Dopamine Addiction - Chapter 79

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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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79.
But Liam had no intention of backing away without an answer from her. A man’s name spilled from between Hee-ju’s teeth.
“Sergei.”
Liam brought his fingertip to his lips with careful tenderness.
“You killed him far too gently.”
“There’s nothing more painful than burning to death. That much was enough.”
“You pulled the trigger too soon. You should have made him suffer longer.”
He knew the scattered words were sincere. Hee-ju propped herself up on her elbows and whispered against his lips.
“What happened to promising you’d drive something stronger than a bullet into me?”
“When did you start looking down on me as crude?”
Liam laughed with shameless ease and kissed the bridge of her nose.
Hee-ju cupped his cheek and kissed him. Her hand, moving slowly downward, slipped off his outer jacket.
The Blouson Jacket fell to the floor. Liam’s smile deepened.
Hee-ju pulled his t-shirt upward. Liam readily lifted both arms, making it easy for her to undress him.
Even as they moved, their lips remained pressed together. Wet sounds filled the room.
She tossed his shirt to the floor. Eyes closed, she caressed his neck and chest frantically. The more she touched him, the hotter her own body became.
She was amazed at how such burning desire lurked within her. Especially since she’d always thought of herself as an ascetic.
Ascetic? She was the very embodiment of want.
She wanted to press closer against him. She wanted him to extinguish the ember that had fallen in her belly. She wanted this maddening itch to disappear.
Focusing on the sensation at her fingertips, she swept her palm across his firm chest. Wherever her hand passed, muscle tensed beneath her touch.
Hee-ju swallowed involuntarily. Then her fingers brushed against something rough—the texture of fabric.
A bandage, surely. The injury he’d sustained rescuing her from Melpis’s estate.
It hadn’t healed yet.
Hee-ju’s touch grew even more tender. She swept across his collarbone, caressed his chest. Her hand gradually descended.
Liam’s breathing began to roughen. He couldn’t restrain himself any longer and kissed her fiercely. Her head tilted back.
“Ah…!”
Liam started unbuttoning the remaining fastenings of her shirt. Damn. Another low curse escaped him.
This time it wasn’t imagination. A button, torn away, spun across the floor and vanished somewhere.
Liam finally pulled her shirt free. Her rounded shoulders were exposed. Like a starving beast, he bit her shoulder.
Hee-ju’s waist arched reflexively. She unconsciously wrapped her arms around his back.
Her fingers, which had been stroking his back, descended further. In that moment when her heart began to burn with heat—
“!”
Again, her fingers met the rough texture of fabric.
What? Hee-ju slowly opened her eyes. The bandage on his shoulder was a wound she recognized. But what was this around his waist?
Liam’s rough breathing echoed in her ear. He pressed his lower body deeper against her.
At the same moment, Hee-ju’s gaze fell on the bandage—the one stained dark red with blood.
“……”
The bandage, stripped of its original color, was soaked through. The metallic smell of blood pricked her nose.
When? No—where? No.
Hee-ju’s breath caught. The presence of a bandage meant the injury hadn’t come from Sergei’s estate.
Despite everything his body had endured.
She saw him again: running down a corridor raked with gunfire. Shoving her beneath a car. Suspended in mid-air, holding the weight of two people with a single hand.
Not once in any of those moments had he furrowed his brow. His face remained calm, as though his presence there was inevitable, natural.
The sound still echoed clearly in her memory. Whether it was torn muscle, stretched ligament, or fractured bone—
What must he have felt?
Hee-ju couldn’t begin to imagine. Her heart ached. Her throat tightened. Her eyes grew hot.
She tried to slow her breathing, to cool the fierce emotion surging through her. But it only burned hotter.
Ah.
At last she had to admit it: whether from affection, pity, or debt—she would end up loving him.
Even if the day came when his heart changed and he looked at her with cold eyes, even in that final moment, she would cling to him.
Once she admitted it, her heart felt lighter. So Hee-ju pushed his shoulders back with both hands.
Liam, frowning slightly, allowed himself to be pushed back and looked down at her with displeasure.
Hee-ju drew a deep breath and shouted with all her strength.
“You crazy bastard!”
