* * *
The day passed peacefully.
Seohwa and Kang Yigeon ate water toad soup and squid sundae, local specialties of Sokcho, and walked along an empty beach.
They also watched a movie together.
Since Kang Yigeon hadn’t seen a single movie, Seohwa chose the most interesting one she had watched during her time living alone.
When it was time to sleep, Seohwa, having washed up, rolled around on the bed.
It was quite fun to roll around on the soft, fluffy bedding while playing with Kobami.
Watching the sea with Kang Yigeon and drinking coffee together while gossiping about people they both knew was also pleasant.
It would have been nice if the current situation allowed her to fully enjoy the pleasure, but her heart was heavy with the thought that this peace could break at any moment.
It was time to wrap up the fairy-tale day.
Seohwa turned on her phone while lying face down on the bed.
Wang Jungsoo: Little Brother Yuje… how could you leave us so pointlessly after surviving even the poisonous mushrooms… I will take revenge for you… I hope you find peace there…..
Dam Yunjin: I’m sorry for teasing you by calling you a poisonous mushroom mercenary. I was happy to meet you, Yuje. We will get revenge, so leave with a peaceful mind.
Kim Biyul: May the deceased rest in peace.
A string of memorial messages continued on Lee Yuje’s phone.
She didn’t know exactly how they planned to take revenge, but she was grateful that they mourned Lee Yuje’s death this way.
Regardless of those feelings, Seohwa turned off the phone without lingering regret.
Just then, sensing a presence behind her, she spoke without looking back.
“Please burn this for me.”
It was a precious group chat room she had found after 18 years, a social gathering that occasionally made her eyes well up.
But in the end, it was a past connection.
Lee Yuje was dead and could not be brought back, so her connection with these people ended here.
“Are you truly alright with this?”
“I’ll only be truly alright if you burn it. If I don’t, I won’t be okay.”
“……I understand.”
Whoosh.
The phone was engulfed in blue flames.
It disappeared without leaving even a trace of ash.
Seohwa laid her head on the pillow with a complicated heart, then sat up abruptly when she saw Kang Yigeon sitting next to her.
“Why are you completely naked?”
“I am wearing clothes.”
He said he was going to wash up, but he came out wearing only pants, leaving his upper body completely exposed.
Muscles that anyone, man or woman, would marvel at were packed into every inch of him.
Shoulders as wide and hard as boulders.
A strong back that made him feel like a warrior who had been in intense combat until just this morning.
A chest that looked like it was covered in thick armor.
Everywhere she looked, it was all trained muscle.
Seohwa changed her posture entirely, propping her head up with her arm to watch him.
She swallowed hard at the sight of his thick chest, which was slightly damp.
Kang Yigeon was a thick and large man rather than a lithe one.
When this bear-like man climbed on top of her and pressed down on her body, Seohwa couldn’t hold back her moans of pleasure.
Kang Yigeon must have felt her blatant gaze, but he ignored it and toyed with his phone. He seemed to be working.
“Kobami. Go go.”
-Ggyu.
Seohwa sent Kobami to cover the phone screen.
Kang Yigeon couldn’t bring himself to brush the small snake away, so he tried to touch the keypad around it before eventually giving up and turning off the screen.
“Was it urgent business?”
“No. I was about to turn it off anyway.”
“But why are you shirtless?”
“I usually sleep without a shirt.”
“The stoic Northern Grand Duke sleeps semi-nude… People would faint if they knew.”
“It is only this much. Many people sleep with their shirts off.”
“You have such a stoic image, Mr. Kang Yigeon. Like a priest with the body of a warrior. Of course, I know very well that you aren’t a stoic person at all.”
Kang Yigeon fell silent. A wrinkle formed between his brows.
Seohwa tucked her stray hair behind her ear and asked.
“But you know. There’s another bed in the other room, so why did you come up here?”
“I do not want to be separated from you by even the distance of a wall.”
“Do you want to have sex?”
“…….”
Sigh.
Kang Yigeon let out a breath and touched his forehead.
The veins bulging on the back of his hand stimulated Seohwa’s lust even more.
“I thought you would hesitate. If I knew it would be this easy, I would have walked around naked as soon as we arrived.”
“No, how did you come to the bizarre conclusion that I would hesitate to have sex?”
“People usually avoid relationships when there is a difference in Rank with their partner.”
“I’m different. That’s why I’m looking forward to it even more.”
Seohwa grinned and approached Kang Yigeon.
Wanting to play a mean prank, she reached for Kang Yigeon’s crotch and then opened her eyes wide.
“What’s this?”
“…….”
