Chapter 25
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: Rainy Night Tension
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"How am I supposed to sleep with you clinging to me like this?"
"But you're seriously burning up. You got a fever or something?"
"It's cold sweat from nerves. Please, just get off me."
"I'm just wearing a single shirt while hugging you?"
"Shut your mouth already, please."
Despite my sharp words, Sea didn't budge an inch.
Instead, she rubbed her face against my chest and whispered softly.
"So, how was it?"
"How was what?"
"You've never touched anyone else's before, right? Ever felt any bigger ones?"
"Damn it, you gonna keep bringing that up? It was an accident, I told you."
"Be honest. Come on, how'd my boobs feel?"
"......I said drop it."
My voice came out stiff and rigid, but she just curled her lips into a smirk.
"You grabbed them so tight yesterday and wouldn't let go, so why act all coy now?"
"I told you a million times, I froze up because I was so flustered."
"Still, you felt everything there was to feel."
"......"
"Mine are pretty huge, honestly. They filled your hand right up, didn't they? All soft and squishy?"
Luckily, it was dark. My face felt like it was on fire.
This girl had zero sense of shame.
"Seriously, shut up. It's pouring outside. You wanna get kicked out?"
"Got it. No crossing lines between friends, huh?"
"Yeah. So move your leg already."
"If I move my leg, will you tell me honestly about yesterday?"
I licked my parched lips and tried to keep my voice low.
"What kind of ridiculous deal is that? No way."
"You're playing hard to get. It's just one little word."
"It's not hard. There's just nothing more to say."
"Friends can share honest reviews, though. Like a little feedback."
The word "review" hit me so absurdly I was speechless.
She had this miraculous knack for clinging to the most tenacious logic.
"Review? What kind of deranged idea is that?"
"You went to an all-boys school, right? Don't guys talk about stuff like that? Rating girls' figures."
"No. We don't."
"You can tell me. I give you permission."
In the darkness, she suddenly grabbed my right hand.
Then she forcibly dragged it toward her chest.
"Hey, what the hell?"
I yanked my hand back in shock, and Sea sat up fully.
She pushed me flat on my back, then straddled my hips, her knees pinning down both sides.
Her long shirt hem naturally rolled up a bit over her thighs.
My mind went completely blank.
"Y-you're insane!"
Panicking, I raised my hands to shove her off.
"Get off, you lunatic. Your skin's touching mine."
"It's just a little skin contact. Don't overreact."
"There's a limit to jokes. This is too far. Get down now."
"Just say one honest thing, that's all I want."
This was heading straight for disaster.
I grabbed at her waist to shove her aside.
But in the pitch black, my flailing hand went astray.
I ended up clutching the fluttering hem of her shirt.
When I pushed to shove her away, the shirt flipped all the way up to her chest.
Cold air from outside the blanket rushed between us.
"......Ah."
I froze, breath caught, and Sea whispered softly.
"I told you earlier, it wouldn't show unless you forced it up."
"......"
"And here you are, lifting it with your own hand."
I averted my eyes and carefully tugged her shirt hem back down with trembling fingers.
The brief brush of bare skin against my fingertips burned like fire.
I tried to pull away and escape, but she lightly gripped my wrist.
In the dark, Sea leaned in with a faint smile.
"Cut the joking. I'm barely holding back here."
She froze at my serious tone.
The playful smirk vanished from her always-relaxed face.
The rain battering the old window sounded deafening in the silence.
Our gazes locked in tense, heavy stillness.
Then, Sea looked straight into my eyes again.
"Holding back? So, if this isn't a joke..."
"What?"
"If I'm not messing around right now, what are you gonna do about it?"
Her blunt question choked the air from my lungs.
The heat of her body pressing down on me felt scorching.
It was like time in the room had ground to a halt.
We stayed rigid, breathing roughly.
Those agonizing seconds dragged on.
This was way past what I could handle.
My strained patience finally hit rock bottom.
I couldn't hold out any longer.
What if I just grabbed her waist and pulled her in?
A dizzying impulse raced up my spine.
My fingertips trembled faintly against my will.
Crossing that line here would mean stepping over an irreversible river.
It was something we shouldn't do.
But those pitch-black eyes staring piercingly down at me left no escape.
I no longer trusted myself to cling to reason.
My head heated up, all the flimsy excuses cluttering my mind evaporating.
The tension in my fingers against the floor slowly melted away.
Like a man possessed, I slowly raised my hand.
It reached unhesitatingly for her slender waist.
I just wanted to pull her fully into my arms.
Just as my fingertips brushed the thin fabric of her shirt hem...
"......Psych."
