Chapter 14.1

Chapter 14.1

Deputi Ki’s lips brushed against the back of my hand. Just a faint touch of skin on skin, yet it felt like the spot was burning.

“……”

For a moment, I froze. It was exactly what I’d wanted, but somehow, my chest tightened with nerves instead.

If I had to compare it, it was like being one of those gazelles on Channel 9’s nature shows, the kind that runs for its life, only to turn and see the lion right behind it.

Lately, I’d been feeling that way a lot, like something was chasing me, close enough that I could feel its breath at my back. But every time I turned around, there was no one there.

Maybe it was natural. I was in prison, trapped in someone else’s body, while my real body lay unconscious in a hospital bed outside these walls, dying, for all I knew. The culprit was still out there, untouched. In a ridiculous, life-or-death situation like that, it would’ve been stranger not to feel unsteady.

I looked back up at the man in front of me.

Deputy Ki, with that calm, almost shy expression, his thumb brushing lightly over my wrist like it was something precious, yes, it was him.

I didn’t feel guilty about luring him in. It wasn’t like he didn’t want something from me, too.

And it wasn’t that I disliked him. If anything, he was the cleanest, most handsome man I’d ever seen, bland at times, sure, but solid, and pleasant in a way that stuck. The fact that he wasn’t the type to fool around made him even better.

Still, something about it didn’t sit right.

Why?

“……”

Get it together, Kim Geummi! You’re really going to rot away for seven years inside some clueless girl’s body? Do something, anything. Beg, bargain, crawl if you have to. Forget this useless feeling and focus!

I steadied myself and placed my hand on Deputy Ki’s cheek. Smooth, warm, and soft, just as I’d imagined. Even in this cold, his skin wasn’t dry or rough, just clean and mild to the touch. When his eyes lowered, shy, it sent a small thrill through me. He really did have a way of stirring something in a woman.

Our eyes locked, measuring each other for a breath or two. Then slowly, his lips began to descend. The faint scent of the lotion he used, clean and steady, like him, drifted close enough for me to breathe it in.

I didn’t know what it was, but his scent was expensive, clean, deep, and strangely familiar. My heart dropped with a heavy thud, and at that exact moment, his lips met mine.

The kiss was completely different from the last one.

His full lower lip pressed against mine, firm yet soft, and in the slight part between us, I felt the smooth, warm weight of his tongue slip in. I opened my mouth a little more, and slowly, carefully, almost tenderly, he deepened the kiss, inch by inch.

Deputy Ki’s kiss reminded me of the kind of first kiss you barely remember from childhood. It was soft, electric, and sent my heartbeat racing out of control.

It was addictive. Whether by accident or intent, every time his tongue brushed against mine, it drew back again, teasing, never quite enough. I tilted my head, and the kiss deepened. I heard him let out a faint laugh.

He’s laughing? Why?

“…Mmh…”

There wasn’t time to think. He was good, really good. I’d noticed it before. Some men just had a natural talent for this, the kind who could be first-timers and still move like they’d done it a hundred times. Rare, but real.

Whatever it was, I couldn’t get enough of it. His tongue tasted faintly sweet, and the more he moved, the more I wanted to pull him closer, to lick him deeper. I wrapped my arms around his neck and drew him to me until our bodies pressed tight together.

Wet sounds filled the infirmary. The kerosene heater had long gone cold, but it didn’t matter. With his solid, fever-warm body against mine, I didn’t feel the chill at all.

“Haa…”

When we finally broke apart, a thin, silvery strand of saliva stretched between our lips before snapping.

His lips were slick and red, his breath uneven, eyes glazed and damp with heat. Anyone walking in would know exactly what we’d been doing. Just kissing, and yet,

Last time, he’d been rough, his hands everywhere, grabbing, taking. But today, Deputy Ki hadn’t touched me at all. Not a single fingertip, only the steady press and pull of his mouth.

And still, my p2nt!.es were wet. My skin tingled. Every part of me itched with the urge to strip down and climb on top of him, to move until that ache went away.