Desires Chapter 5.8 - Provocations

The skin around the eyebrow bone is thin, so even a small tear causes blood to flow like a flood.

Cha Woojin roughly wiped the blood streaming down his temple with the sleeve of his suit jacket. Blood dripped onto his metal watch as well.

“Is this all you’ve got?! Go ahead, hit me more…! Keep hitting until your anger’s gone. I’ll take as much as you want.”

Even though the jacket was stained with blood, the flow didn’t stop. Song Yeongin pressed the sleeve of his white shirt against Cha Woojin’s eyebrow bone. The white shirt sleeve quickly became soaked with red blood. Song Yeongin’s hands trembled at the sight.

“…Blood, blood…! It’s too much… Let’s go to the hospital. Hurry…”

Cha Woojin gave a low laugh, looking at Song Yeongin, who was staunching the blood with his shirt sleeve.

“Ha, with such a soft heart, what are you going to do with it?”

“…….”

“Well, with a heart that soft, no wonder you shielded Na Hankyeol even though he tried to rape you… even when he was about to die.”

“…Your… face… Every time you move, blood comes out… Don’t talk…”

Why is there so much blood?

Song Yeongin, with trembling hands, shouted toward the driver’s seat, hidden by the blind.

“Manager Jang…! The director is hurt…! There’s too much blood… Please, go to the hospital now.”

“Ignore him and head to my private residence.”

Cha Woojin cut Song Yeongin’s words off sharply. The man looked at him and muttered lowly.

“It doesn’t even hurt, so enough.”

Cha Woojin stared intently at Song Yeongin, who was pressing his eyebrow, with deep eyes.

“…Ha…, you reek of alcohol.”

“…….”

“You’re drunk. Your face is red, your whole body is red…! Panting like that, staring at people so seductively…!”

“Stop talking, the blood keeps coming…”

“You’re a mess, completely drunk…”

The man staunching the blood up close had much shorter hair. If I thought that short, masculine hair suited you so well… I must be crazy. Yeah, I must be crazy.

Cha Woojin unabashedly stared into Song Yeongin’s frightened eyes, which were pressing his eyebrow with the sleeve. Song Yeongin endured the bold, black gaze silently, without looking away. No, rather, that gentle endurance became a seduction toward him.

With blood flowing, Cha Woojin lowered his eyes and began buttoning up Song Yeongin’s open shirt. But soon, unable to resist, he grabbed the slender, provocative white torso with his large hand.

With a lascivious glint in his long eyes, he said.

“When you look at me so seductively, drunk out of your mind, how am I supposed to hold back? Go on, tell me… What should I do for you?”

“I didn’t do that! Ha, are you crazy?! With blood pouring like this… You think I’m seducing you?!”

The sharp nose bridge came right up to Song Yeongin’s nose tip. The man, pressing his nose against Song Yeongin’s, stared at him while Song Yeongin staunched the blood. Cha Woojin silently endured the provocation, pulling the small face that didn’t shy away from his gaze.

Cha Woojin’s lips devoured him as if to swallow him whole. His lips parted, and a tongue thrust in recklessly.

Song Yeongin didn’t resist. The more he struggled or moved his face, the more blood poured from the eyebrow.

Closing his eyes, he endured Cha Woojin’s kiss. His breathing grew labored. His head spun. His breath caught up to his throat—no, up to his lips. It felt like his insides would burst. Cha Woojin’s tongue was recklessly stirring him up. When their breaths met, his cells shattered into pieces. And they broke apart, unable to be put back together.

The razor-sharp nose bridge crushed soft, delicate skin. It chewed greedily, licked, and sucked. The fierce, firm tongue, like the man himself, caressed every corner of the tender membranes. When Song Yeongin melted, it roused him again, ravaging him like a beast.

Cha Woojin laughed between their lips. That confident laugh seemed to boast that just kissing here could claim all of him. The man’s soft chuckles seeped between the shattered cells. It was as if he wanted to etch this kiss into Song Yeongin’s mind, never to be forgotten.

Broad shoulders enveloped him. Iron-hard biceps and thick chest fiercely embraced him. His plump lips, forgetting to breathe, were mercilessly crushed. Saliva, indistinguishable from whose, flowed like blood between their bodies.

