My Brother's Friend Wasn't a Guy - Chapter 57

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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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57.

She didn’t have time to wonder why she couldn’t push him away. A jolt of pleasure spread across their joined lips.
He slipped his tongue between her lips and began exploring her mouth with urgent intensity.
“Mmm…….”
Unable to bear the heat, she reached out with one hand—only to have him catch her wrist, holding her fast.
With his other hand, he pressed the back of her head firmly, trapping her in place.
Each time their skin parted, a wet sound filled the air. Yet he only deepened the kiss, refusing to relent.
“Ah…….”
A soft moan escaped her. The atmosphere grew more charged.
Her breathing quickened until her chest heaved visibly. Every time their tongues met and parted, an electric current seemed to arc down her spine.
Her body moved of its own accord, craving something more. Kang Hyun gently bit her jaw and trailed his lips down her neck.
Her head fell back. He savored her pale skin as his mouth traveled lower. The moment his lips touched her neck, a blush of red bloomed across the white canvas of her skin.
He pulled Lee Jin’s waist closer, adjusting their position for what might come next.
But as he did, their legs crossed and brushed together. The hard, rough texture of the cast jolted her back to reality.
She pushed him away in panic, and Kang Hyun stared at his own leg, muttering a curse.
“Damn…….”
He exhaled sharply, as though only now recognizing the state he was in.
“Ahem, a patient shouldn’t be doing this.”
Lee Jin scolded him, trying to shake off her embarrassment. Kang Hyun’s mouth curved into a crooked smile as he replied.
“I only hurt my leg. Everything above the knee works just fine.”
Lee Jin heard this and deliberately forced her gaze away from the area above his knee. A strong premonition warned her that she shouldn’t look there.
“Right, of course you know best.”
Kang Hyun laughed quietly as he watched her scramble to her feet.
Then his expression grew taut. He’d just realized that the cast would impose considerable—constraints—until it came off.
He should have injured himself less severely. Even as that strange regret crossed his mind, he glanced at Lee Jin and smiled again.
The fact that she’d changed her attitude toward him was a remarkable achievement in itself.
For now, he decided to settle for that.

***

“Ugh, really…….”
Lee Jin stopped her busy hands abruptly and sighed, her face flushed with embarrassment as she buried it in her palms.
Even days after that kiss with Kang Hyun, the memory alone made her cheeks burn.
She had been the one to suggest breaking up first, the one who’d drawn a firm line saying it could never happen—and yet she’d been swept up in it anyway. The shame of it was unbearable.
“Is it really just his face?”
Lee Jin kept her eyes half-closed, picturing Kang Hyun’s expression—that arrogant, seductive look he’d worn when he told her to push him away if she wanted.
If she hadn’t remembered that he was injured, she would have done far more. The thought made her face burn even hotter, and she couldn’t bring herself to look up.
While she sat alone in her misery, a message arrived. It was from Kim Eun-byeol, a classmate from university.

―You didn’t hear anything?
―What? Hear about what?
―Seriously? Today’s the Ceramic Competition announcement day. You really didn’t know?

What followed was a cascade of vivid emoticons from Kim Eun-byeol—tables flipping, mouths breathing fire.
Lee Jin laughed and checked her messages more carefully. There it was: a message from the Ceramic Competition organizers.
“Oh my.”
Her eyes widened, and she quickly typed a message back to Kim Eun-byeol.

―I got a Silver Award?

Her phone rang almost immediately.
[Really? Really a Silver Award?]
“Yeah, that’s what it says. What about you? You submitted work too.”
[Tch, naturally I won something too. But it’s just an Encouragement Award. So infuriating—I can’t believe I lost to Seo Lee Jin.]
Her words complained, but her voice was brimming with excitement.
[I think you got the highest award of anyone in our circle.]
“Really?”
Lee Jin was surprised to learn that so many people had submitted work to this Ceramic Competition.
[The award ceremony is about a month away, so you’ll be able to see everyone then.]
“Right, thanks for letting me know.”
After chatting a bit more, Lee Jin hung up and touched her flushed cheeks.
She’d thought she might not even make the selection, but a Silver Award? It was an achievement she’d never expected.
Suddenly, Kang Hyun’s face came to mind. When she received the good news, his was the first face she thought of.
And so she had no choice but to admit it—her feelings for him.
“I don’t know anymore either.”
She’d lived a life where it was easier to give up than to hold onto what she wanted.
Yet she’d kept smiling, gritting her teeth and saying it was fine, and Kang Hyun had called that resilience, said he couldn’t stop looking at her because of it.
Hearing those words, the sense of injustice and frustration she’d carried seemed to dissolve into compensation.
Someone knew her heart after all. Oddly enough, just that alone made everything feel all right.
After acknowledging her own feelings, Lee Jin sent Kang Hyun a message.

