To My Brother’s Friend - Chapter 25

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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 25
“Just tell me where it is. I’ll bring it for you.”
“It’s fine, I can—”
“From now on, I’m banning that word. It’s starting to grate on me.”
The location of my clothes.
Kwon Yeol’s indifferent gaze pierced down at me as he spoke with such finality.
I drew in a shallow breath, steadied my ragged breathing, and quietly answered that it was in the second drawer on the left.
He carefully seated me at the edge of the bed, then strode toward the dresser with purposeful, economical steps.
‘As if this were his own home.’
Of course, this place was technically his property, but since I’d moved in, he’d never once visited without notice or carelessly pried into the house.
In fact, the number of times he’d even come here could be counted on one hand.
Since we’d signed the marriage contract, the longest he’d spent in this house was the night we’d shared together.
Ah—then I realized I’d gotten up to take my medicine and started to leave the bedroom.
Or rather, I tried to.
“Where are you going?”
Kwon Yeol, who had changed clothes at some point, had already closed the distance between us.
“I need to take my medicine.”
“Stay here.”
As I hesitated, he brushed past me and returned with the medicine and a water bottle.
“How did you know where the medicine was?”
He raised his eyebrows slightly.
“I saw it when you were asleep. You wouldn’t wake up even if I tried.”
In that instant, my face flushed crimson.
“That’s because—!”
“Which is why I just found it myself without waking you.”
He answered nonchalantly, tore open the packaging, and placed a single pill into my palm.
“It’s only a pain reliever. Wait a moment, I’ll have a fever reducer brought—”
“No, this is enough.”
Embarrassed, I quickly put the pill in my mouth.
I reached for the water bottle in his hand, but Kwon Yeol asked where I was going and twisted the cap open.
“Yoon Hee-jae was right.”
At the sudden mention of my brother’s name, my eyes widened.
Kwon Yeol continued speaking indifferently, unbothered by my reaction.
“You need to learn how to ask for help.”
As if I were a thirteen-year-old child, he clicked his tongue softly before handing me the water bottle.
“When there’s someone in front of you who’s eager to help, use them. It won’t kill you.”
Every time he spoke like this, a shimmering warmth bloomed across my chest, which had grown so cold.
When we were alone, we never deliberately avoided talking about Hee-jae.
I liked that.
Now Kwon Yeol was the only person with whom I could share memories of Hee-jae.
If he had refused to speak of Hee-jae, the loneliness would have been unbearable.
Even if everything unfolded according to their contract, she wished that this moment of remembering her brother could remain as tender as it once was.
It was Hee-jo’s fervent hope that his consideration would remain unchanged even after their marriage.
Perhaps it was selfish greed on her part.
As Hee-jo drank from the water bottle, she suddenly choked.
“Cough, cough.”
With violent coughing, her trembling hand nearly dropped the bottle.
Water spilled from the corner of her mouth, streaming down her neck and instantly soaking through her thin pajamas.
The wet fabric clung transparently to her skin, revealing every curve.
“I told you to use the one in front.”
Kwon Yeol picked up the pill that had fallen to the floor, then slowly swept his large hand across Hee-jo’s back.
“I’ll get you another one.”
“No, no. It’s fine. I’ll take this one.”
Kwon Yeol discarded the one from the floor and brought a fresh pill, placing it directly into Hee-jo’s mouth.
“Ah….”
“Slowly.”
In Hee-jo’s eyes as she nodded, urgency was still plainly evident.
Her shame at being seen in such a state, her compulsion to hurriedly change out of her wet pajamas—it was all readable in her expression.
‘She becomes careless when she’s unwell.’
While Kwon Yeol was concerned about Hee-jo’s poor condition, he found his heart oddly softening at this vulnerability—the way she resembled the young Yoon Hee-jo he once knew.
Compared to her usual composure, always wearing a faint smile and enduring with rigid dignity, he found this disheveled state, with emotions laid bare, far more appealing.
…It was strangely as stimulating as when they were intimate.
“Open your mouth.”
Kwon Yeol grasped Hee-jo’s chin as her eyes widened in surprise, then poured the remaining water from the bottle into his own mouth before pressing his lips against hers without hesitation.
