“Ahh!”

The round, plump glans was pressed against her flushed, wet opening. The man, swallowing a gasp, thrust his hips slowly—as slowly as he possibly could—along her long, sensitive passage.

Every time he brushed against her fully aroused clitoris, the tightly clenched opening opened and closed while spewing out sticky, clear fluid.

* Jae-geon, seeing his penis glistening as if he’d just “monter,” let out a moan and pulled his hips back.

Licking the fluid that had trickled onto his fingers, he muttered.

“Damn, why are you so damn good all the way down here?”

It was a way of asking if she was testing his limits, but Hae-som, lost in the throes of orgasm, had no way of understanding his intent.

Jae-geon didn’t expect her to understand anyway, so he carefully licked his middle finger clean and slowly pushed it into her wet opening.

“Ahh!”

At that sharp cry, his thrust stopped just one joint in. Leaving his right hand clasped around Hae-som, Jae-geon asked as he slowly rubbed his penis with his left hand.

“Does it hurt?”

Her head, which had been jerking back and forth, suddenly trembled violently and fell forward onto Jae-geon. Haa haa—her ragged breathing came in frantic, disoriented gasps.

When two, then three joints were fully locked together, the movement of his left hand quickened slightly. He couldn’t tell if the fluid clinging to his palm was pre-ejaculate or the love juice oozing from Hae-som.

His fingers, searching for the G-spots hidden here and there in her tight passage, moved a little faster.

Slurp, slurp—at the lewd sound, saturated with fluids, Hae-som seemed to wake up for a moment, but then she was swallowed up by the orgasm again, leaning limply against Jae-geon’s chest. She managed to say,

“It doesn’t hurt as much as I thought it would.”

“It doesn’t hurt?”

“It’s thin and short, so it actually feels good.”

What was he going to do? The thing he actually needed to insert was thicker than his wrist and longer than his fingers.

In response to her praise that the sex was “pretty satisfying,” Jae-geon thrust his penis—which was too thick even for his own hand to grip—roughly into her.

Squelch, squelch—every time the thick, wet sound of friction echoed through the kitchen, her body, pierced through the G-spot, gushed out love juice as if screaming.

White semen sprayed out, tracing swift, whistling trajectories across her skin, now soaked to a mess.

Without ever fully penetrating her, only a premature ejaculation—brought on by a few strokes—dispersed into the cold dawn air.

Fiddling with the cell phone that lay sound asleep beside its owner, Jae-geon smiled with deep satisfaction.

“Looks like no one ever offered to put you to sleep, huh?”

“It’s not like that. That… you were the first, Chef.”

It didn’t matter if it was a lie. It didn’t matter if he was simply using me to get some sleep.

However, he absolutely refused to share her with that guy who’d stolen Seong Hae-som away. It might have been a matter of pride born from the compulsion to care for two mothers due to his father’s self-righteousness, but his innate obsessive-compulsive disorder was also a factor.

Judging by his silent phone—not a single text in sight—it seemed he’d sorted out his complicated personal life, and since she’d walked in on her own and asked to stay the night, there was no reason to refuse her any longer.

All he had to do was slip between her legs as he always did, so why was he hesitating?

His hand, which had been wandering for a while over her curved body, couldn’t find the answer and instead cupped Hae-som’s small face.

When he tapped her cheek—distorted like a glutinous rice cake—the skin on her face, which had been completely relaxed, suddenly tensed.

“Get up. You have to go to work.”

***

---

Hae-som, who had been staring at the ceiling and finally brought her focus back, quickly covered her pale, exposed body. But it was of little use. Her arms, crossed in an X, barely covered her areolas.

Wanting to restore the color that had drained from her face, Jae-geon’s appetite was whetted. He lightly climbed on top of Hae-som and pushed her crossed arms upward, and her nipples—which had been pressed flat—stood fully erect to greet him.

Her breasts swayed gracefully along with the rise and fall of her breath.

“Huh!”

“I haven’t even touched you yet.”

“You’re going to touch me, aren’t you?”

It was a reply that seemed to recall the events of the previous night. Jae-geon responded with a sly smile.

“I can tell you know I’m going to eat you soon, too.”

The hand that had been fondling her crimson-painted naked body wrapped around her waist and pulled her down to sit on his lap. He held her hips—which were quivering from an unfamiliar heat—and drew them closer, then took a deep breath in on her areola, now level with his gaze.

“Ahh.”

Her rapid, colorful breaths were beyond description.

No wonder I can’t just touch her carelessly. If I even tried to have sex with her, I’d end up on a tour of the afterlife.

With an innocent yet mischievous smile, like a child clutching a toy, Jae-geon was completely absorbed in indulging in Hae-som.

Perhaps the heat pressing against her through just a single layer of fabric was too uncomfortable, because Hae-som kicked her legs out again, widening the gap between them.

“Huh! Wait, just a second!”

“Why? You said you liked it because they’re thin and short.”

Their gazes met between her legs. A strand of love juice, stretching tenaciously before snapping, dripped onto her already damp panties.

Jae-geon let out a low groan and pushed up her chin, seeking Hae-som’s lips.

Blocking his lips with her palm as they tried to meet, Hae-som shook her head. Her face looked as if she were about to cry.

“Not now.”

“Why not?”

