Chapter 18
“……”
Despite the chatter around him, Jinwoo stayed glued to his phone, waiting for a message from Seoha.
Thirty minutes passed—felt like three years—but there was still no word from her.
“Are you still busy?”
He wanted to call her immediately, but afraid she might dislike it, Jinwoo opted to message her first.
Yet even after 10, then 20 minutes, she hadn’t read the message.
Eventually, Jinwoo ran out of patience and called her. The endlessly looping call tone completely evaporated what little patience he had left.
“Damn it!”
Even after trying several times, she didn’t pick up. Jinwoo cursed under his breath and stormed out of the bedroom.
Jinseong, who had been chatting with a secretary in the living room, turned to him.
“Where are you going?”
“I just need to check something. I’ll be back soon.”
Leaving behind only that explanation, Jinwoo hurriedly exited the suite.
He scoured the hotel’s restaurant, lounge, and basement bar, but Seoha was nowhere to be found.
Just in case, he asked one of his men stationed at the entrance, but they hadn’t seen her leave.
Which meant… she was still in the guest rooms.
Seoha was in a room with some unknown man.
That alone was infuriating—but what pushed Jinwoo over the edge was the voice of the man he heard on the call.
“We’re not just acquaintances. We spent the night together.”
Jinwoo clenched his jaw so hard it audibly cracked and marched to the hotel front desk.
“Has someone named Han Seoha visited today?”
“I’m sorry, sir. Guest information is confidential and cannot be disclosed.”
“She’s a laim registered under my family.”
Jinwoo pulled out his suin ID and showed it to them.
“So just tell me.”
Technically, laims were subordinates belonging to a family.
It was customary that if a suin requested information, it would be provided.
The staff exchanged glances, then nodded.
“We’ll check.”
[No need.]
A familiar voice called from behind. Jinwoo turned with a scowl.
There stood Mikhail, hands in his pockets, leaning with a smirk.
[Even laims deserve privacy—at least in my hotel.]
Mikhail? The one known to treat laims worse than insects? Saying that?
Jinwoo gave a sarcastic laugh.
[I can’t believe those words came out of your mouth.]
[I’m fickle, you know. I can separate business from personal.]
Mikhail shrugged and added:
[So I won’t allow anyone—even you—to take my guest’s info. Even if that woman’s a laim from your family.]
Jinwoo wanted to scream “bullshit,” but this was Mikhail’s turf. Picking a fight would only hurt himself.
He turned away, suppressing his anger.
Of course, he didn’t bother giving a parting greeting to Mikhail.
Mikhail watched him leave, stroking his chin with amusement.
[A love triangle, huh.]
This is getting interesting.
A sly curve lifted Mikhail’s thin, red lips.
Suddenly, Seoha woke up. She struggled to lift her heavy eyelids as if a rock were pressing them down.
“……”
A handsome face came into view, even in the faint darkness. His long lashes draped down like curtains.
Watching Ethan sleep, memories of the previous night came flooding back.
His arms wrapped around her, her moans, the climax—it was all so vivid that Seoha squeezed her eyes shut and buried her face in the pillow.
“…I’m insane.”
Not once, but twice?
No, this wasn’t a mistake. Nor was it because of pheromones. She had slept with Ethan entirely of her own will.
That truth drove her even more mad. Seoha clutched the pillow and silently screamed over and over.
Thankfully, Ethan was asleep. If he had been awake, it would’ve been unbearably awkward.
…But was he okay? His shoulder and side had been injured.
She quickly checked his condition. Thankfully, there was no blood seeping through the bandages.
Looks like the wounds are stable.
Relieved, she carefully slipped out of bed.
Her body creaked with every movement—especially down there, the pain was indescribable.
She went straight to the bathroom. Seeing herself in the mirror, she clicked her tongue.
“If someone saw me, they’d think I had a skin disease.”
Her body was covered in red marks. How long would they take to fade this time? At least two weeks.
“Thank God it’s winter.”
