Chapter 58

“It’s true. I wouldn’t lie about something like this.”

“Ah, I see.”

I see? So it was true.

Since it was something said by a friend and colleague, it had to be true. Emotions bubbled violently inside her.

What, he was going to wait until she got impatient and came to him?

Was that the kind of push-and-pull game he had been playing with Morae?

While she had been anxiously hovering around Pado, worrying about what he thought, Pado had apparently been calculating everything like this.

“Yu Pado is something else.”

A burning rage surged through her, enough to make her understand why her friends had gotten so angry.

Even when she had been kidnapped, her heart had remained calm. But now, a storm was raging inside her.

The thought that he had been shameless filled her entire mind.

He had probably said it just to protect his pride, but still, how dare he say something like that?

When he said those words out loud, he must have known there was a chance they would reach Morae’s ears.

And yet he had still said something like that.

That fact made her furious.

She couldn’t just let it go.

But the words that came out of her mouth were the complete opposite.

“Just wait and see. Leave him alone.”

Morae narrowed her eyes, looking like a generous person who was willing to forgive.

She had just realized that when her anger reached its peak, she actually became calmer.

The emotions that normally showed clearly on her face like a child’s—joy, anger, sadness, and happiness—suddenly disappeared.

Her expression became proud and composed.

“What?”

“Just leave him alone?”

Her friends anxiously looked over Morae, whose attitude had suddenly changed.

Morae elegantly twirled a strand of hair around her finger and lifted the corners of her mouth.

“Yeah. Just leave him alone. I’ll show him.”

So that was how it was.

Let’s see who wins.

He thought she would come running to him first?

Even now, after everything that happened, he was determined not to give in until the very end.

She felt ridiculous for having waited so obediently, believing that Pado would eventually come to her.

Without even realizing he had been testing her patience?

“Let’s see how long he can keep that up.”

She would make sure he learned a lesson.

If Morae decided she wanted to win, there was nothing she couldn’t do.

A dangerous determination filled her sparkling bluish eyes.

【Morae had always been cunning】

Something about Morae had been strange lately.

Let me say it again.

Morae these days was truly strange.

Pado could pinpoint exactly when it had started.

It was after she had watched her seven friends and colleagues—men and women alike—get brutally defeated by him a week ago.

The memory was still vivid.

They had charged at him desperately, and he had crushed them so thoroughly that they would never dare raise their heads again.

He had been genuinely angry after hearing endless criticism about his relationship with Morae.

Without knowing the circumstances, they had treated Pado like some kind of terrible man, and in his anger, he had said things he probably shouldn’t have.

He did regret what happened that day.

No matter how much he wanted to avoid looking pathetic, saying that Morae would eventually get impatient and come running to him if he waited was a mistake.

Those people were Morae’s close friends.

There was no way the words Pado had thrown out wouldn’t have reached Morae’s ears.

The idea that the people who had gone berserk accusing him of playing with Morae after sleeping with her once would not pass along something that damaged his reputation was simply unrealistic.

Thinking about that, Morae lately was truly strange.

She must have been angry.

But she wasn’t acting cold toward him or treating him badly.

If anything, it was the opposite.

Recently, Morae had been unbelievably kind and gentle toward him.

“Are you awake? Isn’t it nice hearing my voice first thing in the morning?”

She would call him in the morning even though he never asked her to, cheerfully starting conversations.

“How is this? They’re clothes made from a new material. They look like they’ll tear easily, but they’re sturdier than I expected.”

She would wear delicate, fluttering clothes that looked like they would rip if touched or fly away in the wind, teasing him and encouraging him to try tearing them.

“Want some candy? It’s a new flavor I made.”

She would suddenly put the lollipop she had been eating into his mouth, clearly trying to create an indirect kiss.

“Pado is really big. That’s amazing. If it’s that big, it must be difficult.”

She would press her hand or foot against his and make suggestive comments that could easily be misunderstood as referring to something else.

She stayed by his side in an almost absurd way, smiling with her eyes as if she was trying to seduce him.

No, it wasn’t just that she looked like she was seducing him.

She actually was.

It was a completely different kind of kindness from before.

Her words were three times sweeter and more flirtatious than usual.

Her alluring eyes and clothes looked like she had intentionally dressed to tempt him.

Every little action she made was enough to distract Pado completely.

If this wasn’t flirting or seduction, then nothing in the world could be called seduction.

Someone would have to strip naked and throw themselves at him before it could even qualify.

This was seduction.

A deliberate attempt to make Pado fall for her.

…Something had gone very, very wrong.

“…What are you doing?”

“Eating.”

Pado put down his spoon and stared at Morae.

The food wouldn’t go down properly.

“I’m talking about your foot.”

Morae’s bare foot had quietly climbed onto Pado’s leg.

At first, it had only brushed against his ankle, but little by little, it moved up his shin until it started touching his knee.

He thought that kind of teasing was possible when they were alone.

Even if he ignored the fact that the two of them were “nothing,” it was still something they could do.

The problem was that this place was basically the cafeteria.

Colleagues who knew them passed by nearby.

The area under the table was partially hidden, but if he looked at it another way, half of it was completely exposed.

Someone had definitely seen Morae playing with her foot.