If kissing you felt as calm and empty as it did with Na Hankyeol… If only it were like that, I wouldn’t be shattered into pieces, torn apart, or hurt like I’d been sliced with a knife.

Song Yeongin punched the man’s chest, struck his hard shoulders, and hit his neck. Every time he struck, the subdued blood flowed again from the torn wound. Only then did Cha Woojin, taking the blows, pull his lips away. Song Yeongin exhaled gasping breaths, as if they would burst.

“Ha, I can’t breathe…! Sob…!”

Cha Woojin, giving no time to breathe, grabbed his small cheeks. He hungrily sucked on the red, plump lips. He tormented him obsessively and vulgarly, as if mating with his mouth, not letting him breathe. Song Yeongin, overwhelmed by the lightning-like kisses, scratched and thrashed against the man.

Stop… My heart feels like it’s going to burst.

Cha Woojin, too, breathed heavily with languid gasps.

“…Ha, I wish you couldn’t breathe.”

He whispered tenderly, as if soothing a child.

“Yeongin-ah… Let’s kiss.”

“Sob… No! The blood… Sob, I can’t breathe…!”

“Right now, I just want you to stop thinking.”

Despite his refusal, Song Yeongin closed his eyes. He didn’t want to see his face, but Cha Woojin kept making him look at his face under the dim light. The arrogant confidence that Song Yeongin would still be swayed by his handsome face was astonishing.

Dark red blood dripped from the man’s temple. Hot tears kept falling from Song Yeongin’s red eyes. The high, firm nose bridge crushed against his downy cheeks. Blood and tears mingled messily on their panting cheeks.

Cha Woojin, who had been fiercely pressing, softly licked his lips again, as if melting. After ravaging his mouth like a beast, what followed was a reverent kiss. Like performing a ritual, he kissed Song Yeongin’s delicate jaw and cheeks, caressing his slender white neck. He buried his sharp nose in his neck, biting the tender skin as if marking it as his own. A faint, melodic moan scattered. At the pulsing carotid artery, Cha Woojin confirmed Song Yeongin’s panting breaths.

The blood from his eyebrow soaked their cheeks. The beastly stench of blood emanated from Cha Woojin’s skin. His pulse raced wildly. Song Yeongin wanted to shatter, break, and turn to smoke. He wanted to linger at the tip of his nose and then vanish.

Why did you find me?!

Why did you come to save me?

In the end, why did you make me wail like a fool, waiting for you, Cha Woojin, in that final moment?!

He wanted to return to the day he didn’t know this man’s kiss or breath. To a time when he didn’t have the futile hope that you’d save him. To a day when he didn’t know your embrace.

🌫️

When he barely came to his senses, warm water surged over his head and body. Song Yeongin didn’t even realize he was completely naked.

The surroundings were filled with the fresh scent of a pool and the unexpected lushness of a forest out of season. It was the very greenhouse, the paradise filled with exotic fruit trees, where Cha Woojin had once taken him.

The man sat him on the spacious floor of the pool.

“Cool your head.”

The man who had pushed him entirely into the pool water stripped off his blood-stained tie and shirt above the surface. With disciplined movements, he tossed aside his shirt and pants, removing his metal watch. The blood that had soaked his temple had dried.

The perfectly naked, chiseled body approached him from a distance. The sharp, muscular frame, moving as if gliding, exuded sensual elegance despite wearing nothing. No, without anything on, he seemed even more complete than when fully clothed.

Song Yeongin stared, entranced, at the approaching man. Cha Woojin’s member was half-thickly erect.

In the warm water, his straight white shoulders trembled slightly. The graceful shoulder line quivered faintly.

Cha Woojin, diving into the water, swam toward Song Yeongin, who was holding onto the floor. The unsightly dried blood on his temple washed away instantly, leaving only the torn wound. Brushing back his wet hair, the man asked in a low, even voice.

“Are you coming to your senses? You should get drunk in moderation.”

“…What are we doing here…?”

“You said you wanted to swim with me…”

“…Me?”

“Yeah, you… Don’t you remember what you babbled while drunk?”

