"You're still angry," he said quietly.
Her laugh was sharp.
"You kissed me," she snapped. "What exactly did you expect?"
"I expected you to hit me," he replied without hesitation.
Her eyes flashed.
"And you did."
That only seemed to amuse him.
Ji Eun stepped even closer now, close enough that their voices no longer needed to carry.
"Let me be very clear, Park Hyun Woo," she said, her tone low and dangerous. "You don't get to touch me. You don't get to decide my life. And you certainly don't get to think for even a second that I belong to you."
Each word was deliberate.
Cutting.
A challenge thrown directly in his face.
Hyun Woo didn't step back.
He didn't flinch.
Instead...
He moved forward.
Before she could react...
His hand came up, gripping her waist, not roughly, but firmly enough to stop her next movement.
Ji Eun's breath caught.
"Let go..."
But the words died.
Because in the next second...
He turned, pressing her gently but decisively against the wall beside the balcony door.
Not violent.
Not careless.
But controlled.
Unavoidable.
Her back met the cool surface.
Her pulse spiked instantly.
"Hyun Woo..."
"Say it again," he murmured, his voice dangerously low.
Her brows furrowed.
"Say what?"
"That you don't belong to me."
Her breath hitched.
"And I'll let you go."
Their faces were inches apart now.
Close enough that she could feel his breath.
Too close.
Far too close.
Ji Eun lifted her chin defiantly.
"I don't..."
But she didn't finish.
Because his gaze dropped to her lips again.
And something in that look...
Was different from before.
Not testing.
Not teasing.
Certain.
His palm slowly caressing her back while his thumb brushed her cheek this time - not her lips.
Slower.
Deliberate.
As though giving her a final chance to push him away.
She didn't.
She couldn't....
Or maybe she didn't want to move first.
And that was all the permission he needed.