Chapter 5. How Not to Be Afraid of a Tiger
“….”
For a brief moment, as if her thoughts had been read aloud, a rush of heat spread up A-gang’s neck.
How many women could possibly stand before a man so perfectly sculpted it felt as if he had been crafted by divine hands and still claim he wasn’t their type?
“Do I look like a man to you?”
“Ah—no! Not at all! You’re not my type!”
“Same here. Then stop looking at me like that. Lie down.”
“…Yes.”
“We’re following the protocol.”
A-gang curled her body slightly and lay on her side. She shut her eyes tightly, avoiding his gaze.
Same here?
That casual remark—you and I are the same—somehow lodged itself in her chest for no reason she could explain.
Before she could make sense of it, the man casually pulled the blanket off her in one swift motion.
In an instant, his large body pressed in close behind her.
He settled against her without hesitation, as if it meant nothing at all.
All her senses snapped backward, focusing entirely on the presence behind her, as if every cell had migrated there.
Cold air… and the 36.5-degree warmth of a chest blocking it.
It was warm. Soft.
Heavy, solid—like leaning against an unshakable wall. Comforting.
The freezing air still slipped through the thin blanket, yet instead of fear, a strange drowsy calm settled in.
Like sitting inside a house during a storm, drinking coffee while watching the raging weather outside.
Her cold, trembling hands and feet were pulled closer as the man wrapped an arm around her shoulders, drawing her tighter against him.
As if to say—no misunderstandings.
This was purely to prevent heat loss.
A simple emergency measure to avoid hypothermia.
And yet, as if his words were true, her body began to feel strangely hot.
Heat spread all the way down her spine, but for some reason, she was still trembling.
“Are you still cold? Why are you shaking so much?”
“N-no… I’m fine.”
The sensation of bare skin against bare skin made her swallow hard.
Her heart pounded as if it had forgotten how to function.
It was the first time.
The first time seeing someone’s naked body up close—aside from cadavers used in anatomy practice.
And even more so, the first time being pressed this close to another person.
Taehun’s arm hovered in midair for a long moment, unsure where to place it, before finally drawing her closer by the nape of her neck.
A small, fragile back.
The softness of her skin against his bare body surprised him slightly, but this was strictly an emergency measure to prevent death by freezing.
In other words, a rescue procedure using body heat.
Skin-to-skin contact.
A standard survival method recorded even in emergency medicine textbooks.
It was the first time he’d ever had to use such a method in real life.
But in a situation with no equipment, body heat was the best option available.
“You know you’re not allowed to fall asleep right now, right?”
“…Yes.”
“Keep talking to me.”
Perhaps because their hearts were aligned in the same position, her heartbeat thudded loudly against his skin.
And yet, strangely, it only seemed to grow louder over time.
“You seem used to this.”
Her sudden comment broke the silence.
“Used to what?”
“Taking off your clothes and… this kind of thing.”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“I’m used to it too! It’s just temporary heat sharing. Like how people share houses, cars, offices these days. We’re just borrowing each other’s bodies for a bit.”
Who asked?
“This is just an unavoidable measure to prevent death. So don’t misunderstand—it’s not a big deal to me at all…”
“Not a big deal?”
“Yes! It’s a crisis situation. I could literally freeze to death!”
“And so?”
“And so my heart is racing! Don’t get the wrong idea!”
She was funnier than he expected.
She was clearly misunderstanding everything.
Did she even realize?
If he weren’t… well, a man in certain circumstances…
He should be the one spouting nonsense like that, not her.
He should be the one trying to control this heat all night.
Tonight, everything was upside down.
She wondered if he could feel her heartbeat too.
Trying not to look flustered, A-gang rambled awkward excuses.
Her body was frozen, but apparently her mouth wasn’t.
Words kept spilling out incoherently.
A short chuckle escaped the man behind her.
Whether he understood her or not, she couldn’t tell.
His breath tickled the back of her neck, making her squirm uncontrollably, until he pulled her closer again.
Her stiff, frozen body began to melt into something soft and numb.
But why… did it feel like her heart was melting too?
“Can I ask you something?”
Embarrassed by the sound of her own swallowing, A-gang broke the silence.
“That tattoo—what does it mean?”
“I agreed to share body heat, not the meaning of my tattoo.”
“It just looks familiar. If you went as far as getting it inked on your body, it must mean something important…”
Feeling awkward at his sharp tone, she fidgeted with her fingers.
“I think your skin is quite pale.”
“Spend enough time in tight, enclosed spaces and that happens.”
His voice was dry.
“Tight, enclosed spaces?”
“For a long time?”
“About six or seven years. Barely any sunlight.”
“Six or seven years…? What were you doing there…?”
She stopped herself from finishing the question.
“I worked with tools.”
He suddenly extended his right hand in front of her.
Her gaze locked onto his long fingers.
Clean, elegant fingers—except for a slight curve in the index and middle finger.
She studied his hand for a long time.
What kind of hands were these? What kind of work did they do?
The nails were cut extremely short, the fingertips slightly reddened. Thick calluses marked the first and second joints.
A sudden curiosity rose in her.
“Won’t it hurt cutting your nails that short?”
“If they’re long, I lose sensitivity. It’s a habit. Occupational.”
She had more questions. But more urgent than that—
“Occupational…?”
She needed confirmation.
“I work with blades sometimes. Occasionally saws. Hammers too.”
“Saws…? Hammers…?”
Her voice grew smaller.
Short hair, pale skin, scars, tattoos, enclosed spaces, tools in hand…
At first she thought his knowledge of restraints and knots was oddly precise—but now…
A place flashed through her mind.
A bleak gray building standing alone in an empty field… endless barbed wire fencing.
No way…
A prison?!
Stay calm, Joo A-gang.
“Your fingers are slightly deformed from years of this kind of work.”
“Haha! I see! That makes sense!”
She forced a laugh as if nothing was wrong.
“How did you end up at the temple?”
“To atone for my past.”
“Your past?”
“I figured I should start a new life.”
Taehun tightened his hold around her from behind and said casually:
“Our temple gets all kinds of people. From gangsters who swing knives to judges who wield gavels.”
At that exact moment, the monk’s words from earlier suddenly resurfaced in A-gang’s mind.
She had no idea why her heart rate was climbing so absurdly fast.
Whether from the cold… or because a strange man was holding her in his arms…
Or because she suspected he might be a recently released criminal from a seven-year prison sentence…
One thing was certain.
She had to survive the night in the arms of this dangerous, delinquent man.
Alive.
A… a gangster?
Poker face.
She needed a poker face.
Calm down, Joo A-gang.
The only way to survive in a tiger’s den is not to fear the tiger.
Tonight, she decided to become a small, clueless cub in front of a massive tiger.
“Did you work in an organization?”
“An organization? What kind of organization?”
“Like… underground world stuff!”
She swallowed hard.
“Oh! I’m not trying to stereotype you! You’ve already served your time! I’m very open-minded! Haha!”
“….”
Open-minded? Pfft.
Taehun let out a laugh that was half amusement, half disbelief.
She really was something.
Confined spaces, surgical tools, emergency procedures…
Naturally, one would think of a surgeon.
And yet she’d jumped straight to gangsters.
Her misunderstanding was oddly entertaining.
And the way she tried so hard to act calm while clearly panicking…
It was… interesting.
“So what you’re saying is—”
He smirked faintly.
“I’m a thug who just got out of prison?”
