My Brother's Friend Wasn't a Guy - Chapter 26

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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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26.

“What? What are you talking about? Why would Moon Kang-hyun be the third son of the Munseong Group?”
Do Hyun-su threw a fit, insisting it made no sense whatsoever.
The Secretary had simply stated that Moon Kang-hyun was the third son of the Munseong Group—which he was. If he was asked why, should he recite the entire family tree? The Secretary regarded Do Hyun-su with cold eyes for a moment before hastily concealing the insolence in his gaze.
“Director, surely you heard the rumors back in school? There was talk going around for a while that Moon Kang-hyun was a Third Generation Conglomerate Heir of the Munseong Group.”
Do Hyun-su blinked hard, searching his memory.
“Right, there was talk like that for a bit. But I figured it was all nonsense! Rumors aren’t facts, you know. So why is it true now?”
Do Hyun-su showed no signs of calming down, his shock running deep. Evidently, his grand ambition had just crumbled—that of winning Seo Yi-jin’s affection through his wealth, making her his own, and then savoring Moon Kang-hyun’s despair and ridicule.
The intensity of his shock revealed something else: he knew it too. That with his looks alone, he could never have captured Seo Yi-jin.
Whether to call this pitiful or simply the wages of sin, the Secretary couldn’t say. He regarded Do Hyun-su with complicated feelings and let out a sigh. The next appointment was due to start soon, and it didn’t look like Do Hyun-su would settle down anytime soon—which posed a problem.
“That smug bastard, Moon Kang-hyun! So what about architecture? Did he just get awards as a hobby?”
The Secretary poured a glass of water and set it in front of Do Hyun-su.
“Director, please. Calm yourself first. Chairman Park Chang-in has arrived.”
“What? Is it already that time?”
Do Hyun-su took a deep breath and settled himself. This university sponsorship delivery and MOU Agreement was one of the important duties entrusted to him.
“Have him come in.”
“Yes, sir.”
The Secretary was relieved that Do Hyun-su seemed to fully understand the chairman’s warning: “If you mess this up, I’ll demote you to a regular employee.” It gave him hope.
But Do Hyun-su had been ranting so loudly that his voice carried all the way to the corridor. That’s why the university chairman, after exchanging pleasantries, asked the question he did.
“Is something the matter?”
Damn. Do Hyun-su forced an awkward laugh and answered.
“No, nothing serious. I just found out today that Moon Kang-hyun, an old classmate of mine who works in architecture, is actually from quite a distinguished family.”
“Moon Kang-hyun, Moon Kang-hyun… I’ve heard that name before somewhere.”
“Ah, you’re famous for being well-connected, Chairman. You might have met him.”
Do Hyun-su pulled out Kang-hyun’s photograph from the report folder and showed it to the university chairman. It was an attempt to gloss over the vulgar outburst and frantic shouting from just moments before.
“Ah, this fellow. I think I ran into him by chance at a gallery not long ago. So he was your classmate?”
The moment Do Hyun-su realized that the chairman knew something about Moon Kang-hyun, he seized the opportunity like a fish in water, launching into gossip. He belittled and maligned Moon Kang-hyun without noticing how much time had passed.
Unable to bear it any longer, the Secretary stepped in, and only then did Do Hyun-su hastily retrieve the documents for the MOU Agreement between the university and the corporation.

***

Yi-jin’s purpose in visiting Cheongjuk Studio every weekend was unmistakably to make pottery. And true to her intent, she invested considerable care in the work.
Because the name Cheongjuk contained the character for blue (青) and bamboo (竹), Yi-jin was crafting celadon rather than white porcelain. The form she had begun the previous week was a Maebyeong Vase, and using the Inlay Technique characteristic of celadon, she had carved delicate bamboo patterns into its surface.

