42. Are you really just going to sleep?

The moment their lips met, her husband gently held and drew her in. His breath, exploring her parted mouth, was so slow and careful it made her heart ache. Sweet and tingling sensations drained the strength from her body, making her feel limp. The kiss was sweet yet polite, tingling yet ascetic. With eyes that seemed to burn, she felt his restrained patience. His patience made Tae-ryeong thirst even more. She wished he would kiss her as passionately as that night. So she couldn’t think of anything else, only of him and her. She wished this rational man would completely lose his composure because of her. The hand wrapped around his firm neck slid down, touching his shirt. The feel of his taut, warm muscles throbbing beneath her fingertips was indescribably wonderful. When she lightly scratched him through his thin shirt, a low groan escaped his throat, like the roar of a beast. It was the moment a thrilling current ran down her spine, making her long eyelashes flutter.

“H-huh, I-I’m sorry! You didn’t answer when I knocked.”

Their tangled lips parted at the startled voice from behind. Her vision beyond her long eyelashes was blurry, like her clouded mind. Through the hazy view, only her husband’s face was clear: his hot, half-closed eyes, hair falling neatly onto his forehead, and wet lips. She knew by instinct that she was practically straddling his body, which was half-reclining on the desk. Perhaps intoxicated by the languid sensation, she felt dizzy. Tae-ryeong, burying her face in her husband’s chest with a faint sigh, thought, When did I become so sneaky and shameless? Even after such a bold act, she didn’t feel embarrassed. Although seeing Director Yoon might be a bit awkward.

“You’ve worked hard today, so you can leave now.”

Her husband’s voice, falling over her head, was low and rational. It was hard to believe he had just let out a beastly groan. The door opened and closed quickly, but Tae-ryeong didn’t lift her head. Her husband whispered in an incredibly languid and husky voice.

“Director Yoon has left, should we continue?”

Her husband’s lips were almost touching hers. But Tae-ryeong gently turned her head, avoiding his kiss.

“No, I don’t want to continue.”

After a subtle silence, Tae-ryeong slowly opened her eyes and gently lifted her head. The dissatisfaction in her husband’s expression was obvious.

“Are you perhaps sulking?”

“If I say I’m sulking, can we continue?”

How dare he.

“No.”

At Tae-ryeong’s firm refusal, her husband chuckled softly. Even that low laugh tickled Tae-ryeong’s heart like a spring breeze.

“You’re heartless. Just a moment ago, you were on top of me, bewitching me like a femme fatale.”

“For a man bewitched by a femme fatale, your kiss was quite gentle, and you handled the situation calmly.”

“Let’s just say it was for my wife, who might have felt embarrassed and awkward.”

Tae-ryeong hesitated whether to play coy, then cautiously said, “I’m not embarrassed. Nor am I awkward.” It might seem shameless, but it was the truth. You, Seo Kang-joon, wouldn’t know. Unlike you, for whom everything is easy, everything about you is difficult for me. I have to hesitate and agonize countless times. Coming here, approaching you, even that simple phrase “I’ll wait.” Yet, today I came to you, said I would wait, and lifted my heels to kiss you first. Because we only have two months left. Because even if I love you to my heart’s content and then leave, you will slowly forget me. It felt like I could do anything to you. That’s why I don’t regret this moment.

“It was skinship between a legal couple, and this isn’t a public place, it’s your office, Kang-joon. And we were fully clothed and kissed healthily.”

As she spoke logically, it truly was like that. Thanks to her husband, it had been a very gentle and polite kiss. But why me? Looking at him with such an intense gaze, Tae-ryeong calmly continued.

“So, let’s continue at home.”

Her husband had a blank expression at her audacious and provocative answer. But Tae-ryeong couldn’t help it. She wanted to create many memories with her husband during the remaining two months. To freely share both emotional and physical intimacy. Even if he called her shameless, even if he cursed her for being selfish later. After time passed, he would fall in love again, marry, have children, and build a family. But for her, he would be her first and last love. So she wanted to be this greedy.