Seohwa sat up completely. Then she moved her face close to Kang Yigeon’s pants.
“Are you already erect?”
“…….”
“Since when?”
“If you are asking me, look at me…”
“I wasn’t asking Mr. Kang Yigeon, I was asking Mr. Kang Yigeon’s lower half. It’s still big and grand. Such a presence even through clothes. If the system were to give this a value, it would be EX-rank. Is the texture still hard and solid as well as the size? Is the heat the same?”
As if he could no longer endure the teasing, Kang Yigeon grabbed Seohwa’s shoulders and pinned her down on the bed.
“Stop stimulating me. I have no intention of having sex. Not yet.”
Seohwa’s eyes widened as if she had heard the most shocking news in the world.
“Why ‘not yet’? Whyyyyy?”
“Because I do not intend to end this with just one night.”
Seohwa pouted.
Tomorrow she has to go delete the network.
From the day after, she has to interview additional members for the tracking team.
After working together for a few days, they’ll enter the Incheon Port dungeon.
Then when will they have sex?
After everything is over and it’s peaceful?
Does Kang Yigeon think that if he meets Guys Jung in the Incheon Port dungeon, he will smoothly cancel the oath and be free?
“What kind of relationship did you and I have in the past?”
Finally, that question was asked, as if he thought she would tell him the truth now.
“We weren’t in a romantic relationship. Truly. We were just partners with good sexual chemistry.”
“How did we come to confirm that our sexual chemistry was good?”
“I hit on you persistently and eventually picked the fruit.”
A laugh escaped her as she recalled that time.
When the world’s most blunt man lost his self-control only in front of her and revealed his emotions, eventually grabbing her wrist and threatening her in a low, growling voice.
How should she define the emotion that filled her heart back then?
The feeling of the fine hairs on her body standing up.
That sensation that sent a thrill all the way to her scalp.
It was a feeling she had never felt before, so she still didn’t know how to express it.
“Let’s just do it after all, okay? We don’t know when we’ll be this relaxed again.”
“……Did you hit on me like this back then, too?”
“Similar.”
Seohwa reached out.
It was a foul to be this handsome even when looking down from above.
She couldn’t not touch him.
She stroked his thick eyebrows and deep eyelids with her fingers.
When he was lying in the hospital, his cheeks were gaunt and thin, but now his jawline had become something that could be used as the symbolic image of masculinity.
She traced his strong jawline and toyed with his ear.
It felt like sparks were flying from Kang Yigeon’s eyes.
In truth, he probably wanted to strip her clothes off and crush her ruthlessly right now.
She didn’t know why he was holding back.
“Kobami. Go inside for a bit.”
Seohwa saw the heat filling his purple eyes and knew Kang Yigeon wouldn’t refuse a second time.
Since their hearts were aligned, there was only one thing to do.
“You know, right? Roughly.”
She took off her top and threw it under the bed.
Kang Yigeon glared at Seohwa so intensely it felt like he would pierce through her, then took out lube from the drawer next to the bed.
“I don’t need lube. I like a little pain.”
“Your taste is truly—”
“I bet it’s not just my taste.”
Seohwa smirked and pulled Kang Yigeon’s neck down.
A strong force caught Seohwa’s wrists and pinned them to the bed. Her lips were swallowed rather urgently.
A thick tongue roamed inside Seohwa’s mouth as if it were his own home before pulling on the root of her tongue.
Chest met chest. Her wrists would surely have marks from his strong grip, and she liked that.
Seohwa twisted her waist to get on all fours, but Kang Yigeon blocked her.
Instead, he pulled a cushion and placed it under the small of Seohwa’s back while fumbling along her spine.
“Hnnn.”
It was as if he had lit a fire on his fingers; heat bloomed wherever he touched.
Seohwa spread her legs so he could take his position.
Settling between her legs, Kang Yigeon took his member out of his pants.
It stood so erect it made her wonder if it didn’t hurt.
Kang Yigeon still pinned Seohwa’s wrists down with one hand, while using the other to slather on lube and grasp his massive penis.
Instead of saying she didn’t need lube, Seohwa just swallowed hard.
Looking at it now, lube seemed very necessary.
Was it originally that big?
She felt a bit scared and expectant.
“Do not stare so intently.”
“Why? It’s going to enter me. I should know what I’m about to take in.”
“……You truly are.”
When Kang Yigeon grabbed her buttocks and spread them, a grunt naturally escaped her at the strength of his grip.
Realizing one hand wouldn’t be enough, he released Seohwa’s wrists and grabbed her pelvis.
Then, aligning the tip of his member with the tightly closed hole, he put strength into his waist and entered just like that.
* * *
