Chapter 99: An Honest Fool [R-18]

Rio opened the bedroom door and stepped inside without a word.

The lights were off and the curtains were drawn. But the light spilling in from the living room was just enough; there was no need to fumble for a switch.

In a corner of the bed, Seojin was curled into a small ball, the blanket pulled up to her neck.

Clutched in her arms was the ugly teddy bear they had won together. If one were to judge its place here, it was useless enough to be thrown in the trash, but it was unequivocally hers, a thing that held a memory of him.

Rio stopped by the door, watching her for a long moment before slowly walking over.

He knelt on the edge of the bed and moved in behind her. Seojin didn’t turn around.

“Kang Seojin.”

He had no intention of comforting her, but in the quiet of the room, one thing made him curious. Rio’s hand rose, avoiding her hair to trace the line of her cheek.

It was smooth.

Surprisingly, there were no tears. Her skin wasn’t cold.

She just didn’t turn to face him.

And so, his teeth gently bit her ear.

“Ngh…”

A small breath was smothered by the pillow. Her hand, clutching the teddy bear, tightened.

Rio didn’t stop. It wasn’t a caress. It was a silent pressure, demanding she look at him. He folded the shell of her ear between his teeth, licked the nape of her exposed neck, and bit down lightly on her shoulder.

His lips and teeth chewed at her flesh. One by one, red teeth marks—not hickeys—were imprinted on Seojin’s skin.

Shoulder, bicep, and then down along her waist. Rio took Seojin’s buttock in his mouth. Simply because the soft line of her waist was exposed.

Rio’s lips traced the curve before he bit down.

“Heut…”

Seojin squeezed her eyes shut and simply hugged the doll tighter. Her toes curled.

Rio knelt, slowly taking her thigh, her calf, and then the top of her foot into his mouth, one by one.

Crunch. The sound of his biting spread quietly through the room.

She said nothing, but her body was reacting.

Rio picked up the side of her foot and pushed her legs wide apart. Then he lifted his own foot and pressed it mercilessly into the delicate flesh between her legs.

Thrust.

“Ugh…!”

Seojin’s breathing hitched. He let out a small scoff and muttered a single phrase.

“…Want more?”

As he pressed down on the sensitive spot that had, until moments ago, been filled with his semen, her body trembled. She pulled the blanket tighter, buried her face in the teddy bear, and shook her head.

At her answer, Rio didn’t push her any further. Without even pulling back the covers, he lay down beside her.

Seojin took a deep, shuddering breath, still clutching the doll, but then exhaled weakly, as if she couldn’t find the strength. She opened her mouth.

“…I’m… I’m enduring it well, aren’t I?”

Her voice was small, her emotion deep.

“Why… Why do you keep tormenting me…?”

It wasn’t a sob.

It was a sense of injustice. The protest of someone who had swallowed her emotions whole to protect what was hers.

She kept her eyes calmly closed, her forehead pressed against the teddy bear. They were words she could only find the courage to speak in the silence.

“……”

Rio let out a short breath and slowly pulled Seojin’s blanket-wrapped waist toward him.

“I took a half-day at the office. It’s just you and me here now, and tomorrow’s the weekend.”

It was Rio’s characteristic, clipped way of speaking. Neither a joke nor comfort. Just a diagnosis of the situation.

Seojin only hugged the doll a little tighter.

“Instead of that, think of something that feels good.”

His hand skimmed over her waist as he pressed himself flush against her back. He gently wedged his knee between her legs, a single layer of blanket between them, and his breath fell upon her neck.

“Is there anything you want?”

The corners of Rio’s mouth were faintly turned up.

It was true he had given a great deal of himself to Seojin, but it was a given that he had other women—and not just Mia—so there was no apology, no remorse.

His attitude was that Mia was gone now, so the problem that had upset her was solved. Therefore, there was no longer an issue.

The irresponsible bastard had no desire to comfort someone else, and while he could understand, he had no reason to perform a troublesome act like showing empathy.

Gems, jewelry, expensive things—the kinds of things women usually wanted from him. As if offering to give her some wonderful thing she could never have on her own, he tossed out this irresponsible affection. Seojin received it with her whole body, closing her eyes.

The arm hugging the teddy bear slowly lost its strength.

Thump. As the doll slid down beside her knee, she twisted her body and nestled into his arms.

“Don’t talk like that…”

Her forehead, now pressed close, touched the underside of his chin, and her arms slowly wrapped around his waist.

“What I want is something no one can give me.”

Because a version of him that looked only at her did not exist.

Seojin no longer wanted this man’s heart. But those words, even his irresponsible jokes—she didn’t want to hear them from his lips.