—I won an award in the Ceramic Competition. It’s a Silver Award.

She sent the message without any further explanation, but he quickly sent back congratulations and words of unstinting praise.

And that afternoon, he appeared at the Workshop carrying an enormous bouquet.
Forgetting this man had been impossible from the start, hadn’t it? Lee Jin reached that conclusion, lost in the fragrance of flowers.

***

The Ceramic Competition’s award ceremony would take place a month later, timed to coincide with the opening day of the Ceramics Exhibition. Before that, interviews with the grand prize, gold, silver, and bronze award winners were scheduled.
“I’ll give you a ride.”
Lee Jin frowned seeing Kang Hyun carving time out of his busy schedule just to drive her there.
“I can go on my own.”
“Of course you can.”
At his easy agreement, Lee Jin raised one eyebrow. Kang Hyun laughed at the expression and spoke.
“Of course you can go on your own, but I’m still giving you a ride.”
The words “even though you can’t move around freely, and yet insisting” rose to her throat, but thinking of his feelings, Lee Jin kept quiet.
As she got into the car where the driver was politely holding the door open, her body seemed to shrink in on itself.
“You’ll get used to it soon.”
Kang Hyun said this with a faint smile. The words sounded like a warning to prepare herself mentally, for she would come to enjoy even greater wealth and power in the days ahead.
Thus the two made their way to the planning office of the Museum that was hosting the competition.
“Hello, I’m Lee Jin.”
“Yes, hello. Please come this way.”
The staff member greeted her with a bright smile, but Lee Jin froze when she spotted an unexpected figure. It was Cha Ji-hoon.
“I’m overseeing this exhibition’s planning. I had no involvement in the judging, so don’t worry.”
Cha Ji-hoon spoke as though he understood perfectly that Lee Jin disliked being associated with him.
“Oh, okay.”
Lee Jin answered awkwardly before trying to follow the staff member, but Cha Ji-hoon spoke again.
“Congratulations on winning the award.”
“Right, thanks.”
Lee Jin answered and glanced back at Kang Hyun. He remained there with a casual expression, waving his hand as if to say he would wait.
Would it be all right? Lee Jin hesitated for a moment, but she decided there was unlikely to be any problem leaving a grown man alone, and soon followed the staff member inside.
Watching her disappear, Kang Hyun’s lips curved upward. He’d had a feeling that senior would be here if he came, and his intuition had proven correct.
Perfect. He’d wanted to say something to that guy anyway. As Kang Hyun looked at Cha Ji-hoon, the latter spoke.
“You’re injured.”
It didn’t sound like a concerned inquiry. It felt more like he needed to say something, anything, to break the silence.
To that, Kang Hyun didn’t explain the circumstances—he simply said what he wanted to say.
“Someone revealed my identity to Lee Jin and spread rumors that I’m just toying with her…….”
When their eyes met—Kang Hyun’s gaze as fierce as a predator’s—Cha Ji-hoon’s complexion began to drain of color.
“I don’t know how such baseless rumors got started. I have no intention of merely playing with Lee Jin.”
As soon as he floated this opening, Cha Ji-hoon reacted.
“Then you mean to marry Lee Jin instead?”
Despite his pale complexion, he was lowering his voice like some champion of justice, which struck Kang Hyun as absurd. So he answered the question graciously.
“Of course. I threw myself into harm’s way and ended up like this precisely for that reason—I’m naturally going to marry her.”
Cha Ji-hoon didn’t know all the details, but he could clearly understand that Kang Hyun’s injuries were connected to Lee Jin.
And with that realization, the color drained from Cha Ji-hoon’s face completely.
Kang Hyun smiled down at her face and spoke.
“I’ll send you an invitation. You have to come.”

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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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