“…….”

“You said you wanted to come here. You clearly said, with your own mouth, to take you to that paradise… That you wanted to see me swim.”

“Lies… I didn’t say that.”

The provocative, pulsing body swallowed Song Yeongin’s vision up close. The cold, sharp facial lines blended exquisitely with the wound above his eyebrow. As if it wasn’t something Song Yeongin caused, but something that had always been his.

In the deep darkness, the water’s surface. The white, elegant LED lights glowing beneath the pool illuminated the man’s flawless face and wondrous body.

The man, bathed in light, looked like a flawless luxury item displayed in an extravagant showcase. It seemed everyone with money would clutch wads of cash, desperate to own him.

His long, sharp eyes curved.

“Why did you want to see me swim? Did you like watching me swim naked?”

“I didn’t.”

His head still throbbed from the lingering intoxication. There was no way he’d said such nonsense. His resisting hands were swiftly caught.

Cha Woojin’s hand slid abruptly over Song Yeongin’s flat lower abdomen, slipping between his groin.

Song Yeongin, startled by the swift touch, couldn’t react. Cha Woojin grabbed his member. The man’s straight lips curved into a sexy arc. He laughed lowly.

“You’re the one lying. Look at you, getting hard down here.”

“No. Let go, ugh…!”

“You got turned on watching me swim naked?”

The man holding him laughed languidly, his cool eyes glinting.

“D-don’t say weird things…”

Song Yeongin couldn’t meet the man’s piercing eyes and turned his head sharply, flushed with shame.

Those eyes saw through everything. The fact that he was aroused looking at him, that he still felt the same thrill as the first time in front of him.

“…I’m glad?”

Cha Woojin gently caressed Song Yeongin’s erect, seductive member. The pretty, red member glowed under the water’s light. The man whispered in a tender voice.

“That you got hard just looking at me, without me even touching you.”

Song Yeongin shuddered in Cha Woojin’s arms. His delicate, wet breaths scattered softly at Cha Woojin’s nape.

“Ha, ugh…! Don’t…! Stop.”

Cha Woojin stroked Song Yeongin’s member, moving his hand gently back and forth.

He whispered lowly in his ear.

“You usually hate being touched. You don’t even know how to jerk off properly here.”

“Sob, stop… I don’t like it. Ugh! It’s weird…”

His deep, black eyes scanned him, expertly stimulating his member.

“You got this hard just looking at me… I’m flattered, I don’t know what to do with myself.”

“Ugh, stop…! I’m just too drunk, that’s why…”

Song Yeongin scratched at Cha Woojin’s firm trapezius muscles as the intense stimulation surged.

“So innocent, you don’t even know how to use this properly…”

“Ugh. Nng… No…!”

“You tremble and come with just a little touch here. I hope you feel better after I get you off once.”

Against his will, moans spilled from his lips as he clung to Cha Woojin’s neck.

“Ugh. Nng… Ugh…!”

“Is it because of me? Tell me. Is it because of me… because I’m touching you, or are you just naturally this easy and loose?”

“Nng, ugh…!”

“I’m going crazy, worried you’ll collapse like this in front of another guy, trembling so easily.”

Song Yeongin, overwhelmed by the urge to climax, trembled in Cha Woojin’s firm embrace, his slender waist and pert hips quivering. Tears, barely clinging to his red eyes, fell drop by drop. His dainty nose tip and lips, flushed red, exhaled turbid, lustful breaths. Milky semen dispersed in the water.

“You even come so prettily…”

He couldn’t remember. Did he really say he wanted to come here? He denied it, but maybe he did babble such things.

Whenever he recalled that man, skillfully swimming in this earthly paradise of a greenhouse, his lower body tingled. He never said it aloud, but the memory was still vivid.

That day, he fell for that man again. His wet figure, shining in the sunlight on the water’s surface, was dazzling and beautiful, something to secretly treasure and admire. It was awe-inspiring, something to worship dreamily. He was captivated by that burning, sun-like strength, secretly longing for it. All the desires he could never have were there… in him.

“Ugh, ugh…! It’s weird.”

