Burning The House Of Cards: taking revenge on my billionaire family
Chapter 81 - 80. Forgotten Memories

Chapter 81: Chapter 80. Forgotten Memories

"How is it?" he asked curiously after their lips parted, observing her reaction.

Her lashes fluttered open, showing dazed eyes that were slowly getting clearer. She tilted her head to digest the new sensation and assessed it with the innocence of a maiden. "Hmm...my stomach is tingling."

And an ignorance of one.

He chuckled. "You’re a strange one, Princess. So clueless and shy, but also straightforward," he said, leaning against the couch while observing her further: a smart and yet clueless girl. "Wouldn’t it be good if you could act like this in front of your family?"

She seemed to think about it for a few seconds before looking away and shook her head. "...I can’t."

"Yeah, I know," he snorted--not in a mocking way, but more like something he knew from experience. "You should try anyway."

She frowned in response, even crossing her arms. "I’m allowing you to kiss me, but that doesn’t mean you can meddle in my business."

"See? You’re so weird," he laughed, brazenly stroking the puffed cheek with the back of his finger. But then again, sitting on the couch and kissing her was already brazen enough. "Why act so meek in front of your family if you can be like this in front of others?"

She smacked the stroking finger away. "Just go if you’re going to sprout more bullshit."

"Can’t--I’m tasked to guard you," he shrugged dryly.

"You haven’t been doing much guarding."

"I’m literally inches from you," he leaned closer, so close she could see the deep grey eyes clearly. "Can’t be much guarding than this."

She glared at him with narrowed eyes, did not shy away from his deep, penetrating gaze. She might be scared of him at first, when he looked so cold and menacing. After spending more time talking--and the kiss--however, she was no longer afraid.

"You think I’m annoying, don’t you?" the man smirked, prompting her to flinch. Well...maybe just a tad bit afraid. "And yet you can’t keep your eyes off me."

Ugh--so he knew. She pressed her lips defiantly. "You’re so full of yourself."

"I just kissed you," he shrugged.

"Ugh..."

"And since we’ve kissed anyway..." he tilted his head, charming face and beautiful eyes all for her to feast. "Why not take it further?"

This time, the maiden didn’t act so clueless. "W-what?"

"You were agreeing because you thought this was your only chance, right?" he reached out again to play with her long hair, black and silky like the starless night sky they could glimpse from the hotel window. "Might as well use the chance as much as you can."

"You mean...se--" she stopped herself to swallow through a dry throat, and corrected herself with a quieter voice. "Make love?"

The expected maiden reaction was strangely refreshing and made him chuckle.

"Yes, sure," he brought her hair to his lips and kissed it lightly, spreading a deeper blush across her fair cheeks as the grey eyes gazed deeply into her eyes. "Would you like to make love to me, Princess?"

"I..."

Honestly, the tingling in her stomach was yet to recede--perhaps because the man kept touching her here and there. Or perhaps because of those grey eyes. Whether it was brought by adrenaline from the fight in the harbor, or because of that really, really charming face and delectable kiss, she found it difficult to argue.

She had long been shaped to be obedient and submissive after all. Even that night, when she tasted the most freedom, she just wanted to succumb.

Well...it didn’t sound really bad? At least the man asked her, right? With his strength, he could just take her by force and threaten her into silence; it wasn’t like she had any power to put him in trouble.

But...

"He’ll know..." she whispered in a slightly trembling voice.

"Who?" he arched his brow, staring at her bowed head. And then he recalled who was holding her strings. "Ah..."

"I can’t lie to him. If he knows you’re staying in my room, he’ll ask about it and..."

"Hmm...what a pity."

Pity...

She flinched at the word. He had been looking at her with a pitiful gaze, telling her that her situation was pitiful. It angered her somewhat to hear that from someone who was supposed to work for her, even though she didn’t particularly feel offended.

Oh, how complicated.

And yet, she also felt it was rather a pity not to exercise her temporary freedom. She swallowed a sigh and turned he gaze away from the man, only to land it on a tray of alcohol that the hotel staff prepared--probably because they heard she was a conglomerate daughter.

