Chapter 16

"You want me to sleep there, leaving this nice house behind? In that hunk of junk?"

"I prepared it specially for you. You don't like it?"

"Of course I don't!"

She had escaped a rooftop room only to end up in a shipping container! To be honest, she didn't actually mind the container itself. A rooftop room and a container were likely similar enough, and the surrounding environment here was much better, at least there were no flashers or drunkards.

But she hadn't come all this way just to live in a container. Bo Bae’s plan was to live under the same roof, bumping into each other and letting sparks fly until they fell in love! If they lived apart like this, there would be no chance for that "sweet and cozy" romance to bloom.

"Why? It’s brand new. I had it custom-made for you and brought in today."

"I don't need 'brand new,' I want to live in this house!"

In the room right next to Baek Ho Rang!

"No!"

Ho Rang rejected her instantly, before she could even finish her sentence.

"Why not? Weren't we going to date? Even if it's a contractual relationship, we agreed to date for real for three months. And yet you’re stuffing your girlfriend into a hunk of junk like that?"

As Bo Bae fumed and argued, Ho Rang replied spitefully.

"Thinking back on it, my views on dating are quite conservative."

Is he a Confucian Boy or what?

"I was thinking we should take it slow, step by step."

Step by step? More like a step toward a total disaster.

"A conservative person just kissed me like that earlier...? Huh? Shoving your tongue in... like that?"

So erotically?

"Being conservative is a separate issue from verifying facts. Let's just say earlier was an experiment regarding battery charging."

An experiment? Give me a break.

"You're the one who suggested we move in together, Mr.Baek Ho Rang! Don't you know what 'cohabitation' means? It means living together in one house! How is this one house? It's two. Are you trying to run two separate households already?"

"Look, you seem to be mistaken about something. We aren't married. Living in two separate units is a perfectly normal relationship."

It wasn't that she didn't know. Of course she knew. But what about her heart, which was bursting with anticipation? Her heart, which had inflated like a balloon at the thought of dating, acting all lovey-dovey, kissing, and even sharing the same bed in that house!

"Besides, the yard is strictly part of my house, so it counts as cohabitation."

At Ho Rang’s petty words, Bo Bae’s inflated heart popped with a ping.

"I'm not going to go out of my way to charge you anymore. Don't come asking me to come inside later or saying you're sorry for being a nuisance. You'd better think long and hard about this now."

When Bo Bae spoke threateningly, Ho Rang replied with a smirk.

"From the container to my room over there."

"...?"

Ho Rang pointed from the container to the end room on the second floor.

"It’s exactly ten meters."

"...!"

"That means even if I just sleep in my room and you sleep in your container, you'll charge automatically. Surely you aren't planning on sleeping out?"

"Ha!"

She had moved in thinking some new emotions would sprout if they were in the same space, but she never imagined he would divide the space like this. It was a completely unexpected development. As they say, you have to keep your wits about you even in a tiger's den. Stay sharp!

"You must be tired from the long trip, so get some rest."

Ho Rang left Bo Bae standing in front of the container and slipped back into the house.

"Ugh! That rude jerk!"

He was so incredibly spiteful that Bo Bae glared at the door he disappeared through for a long time. But Ho Rang’s house remained firmly shut, and the only door open to her was the container's.

"I knew it would be like this."

They had signed a contract to date for real, but it seemed a contract couldn't change a person's heart. She thought they had grown a bit closer, but Baek Ho Rang was still Baek Ho Rang, and Na Bo Bae was still Na Bo Bae.

"Whew."

Bo Bae let out a long sigh and dragged her suitcase into the container. Grumbling, she stepped inside and flicked on the light.

"What is all this...?"

A beautiful room unfolded before her eyes.

There was a plush bed, and next to it, a motorized standing desk and the very chair she had always wanted. On the white wall, a beam projector was installed, and beside it sat stacks of various drama scripts.

Everything, from start to finish, was for Bo Bae.

"What... I thought he told me to stay in a container to push me away... but it wasn't that?"

Come to think of it, she remembered complaining to him not long ago.

“I don’t want to live in a place like this either. I want my own proper space where I can write all day on a desk and chair that won't make my back ache, with scripts piled up so I can watch dramas all night long.”

It was just a passing comment, but to think he remembered and prepared all of this. For some reason, her heart began to tickle.

"Hm? What’s that?"

A note was sitting on the table. Bo Bae set her bag down and opened it. Cool, bold handwriting filled the paper.

[I’m not sure if you’ll like it. Since I didn't know your taste, I prepared it according to mine. This is a chaebol man's first display of 'dating flex'...I hope you like it.]