Song Yeongin, reeling from the intense afterglow, clung to Cha Woojin’s neck with his trembling body. His small, quivering face buried in the man’s nape. His cold scent made Song Yeongin’s head spin. He tightly embraced the man’s firm body, stirred by the low laughter spreading through him.

Cha Woojin’s broad shoulders flinched at the gesture. He enveloped Song Yeongin in one swift motion. Their touching muscles spasmed. The hard thing pressing against him confirmed Cha Woojin’s bursting desire to enter him. In his arms, Song Yeongin whispered impishly in a low, sultry voice.

“Don’t… get married.”

Cha Woojin held him for a long time without a word.

“Now you’re acting human… Cling and beg more. Be greedier. Who knows? I might go crazy and…”

Song Yeongin, still clinging, glared straight into the man’s deep eyes from his nose tip. The seductive vixen, fresh from climax, stared at the man.

“If you get married, I’ll go to James Han. I’ll sleep with him. I’ll beg him to make sure you can never find me.”

If only you could see your own expression right now…

He wanted to bring a mirror to show him. The most arrogant, perfect man in the world, crumbling, looking utterly miserable as if he’d lost everything.

“You think I can’t?! To escape you, ordinary strength won’t do. It’d have to be someone like him… I’ll go to him, spread my legs, and beg him to hold me.”

Cha Woojin blinked his long eyes slowly, as if in disbelief.

“You’re drunk… Don’t babble like a whore in a drunken stupor.”

“I’m not drunk.”

The sacred, pure face could transform so much. Like a vixen begging to be ravished, like a courtesan toying with a man. The man knew that such seduction would make anyone desperate to have him.

Cha Woojin gazed at Song Yeongin with languid, arrogant eyes.

“I thought you had no greed…”

Song Yeongin, seductively brushing back his wet, clear forehead, snapped.

“Why…? Are you tired of me now?”

“No, I like it… Ha, damn it! I like it so much I want to thrust into you right now, so spread.”

“Ah, ugh…! Wait…!”

Cha Woojin, his face burning with anger, grabbed Song Yeongin’s slender waist and sharply lifted one thigh. He positioned himself as if ready to thrust in right then. With a cold smile, he muttered.

“…Ha, come to think of it, it’s not that I like selfless people, I just like you… I must be completely bewitched by you.”

“…….”

“Even when you say you’ll spread your legs for that bastard James Han, I’m still so aroused I want to thrust into you.”

“It hurts. Ugh…! Let go…!”

But Cha Woojin, despite threatening to thrust, didn’t touch him. Acting as if he’d plunge in with his throbbing, raging member, he suddenly released Song Yeongin, as if losing all will.

Cha Woojin was furious. No, consumed by rage, he was raging wildly. The name James Han was clearly a trigger that drove him into a frenzy. The uncontrollable, burning anger clearly overwhelmed his reason, swallowing him whole. So much so that he forgot to thrust into him.

Cha Woojin, eyes mad with rage and jealousy, began spitting out.

“James Han?! Good call… Do you even know how much damage and loss I’ve caused to Woosung Electronics’ future, risking everything to protect you and your painting?!”

“…….”

Song Yeongin’s calm eyes began to waver sharply from the ripples he threw.

“If it’s revealed that I gave up the monopoly rights arbitrarily, if the board or the chairman finds out James Han was involved… My neck would be on the line, stripped of my directorship with no excuse for the massive losses.”

Song Yeongin’s drunken eyes trembled violently. Like a candle in the wind, they quivered precariously. He couldn’t comprehend what Cha Woojin was saying.

“…What’s this about a painting?”

“The painting you tried to sell to Yoon Jioh…! The Ear of the Dead Mother…! You’re asking because you don’t know your own painting?! That bastard used it to make a deal with me. He declared war, saying he’d block Woosung Electronics’ path if I didn’t hand it over!”

“…….”

“And that bright future was blocked. To protect you and your painting. I lost the exclusive semiconductor procurement rights in Asia and a golden opportunity to be a logistics hub.”

It felt like being hit in the back of the head with a club. Song Yeongin trembled, his long neck and lean shoulders shaking in the water. He wanted to disappear somewhere. To hide.

“…Why…! Why didn’t you tell me sooner?!”