Is she embarrassed because it’s so bright? Or is she ashamed because she’s too sober?

“If I sleep now, I won’t be able to sleep later tonight.”

At this rare, plausible excuse, a clear, ringing laugh burst out in all directions.

Hae-som gently bit Jae-geon’s lip as if scolding him, then pulled away at the ticklish sensation. Her face flushed bright red, just as it always did.

Jae-geon, gradually suppressing his smile, smoothed out his hair—which was scattered like dandelion seeds—and then calmly got out of bed.

“Wake up and come out. Let’s go get a cup of coffee.”

---

Inwangsan Guard Post Bookstore.

Jae-geon ordered a double shot of espresso, and Hae-som an iced Americano. With their drinks in hand, the two went out and sat on the terrace.

The breeze sweeping down from the mountain ridge was crisp and cool—perfect for cooling off the sweat.

Perhaps the short hike had been more exhausting than expected, as Hae-som gulped down half her coffee in quick sips. No wonder she couldn’t sleep.

Startled by a piercing gaze, Hae-som set down her cup and mumbled, almost as if making an excuse.

“It’s not the coffee that’s keeping me awake.”

“Of course not.”

“I don’t know.”

If she isn’t taking any medication and there’s no treatment, shouldn’t she start by finding the cause? It’s just pitiful to see her brush it off and suffer in silence.

Doubting that any advice would be of comfort, Jae-geon gave up on that and instead tried to figure out a way to beat insomnia.

After all, she couldn’t rely on sex every time she felt sleepy. Surely there had to be a healthier alternative.

What about some strenuous exercise? But since she was already working just as hard, maybe it wouldn’t help. Quitting alcohol might be another option, and coffee—which wasn’t doing her any good anyway…

“So, about that, Chef.”

Hae-som, who had come in after putting the brakes on her racing thoughts, rubbed her fingertips together like she was nervous.

It was a sentence that required a deep breath or two and biting her lip seven or eight times to gather the courage to say.

“Could you sleep with me like this sometimes?”

A mountain breeze sweeping down a steep ridge lashed hard against Jae-geon’s cheek. Stunned by the numbing sensation that shot through his mind, Jae-geon gasped and asked,

“What?”

Was he dreaming? Or was he still half-asleep and hearing things?

If his behavior last night had been even slightly inappropriate, this might have been a plausible suggestion.

But that wasn’t something a guy who’d never been with a woman before—someone who could climax from a single kiss and faint from the slightest touch—would say.

Unless it were Cha Ji-won, that is.

The reversal of roles in the conversation made Jae-geon feel dizzy. To clear his head, he downed a bitter espresso in one gulp. The jolt was so intense it made the hairs on his entire body stand on end.

Jae-geon barely managed to compose his contorted expression and set down the espresso cup. Bathed in the bright green sunlight, Hae-som looked exceptionally radiant and fresh today.

“What are you talking about?”

“Why? Was it no good with me?”

If he hadn’t been interested, he wouldn’t have entwined his tongue with hers in the first place.

He wouldn’t have lost his mind like a sex-crazed maniac, casting aside all notions of decency and restraint, consumed by the desire to pound that narrow opening.

Yet the reason he hadn’t penetrated her was that same lofty sense of self-respect.

The self-control he’d clenched his teeth to maintain was beginning to waver.

All because of a mere twenty-four-year-old greenhorn, dismissed as a “newbie.”

“Was it no good?”

“It was good. Enough to make my lungs flip inside out.”

Her eyes shining like the fawn they say was once found near Inwangsan and Bukaksan, Hae-som added a detailed explanation to her words, step by step.

“I loved it, too. As I mentioned, I suffer from severe insomnia, but when I’m with you, Chef, I can sleep through the night. It became even more clear to me yesterday. I was prepared to do anything as long as I could get a good night’s sleep, and since you’re used to this kind of thing, if you’re okay with it…”

In other words, are you asking me to act as a dildo?

Her blunt words triggered a series of dry chuckles.

Hae-som didn’t seem to mind. She was clearly determined.

“I’ll make sure it doesn’t affect your personal life. How about once a week?”

“Why not just ask me to put you to sleep every single day?”

“If I stay out too often, my parents might get suspicious…”

At her earnest reply, a carefree laugh burst out. Jae-geon massaged the throbbing back of his head and gazed intently at Hae-som, who was trembling with desperation.

The dark circles under her eyes had turned a vivid crimson as if they’d never been there, and her sunken cheeks had plumped up with baby fat overnight.

Just as he’d said, yes—it was indeed a face that had clearly reaped the full benefits of sex, or something like it.

Rubbing his rough chin, which lacked even the slightest hint of fuzz, Jae-geon smiled lazily.

“I wonder if you remember.”

“What?”

“That you didn’t want to share me with anyone else.”

He wasn’t entirely without the intention of provoking her with his crude choice of words. No sooner had he finished speaking than Hae-som tightly shut her eyelids and spoke with her eyes closed.

“That won’t happen.”

The guy she’d met at Hunam-sa Temple, Eun-ho, and even Yoo Eun-seong.

Dropping names that crunched like sand, Jae-geon let out a sigh and sat up straight.

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.”

If that’s what you want, he’ll just have to put her to bed.

It seemed there was no longer any need to accommodate Hae-som’s convenience.

“Come home on Saturday after work.”