Chapter 105: An Inescapable Tenderness [R-18]

The two of them lay down on the sheet just as they were.

Seojin, who had been sitting on top of him with her hips pressed firmly against his pelvis, naturally leaned into him as Rio shifted to lie on his side.

An arm snaked around her back, pulling her close. It settled quietly along the curve of her waist.

Since Rio was taller, he had to bend down a little to match her posture, but he showed no sign of discomfort as he rested his chin on top of her head.

His hand drifted down, landing casually on her breast.

The nipple, pressed beneath the mesh, met his palm, and he squeezed it out of habit, with no particular intention.

Squish—

“Ngh…”

Seojin flinched. But Rio said nothing. As if fiddling with a TV remote, he slowly squeezed, rubbed, pressed with his fingers, and then gently let go.

His voice flowed over her, indifferent.

“Should we not go…?”

“…Huh?”

“The party. We should leave now, but I don’t feel like getting up when we’re like this.”

Even so, his hand didn’t stop.

He yawned thoughtlessly, gathering her breasts in one hand, pressing them, pushing them aside by the strap, and watching the flesh spill out from the mesh before slowly tucking it back in.

“…If you keep touching me, it’ll feel weird again…” Seojin mumbled in a small voice when it seemed he had no intention of stopping.

“It’s when you say things like that… that you’ve got me completely hooked.”

Pleased by her reaction, he squeezed her breast until it filled his hand. He was just teasing, of course. Just teasing.

“Ugh…!”

Letting out a short breath as he gripped her, Seojin flinched and shifted. Despite the ache, the strange, budding warmth wasn’t unpleasant, and she moved her body restlessly.

“You,” he called her name in a low, languid tone.

“It’s a problem if you only make me not want to go. You need to strike a balance.”

Rio cupped her breast from below as if to lift it slightly, then used his thumb to flick the nipple through the mesh.

“…Hngh…”

Seojin’s shoulders twitched as she sucked in a breath. Rio leisurely lowered his head and blew a soft breath onto the nape of her neck.

Hooo—

“Ah…!”

Seojin tensed up completely. As the cool breath traveled down her pulse point, she unconsciously lifted her hips.

Rio chuckled softly at her reaction.

At that, Seojin slowly turned her head. His hand was still moving inside the mesh, but her gaze was half-pouting, half-drenched in temptation.

“…Mmm.”

What she hesitantly offered was, “…Aren’t you going to see me in my swimsuit?”

At her words, Rio glanced down for a moment. Then, he brought his thumb to his lips, wetting it with saliva before drawing a slow line over the skin peeking through the netting.

“I’m already getting an eyeful.”

“Ngh, not this…!”

As Seojin drew out the end of her sentence and turned her head slightly, Rio simply kissed her hair, his wet finger tracing her skin once more.

Seojin pouted and slapped his forearm, and Rio pulled her into his arms.

A body held in his embrace. A limp warmth, devoid of strength. She let out a breath of exhaustion, and Rio smiled.

“Alright, alright. You’ve motivated me. But let’s rest just a little longer before we go.”

Seojin opened her mouth to speak, then quietly closed her eyes. His warm touch wasn’t going to stop right away, and in this state, she felt she could let her body melt into the warmth a little longer.

A moment of shared breaths. The two of them matched their quiet breathing on the plush sheets.

*

When Seojin opened her eyes, the car was stopped.

Outside the window, a remote suburban mountainside was steeped in silence. Spread out before them was a strangely modern, luxurious mansion made not of brick or wood, but entirely of specially processed glass and marble.

Unable to close her mouth, Seojin stared blankly out the window as Rio opened the passenger door.

“We’re here.”

When Seojin looked back at him with a bewildered expression, he just shrugged.

“What?”

“I’m just amazed a house like this exists in Korea…” she mumbled, embarrassed.

Her body still tingled from their time in the car, a pleasant energy spreading all the way to the tips of her hair.

Seojin glanced at the arm Rio offered her, then quickly fumbled to put her original clothes on over the mesh swimsuit.

“…Are we really going to be around people now?”

“Yeah. But… you can just pretend it’s only the two of us.”

As if that’s possible, she grumbled under her breath, but she held tightly to Rio’s arm and took a careful step toward the villa’s entrance.

When the front door opened, music was already flowing softly from inside. Lights were on here and there, but the sun hadn’t completely set yet.

Through the long picture windows, the blue sky and the sunset spread out side by side in the distance.

“Go change in there.”

