To My Brother’s Friend - 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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Chapter 11
Beep—click.
The door lock disengaged and the door swung open.
“…This really seems like too much.”
“What is?”
“What do you mean ‘what,’ you—!”
Kwon Yeol’s eyes curved softly as he gazed down at my flustered form.
Hee-jo’s cheeks flushed crimson as she bit her lip and abruptly turned her gaze away.
“…You already know.”
“You have to tell me for me to know.”
Kwon Yeol chuckled and simply lifted her into his arms.
“Oh, no! Put me down.”
“You’re getting quite used to being held, aren’t you?”
“Well, that’s because you’ve been doing this all day long—”
She hastily clamped her mouth shut, but Kwon Yeol had already caught every word.
“You speak well. Keep going. I’m listening.”
“…Please put me down.”
“What false pride. You can barely stand on your own.”
That’s all because of you!
The “verbal contract” made at the Hotel had proven far more demanding and exhausting than I’d anticipated.
“Let’s do our best together.”
“Now I need to answer differently. We’re married, after all.”
Kwon Yeol, positioned above Hee-jo, pressed his lips to hers.
What began tenderly soon deepened as his supple tongue parted her lips and explored within, waves of intensity crashing over her in succession.
Each time a pleasure so acute it felt as though her body might split in two surged through her, Hee-jo could do nothing but cling to his neck with breathless moans.
Truly, Kwon Yeol seemed utterly tireless.
“…Ah, ahh!”
“Shhh… Relax.”
As Hee-jo’s thighs trembled and wrapped around his waist, his Adam’s apple bobbed heavily with the tension etched across his brow.
Soon he pinned her delicate wrists against the headboard, holding them fast as he kissed her.
The wet, obscene friction of skin against skin filled the sealed room.
Kwon Yeol, who had been persistently nipping at her ear, gazed down at her disheveled form and growled low.
“Keep your eyes open, Hee-jo.”
“Hnngh…”
“Do as I say.”
Even as Hee-jo’s voice grew hoarse, her tear-stained eyes reddened, and her body went limp—swaying helplessly with his every movement—he drove her relentlessly, as though each moment were the first.
She fell into an exhausted sleep and woke to find it was late afternoon; when Hee-jo expressed her desire to go home, the two of them made their way to her Apartment instead.
Carrying Hee-jo inside, Kwon Yeol set her down on the Sofa and lowered himself.
“I can do——”
“Never mind.”
Kneeling on one knee, he grasped Hee-jo’s ankle lightly.
As his thumb traced slowly across the delicate skin near her ankle bone, an odd sensation made her bite the soft inside of her lip.
“….”
In the thick, settled silence, only the strong grip around my ankle and the warmth of his hand remained vivid.
My foot, caught in those large, firm hands, looked like a child’s foot.
Then Hee-jo drew in a slow breath.
Kwon Yeol’s persistent gaze, as if handling some delicate mechanism, and his excessively careful touch as he removed my shoes—it left me breathless.
“…Thank you.”
At this rate, my heart might burst.
If I stayed with Kwon Yeol any longer, my runaway heartbeat would betray my feelings.
Just as Hee-jo was about to speak—
“I was thinking of making this our Newlywed Home.”
“Yes, now please just—the Newlywed Home… What?”
Hee-jo’s words tangled as she tried to tell him to leave.
Did I just… hear that right?
As if reading her thoughts, Kwon Yeol lifted his head and looked up at her, opening his mouth.
“You said you liked this place. The commute is convenient, and the park is right next door, perfect for walks.”
“That may be true, but….”
“You said you didn’t want the deed transferred to your name, so I have no choice but to move in.”
Hee-jo blinked slowly.
How did it come to this…?
“There are several empty rooms, so combining our things will be easy. The company is also a bit closer from here than from the Hotel or Family Home, so it’s more convenient for me too.”
“Um, Kwon Yeol.”
“What. If you’d rather set up the Newlywed Home somewhere new—”
“Wait, just a moment!”
Hee-jo covered his mouth with her hand, unable to bear the words he was speaking, leaving her paralyzed.
Just as when he proposed, her mind went completely blank and she couldn’t think clearly.
“So.”
After steadying her breathing, Hee-jo met Kwon Yeol’s gaze as he stared at her with his mouth gently covered, and asked carefully.
“You said Newlywed Home… just now?”
He nodded.
Kwon Yeol moved his head slowly while maintaining eye contact with her.
“You’re saying you’ll move in here?”
