Chapter 39: A Predetermined Future

The warmth that gently covered my lips was slightly cool, perhaps from the sea breeze. For a brief moment, it simply rested there, until a gap opened and a hot breath poured forth.

A thick tongue licked my unyielding lower lip. It then began to insistently prod, as if demanding entrance. Through my half-lidded, unfocused gaze, I could discern Han Jung-woo’s eyelashes, delicately lowered.

Something was terribly wrong. By the time this realization belatedly struck me, I had already, unconsciously, parted my firmly sealed lips.

“Hmph…”

The intruder, who had been lying in wait, swiftly claimed the interior of my mouth. He enveloped my tongue, which had instinctively retreated, and sucked deeply, pulling me closer by the nape of my neck.

The ease of moments prior seemed a complete fabrication as he began to press me relentlessly. I pushed against his chest, which blocked my front, intending for him to stop, but he remained utterly unmoving.

The wet sounds of our mucous membranes pressing together, his ragged breaths, and the distant, softened crash of waves echoed in my ears. My hands, which had been trying to push him away, were now gripping him as if he were a lifeline.

Even as the fabric clutched in my grasp became mercilessly crumpled, he made no move to push me away. Instead, he even supported the back of my head, drawing me further into him.

“Haa…”

“Hmph…”

He released me just as I felt my breath about to give out. With each gasping inhale, my chest heaved, rising and falling repeatedly as I struggled for air.

He extended his tongue to lick his slightly swollen lips. A thick thumb gently wiped away the saliva smeared on my chin. Then, he leaned in, poised to kiss me again.

“We… we made a promise.”

At my barely uttered words, he paused, his approach halted. During our three previous encounters, Han Jung-woo himself had proposed the condition that he would not touch me unless I initiated it.

As if replaying the memory of that promise I had just reminded him of, he, who had been silent, finally spoke.

“You didn’t avoid me.”

He was referring to the three seconds he had given me after his sudden announcement. His serious eyes seemed to ask if my failure to flee at that moment hadn’t been an implicit agreement.

I had merely been too startled to refuse, missing my chance. Just as I was mentally scrambling to formulate an explanation, my vision abruptly spun.

*Thump.* My body collapsed onto the shirt spread across the sand. Han Jung-woo, now looming over me, gazed directly into my eyes, which could not conceal my utter confusion at the sudden shift.

His slightly swollen lips moved slowly.

“Yoo Seo-jin, let’s go back together.”

The first thought that sprang to mind was: ‘Where?’ A moment later, I realized he meant returning to Korea.

My next thought was: ‘Why?’ Knowing the destination, I now needed to understand his intentions. Yet, no matter how much I racked my brain, I found no answer. I found Han Jung-woo inscrutable.

“When we go back, meet me. Not a meeting limited by number of times, like now, but one where we eat meals together, watch movies, go to cafes, and, when the mood strikes, have s*x.”

Fortunately, his additional words provided the answer. However, my confusion only deepened. The kind of relationship he proposed was undeniably one that lovers would share.

What else could a relationship involving shared meals, movies, cafe visits, and then s*x if the chemistry was right, be but that of lovers? But these things were meant for Jung Hee-soo, weren’t they?

‘That can’t be right.’

Han Jung-woo had always considered Yoo Seo-jin to be easily manipulated. He treated Yoo Seo-jin as a mere plaything, a toy to be held and trifled with, an easy target who would grovel at his slightest command.

Was he doing the same now? Enticing me with sweet words, only to discard me miserably later. Considering Han Jung-woo’s true nature, it wasn’t an unreasonable thought.

And while the original Yoo Seo-jin would have succumbed helplessly to this temptation, I was not him.

“I refuse.”

At my resolute refusal, Han Jung-woo’s face slowly contorted. Perhaps he had not anticipated this at all, for he remained silent for a long moment before asking, “Why?” My answer was simple.

“Because I have no intention of doing that with you, Han Jung-woo.”

“I don’t think so.”

He was utterly convinced that my words were a lie. I glared at him, my eyes wide, to emphasize the truth of my statement, but it had no effect whatsoever.

“Haven’t you ever been told you’re bad at lying?”

