Melting Slow

Her vision began to blur. As his hand slowly reached up and touched the waistband of her stockings, she squeezed her eyes shut. The fabric of the stocking slowly slid down, following Yoo Hwan’s hand, and between the stocking and his crotch, Yoo Hwan’s hand slipped in, rubbing over the wet slit hidden under the thin strip of fabric, slowly stirring the surface through her underwear.

“Ugh….”

A whimper-like moan escaped from Yeo-min. It was what she had planned for.  She opened the door to room 8601, deciding to get married. What’s the point of sleeping with a man in comparison? But, Yoo Hwang’s body and touch she actually encountered were different from what she had expected. It was so hot and dizzying. She trembled helplessly, the weight and firmness pressing against her was impossible to push away. Yeo-min tried to steady her breathing. She held her breath, trying not to let her inner turmoil show. But…

“What were you thinking, coming at me when you’re so tense you turned pale?” 

Soon, Yoo Hwan moved away. Yeo-min looked up at him, dazed. The hands that had been touching her body were now straightening her skirt, which had ridden up to her waist, and buttoning her blouse. 

Yeo-min stared at his hands in confusion, and it wasn’t until he moved to the seat next to her that she snapped back to reality. Sitting up in a disheveled state, she fixed her tousled hair. The skin where his lips had touched still seemed to hold warmth. The hot breaths lingered on her earlobes, her nape, and the cleavage hidden beneath her blouse.

The stockings he had half pulled down remained that way. The loose band of the stockings was clumsily exposed under her skirt. Yeo-min pulled down her skirt to hide the band. She couldn’t pull the stockings back up nor take them off. 

As she watched him for a while, Yeo-min slowly pulled up her stockings, bit by bit. She thought his gaze might have briefly touched her pale, exposed thighs, but he soon turned his head indifferently, staring out the window.

Yeo-min pretended nothing had happened, pulling her stockings all the way up, placing her hands on her knees with a relieved expression. 

Despite the act being over, the area between her legs still felt cold and uncomfortable. Perhaps what needed tidying wasn’t her stockings, but the heat lingering in her body. 

The thought of sitting before him with her legs damp was embarrassing. She hadn’t expected that just a little bit of touching down there would leave her in this state. Was her body really this sensitive?

“Did you do that on purpose?”

Yeo-min asked, her voice trembling. 

His approach had been suggestive, but he hadn’t crossed the line. Even while slowly touching her over her clothes, he hadn’t gone so far as to pull aside her underwear and invade her. It was obvious that he had no real intention of going all the way. 

Yoo Hwan gave a fleeting smile. 

“That’s right. I wanted to show naive Chae Yeo-min a little something.”

“I’m not naive. I came here after making up my mind.”

“I’m not interested.”

“What?”

“I’m not interested in forcing someone who doesn’t want it. Not my cup of tea.” 

“Although I do like the look on your face when you propose to me, looking like Sim Cheong throwing herself into Indangsu.”

Yeo-min looked away with a miserable expression, her lips drying up from anxiety. 

‘Does he think I was playing with him?’ 

Or maybe he thought that her stiff, tense body indicated how much she disliked the idea of spending the night with him.

Yoo Hwan poured water into a crystal cup and casually offered it to her. 

“Now tell me what you want. Drink this first.”

When Yeo-min didn’t take it, Yoo Hwan pressed the cup to her lips himself. 

She had no choice but to swallow the water. The coldness soothed her heated body, and she finally felt like she could breathe again.

“If you marry me, then what about you?”

“……”

“What happens to you?”

“…I don’t really understand what you mean.” 

Thud. 

Yeo-min put the empty glass down, feeling confused. She heard the sound of Yoo Hwan refilling the empty glass with water. 

“You said you’d be the perfect wife for me and give me my freedom. So what do you get in return? Will playing a fake wife make you happy?”

After filling the glass, Yoo Hwan looked at Yeo-min and slowly drank from it, then set the half-full glass on the table. 

Thud. 

The cold sound of hard marble meeting the clear crystal resonated. 

“From the start, you’ve been talking only about me and revenge. But where is ‘your’ story in this marriage?”

Yeo-min fell silent. He was right. In the proposal and reasons she gave, there was no part of the story that belonged to her. She had only tried to convince him how she could satisfy him and be the perfect wife for him. Because… 

Even though she didn’t know what she really wanted. What else could she ask for? What could someone like her possibly have?

She thought it would be enough to just have the kind of happiness that others could see. She believed that getting revenge on Kim Seung-jae and Chae-Nari was all she needed.

“You’re asking me to marry you without even knowing what you want.”

“…….” 

“How reckless.”

Yeo-min heard the small sound of him clicking his tongue near her ear. It was like he was scolding a child for an immature action. Yeo-min clenched her fists tightly.

“Then what am I supposed to do? I don’t know either.”

She was so focused on the revenge that’s right in front of her that she didn’t even know what she wanted or desired. She always felt lost, wandering down a path without knowing where it led.

Then today, Yoo Hwan had asked her.

What do you want?

Is your happiness really down that path?

She tried to stay composed, but in the end, her sorrowful tears broke free. The pain she had suppressed when Kim Seung-jae broke up with her, and the sadness she had held back in front of her family, all came pouring out.

Hot tears kept welling up in her eyes.

“I’ve been enduring it, over and over. Because it seemed like the only natural thing to do. No matter how hard it was, I thought if I just held on, once I got married and had a new family, I could make that place my home.”

Yeo-min, muttering her inner thoughts to herself, hung her head low. 

“But… I keep enduring and enduring, but when I can’t anymore, when they keep making me become someone bitter… then I have no choice but to show them what real despair is.”

Her lips trembled as she spoke. 

There was no way to stop the innermost thoughts that kept spilling out. Emotions that had been piling up burst out all at once.

