Swallowed

Chapter 1 Part 8: Did You Sleep Well?

When Se-yeong opened her eyes, light was coming in brightly through the window. Just looking at the sky made her think it was past noon. Se-yeong, who blinked slowly, turned her gaze to the black color that was caught in the lower part of her peripheral vision.

Je-ha’s hair. Half of his face was buried under the duvet, revealing only his forehead. It was as if he was digging into the duvet to escape the light in his sleep. The problem was that it’s on Se-yeong’s chest and neither of them was wearing anything. Se-yeong lifted the duvet, but quickly put it back down and pretended not to see it. 

‘Come to think of it, I said I was going to wash yesterday and fell asleep. There’s no way I would have slept with only my dirty clothes off….’ She wanted to think so, but her body was too fresh for that.

Thinking that Je-ha had washed her himself, her face went hot. Last night’s events were not as clear as if obscured by fog. ‘Did Je-ha cum on me? I drank a bit too much. If I had drunk in moderation, I wouldn’t have woken up in the same bed with Je-ha like this.’

She was thirsty and wanted to check her cell phone as well, so Se-yeong carefully turned her body to the other side. She did get caught naked, but she was going to look for something to wear.

Fortunately, there was a closet next to the bed and her clothes were neatly hung. It was not difficult to find because it was neatly arranged according to the type of clothes.

She chose a T-shirt and cotton pants with the most ease, but the cotton pants were big at the waist, so even if she wore them, they seemed to fall off. She looked for her clothes wearing the longest T-shirt. In anticipation that Je-ha fell asleep only after washing them, they would have dried up. 

Sneaking into the utility room, she looked into the washing machine and saw her clothes as expected. They seemed dry, but the thick knit dress was still damp. On the other hand, the panties were dry. She was relieved and put on her underwear, took out the dress, hung it, and left the utility room. 

Only then did she see the house properly. It was a two-room structure with a living room and a kitchen together, a bedroom, and a small room, but the bedroom was as spacious as the living room. No matter how you look at it, it was a spacious house to live in alone. Maybe because it hadn’t been long since he moved, there was not much furniture, which made it feel more so as it was empty.

Se-yeong leaned against the bedroom door and looked inside. At least, the bedroom was a living space and had more of an aura that a person was living here. 

She thought the bed was too big for one person, but considering Je-ha’s height, she understood. If it was a normal single bed, he wouldn’t be able to lie down with his legs stretched out. In fact, Je-ha would sleep while curled up.

When she took out a 500-ml bottled water from the refrigerator and drank it, it seemed that she could barely live. Fortunately, the cell phone was in the living room with the bag. Se-yeong tried to pick up her speaker, but left it alone and sat down on the sofa with only her cell phone. 

3 P.M. She slept for a long time. Hundreds of group messages piled up. She got sick of it even before reading it, so she gave up checking it and decided to only check her personal messages. 

[Han-se, did you take a taxi?]

She hesitated for a moment to reply to Yoo-jeong’s message, saying, “I took a taxi, and I just woke up.”

Come to think of it, she didn’t know where she was, so she looked out the window. Se-yeong, who stood up from her seat and looked out the window, looked around, doubting her eyes. She saw the front gate of the school across the street.

Only then did Se-young find out that this was not a new villa in the town, but the most expensive residential officetel around here. There was a mart and a large bookstore underground, and a department store was also nearby, so the cheapest average monthly rent was well over 1 million won.

Jeha’s parents seemed to accept and support Je-ha no matter what university or career path he chose. ‘Was it a relief? I might not have heard that Je-ha’s career path and life plan had gone awry because of me.’

‘Jeha must have joined our department because he had an idea. Don’t tell me you chose it just because I’m here?’

As she looked down over the campus, Se-yeong thought he could have chosen the same university, but the reason he insisted on the same department was because he set his mind to this.

She felt strange because she had never seen the university from this high. The green campus could not be seen all at once. She looked for the international academies, the academic halls, and the libraries. In spring, cherry blossoms were in full bloom all over the campus. The cherry blossom road was well established enough to say that there was no need to go to Yeouido to see it.
(T/N: Yeouido is an island in Seoul, South Korea that has a beautiful Cherry Blossom bloom at Yeouido Park.)

“Did you sleep well?”

​​She was looking around the school without realizing that time was passing when she heard Jeha’s voice from behind.

“You woke up?”

Se-young opened her mouth more comfortably when she saw Je-ha coming out of the living room shaking his hair. She said as if singing in a soft voice. Baek Je-ha was the only one in the whole world she was fine with doing this in front of. She knew that even if everyone in the world laughed and ridiculed her, Baek Je-ha wouldn’t do that.

Jeha covered his mouth with his fist and yawned for a long time, then walked behind Se-young, hugged her waist tightly, and leaned his chin on her shoulder. Seeing that he couldn’t open his eyes and yawned one after another, he seemed to still be tired.

With his firm arms wrapped around her waist and shoulders and his head pressed against hers, Se-yeong let out a smirk. They hadn’t seen each other for two years and it’s only been a day since they reunited, but what’s this naturalness? It was as if the two years had evaporated and disappeared. Maybe it was because she unraveled all the hustle and bustle yesterday and even did something like that.

“Sleep more. It’s Saturday.”

“What time is it?”

“3 o’clock. I borrowed your clothes.”

Jeha opened his eyes and checked what clothes she was wearing. It was a white plain shirt. Turning his head a little more, he saw the nipple rising above his clothes and bit Se-young’s shoulder without hurting her.

