Beast, Blue Blood - Chapter 90

Chapter 90

Jerome snapped out of his daze.

“I-I’m sorry.”

“Leave.”

At those words, Jerome hurriedly left the office. Si-woo turned to Ha-yeon with an unusually cold gaze.

“Have you decided to become reckless now?”

Ha-yeon was gripping her hands so tightly that her fingers had turned white from lack of blood. Si-woo slowly pried her hands open, revealing them to be drenched in sweat.

“You’ve overexerted yourself.”

“I thought it’d be okay since Secretary Jerome likes it.”

Ha-yeon spoke as if she was barely able to exhale the breath she’d been holding. Si-woo silently wiped the sweat off with the sleeve of his blouse. Ha-yeon murmured.

“I’m sweating.”

“It’s okay.”

Suddenly, Ha-yeon clung to Si-woo. Si-woo didn’t push her away.

“Should I stroke your head?”

“Yes.”

Si-woo placed his hand on Ha-yeon’s head and gently stroked it. Ha-yeon closed her eyes for a moment and then said.

“I kissed the senior.”

Si-woo lowered his eyes.

He had to exert all his strength to suppress the emotions echoing inside him. He was overwhelmed by an uncontrollable rage. Although he could guess why Ha-yeon acted this way, the mere thought of Ha-yeon being in contact with another man made a frenzy churn in the back of his mind. He held back a violent urge to strangle Ha-yeon, to the point where he could almost taste blood in his mouth.

Then Ha-yeon spoke again.

“And I threw up. I’m going to die a virgin.”

Before Si-woo could say anything, Ha-yeon spoke in a deeply disillusioned tone.

“With a cat.”

Si-woo couldn’t hide his confusion and looked down at the top of Ha-yeon’s head.

“Why a cat?”

Even though she liked animals, she had little interest in keeping them.

Ha-yeon answered in her current position.

“It just seems like an old maid should have a cat.”

* * *

When Si-woo came out of the bathroom, Ha-yeon was lying on the living room sofa, watching TV, sprawled out like someone who had lost all will or meaning in life.

Si-woo looked at Ha-yeon.

“Go to bed.”

“Okay.”

But Ha-yeon answered in the same position and didn’t move. Si-woo sat down next to her. The TV was showing a comedy program that Ha-yeon didn’t like. Since she was watching something she usually avoided, Si-woo asked.

“Are you not going to sleep?”

“Yeah. Can you be my pillow?”

Then Ha-yeon mumbled and climbed up, lying down on Si-woo’s lap as if she had every right to. Si-woo glanced down at her.

After a half-hearted reconciliation, Ha-yeon stayed in this state for the rest of the evening. She looked cute like a duckling, but every time she tried to pick up a snack from the table and returned to her original spot, she would squish her ear against Si-woo’s thigh as she settled back in…

“What?”

Noticing Si-woo’s gaze, Ha-yeon looked up and asked.

“Nothing.”

Ha-yeon looked at him with eyes that seemed to say ‘It’s a bit bland,’ and then turned back to the TV.

“I’m sleepy. I’m going to sleep.”

After a short while, Ha-yeon got up.

“Goodnight.”

Even though nothing happened while Ha-yeon was with Si-woo, Si-woo felt relieved as he said goodbye. Ha-yeon turned around and smiled.

“Goodnight.”

Ha-yeon’s strangely husky voice sent shivers down Si-woo’s spine.

While Si-woo remained still, Ha-yeon got up and went into her room.

* * *

Where did things go wrong? Why did they start feeling such strange emotions towards each other?

More importantly, isn’t he dressed as a woman?

“…Is there any part of me that feels like a man?”

Si-woo muttered to himself while touching his forehead with unusually cold fingers. He was dressed in a suit, and a crystal glass was placed in front of him.

The bartender across the bar spoke.

“Is it that well hidden?”

The bartender was the only person Si-woo opened up to, despite not knowing his name or age. He had been running the bar at this hotel for many years, making him a comfortable presence for Si-woo.

The bartender chuckled and said.

“Imagine if she had been dressed as a man. Would you have felt like she was a woman?”

Si-woo imagined Ha-yeon dressed as a man. Although it seemed like a Joseon-era outfit, he thought of a dignified gesture with fluttering robes, a bold character, and provocative eyes…

“It would have been cool.”

He muttered without realizing it. The bartender glanced at him.

“You seem to be quite deep into it already.”

“That shouldn’t be the case.”

Si-woo buried his eyes in his palms.

“It’s because I haven’t met a woman in a long time.”

“Really?”

“I’ve been too absorbed in the role of Selena. I don’t even remember the last time I had sex.”

The bartender shook his head as if defeated and went to attend to another customer who called him over.

Si-woo drank alone for a while. At some point, someone sat down next to him. It was a woman in a low-tone two-piece suit as if she had just come from work.

“What would you like to drink?”

The bartender came over and asked. The woman placed her order, checked her text messages for a moment, and smiled at Si-woo when the bartender brought her drink.

“Thank you.”

The woman took a sip of her drink and exhaled a relaxed breath. Noticing the gaze on her, she turned around. Her face was gentle and she was quite a beauty.

The woman smiled warmly.

“Hello.”

For Si-woo, it seemed better to just abandon himself altogether.

