Chapter – 12
The engagement ceremony had finally been set.
A deep, lingering fatigue settled over me, and I could feel my muscles tense more than usual.
Buried among strangers, stiffened to the bone, I wondered if I had ever felt this exhausted even on the day I had fought that bloody battle for the first time.
When I entered the house, I saw something lying on the sofa in the dark, far off.
Probably a ghost—if it were a person, there was no way they’d be sprawled out in the middle of my house like that.
But, regrettably, it was a person—Yoo Minha, asleep. Really something else. Out of all the rooms I had offered, she had to sleep right in the center, as if this were some new strategy to piss me off.
I was about to just pass by when I caught the faint murmur of her sleep-talking.
“…Dad.”
Unintentionally, my steps froze.
“Sorry…”
I had assumed she only had a mother. Did she have a father too?
I didn’t want to pry too much into it; it was something I deliberately didn’t remember.
Whatever the case, her sleep-talking annoyed me enough that I decided to carry Yoo Minha. Surprisingly, she was lighter than I expected.
I laid her down on the bed in the room on the second floor. One of her legs came up, and the hem of her dress rode up to her thigh.
Her thigh, caught in the faint light coming through the window, looked unusually distinct.
A dull sensation spread through my lower body.
“Crazy bastard.”
Even I felt my pride prickle at the thought. There was no way I should be aroused by this woman.
It had to be accumulated fatigue messing with my body. Something was seriously off.
I quickly left the room and collapsed onto the sofa, planning to rest and clear my mind.
But that was the problem. On the sofa, I caught a familiar lingering scent—
The scent Yoo Minha left in the car, still lingering.
“Completely insane…”
The dull sensation in my lower body didn’t fade; it only intensified. I guess it had been building up recently.
At this point, I couldn’t help it. Slowly, I began to stroke myself, turning my head to the side.
Her shampoo scent—clearly hers—started rising strongly.
I remembered her thighs from earlier. The more I thought about them, the faster my hand moved from below.
A sticky, moist feeling covered the uneven surface. The heat rising from deep within my body made my hand move with more force.
“Ha…”
In the quiet space, the only sound was the squelching friction between my lower body and my hand.
After that day, it became even more awkward seeing Yoo Minha.
If she ever knew I had been thinking about her thighs while… doing that, she would probably freak out.
So, I avoided going home whenever possible. If necessary, I’d come home briefly at dawn just to sleep or change clothes.
It felt necessary. Somehow, it seemed like the minimum invisible line I shouldn’t cross.
So, Kim Gun went in my place to handle matters for the engagement preparations.
I think it was the day Kim Gun came back after seeing the dress. He casually asked:
“Want to see a picture?”
“Why would I?”
“Minha looked really pretty today.”
What the hell? Why does he call her that so casually?
“Are you close now?”
“Not really. Just… felt sorry for her.”
“What’s there to feel sorry about?”
“She got noticed by Chairman Park, and it’s a pity. She’s not capable enough to be brought here, but leaving her alone means she knows too much—it must be annoying for her.”
“She’s just unlucky. Why did she have to get tangled up with someone like Kim Hyung in the first place?”
“So what will happen to Minha?”
I walked toward the window that spanned the office wall. The overcast sky hung coolly like a painting.
“Well, once things are sorted, I’ll follow Chairman Park’s instructions, or handle it in some way.”
This fake engagement wouldn’t even last a year.
It was just a temporary spectacle to quiet the noisy surroundings, mixed with Chairman Park Jin-ho’s tacky sense of taste.
“See, she’s unlucky. At least treat her decently while she’s around.”
“Bullshit.”
When I turned back to the window, the view was different from before.
That night, it was Yoo Minha’s pure white body that had made me touch myself.
Crazy bastard. Why does this keep happening? Damn it, all because I had a pointless chat with Kim Gun.
Surprisingly, the woman’s luck wasn’t bad on the engagement day. She looked quite good in the dress.
I wasn’t one to be impressed by women, but if I had to comment, she looked decent in formal attire.
When Kim Gun came back gushing about how pretty she was, it must have been one of her lucky days.
Following the plan, I ended the meaningless ceremony as quickly as possible, dropped Yoo Minha off first, and returned home, my mind cluttered.
It was funny how unfamiliar the house had suddenly become.
And at the same time, I scoffed at the commotion I felt outside my bedroom door.
“Curious about my room?”
I looked down at Yoo Minha, her body stiff from tension.
“Why… why are you here?”
So that’s it. That’s where her gaze had been—looking for a move to use against Seongjin.
Ah… all that fuss just to protect herself? I thought she wanted something more significant, Minha.
I took a step forward and opened my bedroom for her, the thing she so wanted to see.
All she was thinking was protecting herself, rummaging through someone else’s room—not very impressive.
I decided to give her a little scare, to signal her not to cross the line.
But the threat went in a different direction than I intended.
The moment my hand brushed her thigh, it naturally moved toward her chest.
Her body, tense from anticipation, responded. The closer my fingers touched, the more I wanted to taste her.
I brought my tongue to her neck and caught the lingering scent from before. Surprisingly, it was palatable.
I thought that licking a little more would intensify the taste.
Once my mouth was filled, I wanted to bury my body inside something. An uncontrollable urge started rising.
My saliva thickened with each moan from Yoo Minha.
Before it got worse, she pushed me away. Thank God. I genuinely wanted her to do so.
If she hadn’t, I might not have been able to stop.
“Do you actually think we’re engaged or something?”
I tried to calm my breathing, hiding my rising excitement. I could only hope she didn’t notice.
“If that’s the case, finish what you were doing.”
Even as I said it, a lingering regret remained.
“Crazy bastard.”
For the first time, I agreed with Yoo Minha’s curse.
“Director, do you want the report?”
“What report?”
“You mentioned wanting to know more details about Yoo Minha’s family…”
“Never mind. Just leave.”
All my bottled-up irritation poured out.
After yesterday, I decided I wouldn’t let a single strand of hair touch that woman until everything was settled.
If we got tangled any more, I knew I couldn’t control myself. Sometimes reason alone isn’t enough.
I picked up the paper on the desk to throw it away. Then, a single line caught my eye.
—2005, Father passed away
The year I lost my father. My hands started flipping through the pages.
I wondered: how did Yoo Minha feel about her father’s death? Anger? Sadness?
I didn’t mourn my father’s death—I was angry instead, until my throat bled.
Even now, I rage at Myeongcheonpa and Myeong Se-gwang.
If the law of conservation of mass applied to emotions, then somewhere in this world, could there be sorrow left that I couldn’t fully feel?
If so, who mourned in my place? Could it have been Yoo Minha?
Before my thoughts went any further, I found a lighter in my pocket and set the paper on fire.
The pages quickly ignited, and my brief contemplation burned up and vanished with them.
