IDTE 15

Chapter – 15

The war had begun. The utensils on the dining table looked unusually sharp under the pale light.

The dim lighting in the room deepened everyone’s shadows, as if to hide anything they might be concealing from each other.

“…I didn’t prepare much, but let’s eat together.”

“No, thanks.”

“Why not? Are you worried I might poison you?”

“No, I know you wouldn’t have the guts for that.”

“Oh? And what makes you so sure?”

I carefully picked up a utensil that glittered under the light.

“You’re too confident. Aren’t you being careless?”

One side of Do Ihyun’s thick eyebrows twitched.

“Just joking.”

I took the first bite of my food in front of him, without flinching.

For a moment, I felt the strange illusion that his gaze was fixed on my mouth.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Well, you were eating instant noodles like it was gourmet cuisine.”

“Then maybe you shouldn’t have watched me at home.”

“I just don’t particularly want to go out and do things with you, Yuminha.”

I had to put an end to this cycle of sharp, circling conversation.

“Hey, Do Ihyun.”

When I looked straight at him, his upper body leaned slightly forward, coming very close.

Under the lighting, the veins on his thick arms, folded inside the sleeves of his neatly pressed navy shirt, stood out as if asserting their presence.

If those massive arms were to wrap around my waist, it would feel like some enormous force was pressing down on my entire body.

Ah. Focus, Yuminha.

I shook my head slightly to dispel the uncontrollable thoughts that had begun flooding my mind as soon as I saw him.

“I’ll get straight to the point. I think it’s unnecessary for us to have any more conflicts or emotional friction over what happened back then.”

“What happened?”

“When I briefly… entered your bedroom back then…”

“Oh, you mean when you tried to come into my private space without permission, and I gave you a formal warning?”

A faint smile lingered on his lips, making it unclear whether he was enjoying the situation or irritated.

“…Yes, that. You know I have a lot of issues with that situation, right? Still, I won’t raise any additional problems for now. After all, whether we like it or not, we’ll be living in the same house. So let’s temporarily set aside any disputes between us.”

“Do you want to play house with me or something?”

I bit my lip in frustration as the conversation with him grew increasingly irritating—a bad habit of mine whenever I got annoyed.

“I’ll be direct. What do you think of me?”

“Not great.”

“I already know that. How about using me to your advantage?”

At those words, the dark glint in his eyes began to deepen.

A gambit. One of the opening strategies in chess. In other words, I was giving away my piece first.

But it wasn’t a concession for defeat. It was a strategic move, yielding temporarily to gain positional advantage later.

In fact, revealing my hand and confronting him directly was my own gamble and strategy.

“How?”

He leaned slightly closer, clearly intrigued.

“Use me as a resource. Places like Sungjin Capital, which aren’t too far from the law but not entirely within it, benefit from having someone like me. Someone who knows the rules, and the limits the law sets.”

Do Ihyun’s eyes, which had been darkly gleaming, seemed to dim slightly.

“And it could also be a good opportunity for me.”

“What opportunity?”

“There will be plenty of gossip, of course, but if I’m at Sungjin Capital, it’s a chance to properly raise my name value. You don’t always have to do ‘good’ things to raise your name.”

His low, quiet chuckle pierced my ears.

“You’re overestimating yourself, aren’t you?”

The chuckle vanished as he masked it with a sharp gaze, looking at me askew.

“Moreover, the righteous Yuminha wants to work with gangsters? Let’s just hope you don’t secretly snoop around somewhere.”

Yes. If that could be the starting point to take them all down, then whatever it takes.

“Who says I’m not allowed?”

I met Do Ihyun’s gaze with a convincing smile, doing my best to withstand the predatory intensity of his eyes in the dark light.

But strangely, his gaze began to drift downward.

“You’re swollen.”

“Huh?”

In an instant, Do Ihyun leaned closer, and the tip of his large thumb touched my lips.

His finger, hot and rough, traced the edge of my lips.

It moved in a small arc inside my mouth.

Unintentionally, I parted my lips. His finger hovered as if it might slip inside, then stopped.

“Blood.”

Ah, apparently I had been biting my lower lip without realizing it, and a small drop of blood had appeared.

A tiny trace of blood marked the tip of his large finger.

A strange, indescribable tension filled the room.

I could even feel a bead of sweat trickle down my neck, as though the air had grown oppressively warm.

At that moment, he pulled back, as if swallowing some words, and returned to his usual composure.

“I’m curious how long your fake passion will last. Now, I have a favor to ask.”

Closing his eyes briefly, he brought his fingers to his temple.

“One debtor hasn’t repaid. We have a property as collateral, so it’s time for foreclosure. The paperwork has already been checked by us, but can you give it one last look?”

The stifling heat of the previous tension dissipated with his words.

A counter-gambit. He had used the exact same move. I wasn’t the only one playing on this board.

“Alright. I can handle that.”

Yes, let’s do this.

Hearing my response, Do Ihyun started to leave.

“Hey, you really aren’t eating anything before you go?”

I noticed his shoulder looked unusually broad as he turned to glance at me.

“I want to eat something else today.”

I fell into a dream, as if drifting into sleep. I hoped it wasn’t a nightmare, but Do Ihyun appeared before me.

I couldn’t tell if it was a nightmare or not.

The veins on his thick forearms were more prominent than ever.

Looking around, I realized I was in Do Ihyun’s bedroom.

His hands slowly moved up from my thighs as they had that day.

Passing my pelvis and navel, I could feel a rising heat wherever his fingers touched.

Eventually, his hands reached my chest, where my body was already hard and sensitive.

“Ah… ah…”

I shouldn’t be like this. I couldn’t show him I was losing control.

His hands, moving slowly over me, began to descend.

Where his warm hands touched, his tongue followed, circling my right breast.

“Wait…! Please…!”

His slick saliva left traces on my chest without pause.

I couldn’t help the moans that escaped me—they sounded almost like a desperate plea.

“Ah… hot!”

A strange sensation emerged below. His thick fingers slipped inside me, which was already wet and slick.

The same fingers that had hovered near my lips earlier.

Perhaps I had parted my lips unconsciously to receive them, just like now.

He didn’t stop, moving his fingers rapidly inside.

“Ihyun… please!”

My desperate cries became fragile whimpers.

The room was filled with the sounds of our movements: my moans, the slick sounds of saliva, and his fingers moving inside me.

A growing heat spread from below, a fullness building inside me.

“Ah…!”

Gasps tore from me as I woke up. Despite the cool season, sweat clung to my forehead and neck.

I couldn’t believe the dream I had just had. My heart pounded uncontrollably.

“Crazy, I’m crazy. This is insane.”

I buried my face in the pillow. I wasn’t a hormone-driven teenager—what was this absurd dream?

The sensations were too vivid to dismiss as stress or a subconscious reflection.

For the first time, I felt a human sense of guilt toward Do Ihyun.

If he knew I had had such a dream and reacted like this alone, he might bury me alive with the house.