Chapter 35: Tangled Honeymoon

“Ah- wait, wait a second!”

The sharp sting snapped Go Ha-jin back to his senses. He shoved hard against the man leaning over him. Woo-seok was far stronger than him, yet unexpectedly, he pulled away easily.

“Stop messing around. This kind of joke seriously isn’t funny.”

“A joke…?”

Sitting upright, Ha-jin hurriedly redid the buttons Woo-seok had undone on his shirt. Without even waiting for a response, he rushed straight into the bedroom.

Even after burying his face into the bed, his pounding chest refused to calm down.

The skin Woo-seok’s lips had touched still burned hot… and the n*pple that had been twisted between his fingers tingled strangely too. He’d almost gotten swept away by that stupid teasing.

Who would’ve thought he was this weak to stimulation?

It had to be a joke.

Even if Ha-jin hadn’t pushed him away, Woo-seok probably would’ve ended it eventually with a mocking laugh.

Ha-jin still had plenty of questions about Woo-seok’s s*x life. But if that wasn’t the case…

Then wasn’t it possible that what Woo-seok had been trying to do hadn’t been a light joke at all?

There had been a reason for leaving him alone on their first night too. And if that were true…

The thought came too late.

Ha-jin sat upright abruptly before shaking his head hard, trying to throw the thoughts away. There was no reason to torture himself over pointless speculation about Chae Woo-seok.

Honestly though…

There was a tiny bit of disappointment lingering inside him.

****

Left alone in the empty living room, Woo-seok’s thoughts tangled messily.

He had always assumed whether he slept with Go Ha-jin or not depended entirely on his own choice.

Never once had he expected rejection.

His entire life, his decisions had effectively become reality.

Which was why the blow to his pride hit far harder than expected. Worse than having cold water dumped over his head.

“The nerve…”

At first, he’d simply been stunned.

Then annoyed.

Eventually, he’d even reached the humiliating conclusion that maybe he just wasn’t sexually appealing.

Then again, hadn’t Ha-jin once made some ridiculous comment asking if he had erectile dysfunction?

But Woo-seok’s er*ction was still painfully hard beneath his pants, proving there was absolutely nothing wrong with him.

And if Ha-jin had truly hated it, he wouldn’t have reacted so intensely from a few bites against his neck alone.

Which meant there was only one possible answer left.

Maybe Ha-jin had wanted a more romantic atmosphere?

Come to think of it, maybe having s*x right after beer and sausages wasn’t exactly ideal for a first time.

“Ah, whatever.”

The more he thought about it, the more his head throbbed.

‘Who cares about details like that anyway?’

Giving up on thinking further, Woo-seok headed into the bedroom opposite Ha-jin’s.

First, he needed to calm down the problem that stubbornly refused to settle between his legs.

****

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

Woo-seok woke early the next morning to loud knocking at his door.

Go Ha-jin stood outside with his arms crossed, glaring fiercely upward.

“What? Trying to seduce me this early?”

“What?! What are you even talking about? What am I supposed to do about this?!”

Apparently already showered, Ha-jin smelled faintly of body wash. He stretched his neck forward indignantly, bringing the scent even closer.

“It got even darker overnight! You left marks all over me. I can’t even cover them with clothes!”

When Woo-seok didn’t react, Ha-jin stepped closer and thrust his neck forward dramatically, exposing the bruised skin. He even tugged down the collar of his shirt to reveal the marks along his collarbone.

Seeing that, Woo-seok became convinced Ha-jin really was trying to seduce him.

So he pulled him into an embrace.

The smaller body pressed neatly against his chest. The sensation reminded him absurdly of still being tangled in warm blankets half-asleep.

“A-are you insane?! What are you doing now?!”

Ha-jin struggled violently, finally shaking away the last traces of Woo-seok’s drowsiness.

Seriously. Why did this guy overreact to every tiny thing? Hugging him wasn’t going to wear him down.

As Woo-seok fully woke, the dreamy haze faded from his senses.

“Ha-jin.”

By now, Woo-seok already knew exactly how to handle him.

At the sound of his name, Go Ha-jin instantly stiffened like stone and went quiet in his arms.

“I’ve been too nice lately, haven’t I? Now you’re openly cursing at me.”

Truthfully, he wasn’t even that offended. But his low morning voice rumbled deeply enough to sound almost threatening.

Thankfully, it worked.

“No, uh… Woo-seok, I wasn’t swearing! I was just surprised, so it slipped out, what’s the word? An exclamation! That’s all!”

“Shouldn’t you greet me properly first, Ha-jin hyung?”

That hit twice as hard.

“Ha-jin.”

“Ha-jin hyung.”

As expected, ridiculous protests spilled out of Ha-jin’s mouth one after another, improving Woo-seok’s mood considerably.

“Go on. Say good morning.”

Go Ha-jin felt like dying.

Woo-seok’s low voice sounded terrifying, like it could slit someone’s throat. Being trapped in his arms felt like carrying a giant tiger on his back, a beast that might sink its claws into him at any moment.

