Chapter 13: Blood on His Hands, Her Tears in Bloom

His low voice was far too seductive. She hadn’t meant to, but her body reacted to him, tensing in awareness.

“…I’m holding scissors.”

“Hah. What a f*cking sexy smell.”

The man buried his face in the back of her neck. Her skin shivered, but as long as he didn’t interfere with her work, she could endure it.

She forced herself to ignore him and continued tending to the flowers. Picking up the thorn stripper she used for roses, she ran it down the stem.

Thorns scattered across the worktable with a soft patter. Beside them, she saw the hand he had braced against the table.

Blood stained the back of it.

“What is that?”

She dropped the flowers and turned to him. Blood glistened across his face, neck, and chest.

“You’re bleeding…”

Yi-jae’s face drained of color. She had known for a long time that this man was a gangster, but she had never seen him like this. Not in the past, not now. Never once had he come to see her covered in blood.

If he’d been hurt, why hadn’t he gotten treatment first? Why had he come here?

The hairs on her body stood on end. Cold sweat broke out across her skin. The sight of him stained with blood felt foreign and terrifying. The smell of blood coming from him frightened her.

Just like five years ago, when he had forgotten her and walked away, she was suddenly terrified that Chae Ju-han would disappear from her again. That he would leave her behind once more.

“Mr. Chae Ju-han, what happened?”

Her voice trembled.

If she spoke again, she thought she might start crying. She bit her lip to stop it, but her chin still quivered.

Chae Ju-han looked down at her and raised an eyebrow.

“You know my name?”

It was such a stupid question.

“Who in this neighborhood doesn’t know you?”

“You’ve never called me by it.”

“We’re not… the kind of people who call each other by name.”

“Call my name when we’re having s*x.”

Because that was all they were.

Because it would all end when Chae Ju-han turned away, when his curiosity faded.

But she didn’t need to say any of that aloud. Some endings couldn’t be avoided.

“…Then whose blood is this?”

Once again, her gaze traveled slowly from his chest to his neck, then to his face.

The scattered drops of blood bloomed red across his beautiful body like flowers, dazzling and terrible all at once.

Like floral foam that crumbled under the slightest pressure, her heart collapsed just as easily.

“You’re really not hurt?”

“It got on me at the boxing gym.”

She dampened her cold fingertips with saliva. Gently rubbing his chest, she wiped away the blood. Then his neck. Then the dried stain on his jaw.

He had been telling the truth. It wasn’t his blood.

It hadn’t been danger. Just a violent hobby.

Not a fight to the death. Just a rough sparring match.

And yet her racing heart refused to calm down.

Yi-jae clenched her cold fingers into a fist. Like someone hitting a broken appliance in frustration, she pressed a hand against her chest and swallowed the lingering metallic taste in her mouth.

“Then why are you crying?”

She touched around her eyes, but there were no tears.

She frowned.

“Don’t joke around.”

“You are crying.”

Chae Ju-han brushed his thumb beneath her eye, as if she truly had been crying.

Yi-jae turned away from his touch.

“I’m not crying. I don’t have any tears left.”

“What kind of bastard made you cry?”

“…”

“Tell me.”

She wanted to pinch those amused eyelids of his. Wanted to snap, ‘Who else but you?’

The bitterness lingered on her tongue.

“There wasn’t anyone.”

“I know men. Girls who look as sexy as you always have a truckload of messy stories involving some guy. Tell me. What happened?”

“Nothing happened.”

Yi-jae avoided his gaze.

But Chae Ju-han relentlessly pursued her eyes.

“You’ve got the eyes of someone who had something happen to her. What? Did some bastard dump you? Did he throw you away after using you? Or are you angry because he played with you and left?”

“…Shut up.”

“Heh. You’re really going to cry.”

“Move. I told you I’m holding scissors. You’ll get hurt.”

Annoyed, Yi-jae pushed against him.

He knew nothing.

What they had wasn’t some cheap love affair.

It had been something far better than that.

“Too bad. I’m not the type to run away from danger. I’m the type to push forward.”

“Ah!”

Chae Ju-han spun her around and pressed her against the worktable.

The scissors clattered to the floor.

The bouquet she had carefully arranged collapsed with a soft thud.

Flowers that had been arranged in perfect beauty now lay scattered, their bare stems exposed.

But had their story really been something beautiful?

Even the most beautiful bouquet only hid its ugly stems with skill.

Maybe, in truth…

Yi-jae stopped thinking and tried to gather the scattered flowers.

But she couldn’t.

Because he was kneading her backside however he pleased, and she had to concentrate just to stop herself from crushing the flower stems in her hands.

“Don’t interfere. I need to finish-”

“I know you said to wait for the upper hole, but does the lower one feel the same way?”

He dropped to his knees on the floor and spread her apart with both hands.

Her body, which had been growing wet ever since he’d walked into the flower shop, betrayed her with a slick sound.

The sound was so embarrassingly explicit that her ears burned.

“Your lower hole’s saying something else. Hear that? It’s begging for c*ck. Did you hear it too?”

“It’s still… not time yet.”

“You don’t even believe that yourself.”

In an instant, her underwear was gone.

His head pushed between her thighs.

“Tell me. Since when have you been wet? Ten minutes ago? Thirty? An hour? Answer me. Were you waiting for me with soaked panties? Spreading yourself open?”

“Hngh!”

The sudden sensation shattered her composure.

“A strange woman. Pretending to resist while waiting this desperately.”

“No…”

“Then tell me not to touch you.”

“…”

She couldn’t.

Because she wasn’t sure she wanted him to stop.

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