Burning The House Of Cards: taking revenge on my billionaire family
Chapter 76 - 75. A Night To Forget

Chapter 76: Chapter 75. A Night To Forget

When Hajin first heard it, he thought the girl was jesting. Perhaps it was a prank to get back at him for all the wins he pulled back in the arcade.

He would have laughed if it weren’t for the little tremble behind the quiet voice.

Hajin turned around instantly, as if facing a fever dream. And what a dream it was when he laid his eyes on the blossoming spread on those fair cheeks, and the nervous flutter of the black eyelashes. She was biting her lips, not from distress but from embarrassment.

Five seconds he spent staring blankly; and another ten seconds questioning everything in his mind. No further than that, however, because he was afraid the invitation would evaporate soon.

As if being chased by the ghost of doubt and regret, Hajin pulled the reddened girl to their hotel room right away. Before she could change her mind; before the unexpected chance slipped by. He sealed the invitation with a kiss before the beeping sound of their room’s door even stopped, holding her waist tight as if he was afraid she would fly away like the jade butterfly he saw that first day.

Still, he ended up asking, whispering on her wet lips as their body flushed against each other and the wall of the foyer. "Really?" he held her waist, pressing their hips together to make sure she knew what she was asking him--asking herself--to do. "Are you sure?"

Sarah took a stuttered breath, but her clutch on the man’s shirt did not loosen. "I..." she parted her lips, feeling her throat hot and her heart beating fast. "Just for tonight, I want to forget everything."

She pressed her head on the broad shoulder, biting her lower lip from guilt. Because...wasn’t that just using Hajin as a tool? She knew he told her to use him as an outlet for her desire, but--

Her train of thought stopped as one of the hands holding her wrist traveled up and held her chin. Their eyes, both filled with doubt but also need, met each other.

There, as she looked at the turbulent lake, Sarah whispered her plea. "Just for tonight, I want to forget the girl named Sarah. I want to forget about my revenge."

And she wanted to forget what she said about not giving her heart.

Just for tonight. Just for one night.

The storm inside Hajin’s eyes gradually turned into a soothing, serene lake.

"Seul-ah," he called out, with the low, gentle voice that Sarah remembered from the night of drizzling rain; and before she knew it, she held his neck and pulled her into another deep, deep kiss.

She was Seul-ah. And he was Hajin.

For that night, there was no master and bodyguard. As their tangled body moved toward the bedroom, there was only a man and a woman fulfilling their desires. Different they might be.

Sarah recalled the feeling of a passionate kiss, one full of ardor and done as a prelude instead of a conclusion. It was a blurry memory of when she was drugged out of her mind, but she still recalled the heat and desire filling her whole body for a few seconds before she forgot everything.

That feeling, so encompassing, even made it feel like the space was folding. She had no idea when they even reached the bed, but her calf hit the edge, and she fell with a sturdy hand cushioning her head. For a second, she gasped at the weight of the man above her and how deep the bed dipped.

As if annoyed by the interruption of their continuous kiss, Hajin immediately dove for another one. This one, without the hindrance of navigating the way, was even deeper than before. Harder. All tongue and fervor. Sarah felt as if her breath had been taken away, but she clung to the sensation and the man providing it as if asking for more.

Until her breath was truly, truly taken away.

She opened her eyes wide, but her vision seemed dark. It was dark at the edges, and the air seemed to be filled with dust and the scent of metal. Clattering shelves, shattering glass, and exploding gunpowder.

A recording that sent her body into a recoil.

Her fight kicked in, and she pushed the man above her away, eyes wide and red. Her chest contracted as she tried hard to put air in her lungs while her ears were filled with loud ringing sounds.

"Seul-ah!"

Hajin was as shocked as Sarah, propping the girl’s back and head while calling for her. This was very different from the time she was drugged, and even more severe than the night they argued on the side of the road. He had expected Sarah to back off at one point, despite everything she said, but Hajin had never expected this kind of psychological reaction.

It was clear that the physical reaction came from trauma, but Hajin had no idea what or how he could help her.

"Seul-ah, can you hear me?" she called her out in panic, pulling her into his embrace. "Seul-ah, Princess--"

Sarah gasped, the air finally flooding into her lungs. She clutched Hajin like a lifeline, flickering eyes staring at the pair of stormy greys.

"...again," she gasped. "Call me that again."

"What?" Hajin widened his eyes in confusion, but his mind wired up quickly. "...Princess?"

Sarah took another deep breath, leaning into the man who embraced her a little bit tighter.

"Princess, can you breathe?" Hajin stroked her back, as if massaging her lungs. "You don’t have to speak, but please nod if you do."

