Chapter 122: Dissolve: His Last Choice

The hallway connecting the bedroom and living room was lined with the washing room, pantry, and guest restroom.

While maintaining a subdued white tone, every space somehow exuded an understated sense of luxury.

It felt like I had put a single ten-thousand won bill in my pocket and stepped into a department store’s luxury brand section.

In other words, it wasn’t a place meant for me. What on earth was Yoon Jooho thinking?

I entered the bedroom tucked away at the farthest end, almost hidden.

Though it was called a one-bedroom, the size was quite generous. A king-size bed, a small sofa set, and a desk were arranged with comfortable spacing.

Even the bathroom connected to the bedroom looked larger than Song Hyunsoo’s Ok-tapbang.

“……”

And standing inside that bathroom was Yoon Jooho.

If I sign the contract for this place, does this guy in the bathroom come with it? If that’s the case, I’d be willing to pay the rent by selling my soul.

On the edge of the fairly wide bathtub sat his coffee cup and the padding jacket he’d taken off.

Wearing only a short-sleeved t-shirt and with his hands shoved into his pants pockets, Yoon Jooho was staring out toward the southeast of Seoul, lost in thought.

“This place is nice. You just have to move in. What do you think?”

Sensing Song Hyunsoo’s presence, he spoke without turning around.

“What do you mean what do I think? You know I can’t afford rent like this.”

“The company will cover it.”

“…Excuse me?”

Yoon Jooho turned toward me and perched on the edge of the bathtub.

“Our CEO said he’d pay for it.”

“That makes no sense. Who would give a rookie actor just debuting a place like this? Unless you’re having an affair with the CEO or something.”

“Something like that. The CEO is unmarried and single, so not an affair.”

Yoon Jooho picked up the cup he had set down, slipped a straw between his lips, and smirked with a sneer.

Looking around the luxurious bathroom here and there, Song Hyunsoo replied as if it wasn’t even worth taking seriously.

“Don’t say ridiculous things. I’m just here to check out this kind of place while I’m at it.”

“Aren’t you aiming to be a Top Star?”

“…Yeah.”

After inspecting the shower booth that looked big enough for three or four people to shower simultaneously, Song Hyunsoo nodded.

“That’s why the company’s going to support you at this level. I don’t intend to raise you halfway. You’ll be taking all sorts of lessons, going to the shop every time you have a schedule. Living nearby will make things easier for you, the manager, and the company.”

“If I had to live in Gangnam on my own budget, a goshiwon is the best I could do.”

As I tried to walk past Yoon Jooho toward the sink, he grabbed my wrist.

“Why do you keep walking like that? Does it still hurt?”

“I told you to stop caring about it. It’s not like giving medicine after causing the wound.”

I tried to pull my wrist free, but Yoon Jooho’s grip tugged stronger sideways.

The moment my butt touched the edge of the bathtub, Yoon Jooho stood up.

He blocked my way, bending at the waist and placing both hands on either side of me so I couldn’t slip past.

His smug smile was right in front of my face.

“What are you doing? You almost spilled the coffee.”

“A guy who gives the wound and the cure is better than a guy who only gives wounds.”

“A guy who doesn’t even give wounds will be— ah— ugh, um.”

He attacked me with a kiss again.

Without using his tongue, Yoon Jooho pressed his lips softly enough to gently crush mine.

He alternated between sucking on my lower and upper lips.

I clenched the hand holding the coffee cup without realizing it, and the ice clinked together with a rattle.

His lips traveled from my cheek to my chin, then to my ear.

“Do you still feel like I’m inside you?”

“Don’t… do that.”

His large hand cupped my lower jaw broadly, gripping it as he looked down at me closely.

“You don’t look like someone who’d say no.”

“What can I do here?”

“Didn’t you see? There’s a bed too.”

Yoon Jooho pointed with a chin nod toward the bedroom through the open door and laughed.

I tried to push his shoulder away.

“Stop being ridiculous, just—”

“Just sign the contract for this place. Then it won’t be a problem even if you use the bed.”

“I don’t have that kind of money— um. Ugh.”

This time, a warm tongue slid in.

Opening my mouth to fully take in the sleek flesh, I recalled the feeling when his member would enter me, and I couldn’t help it.

He rubbed across my tongue, traced the soft mucous membrane inside my cheek, and teased the roof of my mouth just behind my teeth with skillful movements.

My waist below relaxed almost immediately.

Receiving this kind of kiss from someone I liked, there was no way to resist.

The best I could do was clench my lower abdomen to keep from moaning in pleasure.

As his sweetly melting tongue pulled back, I gasped irregular breaths.

My eyelids, waist, and knees all felt weak.

Not even a teenager, yet a kiss could make my legs go weak at this age.

“You’ve lost your mind.”

Yoon Jooho brushed my hair back from my forehead.

As usual, it was a rough touch rather than a delicate one.

But I liked it.

Even though he wasn’t used to this kind of skinship, he was trying to touch me.

“This is your reward for finding my watch. Isn’t that enough?”

