Hyun Woo took a step forward, and the space between them contracted like a breath held too long. Ji Eun's back found the stone wall of the garden's edge, rough and cool against her silk gown, but she felt no chill—only the heat radiating from him as he closed the distance, near enough now, she could feel something darker in his gaze. She suddenly becomes terrified.
"You're trembling," he observed, his voice barely above a whisper.
"I'm angry," she lied.
His mouth curved, not quite a smile. "Then fight me."
But when his hand lifted, it wasn't to strike—it was to cradle her jaw, his thumb tracing the line of her cheekbone with devastating gentleness. Ji Eun's breath hitched, she stood frozen as he leaned in, until his forehead rested against hers, their breath mingling.
"Do you know how long I've wanted you?" he asked, and there was something raw beneath the calm, a hunger barely leashed. "Watching you at the gala, watching you defend another man, all that pride, Ji Eun. All that fire should burn for me alone, it should be mine alone."
His other hand found her waist, his fingers spreading wide, claiming territory she hadn't surrendered. Through the thin silk, she felt the heat of his palm like a brand.
"Don't touch me," she whispered, but the her words lacked conviction, dissolving into the night air.
"Don't what?" He pulled back just enough to meet her eyes, and she saw it then—the abyss he'd been tempting her toward. Not just desire, but destruction. "Don't touch you? Don't want you? Or don't make you admit you've been walking into this moment since the first time we met?"