DM Chapter 108
It was a meaningless object to him. As he told Sarin, it was just something he hadn’t taken off out of habit, so he wouldn’t feel particularly uncomfortable without it. He touched it often because he felt like it was leading through the traces whenever she missed her.
The sun was setting over his shoulder in the twilight.
Yet she didn’t feel as lonely as she did last night. After all, Owen had found her, and now they were in their rightful place.
“I’ll get you something better later.”
Sarin said affectionately. Her small hand hesitated to touch the injured area and only grazed the tip of Owen’s index finger.
It was the first time someone had offered to buy something for him. It felt different—a phrase he hadn’t heard before. Owen, tilting his head, watched Sarin from the darkening night.
“I hope it becomes familiar to you.”
Owen’s face stiffened at her wish for him to get used to the ring she would give him. Worried she might have said something wrong, Sarin glanced at him.
If the weekly salary Owen had given her in the suite room of the Eden Hotel in Eden City remained intact, she believed she could afford something similar. But would her perception of a good gold ring the same from his?
“Perhaps I still seem angry.”
“Huh?”
He was angry at himself for losing her, but not at Sarin.
“Because you say pretty things.”
He felt like Sarin was soothing and comforting his heart. Owen knew she was silently telling him not to be upset because it wasn’t anyone’s fault.
Though he hadn’t said she was beautiful, the phrase “pretty things” strangely tickled her after he said it. Sarin hesitated, her lips trembling. That was when Owen attempted to stoop even lower to match her smaller stature.
“Sarin, are you there?”
Someone banged on the half-closed iron gate.
A dog from a neighboring house barked loudly at the sound. Recognizing the familiar voice, Sarin turned around.
Knowing what Owen was trying to do, her neck felt itchy for some reason, so she wiped it with the palm of her hand and ran to the gate.
Owen just stared at her, not stopping or catching her as she pulled away again in an instant.
As Sarin approached the gate, Mrs. Hong, who had already announced her arrival, came in with a basket. She glanced at the security guards standing outside the gate and greeted Sarin warmly as soon as she saw her.
“Oh my, they said the child’s father was here.”
Mrs. Hong glanced at Owen, who was standing not far away from her, with a gleam in her eyes. The rumor had already spread throughout the small village.
“So, when are you going to bring out those rascals from the river?”
There was a bit of worry and exhilaration in the statement that the gang had all been caught and were half-immersed in the river and that it was already nighttime, so if the temperature dropped like this, there might be a big problem. This is because their notoriety was so widespread.
“They will be released soon.”
Sarin nodded her head as she said she would talk to Owen, and Mrs. Hong offered the basket she had brought.
“This one was given by the Grandma from the persimmon tree house over there, and Eyok gave this one.”
Seeing potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, some side dishes, and meat inside, it seemed that Mrs. Hong had worked quite hard to bring them.
“There are several men, so this won’t be enough. Should I bring more?”
“No, thank you. It’s okay; we were going out to buy food anyway.”
“Alright. Just eat this as a snack. The village is in a frenzy, saying the child’s dad is handsome.”
“He’s not Hayan’s dad. He’s his uncle.”
“What? Uncle? He has an uncle who looks like that.”
Mrs. Hong was surprised. Now, she could finally say he wasn’t the dad. It just seemed like the right thing to do.
Mrs. Hong satisfied her curiosity by leaving a message for her to contact if they needed anything.
Struggling to carry the heavy basket, Sarin found Owen right in front of her. He casually took it from her hands and placed it on the table, then sat down beside her.
Owen, who had been quietly observing Sarin standing a few steps away, lightly tapped his thigh.
It was a clear signal to sit down, but somehow, it felt awkward to do so in her own home. The walls were low, and if people walked by, they could see inside the house.
“Sarin.”
“…Not here.”
“I know what I’m doing.”
He chuckled slowly. Sarin’s gaze traveled from Owen’s sharp face to his thighs. She knew where his intentions were. They had been intimate enough for her to understand. His invitation to sit had an overt meaning that sent a shiver down her spine.
His large hand rested on his thigh.
Even in the dark, with the faint light revealing his thigh, something seemed to sprout from it. Sarin’s gaze turned away. Owen found her profile—the delicate curve of her neck—almost tantalizingly exposed.