“I did it from the heart. So answer with your heart too. Isn’t that good enough?”

Holding down the hair at the crown of my head so it wouldn’t slip down, he stared intently at my face from every angle.

“Ha… what exactly is this?”

“What now?”

He’d said something like that before when he first started letting me into Yoon Jooho’s house.

“Your mouth’s rough, your body’s stiff, your eyes are pitch black. Not sexy at all, more like a high schooler obsessed with soccer.”

And I was the one obsessed with that high schooler?

“That means you’re attracted to me beyond your taste.”

“Where on earth does that confidence come from?”

Yoon Jooho grabbed my chin and twisted it left and right, clicking his tongue.

“If you weren’t this shameless, you wouldn’t last next to me.”

“You call that shameless?”

“You’re just right for me.”

Wiping my mouth with the back of my hand, I glanced sideways at Yoon Jooho.

“And who was the one following me from morning all the way to the bathroom, pestering me?”

“Sex drive.”

You can satisfy it anywhere else, yet you always come to me to relieve it? That’s not just sex drive anymore, Your Highness.

Saying it’s sex drive, or trying to prove it’s sex drive— Yoon Jooho bent down to kiss me again.

I tried to dodge, but this time his hand reached for my side.

I wanted to refuse seriously, but I couldn’t stop laughing because it tickled.

“Ah, stop it, seriously. You’re going to spill the coffee.”

But my laughter and teasing voice didn’t faze Yoon Jooho at all.

He chuckled as he tickled my side and showered my neck with kisses.

Knock, knock.

Only when there was a knock did Yoon Jooho stop playing around.

“What are you two doing? Move aside.”

Seo Hae was leaning against the open bathroom door with a grin.

Yoon Jooho turned, erased his smile, and answered with a blank expression.

“Would appreciate it if you did.”

Incredibly, he tried to press his lips to mine again.

I pushed against his chest and slipped out from between his arms.

Yoon Jooho’s coffee, perched on the bathtub edge, wobbled dangerously.

Quickly snatching it, his hand tilted and coffee spilled over. Fortunately, it was cold coffee.

Seo Hae, putting the phone he was holding into his coat pocket, asked Yoon Jooho.

“You’re close with actor Nam Seyeon, right?”

“I get along with that senior fairly well. Why?”

Yoon Jooho answered indifferently while walking toward the sink to wash his hands.

“She’s getting divorced. The article will come out soon.”

“What??”

Unlike the surprised Song Hyunsoo, Yoon Jooho remained calm.

“The last time I saw them, they looked fine. What’s the reason?”

“Something about her husband’s past. Don’t know what the article will say though.”

Rubbing his hands under the running water, Yoon Jooho sneered knowingly.

“Nam senior’s hopeless. Her husband’s six years younger. Same age as me. It was so awkward with the way they had to address each other. Whatever he was up to in the past must’ve been bad to get kicked out by the senior.”

“Guess he partied as much as you did.”

“……”

Pressing the pump to dispense soap, Yoon Jooho cast a cold glance at Seo Hae through the mirror.

Song Hyunsoo, who had been silently listening, cut in with a question.

“Are people really divorcing over something like that?”

“Hyunsoo, you don’t seem to care about that kind of thing.”

“Past? It’s not the Joseon Dynasty. Who cares about that?”

Washing off the foam, Yoon Jooho muttered cynically.

“Agreed. It’s an outdated notion.”

“As long as they’re not involved with someone I know, it’s fine.”

“……”

Under the water stream, Yoon Jooho’s hand slowed.

Seo Hae glanced at Yoon Jooho through the mirror. Then awkwardly lifted the corners of his mouth toward Song Hyunsoo.

“Then maybe Hyunsoo will understand.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“You know Jang Miyeong, right?”

“Of course. She debuted alongside Nam Seyeon and they’ve been close since.”

They were famous celebrity best friends known to the whole country.

“Before Nam Seyeon met her husband, he was involved with Jang Miyeong. Passionately.”

“Ah… well… then that changes things.”

My husband, who I married, was actually passionate with my best friend in the past.

— Definitely not something you could treat like an ordinary past.

“When the article comes out, it’ll be noisy for a while. People will say all kinds of things…”

Offensive speculative comments will run wild, and scandalous rumors will spread here and there.

Song Hyunsoo sighed and shook his head.

Seo Hae straightened his body from leaning on the door and looked at Song Hyunsoo and Yoon Jooho in turn.

Then he said in a dry voice,

“Well, it’s none of our business.”

As I followed him out of the bathroom, I glanced back.

Yoon Jooho was still standing by the sink, hands braced on the edge, unmoving.

The water kept running. His hands looked like they’d finished washing, but he hadn’t turned off the faucet.

“Senior, what are you doing, not coming out?”

In the mirror, Yoon Jooho slowly raised his eyes and met my gaze.

He looked displeased.

“Not turning off the water?”

Was the news about senior Nam Seyeon’s divorce really that shocking? At first, he seemed unfazed.

The sound of water flowing filled the space, dizzying and loud.