I had. Seon Woo-jung had once asked, puzzled, why I was so good at acting but couldn’t lie. What had I answered then? Had I said that lying and acting were different?

Seon Woo-jung had said he liked that side of me, too, because it was ‘me.’ ‘I like you, hyung. I even like that side of you,’ he had confessed, his cheeks flushed. The memory of that confession surfaced, then faded away.

“Again…”

At the low, deep voice, my hazy memories evaporated. Han Jung-woo came into sharp focus before my eyes. For some reason, his face was contorted, and one corner of his mouth twisted into a crooked smirk.

“What thoughts could be so profound when a person is standing right in front of you?”

*Tap, tap.* The fingertips drumming against my cheek were irritating. Could he possibly believe I had ignored him during that brief lapse into thought? Given Han Jung-woo’s personality, it was entirely plausible.

“Yoo Seo-jin, look at me.”

“…”

“See who is standing before you.”

Even with my eyes wide open and perfectly fine, Han Jung-woo kept repeating his demand for me to look at him. Just as I was about to question his sudden behavior, my collar was seized. My upper body was lifted halfway into the air, and after a moment of surprise, his lips were on mine again.

“Hmph.”

Even the first kiss had felt rushed, but this was on another level entirely. How could this be called a kiss, when it was merely an assault, forcing an opening and ravaging my mucous membranes?

My lips, pressed and ground from every angle, had long since burst and bled. I was deprived of any chance to breathe, leaving me desperately short of air, and the relentless force with which he pushed me, refusing to release my collar, bent my back painfully backward.

In short, it was a complete mess.

“Huuuh, huff.”

“Ha—”

While we were tangled in that frantic embrace, it seemed my carefully contained pheromones had leaked. With every breath, the sticky, clinging scent fueled the heat that had ignited deep within my core.

He, still dominating above me, never took his eyes off me. I tried to avert my gaze from his insistent stare, but my chin was firmly held, forcing my eyes back to his.

“Do you want to sleep with me?”

At the question, thrown out so nonchalantly, a deep sea began to churn within me. Meeting his seemingly confused eyes squarely, I asked again.

“Are you doing this because you want to sleep with me?”

Go back and meet him? What a ridiculous notion. I knew everything about Han Jung-woo, far more than he knew about Yoo Seo-jin.

Yoo Seo-jin had been pathologically obsessed with Han Jung-woo. Initially, it was merely a means to defeat Yoo Ju-jin, but as time passed, he considered it pure love, in his own twisted way.

Yoo Seo-jin knew everything about Han Jung-woo. The methods for gathering information were varied: background checks were basic, but he also resorted to threatening acquaintances and covertly infiltrating his home.

I had memorized all that accumulated information, over and over again. All to convincingly portray the Yoo Seo-jin who was obsessed with Han Jung-woo.

“When we go back, meet me. Not a meeting limited by number of times, like now, but one where we eat meals together, watch movies, go to cafes, and, when the mood strikes, have s*x.”

His words were like candy. They were so sweet that I almost succumbed. Indeed, who could remain unmoved by such a confession from a man like Han Jung-woo?

‘If I hadn’t known anything, I would probably be preparing to leave for Korea already.’

In the near future, Han Jung-woo would meet Jung Hee-soo and feel an unprecedented, powerful attraction. He would then begin to cling to Jung Hee-soo, suffering a feverish obsession so intense that he would cast aside everything else.

This was a predetermined future. In the protagonists’ destiny, supporting characters like me had no place. If I was destined to exit the stage anyway, surely I could at least choose the timing.

“Do you think I’m doing all this just for a single sexual encounter?”

“Aren’t you? I thought you were.”

His face contorted in utter devastation. His lips, which had been trembling for a long time, eventually stilled. It seemed he had chosen to swallow the words he was about to speak.

I was certain. The period of his capriciousness wouldn’t last long, for everything tended to become trivial once it was finally within grasp.

In that case, I might as well throw myself at him, like an act of charity. He would leave me without a second glance once he met Jung Hee-soo anyway, so he might as well just take what he wanted and be done with it.

“You’re truly a terrible person.”

A hollow laugh escaped me at Han Jung-woo’s words, spat out as if he were chewing them. He had no right to say that. We glared at each other, as if to kill, before our lips met once more, neither waiting for the other.