Chapter 61. The Sound Youth Makes When It Drowns (17)

“Sunbae.”

At Jaeheon’s voice, Eunkyo stopped in her tracks. The tension wrapped around her whole body seemed to drain out through her feet.

It felt like she was finally able to breathe—like breaking through the surface of water.

As she tucked her phone back into her handbag and turned around, Jaeheon was just putting his own phone away, as if he had just finished reading her message.

“I was just coming back from the convenience store. Didn’t you see me?”

He gave the plastic bag a shake. Inside, cans of beer clinked against hangover remedies and digestive aids.

Eunkyo smiled, calming her breath without making it obvious.

“I was distracted. Didn’t notice.”

“What were you thinking about?”

“Just… letting my mind wander?”

“I hope I was part of it.”

“Oh, stop.”

Eunkyo laughed and matched his steps as they walked together. Once they reached her front door, she unlocked it and stepped inside. The moment she did, his arms slid around her waist.

His sticky skin, warm body, and familiar scent melted lazily into hers. In moments like this, it felt like being pinned under a clingy, oversized dog.

Blushing, she tried to push his face away as he nuzzled against her cheek.

“I reek of smoke.”

“So do I. But you smell good to me.”

“Ugh, come on… This isn’t it.”

“I mean it. I like it.”

He cupped her face with his large hand and placed light kisses all over. The faint tobacco scent probably came from the people he had been with. Still, Eunkyo didn’t like it.

It reminded her too much of the smoke Lee Dohyun used to obsessively cling to. Maybe it was even the same brand of cigarette. To think a relationship could leave a stain as lasting as cigarette smoke…

She swallowed a bitter chuckle and placed a hand against Jaeheon’s chest.

“I don’t like it. Go take a shower. First.”

“Want to join me?”

“No. I have stuff to sort out… Ah, Seontae messaged me to say he’s quitting. I should send a reply. So just… give me a little time alone.”

Setting the plastic bag on the table, he hunched slightly and pulled off his shirt, almost as if doing her a favor. He unbuckled his belt, turning away—but when their eyes met, there was a chill in his gaze. Still, he smiled. Without a doubt.

“Not too long, okay?”

As the bathroom door closed, she bit her lip, holding back a laugh in disbelief.

Every time he acted like this, she couldn’t help but wonder what kind of relationships Jaeheon had in the past.

‘…Ah. He once said he’d never dated anyone, hadn’t he?’

Then Jaeheon was guilty—guilty of making her heart flutter with words and gestures that probably meant nothing to him.

Faces of others who had once shown feelings for him flashed through her mind.

Eunkyo set down her handbag and walked into the bedroom. First, she sent a message to Seontae. If he had a clear reason for quitting, she wanted to hear it. If he was truly set on it, she didn’t want things to end on a sour note.

But he didn’t reply. No read receipt either. Somehow, she had a bad feeling.

As she removed her small pearl earrings and waited for a response, Lee Dohyun’s number flashed across the phone screen again.

Every time it buzzed, her heart beat faster. What was going on? Should she answer it, or would it be better to avoid it altogether?

‘Why now, after all this time…’

In the end, she turned off the phone. As she opened the vanity drawer to throw it in, her eyes caught the ring box she’d left there.

She stared at it blankly until the bathroom door opened, snapping her back.

Wrapped in the largest towel, he approached her from behind in the bedroom.

“What are you doing? Shower, now, sunbae.”

His damp hand touched her waist, and then his lips pressed against the nape of her neck as he tugged her shirt up and over her head.

Now in just her underwear, she shot a glare at his reflection in the mirror. He only shrugged with a sly grin, toweling his wet hair like nothing was wrong.

“Go on.”

There was something oddly sweet, yet domineering in his tone. Not quite like him.

That unfamiliar side of him stirred something in her, just a little.

“Haa. All you ever think about is sex.”

“What can I say? That’s just the kind of guy I am.”

“Then at least put your clothes in the washer. You’re… staying today, right?”

As she turned, half-sitting on the vanity, her hand flicked the towel covering his lower half. It slipped off, falling to the floor.

His length, already fully hardened, bumped lightly against her lower stomach.

“Ha… What are you doing?”

He gave her a crooked smile, his lips lifting in mischief.

“Mm… Do you think you can resist?”

When she lowered her gaze and gently stroked from the base up to the tip, a slow sigh and a soft laugh drifted down from above.

“Even if I say I can’t hold back, you’ll tell me to wait anyway.”

“That’s right.”

“Then I’ll behave and wait… so suck me off, sunbae.”

“Mmm…”

She deliberately drew it out, dragging a fingernail along his slit. Clear fluid dripped down in response. He muttered, “Fuck,” though it was barely audible.

Bending forward, he bit the back of her neck and wrapped an arm around her waist, one hand braced on the edge of the vanity.

He moved his hips as if they were already having sex, grinding his cock into her palm. The slick wetness smeared across her hand started to arouse her, too.

“Ha… shit… I wanna fuck you. I wanna come so bad… Should I just pull out and do it?”

She looked up, her cheeks flushed red. Jaeheon kissed the corner of her eyes and her lips, whispering desperately.

“Yeah? Sunbae… let me cum.”

His thick shaft pulsed in her already-drenched grip. He then grabbed her wrist to keep her from moving and rubbed himself against her hand. The wet squelch of it was insanely erotic.

The sensation made her feel even more aroused, a heat spreading between her legs. Nearly collapsed against her, his breath came hot and heavy.

Eunkyo couldn’t take her eyes off him—his trembling jaw, his eyes losing focus. The contrast between Jaeheon’s usually relaxed expression and his current overwhelmed body was jarring.

When she gripped him tightly and rose on her tiptoes to nibble his lip, a warm stream spilled over her stomach.

He hadn’t expected to climax. His eyes twisted in surprise.

“Ah… I came.”

At Eunkyo’s nonchalant reaction, a vein popped along his neck.

He looked down at her hand wrapped around his still half-erect shaft and the semen pooling at her navel. Then, without a word, he dropped to one knee.

He licked the mess from her stomach and worked his way up until their lips met. The taste of salt and something slick clung to his tongue and teeth. When Eunkyo grimaced, he bit her tongue playfully and smiled.

“Let’s clean up, sunbae.”

***