The arms wrapped around his waist felt crushingly strong. The hard muscles against his back were impossible to ignore.

And the distinctly hard shape pressed against the top of his backside was probably…

That.

“Did… did you sleep well? I slept well…”

While awkwardly offering a greeting nobody had asked for, Ha-jin subtly tried to shift his hips away from the thing pressing against him.

But…

“What exactly are you trying to do right now? Are you seriously g*inding against me on purpose?”

From Woo-seok’s perspective, that was exactly what it felt like.

“I am not! Then stop shoving that weapon against me!”

In the end, all Ha-jin accomplished was creating a terrible misunderstanding. He finally pried Woo-seok’s arms off him by force.

Though honestly, he could’ve done that from the start. Why hadn’t he?

“Still upset we didn’t finish last night? Didn’t expect you to be this eager first thing in the morning. Want to come inside?”

Woo-seok was smiling smugly again, as if he’d never sounded threatening moments ago. He casually tilted his head toward the bedroom.

Go Ha-jin immediately turned away.

Though…

He hesitated for a second.

****

“Wow… doesn’t it look like snow? It’s so pretty…”

“Pretty? That’s pollen. You’ll get conjunctivitis.”

‘What a mood-killer.’

Somehow, after clearing up their misunderstanding and finding themselves with free time, they ended up visiting the scenic lake Woo-seok had suggested earlier.

To Ha-jin, a lake had always just meant a giant reservoir.

But this place was different.

Towering mountains stretched around them like a painted backdrop. Vast forests spread beneath them. And the enormous lake ahead looked almost like the ocean itself.

He’d originally rejected Woo-seok’s suggestion to come here, but now he felt certain he would’ve regretted missing it forever.

“Hey, isn’t that a castle over there? I wonder how much property like that costs…”

“How do you look at scenery like this and start thinking about real estate? Besides, why would anyone buy that? It’s probably rotting inside.”

‘Easy for rich people to say.’

Go Ha-jin had once owned nothing but a miserable studio apartment. Now he didn’t even have that. Of course he wanted a house.

That was simply the unavoidable dream of every Korean.

“I’d still love to live somewhere like that at least once.”

“…You really like places like that?”

From this distance, it didn’t look enormous. More like a mansion than an actual castle.

Still, combined with the scenery around it, it looked undeniably beautiful.

“Who wouldn’t?”

“Then your wish is about to come true.”

“What does that mean?”

“Our house is probably bigger than that. And unlike that thing, ours definitely isn’t rotting inside.”

What the hell was this lunatic talking about?

“No way. There’s no house that huge. What are you, royalty?”

Ha-jin tried to dismiss Woo-seok’s words outright. Sure, the Chae family of SHS Group was wealthy, but a place like that existing in Korea?

Impossible.

“Unlike some people, I don’t need to lie or exaggerate. You’ll see it soon enough, so look forward to it.”

The confidence in his tone made Ha-jin hesitate.

Could it actually be true?

Still, somehow that wasn’t what mattered right now.

“…It really is soon, huh.”

“Yeah. Honestly, I’d almost forgotten while we were here.”

“Me too.”

Their honeymoon had started badly.

Then they’d spent days barely interacting.

But recently, they’d gone sightseeing together, shopping together, eating together.

Somewhere along the way, it had begun to feel like a real vacation.

The partner beside him still wasn’t exactly ideal, but…

It had been fun.

And because of that, everything waiting back in Korea felt distant. Almost unreal.

As if it had already ended.

But the moment they returned, reality would begin again.

Chae Il-joo. Lee Ah-seong. SHS. Woo-seok’s plans.

For a brief while, Ha-jin had lived without pretending.

The comfort, the luxury, the ease.

It had been everything he’d always wanted.

But dreams ended eventually.

Soon he would have to put on the fabricated identity of “Go Ha-jin” again and continue acting out a fake life.

“I’m warning you now. Don’t expect help from me once we’re back home.”

“Well… I already figured that much out. You act like we’re strangers whenever your father’s around.”

“I can’t help it. Figure it out yourself.”

That was the problem.

Lee Ah-seong constantly threw pointed remarks and hostile looks his way. Chae Il-joo appeared kind, yet always watched him with calculating eyes that made Ha-jin deeply uncomfortable.

Even someone like Go Ha-jin lost confidence thinking about dealing with them.

“Still, you should at least give me some kind of goal. We got married, but there’s no way you only wanted the marriage itself.”

“Smart. I would’ve been disappointed if you hadn’t asked that.”

‘Obviously.’

Even if he’d forgotten for a while, this fake marriage ultimately revolved around Chae Woo-seok.

Which meant what he truly wanted wasn’t the marriage.

But what came after.

“So what is it?”

“It’ll be easy for you. It’s what you’re best at.”

“What I’m best at…?”

“Just act like your usual self. Use your judgment well enough not to get divorced.”

The moment he understood, a grin spread across Go Ha-jin’s face.

Ah.

If that was all, then this was absolutely his specialty.

A disaster was coming.

‘Better prepare yourselves.’

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