Impossible Romance - Chapter 11

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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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11.

“I understand.”
“And since you’re in such a pitiful state, I’ll let you stay the night.”
Kwon Seok-ha shrugged as if it made no difference to him, as though he had not a shred of interest in Jun-hee.
“There’s really no need to… no, thank you.”
Jun-hee had been about to refuse, but she relented quickly. It was already past midnight. At this hour, visiting a friend would be far from easy.
Truthfully, after what had just happened, I had pretended not to be frightened in front of Kwon Seok-ha, but the thought of staying alone at the Hotel terrified me. At least for tonight, it did.
“Go wash up. I’ll shower in the bathroom in my master bedroom. Just use whatever pajamas and toiletries you find.”
Kwon Seok-ha rose and walked toward his room. Watching his retreating figure, Jun-hee also got to her feet.
She would have to find the smallest room in this house first.

***

“Ahn Joon-hee.”
As Kwon Seok-ha entered the bathroom, he called out her name as if to himself. In the quiet bathroom, her name echoed hollowly.
Perhaps four years.
I had known Ahn Joon-hee more than ten years ago, but I had only seen her again four years ago.
Despite all that time passing, Ahn Joon-hee remained unchanged.
Pale skin, eyes glistening with moisture, crimson lips that drove a man to madness every time he looked at them.
When that innocent face looked up at me as though she understood nothing at all….
“Hah.”
The moment a ragged breath escaped his lips, he turned on the shower. The cold water cascaded down violently, shaking even his mind.
It was good that her personality had remained unchanged, but the fact that she was still trapped in such a wretched situation infuriated me. Incompetent parents, a brother who caused trouble constantly, and a younger sibling besides.
I was well aware that the entire family existed only to burden Ahn Joon-hee.
“Damn it.”
Merely thinking of Ahn Joon-hee sent heat surging through me, only for adrenaline to flood my veins and lift my mood. It made me sound like a madman to myself.
Even as I tried to cool my head, my body grew increasingly hot, my lower half burning with intensity. The discomfort below grew so acute that my entire lower body ached.
Kwon Seok-ha moved his large hand downward and began to stroke. Even as the cold water poured relentlessly over my head, my chest and lower half burned ever hotter.
“Hah….”
Ahn Joon-hee was here now, sleeping in my house.
As this reality surfaced again, his hand moved with greater urgency.
Hours earlier, after seeing her off, my feet had refused to leave. The fact that she was in the Redevelopment Zone, surrounded by empty streets and crumbling houses, ignited such frustration that heat blazed through me.
So I decided to watch over her a while longer, and then I saw a strange shadow in the corridor outside her apartment. The moment I saw it, my reason vanished entirely. My eyes rolled back as I entered the building and climbed three or four steps of the staircase.
And there was some filthy madman harassing Jun-hee.
Seeing that wretch—someone I had never dared to touch—acting as though he would devour Jun-hee on the spot, my hands moved of their own accord.
And moments later, I found myself beating him so savagely that blood stained my knuckles.
It was fortunate that Hwang Gang-jik arrived in time. Had he not, I had no confidence in what would have become of me afterward.
From the moment I saw the Drunk Man lunge at Jun-hee, I was no longer in my right mind.
I was astounded at myself—always so composed and selfish—for recklessly plunging into such a situation without thinking it through.
At that moment, Jun-hee’s offer to treat my wounds had never sounded sweeter. I even recalled how, as a child, I’d used my injuries as an excuse to send her on errands whenever the opportunity arose.
Did Jun-hee remember those days too?
Standing beneath the cascade of water from above, I traced my lips with my fingertips—the lips that had met hers. The soft, warm sensation still lingered.
Had I lacked restraint, I might have thrust my tongue deeper and pressed harder against hers.
“Haa….”
A sigh of regret and longing escaped my lips.
No wonder I kept cursing myself.
Hours ago, standing outside her apartment, perhaps I too harbored impure intentions.
My eyes had been blazing with rage at the Drunk Man then, but maybe I was just another bastard like him.
Kwon Seok-ha recalled Jun-hee as she’d stood before him with only the entrance door between them. After beating that scum down, he’d spoken to her like a dog eager for her praise.