* * *

At the moment Ha-yeon kissed Joo-hwan, she realized one thing: that she liked Si-woo.

Although she had tried kissing Jerome, whom she had known since childhood and liked personally, it only made her feelings for Si-woo clearer. She wasn’t sure how it happened, but the details of how or why didn’t matter anymore.

And while kissing Jerome, more than anything, she wanted to see if Si-woo would be angry.

“Will Si-woo be mad?”

Ha-yeon said.

[So you’ve tried kissing another man? You’re something else.]

On the other end of the phone, Myung-jin didn’t hide her astonishment.

Ha-yeon was sitting on a sofa behind a large Alocasia plant in the hotel lobby, talking to Myung-jin.

[Did he get angry?]

“Yes, very much. He tried not to show it, but.”

But he did show it. It was surprising that a habitual liar, who was so accustomed to lying, was unable to hide his emotions to this extent.

Even though he tried hard to stifle his breath, his heart, which was pounding heavily against his chest due to the embrace, spoke the truth.

At that moment, Si-woo came out of the bar. And there was a woman beside Si-woo. Although her face was obscured by Si-woo, the fact that they immediately got into the elevator meant one thing.

Ha-yeon jumped up and gritted her teeth.

“Is that really…!”

Ha-yeon walked with such a forceful presence that passersby were moving away, wondering what was going on.

[What’s happening?]

Myung-jin asked, surprised over the phone.

[What are you going to do?]

“Is that even a question? Of course, I’m going to cause a scene.”

[You’re going to go in there? Into the room they’ve entered together, where you’re not even the girlfriend?]

Myung-jin’s voice revealed her astonishment.

“It will work. Girlfriend.”

Ha-yeon’s assertion, filled with confidence that things would go her way, made Myung-jin ask, unable to hide her disbelief.

[Since when?]

“Starting today.”

Despite Ha-yeon’s confidence, Myung-jin could not overlook one clear fact.

[Isn’t that brother of yours going to bed with another woman right now?]

“He’s just confused.”

[……How do you have such confidence?]

Myung-jin genuinely seemed curious.

“Because Si-woo was mine.”

[So from when……?]

“Since the moment I was born.”

Ha-yeon said this and ended the call.

* * *

“Would you like to wash up first?”

The woman asked.

Si-woo, who had taken off his jacket and placed it on the sofa, approached. The woman’s heart raced.

He was a beautiful man, even upon second glance. His appearance gave a white and neat impression, but his lips were red and his eyes carried a seductive quality. While some vampires have an unnervingly inhuman quality, this man was quite the opposite.

Si-woo touched one of the woman’s slightly bare shoulders and held her arm. As he came closer, the woman closed her eyes.

Soon, Si-woo asked in his low, deep voice.

“What do you want?”

The woman hesitated.

“What?”

Si-woo spoke with a blank expression.

“You’re from the Social Affairs Department of Baekkyung Daily, aren’t you?”

It was a night when he wanted to throw himself away, but the realization that the woman was a journalist came to him the moment he saw her.

The journalist couldn’t hide her face full of dismay. It seemed she hadn’t expected to be exposed so easily.

But then, he suddenly felt a strange sensation in his stomach.

“……?”

Feeling something was off, Si-woo rubbed his stomach.

His body felt oddly hot. At first, he thought it was just a feeling, but clearly, heat was rising from deep within.

Seeing Si-woo looking uncomfortable, the journalist appeared puzzled. Si-woo glared at her and asked.

“What did you give me?”

The journalist jumped in shock.

“I didn’t give you anything. If I had given you some medicine or something, I’d get sued by ISLE.”

That was true, but the body’s reaction made it clear she wasn’t lying. Plus, it was impossible he hadn’t seen a human woman putting something into his cup, especially given that he had realized she was a journalist.

Meanwhile, the heat in Si-woo’s body continued to rise. The journalist, observing the situation, asked cautiously.

“Are you okay?”

Suddenly, the doorbell rang.

Si-woo looked at the door. If it were an enemy, they wouldn’t be able to pass through the security team without any noise, so if someone could pass through without alerting the security team…

It had to be Ha-yeon.

With no response from inside, Ha-yeon kept pressing the bell as if challenging to see who would win. Meanwhile, the journalist asked subtly.

“Shouldn’t you go out and check?”

Right now, Ha-yeon was more dangerous than the journalist.

Si-woo said bluntly.

“I’ll be out soon.”

But the bell didn’t stop. Instead, it started ringing even shorter and faster, and the journalist couldn’t hold back any longer.

“It’s not stopping……?”

Suddenly, Si-woo grabbed the journalist’s arm and pulled her.

“Just a moment……!”

Ignoring the journalist’s protests, Si-woo dragged her to the entrance and opened the door.

As the door swung open, Ha-yeon, who was about to press the bell again, reflexively took a step back.

“Si……!”

Just as Ha-yeon was about to shout at Si-woo, she was startled to see the woman being dragged out like a piece of paper, and at the same time, Si-woo shoved the journalist, nearly causing her to fall into the hallway.

“Ah! H-Hey……!”

The journalist barely managed to regain her balance, and as she turned around in surprise, Si-woo pulled Ha-yeon towards him.

Bang.

And the door closed.