Chapter 325: Not like there aren’t other seats, but okay
After that, I left the bathroom with swollen lips.
Jin-Yeok was honestly too much. He was so shameless, haha.
My lips tingled. They were swollen, warm, and just the slightest bit sore from all thah sucking. How long did we even go at it?
Jin-Yeok wouldn’t stop even if I told him to stop. As if he was drunk on my lips, addicted even, and couldn’t let go.
I touched them with the back of my hand as I walked out, muttering under my breath,
"Shameless man..."
But of course, Jin-Yeok followed me right out of the bathroom, his footsteps as light as a ninjas and his presence looming with the little distance between us.
He looked far too satisfied as he walked towards his desk, sipping the last of his wine as if kissing me had been part of some grand, well-executed plan.
I plopped back on the bed, throwing the towel carelessly aside.
"You know," I said, squinting at him, "you don’t need to make every single moment between us theatrical. We were brushing teeth. Brushing teeth." I stared, matter-of-factly. "It’s supposed to be boring."
"That’s because you underestimate me," he countered, placing his empty glass down with a soft clink.
His lips curled into a faint smirk as he loosened his collar as though he wore a tie and revealed his fine collarbones, forcing me to gulp down my minty saliva.
"With me, even brushing teeth can feel... intimate."
I groaned, grabbing a pillow to smack it against his face but I used it on my face instead, thinking I might end up regretting smacking a mafia on the face.
Who knows? His reflexes might kick in and... This is infuriating.
"You’re impossible." I screamed into the pillow.
"And yet," he drawled, coming to sit at the edge of the bed, "you kissed me back."
I froze, peeking over the pillow with one eye. He wasn’t wrong. I did kiss him back. More than I had intended.
But this and that are different. They’re definitely different.
He was the one who kissed first. I couldn’t stay still like a robot with no emotions when my insides were tingling.
"D-Don’t get the wrong idea," I mumbled, face half-buried. "It was just... etiquette."
Yes. It would’ve been rude not to kiss back.
I’ll save myself when this belief.
Jin-Yeok chuckled low, leaning close enough for his voice to rumble right against my ear.
"Etiquette? Then I look forward to many more of your... polite gestures."
I wanted to retort, but my stomach betrayed me with a loud growl, ruining the mood entirely.
His eyes glimmered with mischief.
"Hungry already? Good. Then let’s have breakfast. And you can tell the others about your new trainer while we eat."
I sat up slowly, glaring at him, though my face still burned.
"You really have a way of turning everything into your pace, don’t you?"
He tilted his head, smug as ever.
"Of course. That’s the whole fun of it."
I rolled my eyes, shoving past him to make for the door. "Let’s just eat before I die of embarrassment."
Behind me, I heard him laugh again, a deep and amused laugh.
Walking down the stairs in nothing but my pajamas, I found Ki-hoon and Min-Cheol who were already at the table, suited up and gleaming, like two elegant wolves ready to face the world.
"Hyung!" Min-Cheol’s voice rose cheerfully, his bright smile flashing as soon as his eyes landed on me. "Good morning! I saved you a seat."
Not like there aren’t other seats, but okay.
Ki-hoon followed right after, his tone softer, smoother, like velvet. You know, red velvet. But this man was somewhat smoother.
"Morning, Jo-Pil. You look well-rested." He said with a smile but I nearly clicked my tongue.
Well-rested, my ass. While the night held no interruption, the morning was a different tale.
My lips still tingled from all that kissing, and my face was probably redder than it should be.
And then Min-Cheol’s eyes darted between me and Jin-Yeok, a spark of suspicion instantly lighting up his face.
"Wait..." he leaned forward, squinting his eyes. "Why are you both coming down together at the same time? Don’t tell me you... Did you?"
I paused, my eyes rolling away instinctively as if I had been caught stealing the last slice of pizza and I began scanning the walls, the floor, the ceiling, transforming into an architect all of a sudden.
I had to look anywhere but those sharp, questioning gazes if I wanted to keep my stomach from dropping.
"Oh, well..."
When I finally dragged my eyes back to the table, I confessed before things blew up. Sighing, I admitted,
"I... slept in Master Jin’s room."
As soon as I said that, both Min-Cheol and Ki-hoon stared at me, wide-eyed, like I’d just confessed to treason.
"You... what?" Min-Cheol’s voice cracked slightly, his cheerful tone failing him.
Ki-hoon didn’t say much, but the curve of his smile faltered, replaced with a look far too calm to be genuine. His eyes, however, sharpened like blades as they cut across the table to Jin-Yeok.
Jin-Yeok, on the other hand, didn’t even flinch. He pulled out a chair leisurely and sat down like a king who had just set a new world record.
One arm casually rested on the backrest, and his lips tilted in a proud, satisfied smirk.
The air felt heavy with their silent glares, and I wanted to crawl under the table.
To escape, I scanned the seats and noticed something odd. Seo-Jun’s chair was empty. "Um... is Master Seo-Jun not coming down for breakfast?" I asked.
Ki-hoon finally broke his stare, his voice calm again, though it carried an edge and he sighed, trying to let go of that edge.
"He left quite early."
Left? Already? Without having breakfast?
He didn’t even have dinner last night before bed. Was he okay?
My chest tightened with unease. I hoped he was alright. He wasn’t suddenly trying to avoid me, was he?
I pursed my lips, uneasiness crawling up and down my heart.
Maybe I should call him later, just to be sure.
I cleared my throat, deciding to divert the focus before the table exploded into a glare-fest.
"Actually, I have an announcement."
That got all their eyes back on me, which... wasn’t much better.
"I, uh... I’m planning to start going to the gym. The one in the building so I won’t be going out, no cause for alarm." I sighed. "And... Jin-Yeok already got me a trainer."