Chapter 69: Try Kissing Me

“You’re home…?”

When Chae Woo-seok returned late that evening, he stopped just inside the front door.

Something about Go Ha-jin seemed off.

It could simply be that he had come to greet him at the entrance, but…

“Did you eat dinner? Aren’t you hungry?”

Woo-seok had once heard something about dogs that knew they had done something wrong.

A dog that had trashed the house while its owner was away would tuck its tail, lower its eyes, and put on the most pitiful expression possible the moment the owner came home. Instinctively, it knew that looking pathetic might serve as a shield.

“Or do you want to shower first? Ah, you’re probably tired. That would be better.”

At least, from Woo-seok’s perspective, Ha-jin looked very similar.

He was acting normal, but not quite.

Every time Woo-seok moved, Ha-jin followed closely behind, never taking his eyes off him, constantly gauging his mood.

“Did you eat dinner?”

Noticing Ha-jin carefully watching him, Woo-seok deliberately hardened his expression.

Sometimes people just wanted to be contrary.

Or at least, Woo-seok did.

Actually, he wasn’t normally like this.

But whenever he looked at Ha-jin, childish impulses occasionally surfaced.

He just wanted to tease him.

Something like that.

Truthfully, Woo-seok thought he had gone too far earlier that day.

It was true that Ha-jin had done something nobody asked him to do, but if Woo-seok really got promoted, there were countless ways to use that situation to their advantage.

After snapping because his plans had been unexpectedly disrupted, he’d spent hours alone regretting his harsh tone.

In other words, he wasn’t angry at all anymore.

If anything, he had come home late because he was trying to figure out how to make up for revealing too much of his emotions earlier.

Yet seeing Ha-jin like this brought out his mischievous side again.

“Well… I wasn’t really hungry…”

Woo-seok glanced toward the dining table.

The food sat untouched.

Since there were two place settings, Ha-jin clearly hadn’t eaten either.

“Haah…”

The sight irritated him.

Who was this supposed to help?

What was the point of skipping meals over something like this?

The moment they decided to enter this fake marriage, the possibility of being exposed had always existed.

Besides, this wasn’t even really Ha-jin’s fault.

It was simply terrible luck.

What con artist would ever predict that a kidnapping victim would suddenly return alive after ten years?

Avoiding the worst-case scenario was enough.

This was manageable.

“W-We were going to eat together! I wasn’t starving myself in protest or anything!”

Woo-seok had only sighed once, yet Ha-jin immediately began rambling excuses.

He wasn’t hungry.

He hadn’t realized how late it was.

One excuse after another spilled out.

He sounded desperate.

The man who never lost an argument suddenly seemed awkward and uncertain.

At this point, Woo-seok felt that if he merely raised his voice or glared a little harder, Ha-jin might actually burst into tears.

Not that he really would.

But that was how miserable he looked.

Gone was the usual playful expression.

“Go Ha-jin.”

He knew he shouldn’t feel this way, but seeing Ha-jin like this oddly pleased him.

‘Cute, maybe.’

Like a guilty dog waiting for punishment.

Suppressing a smile, Woo-seok lowered his voice even further.

Ha-jin’s eyes immediately widened.

The tension was so obvious it felt visible.

“…Go eat first.”

Ha-jin’s lips moved as though he wanted to say something.

But in the end, he simply lowered his head and sat at the table.

Haah…

Only then did Woo-seok release a heavy sigh.

And once again, something strange happened.

He had only intended to tease him.

Yet suddenly he felt blood rushing south.

There wasn’t even a reason for it.

Then again…

Maybe there was.

This had been happening frequently lately.

Unexpected moments when he became aroused.

When waking up.

Sitting idly at work.

Driving home.

Basically whenever.

By now he was almost used to it.

Hiding his discomfort, he sat across from Ha-jin.

“Trying to protest? Why aren’t you eating?”

Only after being urged did Ha-jin finally start eating.

Judging by his expression, one would think he was swallowing poison rather than dinner.

His arm and jaw moved mechanically.

Normally he ate like someone who had been starving for days.

Seeing him like this irritated Woo-seok again.

‘Damn it.’

That joke had been unnecessary.

At least he should have let him eat in peace.

“You know you were wrong, right?”

Unable to stand the sight any longer, he spoke.

But at that moment, Woo-seok wondered if he had taken the bait.

As though he’d been waiting for exactly those words, Ha-jin’s eyes lit up and he nodded so vigorously his head nearly came off.

“I prepared fake information to fool Noona too! Wait a second!”

Abandoning his meal, Ha-jin rushed off and returned with a thick envelope.

Unable to ignore the eager look in his eyes, Woo-seok opened it.

“…You actually put quite a bit of work into this.”

The materials were more convincing than expected.

The background wasn’t excessively elaborate, yet detailed enough to explain why little information existed about him publicly.

Ha-jin had skillfully pieced together information using the identity of the real estate heir he’d once claimed was his father.

It wouldn’t withstand a truly exhaustive investigation, but it was more than enough to fool most people.

“If we can just make sure this reaches Noona naturally…”

Exactly.

This was why Woo-seok could never truly dislike him.

Because he was clever.

