Chapter 47.1

Chapter 47.1

Only then did Heeju realize she had run out without even putting on shoes, like someone out of her mind. No wonder her soles were stinging. But she didn’t care.

Feeling the warmth of his body, inhaling the familiar scent that filled her lungs… only then did a massive wave of relief crash through her. He was really back. He was alive.

“I thought you were dead…”

Heeju buried her face against Gukhyun’s chest, rubbing her cheek against him like a lost animal finding its way back to its mother. The solid press of his chest against her cheek made her eyes sting. It felt ridiculous, yet not ridiculous at all.

What if she had never seen him again? She already knew what all that fear, worry, and panic really meant. She just hadn’t wanted to admit it.

She had truly fallen for this man, and the unfamiliar, uncontrollable rush of it made her stomach churn.

Was this really okay?

Lost in confusion and uncertainty, Heeju could only cling to him tighter. Whenever the nausea and dizziness came in waves, his broad, solid body somehow calmed her nerves.

All that time sitting alone in the living room under the glowing Christmas tree, she wanted to hold him like this. If she could, she’d stay here all night, just holding the man who’d come back alive.

“You were gone so long… I really thought you were dead.”

Gukhyun gently stroked the back of her head. His voice dropped low, softened by a faint trace of laughter.

“I told you I don’t die that easily.”

“You’re really not the trustworthy type.”

Her voice came out muffled against his chest, the sound low and strained.

“Still no trust at all? After all that f**king?”

Gukhyun lifted the small head buried against him and cupped Heeju’s cheeks in both hands. For the first time, she got a clear look at his face.

“…!”

A thin cut ran across his cheek. Her eyes twisted in alarm.

“You’re hurt.”

“It’s just a scratch.”

He brushed it off lightly, his thumb tracing the crease between her furrowed brows.

“That’s not a scratch, it’s a cut.”

“Same thing.”

“You said you’d come back in one piece. That was a lie.”

“This is what counts as one piece for someone like me.”

Of course it was.

Whether he meant it as pride or humor, Heeju could only narrow her eyes in disbelief and tilt his face from side to side to check.

“What about the rest? Did you get hurt anywhere else?”

“No. I’m fine.”

“I don’t believe you. Take off your coat.”

As Heeju reached to open the front of his coat, Gukhyun wrapped an arm around her waist and suddenly lifted her off the ground, slinging her over his shoulder in one swift motion.

“Ah—hey!”

“I get it, you want to strip me the moment you see me. But how about we go inside first? You’re about to catch a cold out here.”

“What are you doing—! Put me down! I can walk, just put me down!”

She kicked and struggled, but it was useless. Her bare feet dangled helplessly in the air.

“Every time I see your feet, I wonder how you even manage to walk on something that small. How is it you don’t have a single part of you that isn’t pretty?”

Carrying her over his shoulder, Gukhyun stepped inside in the blink of an eye. Even as he gently set her down in the entryway, his hand slipped lower, giving her a firm squeeze before letting go.

“What are you squirming for? You knew I’d put you down eventually.”

“You’ve still got the strength for that? When you’re hurt?”

“Told you, I’m fine.”

“Last time you said that, you ended up bleeding out all over the floor. Scared me half to death.”

Heeju tugged on his wrist and pushed him down onto the sofa.

“I didn’t know you cared about me this much.”

Gukhyun let her fuss over him, that lazy smile tugging at his lips.

“They say once you start feeling sorry for someone, that’s it. Guess I really did look that pitiful, huh? You even cried, thinking I was dead.”

“I didn’t cry.”

“There were tears in your eyes.”