Chapter 52. First Kiss
“Yeah. You get in the way.”
“Cha Haeyoung.”
Taeseong put everything he wanted to say into her name alone.
A single warning, hoping it would end her drunken tantrum.
He didn’t want to get angry at Haeyoung on New Year’s Day.
“What does it matter? We’re getting divorced soon anyway.”
“What?”
Each syllable dripped with coldness.
Taeseong almost blurted—So that’s all you were thinking about the whole time you were with me today?
But he held it back, biting his lip instead.
“You’re too drunk. Let’s talk tomorrow.”
“No. Go now. Go back to Seoul.”
In the narrow alley, the bickering continued.
“Let’s at least go home. I’ll take you back and then head to Seoul.”
“Just… go. Leave me.”
Maybe it was the tears held in all night.
Haeyoung’s drunkenness intensified, and with it, her true feelings began to spill out.
“Go to Jo Minju. Just go to her.”
Finally, the truth she had kept buried spilled out.
“You’re supposed to spend important days with people like her. Not me.”
As her emotions crashed down in a wave, Taeseong stood frozen, dazed.
“If you don’t go now, you’ll regret it.”
No matter what she said, Taeseong stood there like a broken robot, unable to move.
“I warned you.”
And even when she warned him again, he didn’t leave.
Even as Haeyoung leaned in with her eyes closed—he knew what that meant.
He could’ve avoided it.
But he didn’t.
He didn’t resist.
Smooch—
Those soft lips that once confused him now stayed pressed against his, and he welcomed it.
As she stepped back, eyes full of sorrow, she murmured:
“See? I told you I’d regret it.”
But unlike her words, Taeseong’s face remained calm—like a lake at dawn.
His deep, unreadable eyes fell on her lips.
Some overwhelming emotion surged through his mind and chest.
It didn’t take long before it consumed him completely.
And then he was sure.
In the faint, narrow alleyway just over a meter wide, the distance between them disappeared.
Haeyoung stumbled backward, looking for an escape.
Thud—
Her back hit the old brick wall.
There was nowhere else to run.
Not her body. Not her heart.
Her wet eyelashes fluttered like petals.
When she lowered her head, Taeseong’s voice—filled with certainty—gently brushed her ear.
“I get it.”
“…What do you get?”
What could you possibly understand?
How could you say something like that, when you don’t even know what matters?
Resentment, born of hopelessness, unspooled inside her like a worn-out cassette.
Then Taeseong gently cupped her cheek and lifted her face.
“The reason I came to you on December 31st…”
I wanted to see you. To spend that moment with you.
Because… I like you.
He swallowed all the reasons he could’ve spoken aloud all night long.
Lowering his head, he kissed her deeply, hoping his feelings would reach her.
At first, he just pressed his lips to hers.
Then he slowly began to move.
Clumsy, like a child tasting candy for the first time—but joyful.
The cautious touch grew bolder.
Taeseong parted her lips with his.
He had always imagined a first kiss would be warm and romantic.
But now he realized—
Kissing someone you like makes you desperate. Hungry. Restless.
No matter how much you taste it, it’s never enough.
Taeseong, newly twenty, felt his mind turn completely blank.
And in its place, the overwhelming desire to close every distance between him and Haeyoung filled his thoughts.
Their tongues intertwined, and the taste—sweeter than anything he’d ever known—spread through him.
His heart pounded like he’d sprinted a hundred meters.
His fingers tingled as if electrified.
The longer the kiss lasted, the more certain he became.
And then came a painful spark of realization:
“How could I not know I liked you this much?”
From some point on, every moment had revolved around her.
Even when she wasn’t around, he thought of her.
When she was, he wanted to see her smile.
When she cried, he wanted to hug her.
And when she smiled at other men, it annoyed him.
All those signs had always been there. That I liked her.
So why… how could I have confused love for friendship?
Like a fool.
As he pulled away, a thread of saliva glistened between them.
Though the dawn air was sharp and cold, the breaths they exchanged were hot.
Haeyoung’s eyes shimmered with dazed wonder after the drunken kiss.
That look alone melted Taeseong.
He wiped her lips gently, smiling.
And then—pressing all of his heart into one line—
“I like you, Cha Haeyoung.”
At the threshold of dawn, he confessed:
“I really, truly like you.”
Softly. Longingly.
After the kiss, Haeyoung collapsed into his arms.
Startled, Taeseong was ready to rush her to the emergency room—but he sighed in relief when she muttered in her sleep.
Just drunk.
He carried her home.
Thankfully, her grandmother had gone to visit a friend.
Had she seen the state her granddaughter was in—thanks to her new “grandson-in-law”—she surely would’ve been furious.
“Excuse me…”
Thankfully, this was a country house—the door wasn’t locked.
He tiptoed inside and soon spotted Haeyoung’s room through a crack.
Laying out her bedding, he gently placed her on it after removing her coat.
Only then did he let out a sigh.
“Phew—”
Still in his own coat, Taeseong lay beside her, catching his breath.
As his breathing steadied, he turned to her.
Moonlight trickled through the window, dancing across Haeyoung’s face.
For a moment, it all felt surreal.
But then Haeyoung stirred, murmuring softly:
“Mmm…”
That was all the confirmation he needed—this was real.
“Cha Haeyoung.”
He called her name.
“Cha Haeyoung.”
Just saying it made his heart feel full.
Lying beside her, he gently wrapped his hand around hers.
Feeling the warmth in that small hand, he whispered:
“Haeyoung-ah. Cha Haeyoung.”
Liking someone… really does feel like your chest is about to explode.
If just calling their name makes you this happy, if just being next to them fills you with adrenaline…
Then maybe—
Maybe I’ve never really loved anyone before.
Maybe those other feelings were just childish confusion.
And I want to tell her that.
Lying on his side, Taeseong stared at her peaceful, sleeping face.
Then, lips barely moving, he whispered:
“When you wake up, I’ll tell you again… how much I like you.”
Taeseong, unable to sleep from the excitement, saw the faint light of morning entering the room.
He’d hoped to watch the sunrise with Haeyoung, but she was still deeply asleep.
“Guess I can’t ever let her drink again.”
He mumbled to himself.
“She becomes totally reckless when she drinks.”
Even sober, Haeyoung was sometimes hard to handle.
But drunk? Impossible.
If it had happened while he wasn’t around…
Just the thought made him shiver.
“Nope. Not happening.”
Trying not to wake her, he sighed.
Then—his phone buzzed.
It wasn’t a time anyone should be calling, so he frowned, pulling it from his pocket.
As he checked the message, his face went rigid.
“Taeseong, your mother has returned… from America.”