Otherwise, she’d have had to show this embarrassing state to others.
With a sigh of relief, she turned on the shower. As the hot water gushed out, steam filled the room.
Most suins saw laims as convenient toys.
Especially for one-night stands.
It wasn’t surprising—laims easily lost control under a whiff of pheromones.
Plus, laims knew their place. They didn’t demand responsibility or cling afterward, making things easy for suins.
Seoha had been blatantly propositioned more than once by suins like that.
They’d try to seduce her with pheromones, asking to sleep with them.
But not once did she give in. She had bitten her inner cheeks bloody to resist.
Then why couldn’t I resist that man?
At first, she told herself to resist—but in the end, she gave in. And so easily, too.
That was shocking enough—but what surprised her more was how satisfying the night had been.
She found herself thinking she wouldn’t mind continuing this relationship.
“…I really am crazy.”
Muttering to herself, she shut off the water.
Despite spending a long time in the shower, Ethan was still asleep.
I should run before he wakes up.
Quickly changing clothes, Seoha quietly left the room.
“It’s cold.”
The early morning chill seeped into her still-damp hair.
She wrapped her coat tighter and headed down to the lobby.
Unlike the bustling crowds from before, only a few staff were now around.
For security, guests visiting the annex had to register their names—and could erase them when leaving.
After erasing her name at the front desk, she was about to leave when she spotted a familiar silhouette.
“Jinwoo?”
It was Cha Jinwoo. Why is he here? Seoha tilted her head in confusion.
He also saw her and quickly approached. His long legs closed the distance fast.
“What are you doing here? Couldn’t sleep?”
“……”
“Jinwoo?”
She called his name several times, but he didn’t respond. His dark brown eyes looked intense. His expression was unusually serious.
“What’s wrong?”
Worried, she reached out—but Jinwoo suddenly grabbed her hand.
“……!”
Then he buried his face in the crook of her neck. Seoha froze in shock.
“What… what are you doing—?”
“I smell something unfamiliar.”
His voice was low, but filled with restrained fury.
“A scent I’ve never smelled before.”
“That’s just the hotel’s shower cologne—”
“No. This is another male’s scent.”
His grip on her wrist tightened. His eyes gleamed as he hissed through his teeth:
“You slept with someone else.”
Her face twisted. Partly because he was gripping her so tightly—but more because he had found out about Ethan.
Her lungs shrank, her heart thudded. She couldn’t meet his gaze and lowered her head.
“Who was it?”
Jinwoo’s face contorted as he grabbed her shoulders.
“Who the hell did you sleep with?”
“What does it matter to you?”
Her voice turned firm. Though she had hesitated earlier, Seoha realized she had no reason to feel guilty.
This was her personal business.
And it wasn’t like she had shamed the family or caused trouble.
“Why should I tell you? Give me a reason.”
“…You’ve changed.”
Jinwoo gave a bitter laugh.
“You used to tell me everything—now you’re hiding things.”
Everything? Since when?
Seoha wrinkled her brow as a thought occurred to her.
“You’re not referring to our university days, are you?”
He didn’t answer—but it was obvious he was.
Seoha laughed hollowly.
“That was because you were pretending to be my boyfriend. That’s why I told you.”
Not just her—Jinwoo had also told her every detail of his life.
He said couples should know everything about each other.
Unlike Seoha, who had never dated, Jinwoo had dated many women.
So she had gone along with it—but it always felt a little odd.
Do couples really have to share everything like that?
Even now, years after graduating, that question remained.
“But we’re not like that anymore. There’s no need for it.”
Looking him in the eyes, Seoha said as if coaxing a child:
“Wake up. How long are you going to stay immersed in the act? You’re my friend, not my real boyfriend.”
Jinwoo gave a dry chuckle, twisting his lips.
“Maybe for you it was just acting. But not for me.”
“What?”
“I like you.”
The words dropped like thunder, and Seoha’s eyes widened.
“I like you—no, I love you, Seoha.”
