Chapter 6: The Line We Chose to Cross

It was truly strange.

She was only excited to finally be able to bathe with Gyesa again after so long, so why did her heart feel so tense like this.

When she swallowed hard, Gyesa’s Adam’s apple bobbed noticeably.

He looked as though he was holding something back.

“Are you really fine with this situation?”

As he spoke, the hand that had been brushing her hair slowly moved down, gently tracing along her collarbone.

She should have been chilled from the stream, yet strangely, only the spot where his fingertips touched felt as if it were burning hot, flushing red.

“Do you still see me as that snot-nosed kid who used to run around naked with you?”

The hand resting on her collarbone hesitated, then slowly crept downward, inch by inch.

Following its path with her eyes, she finally noticed her own state.

Through her soaked, translucent undershirt, the soft swell of her chest and her pale skin were clearly visible.

At the sight, both she and Gyesa swallowed in silence.

“And you don’t even know what it is I’m enduring.”

His words came out in short, clipped fragments.

It was obvious his body was rigid with tension.

She was no different.

A strange, unfamiliar sensation crashed over her like a tidal wave.

Her lower abdomen tightened, and her teeth threatened to chatter from the strain.

‘Of all times, why would I remember the things I overheard about men and women.’

She was so embarrassed she wanted to dive into the water and hide immediately.

Yet at the same time, bold and improper thoughts stubbornly occupied a corner of her mind.

The intimacy between a man and a woman.

She had never imagined doing such things with Gyesa, but if he were to do them with someone else someday, she knew she would be heartbroken to death.

And she herself had never once imagined doing such obscene things with anyone else.

Maybe this was a chance.

A chance to cross the line with Gyesa, who had grown up like a friend, like family.

‘You never know when Gyesa might end up by someone else’s side.’

It might be a filthy desire.

But she no longer wanted to feel sorrow imagining him with someone else.

Even if nothing had actually happened, even if he claimed he had only gone away to earn money, she did not want to give his nights to another person.

“…What are you enduring?”

She asked on purpose.

She steadied her trembling lips and pressed her flushed body closer to his, hiding herself against him.

Even through the thin layer of her undershirt, she could feel their bodies touching.

Unlike her, his body was lean, but large and solid, pressing against her chest and lower abdomen.

Gyesa drew in a deep breath.

“You….”

“Just like you said, I don’t know anything.

So tell me.

What are you enduring?”

She felt like she might suffocate from embarrassment, yet she was terrified he would push her away and ask what she was doing.

When he gave no answer at all, her courage nearly crumbled.

But the rapid pounding of his heart against her cheek gave her comfort, and she clung tightly to his waist.

‘Please, please don’t push me away.’

The moment she squeezed her eyes shut, his hands grabbed her shoulders and roughly pulled her back.

Before she could even feel hurt at what she thought was rejection, his lips crashed into hers.

Her eyes flew open in shock.

“Mm…!”

The impact left her lips tingling.

As her mouth parted in surprise, his tongue slipped past her lips.

“Gye, sa… mmph.”

Clumsy and rough, yet burning hot, the kiss went on for a long while.

His long, slender tongue roamed her mouth as if teasing her, exploring places she herself had never even thought to touch.

Her mind went blank under the unfamiliar sensation.

“Breathe.”

She must have forgotten to breathe.

After briefly pulling away to say that, he pressed his lips against hers again, just as roughly.

The second kiss was still awkward, still crude, and still blazing hot.

“Ah—!”

As she was tossed about by his roaming tongue, his hand suddenly grabbed her chest forcefully.

Startled by the unexpected touch, she scratched his shoulder hard.

Gyesa seemed just as startled, loosening his grip.

After hesitating for a moment, he carefully slid his hand under her breast, lifting it gently and holding it in his palm.

Heat spread through her chest as it was kneaded in his grasp.

From her heart to the soft swell of her chest, she felt as if she were set on fire.

It was unbearable.

“Aedong.”

