Suddenly, she looked around the house again with new eyes. The idea that maybe Lakis didn’t just step out for a moment, maybe he was completely gone…came to her mind out of nowhere. Even so, it oddly made sense.
Because when she took a second look around, she realized there wasn’t any trace of Lakis left in the house. She didn’t know if it was Lakis’ original habit, or if he just cleaned up all traces of himself today before he left. However, she hadn’t noticed it before because so far, she hadn’t really had the chance to look closely at the house while Lakis was gone.
~
‘Bye, Ms. Yuri. I’ll be waiting for you.’
~
The voice of Lakis from this morning lingered in her ears and at the same time, a strange feeling suddenly swirled in the middle of her chest. However, she couldn’t figure out what that strange feeling was.
Yuri looked at the empty house before her as she wondered what it was.
Clank!
Right then, the sound of the window next to kitchen opening rang out.
Tap!
And from it, came Lakis swinging right into the house. That very moment, Yuri and Lakis’ eyes met mid-air.
“…”
“…”
Lakis froze on the spot.
—Gasp, wow, woow, Lakis! You’re finished.
The bug in his head shouted dramatically but Lakis’ mind had gone blank, so he didn’t even hear it.
Yuri stood a short distance away from Lakis and stared at him who just made an entrance through the window with an expressionless face. Lakis calmed his trembling eyes first then opened his mouth.
“Ms. Yuri…”
“Why don’t you just use the door?”
However, Yuri’s voice blocked whatever he was going to say. Lakis tried to sense her mood but her voice was as calm and serene as always that he couldn’t grasp any emotion.
After that, Yuri moved from where she stood. Lakis also moved to follow her and quietly asked.
“When did you come back?”
“Just now.”
With the brief conversation over, only the soft footsteps of the two of them filled the quiet house.
Yuri ignored Lakis and headed to her room. Lakis immediately chased after her. His eyes studied her face carefully. Yuri took off her coat and dropped it on the bed next to her as if she didn’t know what he was doing.
“Ms. Yuri.”
Yuri’s face was impassive which was obviously no different from usual. But maybe Lakis sensed something from her when she was like this because he stood at the door, quietly staring at her then he walked over and grabbed her arm.
The grip wasn’t tight enough to hurt but it was strong enough that she couldn’t easily pull away. Yuri looked up at Lakis who had now drawn next to her then she opened her mouth.
“Your injury must be fully healed now.”
“It’s not healed yet.”His answer came without even a pause.
“Is that so?”
Yuri peered into Lakis’ face opposite hers.
And the next moment, she pushed Lakis back. Although he could withstand it, Lakis was obediently pushed back like she wished.
Ploof![1]
And with that, Lakis found himself sitting on the bed behind him. Yuri wasn’t satisfied with that and pushed his torso a bit further back. Confusion arose in Lakis’ eyes.
Eventually, Yuri made him lean backwards until he was almost lying on the bed then she stretched out her hand to Lakis’ side. Like that, she planted her hands on the bed and trapped Lakis from moving.
“Then take it off.”
She then asked.
Instantly, Lakis’ eyes stiffened while he stared at Yuri. As Yuri looked down at Lakis, she thought to herself that she still didn’t know what mood she was in. She didn’t know why but when she saw Lakis suddenly appear when she was alone at home, her heart felt a little agitated.
And as she kept looking at his face now, an evil feeling arose in her mind for an unknown reason. So she wanted to make him embarrassed.
She knew Lakis’ injury was almost completely gone. After all, he was a man with amazing resilience. As expected, Lakis froze and stared at her. But after a while, Lakis slowly blinked a few times then his eyes suddenly regained their initial calm.
And then…
Swish.
Lakis’ arm moved.
After seeing what he was doing, Yuri’s eyes shook for a moment. Lakis really lifted his hand and began to undo his buttons one by one. His beautifully shaped fingers slowly fumbled down from his neck.
