Chapter 16

“Oops.”

At that moment, she missed a step on the stairs, flailing her arms as she staggered. Thanks to Iseong pulling her back, she didn’t tumble down. However, their bodies ended up pressed tightly together.

Both of them were wearing thin white short-sleeved shirts, thin enough to see through, and her perky chest was crushed against his firm six-pack abs.

“Hah.”

Her heart pounded so hard it felt like it might burst out of her chest and cling to his abs.

Memories from yesterday clung to her body again—sticky, lewd sensations tangling together.

Her body was reacting too intensely. To Iseong’s massive frame.

His face, looking down at her from above, was dazzling under the sunlight. He exhaled softly and whispered:

“Can you act… like usual? I don’t think I can.”

If he lowered his face just a little more, their lips would touch. The urge to kiss him—just as sweet as yesterday—surged uncontrollably.

Am I really crazy? Why does my hand want to reach for the thick nape of your neck?

Just then, a group of male students passed by below the stairs. She quickly stepped back and glanced around.

The old, standalone apartment had a rarely used walking path, but now that it was daylight, passersby would be noticeable.

She hissed under her breath:

“Don’t you have a hat or a mask? Why aren’t you wearing any disguise today?”

Her nerves were on edge, like a meerkat scanning for danger. Just moments ago, being in his arms had felt as sweet as last night, melting into him.

The soft sensation of her chest pressed against his firm abs nearly made her lose control of her lust.

“I just planned to take the car.”

“Ah, right. The car. Then… let’s go to the car first.”

She grabbed Iseong’s wrist, then quickly switched to clutching his sleeve as they walked.

Her pounding heart traveled from his wrist to the hem of his sleeve.

For nearly 30 years, grabbing his wrist had been no big deal. But now, she couldn’t recklessly touch him anymore.

Her entire body was reacting chemically to his. Hormones surged, making her heart race endlessly.

She climbed into the passenger seat of Iseong’s SUV, and he turned on the air conditioning as soon as he sat beside her.

Was getting in the car a mistake? The confined space made his presence even more palpable—not as a friend, but as a man.

She glanced out the window and blurted out something random:

“They said it’s monsoon season, but the sun’s blazing. The weather forecast is full of crap, as usual. Right?”

Iseong stared silently at her awkward expression before dropping a blunt question:

“Why couldn’t you hold my wrist?”

Hah—he’d hit a nerve. He’d noticed her discomfort too.

She scrambled for a reasonable answer, but he cut her off first:

“You feel it too, don’t you? That we can’t go back to how we were.”

What should I call this strange shift in my feelings for you? Thirty years of deep, solid friendship can’t just turn into romance overnight.

Then how do I explain this trembling?

“If we can’t go back, then what? Just stay in this awkward limbo until it ends?”

“Then what were you thinking when you provoked me? Getting drunk and joking about whether I had erectile dysfunction, then using that to get revenge on Go Dohun? Did you plan to just forget everything the next day—or pretend to forget—and go back to normal?”

“P-Provoke? Me, provoking you…? That kind of thing?”

I must’ve been insane.

“Then why did you play along? No, forget it. My bad. I was… I was the crazy one. Let’s just say I was blowing off steam.”

“Fine, let’s call it that.”

“Phew… Good. Now we’re on the same page.”

“But I can’t forget.”

“Now we’re not. Then what do we do?”

“You know I’m not impotent.”

Why bring that up now? So embarrassing. She’d confirmed with her own eyes—no, her own hands—that he was perfectly healthy.

“So what?”

“We haven’t properly gotten revenge yet, have we?”

“Revenge?”

“Making Go Dohun and Seo Yeora eat their hearts out. If they see us sticking together, they’ll lose it. Wasn’t that your idea?”

Right. But if Go Dohun gets furious, you might be in danger.

He’ll be watching like a hawk to see if we’re getting closer. If our relationship develops, we might step on the landmine he planted.

“That was… just my… uh… delusion. Yeah, delusion. How would us getting involved romantically be revenge? They’d just scoff.”

“Then let’s try it. See if it works or not.”

It was the one thread he could grab. The one opening where she might see him as a man.

I had no choice but to pry into that gap—the moment you let your guard down and saw me as a stranger.

Even if it’s despicable. Even if I get cut off completely.

“No. It’s obviously not going to work. And how would we even get involved as a man and woman? Date? I can’t do that stuff with you sober—kissing, touching, all that.”

“……”

“Yesterday, I was drunk, and after that damn mess, I wasn’t in my right mind… That’s why I did that with you. But after 30 years of friendship, after seeing all the worst sides of each other… How could we?”

Iseong’s dry, sharp eyes pinned her down. A gaze as stinging as a bee’s sting.

Now I get why women go crazy for those eyes. The raw intensity, unfiltered by lenses, was like summer sunlight.

Hah… Her breathing grew shallow, her chest rising and falling rapidly.

Slowly, Iseong parted his lips.

“You once said something, didn’t you? That you’d know if you could see a man romantically after kissing him. You’ve kissed me—done more than that. Very enthusiastically.”

“That was… drunk and not in my right m—”

“You’re sober now. In your right mind.”

What does that mean? No, I think I know. That’s why my heart keeps pounding.

As if denying it, she sharply narrowed her eyes.

“So?”

“‘So what?’ is the right question. Because I was going to say—let’s try it now.”

What do I do? How did we go from being friends for nearly 30 years to this awkwardness in just one day? Even if we did crazy things drunk, how can we do that again?

I’m so… nervous. What do I do?

“I can’t do that with you.”

“Without even trying?”

Doing it without a single drop of alcohol—completely sober and clear-headed? What if…?

I don’t know.

Would it be as intoxicating as yesterday? No way… right?

But if it is… what then?

Forget hypotheticals—how do I feel right now?

I want to.

“Try it.”

She looked up at Iseong as she answered. Their eyes met briefly, and she suppressed her excited breathing before teasing:

“Should I do it? Want to close your eyes?”

Smirk. Iseong smoothly curled his lips and lowered his head, closing his eyes.

Ah. What do I do? Can I really do this? Why is my heart pounding so hard?

Because I’m breaking a taboo with a 30-year friend?

His face, eyes quietly shut, was unfairly handsome. I’d sworn so many times not to fall for this face.

His well-defined brows, masculine forehead and nose bridge, long eyes, and plush pink lips.

Could she really press her lips to his? She leaned in slowly, their hot breaths mingling as the distance closed.