When I woke, I felt impossibly refreshed. Familiar warmth wrapped around me, and even half-asleep, the faint pheromone scent put me in a good mood. The warmth, the soft comfort, settled over me like a blanket of safety.

Instinctively, I burrowed into the chest in front of me. Something solid pulled me close, arms firm around me, a hand stroking my back and pressing me in tight. As a ticklish breath brushed over me, I lifted my eyelids, and the first thing I saw was a broad chest.

“......”

I slowly closed and opened my eyes again. That steadily rising and falling chest was bare. Unlike him, I was wearing an oversized T-shirt, but under the covers, our tangled legs revealed that only he was wearing pants.

With my eyes still half-lidded, I raised my gaze to him. Past the prominent Adam’s apple, I found Kwon Yido’s sleeping face. His eyelids were neatly lowered, long lashes resting evenly; the straight bridge of his nose and lips were as finely shaped as if sculpted.

Ah. Morning. I knew it from the bright light flooding the room. Sunlight streamed in through a gap in the curtains, so even without turning on the lights, I could clearly see where we were. He had fallen asleep in his own room, but now we were in my bed.

So why, exactly, was he lying here with me?

He was always kind to me, but I’d never seen him sleep this peacefully. Without the tension in his face, there was a subtle quality that made my throat itch just to look at him. I found myself staring blankly at Kwon Yido’s face for what felt like ages.

'Hht, stop...'

'If it’s too much, sleep.'

'It’s just... hh...'

'I’ll take care of it.'

Had we had that exchange after the whole room had gone dark? I remembered closing my eyes right after that gentle permission. Even then, Kwon Yido hadn’t withdrawn from inside me, worrying at my nape like he meant to devour me.

I had fallen asleep immediately after, so I didn’t know what happened next. I could only guess from the soreness in every muscle and the fact that, despite that, my skin and bedding were perfectly clean and dry.

Good stamina. I’d passed out cold, but apparently, he had washed me, dressed me, and tucked me into bed. My lower half was bare, but his T-shirt was so big it covered me down to my hips. His body heat kept me from feeling cold, and with my heat cycle over, my condition was close to perfect.

I spent a long time simply looking at that handsome face. Nothing about it matched the man who had driven into me like an animal last night. How could even his sleeping face look like this? I wasn’t the sort to care about appearances, but sometimes, with Kwon Yido, that conviction wavered.

...Still, his arm must be going numb.

I carefully lifted my head to slip out of his hold. I nudged his arm aside and eased my leg free from his. Just as I started to sit up, the supposedly sleeping Kwon Yido pulled me back toward him.

“......”

I collapsed into his chest again. His heartbeat thudded close. My eyes went wide, buried against his chest, when his voice came low by my ear.

“Where are you going?”

I swallowed hard. No other reason—his morning voice just sounded indecent. My shoulders twitched, and he locked me in with both arms and legs.

“Sleep more, Sejin.”

It was such an unhurried thing to say. If anything, he should be getting up for work. I didn’t know the time, but it was him who needed to get up, not me.

“Don’t you have work?”

I asked quietly, and he shifted, probably because my breath on his chest tickled. He rubbed his lips into my hair and smoothed my back through the T-shirt, murmuring softly. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

“Just five more minutes...”

“......”

“Let’s stay like this for five more minutes.”

He sounded like a child whining to stay up. Though, judging by his voice, the drowsiness had already left him. The way his fingers wandered across my back was nothing like a sleepy man’s touch.

Honestly, I wouldn’t mind an hour like this instead of five minutes. Sleep, so elusive before, now seemed ready to return the moment I closed my eyes. Who would dislike such lazy indulgence?

“...I can’t breathe.”

Still, I muttered something unnecessary. It wasn’t entirely false—my breathing was a little tight. His arm under my head was hard, and his breath occasionally tickled my hair. And more than anything, I had to press my nails into my palm to ignore the strange sensation stirring in me.

With a soft sigh, Kwon Yido eased back slightly. Then he lowered his head and looked down at me with half-lidded eyes. I met his gaze, and his words brushed against me like a tease.

“Are you embarrassed, lying here like this?”

“......”

