Chapter 21.1

Chapter 21.1

“Who’s there?”

Caught off guard by the unexpected presence, Goyo’s voice came out high-pitched. Her heart pounded so hard it felt like it might burst through her chest.

“Why are you so startled? You’ll hurt my feelings.”

“…?”

Goyo squinted and looked in the direction of the voice.

“I step out for a moment, and you can’t wait to answer a call?”

Jae-heon was sitting at the home bar, sipping from a glass. The lighting was dim, making him hard to notice at first.

“How long have you been there?”

“Since you came out of the bedroom.”

He gave a wry smile.

Jae-heon had been at the bar the whole time, so she assumed he went outside to smoke.

“You could have said something.”

Goyo tried to hide her embarrassment with a sheepish smile, but it backfired. He let out a soft snicker, making her sigh quietly in frustration.

Did I do something embarrassing?

She sighed at the sight of her scattered clothes and shoes, picked them up one by one, and then answered her constantly buzzing phone.

In hindsight, she hadn’t done anything too humiliating. Still, thinking she was alone and acting like a child was a bit embarrassing.

“Hm, I’m not exactly someone who blends into the background.” He implied that he should have been noticeable without needing to make it obvious. He was right. If she hadn’t been so distracted, she would have noticed him.

“I’ve never been treated like I’m invisible before.”

“…”

“I was excited, wondering when you’d finally notice me.”

His slightly slurred words indicated he had been drinking. Goyo felt an inexplicable sense of unease.

She clutched the sheet wrapped around her body. It was a reflexive gesture she had learned in the past few hours with him.

“Your reaction hurts my feelings.”

Jae-heon put his glass down with a deliberate clink, the sound of ice cubes clattering echoing in the quiet room. The scene felt oddly familiar.

“Come here.”

Watching her focus on the glass, he beckoned her. Goyo ignored him, her eyes darting around. Her underwear and dress were right next to her. Should she grab them and head back to the room to get dressed, or just leave altogether?

“Do you like the entrance that much?”

“Oh… no, that’s not it.”

She realized why the scene felt so familiar.

Jae-heon had sat in that exact spot a few hours ago and said something similar.

The same place.

The same glass.

The same sound.

The only difference was that before, it had been before they were intimate, and now it was after.

And her feelings had changed.

Before she followed Jae-heon into the room, she had told herself not to assign too much meaning to a single night.

After all, Yoon-gun, whom she had known for a long time, changed girlfriends frequently, and Jae-heon had just left his partner, Ji Seohyun, right before they went to the room together. She had thought s*x was simple, a fleeting act without much significance.

She had been completely mistaken.

While others could mix their bodies together without a second thought, it seemed she was different. The world appeared so completely changed now.

Suddenly, the chaotic scenes from the hallway replayed in her mind like a vivid film.

She had never spent forty minutes in the hallway before.

Now she understood why he didn’t leave the hallway.

It was so provocative. It felt like she could be trapped there all night.

“I’ll respect your tastes.”

“That’s not it!”

Having already been suspected of having a strange preference for lingering in the hallway was enough. She had no desire to encourage any further misunderstandings and quickly got up from her seat.

“Ugh…”

The pain that began at her spine seemed to tear through her entire body. She was sweating coldly on her back.

Jae-heon watched Goyo, who was leaning against the wall with a strange expression.

“Should I go?”

“Oh, no.”

Ignoring Jae-heon’s scrutinizing gaze, Goyo hurriedly gathered her belongings from the floor. She shoved them into her bag and forced her weary legs to move.

Wrapped in a sheet with only her hands holding the bag, her naked body was clearly visible as she walked towards the door, closer to Jae-heon.