“Have I perhaps lost my charm as a woman by being too shameless?”

If her husband said yes, she would naturally be willing to dial down the intensity a bit. But her husband burst out laughing.

“Why are you laughing?”

I’m serious and earnest.

“I’m sorry for laughing. If you’re shameless, then I feel like a lewd pervert.”

Her husband, with his head lowered, secretly whispered in her ear with a shallow breath. Since that night, she had never been dressed in front of him. Her face instantly flushed crimson, right to the tips of her ears. She couldn’t believe that her always calm and indifferent husband could be such a naughty man. Her husband pulled her waist closer, embracing her, as Tae-ryeong looked at him with disbelief.

“Now you answer. Have I also lost my charm as a man?”

Instead of answering, Tae-ryeong gave her husband a chaste peck on the lips. There would be no more perfect answer than that. A shameless wife and a lewd pervert husband. There could be no more fitting combination.

________________________________________

Jin-woo had recently been learning acting. But today, due to his lack of focus, he was reprimanded by his teacher, and the class ended in 20 minutes. His manager asked Jin-woo, who was getting into the car blankly, “What’s wrong with you, Kim Jin-woo? You’ve been out of it since you came back from the Inno Fashion launch event.”

“I’ve been overworking myself lately, so I’m a bit sleepy. Hyung, can I ask you for a strong Americano?”

“Okay. But for your next schedule, you need to be wide awake.”

“Yes, sir!”

After the manager got out of the car, Jin-woo immediately called his younger sister.

“Kim Jin-kyung, I have one question. Let me tell you first, you have no right to remain silent.”

[Who’s talking nonsense? Sounds like a puppy.]

“Is Se-hee married?”

[Wh-who said such a thing?!]

Jin-woo despaired at his sister’s over-the-top reaction. My little one really got married.

“I met Se-hee. No, I guess I should say I met CEO Yoo Tae-ryeong now.”

[Huh, what’s going on?]

His sister seemed to know something.

[So, what did Jju say?]

“She didn’t say anything. I told her to contact me, but I haven’t been able to yet.”

Because I’m scared. Because I’m a petty man.

“Jin-kyung-ah, that marriage isn’t real, is it? No, it’s not a marriage of love, is it? Does Se-hee have some kind of circumstance?”

He searched the portal for information about Inno Fashion’s CEO Yoo Tae-ryeong. Most of the articles focused on her business achievements, but there was no mention of her being married anywhere. But marriage, husband, wife... He couldn’t possibly imagine his ‘little one’ marrying another man and being in love.

[I can’t tell you anything, Oppa. Meet Jju and hear it directly from her.]

“Hey! Are you being so mean between siblings? How terribly I’ve cherished you!”

[What’s a sibling! I like Se-hee more than a sibling, okay? Oppa only cherished me, but Se-hee made me a human being! If it weren’t for her, I don’t know what I’d be doing right now! Even if she’s a black-haired beast, I can’t repay her kindness with tattling. I’m hanging up.]

And with that, the call ended.

“Ugh, Kim Jin-kyung, really.”

His stomach was churning, but he couldn’t blame her. If he hadn’t met Joo Se-hee, his sister would still be a childish slacker. It was Se-hee who tirelessly sat next to his sister and taught her to study. Thanks to Se-hee, his sister was now a shopping mall CEO, learned about business, and enjoyed this comfortable life. His sister loved to play, got bored quickly with everything, and hated being constrained. Joo Se-hee was the only one who could control such a sister. No, if he thought about it calmly, Joo Se-hee was the only capable person who could control both unbridled siblings. In the end, Jin-woo decided to confront her directly.

“What the heck, I’ll just hear it directly.”

He took out the business card Secretary Kim had given him and called the number on his phone.

