Chapter 206.2

Chapter 206.2

“You’ll collapse at this rate. Stop crying.”

Wooshin brushed the corners of her eyes with his frozen, reddened thumb. Even when he tried to pull away for a moment to take off his coat, Seoryeong clung to him again, overcome by another wave of sorrow.

She was certain that the moment she met him was the moment she’d first been connected to the world. The hand he’d reached out to her had been her umbilical cord, and now her eyes flicked toward her still-flat belly.

Startled by her stubborn embrace, Wooshin pressed a brief kiss to the crown of her head, then took off his shirt completely. He wrapped it around her head like a scarf and warned,

“Keep it on. If they see your real face instead of Natalia’s, it’ll be trouble.”

“Yes.”

She hiccupped like a child, swallowing the last of her sobs. Wooshin lifted Seoryeong, who was on the verge of fainting, and carried her out of the frozen lake.

Even though it was two in the morning and no one was around the mansion, he pressed her small head closer to his shoulder as if even showing a single strand of her hair was too great a risk.

She burrowed into his chest, wrapping her arms around his solid neck. The heat radiating from his body seeped deep into her.

Retracing the stairs she had once fled down in a panic, they finally reached Wooshin’s bedroom. The moment they stepped inside, their lips crashed together.

There was no time to tell who had moved first; their breaths tangled, tongues intertwined, teeth clicked.

Wooshin kissed the raw, swollen lips that had been bruised from their long night of lovemaking and slipped his tongue deeper. Her mouth opened easily this time, damp and hungry, drawing him in.

Though she had just come out of an icy lake, Seoryeong’s body flushed with heat in an instant. Wooshin pressed his tongue between her trembling molars and carried her straight into the bathroom.

Pulling back just enough, he poured warm water over her feet, hands, and spine.

“Ah!”

She gasped as the streaming water stung her skin like needles. Even as she whimpered, Seoryeong pulled at him insistently, refusing to let him stay apart.

His white shirt, already clinging to him, soaked through again, outlining every contour of his body.

Through the thin fabric, her crimson nipples and darkened hair between her legs became faintly visible. The bathroom grew hot and hazy with steam.

“….”

“….”

A tense silence filled the space. Wooshin immediately turned off the shower and twisted the valve open.

Water poured out in a heavy rush, covering their feet, and the trembling in her body slowly eased into languid warmth.

Even as he swallowed nervously, Wooshin peeled away the last bits of the leather still stuck to her cheek. In the brighter light, she saw the scrapes and bruises across his hand, likely from breaking through the ice. The air was thick and humid, making her mouth go dry.

“What happened to your eye? What’s this about shrapnel and a concussion?”

“Where were you all this time? How did you make Natalia’s face? Why were you wearing it?” He instead questioned back.

“Your eye… Who did that to you?”

When Wooshin stepped into the bathtub, the water splashed over the edge, spilling down the sides. He sank down behind Seoryeong, pulling her into his arms as his broad shoulders enveloped her.

She stiffened slightly at the solid weight pressing against her from behind, but he didn’t move further, only buried his lips against her skin. The water that had filled the tub began to run down the drain, trickling steadily to the floor. Seoryeong washed her face and pressed him again.

“Tell me. Who did this to you?”

“You didn’t answer my question either.”

His warm palm slipped under the hem of her damp clothes, caressing her ice-cold skin with patient care. At first she flinched at the sting of his touch, but soon her breathing softened and she leaned into him.

His hands were gentle yet rough, moving tirelessly across her lower belly, thighs, and hips. Even after all the hours of fevered sex, Seoryeong could only dart her eyes away, embarrassed.

“Natalia… I met her by chance. I hit her on the head and locked her up.”

Wooshin, who had been rubbing her tense back, froze.

“Kia made the face for me. I approached you, Instructor, to tell you about the operation.”

“That bastard wouldn’t have let you go that easily.”

A cold, derisive laugh brushed against her ear. It should have been an easy question to answer, yet she couldn’t bring herself to speak. Wooshin seemed to see straight through the tangled web of motives behind it all.

“What was the deal?”

His voice had hardened, carrying a chill beneath the words. His hand slid over her lower stomach, brushing against the peak that strained through the wet fabric.

Seoryeong flinched, and he pretended not to notice, his hand drifting back up along her ribs. She fought the strange sensation building inside her, shifting uneasily.

“How did you survive in Winter Castle, Instructor?”

“Seoryeong, what did you promise him?”

“…!”

“I’m asking what you wagered so carelessly.”

Wooshin laced his fingers around her waist and leaned back into the tub until the water lapped at the edge, spilling over with every breath.

Seoryeong swallowed some of the water rising to her chin, unable to speak. Between his legs, he tightened his hold around her.