Sarah nodded while pressing her head on Hajin’s chest, inhaling the scent she had grown familiar with--the scent she had picked herself. The soothing voice calling her a nickname only Hajin used, the scent, and the gentle strokes on her back--her erratic heartbeat slowly calming down and her ragged breath grew steady.

"I...I’m sorry..." she stuttered, closing her eyes tight. She was the one who initiated this, so pulling away felt like such a dick move. "I don’t--I don’t know I’ll be l-like this..."

"Sush--it’s okay," Hajin never ceased his gentle stroking, enveloping Sarah in his scent and warmth. "Just keep breathing."

And Sarah did just that--breathing in and out until she was no longer stuttering. All the while, Hajin kept stroking her back and calling her ’princess’ as if it were a mantra.

Perhaps it was. Sarah had no idea why, but the moment she heard the man calling her that, her nightmarish vision shattered like a broken spell. Was it because no one else called her that but Hajin? Whether in this life or the one before...

"Princess, I’m sorry for asking this, but..." Hajin stopped his stroking once Sarah could breathe properly, but he did not let go of his embrace. Tried as he might, however, he couldn’t help the strain in his voice. "Does this have something to do with that bas--" he took a deep breath before correcting himself. "With the first son?"

Sarah flinched. Instead of pulling away, however, she clutched Hajin’s shirt tighter as if seeking refuge. That, in itself, was enough confirmation for Hajin.

But Sarah did not mention anything about it before, even thought it was a damning evidence to be delivered to Amber. Thus, he asked further. "Was this...something that happened in your previous life?"

Sarah did not reply immediately, but Hajin waited patiently, resuming his caress as if sending encouragement. "Before...before they shot me dead, they showed me a recording..."

Hajin’s arms stiffened around the trembling girl. It was easy to guess what kind of recording it was.

"I wasn’t...conscious," Sarah said quietly, for the first time sharing one of her deepest nightmares. Her deepest secret and shame. "I didn’t know at all...until that moment. I--I guess...I was reflexively..."

"I see," Hajin frowned deeply, cursing the man with every expletive he knew while stroking the girl’s head gently.

"I’m--I’m sorry," Sarah raised her head and pulled away slightly so she could see Hajin’s face. Oh--at least she finally had the courage to see his face. "I was the one who--"

"Don’t act as if it was your fault, Princess. It offends me," Hajin frowned. "If you have the energy to blame yourself, you should have used it to curse him instead."

Sarah blinked and chortled, laughing softly even though tears were welling in her eyes. Hajin smiled and wiped the ones already falling down her cheeks, lightly brushing his lips on the girl’s temple.

"That’s right," he whispered. "You look better when you smile, Princess."

Sarah blinked in bewilderment. Again, it felt like a deja vu. This time, even the distant voice and the real Hajin said the same thing.

Looking at the girl lost in thought again, Hajin stroked her cheek. "What is it, Princess?"

"Princess..." she muttered, looking at Hajin without blinking. "You used...to call me ’princess’..."

Hajin raised his brow. "You mean in your previous timeline?"

Sarah nodded. "I think...I think that’s what pulled me up earlier," she said.

"Hmm...is that why it feels so natural in my tongue?" Hajin tilted his head. Well, he also felt natural using it the ’first’ time five years ago. "Hmm? But, Seul-ah...didn’t you say we only met once during some family’s business travel?"

Was there enough time for them to be close enough for him to call her ’princess’ so much that it subconsciously stayed in her mind as his special trait?

"Oh, umm..." Sarah chewed her lips as she tried to recall that time harder. "Actually...I wasn’t so sure," she muttered vaguely. "That’s what I remember clearly anyway, but...these days, I keep thinking that might not be all."

"Oh?" Hajin arched his brow.

"Like..." Sarah frowned deeply, sinking her mind into the memory. Weirdly enough, it was one of the memories she did not label as horrific. "Like...I felt like we...kissed...at some point."

Sarah bit her lips again, embarrassed at her own confession. Hajin rubbed her lips in disapproval, reminding her to stay away from the bad habit. But a pleased smile was on his lips, and a delighted twinkle in his eyes.

"Yeah? During that one night?" Hajin narrowed his eyes, suddenly recalling something. "Princess," he whispered. "Do you think we might go even further at that time?"

The previously pale cheeks were immediately aflamed. "That..."

might be--the words stopped before it reached her tongue. Instead, she looked up and asked curiously.

"Why...do you think that?"

Ah...Hajin smiled awkwardly. It was time for him to share his secret.