Cha Woojin scoffed with calm eyes.

“If I had? What could you have done?”

Song Yeongin realized in that moment.

It wasn’t the time to tremble with petty vengeance. If only he’d known sooner. If he’d known earlier that the perfect future and meticulous plans you built were unraveling because of him…

He should have repaid you, not sought revenge.

Cha Woojin, calming his raging fury, exhaled a long, languid breath as if regaining composure.

“So stop making my insides rot. If you want to paint, I can support you for life. If you want to learn something, I can send you to study anywhere… If you like working at Laquière, I’ll give you Laquière to run. If you want to live idly, do it. A house, a building, land, money… I’ll give you everything you want for life. I can give you anything.”

Song Yeongin’s wavering eyes regained focus. With a pale, calm face, he asked back.

“So, you’re telling me to be your mistress instead… Is that what you mean?”

There was no clearer way to put it.

“My father lived with a concubine for 28 years. Even now, when something happens, that old man seeks her first, not my mother.”

The seductive, red-rimmed eyes twitched. Song Yeongin spat out a mocking rebuke.

“Your mother must have been so unhappy.”

“…….”

“They say to become the heir, you need to give the chairman a grandchild. Aren’t you ashamed, about to become a father, in front of your child?”

“…….”

“I don’t want to commit a sin against your child.”

“…….”

“You’re telling me to live like that for your petty pleasure and selfishness?! That’s just treating me like a toy to play with, isn’t it?!”

Cha Woojin brushed back his wet hair. He fixed his deep, proud black eyes straight on him.

“Song Yeongin, you speak well… Yeah, I didn’t think you’d live like that. I know how damned disgusting this is. But I’m begging you…! I’m pleading with you to stay by my side.”

“…….”

“Yeongin-ah, I like you.”

“…….”

“Every time I got tired, I held on by thinking of holding you.”

“…….”

“I want to keep you in my arms. I want to protect you. So, please stay by my side.”

“…….”

He never thought he’d hear words of affection mixed with such talk. Tears, stubbornly clinging to the corners of his eyes, flowed pitifully down his red-rimmed eyes. The wretched, fragile face barely swallowed the bursting red sobs.

“Cha Woojin. Do you want to keep doing this with me?”

“…….”

“Then don’t get married.”

Cha Woojin tilted his head back, letting out a sharp breath that cut through the air. Then, with calm and resolute eyes, he met Song Yeongin’s gaze and said.

“You’re asking me to give up everything I have and choose you?!”

“…….”

“The decades I’ve spent running forward, looking only ahead…”

“…….”

“I don’t know if you’re worth that much…”

Song Yeongin folded his red-rimmed eyes and gave a faint smile. That pitifully unraveling expression was neither crying nor laughing. The fragile white smile shattered into the air.

I knew you’d say that. That’s only natural…

Woosung is your root, the entirety of what has made you over the past 33 years.

Asking you not to get married doesn’t mean I truly want you to stay single. It’s to make you realize how absurd this is and to tell you to return to your place quickly.

I’m ruining you.

If I just disappear, that’s all it takes. If I just vanish from your life, that’s all it needs.

“So that’s why I’m leaving you… How long are we going to repeat the same talk? For you to live the life you planned and want, all it takes is for me to disappear…”

“……Leave?”

I don’t know why you’re making such a weak expression.

“Do you think you can live without me? Don’t you get it yet?! Yeongin-ah, I’m the only one who can handle and protect you…! So, please, stay by my side…!”

Seeing that upright, handsome face make such weak sounds was several times more painful than seeing his arrogant, composed face.

Song Yeongin cut him off firmly and coldly.

“I think I can handle it…”

“…….”

“Cha Woojin, I won’t die without you. I don’t even know if you’re worth that much.”

Song Yeongin wanted to throw his own words back at him.

“Then, aren’t we done with each other?”

It wasn’t the time to burn with vengeful thoughts about him sleeping with another woman or getting married. It wasn’t about revenge but about repayment. I was interfering with all his plans. I was ruining his future. I never dreamed he was taking on massive losses at Woosung because of me, or that he’d have to give up his position because of me.

