Chapter 9

“You’d think they’d at least use Photoshop properly.”

Sara scoffed as she looked at the photos of Yoon Seul posted in an online article.

Had the reporters been paid or something? The pictures looked far too different from the real thing.

There’s no way Min Yoon Seul is actually this pretty.

Then the number printed on the large panel Yoon Seul was holding caught her eye.

“F-Fifty million won?”

When she enlarged the image, the number became even clearer.

Her stomach twisted so badly that it felt like her intestines were being tied into knots.

“No way.”

If she had properly stolen the final version, that money would have been entirely hers.

The loss of such a huge sum made Sara’s insides churn, and her frustration boiled over into fury.

“She gets fifty million won, and she only extorts two million from me?”

As soon as Sara returned home, she threw her bag into her room and headed straight for Yoon Seul’s room.

She flung the door open.

Yoon Seul, who had been sitting on her bed reading a book, looked up.

“Hey. I heard you won fifty million won in prize money from the competition.”

“So?”

“Give me back the money for the laptop I bought you. Now that you’ve gotten that much money, you should have enough conscience to return it. Don’t you think?”

Sara shamelessly held out her hand without the slightest trace of embarrassment.

“Fine. I’ll give it back. If you apologize.”

Yoon Seul lifted her chin and said it calmly.

The corners of Sara’s eyes trembled.

“…Have you seriously gone crazy?”

Sara had stolen and taken Yoon Seul’s things countless times.

But Yoon Seul had never once demanded an apology like this or glared at her with such a cold, piercing look.

Yet suddenly, she had changed one hundred and eighty degrees.

It was as if she had become an entirely different person.

“You think you’re somebody just because you won an award? Have you lost all sense of reality?”

“If you’re not going to apologize, get out. I’m not giving you the money either.”

“What…?”

Sara’s eyes darted around.

Her pride was screaming at her, but after doing the math in her head, she figured that if she could say a few words and get two million won back, it wasn’t exactly a bad deal.

“…Fine. I’ll do it. That’s all I have to do, right? I’m sorry. Happy now?”

It was an apology with less sincerity than if she’d accidentally bumped into a stranger on the street.

“You apologized, so transfer the two million won directly into my bank account.”

“I will.”

Yoon Seul obediently nodded.

There she goes again.

Sara was just about to curl her lips into a smug smile when Yoon Seul quietly added another sentence that turned her stomach all over again.

“But I’m going to tell Mom that you broke my laptop because you were trying to steal my competition entry. I kept quiet because you bought me a new laptop, but once you take that money back, it’ll mean I bought it with my own money.”

“Hey! Min Yoon Seul, you…”

Sara’s face turned bright red as she glared at her.

She had acted recklessly without consulting anyone, and if her mother also found out about the plagiarism scandal, Sara would obviously be in serious trouble.

“Once you’ve gotten your apology, you should just let it go. How can you be so petty and threaten to tell Mom?”

“I told you I’ll send the money.”

Sara felt a chilling sense of unfamiliarity coming from Yoon Seul standing before her.

…What’s wrong with her? She wasn’t like this before.

“Fine! Eat that money and live well.”

Sara stormed out after roughly shoving Yoon Seul’s shoulder.

Her insides were boiling with rage.

Beep beep beep beep. Beep.

After entering the door-lock code and opening the door to her officetel, Sara saw Tae-kyung walking toward the entrance.

The moment she saw him, she grabbed his lips and kissed him deeply.

As their tongues intertwined and she tasted the sweetness of his saliva, her miserable mood seemed to improve.

Tae-kyung responded with an intense kiss and pushed Sara down onto the sofa.

His hand slipped beneath her T-shirt and slowly traced around her stomach.

“Min Yoon Seul is driving me crazy. She won an award and suddenly thinks she’s somebody. So now she’s going to make big money, huh?”

“Big money? Is the competition prize really that much?”

“She says it’s fifty million won.”

“Fifty million?!”

Tae-kyung’s hand, which had been gently rubbing her stomach while he kissed around her collarbone, suddenly stopped.

Sara shot him a sideways glance.

“What? Hearing fifty million made you interested? Your girlfriend is so capable, isn’t she, Woo Tae-kyung?”

“What’s so great about that? I like you more. I even forced myself to meet her last weekend, but I spent the whole date thinking about you, Sara.”

“Really?”

Sara’s rigid pride was finally satisfied.

What did it matter if Yoon Seul made good money and won awards?

Once Tae-kyung married Yoon Seul, all that money would eventually flow straight into Sara’s hands anyway.

Go ahead and make money like a dog, Min Yoon Seul.

I’ll spend it like a queen.

In a much better mood, Sara let out a sultry laugh and slowly caressed the edge of Tae-kyung’s ear.

