Divorce in Bed Chapter 15

“…!”

There was no stupid mistake of clashing teeth like on their first night.

After that spectacular failure, how many videos had Yeohwi secretly looked up to prepare for this very moment?

The light brown eyes staring at Dowon were no longer those of a bright-eyed puppy. They were the eyes of a young predator, pouncing with everything on the line.

The sweet fruit scent from the skin where champagne had spilled right before Dowon’s nose and the scorching heat of a twenty-year-old man wafted over him in a rush.

A bare torso. Water dripped from his wet hair, and the wound on his cheek that had just been wiped was swollen red. Yeohwi forced his way into Dowon’s cold lips. And quite successfully, he moved his hot tongue to desire and ransack the inside of his mouth.

The smoky cedarwood scent, the bitterness of alcohol, and Yeohwi’s desperate urgency—which should never have mixed—all tangled together.

“Haah…”

Simply desiring the lips was not enough. Yeohwi tightened his grip on Dowon’s robe collar and pinned him against the wall. His bare feet slipped on the marble floor leading to the bathroom, echoing with a squelching sound of friction.

It was hot, unstable, and shocking.

Emotions that had reached a fever pitch finally paralyzed the reason he had been holding onto.

At the same time, an uncontrollable heat surged toward his lower abdomen, followed by a reaction so painfully honest it hurt. The space between Yeohwi’s legs burned and swelled. The fabric of his suit trousers grew taut, his thighs twitching beneath.

However, this violent kiss could not last for more than a few seconds.

In the next moment, Yeohwi’s body was roughly shoved away.

“Ugh…!”

Dowon grabbed his shoulders and pushed him away with all his might. Forced back by the determined resistance, Yeohwi retreated a few steps and his back hit the cold bathroom tile wall.

A dull thud.

A heavy silence flowed through the large bathroom.

Only the sound of water droplets falling from the shower head—drip, drip—split the bitter silence.

Slowly, Dowon wiped his lips with the back of his hand.

“…Do you have any idea what you just did?”

He exhaled a ragged breath. His breath scattered white in the cold bathroom air.

“Do you even know what it is you just touched?”

“Mister Dowon.”

“You.”

Dowon glared at Yeohwi. His voice trembled with a strange unfamiliarity.

“A brat with no countermeasure. Without a single intention or plan. Do you think you’re prepared to handle the consequences?”

“…”

“Or are you just going crazy trying to spill your seed anywhere like a dog in heat?”

Yeohwi couldn’t say a word against that sharp, fierce energy.

“You aren’t even capable of being prepared for this marriage.”

Dowon took low, heavy breaths like a man whose heart had been split open. His eyes, which were always just pitch black, were now distorted and shaking as if a crack had formed.

He had seemed like an iron wall with no gap to squeeze through. A lifetime devoted to building perfect control and thorough rationality. He made no weaknesses, and he hadn’t the slightest intention of making them.

Dowon had lived his life poignantly aware of what a fatal luxury it was to have a heart in this hellish family. To him, the existence of Seong Yeohwi was nothing more than a pretext to be held and manipulated by others.

Yet that stupid wild animal of a brat kept trying to leap into the flames without knowing any better.

At this rate, he would be reduced to a scrap of bone with some meat attached and eaten alive by a pack of hyenas. If not, he would have to survive as a wounded wreck like himself and live out a long life in a hideous pit.

So Dowon had to push Seong Yeohwi away.

He had to nip it in the bud.

Before he became a monster just like him.

“Don’t do anything foolish anymore. This marriage has an expiration date, and it will end before long.”

“What?”

Yeohwi’s face turned white and frozen. A shock greater than having his kiss rejected shook his head. It felt as if cold ice water was pouring into his heart.

“Ex, expiration date? What does that…”

“Once my grandfather passes away, there’s no reason to maintain this political marriage. It’s a divorce.”

“A divorce… you say?”

Yeohwi’s voice trembled with despair. Dowon shot back even more fiercely, as if to tear out by the roots the dangerous romantic feelings Seong Yeohwi had secretly begun to harbor.

“That was the plan from the beginning.”

