chapter six
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baek aera's work day had consisted of throwing glares in jaebum's direction. no matter how hard aera tried to get the truth out of him, jaebum was the master of subject changing.
miss im had pulled her aside during her lunch break.
"aera, i said i want you to be close with my son, not that i want you to eat him alive," miss im had said. "he's good at heart."
guilt clung to aera for the rest of the day. the last thing she wanted to do was disappoint miss im, the woman who had taken her in and cared for her selflessly. she decided to cut back on glaring and wait to confront jaebum until they were alone.
that night aera made ramen, rice, and grilled meat for miss im and jaebum as an apology for causing miss im stress.
"it's really good aera, thank you," miss im smiled politely.
"it's no problem," aera smiled, waving her hand dismissively.
miss im stared intently at jaebum, waiting for him to compliment the food just as she had. he rolled his eyes and swallowed the meat he'd been chewing reluctantly.
"thank you, aera. it's very good," he said monotonously.
"it's no trouble, sir."
"sir?" this time it was not jaebum himself to question how she addressed him, but miss im. "jaebum is older than you aera, and you've shared a room with him for a week now. you should call him oppa."
aera bit her tongue, hating what was about to come out of her mouth.
"ah... it's no trouble... oppa."
there was no way she would call him that horrible word voluntarily.
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once again, aera was the first to lay down. she had accepted that jaebum would not tell her why he was not surprised by their situation earlier that day, so she had concluded that she would have to devise a plan.
baek aera pretended to sleep, pinching her arm so that she would not fall under. she laid still until she felt jaebum rest his body on his half of the mattress. aera waited exactly one minute to start her plan, counting the seconds in her head.
when it was time, aera rolled over to jaebum, wrapped her leg securely around his waist, pressed their hip bones together firmly, and gripped his shirt with her fists, letting her face fall into the crook of his neck where she breathed slowly and carefully through her nose.
"again?" she heard him breathe out. "only the eighth time."
externally, aera screwed her eyes shut, pressing harder against jaebum. internally, aera was screaming.
she couldn't have possibly been doing this every night from the very start, could she?
jaebum's arm latched itself around aera's waist, but this time, they were both fully conscious. he pulled her even tighter against his body and she couldn't deny how comfortable it was.