She was still excessively vulnerable in front of him.
He’s probably the most dangerous thing to her, and yet she’s so unguarded.
Sarin, who remained at a distance, sometimes seemed like a specter that appeared before him.
Then, as the chilly night breeze descended, whenever Sarin breathed, faint breaths became visible, reminding him that she was a living, breathing person in front of him.
“Come here.”
It was a low, dangerous voice, completely opposite from when he smiled.
Sarin slowly turned her head back towards him. The lights in the house were not turned on. It wasn’t unusual not to light them at night when there was nothing to do. However, Owen’s presence made everything feel strange in this house.
The peaceful rural village gave the illusion of being Eden City.
“Why?”
Owen asked, looking at Sarin intently.
“Just… because it feels like Eden City here.”
“Do you want to go back?”
Sarin found herself holding Owen’s hands without realizing it. He stared at her hands, pale to the point of showing bones, with golden eyes glinting like a nocturnal predator.
“Because Hayan, Blue, Yellow, Pink… and ‘Jam’ are there.”
There’s nothing left here.
Even though her mother and sister were no longer with her, she had left something behind, and when she closed her eyes, she could clearly see Eden City as if it were etched on her eyelids. And most importantly, Owen was present.
The end of what she left behind was finalized with him.
“So?”
He prompted her to respond.
“I want to go back.”
Go back.
As if the mere mention of returning to the place that was once her home pleased Owen immensely. He extended his hand toward Sarin.
“Then come here. Come and tell me again. Say you want to go back to Eden City.”
She hesitated as she approached. When she was one step away, his large hand swept around her waist, and she was in his lap in an instant. Owen’s lips descended between her forehead and eyes like a gaping maw, his hand delving beneath her shirt. Probing below her navel, he firmly grasped her waist, pressing her hips against his.
His lips ravaged Sarin relentlessly, from her eyes to her nose, cheeks, and lips.
Their tongues intertwined softly. Owen’s lips drove his tongue deep, indulging in the sweetness he’d finally tasted. While his lips trailed down her throat, another hand supported her neck.
Tswee. Tsuk.
The sucking sound was loud as the mucous membrane stuck. Sarin clutched Owen’s suit tightly.
The thought of the security guards outside or someone watching the house made her dizzy. Sarin’s tongue continued to tease him as if it were trying to escape eagerly. Owen, who had been leisurely exploring, finally grabbed her hesitant tongue and sucked painfully hard.
“Heuk….”
“You need to say it, hmm?”
Owen, speaking lazily with a smile, made the nervousness that someone might see their lips colliding vanish.
“I want to.”
His lips, previously smiling at her, stiffened. Seeing him slightly furrow his brow, Sarin bit her tongue.
When he asked if she wanted to go, she responded that she wanted to.
“Again.”
With a sigh, Owen demanded, pressing his lips against Sarin’s cheek. His breath reached her earlobe. Held tightly against his towering frame, Sarin opened her mouth.
“I want to.”
“After you ran away from me,”
But it wasn’t running away.
Sarin chuckled softly. Her laughter tickled Owen’s face. He kissed her cheeks and lips repeatedly, against her soft and pale skin.
Click
The old door’s rusty latch creaked open. Yuri, with his hands full of groceries, stopped in his tracks as he saw Owen sitting on the floor, hugging Sarin, their bodies pressed together. Owen’s large, calloused hands were visible through the hem of Sarin’s t-shirt.
“Get out.”
Yuri dropped the bags on the floor and backed out, closing the door behind him. Even so, his tall frame towered over the gate, reaching up to his shoulders.
Owen, with his black and massive back turned towards the outside, still holding Sarin, walked into the small room they had seen earlier. Sarin whispered quickly, embracing the man’s neck and urging him on.
“You need to take your shoes off.”
Without a word, Owen took off her shoes and entered the room.
After laying Sarin on the blanket, he quickly tossed her shoes randomly around the room. With a chuckle, he entered the room and tossed his own shoes randomly. Sarin’s small body curled up with laughter on the blanket.
With a scrutinizing gaze, Owen untied his tie and, as expected, tossed it onto the floor just like his shoes.
The light from the street lamp behind the house, shining beyond the fence, was the only illumination between them.