The note carried his blunt tone. The words were stiff, so why was her heart turning so soft?

"So this is Baek Ho Rang’s taste?"

Bo Bae scanned the interior of the container. It was mostly white with wood accents, a clean yet warm atmosphere. This was likely Ho Rang’s preference, as his own house was styled similarly.

Bo Bae took off her bag, tossed it on the sofa, and lay down on the bed. Perhaps Ho Rang had picked it out himself, the soft mattress seemed to carry his scent.

"Wait, is it? Or is it coming from me?"

Bo Bae lifted her hand to her nose. A faint trace of his scent brushed past. A refreshing fragrance that felt like a mix of aftershave and his natural body odor.

To think they had kissed long enough for his scent to linger on her.

Even though they were staying in separate spaces, it didn't seem so bad. After all, this place was filled with his touch and the care he had put into it.

And above all.

"Rapid charging? I really like that part."

It was the ability she liked most among her powers. Of course, living together like this meant she might rarely need to use it, but there was always the "what if."

If Ho Rang’s battery ever ran out, she would give him a rapid charge, a very intense one. Since it would be according to the contract, there shouldn't be a problem.

"Hehehe."

Just thinking about the rapid charging made her laugh involuntarily. All her life, she had been scolded and told her electrical abilities were useless, yet here they were, being treated so preciously. From now on, she promised to cherish and love her powers.

"Oh, right. This is no time to be doing this."

Bo Bae pulled her laptop out of her bag and sat at the desk. The chair felt like it was hugging her, comfortably supporting her back.

Recalling the emotions from her kiss with Ho Rang, she began to write. Surprisingly, the parts that had been blocked for months began to unravel. These were emotions she couldn't grasp no matter how many books she read or dramas she watched, but after experiencing it once, she felt she finally understood.

She had a wonderful premonition that in three months, she would be able to finish a significant portion of her manuscript.

Meanwhile, Ho Rang was looking down at the container from his room on the second floor. Although the curtains were drawn and he couldn't see inside, Bo Bae’s silhouette was clearly visible.

He saw her kicking her feet while lying on the bed, then jumping up to walk to the table and leaning over to look at something. She was probably reading the note he wrote. Then, he heard the sound of laughter.

"Thankfully, she seems to like it."

Ho Rang smirked and continued to watch her. He could hear her humming, sounding incredibly happy. The humming gradually grew into a song with actual lyrics.

"What is she so excited about?"

Ho Rang peeked toward Bo Bae’s window with curiosity. Suddenly, Bo Bae, who had been sitting and singing, started to dance.

Ah, I really can't handle that woman.

Watching her movements, somewhere between a dance and a rhythmic exercise, laughter kept escaping Ho Rang’s lips.

After staring blankly for a while, the thought suddenly hit him. What am I doing right now? It was strange to be secretly watching a woman's room, especially that "kissing maniac's", and it was even stranger to be giggling like this.

He was originally someone who didn't laugh much. Ho Rang was cynical, chic, blunt, and expressionless. But at some point, he found himself smiling like this.

It was very foreign and awkward.

But he didn't hate it.

"Fine. What’s wrong with smiling?"

Smiling wasn't the problem. The problem was that he only smiled when he looked at that woman.

Ho Rang lightly touched his lips with his thumb. He felt as if her breath was still lingering there. The sensation of her tiny tongue shyly peeking out, flustered by the storm-like kiss, remained vivid on his lower lip.

[“What kind of donation? What charity? Are you giving me a kiss as an alms because you think I’ve never kissed before?”]

[“Is it your first kiss?”]

[“Who said it’s my first? I’ve kissed a lot, okay? I’m a master of kissing!”]

He recalled her stubborn insistence that it wasn't her first kiss.

"Who would be fooled by those words when she’s so bad at it?"

How could someone be that bad at kissing? Her clumsy movements, her expression that looked like she was dying of awkwardness, and her hands wandering through the air, not knowing where to rest.

Ho Rang was certain.

Ah. This is her first kiss.

At the time, he just thought that was it, that it was her first time. But she hadn't been entirely lying.

“Men melt like candle wax after just one of my kisses.”

He thought those words were a lie too, but truly, he felt like he might melt like candle wax.

Ho Rang toyed with the lips her tongue had touched and muttered irritably.

"You've lost it, Baek Ho Rang."

It seemed that being around a "kissing maniac" was making him lose his mind too.

Get it together. Focus!

Ho Rang stripped off his shirt to cool his heated body with a shower, his upper body looking quite menacing as if his muscles were incredibly angry.