It felt like he’d hit the mark. He’d seen straight through my embarrassment. I was about to avert my gaze when something even more loaded came out.

“Not embarrassed about waiting for me with your ass open?”

“...Mm.”

Right. I had been so desperate, I’d touched myself in ways I normally wouldn’t, even at the back. On top of that, I’d called him, whining for him to hurry over.

“I... wasn’t exactly in my right mind.”

I admitted easily, pressing my forehead to his chest. He wordlessly stroked the back of my head. The feeling of his fingers combing through my hair wasn’t unpleasant. If I closed my eyes, I could drift back to sleep again.

“...When are you coming home today?”

I didn’t really have a reason not to sleep, but the moment felt too precious to waste. It had been so long—almost the first time, really—that we’d spent a peaceful morning together. In answer to my light question, his voice came in that familiar gentle tone.

“I’ll be home before dinner.”

So he’d be leaving work early, like before, now that things had settled down. That would mean no sleeping pills for a while. Not that I should let myself get this dependent... That thought was cut short by his next question.

“Are you going to the workshop today too?”

It occurred to me that maybe, like me, he was reluctant for this moment to end. Maybe that was why he was asking something so obvious—because he didn’t want me falling asleep yet.

“I’m planning to go in the morning. If I want to get my homework checked and keep moving forward, it’s best to go every weekday.”

“Diligent, like a student preparing for exams.”

His soft chuckle tickled my ear. Even at such a plain answer, he sounded pleased. I let my eyes drift half-shut and spoke quietly.

“Heena mentioned something about a license...”

'Then maybe you’d be interested in a private perfumer’s license?'

That was what Lee Heena had said to me at the workshop. Maybe she’d meant it in passing, but most of my curiosity since had been drawn to the idea. Not out of passion—just interest.

“There’s apparently a perfumer’s license. Not a national certification, just a private one. She said it might be worth having something to show for it.”

While I spoke, he kept gently stroking the back of my head. Maybe he was tidying my hair, maybe just petting it like a dog.

I glanced up to meet his eyes.

“What do you think, Yido?”

“......”

His elegant eyes twitched faintly. He closed them slowly, then opened them to gaze at me in a slightly dazed way. His stare made me frown slightly.

“...What is it?”

“Nothing...”

He began slowly, then hesitated. At this close distance, I thought I could see my face reflected in the dark depths of his eyes. After blinking once, twice, his lips curved faintly.

“I didn’t think you’d ask my opinion.”

Was it really that strange? No—he actually looked pleased. His gaze, softened in the morning light, was full of warmth.

“It’s a good thing to have something you want to do.”

His voice was low, but his eyes were steady on mine. I’d only asked lightly, but he looked like he understood the weight of it, as if he knew I’d been debating it for a long time.

“I told you before—if you want to, you should.”

'If you want to, you should.'

I remembered him saying that once. And now I really was learning perfumery—so it had turned out as he said. True to form, he didn’t make empty remarks.

“Since you’ve started, I think it’s good to see it through.”

“...I see.”

Honestly, it was the answer I’d expected from the start. I’d just wanted to hear it from him directly.

Maybe I should get the license. It wouldn’t be much use, but someday it could be a memory worth keeping. That was when Yido gave me the chance. That alone would make it worthwhile.

“I think I’ll start a perfume business as a hobby.”

I was still lost in thought when he suddenly changed the subject. Perfume business? Before I could ask, he tilted his head slightly.

“As a kind of investment.”

“...An investment?”

I didn’t voice the obvious why would you invest in that?, because he began explaining in a calm tone.

“Scent has a huge influence on our lives. There’s that car brand that says the smell you notice the first time you sit in the driver’s seat determines your impression of the brand.”

I’d heard that before, from the company’s CEO. I remembered that their cars did have a distinctive smell in the seats.

“We should keep up with the era of preference.”

His eyes narrowed in a smile that somehow looked sly. There had to be a reason he was telling me this now, at this timing.

“So, I’ll need a qualified manager with some experience.”

“......”

Call it instinct—I knew what he was about to say. Sure enough, his voice came smooth.

“I want you to be the general manager, Sejin.”

