Bare-Faced
To be honest, the thrusting itself had been nothing special. But the way his low voice, unable to contain his excitement, came ragged with rough breaths—that was quite nice indeed. It made her ears tingle, as if his heat and arousal were transferring into her, filling her up from the inside.
She let her body go slack and released a low, drawn-out sigh. Geon-joo's eyes darkened. The hardness inside her swelled. Ju-ri's eyes flew wide open.
"Wait—"
Again?
Smack, smack!
The pace of his hips grew distinctly more violent. With a force that left her hips numb, he drove into her again and again.
"Ngh—ah!"
She wasn't the type to make noise, yet groans spilled out of her unbidden, and inwardly Ju-ri clicked her tongue at herself. All it took was a few deep breaths and her body was swelling, flushing with excitement.
Sex rough enough to leave her aching wasn't really her taste, but Ju-ri let Geon-joo rampage as he pleased. It was all because of that face. Because that face was, overwhelmingly, exactly her type.
Having lived her stormy twenties to the fullest, Ju-ri had come to realize that her clumsy streak was a lot like a landmine. The way she stepped on bombs without ever meaning to, turning her life into hard mode—it was an uncanny match. And yet here she was, doing it again. Still doing this.
Tsk. Just as she clicked her tongue, Geon-joo's mouth swallowed her lips. Mmm. Letting out a melting hum, Ju-ri wrapped her arms around his neck.
And here I thought glasses-off-means-handsome was just a drama cliché.
She'd seen those before-and-after photos of good-looking idols circulating online, too, but since real life offered no idols hiding their beauty under frames, that had seemed just as fictional as anything on TV. Except now, a man straight out of one of those dramas had been right under her nose.
The damn glasses were rolling around on the nightstand. The very ones she'd peeled off him before even bothering with the rest of their clothes when they'd walked into the motel.
With half-lidded eyes, she fixed her gaze on Geon-joo's face.
Thick, straight brows like they'd been inked on, large, clean-cut eyes, and right at their center, dark brown irises deep and clear as a latte—together with a nose neither too prominent nor too blunt, the whole arrangement was harmonious enough to draw a sigh of admiration. The rough breaths escaping his slightly full lips were, for his age, achingly sensual. That messy hair that had looked so disheveled at the office now gave off a rebellious sort of sex appeal.
"Hnn..."
Geon-joo's brows drew together. At the low groan that escaped him like he simply couldn't hold it in any longer, Ju-ri felt her ears burn. She'd always thought his voice wasn't bad, but...
Her gaze raked over him like a lick—over the Adam's apple jutting out so decisively, the broad sweep of his shoulders. The body that emerged once the plaid shirt and plain cotton slacks were gone—clothes that should have been burned on principle—was every bit as fine as his face. She swallowed. So this was what it felt like to discover the dull gray lump of rock was actually a gleaming lump of gold.
"Ju-ri."
he whispered, his voice gone hoarse. Drip—a bead of sweat ran down his chest and fell against her waist.
Dark eyes rippled as they bore into her.
Zing.
Her chest churned with euphoria.
Geon-joo wiped the sweat from her waist with his palm. Then his hand climbed higher. As those thick, knuckly fingers approached her breast, Ju-ri let out a short "hh—" and tensed her stomach. But contrary to her expectations, the grip that closed over her was surprisingly careful.
"Whew..."
Relaxing, she exhaled a deep breath. His hips were so rough she'd assumed rough was simply his whole style, but his caresses were gentle. He's full of surprises today... Though naturally, the biggest shock of all had been the moment he took off his glasses.
"Hnn..."
Geon-joo's narrowed eyes held hers. Squinting as though he couldn't see clearly, he looked down at her. When those deep, glinting eyes locked directly onto hers, Ju-ri's heart prickled. Sure, that expression was just a side effect of bad vision—but God, it was sexy. To think she preferred that scrunched-up face to a blank, unreadable stare.
Swoosh—he reached a hand toward the head of the bed. Like a flash, Ju-ri slapped his hand away. He frowned, forehead creasing, and grumbled.
"I can't see well."
"So what? You don't need to see."
"...I want to look at you."
Those damp eyes gazed at her steadily.
"Then come closer and look."
she breathed, like a sigh, and grabbed the back of his head, pulling him down. Geon-joo's eyes went wide. Ju-ri smiled a hazy smile as she peered into them like she was searching their depths.
"Don't hide those pretty eyes in front of me."
The moment his pupils wavered, Ju-ri froze. No surprise there—his hips, which had faltered for just a heartbeat, turned scorching. Her face contorted at the penetration that left her lower body tingling.
