Chapter 4

The apartment Shin Kyobin lived in alone was here.

Come to think of it, in this 38–floor apartment, the company residence Hyejae was assigned to was on the 37th floor.

She had known the very top floor was a luxurious penthouse, and it seemed Kyobin lived right above her.

She had been suspicious ever since she was given a company residence far beyond her status, but she never imagined it would be directly below his.

“So this is why you brought me here? To drive me crazy even after work?”

Hyejae’s voice was full of tension.

It already felt like the path to hell was opening before her.

Just enduring him at work was enough to make her dizzy, but now he was right upstairs—he would surely barge in with all kinds of excuses.

Like this very moment, without warning.

“Drive you crazy? Hyejae, that’s a hurtful thing to say.”

As Kyobin took another step, the fading hallway sensor light flicked back on.

Hyejae stepped back to avoid him, but he walked into her home as if it were his own.

Once they passed the entrance, the bright light went out completely, and darkness fell.

Maybe that was why—

His large frame cast a shadow over her, as if it would swallow her whole.

“You know how much I adore you.”

Again, Shin Kyobin tried to bind her heart tightly with sweet words.

His eyes curved gently.

From the first time she saw him, she had been deceived by that pure, kind impression.

Even while he was being mistreated in the chaebol family, he always looked at her with gentle eyes and a pretty smile.

Hyejae’s heart had gone out to that boy, wanting to comfort him.

Now that he was a man, he had a sharper, more mature look, but those kind eyes from his youth remained.

She had been tricked by that face and aura more times than she could count.

And yet, she still felt powerless when facing him.

“But… hmm.”

Kyobin’s gaze suddenly dropped downward.

“I didn’t know this was your taste. At home, you’re quite daring.”

Following his eyes, Hyejae looked down.

She was wearing a comfortable lingerie slip, and only then realized her chest was plainly visible through the gap in her loosely tied gown.

“Ah…!”

Her face flushed red as she hurriedly tightened the silk belt, clutching the fabric closed with her hand.

“That’s enough. Please leave. I don’t want you invading even my private time.”

She strode toward him, trying to drive him out.

She thought if she closed the distance, he would step back. But Kyobin didn’t move an inch.

Instead, he looked down at her as she came close and curled his lips into a smirk.

“No.”

His brazen reply made her laugh in disbelief, but he kept talking.

“This is why I brought you here. Why would I leave?”

He suddenly grabbed her wrist.

Hyejae tried to step back, but he wrapped his other arm around her waist.

Trapped in his arms, she had no way to escape.

“You know the meaning of staying by my side.”

Lowering his head, Kyobin whispered into her ear.

Her body stiffened, her stomach knotted tight.

It was instinct.

Being alone with him, their eyes meeting, their bodies pressed close—it was natural her body reacted.

Her body remembered the past. She shut her eyes tightly.

The night they reunited as adults, she had pretended to be drunk and leaned into him.

Even though he had hurt her, like a fool she had confessed her feelings.

That night, instead of answering, Kyobin simply held her.

From then, they had become entangled only physically, and that relationship lasted nine years.

It ended only about a year ago, when she was appointed prosecutor.

Now, having left the prosecutor’s office and entered Shinil Group, it meant their relationship was returning to the past.

“You think I cling to you because I can’t find a good lawyer?”

Kyobin raised his head slightly, meeting her eyes with steady ones meant to reassure.

But her eyes trembled helplessly.

Getting closer to him again was dangerous.

Her last shred of reason screamed to push him away.

“Kyobin, please…”

Her desperate plea didn’t move him.

Instead, he pulled her waist tighter and gripped her wrist harder.

“Hearing you call my name only excites me more.”

His deep voice whispered by her ear, and Hyejae felt all strength drain from her body.

“You’re doing this on purpose, right? Trying to provoke me.”

“No, that’s not—ah…”

Before she could finish, his lips came down and bit her lower lip.

Her lips parted in panic, and Kyobin didn’t miss the chance—his tongue forced its way in.

Heat tangled recklessly inside her mouth, and mixed saliva dripped down her chin.

He held her firmly, reducing her struggling until she tried to twist her head away.

But before she could catch her breath, his lips captured hers again.

His hand clamped her nape, holding her still.

“Haah… stop it…”

She pushed at his chest with all her might.

The stifling heat made her dizzy.

Pulling back slightly, Kyobin looked at her flushed, breathless face, and grinned.

“It’s been a while.”

With his fingers, he wiped the messy saliva from her lips.

“That melting expression of Choi Hyejae.”

Before she could recover, her body lifted into the air.

“What—what are you doing?”

Her feet dangled helplessly, her arms instinctively wrapping around his neck.

Even as he carried her, he kept his gaze locked on her face.

Their breaths mingled at such a close distance, she thought he might devour her lips again at any moment.

Their eyes met strangely, and then her body landed roughly.

Not in the bedroom—he had thrown her onto the sofa.

He tugged loose the tie around his neck.

It was clear he had come straight here after work.

“Wait, Kyobin. Please, stop.”

She grabbed his hand to hold him back, but it was useless.

His loosened tie fell to the floor, his shirt buttons already undone.

“Why?”

He leaned closer, closing the distance.

Hyejae tried to retreat, but there was nowhere left to go.

“You were the one who begged me to sleep with you even once.”

With a wicked expression, he threw her old words in her face.

“You were the one who confessed first.”

Yes, there had been that shameful past.

A moment when she mistook pity for love, when she gave herself to this man who toyed with her.

Because of that, everything had gone wrong.

Her relationships, her dreams—ruined.

And yet, when she had been left all alone, the only one who reached out his hand had been him.

Even knowing it was part of his grand design, she couldn’t help but give him her heart.

As much as she wanted to deny it, the truth couldn’t be changed.

Her damned first love.

Shin Kyobin was the first love she wanted to erase, the one she most wanted to deny.

“But now?”

He tilted his head as he asked.

Hyejae only bit her lip, unable to answer.

She hated him. She loathed him.

Every moment, she wished she could escape his chains.

“And yet here you are again, walking into my arms.”

As he said, she always fell into his traps, unable to break free.

“If you run away, I’ll be too hurt.”

Ever since she quit being a prosecutor and returned to Shinil Group, she had known this was coming.

She had braced herself to fall back into this relationship.

“Do you know how much I missed you?”

He toyed with the hem of her slip, slipping his hand inside.

“Ugh…!”

“Damn it, do you even know what I had to do to drag you back here?”

Their relationship should have ended back then.

Even as he whispered that he liked her, their only connection was through the body, with no real feelings exchanged.

Back then—

The time she never wanted to return to.

And yet, here they were, turning back the clock.