Chapter 48. The Sound Youth Makes When It Drowns (4)

“Honestly, I’m holding back from throwing you in the backseat right now.”

As soon as she opened the car door, Jaeheon spoke.

Grimacing in the humid heat, he climbed in after her and immediately hit the ignition, grumbling about what the hell had taken her so long.

Eunkyo rolled her eyes and kept texting an old friend who had messaged her after a long time. Sure, they’d seen each other naked and done plenty of explicit things—but it had always been in the heat of the moment.

They had never approached it like, “Tonight is Sex Night.”

Maybe it was that one word filling her head like fog, but she kept sipping her now-watery iced coffee just to moisten her dry mouth.

“But… this isn’t the way to my place.”

Looking around the unfamiliar road, she asked cautiously. Without a word, Jaeheon grabbed her hand and kissed the back of it.

“We’re going to my place. There are too many variables at your place.”

“Variables? Like what?”

At a red light, he looked at her with narrowed eyes.

“I like the sound of ‘my place’ coming from you.”

“It’s just Korean vocabulary. We’re collectivists. Anyway—what variables?”

“A lot. Security’s weak, for one. Plus there’s Haeda on the first floor. And Kim Haeda.”

He said Haeda’s name so naturally. She was “sunbae,” but Haeda was just “Kim Haeda.” Like he had known him long enough to drop formalities.

“But… I didn’t know the guy I was supposed to be introduced to was Park Seungjoo.”

The light turned green.

His apartment was far from campus. Far enough that she now understood why Jaeheon kept a workshop underground and often stayed there overnight.

“Yeah, I heard. I apologized a few days ago, but I didn’t expect to run into him like this today.”

“CEO Park’s a good guy.”

“Seems like it.”

“But he’s still no good.”

Suddenly, she was relieved they didn’t work in the same place.

Even just seeing Jaeheon a few times a week made her so unstable. If they were colleagues, it would be a total disaster. Just imagining it made her laugh under her breath.

They pulled into an underground parking lot beneath a luxurious residence in an upscale neighborhood—far from the cramped villas or studio apartments she’d imagined. In that moment, she realized just how boxed-in her thinking had been.

“This is the place…?”

“You’ve been here before?”

Something sharp flashed in his gaze as he asked. No, she hadn’t.

As she stepped out of the car, her body trembled like she was about to enter an operating room. Jaeheon rounded the hood and held out his hand, not forcefully, but almost as if seeking permission.

As if he was asking to be allowed in. As if he was trying to make up for all the times she’d rejected him before.

He waited for her to take his hand.

She did—and lightly bit his lower lip. He chuckled and walked ahead. Inside, the basement parking area was surprisingly well managed. A building staff member was stationed near the wall, surrounded by dozens of valet keys. When he saw them, he greeted them politely.

Their eyes were like surveillance cameras. Watching from the walls. Watching from the ceiling. They even used people’s eyes to gather information.

Eunkyo didn’t want to be swayed by others’ gazes—but she was that kind of person. Sensitive to looks and words, reactive to the slightest shift in expression. She often envied those who seemed impervious to outside opinion, who lived carefree and untethered.

People like Lee Jaeheon, who called himself a madman and still moved through life without hesitation.

“What are you thinking about?”

He pressed the button for the 37th floor in the elevator. Eunkyo leaned back against the wall and shook her head. Jaeheon stepped closer, placing his hands on the safety rail behind her, caging her in.

“Regretting it now that you’re here?”

“No.”

“Then why do you look like you’re about to cry?”

“…Think about your body. I’m trying hard not to panic.”

She didn’t notice how his relaxed gaze subtly shifted.

As she squirmed and avoided his eyes, he stepped in even closer.

“Just handle as much as you can, sunbae. People… ha, don’t push them to the point where they make up their minds.”

The elevator stopped at the 37th floor. The doors opened, and he pulled her by the hand, walking with long strides through a hallway that looked more like a hotel corridor. At the very end was 3701. As soon as he entered the passcode, her body was pulled in.

“Open up.”

His rough voice scattered against her lips, one hand gripping the back of her head. Standing on tiptoe, she shut her eyes tight as his warm, wet tongue forced its way into her mouth.

The motion sensor light flickered on and off twice as his kiss deepened. He rubbed his tongue against hers, sweeping up her breath and saliva. In her dazed line of sight, she caught a glimpse of an open box of condoms tossed carelessly on the console by the door.

Jaeheon picked one up without looking and pressed her further inside the apartment. She tried to kick off her shoes, but only one came off—she stumbled and fell with a thud.

He followed, landing over her.

“Haah… haah…”

Gasping, Eunkyo lifted her head. Jaeheon, kneeling, unbuckled his belt and grabbed her jaw, pulling her into another kiss. His hand slid down to the seam of her pants, desperate, animalistic. His urgency made her breath quicken, too.

He groaned as he grabbed between her legs, then started unbuttoning her blouse.

As he slipped the linen blouse from her shoulders, her small nipples stood stiff beneath the thin fabric of her bralette.

“This is the foyer, you know.”

She finally managed to say something, pushing against his shoulder as he unfastened her pants while kissing her neck. He glanced down, pulled off her remaining shoe, and slipped a hand under her thighs, lifting her easily.

Being carried like a lightweight parcel felt ridiculous, but Eunkyo reached up, cupping his cheek with her small hands and pulling his lips back to hers.

She bit his lower lip playfully, then licked the dip beneath it with her tongue. When the kiss finally broke, she landed softly on a plush bed.

There was an arched entry separating the living room from the bedroom. She could see two more rooms—what looked like a walk-in closet and a study. The kitchen and bathroom were hidden, but outside the window stretched an unbelievable view of the Han River at night, like a painting.

As he looked down at her blank stare, he pulled his shirt off inside-out and let it drop. He chuckled.

“You look way too calm. I feel like I’m gonna die.”

Why did his body look bigger than usual? He slid her pants off smoothly and took her hand, guiding it inside his drawers. The tip of his length had already pushed past the waistband, glistening.

She ran her palm along the rigid shaft, and a shaky breath rushed out above her head.

“Haah…”

She wrapped her fingers around it and stroked slowly. Watching his flushed, aroused face, she noted how erotic he looked—licking his dry lips, then biting them.

Lee Jaeheon was a curious man. His features were sharp, but the lines were elegant. The intense look given by his thick brows softened by the delicate shapes of his features. The contrast between his dark pupils and whites gave his gaze a clarity, a sharpness. His lips were a rich red, his jawline slim, but the slope of his neck and his shoulders were rough and strong.

His double eyelids became more distinct when he frowned than when his eyes were open. The slight shadow at the corners of his lips made him look younger.

He was, in one word, beautiful. Even the way he narrowed his eyes was beautiful.

Amused by her own thoughts, she smiled—until his hand found her chin. Whether he knew what she’d been thinking or not, he muttered a low curse and tugged her jaw toward him.

“Just suck it once. I won’t come in your mouth.”