And a light bulb sparked in her mind.

"That... annoys me for some reason," the man frowned when she told him about her plan.

"Why are you so picky? You’re the one who had been telling me to go for it," she rolled her eyes.

"But how can you call it an experience if you won’t remember experiencing it?" he sounded rather sulky, twisting his lips as he said it. The nonchalant countenance was crumbling away.

"My body will remember...probably?" she shrugged. "Well, if you don’t want to, I’ll just go to sleep now--"

She was pulled forward and her lips were sealed as if she wasn’t allowed to even finish that thought--despite him sighing afterward, full of disappointment to himself.

"Before you get yourself wasted, just let me tell you one thing, Princess," he looked at her keenly, voice firm and yet soothing.

She blinked slowly. "...what?"

"If you want to run away someday, just come to me."

She did not reply; neither a yes nor a no. She just shuffled away and reached for the heaviest drink she could find, downing it until her vision was blurry and her legs wobbled.

Vaguely, she could feel the man scoop her into his arms, carrying her like a real princess toward the bedroom. Was it the drink? Was it her own desire? She couldn’t keep her hands off of him. If it wasn’t for the drink, the kiss alone was intoxicating enough. Kisses. Touches; gentle and thorough and oh...even through her muddled mind, it felt delicious. An exquisite experience, even more than the kiss. Way, way more.

But just when she was beginning to regret having to forget all of that, the alcohol consumed her thoroughly, and her mind blanked out.

* * *

This time, Sarah did not forget anything when she woke up in the morning.

To be fair, she did not drink a drop.

She slept in, her usual alarm did not send a sultry whisper to wake her up this time. Instead, she found him lying sideways, propping his head with his hand while staring at her. Sarah blinked slowly, wordlessly staring at his bare chest and the scars along his side and stomach area. It brought a memory of the man fighting against a horde of harbor gangsters, and while Hajin didn’t have to do that in this life, he seemed to face even more dangerous things in Aegis.

The man did not disturb her silent musing, merely playing with her hair, trying to make it less messy. She thought about the morning of her supposed first time where she didn’t remember everything; she had woken up in the hotel’s pajamas, all clean as if she was just going straight to bed instead of having sex with her temporary bodyguard. Her head was throbbing because of a hangover, but there was no trace or smell of alcohol so she thought it was just exhaustion. She never had a hangover before, anyway.

That was why she could easily forget about it. She had been cleaned, clothed, and every trace of agreement between them had been erased. Despite his initial protest, Hajin seemed to be doing his best to help her forget anything had happened between them, including returning to his usual dry demeanor in the morning.

"Maybe you weren’t such an asshole, after all..." Sarah muttered at the observing man--still the same deep grey eyes, but with extra cheekiness.

Although, now that she remembered somewhat, the man did show that cheekiness and brazenness when they were alone in the room.

"Wow...you curse me as soon as you wake up, Master?" Hajin arched his brow; the night of forgetting stuff had come and gone, and he was a bodyguard again.

Although with the perks of sharing a bed with his master.

Sarah stretched out and wriggled beneath the blanket, sighing in relief that she didn’t feel sore or swollen anymore. She sighed and looked at the man again, who she allowed to sleep with her for that night.

And while he had returned to be her bodyguard, he was still taking advantage of the bed privilege.

Well...it didn’t feel particularly bad.

"Did you sleep?" Sarah asked curiously. "Do you ever sleep?"

"Of course--I’m a human after all," Hajin shrugged. "But not last night."

"Why?"

"Because I was worried it was all just a dream. Also," he smiled charmingly while stroking her cheek with the back of his finger--just like he did in her previous life. "I like looking at you sleeping."

"Weird," the black eyes narrowed dubiously. "Sounds like something a player would say."

Hajin snorted. "What do you even know about a player?"

"Or a pervert."

"That one’s true," Hajin chuckled in agreement. "In my defense though, I did it to check whether or not you have nightmares."