Woo-seok hadn’t even considered this approach.

He had been worrying about how to establish the fake identity in America without attracting suspicion.

But after hearing Ha-jin’s plan, he realized that wasn’t necessary.

They didn’t need to fool everyone.

Only Jae-yi.

“You’ll help me, right…?”

Of course he would.

Even if Ha-jin hadn’t prepared all this, Woo-seok would have handled the matter himself.

The fact that Ha-jin had gone this far without being asked was almost touching.

At that moment, his honest impulse was to grab those cheeks and kiss him.

Simply because everything about him seemed adorable.

“We’ll see.”

“…What?”

“Depends on how you behave.”

“Y-You…!”

There it was.

That temper wasn’t going anywhere.

The man who had been trying so hard to behave finally raised his voice.

Apparently he had been holding himself back all evening.

“What?”

“…Nothing.”

Still, his patience hadn’t quite run out.

Woo-seok’s stern expression remained effective.

Though Ha-jin’s lips jutted out in protest, his voice became obedient again.

Woo-seok almost felt like he could hear phantom curses.

“Bastard.”

“Son of a b*tch.”

Exactly the kinds of things Ha-jin was probably screaming internally.

“Finish eating first. Don’t leave anything.”

The look on Ha-jin’s face clearly said:

What does food matter right now?

“Haah…”

“Eat.”

The moment Woo-seok set down his spoon with a sharp clack and sighed again, Ha-jin finally resumed eating properly.

He looked more like himself now.

Shoveling food into his mouth with gusto.

Oddly endearing.

Though he seemed determined to eat only rice.

When Woo-seok tapped the side dishes with his chopsticks, Ha-jin finally started eating those too.

“Aren’t you eating?”

Woo-seok rested his chin on his hand and simply watched him.

“I’ll eat later. Finish yours.”

He had just made a decision.

There was something he wanted more than food.

It wasn’t dinner, but it would satisfy a different kind of hunger.

That was what he intended to have.

Watching Woo-seok stare at him, Ha-jin came to a gloomy conclusion.

Apparently all his efforts had been pointless.

After seeing Woo-seok at the office earlier, he’d spent hours on the phone with Teacher Lee creating the fake identity.

Yet Woo-seok was still using that cold tone.

Which meant the situation was truly serious.

That must be why he was looking at him as though he wanted to tear him apart.

Both of them silently wished dinner would end quickly.

For very different reasons.

****

“You said you needed my help.”

“Uh… yes.”

Perhaps because he was impatient, Woo-seok finished showering before Ha-jin for once.

As usual, he prepared a few cans of cold beer in the bedroom.

After waiting what felt like forever, he finished one can by himself.

Only when he was considering barging into the bathroom did Ha-jin finally emerge.

Concealing his true thoughts, Woo-seok casually resumed their earlier conversation.

“Hm… you realize this isn’t exactly an easy task.”

“Right…”

Actually, it was easy.

Thinking about it now, it barely qualified as work.

Ha-jin had already prepared all the documents and even outlined the method.

“Will it… be difficult?”

“Very.”

Watching Ha-jin sometimes felt like watching a musical.

No one around Woo-seok resembled him.

No one displayed their joy and frustration so openly while remaining impossible to hate.

Considering how transparent his emotions were, it was almost unbelievable that Woo-seok himself had once nearly fallen for one of his scams.

That transparency also made teasing him immensely entertaining.

Apparently frustrated by Woo-seok’s answer, Ha-jin cracked open a beer and began drinking.

“But I don’t think it’s completely impossible.”

“Really? How?”

His face brightened instantly.

Moments ago he had looked like the world was ending.

Now he seemed to glow.

“I’ll tell you. Come here.”

Tap. Tap.

Woo-seok patted his thigh.

“Huh?”

“You’re not going to listen?”

“No! I am! Of course I am!”

Though clearly confused, Ha-jin stood and approached.

He couldn’t figure out what the gesture meant.

“Sit here.”

“…There?”

“Haah…”

The magic word of the day was another sigh.

The moment Woo-seok exhaled deeply, Ha-jin moved like lightning and sat on his thigh.

Without being told, he even wrapped his arms around Woo-seok’s neck.

Exactly as intended.

The distance was dangerously close.

Their thighs touched.

Ha-jin’s arms rested against his neck.

His lips, still damp from the beer, moved nervously.

None of those things should have mattered.

Yet together they sent a rush of heat through Woo-seok.

Truthfully, he had been hard ever since Ha-jin was in the shower.

“So… what do I need to do?”

Completely unaware, Ha-jin asked the question.

His face was so red the flush had spread all the way down his neck.

What could possibly be running through that head to produce such an expression?

Woo-seok wrapped an arm around his waist.

The instant he touched him, he felt Ha-jin tense.

He pulled him closer so he couldn’t escape.

“What do you need to do…?”

This was enough.

He couldn’t keep pretending to be angry anymore.

Not when all he wanted was to kiss him and strip away every layer between them.

Still, after putting on such a performance, he decided to indulge himself a little longer.

Looking directly into Ha-jin’s nervous eyes, he continued:

“Try kissing me.”

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

Woo-seok’s heart began to race.

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