RRMD 47 🔐

Chapter 47

Suhyeok quietly lifted his hand and gently brushed the damp strands of hair from the tip of her forehead, softly caressing her cheek.

From her flushed cheeks, it seemed as if the sweet scent of plums would waft out.

As if mesmerized, he brought his nose close to her cheek and kissed her over her scent.

Then, he lifted his thumb and lightly brushed it against the corner of her lips.

“Soft.”

Her lips were so tender and plush that they pushed back against his fingertip, and a faint smile spread across Suhyeok’s lips.

Soon, the smile faded, and his lips slowly, deliberately moved toward her clear, plump lips before him.

He was finally just moments away from capturing her lips in a gentle kiss.

“Hmm…”

Half-asleep, Seola shifted, curling into his chest.

Suhyeok looked at her sleeping peacefully, fists neatly folded in front of her chest like little apples, and swallowed his disappointment, smiling softly.

He then embraced Seola’s shoulders again at just the right timing.

He probably wouldn’t fall asleep, but he closed his eyes, following her lead.

The terrifying situation caused moments ago by that mysterious black smoke seemed completely nonexistent now, and the two of them in this position felt almost absurd and ridiculous.

It was a strange feeling.

When they were like this, holding each other, they became utterly indifferent to anything around them except for feeling each other’s warmth.

In this moment too, he held the sleeping Seola with ease, closing his eyes as if nothing had happened, peacefully resting for a while.

“…”

A little later, Seola quietly opened her eyes in Suhyeok’s arms.

The rhythmic rise and fall of his chest was calming, and the sound of his sleeping breath was soothing to hear.

Even the rough texture of his chin against her forehead felt reassuring.

Feeling all this comfort, Seola slowly closed her eyes again.

And she whispered to herself words she could never say aloud.

‘I actually have one skill I’m really good at: pretending to sleep…’

During her school years, she had practiced deceiving her worried parents by pretending to study all night, so she had become a pro at faking sleep.

…She knew that Suhyeok had intended to kiss her.

“Thump. Thump.”

Her heart pounded so hard she felt it might be heard outside, forcing her to clench her fists tighter against her chest.

“Calm down. It’s just… a fleeting feeling. It’s not about my heart. Get a grip.”

With effort, she managed to steady her racing heart.

The problem was her selfish desire to secretly want to accept his lips anyway.

A kiss…

She wanted it.

With a man who intended to devote his entire life to work and had no interest in feelings beyond accomplishment.

A man who had confidently chosen a woman capable of expanding his business as he wished and proposing marriage. She wanted a kiss with him.

‘But I…’

It wasn’t about his power or status.

She was just a woman unnecessary to him, someone whose emotions could interfere with his work.

That was the title that suited her best at the moment.

This wasn’t about pride—it was simply a cold fact.

But the problem was the “nevertheless.”

If desire meant wanting something beyond one’s place, then yes, it was desire.

‘Nevertheless, I wanted his kiss, and I wanted it to hold sincerity and affection…’

It was unmistakable selfishness.

Even if she denied it, she couldn’t fool herself.

She had liked him from the very first day they met, even if she occasionally or all day long tried to dislike him.

How could she ignore that her heart raced while holding someone who comforted her whenever she trembled in fear?

She clenched her fists together and layered them in front of her chest like a shield to hide her racing heart…

Still, she knew exactly what his kiss meant.

‘It was just an illusion…’

Riding in the car today, walking side by side in a place that wasn’t home or the office, eating beautiful food in a beautiful place—everything felt like a fluttering first date.

She tried not to let it show, but she felt a little excited anyway.

She knew it wasn’t a date, but of course, today was definitely not a date.

“We’re not dating, that’s true, but we’re closer than that. Let’s go… Honey! Get in.”

It was behavior he had never shown before.

Experiencing it, she wondered if he too was feeling a strange, not entirely pleasant emotion.

Maybe it was just mild discomfort, but still…

‘But of course, it wasn’t that…’

It wasn’t jealousy over another man asking for her contact info, nor was it a desire to interfere when seeing her with someone else.

“I overstepped. I crossed the line.”

On their bickering way back, he quietly held her hand and made his first gesture of apology…

“From now on, look at me only. Don’t look anywhere else, just at me.”

His tender gaze made her think there was some unspoken truth he couldn’t say…

“Seola, you were the pretty one first.”

He said such sweet words…

For a moment, she imagined that Suhyeok’s feelings had shifted from seeing her with another man.

‘I didn’t even realize the signal was from a ghost… or that it was just a warm-up for our own exorcism ritual to deceive it…’

She had run away pretending to sleep, embarrassed.

But now, since he was asleep…

Seola quietly lifted her head and looked at Suhyeok’s sleeping face.

From the high brow bone to the deep-set eyes and the line of his nose, shadows fell sharply.

Carefully, she traced his high, sharp nose with her fingertip without touching it directly.

‘I know it was just desire. But I’m predictable… If I kissed him just because of hormones, I’d feel lonely afterward…’

She traced his nose, which sloped from her side to his, and those lips she had longed for.

‘If I start to dislike Hansuhyeok more, then…’

Seola thought.

She hoped that when all their promised nights were over, she could give a casual farewell kiss without leaving even a fragment of emotion.

‘Or would that be even more awkward? Ha…’

As she unconsciously traced his face in the air, a shadow fell across her expression.

“This is bad… I keep liking him more…”

The small sigh she let out carried her inner whisper into the open.

Seola gasped and covered her mouth.

‘He didn’t hear that, right? He’s asleep, right?’

She waved her hands in front of his sleeping face.

Fortunately, there was no reaction.

Seola quietly slipped back into his embrace and continued pretending to sleep.

Suppressing the urge to check once more if he was truly asleep, she mentally scolded herself for the mistake she had just made.

“Brrrrr— Brrrrr—!”

“Ah! You scared me!”

The loud vibration of her phone made Seola jump up like a kid caught sneaking something.

“Um… what is it…”

Suhyeok, woken up, rubbed his eyes and raised his elbow, voice even lower from sleep.

“Ah? Oh… it’s Manager Minjeong. Ah! Surprise… I’ll just take this call quickly.”

Seola hastily covered herself with her clothes and scrambled out of bed to the other room.

She closed the door, leaned against it, and let out a relieved sigh, calming her startled heart.

“Phew… I must have been really asleep. Good… what if he heard that…”

Seola picked up the call.

“Hello? Minjeong?”

—Just finished organizing the blind date schedule, so I wanted to let you know.

“Oh, a blind date…?”

—The earliest is tomorrow at 7 PM. Is that okay?

“7 PM? …Yeah, that works.”

Suhyeok, sitting on the bed, visibly tensed.

She really was always alone in this house.

She didn’t seem to realize how clearly the sound of the call carried to where she was.

Not just that, but that he was awake.