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“Other people give him work, and he does that work. He never said it himself, but I think he feels used,” Secretary Tak once told him. The memory of that conversation resurfaced, which was probably a sign that Yoonshin would deeply regret if he ever used Sehun Kang for his benefit.
He couldn’t explain everything, so Yoonshin could only hint at it. “There is something I need.”
“And what’s that?” Sehun asked sharply.
“You.”
“So, I’m the ocean that will save you, stranded at a cul-de-sac?” As if this was the answer that he expected Yoonshin to say, Sehun’s brows crinkled. Would it be Yoonshin’s imagination to say that Sehun looked somewhat disappointed in him? Some process of Sehun’s mind must have gone awry. Yoonshin was merely being honest, so he couldn’t find the cause of the mismatch.
“If I were you, I would ask for something when the other is desperate for me. You’d do well to consider the current going price before you throw whatever at me. To give you a hint, now is not the right time.”
Yoonshin stared down at his shirt, three buttons undone and one button missing, and fell into deep thought. “You said you don’t do platonic.”
“Maybe I’m also old-fashioned then. Besides, I’m expensive.”
“I know that very well.”
“And you’re probably costly too.”
“What are you trying to say?”
Everything Sehun said after stepping into this room felt like a puzzle. He asked what Yoonshin wanted from him, and now they were talking about the fair market value of their bodies.
Yoonshin could feel that there was a connotation Sehun was making that he was missing. One thing that he surely perceived was that Sehun was casting a word of warning to Yoonshin, who was wandering aimlessly. Yoonshin could be the card that deposed Sehun, but this was not the right time to do that.
Yoonshin couldn’t grasp a thread of Sehun’s intentions at all. He simply blinked, astonished. At that moment, Sehun kissed Yoonshin in the pit below his earlobes. Then, he shot Yoonshin an unaffected glance, as if he had never touched him provocatively. Not only that, he replaced the mug that he snatched away in Yoonshin’s hand.
Yoonshin watched Sehun, then he held him back with his words. “I thought we were exchanging feelings. Were we not? I don’t understand why you’re suddenly assessing price points.”
Sehun, who was now quite a distance away, glanced at the associate coldly. “I don’t have time for sentimental divertissements.”
Yoonshin frowned. “But you have time to fool around physically? Is there something wrong with your eyes?”
When Yoonshin pointed to his ruffled attire, Sehun frowned in discomfort. He walked back to Yoonshin and buttoned up his shirt. His meticulous fingers restored Yoonshin to his previous state, but his missing button couldn’t be fixed. Displeased, Sehun silently stared at the gap in the shirt.
His stare made Yoonshin’s blood run cold.
In his head, he knew that Sehun was dealt a bad hand, so he was throwing a strong bluff. In his heart, Yoonshin felt anxious that Sehun would slip away from his grasp. “How do you make people so worked up for you? If you’re going to babysit and raise me, you might as well teach me how to do that.”
Sehun answered rather voluntarily, “It’s because I don’t want anything from you. I don’t rely on you emotionally, and I don’t particularly need you work-wise. My feelings are simple. I simply want you. I want to be with you, kiss you, and have s*x with you. You already know that, so I won’t deny it.”
Sehun implied that, unlike him, Yoonshin expected something more. The one who had more to lose was the one who would cave first.