My Brother's Friend Wasn't a Guy - Chapter 19

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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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19.

Before Lee Jin could react, their lips met.
He drew in the soft skin of her lower lip deeply, then released it—the motion repeating until her breath came in gasps and sighs.
Trapped between Moon Kang-hyun and the sink, Lee Jin had nowhere to retreat. The heat radiating from him drained the strength from her legs in seconds.
When she swayed, he wrapped one arm firmly around her waist. Now there was no escape at all.
Lee Jin’s hands, which had been hovering uncertainly in the air, came to rest carefully on his shoulders. In that moment, he deepened the kiss, his tongue coiling with hers.
A sharp, electric pleasure washed through her mind, bleaching everything white.
“Mmm… ah…”
Unaware that those soft, breathy sounds were coming from her own throat, Lee Jin clung to him instinctively.
The hand she’d lightly placed on his shoulder had somehow wound around his neck, fingers curling into the collar of his shirt.
“You… damn it.”
Moon Kang-hyun pulled back with a low growl, his breathing ragged.
If he went any further, things would spiral into dangerous territory—he could already feel how close to the edge he was. His breath came rough and heavy.
Lee Jin’s eyes fluttered open then, and when Moon Kang-hyun met that hazy, pleasure-drunk gaze, he mentally cursed himself.
No man alive could keep his reason looking at a face like that.
Yet to him, Lee Jin was far more than just a body to desire—so he summoned inhuman restraint and forced himself to pull back.
She couldn’t have missed it.
“But…”
She called his name uncertainly, her expression dazed. It wasn’t that she disliked his touch—she just wasn’t ready to invite him to her room.
“I won’t lay a finger on you unless you say it’s okay.”
What should she do? Lee Jin hesitated, then slowly nodded.
“You were right. Men really do have nothing but that on their minds.”
Moon Kang-hyun muttered this bitterly, and Lee Jin exhaled a short breath. His expression looked so pained.
“Not tonight. Once I’m… once I’m ready…”
She mumbled the words without meeting his eyes, her cheeks flushed. He stifled the urge to nip at that rosy skin, her neck, her collarbone, and answered through gritted teeth.
“If you give me an opening like that, I’ll push right through it.”
His rougher-than-usual language betrayed just how badly his composure was fraying.
Moon Kang-hyun exhaled a long breath, finally gathering himself before lifting her into his arms. The sudden rise made Lee Jin yelp softly in surprise.
“I’ll handle the dishes. You go work. That’s better.”
He carried her into the studio and set her down, then closed the door behind him as if isolating a patient in quarantine.
Lee Jin stared at the closed door blankly for a moment, then touched her heated cheeks. She understood this was his best attempt at self-control, so she couldn’t bring herself to return to the kitchen.
What do I want from him? It’s only been twenty days or so since Moon Kang-hyun, her brother’s friend, became her boyfriend. She knew plenty of people mixed bodies before feelings solidified.
But the constant lectures from Lee Hwan, lecturing her in place of their father who’d passed when she was young, had a way of surfacing at exactly moments like this.
“I’ve somehow absorbed a deeply Confucian worldview right down to my bones.”
Lee Jin breathed out a sigh that mingled longing and resentment. If Lee Hwan were still alive, she’d curse him for it—but now she couldn’t, and wouldn’t.
She lingered at the studio door, then finally shook off her thoughts and began working the clay.

