Chapter 43.1

Chapter 43.1

Miran sniffled and lifted her head. Blinking through her tear-blurred eyes, she searched his face.

‘Is André as sad as I am?’

But she couldn’t read his thoughts from his expression at all. He gently removed her arm from around his neck.

“If you don’t want to be with someone who’s about to leave… I understand.”

“It’s not like that!”

Miran shook her head urgently and wrapped her arms around his neck again.

“I want to be with you! Until the day you leave, André.”

At that, André’s tense shoulders relaxed slightly. Miran clung to him desperately, embracing him tightly.

There wasn’t much time left to be together. Once this time was over, Miran might never see him again. Even if their relationship couldn’t last, it didn’t matter. It was better to love fully and endure the pain than to regret not loving the person who made her feel this way for the first time.

They said that the pain of memories left behind after a loved one leaves, and the tears shed as those memories and faces fade over time, were all part of the romance of love. Countless poems, novels, songs, and movies were born from such feelings.

The tragic romance of her first love at twenty-four drove the sharp arrow awkwardly lodged in Miran’s heart even deeper. It was now embedded so deeply that it seemed impossible to remove without breaking the shaft and cutting out a part of her heart.

As the sharp arrowhead pierced her swollen heart, the raw, unrefined emotions burst forth.

“I love you, André.”

Startled by the sudden confession, André hesitated for a moment before pulling her roughly into his arms and kissing the top of her head.

“I know.”

It was a strange response.

But Miran believed that the tender kiss on her head and the strong arms holding her so tightly she could barely breathe conveyed the sincerity he couldn’t put into words.

‘André loves me too. He’s just a man of few words and doesn’t know how to express it.’

There were many people in the world who lived their entire lives without ever saying “I love you.” That didn’t mean they didn’t love each other.

Juran always said that love was better shown through sincere actions than through fancy words. Although she was a nag, her eldest sister was never wrong.

André lifted her chin and pressed his lips to hers. In the dizzying kiss that explored her mouth and entwined their tongues, she could taste a faint hint of wine. Her breathless gasps and suppressed m#ans were all swallowed by his mouth.

Miran, gradually pushed back by André’s intensity, found herself half-reclining on the long chair. As he pulled away with a ragged breath, he spoke in a husky voice.

“Tonight, we’re going all the way.”

His lowered gaze glinted dangerously.

Miran swallowed involuntarily. André, pressing his forehead against hers, gently caressed her cheek with the back of his hand.

“If you don’t want this, tell me now.”

His lips, glistening with saliva, brushed teasingly against hers. Miran closed her eyes and exhaled a trembling breath onto his lips.

“I don’t dislike it. I like it, I like it…….”

André’s lips overlapped hers, as if devouring her, and he swept her up in his arms, lifting her off the ground.

“Ah!”

Miran, startled, wrapped her long legs around his waist and clung to his neck. For a while, he stood still, ravaging her mouth, before tracing her jawline with his lips and making his way to her neck, taking slow, deliberate steps towards the bedroom.

“Hnngh…”

As his lips caressed her sensitive skin, Miran’s head fell back weakly, her hair cascading down her back like a waterfall. The light from the chandelier on the ceiling was too bright, so she closed her eyes. Before she knew it, a soft, comforting sensation enveloped her from behind.

When she opened her eyes, André was standing beside the bed, looking down at her as he removed his watch and belt. As he hurriedly unbuttoned his shirt, he clicked his tongue in frustration and frowned. With one rough motion, he grabbed the front of his shirt, and the buttons from the fifth one down popped off with a ripping sound.