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Join the ServerYoo Seo-jin would have preferred a lavish hotel over a secluded old villa in the forest, but I certainly didn’t.
Even as Yoo Joon-hee, I used to deliberately seek out places cut off from the world. Naturally, a villa surrounded by dense trees on all sides appealed to me.
While I was lost in contemplation for a moment, he, who had been quiet, seemed about to begin an unexpected story.
“This place was left to us by my mother.”
Hearing those familiar first words, I paused, mid-sip of water.
He continued speaking, oblivious to my surprise, his gaze fixed on the empty air as if lost in memories.
“She passed away when I was quite young, so I don’t have many memories of her. But we used to spend time here together during the summers. The forest all around made it so cool.
Strangely, that particular memory remains vividly clear to me, even now.”
His voice, usually so composed, was slightly choked as he confessed his fondness for the place.
The painful past of a man I had only ever perceived as cold was enough to stir anyone’s heart, but the problem was, I already knew this scene and these lines.
‘Why is he telling me what he should be telling Jung Hee-soo?’
In the drama, Han Jung-woo had once brought Jung Hee-soo to this very villa, a place left by his mother. It was here that he revealed his painful past.
Confronted with this unexpected vulnerability, Jung Hee-soo solidified her wavering feelings, acknowledging for the first time that she loved him. After confirming their mutual affection, the two became lovers in this very spot.
In essence, this was a profoundly significant location for the protagonists. It was certainly not a place for me, the villain who had relentlessly tormented them.
I should have remembered this fact beforehand, but I had been so captivated by the villa, which perfectly suited my tastes, that I had forgotten. Had I known, I wouldn’t have even stepped inside.
“If it’s such a meaningful place, shouldn’t you be here with someone precious to you, not me?”
“…Someone precious.”
His gaze, which had been fixed on the distance, returned to me. No words were exchanged, yet the answer lay in his dark eyes.
I lowered my head, pretending not to have seen anything.
“Have you decided on the baby’s nickname?”
Before the silence could stretch further, he deftly changed the subject.
Setting aside my heavy heart for a moment, I spun the mug, still containing some water, in my hands and replied.
“Kkamjjaki.”
“…Pardon?”
He asked again, as if he hadn’t heard me. I kindly repeated myself: “Kkamjjaki.”
“Is the baby’s nickname really… Kkamjjaki?”
“Is it strange?”
He nodded honestly, then raised both hands to cover his face. Soon after, his shoulders began to shake with laughter.
“Kkamjjaki, that’s insane.”
He muttered to himself, unable to stop laughing for a long time.
I, who had thought it was a rather well-chosen, intuitive name, felt quite displeased by his unexpected reaction.
“Is it that funny?”
“No. It’s a good name, Kkamjjaki.”
Having already had his fill of laughter, he brazenly lied, composing his expression as if he hadn’t found it amusing at all.
He rose from his seat and walked over to me. Without averting his gaze from my narrowed eyes, he knelt on one knee and placed a hand on my belly.
“I still can’t believe it. That there’s a baby here.”
Even I, the one carrying the child, hadn’t fully grasped the reality yet, so I doubted Han Jung-woo would be any different.
After all, this was likely the first time the man, accustomed to consequence-free one-night stands, had ever gotten someone pregnant.
“I hope the baby resembles Yoo Seo-jin.”
“…Indeed.”
I felt a twinge of guilt, but I genuinely wished for it. I didn’t want to be reminded of him, who wouldn’t be by my side, every time I saw the child’s face.
I’d rather the baby completely resembled me.
“It might be difficult now, but once the reporters calm down, could we go to the hospital together?”
“Is there really a need for that?”
I drew a firm line with him, just as he was beginning to be swept away by emotion.
Turning away from his slowly contorting face, I also removed his hand, which was still resting on my belly.
I didn’t want him to grow too attached to the child. We would be parting ways the moment the baby was born, and if he became too fond, it would be difficult for him to let the child go.
And I, too, didn’t want my heart to become even more troubled than it already was. Ultimately, all of this was a choice made for my own sake.
“I can go to the hospital by myself. So, Han Jung-woo, you don’t need to worry about it.”
“…If that’s what Yoo Seo-jin wants.”
