“Take it off and change into this. I don’t like looking at it.”
It seemed Kang Taeyun was uncomfortable seeing me in the shirt Moon Dowon had given me.
Left with no choice, I began to undress, but Kang Taeyun suddenly grabbed my arm.
“It’s an imprinting mark.”
Strength surged into the fingertips of the hand holding my arm.
Because of the sharp pain, I used my free hand to firmly grip his wrist.
“It hurts.”
“Is this your answer? What if I say I can’t be with the two of them? Will you still choose them over me?”
Kang Taeyun asked seriously, his gaze steady.
Seeing as he didn’t budge even after I said it hurt, it felt like he had no intention of letting go until I gave him an answer.
I had no choice but to shake my head.
“No.”
“…….”
“I’m going to choose all three.”
At those final words, a look of disappointment shaded Kang Taeyun’s face.
Deep down, he seemed to have hoped I would choose him alone.
With a slightly colder tone, Kang Taeyun let go of my wrist.
“I guess Moon Dowon satisfied you.”
He turned his head to stare out the window, muttering that I couldn’t have made up my mind so firmly otherwise. It hurt to see him refuse to even meet my eyes.
Perhaps it was because it was Kang Taeyun—someone I had grown more attached to—that it felt this way.
In the chilled atmosphere, I put on the shirt I was holding and called out to him quietly.
“What about your clothes? You can’t go out like that….”
“I have a spare. I’ll just wear that.”
“Then you should have given me that one. You hate showing your scars.”
“I hate you wearing that shirt even more.”
Kang Taeyun answered coldly without looking back.
Though he didn’t say it, he seemed to hate the idea of me wearing clothes carrying Moon Dowon’s scent so much that he’d rather stay half-dressed in the car.
Perhaps it was natural, given they were people who felt and accepted everything through pheromones.
As I silently clutched Moon Dowon’s shirt, Kang Taeyun let out a heavy sigh.
“I tried to endure it, but it’s really too much.”
Kang Taeyun turned around, snatched the shirt from my hands, rolled down the window, and threw it outside.
I wondered what would happen if another car was passing by.
As if reading my mind, Kang Taeyun replied dismissively.
“There are no cars here except the ones following me.”
“Still, how can you just throw it on the road? Who’s going to pick it up if you throw it away like that?”
Right as I said that, one of the cars following Kang Taeyun stopped.
A person stepped out and picked up the shirt. It was one of the men who had been blocking off the park.
My heart, which had been on the verge of disappointment at his irresponsible behavior, softened considerably.
“Don’t throw things out the window next time…. It’s dangerous for others.”
“It’s my first time doing it. Besides, this is my property.”
“Your property…?”
Only then did I sense something strange and look around.
A dirt path with few people, packed with dense trees.
The bumpy ride made me realize we were on the outskirts.
I had been so busy reading Kang Taeyun’s mood that I hadn’t noticed we were taking a different route than usual.
Just then, the car slowed down and came to a stop.
The secretary in the front seat quietly handed back a shirt.
“Did I look like someone with no manners to you?”
Kang Taeyun took the shirt and put it on as if he were used to it.
He asked lowly while buttoning it up. The surrounding atmosphere was suffocatingly quiet.
Feeling the heavy tension pressing down on me, I forced a small smile to try and ease the nerves.
“No. I just said it just in case.”
Once he finished buttoning up, Kang Taeyun leaned back against the seat and signaled for the car to start. It seemed we had stopped briefly just for him to get his clothes.
“Siho.”
When I looked over at the soft call of my name, a faint smile played on Kang Taeyun’s lips.
It would be better if he showed his emotions on his face like Yoo Joohwan.
He was scariest when he smiled like that, looking as if nothing were wrong.
Not knowing what to do, I tugged at the end of my sleeve and gave a small nod.
“Was I being too out of line?”
“No. It was something you could say as a lover. It’s fine.”
“Then why were you so angry? You’re scaring me….”
There was no way Kang Taeyun didn’t know I would end up having sex with either Moon Dowon or Yoo Joohwan.
Doing it outdoors was clearly my mistake.
Thinking that made me feel embarrassed for lecturing him about throwing trash out the window.
I glanced up at Kang Taeyun with a cautious, apologetic look.
“I’m sorry.”
“I was angry because it felt like you weren’t taking care of your body. It probably hasn’t even healed yet, so why were you in such a hurry?”
“…So you were angry because you were worried?”
“Yes. You could have had sex with Moon Dowon any other time. To think of showing that to others outdoors. And you come back with an imprinting mark when it hasn’t been long since you were with me. It turns my stomach.”
Kang Taeyun replied tenderly, his tone much softer now.
His quiet gaze scanned me obsessively from my shoulders to my face, making my heart feel restless.
“If you don’t like it, I won’t do that with the clothes again. Even if it is my property.”
The shirt he had managed to tolerate until now—only to throw it away here—must have been the limit of his patience.
The car must have been filled with pheromones thick with lust and possessiveness; I was grateful he had held back this much.
I realized that was why he had been staring out the window without looking at me.
I thought he did it because he hated me, but knowing his true feelings made me feel touched.
I reached out and gently took hold of one of Kang Taeyun’s fingers.
“Taeyun, I don’t dislike you.”
“I know.”
“You know…?”
“Yeah. That’s why I’m waiting. To see when you’ll finally tell me you love me.”
Kang Taeyun let out a short laugh, saying I was the only one who didn’t realize how obvious it was.
The feelings I didn’t want to be sure of felt like they were slowly solidifying because of him.
I hadn’t wanted to accept it. I just bit my lip, unable to be honest.
“I was serious when I said I liked you. If the answer to my sincerity is staying with all three, then I suppose it can’t be helped, but can’t you think about it one more time?”
“…….”
“I can treat you better than those two. I won’t let you lack for anything.”
Kang Taeyun placed his hand over mine, saying he could give me everything I wanted until it overflowed.
His soft fingertips tickled my wrist and my heart.
“Siho.”
His voice, calling out as if to press for an answer, made my chest throb.
I could have given a positive answer caught up in the mood, but Yoo Joohwan and Moon Dowon kept flickering before my eyes.
Unable to answer easily, I looked down, and a sigh escaped from above my head.
“In the end, do you have to have them all?”
“…….”
“Just like when you stalked the three of us. Yoo Joohwan, Moon Dowon, and me. Do you have to have everyone to be satisfied?”
“…I’m sorry. From the beginning, I never thought of you guys as separate individuals. You were always together.”
Thinking of the three of them, all growing increasingly greedy, made me feel uneasy.
The relationship that started with the idea of all three being together was now showing cracks as each one began to show possessiveness.
I felt like a huge fight was bound to break out.
Unless someone intervened.
But since I had already decided to leave anyway, I didn’t want to dwell on these thoughts.
Disliking the heavy atmosphere, I shifted the topic.
“Didn’t you say we were going to the studio apartment?”
“We’re going. Just you.”
“Huh? What about you?”
“I was going to stay with you, but in my current mood, I think it’s better if we’re apart. I don’t want to hurt you because of how I feel.”
As if he couldn’t control his current emotions, Kang Taeyun pulled his hand away.
Seeing him tell the secretary to turn the car around, it seemed we were heading back the way we came.
My gut told me that the place Kang Taeyun was originally taking me wasn’t the studio apartment.
I wondered if it was that land Yoo Joohwan had hinted at.
Without asking, I kept my mouth shut and stared out the window.