Even if he kept doing things beyond her imagination, even if he kept testing her heart, it was because she had already given him everything.

“……”

Rio didn’t answer.

He just reached out, pushed the blanket aside, and laid a hand on Seojin’s bare skin, slowly stroking her back.

He pulled her closer, so close she could barely breathe, so close she couldn’t move. Pressed tightly against him, Seojin held her breath as a brief thought crossed Rio’s mind.

What if she had spoken her desire? If she had told him to look only at her, to love only her, he might have been able to feign it for a couple of days.

Plausibly, convincingly. He could play the part of a man in love as easily as any Hollywood actor in a romance film.

But Seojin had held herself stiffly, saying it was something no one could give her.

Fool.

That’s what Rio thought.

He pressed his lips to Seojin’s forehead. A light, slow kiss that lingered for a very long time.

This stiffness was why he cherished her.

Seojin flinched, her face still buried in his chest. The lips resting on her forehead. They stayed there for so long that she kept puckering her own lips before pressing them tightly shut again.

Her soft lips trembled minutely against his bare skin. As if on the verge of tears, as if holding back, as if letting go.

At the sensation, the corners of Rio’s mouth curled up. He swallowed the rising laughter, but unable to hold it back completely, he spoke.

“You were holding it more passionately than you hold me.”

His gaze fell on the bulge in the blanket where the teddy bear lay.

“Did you like hugging it?”

At his words, Seojin’s brow furrowed. The memory of that day was a good one. Rio, not thinking that far, added lightly, “Should we go look at other dolls?”

And then another short peck on her forehead. Mwah—

Held in his arms, an emotion spread slowly through Seojin’s chest, unpleasantly so.

There was clearly no apology and no comfort, but this man had the余裕 and tenderness to fill this entire room with dolls if it would make her happy.

That made his kindness all the more hateful.

Seojin buried her face and said quietly, “…I don’t have a hobby of playing with dolls, you know.”

Her lips were in a pout and her voice was small. But it was also a clear sign that her mood had improved a little.

Still under the covers, Seojin hugged him tighter. The sharp, prickly edge of her feelings was dissolving, as if melting into his warmth.

Since she didn’t seem to want to throw off the blanket, Rio slid his hand up from underneath, slowly gliding it along her thigh.

Everywhere his hand touched, Seojin took a small breath.

The inside of her thigh. He gently rubbed the quietly heated place, and Seojin’s stomach trembled with a slight spasm. He said nothing as he softly caressed the moist, flushed skin.

But when his hand paused on her inner thigh, Seojin’s breath hitched and then settled.

“Heut…”

Her reaction was so lovely that Rio slowly moved his hand to her bottom.

As his palm traced the round, full curve, his fingertips faintly brushed against the mark his own teeth had left earlier.

He pressed his palm in deeper, rubbing the spot as if to feel the trace he had left behind.

At the movement, Seojin’s eyes darted around. Then she turned her head again to look at him with a coy glance, and their eyes met.

Rio was smiling, and Seojin found that smile both hateful and lovable. Unable to bear it, she squeezed her eyes shut.

And wordlessly, she offered her lips.

A small, shy kiss for him. Rio lowered his head and readily met her lips with his.

“—Chup…”

In that moment, he squeezed her bottom and turned her over.

Following his movement, Seojin’s body naturally came to rest on top of him. The kiss continued, unbroken. Even knowing her center of gravity had shifted, Seojin kept her eyes closed, unable to pull her lips away.

A wave of shyness washed over her. Sitting atop him, she bit down hard on the back of her own hand instead.

Her breath trembled. The moment her body rose, the blanket slid down.

Swoosh.

The light seeping in from the living room painted her silhouette in the darkness, as if the shadows themselves were an artist.

Bare skin. Curves too voluptuous to shrink in embarrassment. Round, full breasts that jiggled with the slightest movement.

“Whew.”

Rio’s eyes traced those curves before he let out a long whistle. In the darkness of the room, his whistle was the only sound, crude and honest.

At the sound, Seojin pressed her lips together, unable to lower the hand she had been holding up.

But seeing him show his pleasure so openly made her heart waver strangely. It felt like it was pounding, thump, thump.

Parting her lips again, she slowly, very slowly, moved her hands down below her chest and gently cupped the round, heavy curves.

And then, Seojin gave her hands a little shake. Her skin was fair, and her firm breasts swayed obscenely from below, following the motion of her hands.

At the sight—something he could never see from his other women—the corners of Rio’s mouth twisted into a thoroughly filthy smile.

“……”

Seojin met his gaze directly, then shot him a pouting glare and said, “…Pervert.”

Translated By: Meher (RaidenTL)

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