“If you’re so grateful, are you going to keep me standing here?”

Despite the transparent intent behind my words, Jun-hee had innocently widened her clear eyes. She’d probably thought she ought to repay me somehow since I’d helped her.
Perhaps because her family was reckless with money, Jun-hee never expected anything without compensation—or rather, she actively disliked it.
As a result, she always chose the losing path. I knew perfectly well that she’d try to repay any kindness with something greater. She didn’t even realize that was her weakness.
She must have been reluctant to invite Kwon Seok-ha into her cramped, shabby apartment. Jun-hee had such fierce pride. Yet knowing all this, I shamelessly made the demand.
Moments later, she gestured for me to come inside, barely concealing the embarrassment and confusion that tangled within her.
Kwon Seok-ha crawled in like a mongrel wagging its tail, and the moment I caught her scent, I froze completely. Then I lowered my head and coveted her lips.
“Haa, I’m going insane.”
Kwon Seok-ha turned off the shower. The water ceased in an instant, and the bathroom fell silent and heavy.
My heated nape and lower body still showed no sign of cooling.
“This time, I’ll do it right.”
He muttered through gritted teeth.
So as not to frighten the young bird that had barely come into my embrace,
So that she wouldn’t even dare think of fleeing.
This time, I intended to expand the sphere of control surrounding Jun-hee very broadly. Very carefully, so she wouldn’t notice.

***

Lying in the bed of the smallest room in the house, Jun-hee blinked at the ceiling. Though they’d called it the smallest room, it was larger than her entire one-room apartment.
And the bedding was something else entirely.
The soft quilt wrapped around me like a cloud, making me feel as though I were floating in the sky. Even the scent rising from the bedding seemed pleasant.
One thing troubled me: Kwon Seok-ha was sleeping not far away. That man, who seemed to delight in tormenting me since childhood, remained utterly inscrutable even as a grown adult.
Still, if not for him today, things could have ended very badly. So my gratitude far outweighed everything else. It had been the same when we were young—despite his spiteful jabs, I’d never truly disliked him.
As a child, my mother had once sent me to deliver roasted sweet potatoes and corn to him. Whether because we depended on the Seonjin Group or out of my family’s meddlesome nature, whenever something delicious appeared, they unfailingly looked after him.
Perhaps they pitied the young master separated from his parents, but for me, it was always a chore to run those errands.

“I don’t want to! Why should I bring it to him? Tell him to come down here!”
“Him? To the young master! Stop your whining and bring it at once!”

After my mother struck my back hard enough to sting, I left with my lip jutting out in protest. The Villa already had a chef and maid for Kwon Seok-ha anyway—why should I bother carrying rustic country food all the way there?
Besides, whenever I brought him anything, he treated me with such contempt.
The disrespect itself was one thing, but what truly bothered me was what to call him. I couldn’t bring myself to say “young master,” yet I refused to call him “older brother” either.
So I often found myself hesitating outside his door for a long time before finally entering.

“Here, eat this.”

I called out to Kwon Seok-ha with that vague form of address, then quickly set the basket of boiled potatoes and corn on the table before he could even turn around.

“Tasteless garbage like this—who would eat it?”
“Then I’ll take it back.”

He always grumbled and complained, but whenever I, irritated, tried to take the basket away again, he would stop me.

“The person who made this put care into it—I should eat it. Don’t you know about noblesse oblige? How ignorant.”

Kwon Seok-ha would settle into his seat and devour every potato and ear of corn in the basket. And while he ate, he would send me on various errands, keeping me from leaving.
Remembering those days, a smile bloomed at the corners of my lips. We bickered and fought, but there were often good memories too.
But now was not the time to indulge in such sentimentality. Jun-hee had grown into an adult, as had Kwon Seok-ha. I couldn’t spend my life forever indebted to the Seonjin Group, living as a subordinate. No—I didn’t want to.
I pulled the blanket up to my neck and closed my eyes, already thinking that starting tomorrow, I needed to search for a place of my own.

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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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