Threatening his heirship, destroying the family he’d build, committing a terrible sin against his child—the thought alone was horrifying. I couldn’t possibly live shamelessly, causing harm to others like that.

I’m the one who intruded into this man’s life.

He was throwing a tantrum, saying he didn’t love me. That man protected and loved me more than the father who birthed me. He told me it wasn’t my fault. He was the only one who got angry for me. He took brutal revenge on those who trampled and tormented me. He was the only one who knew, without me saying, that I wanted revenge on those demons.

In every moment of crisis, he pulled me out of despair and the abyss. He protected and shielded me to the end so I wouldn’t get hurt.

But come to think of it, I’ve given him nothing but this worthless body. So now, for his future and happiness, it was my turn to repay him.

Realize the absurdity I’m causing and return to your place. I’ll give everything back to how it was.

That’s the last repayment I can offer. I hope this man understands my words.

You’re a much smarter person than I am.

🌫️

A fever flared up suddenly. He kept wandering in a dreamlike haze. A cold hand relentlessly patted his back. When the large, cool hand stopped stroking him, he instead clung, burrowing deeper into the embrace, whining to be touched. His downy hairs stood on end at the cool scent.

Then the strong hand resumed stroking him tirelessly. The firm arm embraced and soothed his childish whimpering. A low voice murmured softly in his ear.

“…Love you.”

Knowing he’d never say that to him, Song Yeongin thought it must be a dream.

Every time he woke in this bedroom, it felt like a secret fortress surrounded by a forest. The lush artificial grove covering the wide-open glass ceiling swallowed Song Yeongin’s vision. Bright light poured dazzlingly through the leaves.

Waking to the flooding sunlight and stirring, he realized his body wasn’t free. The man sleeping behind him, holding him, and he were completely naked.

I didn’t do that with this man again, did I?

But there was no foreign sensation or pain in his lower body.

Emerging from the pool, wet and crying while drunk, Song Yeongin had become hypothermic. A fever flared up quickly. Cha Woojin, saying his lips were blue, tried to breathe into him like artificial respiration, kissing his trembling lips. The man embraced and warmed his shivering, lean body.

That’s where his memory ended. He couldn’t recall how he ended up lying here, why he was sleeping naked in this man’s arms. His hangover-soaked head throbbed painfully.

Song Yeongin twisted his body, caught in the man’s embrace, to break free. As his tightly held waist turned, the thick, firm muscles against his back were felt vividly through his skin. The movement of his swaying hips brushed against the man’s heavy member pressed behind him.

Cha Woojin’s member, half-erect upon waking, stiffened and grew harder. He tightly embraced Song Yeongin again with his sinewy, firm arm. He was clearly awake.

“Let me go…”

“No…”

Held captive in the man’s arms, Song Yeongin twisted his hips to escape. The movement of his pert hips accelerated Cha Woojin’s erection. Soon, Song Yeongin gave up.

The sensation of the man’s skin was firm and solid, yet smooth like velvet. Song Yeongin, abandoning escape, let out a low, hoarse voice. He had no strength left.

“…Let me go… I’m… thirsty…”

At his plea, Cha Woojin finally bolted up and got out of bed. The perfectly naked, chiseled body stretched its back and shoulders as if stiff. The lean muscles tensed sharply. The man stretched lightly, flexing his broad shoulders and back. The disciplined, lively movement instantly drew attention.

The long, heavy penis, as handsome as its owner, stood thickly erect, proudly raised. Song Yeongin, ashamed of staring entranced at the man, buried his face and burrowed deeper into the blankets.

Cha Woojin soon returned, bringing a small bottle of hangover remedy and cold water.

“Here, drink.”

Song Yeongin barely lifted his body from the blankets, leaning against the headboard.

He looked at the man handing him water, starting from his eyebrow area. Thankfully, the torn wound above his eyebrow had been treated so neatly it was barely noticeable.

Gulping down the cold water in one go to quench his burning thirst, Song Yeongin’s red lips glistened wetly. Finishing the water, he shivered with the chill, his straight neck and shoulders trembling faintly. Avoiding the man’s gaze, he said.

“…Give me something to wear.”

