What He Wanted
The words that came out of the woman's mouth were ones Jeongun had heard far too many times. They no longer stirred a thing in him. And as for the woman standing in front of him... well. He couldn't quite figure out where all that confidence was coming from. As if she could just walk in and walk out with his number.
"Pardon?"
He pretended not to have heard and asked again.
"I said, could I get your number? The owner's number."
Jeongun's dark, straight brows twitched slightly. Suhee, seated at her table, watched the two of them with interest. It was a rare chance to observe that taciturn cafe owner.
"Here's the shop's business card."
She was a customer, after all, so he kept it diplomatic. He slid a card across — the shop's number and address printed on the front, the back stamped with spaces for a loyalty punch card. It was the same card Suhee had received on her first visit.
Watching the woman's face twist in disbelief, Jeongun added one more thing.
"We don't take reservations, by the way. If you call this number during business hours, someone will pick up."
"Wait, that's not—"
"Have a good evening."
Not just Suhee — the other people in the cafe were stifling their laughter. Apparently this kind of thing happened from time to time. From the murmurs drifting around the room — here we go again — it was clear this wasn't the first.
The woman who'd asked for the owner's number was trembling, her fist clenched so tight she didn't even notice the card crumpling in her grip. She'd walked in so sure of herself. Getting shot down like that must have stung.
Everyone else was snickering at the spectacle, but Suhee studied that man more carefully. The faintly annoyed look in his eyes. The slight shake of his head. The quiet sigh. And then the way he casually swept his gaze around the shop — until, for the briefest instant, his eyes met hers.
That's more like it.
He'd pretended not to care, but the truth was, the first time Jeongun laid eyes on Suhee, he'd been a little startled. Her looks, of course. He'd dealt with countless female customers and the occasional woman who made a pass at him — enough to be thoroughly sick of it. His had been the life of a perfect alpha male. Taking a woman he liked to bed for a night, training her — it had always come easy. The ones he'd slept with once, or played with over a stretch of time, numbered well into the dozens. Lately he'd grown bored enough to stop. But even by his standards, a woman like Suhee was a first.
Still. She's probably no different.
He didn't let the desire show. Rare as her looks were, she wouldn't be all that different underneath. Jeongun had been through too many women to expect anything new.
Hmph...
Suhee, who'd locked eyes with him for that brief moment, found something interesting in his gaze. Why had he chosen that particular moment to look around the shop, taking in the people? And then their eyes had met. Two things stood out.
First: a situation like this — a woman asking for his number — should have been a rare, flattering moment for any man. Even in turning her down, there should have been some trace of pleasure. There wasn't. If anything, he just looked annoyed. Second: even after his eyes met Suhee's, his gaze didn't waver. Either he genuinely had no interest in women, or his self-control was extraordinary. She had the feeling he wouldn't come undone even in bed. How to put it. The type who was used to dominating women?
Suhee, who'd spent the entire day getting fucked by Donggyun and groped by Taejun, found her mind automatically spinning filthy fantasies. He was nothing like Taejun, who looked like he'd go in for messy, sloppy sex. That low voice, quietly, steadily heaping shame on her, giving her one instruction after another. It was one of the kinds of sex Suhee liked best.
"Haa..."
Just thinking about being made to take whatever he told her to do sent heat flooding through her body again. She tugged the zipper of her top down a little further, and the valley between her breasts opened deeper, more exposed.
The truth was, nothing was going to happen just yet. Suhee might have been entertaining filthy thoughts, but she hadn't actually done anything about them. For now she simply sat quietly and studied. Every so often, when enough time had passed, she'd get up and order another coffee. And so the hours slipped by, until closing time drew near once again.
The customers who'd filled the cafe filtered out one by one, until only Suhee remained — silent, her apartment just across the street.
"We're closing, miss."
"Ah — yes."
Jeongun had stepped close to deliver the news, and his eyes drifted downward. Curious what she'd been looking at all day, he scanned the workbook spread open on the table. Of course, as his gaze moved, it lingered for the briefest moment on the cleavage visible between the open folds of her coat. Even from the shape that showed, you could tell at a glance they were round, pretty breasts.
"Studying for a license?"
Jeongun, whose mind had been briefly stolen by Suhee's cleavage, blurted the question out of nowhere. It was the result of his own fluster. Before the embarrassment of having been caught staring — even for a second — could take over, he'd thrown out something, anything, on a different subject.