Yuri watched Lakis with her breath caught for some reason. She followed his slowly moving hand past his slightly shaded neckline and chiseled collarbone, down to his solid chest partially wrapped in bandages as his muscular abdomen was slowly revealed.
Even as he did all that, his eyes never moved from Yuri’s face. His deep blue eyes were fixed on her without the slightest movement. Lakis was definitely the one taking off his clothes but somehow, she felt like she was the one stripping in front of him.
Despite that, she couldn’t look away from Lakis’ eyes.
Snap.
His muscular hand undid another button over his abdomen.[2]Even though she couldn’t understand it, she could feel heat starting to slowly rise up her spine.
Eventually, Yuri couldn’t bear the atmosphere and stopped his hand from moving any further down. At that, Lakis tilted his head slightly then his lips gently parted as he whispered.
“Why? You said I should take it off.”
“…Put it back on.”
Even his voice seemed like it was dripping with allure making her ears feel ticklish for some reason.[3]Upon hearing Yuri’s words, Lakis closed for his eyes for a longer stretch of time before he opened it again. He looked up at Yuri and said very nonchalantly:
“My wound hurts so I can’t wear it.”
“Didn’t you just undo them without any issue?”
“I squeezed out the last power I had for that…”
If he didn’t speak, no one would be annoyed.
Yuri shut her mouth tight and began to button Lakis herself although she wasn’t that gentle. And the very next moment, Lakis covered her hands with his.“Don’t be angry.”
Hearing the low whisper flowing into her ear, Yuri’s hand unconsciously paused. Deep blue eyes stared at her from the front.
“I don’t know what to do if you’re angry.”
His raised hand gently stroked Yuri’s cheek. His fingers felt both delicate and careful making Yuri’s eyes tremble again.
“I’m not angry.”
Finally, she opened her tightly shut lips.
“Really?”
Lakis then asked to make sure.
Yuri quietly stared at Lakis’ face below her for a while.
“Mr. Lakis.”
Soon, her lips parted again, and she called his name. Lakis looked at her, his gaze saying she could say anything. But Yuri didn’t continue and just stopped it there.
“It’s nothing.”
She removed her hand from Lakis’ body and stood up. Lakis asked why she didn’t continue but Yuri’s mouth didn’t open again.
So…
If you’re going leave someday, at least tell me before you go.
In the end, she swallowed those words back inside and for a while, they lingered around in her mind.
* * *
The next day, an unwanted customer came to the coffeehouse.
“You…Aren’t you dating Genos Sheldon?”
A prideful-looking man with dark blue hair like the deep sea and black eyes. It was Damon Salvatore. Perhaps she should be thankful he didn’t come with a bouquet today.
Yuri walked past Damon with her tray and gave a short reply.
“No.”
Damon didn’t follow Yuri as she went past him. Even after she served drinks to another table and came back, he was still standing in the same spot.
A glance at him showed that Damon’s face was a little red. His eyes were nailed to floor and were obviously trembling a little. From what she could tell, he had probably heard something from Genos when they left the coffeehouse together the other day…
He seemed ashamed for misunderstanding something on his own without even verifying it with Yuri personally.
“If you’re going to order, have a seat, otherwise please leave, customer-nim.”
Only
Of course, Yuri couldn’t care less about his condition, she was simply here to do her job. At Yuri’s words, Damon went to sit in an empty seat, looking slightly hesitant. His gait was so stiff you could almost hear him creak.
Damon ordered a cup of coffee in a slightly muffled voice, then stole glances at Yuri as she moved around the coffeehouse. Then after some time, he began to stare blatantly at her face.
Translator’s Corner:
[1]This is the sound for when you fall into your bed. Plop is the right translation, but I didn’t think it fit here.
[2]The literal translation here would be boney hand but not actuallyboneybut just that the bones are prominent. I can envision what is being described and I can’t think of a better word than muscular.
[3]The word for ‘allure’ here is [색기가] but I’ve never seen it before, so I had to google it. The first result was a woman asking if she should take it as a compliment or an insult lol. The word means ‘sexiness’ basically.