As True as a Dream Chapter 80

She still couldn’t forget how Yi Ho had miraculously appeared in front of her when she broke through the bushes.

 

But at the same time, Hae-Joo’s mind was filled with questions.

 

“How did the boss know that I was there?”

 

“I found you because the person who promised to come at eleven didn’t show up and I got lucky.”

 

Yi Ho raised an eyebrow, but Hae-Jo’s doubts were still unresolved.

 

‘Lucky enough to find me in the middle of nowhere? How on earth?’

 

‘If he had been looking for her, shouldn’t there have been traces of people looking for her in every direction?’

 

But instead, he stood alone, not a single person in sight.

 

As he watched the confusion on her face, Yi Ho suddenly snapped his fingers, making a crackling sound that caught her attention.

 

“The most important thing right now is who did this, so tell me what’s been going on since you came home yesterday.”

 

Hae-Joo pursed her lips, but once he asked, she did as she was told, starting with the box she’d found outside her house yesterday and ending with waking up in the wilderness, captured by those men.

 

She wanted to sound objective and bold, but the dark emotions of the moment returned and her voice trembled uncontrollably.

 

“I can’t say for sure, but… I think it’s Mao Saito, and no matter how much I think about it, there’s only one person who could hold such a grudge against me, and that’s her.”

 

As she continued, she suddenly burst out laughing.

 

An unnameable emotion surged from the depths of her stomach, and her eyes grew cold.

 

She really wanted to stay alive, healthy, and thin for a long, long time, but she didn’t know why it was so hard.

 

Running through the endless bush, she was scared out of her mind.

 

She’s afraid she’ll die trying.

 

If she dies in vain with no one around, she will be so angry and resentful that she won’t be able to close her eyes!

 

Hae-Joo gritted her teeth and thought that she should be a ghost and see how well this man, Ban Yi Ho, would live without her, and that she should be a ghost and go far away, away from this tiresome Joseon land.

 

“Why are you laughing?”

 

Yi Ho frowned when she refused to stop laughing, which seemed to be a bit of an act.

 

“Haha, because I’m frustrated.”

 

“Frustrated… and you laugh?”

 

“It’s unfair, but it’s ridiculous.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

At her indecipherable words, the furrows in Yi Ho’s forehead deepened even more than before.

 

“If this is really Saito Mao’s doing… it’s because of you that I became her target, so it’s unfair and ridiculous… I’m not even your real fiancé and yet I’m being targeted like this… you should give me a life allowance or something.”

 

Hae-Joo swallowed her laughter, the heat rising to the top of her head from the source of her frustration.

 

“…You don’t deserve this, you don’t deserve this to happen to you when you’re not even my real fiancée?”

 

“Isn’t that what I’m saying?”

 

Hae-Joo scoffed and turned her head out of the window, spitting out the words as they came out of her mouth.

 

“It’s all unfair, think about it. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be hated by Saito Mao, and if I wasn’t hated, none of this would have happened, and I’m not even your real fiancée…! If I were, I wouldn’t be so resentful.”

 

She didn’t really blame him.

 

Hae-Joo just wanted so much to complain and make a fool of herself, to tell him that she was scared, that she was afraid of dying, that she felt so lost and hopeless.

 

She wanted to stop her ramblings before they got out of hand, but she couldn’t because she was filled with resentment.

 

“You were frustrated?”

 

“Yes!”

 

“I see.”

 

“What do you know…!”

 

Hae-Joo’s eyes widened as she turned around in surprise at the sound of his voice right next to her.

 

Her ears and neck were cupped in large hands and she was pulled back, and before she could get a good look at his face, Yi Ho’s lips were on hers.

 

Hae-Joo’s eyelashes fluttered at the warm, soft touch of his lips against hers.

 

“I lost the bet.”

 

Pulling his face away slightly so he could see her, Yi Ho lowered his eyes and whispered under a hot breath.

 

“I don’t think I can do this without you.”

 

Hae-Joo stared into Yi Ho’s dazed eyes.

 

“I don’t know how long it’s been since I felt this nervous, this angry, this afraid of losing something.”

 

His large hand swept across her cheek and under her ear, then down to grab the nape of her thin neck and squeeze gently.