He nodded.
“So… you mean to combine our lives together, is that right….”
He nodded.
Watching Kwon Yeol nod, Hee-jo exhaled softly.
‘Whether it was the proposal or now… I didn’t mishear.’
This time too, as always.
“When?”
Then Kwon Yeol moved his lips, saying something.
“Shh.”
The moment my palm grew ticklish and I tried to pull away, Kwon Yeol’s hand snapped out—grasping Hee-jo’s wrist.
“If you’re willing, I’d like to move in as soon as possible. Even next weekend would be fine.”
“S-so soon?”
Seeing someone who rarely faltered stumble over her words meant she was quite shocked.
Kwon Yeol chuckled softly, his thumb tracing slow circles along the inside of Hee-jo’s wrist, before he parted her slender fingers and interlaced his hand with hers.
“I intend to proceed with the wedding as quickly as possible.”
Rising from his seat, he pulled Hee-jo up by their joined hands with a sharp tug.
Kwon Yeol steadied her swaying frame against his chest, his slender arm drawing her waist close from behind as he guided her toward the window.
The January Park lay desaturated and colorless, stripped of all vibrancy. The skeletal trees, reduced to bare branches, seemed preserved like specimens in a black-and-white photograph.
Yet winter always gives way to spring.
“By the time those cherry blossoms you love bloom, it should work out nicely.”
“It still feels too soon….”
“Wouldn’t that be better for you too? You won’t have to endure any more of those wretched blind dates.”
Her flinch was brief.
Hee-jo gazed at the bare branches.
As I slowly released the tension from my body, I felt Kwon Yeol’s arms tighten around me from behind.
‘If only we could stay like this forever.’
Holding each other close, gazing blankly at the tree we loved, I could waste away the hours in perfect contentment.
…If we were an ordinary couple, that is.
‘Someday, this embrace will belong to someone else.’
With that thought, I felt vindicated for setting conditions.
“Everyone will be quite shocked.”
“Probably.”
“The betrayal will cut deep.”
Especially for Jin Seo-ryeong.
She smiled warmly at me, yet beneath that smile always lingered an undercurrent of unease.
“In the end, it’s turned out exactly as your wife feared.”
“It’s happened just as my mother predicted.”
Kwon Yeol murmured softly, his lips curling with bitter cynicism.
“They say if you think about something long enough, it’s bound to come true.”
At that sardonic tone, Hee-jo laughed weakly.
He wasn’t wrong.
Though I denied it with words, my subconscious had desperately yearned to stand beside Kwon Yeol, again and again.
Just as his mother had desperately yearned for me to leave his side, again and again.
“Don’t worry. I’ll handle my mother, and I’ll compensate you generously for your trouble.”
At Kwon Yeol’s words echoing from above my head, Hee-jo laughed weakly.
Compensation….
Yes, for him, this contact, this warmth, this moment of gazing at the same place—it was all a meticulously calculated outcome.
It was merely practice to avoid appearing awkward in front of others.
“Don’t go even if my mother calls for you for a while.”
“…How can you say that?”
“If you’re going anywhere, you go with me. From now on, we move together.”
Kwon Yeol added in an indifferent tone.
“We’re a married couple.”
Hee-jo swallowed hard, her eyes closing and opening slowly.
Yet her heart continued to pound relentlessly, showing no signs of calming.
The emotions I had deliberately ignored and suppressed began to bloom, threatening to spread to him as well.
I didn’t want to let go, so I must be in serious condition.
‘If we’re a married couple, this kind of physical contact would be natural, after all.’
Making such excuses, Hee-jo nodded while gripping the arm Kwon Yeol had wrapped around her waist.
“I will.”
At her quiet response, Kwon Yeol turned her body around, cupping her delicate cheek as he lowered his head.
Before their lips could meet.
“What does this mean?”
At Hee-jo’s whispered words, Kwon Yeol’s eyes narrowed slightly before he spoke in a low, measured tone.
“Practice.”
“…”
“I need to appear as though I’m captivated by you.”
With his thumb slowly caressing her already swollen lower lip, he pressed her back firmly against me.
“We need to look like a couple who can’t help but lose ourselves whenever our eyes meet.”
From this very moment.
Between their joined lips, hot breath mingled and passed between them.
That day, Kwon Yeol remained by Hee-jo’s side for one more day instead of returning to the Family Home.
As though any troubles looming ahead didn’t matter at all, he endlessly consumed her delicate, bird-like form.

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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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