“If I reject you, will you find someone else to propose to?” 

“I might.”  Although finding someone better than you would be difficult. 

Yeo-min hurried to find her bag. Tears fell with every blink.

Because of that, Yeo-min did not notice Yoo Hwan’s cold expression hardened at her words about proposing to someone else.

“I’m sorry. You said you hated whining.”

“…….” 

“I’ll leave now, but please take the proposal seriously. I’ll try to get everything you want.” 

Yeo-min fumbled around anxiously, trying to make a hasty escape.

It felt like such a disgrace. Proposing out of the blue, then crying and screaming. He must be fed up, it must be ridiculous. Even in her own thoughts Chae Yeo-min was hopeless. However, as her hand groped for the sofa, it was caught by him. Before she had time to be surprised, her body was pulled in. His firm arm wrapped around her shoulders, and the fresh scent of shower gel rushed in. 

“Fine, I like your crying face.”

“……”

“You decide. Whether it’s sooner or later than Kim Seung-jae.”

The comforting hand patting her back was so gentle that, unbelievably, it made her tears come out again.

***

Lying in bed, Yeo-min fidgeted with the blanket. 

Unlike the soft white blanket from the hotel, this one was stiff and frayed. 

She didn’t even know what state of mind she left Yoo Hwan’s suite in. After coming home and washing up in lukewarm water, she finally came to her senses.

“…Marriage.”

She rolled the unfamiliar word on her tongue. It still felt strange. Yeo-min suddenly got up from the bed and began drying her wet hair with a hairdryer. As the hot air blew against her, she thought back to what had happened earlier.  

‘You decide. Whether it’s sooner or later than Kim Seung-jae.’

After hearing those words from Yoo Hwan, she was dazed for a while. Reality didn’t feel real. It was only after some time had passed that she asked in disbelief.

‘Are you really accepting it?’

‘Yeah. You’re the one who asked for marriage.’

‘…Really?’

‘And right now, this situation is pretty entertaining.’

It was hard to face his playful smile. Her heart pounded, and her fingertips went cold. She wasn’t sure if it was because the marriage contract she so desperately wanted had been established or for some other reason.

Honestly, she hadn’t expected him to agree right away. She had seriously considered trying a few more times and, if he still didn’t accept, even getting down on her knees. She was puzzled as to why he agreed so easily.

She remembered overhearing her father and stepmother talking once. They said that for the past several years, the chairman had been trying in various ways to get his grandson married. But every attempt to set him up with someone had been rejected.

As she was recalling this, her phone began to vibrate on the bed. She wasn’t expecting a call this late. When she looked at the screen, she was even more surprised to see an unexpected name.

Yoo Hwan.

Why would he…?

Yeo-min quickly pressed the call button.

“Yes, Team Leader.”

– Did you get home safely?

“Yes, thank you for dropping me off earlier.”

The conversation with him felt unfamiliar. Having such a mundane exchange somehow made her feel like she had returned to those carefree days of childhood.

“Did you make it back to the hotel safely, Team Leader?”

– Yeah. Just got here.

“I see…”

With that response, Yeo-min found herself with nothing else to say, and an awkward silence hung between them. For some reason, her toes tingled. The moment he mentioned returning to the suite, all the sensations from there rushed back to her mind. The gentle hand that had caressed her, the slow and suggestive touch, the weight of the man pressing down on her entire body. Her face suddenly felt hot. She fanned herself with her hands until his voice came through the phone again.

– Have you decided now?

“Decided… what?”

– Whether you want it sooner or later than Kim Seung-jae.

…Ah.

Yeo-min finally realized. She hadn’t answered his question earlier.

What would be better? She was deeply conflicted, but the decision came quickly.

“Let’s do it first, Team Leader. Their wedding is in six months. Will it be possible?”

It seemed like a lot of preparation would be needed for a chaebol family’s wedding, so she cautiously asked. Yoo Hwan’s response was straightforward.

– It’s possible.

“That’s a relief. I really want to see Kim Seung-jae coming to my wedding first and clapping before his own.”

– I’m looking forward to that, too.

Yoo Hwan responded very casually. The faint smile in his voice made it sound as if he found Yeo-min’s reaction amusing.

Yeo-min tried to calm herself. She thought she might have gotten too excited. Then Yoo Hwan asked a very belated question.

– By the way, who is Kim Seung-jae marrying?

Yeo-min was a bit surprised. She thought Yoo Hwan had accepted her outrageous proposal because he knew who Kim Seung-jae’s fiancée was. Apparently not.

“Chae Nari.”

– What?

“Chae Nari. He’s marrying my sister.”

– …….

There was a long silence on the other end of the line.

Though he was usually unaffected by emotions, even Yoo Hwan seemed to find the news of Kim Seung-jae and Chae Nari’s marriage rather absurd. An ex-boyfriend marrying a stepsister—it sounded like something out of a ridiculous drama. And the most troubling part was that the central figure in this absurd situation was none other than Chae Yeo-min herself.

After a long silence, Yoo Hwan let out a belated chuckle.

– This situation is quite entertaining.

“Yes. I think so too.”

– A wedding in half a year… Alright. I’ll make sure Kim Seung-jae has to clap while watching you.

His voice, playful, clearly held a note of interest.

“Thank you.”

The call ended without any further hesitation. Yeo-min stared at her phone, now displaying the end-call message, with ‘Team Leader Yoo Hwan’ written on the screen. This was the first time they had discussed anything personal rather than work-related matters over that number. Now, her relationship with him has fundamentally changed.

Thump, thump.

Her heart began to beat nervously.

Yoo Hwan. The man who might become her husband. Though it was a false relationship without any sincerity, now that the idea of marriage was getting closer, her heart felt extremely uneasy. It was a confusing night.