Sea whipped her gaze away and scrambled off me.
She rolled hastily to my side and yanked the blanket over her head.
"You little sleepyhead. You got way too serious over a prank."
Her muffled voice from under the covers lacked any of her usual bravado.
She'd toyed with me to the end, but she was the first to crack under the embarrassment.
The taut tension snapped away emptily, leaving my whole body limp.
But honestly, it was a relief.
One more step, and who knows what would've happened.
Or... was I disappointed?
I stared blankly at the blanket lump where she'd curled up and hidden.
I withdrew my hand into the air and let out a long, heavy sigh.
In the end, I stayed awake all night staring at the ceiling.
The rain pounding like it would shatter the window stopped abruptly at dawn.
Instead, thick fog blanketed the world outside in white.
Bzzz-
The 5 a.m. alarm buzzed briefly.
I shut off my phone and gazed down at Sea, who was poking out from the blanket.
Her rolled-up shirt hem exposed her pale thighs right up to the edge.
The defenseless sight made me snap my head away on reflex.
I let out a shaky breath and gently shook her shoulder.
Seeing her peacefully sleeping face brought back her voice from last night, echoing in my ears.
My mind kept tangling into knots.
"Hey. Wake up. It's 5."
"Mm......"
"Get up quick. We'll miss the flight."
"Ugh, I'm so damn tired."
Sea rubbed her eyes and sat up.
Her face was as carefree as if last night never happened.
"Throw on whatever and come out. Fog might cause traffic."
"Got it. Quit nagging."
Thankfully, the clothes strewn on the floor had dried stiff.
We took turns in the cramped bathroom, squeezing into the musty outfits.
We grabbed our bags in a rush and bolted from the cabin.
Thanks to flooring it through the fog like maniacs, we barely made boarding time and sank into our seats.
"Whoa. That was close."
"Your fault for dawdling."
"When did I? I got ready in ten minutes flat."
I buckled up and finally caught my breath when my phone buzzed.
[Photo]
'Souvenir.'
It was from Sea, right beside me.
I opened it to see the solo shot I'd taken of her in the rapeseed field the day before yesterday.
Her face beaming straight at the camera.
"Why send this all of a sudden?"
"It came out great. Don't I look pretty smiling?"
"Coming from you."
"What? Admit it, this got your heart racing a bit."
I shut my mouth instead of arguing, and she poked my arm with a smirk.
"Look at your face. Getting all serious again."
"Quit messing around."
"Fine. I'm beat, so don't wake me till Seoul."
Sea crossed her arms and turned to the window, avoiding my eyes.
Unlike her tightly shut eyes, her ears were flushed red just like last night.
I stared at her smile on my phone screen for a good while.
At the same time, in the Hanul Group chairman's office in Seoul.
"So."
Han Hyun-soo set down his morning coffee and asked curtly.
The Secretary Chief in his black suit flipped through his tablet and continued the report.
"No incidents at the cabin either, their last stop on Jeju."
Han Chairman's thick brows twitched at that.
"Nothing at all?"
"Yes. They were completely isolated by the downpour, but both hurried to the airport this morning."
Han Chairman looked utterly baffled.
"I went all out, even faking that AI travel curator bullshit to set the whole stage."
"Indeed."
"I personally rewrote that lame mission list all night."
He tapped the desk, getting worked up.
"Started with the pool, made 'em strike Titanic poses on the yacht on purpose! At the restaurant, set it up so she'd feed him straight from her lips!"
"Yes. Even guided him to hug her waist in the aquarium tunnel blind spot. All missions executed perfectly."
"Exactly! Keep 'em stuck together all day, and by night, sparks should've flown."
He thumped his chest in frustration.
"Picked a lodge with a full-glass bathroom, no screens. Timed the blackout for shower hour, and still a total miss?"
"Right after the blackout, the young lady screamed and clung to Yoon as planned. But they each fled to separate rooms and locked the doors."
"Driving me nuts. What about the last day?"
He yanked off his tie roughly.
"Poured rain on purpose and sent 'em to 1100 meters, the 'best stargazing spot.' Had our guys dress as cops when visibility tanked and herded 'em to the cabin!"
"Yes. Guided them saying only one room available, and they naturally shared it."
"Locked 'em in a tiny room with one blanket, and still nothing?"
The Secretary Chief bowed his head, unable to reply.
Han Chairman slumped into the sofa back, arms crossed.
His eyes gleamed with venom as that promising son-in-law candidate's face came to mind.
He couldn't fathom how the guy squandered all those chances without even a fingertip touch.
Rubbing his chin gravely, Han Chairman muttered.
"Does this make sense...? That kid got some kinda problem?"