Geon-joo cupped her breast, careful and deliberate. The contrast between his savage hips and his timid hands drew a crooked little laugh out of her.
Smack!
His hips slammed hard against her rear. As he buried himself in her to the root, her laughter sharpened into a cry.
Her back arched, pliant. Gripping the softness of her rear, Geon-joo shuddered.
At the feeling of him surging inside her, Ju-ri let her eyes fall lazily shut.
It had been a long time since she'd had sex this satisfying.
So what if her clumsy streak kept planting landmines in her life? She'd wanted to. The instant she'd seen Geon-joo's face without the glasses, the moment those clear eyes had met hers—she'd been desperate for exactly this.
It felt good.
A faint smile on her lips, a bead of sweat gathered on Ju-ri's forehead.
But once the tidal wave of desire had receded, that particular brand of self-loathing people call a reality check came creeping out of the woodwork.
God, I've lost it. Sleeping with someone from work.
Different departments, thankfully—but being a coworker at all was risk enough.
What if he blab about it all over the place?
Man or woman, gossips are everywhere. Oh Joo-won was a prime example. Sure, Han Geon-joo seemed like a completely different breed from Joo-won, but you could know ten fathoms of water and not know a person's depths—there was no guaranteeing anything.
Ugh, this is why you don't touch people from the office.
Rule number one: don't splash mess at your own dinner table. And today she'd gone and broken it...
Even with her eyes closed, a headache came creeping up.
At the sound of shuffling, Ju-ri opened one eye. Geon-joo was gathering up their scattered underwear and clothes from the floor.
"Geon-joo, do you want to shower first?"
"You go ahead. I can wait."
"I was going to lie here a bit before getting up. My legs are asleep."
He nodded, looking faintly sheepish. So she could actually read emotion off this man's face—remarkable. All this time she'd assumed his resting expression was permanently blank.
Glasses really do ruin people.
With a fond smile, she admired Geon-joo's bare face—blackout forgetting, for the moment, the shame of having slept with a coworker mere minutes ago.
"I'll go wash up, then."
Ju-ri nodded.
Pad, pad. Bang. Thud.
At the sound of the bathroom door closing, Ju-ri groped around for her phone, glanced vaguely at the text that had come in, and set it back down. She cast a quick look toward the bathroom, where the sound of running water filtered out.
So. What now?
When it came to to-do-or-not-to-do, she usually did. But even she drew the line at getting entangled with coworkers outside of work. Oh Joo-won was the textbook case. A few dates over shared cigarette breaks, and the man still wouldn't leave her alone. Countless times his careless, feelings-first behavior had dragged her into a storm of office gossip. It had died down after a year or so, but she'd learned her lesson then, once and for all: be careful when it comes to people from work.
Men made up half the world—no reason to take the risk and forage in the office pantry...
Who knew that loser face would be so exactly my type.
Get his clothes off, and his body was her type too.
He's full of surprises himself. Doesn't say no, does he? Is it because I'm... whatever, a man's a man.
Just picturing Geon-joo—face flushed crimson, hips still going—made her thighs tingle all over again.
Think he'll want another round when he's out of the shower?
The sight of herself scheming drew a hollow laugh. The situation was a mess, no question—but she didn't regret it. She was already thinking about going again; regret didn't even enter the picture.
Shame to let it end after one night, though.
Ju-ri hummed "hmm" and sank into thought. She wasn't remotely into the type of guy who carried himself the way he did, yet somehow everything he'd been born with hit her palate perfectly. It was the first time she'd ever had an experience fit her taste like a glove.
He doesn't seem the type to spread it around, at least.
Was she spinning her happy circuits a little too hard?
Strange. The sex itself was never this good before.
Ju-ri pillowed her cheek on her arm and stared absently at the bathroom, where the water kept running.
It was just—the feeling had been good.
Rising from the bed, Ju-ri picked her handbag up off the floor and fished out her cigarette pack. She tapped it against her palm until a single cigarette popped free, set the filter between her lips, and flicked her lighter. Sizzle—the tip flared red.
Drawing the filter deep, Ju-ri leaned back against the motel's cheap leather sofa with a languid expression. Nothing in the world was as addictive as a cigarette after sex.
"Whew..."
She tilted her head back and let the smoke drift out, and her body melted into the sofa. For a few minutes she puffed away, her head completely empty.
Click.
Wispy steam spilled out through the opening bathroom door. Geon-joo stepped out in a bathrobe, faltering when he saw her. Ju-ri's eyes came into focus. His gaze snagged on the cigarette between her fingers.