Chapter 51

Before she knew it, Pado had taken a seat across the table.

He pulled over a chair, sat down at the dining table, and rested his chin on one hand. With an expressionless face, he stared intently as Morae ate her cake.

Just as she was about to take her third bite, Morae changed the direction of her fork and held it out toward Pado.

“Ah~”

Holding the fork out with an “Ah~” she offered him a bite, and Pado obediently accepted the cake.

“Ah~”

He quietly accepted the fourth bite, then the fifth. After swallowing the cake, a faint smile crossed his lips.

“If you’re sick of it, just say you’re sick of it. Don’t dump it on me. I watched you eat enough to get tired of it.”

“I’m rewarding you for working hard. Were you watching me the whole time like some stalker?”

“I was waiting to see when you’d finally be alone. If I’d known people would keep coming all day, I would’ve left earlier. I didn’t think that many people would come visit someone who collapsed after having sex.”

“I was exhausted from being kidnapped and taking down all the kidnappers. Officially.”

“Unofficially, your back gave out from getting pounded.”

Morae jabbed the mouth spouting such annoying remarks with her fork.

Pado covered his mouth where she’d poked him and frowned.

Late at night.

Other than throwing playful jabs back and forth, they didn’t have any particularly meaningful conversation.

There wasn’t really anything either of them needed to discuss.

After sleeping together inside the enemy’s hideout, it felt like bringing up any topic would only make things awkward.

Pado idly tapped the floor with his foot as his gaze wandered around the room.

Despite having no real reason to stay, he showed no intention of leaving Morae’s hospital room this late at night.

That said, he didn’t seem consumed by lust, either.

Tonight, he lacked the reckless intensity that made him look as though he wanted to devour her until nothing but bones remained.

Morae said nothing.

The man sitting across from her was someone who came to visit her in the hospital despite knowing perfectly well she wasn’t seriously injured, ran all the way downtown to buy her cake, then waited until every visitor had left before quietly peeking in through the window.

Even sitting together in silence felt soft and comfortable, while at the same time carrying the nervous anticipation of a roller coaster just before it reached the top of its climb.

“…”

“…”

It wasn’t the kind of silence where neither of them knew how to start talking.

Pado simply looked at her with the calm, unreadable expression Morae sometimes described as him having “no thoughts.”

By the time the cake and tea on the table had disappeared, Pado stood up.

He walked over to the front of the bed where Morae was sitting and bent his knees.

Lowering himself until they were at eye level, he spread his arms.

It was such an obvious gesture—like a child asking to be hugged.

“Hug me.”

To Morae’s astonishment, Pado was asking for a hug.

The direct request hit her like a fastball, and she bit down on her fork hard enough to bend it.

She spat out the bent fork, coughed a few times, then looked back up.

“What’s gotten into you all of a sudden?”

“Hug me.”

With his arms still open, Pado curled his fingers, beckoning her.

“So Yu Pado’s pride finally died? Suddenly you wanted me to hug you? Is that why you waited all day until we were finally alone?”

“…”

She teased him like she always did, but Pado remained quiet.

He didn’t get irritated.

He didn’t turn away.

He simply said nothing.

Sometimes, silence was more unsettling than criticism or provocation.

It felt as though if she said one more thing, something irreversible would happen.

Morae brushed her hair back, spread her arms wide, and hugged Pado.

He immediately pulled her tightly into his embrace and rubbed his nose and cheek against her face.

When he buried his face against her shoulder and breathed in her scent to his heart’s content, she suddenly grew self-conscious.

She had washed her hair that morning, but it was already nighttime.

She had just eaten, so she probably smelled like food, too…

She found herself worrying about the strangest things.

Pado held her as though he were possessed.

It was a precarious situation, but nothing hard pressed against her lower stomach.

This hug carried no trace of lust.

As he gently patted her back in a steady rhythm, her body gradually relaxed.

Her head drooped, her eyelids grew heavy, and Morae absentmindedly patted his back as well.

Apparently pleased by that, Pado whispered,

“More.”

After holding her for quite some time, Pado shifted his weight.

His large, heavy body gently pushed forward, and still wrapped in his embrace, Morae tipped backward.

She tumbled onto the bed, and her heart began pounding.

Pado had hugged her and pushed her down onto the bed.

Now he was lying on top of her.

There was no way it couldn’t feel dangerous.

“Hey, this is a hospital room—”

“Morae.”

The yearning in his voice made her mouth go dry, forcing her to swallow.

She worried he might have heard the loud gulp.

“When you have time… spoil me a little.”

Even though no one had ever taught him things like this, and Morae was the first woman he’d ever been with, every now and then, the words that came out of his mouth struck straight at her heart.

“I think I’m more starved for a woman than I realized.”

The biggest problem was that only about half of what he meant matched what she wanted—but well, she couldn’t expect everything right from the beginning.

As Pado pleaded for her to spoil him, Morae’s mind raced.

She wondered when someone might come in to examine her, and how far any commotion here would carry.

Just as those thoughts crossed her mind, Pado got up from the bed and straightened his clothes.

“Sleep well, then.”

Caught completely off guard, Morae barely managed to swallow the “Huh?” that almost escaped her lips.

Pado didn’t provoke her or pick a fight. He simply turned around without hesitation, stepped onto the windowsill, and climbed out the window. Before disappearing, he gave her one last look in farewell.

