Chapter 8

Throughout the whole day, we stole glances at each other, especially at lunch. It was pretty intense. He eyed me like I was his prey and I had to swallow down the desire to run to him. To think I would ever be sexually frustrated was ridiculous.

Anyway, it seemed I was much more aware of him than before. Back then, I didn't even glance in his direction since I wasn't interested in the new kid. What twisted fate.

"Who are you looking at Haeyoon?" someone asked, jolting me.

I looked at Taeyi and stuttered.

"N-no one," I cleared my throat, "I just saw the new kid over there."

She looked in his direction and then back to me.

"I see," she smirked.

𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨? 𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘮

I gulped as I waited for her to say something.

"I see you finally have realised just how handsome the new kid is," she happily cheered.

"Huh?"

"All this time you had no interest in the new kid, so I was hesitant in talking about him. But now that you've realised his beauty, you're also entranced, aren't you?" she nudged my shoulder.

I coughed and looked away.

"That's not- that's not what I meant," I stuttered.

"Sure. But I agree. When I saw him, I felt my jaw drop. He's so handsome," she exaggerated.

My eyes wandered back in his direction. Luckily, he wasn't looking at me, so I was able to admire his side profile without being caught. My eyes travelled from his silky black hair to his big doe eyes. His straight nose to his soft cheeks and down to his kissable red lips. Then they went down his straight jawline. Without me realising, a stupid smile grew on my face. Who was I kidding? Of course, I was entranced by his beauty. And he was mine, all mine. In my past life and this life too.

A small snicker left my lips and I coughed to cover it up. I really should stop thinking about him.

"Also, he's just my type."

Immediately, I froze when I heard that.

Like a rusty robot, I turned to Taeyi.

"Y-your type?"

"Yeah. I heard from the other girls that he's such a gentleman. Not a cold beauty. He is kind and warm-hearted. After hearing all that, I have the urge to ask him out," she boldly declared.

I kept my mouth shut.

𝘞𝘢𝘪𝘵. 𝘏𝘢𝘦𝘺𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘮?... 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘮 𝘐 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰? 𝘏𝘦'𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘦…

"So you li-like him?"

I looked at her with expectant eyes, hoping she would say she was just a fangirl.

"Yeah, I think it's love at first sight just like Elaine with Edmond," she gushed.

My brain fractured into tiny pieces at that. I laughed sarcastically at myself. Firstly because she fell for someone that I only just started dating but no one knew. And secondly, she unknowingly used me and Sungwoo's past life as a comparison. Wow, this was one heck of a dilemma.

"Do you like him to?" she asked me.

"I-"

Before I could answer, I was cut off by her.

"I'm so silly. I already know you would say no."

I closed my mouth and silently ate my lunch. Just what was this situation?

As I was shallowing in despair, I felt a buzz in my pocket and I checked my phone. When I saw Sungwoo's name, I instantly looked up. Confusion was etched on his face.

'Why do you look so down?'

After reading that, I sighed.

'I'll tell you later.'

~

After basketball, I met up with Sungwoo secretly and we travelled to a faraway place just like yesterday.

"So what's up?"

"It's nothing. It's just I don't think I can tell Taeyi anytime soon about our relationship," I confessed.

"Why?"

I didn't know how to reply. If I told him that she liked him, would that take the opportunity of Taeyi from confessing her feelings to him away? I ended up chewing on my lips as I struggled to think.

Out of nowhere, I felt a gentle touch on my lips.

"You shouldn't chew on your lip like that, it could bleed," I heard Sungwoo say.

As I looked at him, I felt the butterflies in my stomach swarm around and the heat slowly rose in my cheeks. I coughed from being flustered.

"Ah yeah."

Feeling awkward, I scratched the nape of my neck whilst looking in the opposite direction. The look he gave me just now made my heart do a backflip. It was a look I knew too well. It was full of love and care and all I wanted to do was kiss him. But I couldn't since we were currently on public transport. And I was shy to kiss him in front of all these judgemental people of Korea.

I heard him chuckle beside me before he placed his arm across my shoulders.

"Why are you so cute Haeyoon? You're driving me crazy," he whispered as he leaned onto my head.

I didn't dare say anything, knowing I would embarrass myself.

~

Although it wasn't a fancy date, we took a stroll around the unknown neighbourhood and conversed. He tightly held my hand and we walked side by side, close to one another – leaving no gap between us. It was bliss. I felt happy and a broad smile was on my face throughout the date.

"You know, this is something we would never have experienced so easily in our old world," I blurted out.

"You're right. But, we were more free compared to my brother since he was the heir and I was the second son."

"But you were still the Commander of the Royal Guard, so you were still busy."

At that logic, he nodded in agreement.

"Also we didn't get married when we turned adults because of your position."

"23 is considered too young to get married here," he retaliated and I laughed.

It was quiet where we were walking. As we talked and laughed, I noticed Sungwoo fidgeting. I sighed, knowing what he wanted.

"Sungwoo, you really need to learn self-control," I tightened my hold on his hand.

"I'm sorry…" he quietly mumbled.

Silence enveloped us as the slight breeze brushed past us.

"Although sadly I can't, at least there is one thing I'm grateful about this world compared to our old one," he mentioned.

"What's that?" I asked out of curiosity.

"Unlike our old world, this world has a variety of contraceptives. That means we can do it as much as we want in the future," he seductively whispered in my ear.

My ears burned in shame at that.

Seeing my reaction, he grabbed my wrist and pulled me into a secluded area.

"This is your fault for being so cute," he said with those suggestive eyes of his.

Without warning, he bit my lip and pushed his tongue into my mouth. Slightly frazzled, I realised what was happening and forgot about everything and focused on him. Along with our tongue-filled passionate kiss, there were small intimate ones and I didn't realise I pulled him closer.

Suddenly, I felt his lips go down and I stopped him.

"I told you we can't," I panted.

He pouted and gave me his puppy eyes.

"Can't you at least me do this?" he pleaded with an innocent face, even though what he was asking for was the complete opposite.

I hesitated. Damn him for using that face of his. I always ended up listening to him when he used that face.

"…fine," I grumbled.

He cheered out of victory. It didn't take long before he placed his lips back on mine. As he sucked the life out of me, his lips slowly descended. They first travelled to my ear, where he bit me, and then slowly down my neck.

"Just make sure it's not anywhere where people can see it," I mumbled.

He stopped when I said that. Slowly, he lifted his face to meet my gaze.

"That means I have to go lower," he smirked with a playful glint in his eyes.

I had to resist the urge to punch him right then and there because of how smug he looked.

As the blush on my cheeks intensified, I reluctantly loosened my tie and undid the first few buttons on my shirt. The smug look didn't leave his face as he continued leaving small kisses down my neck. When he went even further down, my fingers naturally tangled with the locks of his hair and I pulled it as he sucked on my bare skin. I pressed a hand to my mouth to suppress any noises from leaving. I at least didn't want to give him the satisfaction of hearing that.

After some time, when he was satisfied with the work he did, he lifted himself off and looked at me. I was a blushing red mess and refused to look at him. I heard him laughing and my fingers were itching to punch him.

"…I hate you," I glared at him.

"I love you too," he continued laughing as he fixed my attire.