IT - 11

11. Even If You Like Me, You Won’t Be Judged

Ji-soo didn’t know much about men, and sharing emotions with someone through love or intimacy was a first for her with Tae-ha. Her pitiful experience with unrequited love was all she had, and she didn’t know how far she should let him in. Closing her eyes, she entrusted herself to Tae-ha, letting him lead the way.

The men Ji-soo knew were either those who inappropriately interacted with her mother or those who approached her with ulterior motives. Even the slightest hint of human kindness from them made her cringe, as they would pounce on her in ways that disgusted her.

“Ah.”

Tae-ha gently soothed Ji-soo’s delicate skin, which seemed lost in thought, before fiercely claiming it. Each time he filled her slender body and pulled back, Ji-soo let out short, breathy moans. Through the mingling and scattering of their breaths, she opened her eyes.

How long had Tae-ha been looking down at her? As his movements grew more intense, the slick sounds of friction grew louder.

Overwhelmed by the pleasure that was almost too much to bear, Ji-soo bit her lip and turned her head. Tae-ha, who had stopped moving his hips, grabbed her small chin and made her look at him.

He wanted her gaze, filled only with him, her eyes wet from the stimulation he gave her.

“Ah…”

“Han Ji-soo. Even while under me, are you thinking about someone else?”

It was natural for Tae-ha to misunderstand, but Ji-soo shook her head with teary eyes. If she could think of someone else even for a moment, she wouldn’t have been stuck in such a foolish one-sided love for so long. Waiting, hoping, and remembering a man who didn’t even spare her a glance—how pathetic.

“What’s wrong with you?”

He pulled her chin and swallowed her lips. Pressing gently, he slipped his tongue into the parted gap.

Tae-ha understood every word her body spoke. Her body, unlike its owner, was honest and hot.

It seemed she had no idea how much her warm, wet insides drove men crazy. He had to hold back so much, his lower back aching, to make sure he didn’t hurt her.

As if gauging himself inside her, Tae-ha gently rubbed her flat lower abdomen with his palm. Ji-soo’s cheeks flushed red with embarrassment at his tender touch.

Tae-ha bit her lips and then licked up to her glistening eyes. Kissing her long, fluttering lashes, he pushed his hips forward.

Her hand, which had been clutching the sheets, fumbled and grabbed his arm. She wanted to remember every single thing he gave her, not missing a single detail. She swayed along with the intense movements that matched her will and desire.

“I want to hold you more.”

When Ji-soo nodded with a tearful face, Tae-ha lifted one of her slender legs and wrapped it around his waist.

In the deepest place where only the two of them could reach, they became one. The pace quickened, and the rough breaths mixed with the wet sounds of pleasure filled the room.

Ji-soo laughed and cried, completely captivated by the devil from head to toe. The only thing she could do was slowly close and open her eyes, trying to vividly remember this thrilling, dream-like reality.

The heavy creaking of the bed and the collision of ecstasy from where they were joined dominated their passionate first night. The heat on the bed lasted until sunrise.

Ji-soo’s vibrating phone, which could have disturbed her deep sleep, had already been silenced by Tae-ha.

Only 30 minutes had passed since Ji-soo, sprawled out like a cabbage goddess soaked in seawater, had fallen asleep, still gasping for breath. The beast, still thirsty, had to suppress the urge to wake her.

Starting from the living room sofa, moving through the bedroom and bathroom, and ending up on the dining table, Tae-ha found Ji-soo’s lips again.

“This isn’t even a horny little beast.”

He muttered as he looked around the bed at the traces of last night’s passion.

Humans evolved without a mating season to build society and civilization, but starting from last night, he felt like he had devolved.

He held Ji-soo in a state where reason and control had no effect. Her already frail body shook precariously with every thrust, as if it might break.

So, reluctantly, he let her go. Yet, even with the common sense of a normal person striving for human evolution, Tae-ha still found Ji-soo irresistible.

Perhaps thanks to her sensitive survival instinct warning her that she’d be devoured by the beast if she stayed in bed any longer, Ji-soo opened her eyes around noon. Her gaze, scanning the bed, was filled with worry.

Though there were no signs of Tae-ha’s belongings in the bedroom, his heavy presence brought back memories of last night. As she let out a short, self-reflective sigh, the bedroom door opened, and Tae-ha walked in.

His long arms were laden with lunch boxes. It felt natural for him to take care of breakfast after such an indescribable night. Did he treat other women this well too? It was warm enough to mistake it for the morning after with a loving partner.

Ji-soo wanted to quickly escape the scene of last night’s intensity, but the delicious smell made her mouth water. At his gesture to come to the table, she obediently got up.

Even now, Ji-soo couldn’t shake off the aftereffects of her first night. But watching Tae-ha seamlessly return to his daily routine, she decided not to attach too much meaning to last night’s passionate moments. To him, it was just another day, and she didn’t want to foolishly cling to it.