________________________________________

As Kang-joon emerged from the bathroom, Tae-ryeong just entered the bedroom. As always, his wife’s fair skin, still damp, gleamed. How sweet she smelled, how sweet she would be if he tasted her. His eyes remembered, his body remembered, his cells remembered. And the beautiful body hidden beneath her flowing nightgown. He knew it so well that merely seeing her was agony, and his wife probably understood that a little now. He had admitted to being a lewd pervert, hoping she would understand. But when their eyes met, his wife subtly averted her gaze and headed for the bed. He hadn’t told her to avoid him. Of course, he also had no intention of just letting her go if she did.

“Aren’t you going to dry my hair today?”

Knowing his wife would come anyway, Kang-joon leaned against the wall.

“Or, I’ll just sleep like this.”

A faint smile touched Kang-joon’s lips as he heard her light footsteps approaching.

“I’m not a child, can’t I dry my own hair?”

“Who made it a habit like a child?”

Tae-ryeong had a bewildered expression at Kang-joon’s words.

“You only dried it once.”

“We only slept together once, but it became a habit, didn’t it?”

Kang-joon tapped his head with a long finger. My head remembers everything about you, like a habit, like a custom. His wife blinked her long eyelashes, her mouth agape, as if she couldn’t believe it.

“Are you saying you’re still...?”

She couldn’t bring herself to say, “stripped me.” His usually calm wife looking flustered was incredibly endearing. It made him want to tease her more.

“If you feel wronged, then you strip off my clothes too.”

Right now. As always, Kang-joon was only wearing pajamas. He hooked his fingertips into his waistband and slowly lowered his gaze, deliberately dragging out his words.

“I’ve been working out hard, so it should be worth looking at. And I remember you liked it...!”

Kang-joon couldn’t continue his sentence. His wife, with a bright red face, covered his mouth with her small hand.

“Just shut your bewitching mouth... Kyaaah!”

Kang-joon wrapped his arms around his wife’s waist, pulled her into his lap, and sat on the chair. What are you doing, not drying my hair? When she looked up at him with such an innocent expression, his wife eventually laughed. With a whirring sound, his wife’s hand touched his head. Kang-joon quietly closed his eyes, enjoying the gentle touch of her hands drying his hair.

“I was happy you came to the office today.”

He seemed to understand how difficult it must have been for his wife to come, and what it meant.

“Can I ask you why your mind suddenly changed?”

The sound of the hairdryer stopped. As he slowly pushed up his eyelids, his eyes met his wife’s, who was looking down at him intently.

“I’ve been too indifferent to you, Kang-joon, until now. You’ve been good to me, but I don’t think I’ve been the same.”

“...”

“So, from now on, I want to fulfill my duties as your wife, with all sincerity. If you’re okay with it, of course.”

At her cautious voice, asking for his intentions, Kang-joon slowly moved the hand that was wrapped around her waist. He calmly asked, fiddling with the hem of her skirt that fell to his knees.

“Where is the boundary line for the ‘duties of a wife’ you mentioned?”

“...There’s no boundary line for you, Kang-joon.”

With that gentle and submissive permission, he wanted to take his wife to bed immediately. Still, his wife wouldn’t refuse and would cling to him. But Kang-joon, once on the bed, merely held his wife tightly in his arms. Should I sing the national anthem in my heart again tonight and sleep healthily and ascetically? Kang-joon, resting his chin on her small head, muttered softly.

“Good night, wife.”

But his wife in his arms seemed unusually tense tonight. When he gently stroked her back, she flinched. Wondering why, he lowered his eyes and met her clear eyes looking up at him in the darkness. With a subtle expression that was impossible to read, his wife cautiously asked, “Are you really just going to sleep?”

The moment Kang-joon tried to grasp the intention of her question, his wife calmly and neatly asked again, “Are you not going to hold me tonight?”

His wife, who had even lightly shaken Kang-joon’s firm mental state, was a vixen, a witch. No, she was definitely a vixen-witch.