I Think I've Poked a Sleeping Bear
Chapter 25
Chapter 25
A Toast to the Eye of the Storm
Their lips parted.
Haa. Lee Heon’s low, ragged breath brushed against her skin.
Stunned into silence, Dan-a listened to the sound before lifting her gaze to meet his.
Lee Heon was looking down at her, his eyes burning with heat.
Her heart flared.
At that exact moment, the theater screen flared with bright light and a burst of loud audio exploded from the speakers.
“The movie…”
Yet all she could see in the reflection of her eyes was Lee Heon, his gaze fixed entirely and solely on her.
She didn’t need words to know he was going to kiss her again. And how could she possibly reject him?
She couldn’t.
His gaze, the charged atmosphere, the texture of his lips, and even his scent were intoxicatingly sweet.
Sweet enough to completely capture her senses in a single breath.
“President?”
“Yeah?”
“You started this.”
Grabbing him by the lapels, she pulled his face close. Lee Heon wrapped his arms around her body and swallowed her lips.
Upper and lower lips pressed and mashed together, taking in the wet, scorching heat of each other’s mouths.
Haa.
An electric thrill surged from her head down to her toes at dizzying speed.
Driven by an instinct craving deeper stimulation, their lips parted naturally.
He slipped his tongue inside her mouth, tangling with and drawing in the soft, red flesh.
A wet, explicit sound resonated in her ears.
Her heart pounded wildly at the raw, undeniable desire he had for her.
Lee Heon explored every corner of her mouth at length, as if determined to claim every inch of her.
Like a starving lion hunting vulnerable prey, it felt as though he might devour her whole right then and there.
Initially swept away by his dazzling movements, Dan-a soon felt heat rising from deep within herself as well.
Her breath grew ragged, and the fingertips clutching him grew greedy.
Unable to hold back her desire, Dan-a moved her tongue against his. Spurred on by the friction, he swept through the inside of her mouth with even greater intensity.
Their tongues tangled tightly. As each fought to suck and taste the other, messy, lewd sounds filled their ears.
Her mind went completely hazy.
Kissing him was so overwhelmingly sweet that she wouldn’t have cared if they caused a full-blown scandal right here in the dark.
Ah, so this is what kissing is.
More… I want to do this more.
Though he had no intention of pulling away, she gripped the back of his neck tightly, terrified he might slip away.
Avengers!
Assemble, again!
On the screen, the suited Captain was delivering his lines with blazing determination.
Today’s audience had no idea what a truly historic moment this was.
They couldn’t possibly know.
Because the ones actually making history were Lee Heon and Dan-a.
“What’s with that dazed look on your face? Lee Dan-a, are you okay?”
No, she was not okay.
Not okay at all.
The very scale of ‘okay’ versus ‘not okay’ didn’t even apply here.
This was a revolution.
A reformation, an absolute breakthrough.
“Explain so I can actually understand what you’re—gasp, what happened to your lips? Did you get stung by a bee? Why are they so swollen? Is it an allergy? Did you eat something bad?”
Dan-a sat up straight and approached Yunseo.
“Yunseo.”
“Yeah, what is it? Who did this to you?!”
The President. The President did this with his lips.
He’s too good at kissing. It’s totally insane.
The man is a kissing lunatic.
“What? What is it? Why are you being like this?”
“…Never mind. Just wanted to call your name.”
“Why are you acting so weird today? One second you’re grinning like an idiot, the next you’re clutching your head in despair. Wait, is it because the President’s wedding date is coming up? Did that hurt you that much? Hey, are you even listening to me?”
She couldn’t hear a thing. She couldn’t hear anything, nor could she see anything.
Her mind had been gone ever since leaving the theater—no, ever since that kiss.
By the time she had regained her senses, the movie was already over.
Only when the lights snapped on did the two of them finally pull apart.
The neat clothes they had worn into the theater were half-disheveled.
Yet in that vast movie theater, the only thing Dan-a could see was Ra Iheon’s face.
Nothing else held any meaning to her anymore.
She couldn’t even remember what they had talked about on the drive back to her neighborhood.
All she remembered was how painfully reluctant she felt the moment they pulled up in front of her house.
When he had gently leaned in for a parting kiss, they had nearly sparked round two right then and there in the car.
If someone hadn’t yelled, “Who parks a car like this in a narrow alleyway?!” they probably would have gone all the way.
Good grief. How could kissing be this sweet?
She wanted to clock out and see him right away. In fact, right now. She wanted to call the President and tell him to come up to the rooftop immediately.
Every single minute and second felt precious, yet time crept along at a turtle’s pace. Even holding a plank wouldn’t feel this slow.
After enduring and enduring, there was finally just one minute left until the end of the workday.
Yunseo grabbed her by the shoulder.
“Holy crap. They said today’s team dinner is veggie gopchang.”
“Say what? What kind of bolt from the blue is that?”
“Right? You think that makes no sense too, right? Veggie gopchang when we could be having pork belly?”
No, it really made no sense.
She had completely forgotten there was a team dinner today.
Dan-a checked her calendar.
[Team Dinner. Hell yeah, meat.]