But pottery-making is inseparable from patience and waiting. Worried about the risk of failure, Yi-jin had made several pieces in the same shape and placed them in the electric kiln to begin the Bisque Firing. The Bisque Firing alone took roughly ten hours, and waiting for the kiln to cool required a full day.
Kang-hyun had no intention of leaving Yi-jin idle during that time.
“Mmm…”
His lips parted from their deep kiss, leaving behind an urgent hunger for greater pleasure. His hand, which had been working its way past her collar, finally began undoing her buttons.
“Oppa…”
Whether it was a plea or an invitation, Yi-jin could not say—she only called his name.
“Mm.”
He answered dutifully. Yet his response, whispered against her collarbone, was unbearably sensual. Heat bloomed wherever his lips traced. Like setting fire to a dry field, flames spread across her entire body in the path of his mouth.
“Wait, not here…”
Yi-jin shook her head with a whimper. Kang-hyun had already laid her down on the work table.
“You said you wanted to stay here because you were worried about the pottery in the kiln, didn’t you? Hmm?”
But who knew it would lead to this? And anyway, the work table was never meant for such purposes.
“I-I’m not worried anymore.”
Yi-jin shook her head desperately. With her eyes flushed red and her appearance thoroughly disheveled, the sight of her stirred something cruel in him—a desire to torment her further.
“Do you want to go to the bedroom?”
At his question, Yi-jin nodded eagerly. If she did something this shameful on the work table, she’d think of it every time she came to work and ruin all her pottery in the process. Her eagerness was born of necessity.
“Then let’s shower together.”
“What?”
Yi-jin opened her mouth blankly at the absurd suggestion. She’d said she wanted to go to the bedroom, so he asked if she wanted to shower together? She couldn’t fathom how that sequence made any sense.
“You don’t want to? Then we can stay here…”
Startled by the massive presence she felt below, Yi-jin hurriedly nodded her assent.
“Okay. L-let’s shower together.”
Only then did Moon Kang-hyun pull Seo Yi-jin into his arms.
Hearing her murmur—”con artist,” “highway robber”—he laughed, a low, easy sound. When she saw that her words had not wounded him in the slightest, that his pleasure only deepened, her lips pouted. But the sullenness didn’t last. Once they reached the bathroom, she lost all capacity for complaint.
It was then that Seo Yi-jin first understood that there existed pleasure beyond pleasure. The humid air, the sound of water. Her whole body went slack beneath his hands, which worked her wet skin with relentless persistence.
“Mm, ah…….”
Time passed in a blur where she could no longer distinguish washing from being undone, and when she collapsed onto the bed, it was only another beginning.
“Ah, no…….”
“Yes. Here? That’s right.”
Though she offered no other answer, he murmured to himself as though she had, pursuing her weaknesses without hesitation. The world before her eyes flashed white-hot, and pleasure crashed over them both like a tide.
Seo Yi-jin was swept helplessly into the current, gasping. She tried to stifle her cries by biting her lip, but each time she did, something slick and searching forced its way between her teeth, only to tease and unmake her further.
She felt ashamed of how she shook and whimpered in that fever, but he gave her no mercy, no reprieve from the thought. Hours seemed to pass like this.
By the time dawn broke, Seo Yi-jin could no longer hold on, and she collapsed into sleep.

Late in the morning, she jolted awake with a start, sitting bolt upright.
“My ceramics!”
A groan followed. The aftermath of last night had left her too sore to move easily.
Hearing her cry, Moon Kang-hyun woke. Watching her hastily pull on clothes, he let out an involuntary laugh. Such a fragile frame, such an innocent, unsuspecting face—and yet when it came to pottery, how capable, how earnest she became.
Seeing her stumble toward the studio to check whether the bisque firing had succeeded, he could only shake his head in amusement. He dressed himself at a leisurely pace and followed her there.
By the time he entered the studio, she had already opened the kiln.
“Oh!”
She gasped aloud.
It was common enough for ceramics to crack during bisque firing—something even the most seasoned artisan could not escape. With luck, a piece survived intact; often enough, multiple vessels shattered or warped.
But judging by her exclamation, the results had turned out well.
“Look at this. Not a single piece broke.”
She turned to Moon Kang-hyun, radiant with delight.
“Congratulations. That’s wonderful.”
He offered his congratulations at once, yet his eyes were not on the ceramics but on her. Through the loose folds of her clothing, the marks he had left on her the night before were plainly visible.
They seemed far more beautiful to him than the great Maebyeong vase she had shaped with such care.
He believed without doubt that she would become a more beautiful work than any creation she could ever produce with her own hands.
Arrogantly, certainly.

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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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