“…!
“….”
His hand paused in the air. A cold silence swirled between them.”
“Uh, that’…”
Lee-yeon’s embarrassment hit her a little bit too late, as she rolled her eyes, unable to think of a plausible excuse.
“There-there was a mosquito”
Chae-woo slowly raised the corners of his mouth at her blatant lie. Lee-yeon glanced at his face, but it was difficult to tell whether he was angry or laughing out of disbelief.
“Why should you be their guide?”
After a moment, Chae-woo pulled his hand back and continued on casually. The heart-rending moment passed as if nothing happened as he smoothly changed the subject.
However, Lee-yeon swallowed drily, as the thought that a well-defined voice could cut like a sword and capture a moment.
“If they’re college students, that means they have no money. Are you volunteering then?”
“It’s actually the other way around. The pay is pretty high.”
The Pine Tree Club was a joint club of universities in the Seoul metropolitan area. They needed an expert to introduce the famous pine trees in Hwaido, and the chairman of the club had contacted Lee-yeon using his personal connections.
The student’s uncle was a reporter from the environment department of the Kilbo, who often held hands when Lee Yeon thought someone of wrongdoings. She normally would have refused to do anything involving other people, but now she needed a reason to go out and be busy.
“So, you’re going to take those punks around to look at pine trees, Lee-yeon?”
Chae-woo’s voice was monotonous, but there was strange dreary feeling that pulled at the hairs on the back of her neck.
“What punks?”
“Think about those bearded guys following you around…”
Just then, Lee-yeon suddenly raised a hand to stop Chae-woo from speaking. The man was speechless at the sight of her palm raised out in front of him, as Lee-yeon quickly answered her phone that had just started to ring.
“Hello?”
Chae-woo let out a short breath, “Ha,” and swept his bangs up. What’s going on here? The thick voice over the phone stuck in his ear like a needle. He tapped his thigh with the remote control as he watched Lee-yeon calmly take the call.
“It’s some boy’s voice.”
While talking on the phone in a low voice, she paused and looked at him.
“Is he the one you were texting earlier?”
“Uh…” Lee-yeon lost her focus trying to listen to both voices at once and became flustered.
“Lee-yeon, you don’t accept these kinds of troublesome favors.”
“….”
“At least that’s what I thought.” Suddenly, Chae-woo stared at the loose gap between them. There was enough space for an entire person between them. As soon as he narrowed the distance, Lee-yeon jumped from the sofa.
“….”
“….”
He burst into laughter and roughly turned off the TV. Then the room, which had been filled with noise, quickly became quiet. Meanwhile, Lee-yeon continued to talk on the phone as Chae-woo leaned against the sofa.
His quick eyes were fierce and sharp, following her movements, such as the number of steps she walked back and forth across the living room, the shape of her mouth responding kindly, and her meaningless laughter.
“-Yes, yes. I’ll see you then.”
Finally, she ended the call and looked back at him, the atmosphere subdued.
“Chae-woo why did you turn off the TV?”
“I found something more interesting to watch.”
Chae-woo put his elbows on the back of the sofa and smiled.
Lee-yeon avoided contact and ignored his sudden lax posture, but as soon as her eyes happened to see his pants, her jaw dropped. She shrieked as if she were holding a frying pan on fire.
“Chae-woo, what’s going on? Why are you suddenly erect?”
“Ahh.” He tilted his head slowly, his voice relaxed. “I’m not tempted, so don’t worry. I don’t know about you, but for men, we don’t only get erection when we’re turned on.”
“Then why…”
“Sometimes I get hard when I feel like holding a weapon.”
“What?” As Lee-yeon’s expression was vague as he raised his shoulders lightly as if joking.
“It’s just a matter of mood.”
Lee-yeon seemed to be dragged by his pace but she was confused about what he meant and didn’t mean because of his unconstrained attitude.
“Aren’t you curious?”
“About what?”
“This time, I think it’s harder than usual.” He said, referring to his engorged part. “Don’t you want to know how it feels to have blood drawn in a different way?”
“Uh…”
“Since you’re doing something you’ve never done before, I guess it turned me on.”
Lee-yeon curled her shoulders at Chae-woo’s blatant flirting, feeling uncomfortable and trapped. She scratched nervously under her ears, her eyes darting towards the door like a prey searching for a way out. She couldn’t pretend to be comfortable with him this time.
He could almost hear the gears turning in her head. He lured her tightly to his pouted lips and urged her not to be afraid.
“Yes? Lee-yeon.”
“I normally… I don’t really like such various functions.”
At this, she hurried into her office. Click! And just before the door closed, “I’m going to work overtime today! You can go to bed first!” Chae-woo’s stomach ached unpleasantly.
As he stared at the tightly closed door, the look in his eyes turned cold as ice.
