Not Bad 23
Nothing else for it. It had to be something I’d touched wrong with Kwon Hee-jae.
Because of the light spilling in from outside, the silhouette of the man lying in the bed was painfully sharp and overflowing with detail.
But I couldn’t figure out exactly what had confused me. The truth was, the one who couldn’t get a handle on himself was me.
I set the hat I was holding down on the desk and headed straight for the bathroom to wash my hands. The bleeding had stopped, but every time I clenched and opened my fist the wounds split open again.
It’s fine. I wasn’t planning to hold anyone’s hand anyway.
Wait… why do I even care how my hand feels?
I stood on that spinning turntable and couldn’t focus my mind.
The reason I’d tried to win Kwon Hee-jae’s favor had been nothing more than a front line for buying back my grandfather’s house.
“You’re not sleeping here tonight.”
“If you fall asleep, wake me up. I don’t want to get my collar grabbed like before.”
“Why do you keep poking the sleeping person?”
“I just thought you’d sleep quietly.”
“I only saw people like that. Around me, everyone’s sleep-sensitive.”
“Why do you keep picking at my words?”
“Because you’re being so prickly.”
“I told you not to crawl.”
“Then shut up.”
I really acted like a stupid child. Only after he chose silence did the shame rush in like a tidal wave, making my ears burn.
He was lying there with one arm supporting the back of his head, eyes closed, then lifted his gaze to me.
“Right now, it looks like you’re taking it out on me. Did you fight with your girlfriend?”
“There’s no way that happened.”
“Then why are you coming in and out of hotels? Like this, too.”
At that moment my mind went completely blank. Especially with my upper body leaning forward, our eyes locked in a straight line.
Every thought flashed through my head at lightning speed. If Kwon Hee-jae had left this place, there was no way Da-in wouldn’t know it.
He always received real-time location updates for his target. So someone had seen me here. Maybe the person who booked the entire thirty-fourth floor in Keith Kwon’s name had spotted me and told Kwon Hee-jae.
At the suspicious scene, at the worst possible moment—especially if I’d seen Lee Ji-woo.
“Right now… I don’t know what you’re talking about. Why do I come in and out of hotels?”
His mouth curved into a smirk as he stared at my brazen denial.
“I get it. If you need money, you’ll do anything. But living under my roof, that’s not allowed.”
He reached up and lifted my chin with his index finger, then dragged his thumbnail across my skin. Because he knew exactly what I was thinking, I couldn’t make any excuse and just parted my lips.
“You’re soaked through, niece.”
He let go of the fidgeting chin and leaned back again. The coldness settling on his face read as acceptance of my silence.
Any excuse I made only made the situation weirder, so I couldn’t open my mouth.
“I’ll give you as much money as you need. Start staying at the house starting tomorrow. Or at least help your uncle with the villa work.”
A dry laugh slipped out loud enough to echo.
“You really think I’m short on cash?”
“It’d be better than playing by the book.”
“It’s not by the book. What if I’m on contract?”
This time his gaze dropped lower, a smile spreading across his face. Maybe that was interest.
“How much did you get from the sponsor?”
The hand wrapping my wrist on the mattress felt far from casual. The smile on his face was gentle, but the touch carried something else entirely.
The conversation that had been flowing in a neat, straight line suddenly split into a different path.
The closer I got to him, the more the image of Kwon Hee-jae I remembered faded like a dream.
Was that why my resistance was growing stronger? Because at that time I had only been a passing stranger to this man—neither a woman, nor a student, nor the family of a seller.
The moment I realized he truly didn’t remember me, an inexplicable frustration seized my chest.
“I don’t want to say it. I don’t even want to say it.”
“Is this your divine protection for customers? How disgusting.”
I pressed down on his knee. Unlike before, the muscle beneath felt relaxed in a way that surprised me.
Who was that? Had he already found someone to take care of?
Without realizing it, my fingers brushed his thigh and his brows drew together.
“Even if you don’t understand what I’m thinking, if you can’t stop, what are you going to do?”