With those words, he rose and returned to the seat opposite mine. We averted our gazes from each other, speaking no more.
“I’m going to look around for a bit.”
The continuing silence grew uncomfortable, so I used the excuse of exploring the villa to stand up.
Leaving him without a word, I exited the living room and opened the first door I saw.
‘This place…’
The room, connected to a balcony, was the villa’s main bedroom. Immediately, scenes of the protagonists spending happy moments here replayed in my mind, making my stomach churn.
“Haa…”
Letting out a deep sigh, I gently sat on a chair tucked in the corner, rather than the bed in the center of the room. I simply didn’t want to go near that bed.
‘If I had known this was it, I wouldn’t have come.’
Only belated regrets continued to plague me.
****
“Yoo Seo-jin.”
I opened my eyes at the sound of my name. I remembered sitting in the chair and resting my eyes for a moment, but it seemed I had drifted off to sleep.
As I rubbed my blurry eyes and tried to stand, he gently held my shoulder, easing me back down.
“Get up in a little while. You shouldn’t stumble and fall.”
He was right; immediately after waking up, it was difficult to maintain balance if I stood too quickly. A fall now would be disastrous.
So, I nodded meekly, settling back into the chair and leaning against its back.
“Are you very tired?”
“A little.”
“Then you should have slept on the bed, not here.”
“Bed… no.”
Hearing my mumbled refusal, he asked why. Not yet fully awake, my mind slowly processed a response for him.
“I… shouldn’t sleep there.”
“Why not?”
“…Because it’s not my place.”
After saying that, I let my stubbornly held head drop. Just as I thought of sleeping a little longer, a deep sigh sounded above me.
“This damn…”
He muttered something to himself, then bent deeply at the waist. In one swift motion, he lifted me, who had been uncomfortably trying to sleep in the chair.
The sudden sensation of my body floating startled me, and my eyes flew open.
He held me firmly, preventing me from struggling, then turned and headed for the bed.
“Don’t make it uncomfortable for others to watch. Sleep here.”
He gently lowered me onto the soft duvet. Although I lay down obediently, the suddenness of the situation had startled me quite a bit, and all traces of sleep had already vanished.
Seeing no further reason to lie there, I attempted to sit up, but he held me back, climbing onto the bed himself. He then slipped his arm under my head, offering it as a pillow.
“Let’s rest a little longer, just us.”
“Then Han Jung-woo, you alone…”
“No, let’s rest together.”
He closed his eyes, pulling me close as I tried to escape. The proximity was incredibly uncomfortable, his face so near if I were to lift my head.
This bed, especially, lying here with him, was certainly not where I belonged.
“Can’t you just rest quietly?”
My constant fidgeting had disturbed his peace, and he frowned deeply. When I retorted that he could just rest by himself if he wanted to, he replied,
“I like this.”
With that, he fell silent and drifted off to sleep. Even as he slept, the strength of the arm holding me remained, making it impossible to escape.
I glared at him intently, wondering if he was merely feigning sleep, but there was no reaction for a long time.
Just as I was about to dismiss the thought that he had truly fallen asleep, his lips parted.
“…Don’t go.”
At first, I thought he was speaking to me. So I raised my head, intending to tell him to stop pretending to sleep, but instead, I was met with an unexpected sight.
“Please…”
The moment I saw transparent tears streaming down his pale cheeks, my hand moved on its own accord.
As I cupped his subtly trembling cheek, he instinctively tilted his head into my touch in his sleep.
‘What kind of dream is he having?’
I had memorized everything about Han Jung-woo for the script, but I couldn’t possibly know what he was dreaming about. I could only assume it was a very sad dream.
He sobbed silently for a while before finally ceasing his tears much later. Only after hearing his even breathing did I lower the hand that had been cradling his cheek.
“Don’t have sad dreams, don’t have difficult dreams… sleep well.”
His whispered words from a few nights ago, when he had secretly entered my room, came back to me.
After a brief hesitation, I repeated the same words to him, now peacefully asleep.
“Don’t have sad dreams, don’t have difficult dreams, sleep well.”
My chest fluttered.
The adventure continues! If you loved this chapter, I Want To Bite You is a must-read. Click here to start!
Read : I Want To Bite You