His throat visibly bobbed.

Just as the two excited lovers were about to lose themselves in each other—

Bzzzz. Bzzzz.

Tae-kyung’s phone vibrated loudly on the sofa table.

[Our Seul-ie]

When Tae-kyung saw the caller, he frowned.

But Sara’s face lit up.

She had just thought of a very amusing prank.

“Answer it. Let’s do something fun. Hurry up and answer.”

At Sara’s urging, Tae-kyung reluctantly pressed the call button.

Suddenly, Sara took his earlobe into her mouth.

She began sucking on it like candy.

The moment Yoon Seul’s voice came through the phone, Sara bit down on his earlobe.

That was when Tae-kyung realized what she meant by “something fun.”

“Uh, h-hello, Yoon Seul. What’s up?”

He tried to sound casual, but his face had flushed deeply, revealing just how excited he was.

Sara suppressed a mischievous laugh and slowly ran her tongue along the edge of his ear.

Then she blew gently against it, teasing him.

A moment later, when Sara boldly moved her tongue again, Tae-kyung squeezed his eyes shut at the sensation traveling through his ear.

At that exact moment, Yoon Seul’s voice came through the phone.

— I called because I was thinking about you, Tae-kyung.

Fuck. This is incredibly arousing.

It felt as though he were involved with two women at once.

Sara had no idea what Tae-kyung was thinking.

But hearing Yoon Seul’s voice made Sara imagine that Yoon Seul was standing right in front of her.

She wanted to whisper directly into the ear of the girl who had stood before her with her chin raised, threatening to tell their mother.

The Woo Tae-kyung you’re so desperately in love with is kissing me right now.

Just imagining how Yoon Seul would crumble if she heard those words sent a thrill through Sara’s entire body.

Sara firmly bit and sucked on Tae-kyung’s lower lip.

Then, wearing a mischievous expression, she bit down on his lips.

Tae-kyung couldn’t suppress a short groan at the force of her bite.

“Ungh!”

— Tae-kyung, what’s wrong with your voice? Are you hurt?

Yoon Seul’s worried voice came through the phone.

But Sara didn’t pull away.

Instead, she deliberately ran her tongue over his lips, teasing him even more.

Tae-kyung couldn’t hold himself back any longer.

Ah, fuck. Whatever.

Click.

Tae-kyung hung up and threw the phone aside.

He would deal with the immediate problem first and come up with some excuse for Yoon Seul afterward.

“Open your mouth, Sara.”

Tae-kyung grabbed the back of Sara’s head with both hands and kissed her fiercely.

Their tongues tangled together as he kissed her passionately, completely losing himself in the sensation.

“Ha, fuck… Min Sara.”

Overcome with desire, Tae-kyung closed his eyes and focused entirely on kissing Sara’s lips and tongue.

He kissed her deeply until her throat visibly contracted.

Sara tightly grabbed his arm as though she were struggling to breathe, but Tae-kyung didn’t care. He pulled her tightly against him and kissed her even more intensely.

The heat, the closeness, and the way Sara’s throat tightened in surprise only drove him further.

He liked seeing Sara become aroused while kissing him.

“Cough. Cough.”

When they finally broke apart from the force of the kiss, Sara gasped for breath and coughed repeatedly.

Only then did Tae-kyung come back to his senses.

“Are you okay?”

When he saw tears welling in Sara’s eyes after her coughing fit, he belatedly wondered if he had been too rough.

But then—

“I like kissing you, Oppa.”

Sara clung to his neck with moist, glistening eyes.

Seeing how much she wanted him, the corners of Tae-kyung’s lips twisted upward.

“This is why I can’t quit you. You’re like a drug, Min Sara.”

Still thoroughly aroused, Tae-kyung pulled her into another kiss.

He was enjoying the heated kiss when Yoon Seul called again.

“Ah, seriously. She has the worst timing.”

Tae-kyung tilted his head back in annoyance.

But if he didn’t answer now, it might arouse unnecessary suspicion.

I’ll just answer quickly and hang up.

With that thought, he pressed the call button.

— Tae-kyung, did something happen?

“Huh? No. I tripped over the sofa and the call got disconnected.”

— You didn’t hurt yourself badly, did you?

“I just fell. Don’t worry.”

Tae-kyung answered absentmindedly while gently touching Sara’s ear.

His hand moved down to her soft earlobe, and he was concentrating on rubbing it between his fingers when—

— That’s a relief. So you’re home right now?

“Of course I’m home.”

What’s so reassuring about that?

Just as Tae-kyung was about to hurriedly end the call, a bolt from the blue struck him.

— That’s great. I’m on the elevator right now, coming up.