“Then I’d have to chase you away. I don’t let anything that smells bad near Yeon-woo.”
I lifted my chin slightly and looked down at him, my eyes meeting his slow, exhaled breath.
“Then you should tell me the conditions. You’re not going to spend money on me without conditions, are you?”
“Can you meet my conditions?”
“I’m expensive. Really expensive.”
“Meaning you’re skilled.”
“If you want, I can even kill you.”
I refused to lose, climbed onto him, and grabbed the collar of his shirt.
I wasn’t lying. I was only misinterpreting. Still staring at me with that crooked gaze, he suddenly sat up. His hand plunged into the back of my hair with brutal force and gripped hard.
I instinctively pushed at his shoulder, but the moment his other hand clamped my chin I had no choice but to meet his eyes head-on.
“I hate scared eyes like yours. You know that, right?”
“Do I have to adjust to your taste?”
“I’ll give you money.”
He passed my ear, unpierced, and stroked the flushed cheek. Then he licked my swollen, bitten lips one after another.
With the hand still gripping my hair, he loosened his hold and let his long fingers slide down my neck, feeling the rapid pulse underneath.
Unlike my arrogant act earlier, every sense in my body rose sensitively with his touch.
I trembled like someone who had just discovered an unknown sensation.
The eyes that tried to suppress the tremor instead awakened a cruel desire. The sight of my hardened, untainted eyes made me want to crush them under my hand completely.
This was never gentle or tender affection.
“Should I do it with my mouth?”
At the sudden question, my eyes only widened in shock, no reply coming.
He pressed his lower lip open with his fingernails and gently revealed his teeth, then licked them with his tongue. After a sharp intake of breath, the tongue that clearly hungered slid between my lips as I tried to close them tight.
No matter how tightly bound the ribbon, pulling one string would loosen it, and his hot, wet tongue invaded my mouth.
It was a terrible kiss—enough to make anyone laugh. His tongue, rigid like stone, refused to swallow or spit out the saliva, and his sloppy, unskillful kisses made him press me harder against him.
He changed my position in one motion with the strength wrapping my waist and my back. Pressing his weight down onto the mattress, he pinned my wrists with both hands.
“How interesting. With such limited skill, how do you plan to kill me?”
He poked out his tongue to lick the edge of my lips, still wet with saliva, then blew hot breath across my cheeks and ears. Beyond the strong scent, a faint scent of bare skin seemed to drift through.
“Or is that separate from your skill?”
Panicked, I reached out to push his solid body away, but he only pressed down even heavier. My waist moved on instinct and my legs were squashed between his thighs.
He held back his desire by gripping my hair, barely managing to extract his reason.
A faint guilt I’d never expected to feel tightened around his neck.
“Add today’s notes to the ledger. And clean up the sponsor. If that bastard causes trouble, I’ll handle it myself. You, niece… keep practicing with your tongue.”
He slowly sat up on one knee and muttered a shallow curse. The piece of flesh trapped in his boxers from the rough kiss ached.
It was even more infuriating that the person who’d finally sparked his interest was a young girl.
“Go wash up. That bastard’s scent is disgusting.”
Kwon Hee-jae left the room after lying there blankly on my side.
Damn it… I should’ve splashed cold water on myself. Or at least spat out a bundle of guilt.
He headed straight for the powder room in the bedroom and washed his face with cold water. Even after pouring ice-cold water over his head, the heat concentrated in his lower abdomen showed no sign of cooling.
Finally he unbuckled his belt and lowered the zipper.
“…ha.”
Biting his lip hard, he tilted his head. His eyes were unsteady and hazy.
His breathing quickened, his buttocks and thighs clenched tight, strength flowing into them.
Right now, what he needed was someone to satisfy this messy, annoying desire.
Someone who would obey him submissively in front of him and gladly smile sweetly.
Not some messed-up woman who was currently confusing his head.
Especially not the girl whose wide-open eyes flashed into his mind at the very last moment when she snatched his phone away.
Again, at this unsolvable thirst, he spat out a curse.