***

After a weekend that belonged to neither heaven nor hell, Moon Kang-hyun attended the Osong Group’s new product launch party at Cheon Eun-jung’s invitation.
The party, held at a Gangnam hotel, drew numerous executives eager to see the Osong Group’s new product, which had been the subject of much speculation.
“Good evening. I’m Moon Kang-hyun. It’s an honor to meet you.”
Cheon Ji-yong, the chairman of the Osong Group and Cheon Eun-jung’s father, wore an odd expression as he received the greeting.
Cheon Eun-jung narrowed her eyes to keep him from asking, ‘Why would my daughter choose such a decent man?’
Fortunately, Cheon Ji-yong was sharp enough—a chairman of a major corporation had to be.
“Yes, we should see each other often from now on.”
He smiled warmly and drifted away toward those seeking his attention. Cheon Eun-jung exhaled a long breath of relief.
“Crisis averted, at least.”
“Is it, though?”
As Moon Kang-hyun answered cynically, Jin Ae-ran spotted them and hurried over.
“Oh, you two look so perfect together.”
She seemed deeply moved by the simple fact that her son had shown his face at a corporate event.
Though she hadn’t publicly announced that he was the third son of the Moon Seong Group, his mere presence at such a gathering was the fulfillment of her long-held desire.
Once his marriage to Cheon Eun-jung was certain, there would be time enough to unveil her accomplished son to the press and the business world—there was no rush.
“Thank you so much. Your beauty is absolutely radiant this evening, truly.”
When Moon Kang-hyun heard Cheon Eun-jung address Jin Ae-ran as “Mother,” his eyebrow twitched.
He hadn’t expected the two of them to be this close at all.
“My, you do have such a lovely way with words. You’re even lovelier than I imagined.”
“Not at all, Mother. You’re far more beautiful than I could ever be.”
Watching the two of them laugh and exchange compliments, Kang-hyun let out a quiet sigh. Simply being caught between them was exhausting.
“I do worry that this boy can be a bit blunt. I hope he’s not giving you too much trouble.”
“Not at all. Kang-hyun is such a thoughtful man.”
A hairline fracture appeared in Eun-jung’s smile, though fortunately Ae-ran didn’t notice.
“People keep staring now that you’re here, Mother. This is enough—please go ahead and leave.”
Kang-hyun dismissed Ae-ran with a gesture. She shot her cold-hearted son a reproachful look before turning to flash Eun-jung a warm smile.
Too proud to argue with Kang-hyun, Ae-ran simply straightened her posture and took her leave as if it had been her intention all along.
“Next time we’ll have something delicious together. Do call me.”
“Yes, Mother.”
Her proud footsteps faded away. The performance for the truly important people had concluded.
Seeing Kang-hyun’s stifled expression—the look of someone thoroughly sick of these affairs—Eun-jung spoke without mercy.
“Your face screams that you want to leave, but not yet. We haven’t finished what we came here to do.”
“As you wish.”
Kang-hyun smirked. What Eun-jung wanted from this event was what people called Raising One’s Market Value.
She meant to dangle him like a charm on her purse, parading his presence to advertise her own worth.
“I think I understand why my mother likes you.”
“Is that an insult or a compliment?”
They bickered with barely a movement of their lips, like ventriloquists, yet the moment someone approached, they sensed it and smiled as if on cue.
This went on for some time until someone recognized Kang-hyun.
“Wait? Moon Kang-hyun? What are you doing here?”
It was Do Hyun-su, a high school classmate.
Hyun-su was every bit as arrogant and unlikeable as Kang-hyun, but he excelled at the art of getting under people’s skin with words.
“Weren’t you two on bad terms back in school?”
“Just because things were bad then doesn’t mean they have to stay that way.”
When Eun-jung spoke up sharply, redirecting his attention, Hyun-su tilted his head and changed the subject.
“By the way, you two know about this, right? Lee Hwan—that bastard got into an accident. Who would’ve thought some pretty-boy hotshot would check out so early? Moon Kang-hyun, you were close with him, weren’t you? So you’d know his sister’s contact info, yeah? Give it to me. Whenever Lee Hwan brought up his little sister, the guy would go absolutely feral about it, so I never got a chance to talk to her. She was gorgeous back then—she must be even more stunning now, right?”
He couldn’t take it anymore. He knew this wasn’t the place to cause a scene, but he had no patience for such disgusting drivel.
Kang-hyun reached for Hyun-su’s collar, but a hand shot out faster than his own, seizing Hyun-su’s neck first.
“Are you even human? Can’t you show respect for the dead, and instead you’re going to leer after Lee Hwan’s sister like some filthy dog? You’ve given up on being human—so why do you still eat? Why do you still breathe?”
Eun-jung, her face contorted with fury, grabbed Hyun-su’s collar and shook him roughly.
“I never said anything like that! Let go, will you?”
Hyun-su wrenched free from Eun-jung’s grip and rubbed his neck, whimpering.
Though Eun-jung had acted first, Kang-hyun had made up his mind the moment Hyun-su’s filthy mouth spoke Lee Jin’s name.
“You dare covet Lee Jin? Do you have two lives, or something?”
Kang-hyun grabbed the hand that Hyun-su was using to straighten his clothes and clasped it in what looked like a handshake. A sharp, ominous crack echoed from their joined hands.

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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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