Side stor 1. Ch 3.2

The man came back again, his body reeking with that heavy layer of perfume. Once more, he smelled like a floral fragrance. What is this scent, really? I pushed him away as he clung to me without even washing up, and moved my lips.

“Your cologne is too strong, CEO.”

His eyes narrowed sharply. The muscles along his angular jaw tightened.

“Cologne?”

“…Yes. You smell like roses.”

“I’ve never worn anything floral.”

“……”

I sank even deeper. I already knew that he had never used a perfume that smelled like flowers. The man rolled his serpent-like eyes and muttered low.

“Come to think of it… maybe that new caddie had that scent.”

So the woman he answered the phone for earlier—was she the caddie? I pressed my lips together tightly, and the man grinned as if he’d caught on to something. A wave of unease slashed across my chest.

“So that’s why you were acting so prim the other day.”

CEO Jang’s face was alight with the thrill of a conqueror who’d just planted his flag on the summit. He ran his sharp nose along the side of my neck. A repulsive shiver crawled over my skin, tracing the exact path where his flesh had brushed against mine.

“If being a concubine is your dream, then what are you doing getting jealous like a main wife?”

He kissed the corner of my eye. Flustered at having my feelings seen through so instantly, my ears turned bright red, and I rushed to speak.

“You’re misunderstanding. I don’t care who you’re with or what you do…”

His gaze turned noticeably cold. A sharp instinct told me I needed to stop talking.

“What I do with who?”

When I didn’t answer, he asked again.

“Fucking?”

“……”

He tapped the space between his brows with his middle finger as he muttered.

“Fucking’s fun. Probably even better with two girls and one guy thrown in.”

“You don’t usually do it with guys though.”

That disgusting CEO Kim had definitely said it back then—he hadn’t known CEO Jang swung that way.

“I didn’t. Never cared for anyone with the same equipment as me.”

But now he wasn’t so sure? His words sent a chill up my spine. What the hell was he implying? I swallowed dryly.

“A face gone pale like he’s being choked, all while cursing someone out to hell and back with that innocent I-don’t-know-anything look? You never know.”

He buried his face in the dip of my collarbone, where I sat perched on the vanity. I shoved against his chest, pushing him away. For once, he let himself be moved easily, and he casually fixed his hair in the mirror—as if to show me just how composed and unaffected he was. Meanwhile, I was a wreck, thrown off balance by every word, every movement he made.

“But right now, I’m already busy as fuck just trying to make enough for your living expenses, Seo Yeowon. I’ve got no time left to be fucking anyone.”

“…There was lipstick on your shirt.”

I should’ve said I didn’t care, whether it was true or not. But instead, I said it out of spite. His jaw shifted. Then he seemed to recall something.

“I bumped into someone in a tight space earlier. Must’ve rubbed off then.”

I squinted at him, trying to read if that was the truth. If it was, then who was that woman who answered his phone while he was showering?

“The caddy picked up your phone.”

“Yeah.”

His eyes lit up with amusement.

“She said to call back later. That you were in the shower.”

He let out a laugh like he couldn’t believe it.

“She knocked over a bottle by accident. Spilled booze all over my pants. There were at least half a dozen people there, including that caddy. Kim Miran, Park Jinkyung too.”

I was confused. I clenched my hand tight in my lap when I heard him call my name—Seo Yeowon. His voice sounded like someone soothing a child.

“Before you go off and actually do something stupid, say it properly.”

“…”

“Whatever guy I might be fucking—what’re you gonna do about it?”

I stared hard at the corner of the vanity. It was sharp, cold, like him. I gripped it tightly.

“Would you like it if I started fucking other people? Screwing, kissing them?”

“…No.”

I shook my head, barely.

“Why not.”

He wouldn’t let it go. I hesitated before answering.

“…Because I don’t want that.”

“Why don’t you want that?”

How could there be a reason for not wanting something? I just didn’t. Just imagining him doing that with someone else made my chest tighten. The thought alone was unbearable. I wished I could erase it from my head.

And I hated myself for feeling this way. I was jealous over someone whose face I didn’t even know. He wasn’t even cheating. We weren’t even… like that. We weren’t lovers.

“I thought you were just a brat, but turns out you’ve grown up. You even get jealous now.”

“…”

I didn’t answer. When he leaned in to kiss me, I turned my face away. He chuckled low and licked my cheek.

“Seo Yeowon.”

“…Yeah.”

“Say it. That you’re mine.”

“…”

I shut my mouth tight, still catching my breath. His eyes narrowed. He threatened me like he did with clients he knew he had in the palm of his hand.

“What if I disappear again—quiet as a mouse?”

Color drained from my face. What if he vanished again, without a trace? …I didn’t even want to think about it.

“Please don’t say that.”

I lost all strength and slumped against him. My back, which had been held stiff like a wire, bent under the weight. I murmured weakly.

“…CEO.”

His hand wrapped around the back of my head, tight and sure.

“Tell me how useless Seo Yeowon was without me.”

Even just this morning… it wasn’t that I was useless without him—I was barely even a person. I existed, sure, but there was no life in me.

“I hardly ate, hardly slept.”

“And the nightmares?”

I nodded. He gave an exaggerated sigh, feigning sympathy. But his eyes—those eyes were laughing. The look of someone who already knew. Of course he knew. Every detail about me reached his ears. He looked far too pleased knowing that his absence had wrecked me.

He asked again.

“What’d you do when you got scared?”

“I kept wishing morning would come fast.”

I’d curled up around a pillow, trembling. Listening to every sound outside, thinking—hoping—it might be him. Truth was, it wasn’t the morning I was waiting for. It was him. And that fact was… crushing.

Looking at his smug smile, I made up my mind. I wouldn’t let him know. I wouldn’t ever admit it.

“Twenty-three and still having wet dreams.”

“…”

“You can’t do a damn thing without me.”

He toyed with my ear, stroking the lobe and the rim, like he was whispering sweet nothings to a lover. His thumb pressed in, voice smooth and slow.

“Can’t eat, can’t sleep, can’t even come properly.”

It was infuriating, but… he was right. When he was gone, I couldn’t function. I wasn’t even alive. I turned my face toward him slowly, locking eyes, and spoke the truth.

“…I’m yours.”

“Yeah?”

He smiled like he’d just heard his dog speak for the first time—amused, proud. He cupped my cheek like he was petting something precious. Then he pressed his lips to my forehead, heavy and possessive.

“Then of course you’re jealous.”

He grinned, lips curving in satisfaction. I leaned into his hand, letting out a quiet breath. Was that really all this was? Just petty jealousy? Where was this even going? It was a mess. The worst.

Draped in a veil of melancholy, I pressed my lips together and said nothing.