Without a word, Cha Woojin walked over and handed him a white robe from the stand. Song Yeongin, draping the robe over his flawless, sleek body, asked.

“Why are we…”

“Nothing happened.”

Still shirtless, wearing only loose cotton slacks hanging low on his chiseled pelvic muscles, Cha Woojin came to his side and sat on the edge of the bed.

His bold gaze persistently followed Song Yeongin’s face, which kept avoiding his eyes. His long, clear eyes curved languidly.

“All I did was deal with your whining all night.”

His transparent cheeks flushed red instantly.

It wasn’t a dream.

Confirming his coy face, Cha Woojin chuckled. The swollen eyes from crying were the same as ever. They looked childish yet oddly seductive. Song Yeongin’s red, puffy eyes stared at the man.

Meeting his gaze, Cha Woojin smiled unguardedly like a boy.

“You look like a kitten that can’t even open its eyes.”

The playful, low murmur echoed in the room. Cha Woojin gently brushed Song Yeongin’s forehead, touching his neat fringe. The stroking hand was cool. Such a cool touch had caressed him all night.

“…That guy… He’s alive, right?”

The tender eyes touching him turned cold instantly.

“You sure worry about that punk a lot… He’s not in danger, so stop worrying. I handled it clearly.”

“…….”

Unlike himself, Song Yeongin reached out to the man’s flawless, unswollen face. His long, white hand traced Cha Woojin’s eyebrow bone. At the gentle touch, Cha Woojin’s ears reddened.

“Are you okay?”

Song Yeongin’s hand carefully traced the wound, bandaged seamlessly in skin tone. Cha Woojin caught the delicate touch.

“Being kind to those who hurt you, that’s your nature, isn’t it?”

“I can’t let it scar because of me. Are you going to walk into your engagement like this?”

His puffy, childlike eyes quirked oddly.

“Ha, Yeongin-ah… Stop being stubborn.”

Cha Woojin pushed aside the blanket and embraced Song Yeongin’s lean body. He was trapped in those broad, venomous shoulders.

“…I said I’m leaving.”

“Nonsense.”

Cha Woojin refused to let go of him in his arms. A low, sunken voice whispered from within.

“What are you going to do with me?”

“…….”

“Not enough with surveillance, now wiretapping… What’s next? Are you going to lock me up here? What are you trying to do with me by going that far?”

Cha Woojin, pulling away from the embrace, narrowed his long eyes.

“Lock you up? That’s a good idea…”

“…….”

“Seeing you almost get raped by another guy after escaping from me, just having Jang Haeseong watch you isn’t enough.”

He narrowed his eyes languidly, exhaling a turbid breath.

“Your threat with James Han hit me hard.”

Cha Woojin let out a strange sneer.

“Seeing that dangerous, irreverent look in your eyes when you threatened me…”

“…….”

“If I leave you alone, you’ll cause serious trouble. If you set your mind to it, no one could resist you.”

He wanted to counter his provocation. All he could do was…

“Exactly. I slept with the great Cha Woojin, so what’s James Han?”

Cha Woojin grabbed Song Yeongin’s chin roughly, his handsome eyebrows twitching.

“Not funny.”

The delicate chin, held by the cold-faced man, trembled faintly. As Song Yeongin shook off his hand sharply, Cha Woojin grabbed his shoulders to make him look again.

“For the past ten days without you, I’ve been thinking about how not to marry that woman.”

“…….”

“Woosung is practically a dictatorial monarchy built by my father. Against his immense authority and shares, even combining my shares with my mother’s and sister’s, there’s no answer. If I give up the heirship, it naturally goes to my older brother, Cha Seokhyeon.”

“…….”

“In conclusion, unless my sister becomes the heir, there’s no real solution. That old-fashioned man, nagging about continuing the line, would never accept my sister as heir… So, either I kill Cha Seokhyeon, or I enter a strategic marriage to become the heir. That’s it.”

Cha Woojin gripped Song Yeongin’s shoulders. His noble, downward gaze met him unflinchingly. A hot flame sparked in his deep, black eyes.

“Yeongin-ah, marriage isn’t just for my greed.”

“…….”