Once his figure vanished, Morae was left alone again.

She hugged a large pillow tightly.

She had been mentally preparing herself, convinced he meant he wanted her to spoil him right then and there…

Instead, she’d been left hanging.

He had walked away without a trace of lingering attachment, while she was overflowing with it to the point that her chest ached.

Which one of them was really the starved one?

No, no matter what, it couldn’t be her.

Surely not!

There was no way.

Pado would probably go back to his room and comfort his lonely night with his “girlfriend”—his right hand.

Just like Morae was clutching her blanket tightly between her legs.

Lying face down with the blanket wedged firmly between her thighs, Morae let out a quiet moan.

Her slender body rose and fell little by little as ragged breaths escaped her.

“Hah… ngh…”

It felt like it was going to be a very, very long night.

【 Pado Was Truly Difficult to Figure Out 】

At this point, Morae decided to admit something she hadn’t wanted to admit.

Pado was good.

Whether they were simply incredibly compatible, whether he was naturally talented despite having no experience, or whether she was just deprived because she’d never been with a man before…

Whatever the reason, she kept thinking about him.

His bold claims at the beginning had surely just been baseless bravado and provocation.

Annoyingly enough…

He’d actually lived up to them.

The reassuring part was that she wasn’t bad herself.

After all, Pado kept coming back to her.

Even though it didn’t necessarily have to be her.

Seeing him watch her reactions and deliberately avoid getting close to other women made that obvious.

He could have joked that he envied Lord Sea God, who supposedly had countless lovers, yet he stubbornly denied it every time.

She didn’t dislike how hard he seemed to be trying not to leave a bad impression on her.

“Heh, heh.”

Even while she was busy deciding how to deal with the remaining members of the Shadow Knights, she found herself humming.

Pado definitely had feelings for her.

Maybe they weren’t especially deep or overwhelming…

But they were there.

If she had to rank how much Pado liked the women around him, she was in first place by a landslide.

Whether first place was worth eighty points or only forty was hard to tell.

But first place was still first place.

She couldn’t stop recalling the image of Pado visiting her hospital room late at night a few days ago, asking her to spoil him whenever she had time.

He was at the age where he wanted a girlfriend he could laugh and chat with.

If they had never crossed that line, it might have been different.

But once they had opened those floodgates, it wasn’t surprising that his body had begun craving more.

He certainly had no shortage of youthful vigor or stamina.

And honestly…

The same wasn’t all that different for Morae.

If they’d never done anything, it would have been one thing.

But now that she’d had a taste of it, Pado occasionally came to mind.

Along with the thought that maybe having a boyfriend she could laugh and spend time with wouldn’t be so bad.

The part of her that used to think, “I’m not really interested in dating,” quietly retreated in embarrassment.

If it was Pado…

She thought she could accept it.

Even after they’d slept together, she still hadn’t been able to imagine dating him.

But now…

The idea didn’t sound so bad anymore.

It wasn’t like there was another man she particularly liked.

Nor did she expect the perfect man who surpassed her ideal type to suddenly fall from the sky.

If that was the case…

There was nothing wrong with dating Pado.

If he confessed first and asked her to go out with him, it wouldn’t mean she’d lost.

She had no reason to refuse.

If he told her he liked her…

Maybe she’d agree to date him.

If he clung to her saying he wanted to do it again…

Maybe she’d let him.

The thought made her nose lift ever so slightly with pride.

For some reason, she suddenly wanted to see Pado.

Morae immediately sent him a message.

[Where are you?]

[Come here.]

[Right now.]

After sending the three short texts one after another, Morae realized she hadn’t told him where she was.

She quickly added another message.

[South beach in front of the Coastal Watch Post. Dangerous.]

After leaving the Coastal Watch Post building, Morae wandered along the southern beach for about fifteen minutes.

As she aimlessly walked, kicking aside the countless pebbles scattered beneath her feet, she heard the sound of waves.

A moment later, Pado appeared, rushing over with loud splashes of water and slightly heavy breathing.

He scanned the area before spotting Morae in her white dress and straw hat.

His eyes widened.

“You… use the word ‘dangerous’ properly.”

“It was dangerous. There were seabirds flying all over the place, and my legs hurt. Because of someone.”

“Quit exaggerating. You’re all healed.”

He said that, but apparently wasn’t entirely convinced.

Pado suddenly grabbed her thigh.

When Morae didn’t react immediately, he quietly withdrew his hand as if to say, “See?”

That was certainly a bold way to check.

It was something only someone absolutely certain the other person wouldn’t get angry would dare do.

Morae briskly brushed off the thigh he’d touched and huffed.

“Stop touching me whenever you feel like it. I’m precious.”

“Then keep yourself properly covered instead of putting yourself on display.”

“My legs hurt when I walk, so carry me. It’s hard to keep going.”

“No they don’t. You’re not hurting. You’re just pretending.”

“…Do you really think so?”

Instead of pouting or arguing, she stayed silent for a long moment before finally lifting her head to look at him.

Pado flinched.

It had already been four days since that incident.

Four days was enough time for most muscle soreness to disappear completely.

But soreness in muscles that weren’t used very often could linger much longer.

Whatever the truth was…

Pado had no way of knowing.

Dragging his feet over, Pado slung Morae over his shoulder.

“Not this again!”

Dangling over his shoulder like a sack of grain, Morae cried out.