Gyesa seemed no better off than she was.

Between their parted lips, hot breaths mingled.

Every place their skin touched burned as though cold water could never cool it.

“Are you okay?”

She nodded without even knowing what he meant by okay.

“I like everything you do.”

I like you so much, Gyesa.

She said it sincerely.

His jaw twitched.

He caught her slipping wrist and guided it firmly behind his neck.

After a brief pause, he spoke in a low, husky voice.

“I’ll be gentle.”

She lacked both knowledge and experience, but she understood well enough what he meant.

Living among rough circus performers, there were things one learned even without wanting to.

“They say it only hurts the first time.

After that, you can’t live without it.”

She remembered the older women laughing as they said that.

They had said the first time was painful.

But if that pain came from Gyesa, she was willing to accept all of it.

Gyesa scooped her up effortlessly.

Her eyes widened as her view suddenly lifted, and she looked down at him.

His long black hair clung wetly to his face, his forehead gleaming in the moonlight, his sharply sculpted nose, and the lips that had just been joined to hers, shining beautifully.

He looked like the very embodiment of moonlit elegance.

Carrying her, he walked through the water for a moment before laying her down on a wide, flat rock.

Positioning himself between her legs, Gyesa gazed down at her.

His dark eyes gleamed like black pearls, yet there was a frightening light in them, like a predator eyeing its prey.

Slowly, he lowered his face again.

This time, instead of her lips, he turned and pressed his mouth to her neck.

“Haa….”

His lips, which had gently grazed her skin, moved lower and lower.

After lingering at her collarbone for a long while, they finally closed around the peak of her chest.

“Mmm…!”

Through her thin undershirt, she felt the hot, moist air as her breast was drawn into his mouth.

With the tip of his tongue, he lightly tapped at the sensitive bud beneath the fabric.

At the strange sensation, she instinctively wrapped her arms around his head.

But Gyesa paid no mind, biting down on her chest.

“Hh—!”

The sharp sensation made her gasp, nearly crying out.

She clapped a hand over her mouth, but he continued tormenting her breast.

Like a child grinding their teeth, he gnawed for a long while before secretly sliding his hand into her undergarments.

His hot hand traveled up her calf, along her thigh, and toward the hidden flesh of her inner thigh.

“Haa, ahh….”

His mouth played with her chest while his hand stroked her below.

Her entire body tingled, her toes curling tightly.

He untied and removed her underclothes, then stripped away even her inner trousers.

“Hh…!”

As a place she had never shown anyone was exposed, she tried to pull her legs together.

But with Gyesa firmly positioned between them, it was futile.

He lifted his upper body, gazing at her sprawled atop the rock.

Under his intense stare, embarrassment washed over her, and she covered her face with both hands.

Gyesa immediately grabbed her wrists, uncovering even the face she tried to hide like a shell.

She looked at him with a face burning red.

The veins at his temples stood out sharply.

He seemed to be barely holding on to his reason as he exhaled roughly.

“If you want to stop, this is your last chance.

Are you sure you won’t regret it?”

Regret.

There was no way.

She found his restraint both admirable and frustrating.

She wanted to clearly tell him how she felt, but her mind, clouded with heat, could not manage it.

In the end, she clung to him, tearfully and foolishly.

“Hold me, Gyesa.”

At those words, she heard the faint grinding of his teeth, and then he lowered himself, burying his face between her parted legs.

His high, sharp nose pressed mercilessly against her most sensitive place.

“Ahh!”

As Gyesa invaded a place no one had ever touched, a shrill cry escaped her.

Yet he paid it no mind, pressing his lips to her soft, full flesh.

His breath was so hot she felt she might be burned.

Breathing roughly, he parted her gently with his thumb and licked upward with his tongue along the tender red flesh hidden within.

“Ahh… th-this is strange.”

It was a sensation she had never experienced in her life.

The unfamiliar, obscene feeling frightened her, and she called out to him in a trembling voice.

“Gyesa.

Gyesa….”