“It’s also to protect my mother and sister from Cha Seokhyeon, who tried to poison me when I was eight… Can you believe it?! A guy who secretly hired someone to poison his eight-year-old half-brother.”

Song Yeongin’s graceful shoulders, held tightly, trembled as if with a chill. His pure, unblemished face wavered with pity for him.

It wasn’t the first time he’d heard about the poisoning attempt, but he never imagined the culprit was his half-brother.

“I can’t let that bastard become the heir… And my mother was practically sold to Woosung to make me the heir.”

“…….”

“Choosing you, or the convictions and foundation I’ve pursued for 25 years since I was eight. Choosing my family who rely on me, that’s the crossroad I’m at.”

Cha Woojin withdrew his cold, ruthless light and revealed the burning passion within.

“Even if I’m crazy in love right now, …do you think that’s easy?!”

It hurt. He was scared. Song Yeongin’s eyes trembled, as if scorched by the burning flame.

But he couldn’t waver. Song Yeongin had already made up his mind. If he truly cared for the man before him, he had to choose what was best for him, not selfish desires.

Hearing his words only solidified his resolve. For the sake of the burdens he carried and his family, he couldn’t ruin this man any further. If he truly cared for him, Song Yeongin knew he absolutely couldn’t crumble or waver here.

He wanted to cut off his feelings.

Facing the man’s upright face, Song Yeongin gave a faint smile. The coy, scattering laughter wickedly stirred someone’s rising desire. Song Yeongin cruelly mocked the man’s burning flame.

“When did you ever go crazy with love… without me even knowing?”

Cha Woojin thrust his sharp nose forward and retorted instantly.

“Since I let you trample over me even when you climb all over me like this.”

Cha Woojin smiled leisurely, like a top predator watching prey about to have its throat cut. He implied that both observing and devouring were his will.

As if granting the leniency to let him play above his head, he wore a relaxed smile. That attitude and ease were so very Cha Woojin.

The man reached out a large hand to his small cheek. The delicate cheek, soft with downy hair, trembled faintly. He couldn’t take his eyes off the red, plump lips. His prominent Adam’s apple bobbed. Song Yeongin, too, was looking at the man’s fine, upturned lips.

But touching and being touched, gazes tangling, and ending up a mess, consumed by each other’s desires—he didn’t want to do such unnecessary things anymore.

After a harsh silence, he finally spoke.

“I have a request.”

“…….”

“Give me one day.”

Song Yeongin tilted his head curiously with puzzled eyes. As if finding the puffy, childlike tilt of his head adorable, Cha Woojin grabbed his cheek, pulling him close as if to kiss. Song Yeongin fiercely shook off his hand.

“Just one day, don’t ask anything, just think of you and me… us. Promise to give me this one day.”

Song Yeongin couldn’t understand what this man was babbling about.

“I can’t… figure you out.”

“Give me a chance to make you happy too.”

Song Yeongin let out a hollow laugh into the air, dumbfounded. Even in this moment, hating how his heart raced painfully, he shook his head at the air.

It felt like playing tag with him. Cha Woojin kept trying to touch Song Yeongin, and Song Yeongin kept sharply shaking off his approaching hand.

As Song Yeongin dodged Cha Woojin’s touch, his robe parted precariously. The sleek chest and dainty, red-tinted nipples peeked out alluringly. The urge to suck them made Cha Woojin’s lower body heavy instantly.

Cha Woojin suppressed the instinctual rush of blood downward and tilted his head back. His straight jawline exhaled a long, languid breath. He wanted to thrust into the tight, adorable hole of this wary boy, pinning him down lovingly.

But he didn’t want to force Song Yeongin again, who was bristling with caution like a motherless wildcat, full of hostility toward him. Having saved him from near-rape, Cha Woojin couldn’t become the shameless one who forced him again. He didn’t want to ruin everything.

“If you give me your one day… I’ll grant one thing you want. How about it? Tempting offer, right?”

Song Yeongin reacted to Cha Woojin’s proposal, asking back.

“…Anything?”

“Yeah, anything you want…”

The long, thick member under the thin cotton slacks hung heavily toward his thigh, fiercely erect. The man’s menacingly prominent erection was impossible to ignore.