I almost laughed at the absurdity. The first thing that came to mind was—

“...I’ve worked in finance.”

“Business is business.”

As if. He knew better than anyone that it wasn’t ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) the same.

“Don’t worry about the pressure. You can just do whatever you want to do.”

His hand slid from my hair to the nape of my neck, stroking bare skin before toying with the bone at the back, under my collar. The feel of his long fingers made my shoulders twitch.

“You can make the perfume you want... or work on the management side. Or develop a marketing product.”

“...That sounds like you’re telling me to try a job for fun.”

“A job trial?”

He chuckled softly, but didn’t deny it.

“That’s a good way to put it.”

“Don’t joke...”

Who handed out a company manager position just to let someone experiment? I tried to brush it off with a laugh, but he asked seriously—

“Don’t tell me you dislike parachutes?”

“......”

I couldn’t say yes, not with him looking at me like he didn’t understand. His refined voice carried words that didn’t match.

“I think it’s stupid to claw your way up when the opportunity’s already there.”

If anyone else heard that, it would cause a stir. I snorted, and he lazily stroked my back through the shirt.

“Or is that too lowly a position for someone who’s been a division head?”

“It’s not that...”

His touch grew more lingering. Down my spine, bone by bone, then softly gripping my thigh under the hem of the shirt. I flinched, trying to close my legs, but he slid one of his between them.

“...Weren’t we in the middle of a conversation?”

“We are. And we will be.”

His hand slipped under my shirt, up from my thigh to my hip, then tickled up my back. He kissed the corner of my eye and murmured—

“We can have a conversation with our bodies too.”

“Wait...”

Even just his hands made me overly sensitive. After a day of constant sex, my body was loose and languid. He naturally climbed over me, burying his nose at my collarbone.

“What are you— hht.”

“If I said it outright, you’d refuse. So I’m appealing at the pillow.”

A faint wave of pheromones drifted over me. His knee pressed into my center, and when I instinctively wrapped my arms around him, his hand slid up to my chest.

“Ah...!”

Thanks to his torment the night before, my nipples were swollen. The brush of skin sent a sting and a gasp from me. He kissed my exposed neck, fingertips wandering along my ribs like a piano.

“No... I can’t anymore.”

I laid a hand on the back of his head, body going limp. Heat pooled low in my belly, but sex was out of the question. My heat had just ended, and my energy was already spent.

“I’m not asking for sex.”

But he leaned his cheek to my shoulder, smiling wickedly. Even the narrowing of his eyes pressed on my chest. Pillow appeal, he’d said—less a threat than a sly tactic, but not exactly peaceful either.

“The business base is ready. I’ve got the staff lined up.”

“...Ugh.”

“All you have to do is... show up when you feel like it, and do the work you want.”

“That doesn’t make—”

“Of course, knowing you, once you start, you’ll work hard...”

“Yido, this is... hht.”

“Just try coming in for a while. It’s not bad.”

The featherlight touch of his fingers and the brush of his lips at my ear were maddening. Even though I wasn’t in the mood, I was already half-hard.

“You know you can’t say no.”

“......”

I couldn’t answer. He was right—this wasn’t an offer I could refuse. Just like when he’d handed me the car keys, I’d end up going in.

“If it’s too much pressure, just stay until you get your license.”

He even set a time limit, as if being merciful. But the course would take at least a few months—practically a probation period.

“I’ll pay you well, so don’t worry.”

As if he even knew what I’d earned as division head. Though knowing him, he might double it without blinking.

“Just think of it as getting a job.”

“A job...”

I didn’t know why those words felt so unfamiliar. Like someone entering society for the first time, I felt a sudden, inexplicable tension. And then he delivered the final blow—

“You miss working, don’t you?”

“......”

My lips twitched. The strength left my arms around him, and a dry laugh slipped out before I could stop it. More than anything else he’d said, that felt like the most tempting.

“No matter how I look at it... staying home doesn’t suit you.”

He was right. Drinking tea in the greenhouse didn’t feel much like living. Even going to the workshop lately, before that, reading books was my whole routine. All I could do was wait in this big house for him to come home.

“I just think it’s a waste for someone with your mind, Sejin.”