Hyun Woo's gaze lingered on her lips for a heartbeat—just long enough to provoke. Ji Eun caught it. Her cheeks warmed with anger at the implication, at the memory her body didn't want to let go. "Don't," she snapped, voice sharper. "Don't look at me like you can do whatever you want." Hyun Woo's expression remained composed. But his words were a quiet strike.
"Can't I?"
Ji Eun's hand curled into a fist at her side. Then she stepped back abruptly. "Goodnight," she said, dripping with venom. And without waiting for his reply, she turned and stormed up the stairs, the sound of her heels echoing like a warning shot. Hyun Woo watched her go. And when she disappeared down the corridor, he finally exhaled—slowly—like a man who had been holding himself in check.
"Soon," he murmured to no one.
Ji Eun lay in bed staring at the ceiling while sleep decided to elude her. Every time she closed her eyes, she felt it again—the way his presence tilted the air, the way his voice threaded under her skin, the way her own heartbeat betrayed her at the worst moments.
She turned onto her side.
Then onto her back.
Then sat up, frustrated.
"This is stupid," she muttered, pushing the blanket aside. If her mind wouldn't rest, she would move. She slipped out of bed, pulled on a thin robe, and quietly opened her door. The halls were dim. Ji Eun walked with silent precision down the staircase and through the side corridor that led to the garden doors. The cool night air hit her as she stepped outside. And for the first time all day—Her shoulders loosened.
The garden was still, moonlight pooling on hedges and stone paths like silver water. The faint scent of flowers and damp soil softened her restlessness. She walked deeper, basking in the refreshing scents of the flowers.
Then she saw it. A small ember in the dark. A glow that pulsed, brightening and dimming. Ji Eun stopped. Her eyes narrowed. A silhouette stood near the far pavilion—leaning slightly against a column, head angled down, one hand lifted toward his mouth. Smoke rose in thin, lazy threads and disappeared into the night.
It was Hyun Woo.