Chapter 2

Drenched in sweat and pressed together, a tremendous wave of release overtook them, heat spreading throughout her entire body.

She exhaled a moist breath and slid her fingers through Junyoung’s hair.

Buried against her soft upper body, Junyoung trembled at the sharp intensity of pleasure.

There were no small kisses that usually accompanied his release, no gentle hand soothing his back.

Instead, he indulged his suppressed desire without restraint—taking her in a manner that was bold and rough.

Jini’s brow twitched slightly.

A strange emotion welled up within her, and she barely managed to swallow the urge to cry.

The reality of desperately clinging to something she could never truly have hurt in a way that stung deeply.

“If you were mine even once, you’d be mine forever.”

Junyoung exhaled a thick breath and whispered into her ear.

1.

With no trace of having stayed up all night, Junyoung left the hospital looking impeccably composed.

It had already been two days since she last saw his face in the hospital lobby.

His expression remained unreadable and reserved, but his steps were brisk.

At the crosswalk, as he waited for the traffic light to change, he noticed a car slowing down and pulling over with its hazard lights on.

On the wide eight-lane road, even from a distance, the woman inside spotted him.

She lowered the window and leaned out slightly, smiling as brightly as spring blossoms in full bloom.

Junyoung’s lips lifted faintly in a smile in return, and he stepped forward just as the light turned green.

“Junyoung!”

She called his name loudly and waved, her manner still reminding him of a high school girl.

After he opened the passenger door and got in, Jini started the car.

“You didn’t stay up all night, did you?”

Checking the rearview mirror, Jini glanced at Junyoung beside her.

“I stayed up.”

“Then where did you go? You look more energetic than I do.”

As she changed lanes and glanced sideways, Junyoung returned her gaze with quiet intensity.

“Why? Something tiring happen?”

“Family stuff.”

He answered without much emotion, and as she turned left at the intersection, she smoothly adjusted the steering wheel.

Recognizing the look on his face, Junyoung nodded.

“Again? Your mother changed boyfriends?”

Jini turned her head toward the window, hiding her expression with obvious displeasure.

Her mother changed partners as frequently as seasons changed clothes.

Whenever that happened, she often didn’t come home for days.

But yesterday something must have gone wrong, because the moment she returned home, she took out all her frustration on Jini.

Even coming home exhausted from work, she couldn’t find peace—only adding to her fatigue.

The truth was, Jini didn’t even know who her biological father was.

Her mother had given birth to her out of wedlock. Her grandfather refused to accept his daughter as an unwed mother and cast her out when she became pregnant.

She dropped out of college and entered the workforce while raising a child—struggling at a young age in ways that Jini only began to understand as an adult.

Even while empathizing, she couldn’t fully accept the unstable way her mother lived.

Perhaps over the years, those hidden feelings had built up, becoming a habit of concealing emotions rather than expressing them.

Jini pressed her eyes lightly with her fingertips and glanced at Junyoung.

“Why are you looking at me so seriously? It’s nothing new.”

“It is something new. It happens all the time, yet you always get so sensitive about your mother.”

Jini considered his words for a moment and then nodded in reluctant agreement.

“Yeah… it’s nothing new, but I still react that way.”

She laughed lightly and parked in front of the sundae soup restaurant where they were meeting.

Seeing a familiar car already parked in front, she sighed.

“Looks like we’re late today. They must have arrived first.”

Punctuality mattered to her—being late always made her uncomfortable.

“It’s not that we’re late. They just came early. They’re usually the ones running behind—what kind of wind blew them here today?”

Junyoung sounded slightly dissatisfied but clarified the situation, easing her mind.

Still looking unconvinced, Jini checked the time on her phone and opened the restaurant door.

As she stepped inside, Yumin raised a hand in a half-hearted greeting before lowering it again.

“We already ordered, so just pick what you want when it comes.”

Yumin and Sanguk had already finished a bottle of soju by the time they arrived.

Sensing the subdued atmosphere, Jini cautiously sat beside Yumin.

Following her in, Junyoung immediately opened the restaurant refrigerator, taking out soju and drinks without needing to be told.

He sat beside Sanguk and skillfully opened a bottle, filling an empty glass.

Yumin and Jini exchanged a look and clinked their glasses against Sanguk’s, who frowned.

“Eat and drink. If we die, we die. What’s life anyway?”

Yumin, normally easygoing, spoke in a flat tone—but Sanguk finally cracked a small smile.

His laughter was predictable; Yumin’s dry joke always did the trick.