"Sorry?"
"Ah — you've been looking at it all day, so."
"Oh. Yes, that's right."
She wondered why this man was suddenly making conversation, but Suhee recognized a golden opportunity when she saw one. A chance to push things even a little further. But Jeongun had already turned away after those few words. He'd said it to cover for himself after getting caught staring at her chest, and now he was retreating.
That was when Suhee grabbed his wrist.
"Um — wait a second."
"...Yes?"
The sensation of Suhee's fingers wrapping around his wrist made Jeongun turn his head slightly.
"Ah, sorry. I just wanted to ask you something..."
Suhee withdrew her hand as if it had been an accident, and Jeongun rubbed his wrist with his other hand. Just as an awkward silence threatened to settle, Suhee snatched up the workbook she'd had open on the table.
"This, here. It's been hard trying to do it on my own..."
"Ah."
The lifted workbook blocked the view between their faces. But below it, Suhee's well-proportioned body was laid out in full. Hidden inside the coat, yet still visible — a waist with no spare flesh, wide hips, and a lower body that looked firm and toned. Firm, but not bulky or clumsy. As he'd already noted, even by the standards of a man who'd been through countless women, Suhee had looks you didn't come across easily.
Once again, against his own will, Jeongun found his eyes traveling over Suhee's figure, and he was a little surprised. He hadn't expected her to pull his attention this strongly, this quickly. It was physical, more than anything — but still, he considered it something unusual.
"Ah, this one."
He pulled his gaze from Suhee's body and looked back at the workbook held between their faces. His eyes went to the problem her pale, slender finger was pointing at. And to the finger itself, of course.
Unlike the cheap-looking woman who'd asked for his number earlier, Suhee's fingers were clean, without so much as a coat of nail polish. The truth was, hands like these pleased him far more. Neat and clean, and yet somehow the way they moved was faintly obscene. His gaze followed each joint as it flexed. Which was why his answer came a half-beat late.
Suhee had blocked their view with the workbook too, but she could feel that lingering gaze. She'd been on the receiving end of so many men's stares that she was extremely sensitive to this kind of thing. And then there was the slightly delayed timing of his answer. Had they gotten a little closer? Or had she simply caught his interest? Either way, it wasn't a bad thing for Suhee. This was a man she'd already been curious about.
"Ahh, I see."
Honestly, Suhee hadn't been trying to get the actual answer, so she responded vaguely and lowered the workbook. Their eyes met again. This time, Suhee felt a little overpowered.
Seen this close, the man's eyes were a little frightening. Take an ordinary man — Donggyun, say. At this distance, locking eyes with Suhee, he wouldn't even be able to hold her gaze. His face would flush; he'd have no idea what to do. That was ordinary men. And a man like Taejun, with his filthy, hungry lust, would be too busy raking his eyes over every part of her body.
But this man... how to put it. It was like looking into the eyes of a tiger or a lion she'd seen at the zoo as a child — the eyes of a predator. Completely certain of his own superiority, and yet with a faint trace of boredom besides. He'd surely looked her over when she wasn't watching, but the gaze he held now was solid, unshakable, utterly self-assured. And that made her like him even more.
A man who knew how to dominate. He wouldn't falter even while showing his tastes, and she had the feeling he would handle her however he pleased.
"Well then. I need to close up."
"Ah — I'll help. Since you explained that for me..."
She'd said it, but she wondered if she'd crossed a line, and looked up at Jeongun. Those eyes, still impossible to read, regarded her for a moment, then blinked.
"Well..."
It was an ambiguous answer, but Suhee quickly fell in behind him, and he said nothing more. Ordinarily he should have refused, but the scent coming off Suhee's body as she drew close made him miss the window. There was something different about this woman. He'd thought he was thoroughly sick of women, that they were all the same — but the eyes that had met his were not ordinary. How to put it. They stirred something instinctive.
"Ah, should I clear this too?"
"Yes, but you really don't have to."
"It's fine. My place is right out front anyway."
It wasn't a normal situation, but Jeongun had already missed his chance to refuse. He watched her from behind as she quickly picked up a broom, bent down, and began sweeping the floor. His eyes went to those long, stretched-out legs, to her hips. A body — a figure — that was absurdly, impossibly sexual, in complete contrast to that neat, refined face.
In that moment, Jeongun realized what it was he wanted from Suhee.