As the lukewarm stream flowed through the gap between their lips, Hee-jo’s body trembled and flinched.
Then, as if to reassure her, his large hand slowly swept across her back.
“Mm….”
Hee-jo released an involuntary, suppressed moan, gripping his collar tightly.
Along with his soft tongue, the pill slid smoothly down her throat.
His thick tongue thoroughly explored her mouth, licking and ensuring the pill had completely gone down, before strongly capturing her delicate tongue.
As if this had been his goal from the start, his movements were persistent and unabashed.
Between their lips, pressed ever deeper together, hot breath and some viscous liquid—water or something else—mingled chaotically.
“Ah, suck….”
Barely separated, his lips immediately pressed against hers again, stealing her breath completely.
As Hee-jo, pushed backward by his overwhelming force, desperately gripped his shoulders, his thick, firm arms wrapped tightly around her waist.
Click, click.
Pressing and driving Hee-jo forward, Kwon Yeol rapidly unfastened the buttons of her pajamas.
The heat from his hands began warming her wet skin.
Thump.
Soon after, her wet pajamas fell limply to the floor.
The moment goosebumps prickled across my exposed skin in the frigid air.
A soft, warm sensation enveloped my entire body in comfort.
When I opened my eyes from their frantic squeeze, I found Kwon Yeol had already guided me to the dresser cabinet.
He was dressing me in fresh pajamas he’d pulled from the drawer.
“Brother…?”
“Tell me if you’re in pain. If you can’t stand, ask me to hold you. It’s fine, you know.”
His tone was casual, yet unmistakably threaded with tender warmth.
“This is the first time I’ve seen you sick.”
“Ah… was it?”
“It was. Cheeky little thing.”
Tap.
Kwon Yeol lightly tapped the bridge of my nose with his index finger—exactly as he used to when my brother was alive. With that familiar tenderness.
“Don’t hide anything from now on. Whatever it is.”
My heart raced violently.
My stomach still burned from retching, yet my heart blazed with warmth.
Perhaps because I’d voiced the cold symptoms aloud, my vision truly blurred and my head spun.
That was why.
I opened my mouth impulsively.
“Even though I’m just a materialistic person who only wants your background?”
Contrary to my anxious confession, Kwon Yeol laughed incredulously.
“I should show you what real materialists look like, Yoon Hee-jo.”
Materialistic, my foot.
She’d gone to such lengths to avoid relying on him, constantly rejecting him, turning away from him.
Kwon Yeol knew full well that Hee-jo was desperately struggling to avoid crossing paths with him.
At nearly every event he attended where word of her arrival spread, he couldn’t find even a shadow of her.
Despite receiving reports that she was definitely present.
When he finally tracked her down like a game of hide-and-seek, Hee-jo always remained in the dimmest, most obscure corners away from the brilliant lighting.
Arranging finger foods on platters, moving props behind the stage, organizing items in the warehouse—that sort of thing.
None of these were originally her assigned duties.
Fearing unnecessary attention might fall upon her when word of his arrival spread, Hee-jo had deliberately sought out and voluntarily taken on these shabby refuges.
Even outside these venues, Hee-jo had never been the first to mention Beom Ho Group.
“So I set a goal. To obtain a trophy. If I had to give my first time to someone, I decided it would be to the heir of Beom Ho Group.”
When Yoon Hee-jo said such a thing.
Kwon Yeol felt genuinely pleased, even delighted.
He could legitimately shower the perpetually rejecting Yoon Hee-jo with wealth and security under the guise of alimony when they divorced.
Thinking of the time she’d spent avoiding him to hide such feelings made him feel both indignant and pitiful.
What was the big deal. You’re allowed to do this.
He found himself wishing Yoon Hee-jo would freely use him during this limited time.
It seemed fine for her to covet what he possessed, wield it, and desire it to her heart’s content.
Perhaps it was because of the affection he’d harbored since childhood.
Or perhaps it’s because she’s the only “woman” who makes me feel at ease when we’re together, who brings me joy, and whom I occasionally find endearing.
“I told you already. All you need to do is make her certain that there’s no one but me. And it needs to look that way to everyone else too.”

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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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