Prey (Lee Seohan) - Chapter 162

Suhyeon woke up. As her vision gradually focused, Jeonghan’s face came into view.

When their eyes met, Jeonghan’s lips curled into a gentle smile.

A tender hand brushed against Suhyeon’s cheek.

Suhyeon met his deep brown eyes for a moment, then lowered her gaze slightly before burrowing into his arms.

Jeonghan chuckled softly.

“Are you trying to hide your face from me?”

He held Suhyeon warmly and placed a kiss on the crown of her head.

“It’s just… a little. It feels unfamiliar.”

Suhyeon spoke while hiding her face in his broad chest. She could feel her cheeks heating up.

“Because I’m looking at you?”

From within his embrace, Suhyeon gave a small nod. He slowly stroked her delicate back and spoke in a low voice.

“I’ve seen it plenty of times, though—Seol Suhyeon’s sleeping face.”

Suhyeon froze for a moment, then lifted her head. Her face turned red as she frowned slightly, looking flustered.

“When?”

“Frequently.”

Betrayal deepened on Suhyeon’s face.

Jeonghan looked at her with eyes full of a playful smile. How could even a face flushed with embarrassment be this beautiful? Seol Suhyeon was simply irresistible.

Her blushing cheeks and fluttering eyes were unbearably endearing.

“So, you’ve been watching me this whole time while pretending not to?”

“I thought you’d dislike it. Like now.”

Jeonghan locked her firmly in his strong arms, making sure she couldn’t escape, and held her gaze.

“That’s why.”

Suhyeon’s face remained flushed. Jeonghan chuckled and rubbed her furrowed brow with his thumb.

“I watched because you’re beautiful.”

His voice was low but gentle, so much so that Suhyeon wondered if his voice had always been this tender.

“……”

Suhyeon, her face hot, glanced at him briefly before lowering her head again and burying her face in his broad chest. Her cheeks seemed to redden even more.

‘Since when did he start saying things like that…’

Waking up and immediately meeting his gaze, as well as hearing him say he watched because she was beautiful, made Suhyeon feel inexplicably shy and too embarrassed to lift her head.

Jeonghan didn’t force her to meet his eyes by pulling her face away. Instead, he leaned close to her ear and spoke in a lowered voice.

“While I was searching for you… I thought my heart had stopped.”

He kissed the crown of her head and gently brushed her hair as if it were something precious.

“Do you know what it feels like when everything goes dark and it feels like your hands and feet are being torn away from you? …I thought I was going crazy.”

“……”

Suhyeon listened quietly to his words. Leaving without notice must have made it harder for him to find her. She had even switched hotels.

As she had been sitting by the ocean, wallowing in self-blame, Jeonghan must have been tirelessly searching for her. The thought made her feel sorry.

“I’m sorry,”

She said softly, her face still hidden.

“…I know. It must have been hard for you to accept too.”

Jeonghan let out a low sigh, tightening his arms around her briefly before releasing them.

“Wherever you go, stay where I can see you. Please.”

Jeonghan’s heart-wrenching voice tugged painfully at Suhyeon’s chest.

“Even if it’s hard, be somewhere I can see you while it’s hard.”

“……”

“I know it’s greedy, and I know it’s selfish… but still, do it for me. Seol Suhyeon.”

Hearing his breaking voice, Suhyeon let out a small breath within his embrace.

Jeonghan’s strained tone conveyed his pain, and tears welled up again in Suhyeon’s eyes.

“…Okay, I will. I’m sorry.”

At her response, Jeonghan seemed to relax slightly, his strength easing as he rested his cheek against her hair.

While holding Suhyeon quietly, Jeonghan lifted her left hand and gently caressed her ring finger.

“I thought I’d finally gotten it on you.”

Ah… the ring.

After overhearing the conversation between Seol Hee-nam and him, she had gone home, unable to sleep, and taken off the ring on her way to work.

She had left it on her vanity table and hadn’t touched it since.

“I’ll put it back on when we get home. I left it behind.”

“Alright.”

Jeonghan released the finger he had been fiddling with and placed a light kiss on the crown of her head.

Resting in his arms, Suhyeon thought to herself how comforting it felt as he slowly ran his hand through her hair.

Burying her face against Do Jeonghan’s bare chest, the refreshing scent of his cologne mixed with his natural scent felt pleasant. It was a special fragrance that had been uniquely his for a long time.

Until yesterday, she had believed she would never get tangled up with Do Jeonghan like this again.

She thought she didn’t deserve it.

That it was something she shouldn’t do.

But being held like this made all those thoughts fade away. In just one day, she found herself thinking completely differently.

‘I want to stay in this man’s arms.’

For the first time, Suhyeon felt such a selfish desire.