Pado had subtly hinted that this was the kind of thing that could damage her reputation, but Morae didn’t even flinch.

She pretended not to notice while brushing her big toe against the inside of his thigh.

“This counts as eating too. Your reaction is so delicious that I’m full.”

Morae hummed while holding her spoon between her lips, her mouth stuffed with food.

“You…”

Pado glared fiercely at the smiling Morae.

Her sock-covered foot tickled his thigh, and his body reacted despite himself.

Thinking this was going too far, Pado stood up.

The one thing he absolutely refused to do was get an erection in the cafeteria.

When he stopped eating and moved, Morae stopped as well and followed him.

She hurried after him, then poked his waist with her hand.

“Are you angry?”

Her hand was in a dangerously precise spot—slightly higher than his hips and slightly lower than his back.

The intention to snap back and ask why she cared if he was angry melted away under her touch.

“Next time, you can do it to me.”

Her annoyingly beautiful smile hit Pado.

From her gently curved eyes to the rounded corners of her lips, she had a talent for making him feel restless.

Since her natural appearance was already beautiful, when she deliberately smiled sweetly, his eyes were drawn to her without even trying.

She was sexy.

And she was cunning.

Without her usual arrogant expression, Morae looked as pure and lovely as an angel.

Which somehow made her even more like a devil.

Pado had a feeling that if he was drawn in by her gentle temptation, he would end up boiling at the bottom of hell.

He shook off his thoughts and hurried away.

His lower abdomen burned warmly, and his body reacted painfully.

“Damn it. Fuck. Seriously, that woman…”

After venting with a stream of curses, Pado felt a little calmer.

Once he emptied his mind and body, he thought he understood Morae’s intentions.

It was the same as always.

A tiresome battle of pride.

A provocation where neither side wanted to lose face.

Until now, they had fought while saying things like:

“You can’t handle someone like me.”

“If we do it once, you’ll be the one begging because you’ll like it so much.”

That was why neither of them could casually say they liked it, and once they regained their senses, they couldn’t ask to do it again.

Because the person who liked it first and wanted it more was the one who lost.

Morae had especially strong pride, so she tried desperately not to show her feelings.

Even while secretly enjoying being with Pado, she had never once admitted that she liked it.

Even when she cried until her voice became hoarse and could barely walk afterward, she still stubbornly refused to admit defeat despite the answer already being obvious from how she quietly approached him again.

But why was she acting so affectionate now?

No matter how much he thought about it, there was only one answer.

Morae had changed the battlefield on her own.

She was trying to seduce and provoke him, making him lose his composure.

She had been angry because Pado said he was waiting for her to get impatient and come begging.

Now, it seemed like she had decided to make him the desperate one instead.

There was no way she had suddenly developed romantic feelings for him after crushing seven of her friends.

It was obvious.

However, the problem was that this little scheme was far too sweet.

He knew she had deliberately decided to seduce him.

But it was difficult to resist.

His mind and his heart were both telling him to let her continue.

Whenever Morae looked disappointed, his heart sank.

The thought that an offended Morae might end up despising him forever made him uneasy.

In reality, he had no way to refuse either.

Morae only approached the dangerous line and playfully danced around it.

Calling him in the morning.

Feeding him delicious food.

Lightly touching his palm or leg.

He couldn’t coldly reject those things.

He didn’t want to completely fall for Morae’s tricks and start begging for her.

But he also didn’t want to become her enemy.

If he harshly rejected things that could be disguised as friendly gestures, the people in the legion might gang up on him.

He was already in a situation where he was practically being used as Morae’s toy, yet he still had to endure her friends looking down on him.

Thinking about it again made his blood boil.

He was the one being treated like he was nothing.

So why was he also being accused of playing with Morae?

Morae acting sweet and gentle was all part of some plan, wasn’t it?

She was probably planning to lure him in completely, then pull away at the last moment and make him feel disappointed.

For someone with a reputation like Eun Morae’s, there was no reason she wouldn’t do something that cruel.

Pado let out a long sigh and entered his room.

Just dealing with Morae today had already drained him completely.

He was exhausted.

When he opened the door, his eyes immediately landed on the raised shape of his bed.

His knees and legs lost their strength, and his body collapsed forward like he was sliding down.

His head hit the wall with a loud thud.

It wasn’t really a mistake.

He simply didn’t feel like stopping himself.

There was no need to guess who was hiding under the raised blanket.

With his head resting against the wall, Pado slowly closed his eyes.

“Just walk around with a sign saying you want someone to take you. If your mother found out you were sneaking into a strange man’s bed whenever you wanted, she’d cry.”

“I was just lonely and came here to sleep. Sleep with me.”

Morae peeked her head out from under the blanket and gave him a smug little grin.

Pado remained leaning against the wall, crossing his arms and ankles.

“If you sleep there, I won’t hold back. I’ll strip away every single thread of clothing you have. If you don’t like that, get out.”

“No.”

It was an incredibly cheerful answer.

Pado’s eyebrows twisted sharply.

“Oh, you want me to strip away every thread of clothing? Then stay there quietly. I’ll keep going until you’re crying that you can’t take anymore.”

“No.”

Morae answered cheerfully again.

Short.

Bright.

And completely ridiculous.