After a brief greeting with the party’s host, Rio pointed to a small changing room.

It was a clean, luxurious space with a soft rug on the floor. On the walls hung swimsuits and robes that fit the pool party’s dress code.

Not that Seojin needed them, since she was already holding the swimsuit Rio had picked out for her.

She felt a little—no, a lot—shy about wearing such a revealing bikini after they had been so intimate on the way here, but she had no choice.

Her nipples, which had been teased so thoroughly earlier, felt even more erect than they had during the fitting. Seojin sighed and pressed them down with her palm, but it was useless.

When Seojin hesitated for a moment before opening the door and stepping out, people had already gathered near the pool.

Rio was at the center of it all.

With his hair slicked back, wearing a comfortable shirt and holding a glass in one hand, he was surrounded by two or three women and several men.

As Seojin took a step forward, Rio didn’t seem to have noticed her yet.

A man who seemed close to him was laughing as he nudged him in the side. One of the women said something to him, and when he emptied his glass, she poured a deep, amber-colored whiskey into it.

Seojin was dressed no differently from those women, but she couldn’t bring herself to act naturally. She realized she was standing there like a complete stranger in this space.

Unfamiliar music, unfamiliar lights, unfamiliar conversations.

In the midst of it all, she, the partner of the man she had been entangled with just moments before, stood awkwardly, like a stray, out-of-place thing.

Then, the people standing near the speakers were the first to approach.

“Haven’t seen you before, have I?”

A woman in a striking, bright red bikini came over. She casually looked Seojin up and down, then smiled.

“Wow, you have an amazing body. That looks great on you. Did you just change?”

“Ah… yes…”

“The color is perfect for your skin tone. Are you a model, by any chance?”

“No, nothing like that…”

The women’s gazes were open and friendly, but the men’s were sharper. In an instant, their eyes swarmed around her, her vague answers doing little to help.

“Ugh, I’m such a sucker for a pretty face. Hope I’m not being too forward, am I?”

“Are you a friend of Hyun-yong’s? Or someone’s plus-one?”

Seojin had thought this felt different from Rio’s utterly decadent birthday party, but that didn’t stop her from being stiff as a board.

It was then.

“Kang Seojin.”

A familiar voice rang out, light and fitting for the sunset glow.

It was Rio.

His eyes fell on her, and the moment they met, the corners of his lips lifted as he let out a playful whistle.

He casually handed his glass to the woman who had been pouring his wine and, raising his hand to shoulder height, slowly beckoned her over.

The people around him followed his gaze to Seojin. As all eyes fell on her at once, she instinctively held her breath.

“Excuse me… just a moment…”

Lowering her head as if to hide her flushed face, she turned and awkwardly made her way through the crowd toward Rio.

As she approached, he naturally wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her in.

“It looks good on you, darling.”

Seojin couldn’t lift her head, standing beside him as he acted even more like a lover in a setting like this. When Rio flicked her shoulder strap, she was too busy covering her chest with both hands, afraid a nipple might pop out.

Rio brought his lips close to her hair, whispering so softly that no one else could hear.

“Why aren’t you looking up? Isn’t this what you wanted? To show everyone you’re with me?”

While Seojin quietly glared at him, Rio’s hand moved slowly down the line of her waist. With a face that showed no awareness of the gazes flowing over them like gentle waves, he said,

“—You’re beautiful.”

Then, without a moment’s hesitation, he pulled her waist firmly against him. His fingers traveled up her side, while his other hand gently cupped her chin.

And then, a smooth, practiced kiss.

It was a light kiss, one that seemed to melt the very air around them. For a moment, they looked like a cheesy couple, their display a mix of romance and cute affection that livened up the party.

Stunned, Seojin could only blink, her lips still pressed against his. Her hands didn’t know where to go, fumbling in the air before finally resting on Rio’s chest.

When she opened her eyes, she didn’t know what to say to him. She glanced between him and the crowd, wondering if she should protest, asking him to refrain from this in front of everyone, or if she should just act natural.

The latter was probably the right answer, but she wasn’t bold enough for that. Instead, she buried her face in his chest.

Rio knew her all too well.

“Haha—”

The naturally handsome man laughed, pulling her deeper into his embrace.

“I told you she’s shy.”

He stroked her hair with one hand, while his other arm wrapped gently around her back, shielding her from the flood of gazes.

Holding her close, Rio smiled naturally at the people around them.

Now, no one here needed to ask who Seojin was. To them, she no longer needed to be a stranger.

Translated By: Meher (RaidenTL)

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