#58
Eunhong, who had been quietly following the sensation, impulsively thrust his tongue into Jaeha’s mouth, invading it. Following his instinct, he licked the inside of Jaeha’s mouth, stealing his saliva. Before he could even taste the sweetness, their lips suddenly parted again. When Eunhong opened his eyes, Jaeha had pulled his head back and was looking at him with a frown.
“Don’t get cheeky.”
“…You don’t like it?”
“……”
Jaeha just silently looked down at Eunhong. For some reason, Eunhong felt a tickle in the soles of his feet. Jaeha lowered his hand and removed the watch that had been beeping noisily. Even as he gently stroked Eunhong’s now bare wrist, he kept his gaze locked with Eunhong’s. As if apologizing for pushing him away earlier, he fiddled with Eunhong’s hand before deeply intertwining their five fingers.
When Eunhong, who had been looking down at their hands, raised his head again, Jaeha approached once more, casting a dark shadow. Eunhong caught a glimpse of parted lips before their mouths were deeply sealed together again.
This time, it was so deep that it was hard to breathe. Eunhong felt as if Jaeha’s tongue was filling his entire mouth. Jaeha attacked as if he was going to devour Eunhong completely. Saliva was swallowed instead of breaths, and Eunhong felt as if he was being pickled from the top of his head in the overflowing pheromones.
Eunhong staggered and grabbed Jaeha’s shoulders, then wrapped his arms around his neck. He felt like he was going to fall over as his knees went weak. His heart pounded as if it would burst from lack of oxygen.
“Hnngh…!”
When the long kiss ended, Eunhong’s vision was dark and dizzy. Jaeha supported Eunhong as he was about to collapse, his legs giving out. They stood there for a while, faces buried deep in each other’s shoulders, before slowly taking a step back. Jaeha held Eunhong tightly in his arms, quietly suppressing the heat.
As they came to their senses at the end of the impulse, an overwhelming embarrassment washed over them. Eunhong was too shy to even look Jaeha in the face. He stepped back as if trying to escape, but his uncooperative body staggered, and he had no choice but to fall back into Jaeha’s arms. He tried to insist that he could walk on his own, but he stumbled without taking even one step. In the end, Jaeha wrapped an arm around his waist to support him.
There was a chilling sensation of wetness at his back. Eunhong’s eyes widened. The unfamiliar sensation startled him. There was no doubt that the pheromones were driving them crazy.
***
Pitter-patter – A mix of snow and rain fell from the dark sky. Jaeha quietly watched the wipers clearing away the slushy snow. It had been a while since he had gone out on the road alone without Eunhong. His fingertips tapping on the steering wheel betrayed his anxiety.
Although his grandfather’s summons at the beginning of the year was a customary event, this time Jaeha felt uneasy and anxious because Eunhong’s matter was involved. Knowing that his grandfather would try to intervene once he found out about Eunhong, Jaeha was cautious. He pressed the accelerator while simulating various answers to potential questions.
As soon as he got out of the car, Secretary Kim greeted Jaeha as if he had been waiting. As he was about to enter the path leading to the garden, his attention was drawn to a car already parked in the garage. Secretary Kim nodded at Jaeha’s glance.
“The CEO is here.”
Tsk. Jaeha clicked his tongue and strode quickly across the garden on the stone path. He had planned to just play cute and get through this, but he had a feeling it might not be so easy and could become troublesome.
Jaeha walked briskly in the lead, with Secretary Kim following behind. As they entered through the front door and crossed the spacious mansion, the servants who recognized Jaeha quietly bowed in greeting. Jaeha halfheartedly returned their greetings as he climbed the stairs at the far end to the second floor.
From the living room, where one entire wall was a glass window, the Han River was visible. The mansion, situated on a hill, was built on a cut slope and had high ceilings, so its actual height was quite considerable, allowing a view of the entire city. In the center of the living room, on an L-shaped sofa, sat an uncomfortable presence – the one Secretary Kim had called “CEO” – his sister Jaeseong, along with his grandfather.
Jaeha, scanning the two, bowed deeply to his grandfather as their eyes met. The old man, with his hair neatly combed back with pomade, had an impressive bearing that made it difficult to guess his age. The light-colored knit sweater and round glasses made him look even younger.
“The youngest has arrived.”
“If you’re here, sit down quickly.”
Jaeseong was always impatient. She nagged, unable to wait even for the moment it took to bow. Jaeha sat down opposite Jaeseong with a bitter smile.
As soon as Jaeha took his seat, a servant in elegant attire approached and set down a prepared tea set and boiled water. Jaeseong looked at Jaeha and gestured with her chin. It meant for him to pour the tea. Jaeha’s eyebrows twitched, but he picked up the teacup without a word.