A note written by a past, carefree version of Lee Dan-a caught her eye.
“Why do you look like the world just ended? Because of the veggie gopchang? Right? You agree, don’t you? I wanted pork belly too, but the vote was split so they drew lots.”
“……”
“Wait, are you crying? Is it that serious? Fine, I’ll go tell the manager! I’ll tell him Dan-a’s crying so we have to eat pork belly!”
Seizing the opportunity, Yunseo rushed off toward the manager.
With trembling hands, Dan-a grabbed her phone.
‘President, they say there’s a team dinner today. Don’t wait.’
Tapping away at the keyboard, she sniffled, her hands shaking.
She had vowed to be with the President in joy and in sorrow, in sickness and in health.
Yet here she was, a mere salarywoman powerless against a mandatory team dinner driving them apart.
If only she had more power, she could have skipped something as petty as a company dinner.
I am so sorry. Forgive me for my weakness.
Wiping away a tear, she hit send.
“Cheers!”
The entire Public Relations Office clinked their glasses together and drank. Amid the lively atmosphere, Dan-a alone sat steeped in gloom.
Strange.
In the past, any kind of meat had tasted delicious.
Had her palate become refined ever since she started seeing the President?
The sizzling, glistening pork belly failed to catch her interest. Like a scene from a black-and-white movie, it looked like an unappetizing shade of gray.
Layering crisp, oil-grilled kimchi and bean sprouts over a lettuce leaf, topping it with a clove of garlic and a dollop of ssamjang, and stuffing it into her mouth used to taste like absolute heaven. How had it become so entirely meaningless?
No matter how much soju she drank to summon back that appetizing memory, it was no use.
“T-The President is here!”
That was when Dan-a, who had been sitting with a miserable expression in front of the pork belly, widened her eyes.
It was purely a reflex to the word ‘President,’ however; her brain hadn’t quite processed what the statement meant.
Only, the moment Lee Heon’s face appeared at the entrance of the restaurant, the world suddenly shifted into vibrant, brilliant color.
Lee Heon walked slowly into the restaurant. From that moment on, everything that had been boring and meaningless instantly turned bright and exhilarating.
A grin spread across her face unbidden.
Ah. Why is the world so beautiful?
Could it be because you exist, Ra Iheon?
He hadn’t even sat down next to her, yet just sharing the same space with him made happiness bloom inside her chest.
What was this emotion?
Having never felt anything like it before, she had no way of knowing.
She couldn’t fathom what was happening to her.
All of a sudden, the pork belly started tasting delicious again.
I was always delicious; you were the problem, the pork belly seemed to protest, and Dan-a chewed through it with ferocious enthusiasm, giggling foolishly all the while.
“How did you end up coming all the way here?”
“You told me to wait.”
“Pardon? When did I ever—”
Lee Heon showed her his phone screen.
Lee Dan-a♥
President, they say there’s a team dinner today. Wait
Gasp. Wh-Why was the message cut off?!
Just sending ‘Wait’ made it sound completely arrogant.
It literally looked like an order telling him to wait for her!
Don’t tell me he actually…
“The waiting was getting too long and boring, so I decided to join the team dinner.”
He really did wait.
Look at that. He’s so impossibly sweet.
“You even ordered Korean beef just because of me…”
“Did you enjoy it?”
“Of course. It was Hanwoo beef, after all.”
“Only because it was Hanwoo?”
“Because the President bought it for me, it was way, way more delicious.”
“You certainly know how to say the sweetest things, Dan-a-ssi.”
Well, that’s because the President (who buys me Hanwoo) is so much sweeter.
“We’re… here.”
They had circled the neighborhood around her house five times, yet somehow they were back in front of her door again.
Neither of them could bring themselves to let go of each other’s hand, reluctant to part.
“You must be tired. Go inside and get some rest.”
“Okay.”
“……”
“……”
“One more lap?”
She nodded instantly.
After their tenth lap around the block, her legs ached too much to continue.
Lee Heon seemed to sense it, as he didn’t suggest another round.
With nothing left to say, their hands still intertwined, they realized the moment of actual parting had arrived.
“Well, then…”
“Good night.”
They said their goodbyes and Dan-a finally let go of his hand, but unable to stand even a second apart, she turned back to face him.
“President.”
“Yes.”
Chuu. She stood on tiptoe and kissed him first. Lee Heon’s brow furrowed slightly, as if his heart physically ached.
“Is this perhaps the alcohol talking?”
“Please just think of it that way.”
“If that’s what you want, that’s what I’ll believe.”
“I think I had a lot to drink.”
“Then we definitely need to do this more.”
He wound his arm around her waist and pulled her flush against him. Standing so close, the difference in their heights was enough that she had to tilt her neck back all the way.
Mmph.
Their lips locked together, producing a deep, wet sound.
“The parking…”
“I parked properly this time.”
As expected of our President. Quick learner.
A deep, breathless kiss followed as their tongues tangled together once more.
I feel like there was something I was supposed to do…
The moment he caught her tongue and drew it deep into his mouth, every trivial doubt dissolved into dust.
Who cared? Not when this felt so good.
The entire world was washed in stunning, breathtaking color.
