Chapter 26: The Line Drawn in Blood

At that moment, a strange scent washed over her.

The thick smell of semen filled the flower shop. It was so strong that it completely drowned out the faint floral fragrance that usually greeted her whenever she returned from outside.

Even though the heat wasn’t on, the room was hot and humid. The cold that had frozen her fingertips turned into a sharp tingling sensation. Go Yi-jae felt along the wall for the light switch.

“Don’t turn on the light.”

She had already guessed from the heat in the room, but the moment she heard that voice, her skin trembled.

Chae Ju-han was here.

Not somewhere else, inside her space. And he had thoroughly wrecked it.

“Come here.”

His face was hidden in the darkness. But the moonlight pouring in from outside traced the contours of his body, making his skin gleam enticingly. His erect cock glistened in the moonlight as though it were inviting her closer.

Like the sole artwork displayed in a vast gallery.

Like a body illuminated by a spotlight, meant only to be admired.

Or like a moonflower blooming fully beneath the night sky.

The room was dark. So dark that no one outside could have guessed he was there. But Yi-jae’s eyes had already adjusted, and what she saw was overwhelming. Worse, she was afraid someone outside might see him.

She locked the door and pulled down the blinds.

She shut out every source of light, hiding him inside the darkness.

“If you stay like that, someone outside might see.”

“Does that bother you?”

The sound of her swallowing echoed through the room. The flower shop was so quiet that even the smallest noise sounded loud. Even the refrigerated flower display, usually so noisy, seemed to be holding its breath.

“Of course it does.”

“Then you should’ve stayed here the whole time. Quietly. I told you to wait.”

“How was I supposed to know when you’d come…”

“Come here.”

Chae Ju-han held out his hand from the darkness.

Yi-jae stared at his silhouette before reaching toward the worktable and pressing a button.

Click.

A warm light flickered on.

They were flower lamps she’d made in abundance for the holiday season. Inside each glass dome, a small red rose bloomed under the glow.

“They’re pretty, aren’t they? Ah- ”

She lightly touched one of the domes.

Then Chae Ju-han yanked her toward him.

As she stumbled forward, her shoe slipped against something slick on the floor. The scattered white fluid spread across the ground gleamed orange beneath the light.

She glanced downward.

A large hand buried itself in her hair and gripped the back of her head, forcing her face back toward him.

Their eyes met.

“Where’d you go?”

His voice was lower than usual, clipped and sharp, as though his patience had reached its limit. Unlike before, Chae Ju-han seemed on edge. Even the soft orange lighting couldn’t soften the frightening expression on his face.

“Ah, I…”

“The club?”

“…Yes.”

She blinked in surprise.

Of course.

It was his club.

Only now did she realize that he knew when she visited.

Heat crept up her face.

Had he known every time she’d come looking for him?

She wanted to ask, but his expression remained cold.

“They said you’d already left the club.”

“I… went to the boxing gym.”

“Someone said somebody had already been there, too.”

Chae Ju-han knew everything.

He hadn’t contacted her once, yet somehow he knew exactly where she’d been.

From what she’d heard at the club, he’d been busy because of the Hong Kong guest. Yet he apparently had enough time to keep track of her movements.

Or perhaps he’d simply had someone watching her.

“Are you spying on me?”

“…I didn’t know that’s what you wanted.”

He wasn’t spying on her.

Go Yi-jae wasn’t important enough for Chae Ju-han to monitor.

And yet, why did that realization hurt?

“You didn’t come straight here. Where else did you go?”

“…”

She wondered.

Was he really asking because he didn’t know?

“Why did you go to my house?”

Of course.

He knew that, too.

He knew everything.

Then how much did he know?

Did he know that they’d first met in a sunlit park? That a kind man had shielded her from the sunlight? That he’d taken in a girl with nowhere to go and given her warmth and a place to sleep?

…Of course he didn’t.

If he knew that, he wouldn’t be asking these questions.

He would’ve asked why they’d lived together.

If he’d asked that, she would’ve answered.

Because that would mean he wanted to hear about the past.

But the reason she’d gone to his house today was only a fragment thrown loose from that past.

What he wanted to know was too shallow.

And Yi-jae wanted to say far more than he was asking.

If she started talking, it would become a story with no beginning and no end.

“I thought you said you weren’t watching me.”

“You should’ve been here. Then I wouldn’t have had to send people out looking for you.”

He’d looked for her.

Not by digging through ashes.

Not by searching morgues or funeral halls.

But he’d looked for Go Yi-jae.

“You looked for me? Why?”

The man she’d known before had once promised he’d hold her funeral.

“Because it’s f*cking cold.”

“…”

What exactly had she expected from Chae Ju-han?

“But tell me, Go Yi-jae. Did you miss me?”

“…”

“The way you’ve been moving around… it almost looks like you’ve been searching for me.”

“You’re mistaken.”

Could feelings really show in the way someone walked?

If so, then she’d walked incorrectly.

Because she didn’t have feelings for Chae Ju-han.

For five years, she’d waited not for Chae Ju-han, but for the man he used to be.

She’d waited for the gentle, kind man.

Instead, Chae Ju-han had returned, crude, vulgar, and nothing like him.

And Chae Ju-han was not her man from the past.

“I heard you were busy because of the Hong Kong guest. Ah- ”

His grip on the back of her head tightened.

The pressure against her scalp was so intense that her eyes squeezed shut.

“Go Yi-jae. That’s none of your business.”

“They said… you had quite a night. With a beautiful woman. Ngh…”

His thick fingers threaded through her hair, massaging her scalp. Each press sent a shiver down her spine.

Then Chae Ju-han bit her chin.

“What? Are you jealous?”

“Were you hurt?”

“That’s an interesting question.”

“They said there was blood on the club floor…”

He clicked his tongue.

Then he covered her eyes with his other hand and held her head firmly between both hands. His lips brushed against the shell of her ear. Warm breath spilled over her skin.

“So many ugly rumors. But that’s none of your business, either.”

“…”

“Whose blood it was isn’t your concern.”

Even with her eyes covered, the line he drew between them felt painfully clear.

A red line.

As though drawn in blood.

And suddenly she wanted to cross it.

“Then what about the semen dried on the floor? Is that none of my business either? They said there was some kind of orgy. Is that something I’m not allowed to know about?”

Chae Ju-han released her head and looked directly at her.

“That’s what you’re curious about?”

He looked far more amused than before.

The corner of his mouth kept twitching upward.

His e*ection loomed before her stomach, fully aroused and radiating heat.

“…Why won’t you answer?”

“You have to ask properly.”

“…”

“Ask me if I got hard for another woman.”

“…”

“Ask me if I f*cked someone else and c*me inside them.”

The silk robe slid from his shoulders, exposing his broad chest.

In the orange light, Chae Ju-han slowly stroked himself as though showing her on purpose.

“…You promised.”

“I did.”

“You said you belonged entirely to me.”

“I said that.”

“Then what does that mea-”

Before she could finish, Chae Ju-han grabbed her hand.

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