Seohee’s hands were still trembling minutely.

Without her even noticing when he had done it, Leehyun covered her hand with his. As if that wasn’t enough, he firmly interlaced his fingers with hers.

Strangely, her heart, which had been thumping wildly, settled down. As Seohee’s breathing slowed into peace, Leehyun laid her down and adjusted the covers.

“Sleep, you need to sleep.”

Stroking her forehead with his remaining hand, he gave her a light peck on the forehead. It was incredibly natural, as if it were an act performed every single day.

Like someone drained of all energy, Seohee fell asleep almost immediately. Even after the eyes that had been watching him were completely closed, Leehyun did not leave his seat for a long time. The dawn began to shed its dim light.

***

The VIP hospital room’s dressing room was larger than a hotel’s. Pressing his forehead, Leehyun undid his shirt buttons with his right hand. Then, he put on the shirt that was hanging up. It was the same black shirt as the one he had thrown off.

Once, twice. With his cuffs folded perfectly, he roughly ran his hands through his damp hair.

<Can’t I dry your hair? I think you’d look fine with your bangs down.>

Once, Seohee had approached him, saying she wanted to fix his hair. Finding her coyly smiling face pretty, Leehyun had pulled her by the back of her head without hesitation and driven her to the limit.

Don’t you dare approach me. Don’t you dare even open your mouth. He had sucked everything in, not leaving a single breath of air.

Seeing Seohee collapse, unable to even move a finger, Leehyun had smoothed his bangs upward without a hint of regret. Leaving not a single strand behind.

Don’t expect even a strand’s worth of hope. Trivial hopes don’t suit you, Leehyun had drawn a firm line.

Even after that, Seohee had repeated the same behavior every morning. Persistently, sometimes stubbornly. As if to say she would one day definitely see him go to work with his hair styled by her hands.

Recalling the memory, Leehyun let out a dry laugh. Then, he gently stroked the back of the neck that Seohee had wrapped her arms around last night.

“Should I ask her to dry my hair?”

If I do, will she jump at me naturally like she did yesterday?

I’m fine with her messing it up however she wants now. I can lower my bangs if you tell me to, or raise them if you want.

As if expecting her behavior, Leehyun leaned his face in close. Then, he carefully stroked the cheek of the sleeping Seohee.

“I’ll be back.”

The words, which he had never uttered once, felt incredibly strange, so Leehyun bit his lip.

As he turned his body and nodded his head, a tall woman in a navy suit bowed and approached. It was Shin Aram, the secretary who had assisted Seohee.

“I do not tolerate mistakes.”

Leehyun said coldly and left the room. As he stepped out the door, Seung-ho attached himself to him as if he had been waiting.

“Did you manage to get some sleep?”

Noticing his weary face, he asked cautiously, but Leehyun did not answer. So, Seung-ho added:

“I have prepared a conference room in the next room.”

There were two reasons why Leehyun wanted the entire floor cleared. One was to handle work without leaving Seohee’s side, and the other was to remove unnecessary risk factors.

“What about Director Song?”

“I handled it as you said. She is digging very deeply into how the younger madam hid her identity, but I have taken measures to ensure that nothing—including personal information—is leaked.”

As Leehyun entered, the waiting secretarial staff stood up. He only nodded and sat in his seat.

“However, the news that she was admitted to Gayun Hospital will have reached their ears by now. Shall I strictly control access?”

At Seung-ho’s words, Leehyun slowly stroked his Adam’s apple.

“No. If they visit, welcome them with open arms.”

Let them see with their own two eyes how long they can maintain that shell of a chairmanship. Leehyun’s black pupils turned as cold as a desert night.

“Instead, deploy the security guards thoroughly, and apart from Director Song, do not let any other trash in.”

Even a lowly doctor is a ‘no.’

Next. At Leehyun’s dry voice, Seung-ho signaled with his eyes, and a secretary beside him spoke.

“They say Director Song is working behind the scenes for an emergency board meeting.”

“Again.”

“They say Representative Jin Heeyoung is digging around for news about the younger madam. She will likely hear news of the younger madam before long. What shall we do if she rushes to the hospital room?”

“Let her in. Let’s see what kind of drivel she has to say.”

Whether it was an excuse, a threat, or whatever else. Now, he needed to hear it clearly with his own ears.

A vein pulsed on Leehyun’s forehead. Seung-ho hesitated, then added:

“About the madam’s accident, sir.”

At the word ‘accident,’ Leehyun’s neck muscles tensed.

“It seems it will take some time to identify the culprit.”

Seung-ho lowered his head as he set down the pad.

“I apologize.”

Leehyun’s movements as he flipped the pages were calm but incredibly slow. Realizing that Leehyun was deeply troubled by the repeated action of crushing every single character, Seung-ho understood that Leehyun was in a very foul mood.

“There were three people who met Seohee last.”

Not two, but a whole three people. Leehyun murmured, his hands clasped together.