Contract Marriage with a Male Friend - Chapter 23

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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#23

Beom Jin led her to his bedroom.
The moment her back touched the enormous bed, his large, solid frame descended over her.
With their foreheads nearly touching, he undid the buttons of her blouse while she heard the soft click of his slacks unbuckling.
Through the gap, delicate lace came into view.
“So cute, what you’re wearing,” he murmured.
“Don’t say things like that… Ah!”
In one fluid motion, he stripped away her pants and seized his own shirt, tearing it open with both hands.
Buttons scattered across the floor like rain.
“Come here. Quickly.”
Beom Jin tilted his neck toward her lips, drawing her in.
“What—what are you doing?”
“You said you would, if we were together.”
“I never said that!”
He pressed a tender kiss to her pale forehead while his large hands gripped the soft skin of her shoulders.
“Ah…!”
“Should I do it myself then? Hmm?”
He kissed her face in scattered, hurried touches before burying his lips in the hollow of her neck, breathing her in with fervent intensity.
‘Because we’re friends. Because we’ve been closest to each other.’
That’s why this is happening.
Not because he loves me, but because he needs to escape home.
That’s why we’re doing this—practicing.
But no matter how many times she told herself this, the way Beom Jin looked now…
…was exactly like a great beast devoted to his master, helpless with adoration.
“You know what?” he whispered.
He licked the soft curve of her neck slowly with his tongue.
“I’m addicted to your scent.”
A shiver of exquisite sensation ran down her spine.
“I want to breathe you in forever. Your neck, your chest, and… here.”
Like a beast, burying his face. All day long.
When his hand descended between her thighs,
Sui gasped, and her whole body trembled violently.
“Wait, wait a moment… please…”
“Why do you keep stopping? You’re enjoying it.”
He left marks along her neck as his hand continued its deliberate motion.
Stroking upward, circling, pressing deep—each rhythm made the thin fabric grow damp.
When her slender hands clutched his broad shoulders, her grip tightening around his neck, a satisfied smile curved his lips.
“You’re doing so well. Yes, just like that… keep holding me. Don’t let go.”
“Ah, stop, it’s too much…!”
“Did you know you’re incredibly sensual, sweetheart?”
His large, thick fingers pushed aside the damp fabric and plunged deep inside.
Sui’s body shook uncontrollably.
The sudden surge of pleasure left her breathless, unable to form any sound.
“Mmm… you like it. My hand’s about to go numb, Sui.”
He pressed his lips to hers and continued moving his hand.
With stimulation from above and below, she couldn’t think clearly.
She could only surrender to him and gasp.
“From now on, we need to go out together more often.”
“What…?”
“Before the wedding, I need to show everyone. That we’re in love.”
Madly in love.
He withdrew his fingers and sat up, unbuckling his slacks.
Sui’s flushed chest rose and fell in rapid, uneven breaths.
Does she understand?
Every time he sees her like this—
He feels like he’s becoming something bestial.
“Don’t worry about anything. I’ll take care of everything.”
His large hands gripped her pale thighs firmly.
“You just need to stay by my side. That’s all you need to do, sweetheart.”
“Don’t call me that… Ah!”
“Then should I call you ‘wife’? Hmm? Sui.”
Answer me.
With that whisper, he pressed his weight down on her.
After that, conversation ceased between them.
Only sounds remained—sometimes tender, sometimes sharp, occasionally trembling like sobs.

***

…She really might kill him.
Sui turned her head to look at the clock.
The second hand was approaching 7:50.
Outside the window, darkness reigned.
The same darkness as when she’d encountered Beom Jin in the lobby of the Skyriver Hotel yesterday.
‘A whole day has passed….’
This couldn’t be real. Sui’s silent scream echoed in her mind.
She was still in his bedroom.
Still on his bed, still without a stitch of clothing, and still…
…he was behind her.
His thick, firm arm lay across her pale, marked body, spanning from shoulder to ribs.
When she tried to shift slightly away, his arm tightened immediately.
‘Is he awake?’
But Beom Jin was deeply asleep.
He’d collapsed into unconsciousness from exhaustion, but whenever Sui began to stir, he would instinctively tense his muscles and pull her closer in his sleep.
As if he would never let her escape.

“Please, sweetheart,” she said softly.
“Let go. You’ve been like this the whole time.”
“I haven’t slept at all until now. So give me this, sweetheart.”

His words made it impossible to move significantly.

“Finally, I can rest easy. Because you’re here with me.”

The man with legendary stamina was acting spoiled in a way she’d never seen before.
He really must have been busy.
He did look worn down. The shadows under his eyes were dark.
So Sui stopped her weak resistance and went limp.
…It wasn’t uncomfortable, after all.
Just a little strange.
Then she extended her arm and looked at it.
The visible skin was flushed red in patches everywhere.
‘Why did he leave marks like this….’
Her whole body was probably mottled with them.
Beom Jin had marked her like a beast grinding its teeth—imprinting his teeth across every inch of her skin.
Especially at her neck, where he’d barely relented.
He’d gnawed gently, then soothed with his tongue, then buried his lips again, murmuring about how good she smelled.
‘Who exactly was the Beom Jin I knew?’
Was this his true self?
How had he hidden it all this time?
Or… did he simply have no reason to show it?
‘Because we were friends. Because this wasn’t a side of us that should emerge.’
Perhaps this was the face of ‘Beom Jin the man’—not the friend.
If so, it explained why he’d acted differently in front of her before now.
‘Did he behave like this with other women?’
So wantonly, so tenderly.
Then Sui closed her eyes tightly.
Whether he did or didn’t—what did that matter to her?
They were just… ‘practicing.’
This wasn’t real.
“…?”
Sui’s eyes snapped open.
The moment that thought crossed her mind, a needle-sharp pang stabbed through her heart.
‘Why am I feeling like this?’
She took a small, steadying breath.
And instead of dwelling on her own strange feeling, she thought of Beom Jin’s.

“If a shower ran even slightly long, he’d break down the door. He couldn’t be alone in a room for more than ten minutes.”

How much it must have hurt.
Sui understood the pain of family rejection better than anyone.
Beom Jin’s family home must be one of the finest in the country—vast, with everything anyone could want.
But for him, it had been hell.
He’d abandoned that enormous legacy, choosing instead to live in a cramped apartment by comparison—with her.
So his fierce, violent passion was proportional to his desperate flight from that hell.
‘I never thought we’d become family like this.’
A one-year temporary husband arrangement.
And that temporary husband was Beom Jin.
The world truly was full of surprises.
“……”
Then, slowly, she lifted his hand.
She held her breath, watching for any sign he might wake, but he showed no sign of stirring.
Only after observing him a moment longer did she allow herself to examine his hand properly.
It was so large. Warm.
Then she nearly remembered how those hands had caressed her body, so she quickly redirected her thoughts elsewhere.
‘They say if your hands are cold, your heart is warm. So is Beom Jin the opposite?’
One year from now.
What will we be to each other?
Will we part as planned and return to being friends as intended?
Or…
If we can no longer even be friends, unable to see each other at all?
Sui found herself squeezing his hand tightly.
The mere thought made her chest ache.
‘Don’t think about it any further.’
This marriage has only one possible outcome.
She and Beom Jin would become lifelong friends.
With that resolve, she closed her eyes, still holding his hand.
Unaware of what would unfold the very next day.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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