“Why, for what reason!”

Yeohwi’s voice shook desperately. He poured out his emotions like someone who didn’t even know what they were saying.

“I don’t agree! Who—who decided on a divorce? I have no intention of doing that. I hate it! I won’t!”

“Ha.”

Dowon let out a hollow laugh. And resolutely—perhaps in a tone containing a very faint pity—he clearly drew the line.

“Is that so? You want to hang around, beg, and now even throw your body at me just to occupy the seat next to mine?”

“…!”

“What is it you’re trying to get out of it? Some pathetic attention? A sense of belonging as a member of this house? Or are you coveting the management rights of KD Group in the future?”

He turned away from Yeohwi’s despair-filled face and wounded eyes. His intention in throwing his body to take the hit from the champagne glass wouldn’t have originated from such vulgarity. Because he knew that, Dowon turned his head, unable to look him in the eye.

“It was a marriage my grandfather wanted. The only one person in this world I never want to disappoint. When he takes his last breath and departs, you leave, too.”

He picked up the first-aid kit.

“Seong Yeohwi, if you’re that lonely, find someone else, someone good, instead of a man like me who won’t reciprocate. If you promise to keep it within limits, I’ll even give you permission to go out for night play.”

“What did you say…? Are you telling me—me—to have an affair right now…?”

“Yes.”

“Mister Dowon!”

“You’re young. Your life hasn’t even blossomed yet. Don’t waste a single minute or second on me.”

Leaving only those words, Dowon left the bathroom.

Even as he heard the door close and the sound of him leaving, Yeohwi stood frozen in that spot, unable to say anything.

The lips of Dowon he had lunged at no longer came to mind. His sincerity, which he hadn’t even been able to fully reveal, was cruelly shattered to pieces.

‧₊˚🍊༉‧₊˚.

After that, time flowed aimlessly.

The mansion was locked in a heavy, suffocating silence. It was as if the child who had laughed loudly all day had disappeared.

At the breakfast table, Yeohwi no longer approached Dowon to say, “Good morning!” He would come down to the kitchen long after Dowon had left for work and force himself to chew and swallow a single slice of toast. Or he wouldn’t leave his room at all.

Dowon’s phone, which used to ring incessantly, no longer reacted. Even the text messages he had begged for, saying he would only send one a day, had completely stopped after that night.

The KD Group building, the Director’s office submerged in a suffocating stillness.

Dowon sat at a massive black walnut desk. Beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows, the city center of Seoul could be seen far below. Due to the rainy season that had lasted for days, the streets reflected in the light-blurred neon signs shone damply and vividly.

Today, too, a terrible fatigue was etched on his face. The dark shadows under his eyes proved that he had stayed up all night again. He had been reviewing documents for a while, but his gaze had been lingering on the same text for a long time without actually reading the content.

Thud. He set down the fountain pen he was holding.

His long, languidly crossed legs uncrossed, and his thin fingers pressed firmly against his temples before slowly stroking down his forehead. His restrained black eyes—eyes of unknown depth—slowly closed and opened again. Within Dowon’s psyche, boredom and irritation could be read.

Today, the tie tightening around his neck felt exceptionally bothersome.

“Director, here are the documents for approval.”

“…”

“Director?”

“…Right. Leave them there.”

Dowon realized he had just missed the secretary’s words. He had lost his focus.

“And, Director.”

The secretary adjusted his glasses and spoke cautiously.

“Regarding the last anniversary party, requests from media outlets are flooding in through the PR team.”

“Is it about CEO Do Jingyu?”

Dowon asked without taking his eyes off the documents.

“No. The response to that matter was excellent. The internal and external reactions are positive… and because of that.”

The secretary handed over a tablet.

“Media interest in you and your spouse, Mr. Seong Yeohwi, has exploded. Official requests for joint interviews and pictorial articles have come in from major economic papers and several magazines. How should we handle this?”

“…”

“It appears some media outlets are preparing exclusive articles. We need to respond to this trend preemptively from our side…”

“No.”

Dowon raised his head. His lightless eyes pierced through the secretary.