“……”
A brief silence fell. Liam slowly swept his hair back. He looked around the empty room, then pointed at himself with one finger.
“You mean me?”
“Who else could there be a crazy bastard besides in this room?”
“Hmm.”
Liam stared into empty space with a thoughtful expression. His gaze drifted back down to Hee-ju.
“I thought we had reached a silent understanding between us. Are you saying I forced myself on you?”
Hee-ju answered with a sharp glare instead of words. Liam wrinkled his nose and scratched his jaw.
“It seemed to me you were the one undressing me.”
He glanced back at her, but her expression showed no sign of softening. His eyes grew increasingly bewildered.
Hee-ju sat up abruptly and buttoned her open shirt. Though one button was missing and her chest gaped, she didn’t care.
“What are you doing?”
Liam reached out quietly and caught her wrist. With their eyes locked, he tilted his head to one side and smiled sweetly.
His long eyes narrowed, his lips curved softly upward. That indolent smile carried an air of languor, even of decadence.
So she couldn’t look away. Her heart sank with a thud. Her belly tingled. She wanted to tumble on the bed, pressing her lips against his sensual mouth.
“What did I do wrong? Hmm? Tell me.”
Liam kissed the back of her hand lightly. If this was the pretty-boy gambit, it was devastatingly effective. She’d nearly fallen for it despite knowing better.
Hee-ju forced herself to glare and spoke.
“You have a hole in your belly. Is that what you want to do?”
Only then did Liam glance down at his own abdomen. He looked back up, his face unconcerned, and smiled alluringly at Hee-ju the moment their eyes met.
“It just looks bad. It’s nothing serious. So let’s finish what we started.”
“My fingers are nothing serious, but your belly is serious. Until we suture that wound, we’re not doing anything—got it?”
Liam clicked his tongue low. He opened his eyes narrowly, as if contemplating how to persuade Hee-ju.
Hee-ju, arms crossed, shook her head firmly. No amount of words would work.
Liam swept his hair back once more and rose to his feet. He opened the door and stepped out.
Hee-ju followed behind him, scolding as she went.
“Where are you going? We need to get to the hospital right now—!”
Then she stopped mid-sentence. She’d caught sight of an elderly man sitting on the living room sofa, reading a newspaper.
“Uh……”
Her mind didn’t process quickly. So—who was this? More importantly, why was there a stranger here at all?
At that moment, Liam glanced toward someone.
“Call a doctor. As quickly as possible.”
“Yes.”
Only then did Hee-ju notice another person on the opposite side of the living room.
The elderly man kept his eyes on the newspaper and smacked his lips.
“I thought you’d just keep rolling around in there. Seems the lady has some common sense, at least.”
“Find some clothes for her to change into. Women’s clothes.”
“Coming here in that condition and dragging her along? Hardheaded as they come.”
“Soak in warm water. You caught winter rain—you might catch a cold.”
Hee-ju frowned as she listened to the two men speak. Could you even call that a conversation? Each was just saying whatever came to mind.
After a moment’s hesitation, Hee-ju asked with suspicion in her voice.
“Who is that person?”
“Don’t worry about it. He’s my grandfather.”
Grandfather.
Benjamin Clofr.
Hee-ju’s fists clenched. Her teeth gritted, she shot Liam a burning look. Fury poured from between her clenched teeth.
“So.”
So this crazy bastard had been trying to roll around with her in front of his own grandfather? A man utterly devoid of sense and morality.
Unable to contain herself any longer, Hee-ju finally exploded.
“You absolute maniac!”
***
Liam’s consciousness slowly drifted up toward the surface of wakefulness. Only then did he wonder why he’d woken.
Eyes still closed, he tried to gauge the time. Probably early dawn. Not yet time to get up.
Had the painkiller worn off?
He thought it might be the pain from his sutured wound, but it wasn’t. There was a dull ache, but not enough to wake him.
Then why, he thought—
“……o.”
A faint sound. From within his arms.
Liam slowly opened his eyes. Hee-ju lay on her side, nestled against his ribs.
“……on’t come.”
This time her sleep-talk was clearer. Liam pulled his lips into a faint smile and buried his lips against the crown of her head.
“Even your sleep-talk is cute.”
But at that moment, Hee-ju’s body began to tremble.

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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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