 

“I’m sorry I made you so angry, and maybe if things between us were real and not fake… you’d feel less angry?”

 

Hae-Joo pursed her lips, unsure if she had heard him right.

 

“Do you mean that?”

 

“Or?”

 

At her confused question, Yi Ho’s sensitive eyes lit up with laughter.

 

He didn’t know when he had felt so scared and unhappy, and his heart screamed with joy in her hand.

 

“I, I… do you like me?”

 

“I’m nervous, I’m worried, I’m nervous because I can’t see you, I’m nervous because I think something has happened and it would be ugly not to admit it. I didn’t know it was possible to like you without you liking me.”

 

She couldn’t wait any longer.

 

Hae-Joo smiled broadly and brought her hands up to wrap around Yi Ho’s neck and kiss him.

 

“I don’t mind.”

 

Hae-Joo kissed him again, this time making a sibilant sound on his lips.

 

She started to pull away, but Yi Ho’s lips followed and clung to hers.

 

His lips were insistent, even though it must have been quite uncomfortable for him to be standing in front of her and bending over her.

 

Turning his face slightly, he captured her lips and sucked her in.

 

His large hands cupped her face, pinning her down so there was no escape.

 

The scent of his body filling her lungs washed away the fear that had darkened her in the night.

 

“Ah…”

 

Yi Ho’s lips pressed hard against hers as she sobbed in deep relief and excitement.

 

With his thrusts, her body tilted backward, her back and head touching the wall and window frame.

 

Her breath caught at the tickle of his tongue on her lips and she opened her mouth, letting his tongue slide inside.

 

Her head tingled in response to his tongue brushing against hers.

 

The grip on his neck loosened.

 

The light sucking and flicking of her tongue against the tip was both gentle and invasive.

 

Hae-Joo opened her lips wide to receive his tongue, molding her lips to his and sucking on his tongue as he did so.

 

Suddenly, her body lifted and then turned over.

 

“Ah…!”

 

Before she knew it, he was sitting on the bench with his back against the wall and she was facing him, her legs spread across his thighs.

 

Yi Ho’s hands grabbed her waist and pulled her closer to him.

 

Hae-Joo gasped, her heart beating so hard it felt like it was about to burst through her chest.

 

Yi Ho’s red lips curled into a bewitching smile, as if drunk on color.

 

Hae-Joo swallowed a small lump in her throat.

 

Those were the same soft lips that had been pressed against hers just a moment ago.

 

Seeing the look in her eyes, Yi Ho stared at her with a gleam in his eye, then stuck out his tongue and licked her lips as if to taste them again.

 

Hae-Joo followed suit and licked her own lips.

 

Then, as if mesmerized, she brought her face close to his.

 

When they were close enough to intertwine their breaths, his strong arms tightened around her waist.

 

Through his chest, he could feel his heart beating as hard as hers.

 

She wasn’t the only one hot.

 

He was too.

 

Hae-Joo wrapped one hand around his neck and the other around his face.

 

Then she stuck out her tongue and licked his lips.

 

Then, impatiently, he opened his mouth to meet her tongue.

 

Hae-Joo smiled and pressed her lips even closer to his.

 

Their tongues entwined in a thick, lustful tangle between their parted lips.

 

Her head became fuzzier and fuzzier.

 

All she could feel was the heat and shiver that came from him.

 

The lips that sucked her lower lip for a taste were playful, and the tongue that traced the outline of her lips was new no matter how often they intertwined.

 

Breathing, always a challenge, was no longer a problem, but this time she couldn’t figure out how.

 

It was just the feeling of a hurricane ripping through her that drove her crazy

.

So she didn’t even notice Yi Ho’s hand digging under her loose top and slipping around her waist, caressing her back with his fingertips.

 

The tickling sensation made Hae-Joo pull her lips away from his and let out a cloudy breath.

 

His body temperature, which she had always considered cold, was scorching hot at that moment.

 

His hands, dry and hot, ran up and down the bare skin of her back and waist, distracting her as he kissed her cheek and earlobe.

 

“Hmph…!”

 

Remembering in hindsight that she wasn’t wearing a bra under her clothes, Hae-Joo bit her lip and stiffened as she tried to stop his hand.

 

The caress of his hand on the side of her waist and the nibble of his tongue on her earlobe were too much for her.