“It’s already been days since the new year began, and you’re only now coming to pay your respects? Your grandfather doesn’t have many days left.”
Jaeha smiled as he emptied the water used to warm the teacup into the waste water container. He could almost recite the words that would follow. It was the same repertoire he heard every time he visited, so there was nothing particularly tiresome about it. It was just that the difficulty level increased a bit when Jaeseong was present.
He poured the tea in three separate pours, passing it around. Chairman Lee received the tea his grandson had poured, savored the aroma, and brought it to his lips.
“Your father doesn’t even think about coming back, aren’t you worried about your grandfather being lonely? How long do you plan to live alone in that shabby place? At least you should, *cough cough*…”
Chairman Lee, who had been drinking tea, coughed with an exaggerated gesture. As he coughed and shook his body, Jaeseong carefully handed him a handkerchief. Seeing even his hands trembling, Jaeha thought maybe he really had aged a lot… Swallowing a sigh, Jaeha answered in the most polite tone he could muster.
“You could call in my capable older sister to live with you, Grandfather. Or you could call my younger sister who’s busy traveling. I’m busy with my own work. I have quite a few employees to feed, you know.”
“You say you’re busy, but you went on a trip…”
As Jaeseong tried to interject, Chairman Lee raised his hand to stop her.
“From this year, you take charge of running the cultural foundation. Haven’t you played enough? You’re getting to that age, and if you want to have what you should have, you need to start learning.”
“I refuse. I have enough, and I’m more than busy enough.”
The thought that he didn’t even have enough time to play with Eunhong suddenly popped up. Jaeha smiled, pulling up the corners of his mouth even more. He knew his grandfather was weak to his smiling face.
It was time to say that he would leave the group work to his sister and grow his own company by himself, asking for trust. At that moment, Jaeseong interjected, crossing her arms and smiling.
“What you think is enough might not actually be enough. If it were, I wouldn’t have received a call all the way to me.”
Jaeha’s eyebrows twitched slightly. He did have some urgent matters to discuss with Jaeseong on this topic. Jaeha had no retort since he indeed owed a debt. He was willing to sincerely comply if Jaeseong demanded something. However, bringing up this topic in front of their grandfather was crossing a line. He didn’t confess about her love life in front of their grandfather either.
“We’ll talk about that separately later.”
“Grandfather, he went on a trip during New Year’s. That’s why he delayed coming to pay his respects. His claim of being busy is all lies.”
“Jaeseong?”
Jaeha couldn’t believe Jaeseong’s revelation. He couldn’t even close his gaping mouth. Chairman Lee looked at the two with a stern gaze and asked.
“Hmm. Who did you go with?”
Jaeseong, having succeeded in catching their grandfather’s interest, smiled mischievously.
“He went with Hong. Is there anyone else he hangs out with besides Hong?”
Jaeha smiled, baring his teeth. He tried his best not to show his anger, but it was difficult to hide his contorted expression. His jaw was clenched tight.
“Grandfather, I need to talk to my sister privately before dinner.”
“What is there to talk about separately?”
“It won’t take long.”
Jaeha stood up abruptly and gestured with his chin for Jaeseong to follow. As Jaeseong stood up as if she had been waiting for this, Chairman Lee seemed to have nothing more to say and waved them away. As the two left their seats, a servant quietly approached and cleared away the tea set. When asked about dinner arrangements, Chairman Lee instructed to set it up after the children finished their conversation.
Only after entering the study far away did Jaeha turn to face Jaeseong. Jaeseong had been smiling consistently since earlier, which annoyed him even more. Jaeha gritted his teeth.
“What are you thinking?”
“This is because you’ve been ignoring my calls, little brother.”
“I’ll contact you when I need to.”
“I’ll decide when it’s necessary or not.”
Jaeseong stood her ground without a single concession. The atmosphere froze instantly. Despite the chilling gaze directed at her, Jaeseong just kept smiling. She sat down on the long chair by the window, casually crossing her legs.
“Hong said he won’t press charges.”
“You met with Eunhong? Are you crazy?”
“No matter what, my brother looked like he might end up in handcuffs. I needed to know his feelings to prepare, didn’t I?”
“Whether I end up in handcuffs or not is for him to decide. Who are you to interfere? You didn’t threaten him to keep quiet, did you?”
“Would it be okay to let Eunhong press charges without remembering? Is it fine if he finds out later that it was you? Do you think it would be okay for him if things got so complicated? That’s deception. Why are you thinking so one-dimensionally?”
“Ha!” Jaeha let out a big sigh. He chewed on his dry lips and roughly ran his hand through his hair. He was terrified of what Jaeseong might have said to Eunhong. The fact that he wasn’t present at that meeting made him frantically anxious and uneasy.