“Ah.”

Se-young shrugged her shoulders saying it tickled. Jeha rubbed his face against her shoulders and neck, and something stung. A beard? In the past, it was so soft that it didn’t look like he would grow a beard. His face also looked more like a pretty boy than a manly man.

His eyes are big and dark, so he has a strong impression, but his face is white and small, so he sometimes dresses up as a woman during the school festival talent show. He proudly won the championship by showing off his flower beauty among his friends who already had a second sexual symbol.

Thinking back on that time, she felt a new emotion. Se-young, who lived in the library even during the festival because of the entrance exam, did not actually see the precious appearance in-person and later only saw it through a video of the festival.

​​Baek Je-ha, who was like that, now had a man’s face from head to toe, as well as a beard. With this size, he could no longer dress as a woman. Se-young, who was thinking about the talent show at the academic seminar, laughed again.

“In a good mood?”

“If you go to an academic seminar, first-year students have to show off their talents.”

“I heard about it. Why all of a sudden?”

“I laughed because I remembered you dressed up as a woman at the festival.”

“Ugh.” Je-ha frowned as if he, who moaned briefly, did not want to think about it.

“It was really pretty, but it’s a pity I didn’t see it in person.”

It was so pretty and cute even in a blurry video because it was far away, but how pretty it would have been in person. When Se-young was truly disappointed, Je-ha narrowed his eyes and shook Se-young’s shoulder with her teeth.

“If Sunbae wants, I can still dance in a skirt. Tell me. What kind of style do you like? Miniskirt and high heels? A long skirt with open sides?”

Se-young’s mouth opened wide. It was hard to imagine Baek Je-ha, who was over 190 in size, wearing a miniskirt. However, on reflection, she thought that a miniskirt would look good on long and slim legs.

“Seeing that you really want to see it, Sunbae’s preference is quite dangerous.”

“No, it’s not.”

It is true that she wants to see it because it’s a rare sight that she will never forget once she sees it, but it was not to her taste. However, somehow he didn’t seem to believe it. Jeha bit her earlobe, saying, “If you want to see it, tell me you want to see it.” Although Se-young smiled and avoided to the side, he followed her persistently. Eventually, Se-young stood with her back against the window and Je-ha locked Se-young in his arms.

Sparks flew out of their eyes as they met. As he tried to kiss her naturally, Se-young quickly covered her mouth with her hand.

“I’m going to wash up.”

Jeha burst into laughter at the resolute voice. Then he pressed his lips to the back of her hand. He rubbed the back of her hand as if he had bitten and sucked on her lips, and whispered in a low, subdued voice.

“When you were being washed up yesterday, I thought if there was hell, that was it. Because I couldn’t touch these pretty breasts in front of me.”

“…….”

As Jeha’s hand gently gripped her breast, Se-young stopped moving as if she had broken down. His hands were so big that they easily covered her breasts. Because she wore a T-shirt without a bra, the touch of his hand was clearly conveyed over the thin cloth.

Jeha gently scratched the top of the clothes with his index finger. Her nipples were rubbed slightly. When Se-young removed his hand telling him not to do it, she raised her head. His lips lightly touched her lips, which were exposed defenselessly, and then fell off. 

“The saying that stealing, which I learned late, is scary, is right. I can’t stop this.”

“You’re 20 years old now, what are you learning late? I think it’s early.”

“It’s not too early to have your first kiss at 20.”

Jeha kissed her lips again, saying that even middle school students can kiss at least. It seemed to stop as it was, but he pressed their lips together more urgently. Se-young couldn’t step back because her head touched the window. She could have avoided it by turning her head to the side, but in the end, she didn’t think of rejecting it to that extent, so she accepted the kiss. Jeha, who had been pouring kisses on her until he was out of breath, reluctantly spoke. He took in a quick breath.

“I’m hungry. Hurry up and wash up and eat.”

Although he took his body off, he looked like he would go straight back to bed again after washing up and eating. Se-young hesitated for a moment and nodded. Last night, she decided when she reached out to him first in the alleyway.

“All right.”

Because it was Saturday, the department store in front of the university was crowded with people. It would have been more so because it was the first weekend after the semester began. The weekend part-timer was busy dealing with customers, missing the quiet of last week.

“Welcome. Wow….”

Then a man entered the store. His tall stature and strong impression overwhelmed people. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at him. The part-timer also forgot his duty and followed his movements with his eyes.

He walked to the stand without showing any concern for others and looked at the clothes on the mannequin. Then he looked around as if he were looking for an employee.

“Are you looking for a one piece dress? This Spring’s New Product,”

“Give it to me. Is it one size?”

“Yes. Please come this way. I will prepare it right away.”

Was he here to buy clothes for his girlfriend? There was no hesitation in choosing a loose-fit long dress with a slit that was both comfortable and chic. As he was holding out his card to pay, he reached out to the side of the counter and held out another pair of black leggings.

“Please count these together.”

“Yes.”

He arranged the folded clothes in a shopping bag, received the card and paid for it.

“I guess it’s a gift for your girlfriend. She’ll like it.”

He returned the receipt and card and talked to him secretly, and suddenly a bright flower bloomed on the man’s calm face even though he was handsome. It was a smile so bright that the part-timer lost his mind.

“Yeah. If she likes it, I’ll come again. Sell a lot.”

The part-timer, who was staring blankly at the man who turned away with a shopping bag, came to his senses only after being urged by a customer who brought his clothes to pay.