To avoid becoming a pitiful person stuck in one-sided love, she sat at the table.

“You eat well, so why are you so frail? Are you naturally weak?”

Does desire shrink in the face of survival instinct? On the morning after sleeping with Tae-ha, Ji-soo ate the kimbap and dumplings he brought while the abalone porridge cooled.

It had been a while since she was so hungry that her vision spun. As a child, waiting for her unfaithful mother, hunger was a daily routine. Even as an adult earning money and eating to her heart’s content, her inability to gain weight was a slight stress. It felt like a lingering sense of inadequacy from not receiving her parents’ love on time.

Her face, earnestly chewing, was so cute that Tae-ha unconsciously clenched his fist, wanting to pat her head. Every time he saw her, he felt the urge to touch her.

“Am I too skinny for you?”

Ji-soo, irritated by his comment about her frailty, asked as she sipped the warm porridge that had cooled slightly.

“If you were, would I have spent the whole night biting and sucking on you?”

The porridge, now at the right temperature, went down smoothly, but the comment made her feel like the rice grains were rebelling like Iron Man. She couldn’t tell if Tae-ha was being shameless or if she was just overly sensitive.

“That’s not what I meant. If you gain more weight here, there’ll be more to touch, right? It’s already fun touching you now, but it’s the curiosity and anticipation for unexplored paths.”

The places Tae-ha had relentlessly teased still stung. Even without looking in the mirror, she could vividly imagine how red and blotchy her body was. Her sensitive skin meant the marks from last time lingered for quite a while.

“I’m pretty strong. I have good stamina and strength too. I’m great at arm wrestling.”

Good stamina, my foot—he couldn’t even go deep without worrying she’d collapse or faint. And now, with her slender arms that looked better suited to blowing on hot porridge, she dared boast about her strength?

“Really? Want to arm wrestle me?”

Ji-soo took Tae-ha’s teasing remark seriously. Tae-ha placed his elbow on the small table and grinned as he issued a playful challenge, extending just two fingers of his large hand.

“For Han Ji-soo, two fingers are the maximum. Isn’t this enough?”

Remembering the meaning behind those two fingers from last night, Ji-soo’s face flushed instantly. To speak so brazenly in broad daylight instead of late at night in bed—it was bold.

“Seriously, you want to arm wrestle right now?”

“Why? Not confident even against two fingers? Didn’t you say your arm strength was impressive? Or are you admitting you’re weak?”

Even if she was slim, she was confident in her stamina. Ji-soo lowered her eyes coyly before rolling up the sleeves of her nightgown with determination.

“Don’t underestimate me. If I win, I’ll spread the news everywhere that Vice President Cha lost to a woman. I’ll even draft a press release.”

Looking at his thick, sturdy forearm, the confidence she had felt moments ago seemed to shrink. But she had to win. Ji-soo pushed aside thoughts of Tae-ha’s mischievous fingers that had explored her most intimate places and gripped his wrist firmly with both hands.

“So, you’re asking me to lose on purpose? What will you say? That you beat Cha Tae-ha in an arm-wrestling match at the hotel the morning after sleeping together?”

“Can you stop saying things like that so casually?”

“You get flustered when I talk about the most honest version of you.”

It was the same yesterday. Even as she writhed in pleasure, gasping for breath, she refused to say the words Tae-ha wanted to hear. When he whispered lewd demands into her ear on her behalf, she bit her lip hard and swallowed her heat alone.

Tae-ha glanced at Ji-soo’s overly confident yet pathetically weak grip and smiled. She was adorable in her unnecessary bravado. He felt greedy for wanting her to climb even higher.

“It’s boring if we just do it plain. Let’s make it a bet.”

“Fine.”

“Tell me what you want.”

She had never properly gotten what she truly desired in life. What did she want from Tae-ha?

What Han Ji-soo wanted was to never let him go—to keep holding this hand forever. Even if Cha Tae-ha became another woman’s man in the distant future, she wished not to be condemned for loving him now. These desires felt impossibly greedy, cruel even, leaving her unable to voice them.

After pondering various wishes, Ji-soo tucked them away in the back of her mind and smiled brightly. Following the curve of her soft smile, Tae-ha’s lips quirked as well.

Her smile was beautiful just to look at, but it carried an underlying unease—a dual-edged charm. The feeling of being ensnared by Han Ji-soo’s bewitching grasp was intoxicating, yet he had no intention of resisting.

“Buy me a fancy meal. Something really expensive.”

He gave her the chance to choose, and all she asked for was an expensive meal. Tae-ha instinctively sensed there was something else she truly wanted.

“I’m not exactly generous with others, but I’ll give you another chance to choose.”

When her small hand squeezed his arm tightly, Tae-ha’s bicep flexed, and his lower body stirred with memories of her skin from the previous night.