Mudoo - Chapter 69

Warmth settled over her lips as his mouth claimed hers. Kang Tae-shin held the back of Seula’s neck and leaned against the sofa, his body loose, vulnerable, unguarded.

When Seula braced her hands on his shoulders and pulled away, Tae-shin gazed at her through half-lidded eyes.

“I told you, habits like this can’t be helped. I wanted to see you so badly I had to come running. I’m sure even before I lost my memory, I must have been the same.”

Seula lifted her eyes to his, questioning silently. He continued in a low murmur.

“I wouldn’t have been able to resist wanting to see you. But maybe I held myself back. Why? I don’t know either. I’d like to, but… sometimes I think it’s better not to.”

He covered her hand with his and guided it to his chest, pressing it firmly just left of center, where his heart beat.

“It hurts here.”

His voice was detached, as though the pain was nothing he wouldn’t bear.

“When I look at you, it does this. I don’t know why. Sometimes I want to figure it out, but then… I’d rather not know.”

A faint, self-mocking smile tugged at his lips as his eyes lingered on her trembling ones.

“So maybe I like it better this way, not knowing anything.”

His fingers brushed through her hair, tucking strands behind her ear. His touch skimmed her ear’s edge, rubbing the lobe with a weight of intent.

“If I ever did something wrong before, then forget it too. Forget the bastard who kept you waiting. Treat me as someone different now.”

Seula swallowed, eyes fluttering closed for a beat.

“You’re not a bastard, Kang Tae-shin. You never made me wait. I turned away first. You only did what I asked, don’t come back. That was the end. That’s how breakups are.”

“Look at you, covering for me. Then why do I feel so damn irritated?”

He let out a dry chuckle, clearly baffled by his own emotions.

Seula studied his face carefully, imprinting it in her mind. Whether it was the Tae-shin with all his memories intact or the one sitting before her stripped of them, both made her chest race, both set her body aflame.

Her hand moved from his chest, tracing over the thick swell of his pecs, fingertips pressing hard against him. His eyes narrowed, curling with heat.

“I really did just come to see your face. But since you’re like this, I won’t complain.”

His hand skimmed down her back, gripping her side and kneading until her hips jolted. He slumped deeper into the sofa, half-lying, pulling her with him.

He caught her hand and pressed it to his cheek, guiding her touch over his brow, his proud nose. Then his lips pressed into her palm.

“Do whatever you want.”

His voice was low, lips brushing over her lifelines as though engraving them. The look he gave her was dangerous, almost feral, like a stray picked up off the street, untamed and unpredictable.

He drew out his tongue, licking between her fingers, tracing over the bones of her hand. Heat flared through her belly at the wet stroke. His hips shifted with a low groan, and when she felt the hard bulge straining between his thighs, her eyes fluttered shut.

“You’re good at holding back. Even with me offering myself, you’re grinding your teeth just to resist.”

Mockery laced his voice. Seula’s face twisted, words on the tip of her tongue, only to dissolve when she met his gaze. What slipped out instead was a soft murmur.

“…I don’t even know.”

How was she supposed to treat this Tae-shin, robbed of his memories? If she treated him as a stranger, the old Tae-shin haunted her. But treating him like the man she had known—this Tae-shin was too different.

What would the Tae-shin she remembered have done here?

Her mind drifted to that winter night in Sokcho, when they’d gone to see the sea.

‘I think… I like you, Kang Tae-shin.’
‘Do you even know who I am, to say that?’

The Tae-shin who remembered Yeo-ok, and herself who remembered nothing.

‘Why did you just do that?’
‘So I wouldn’t remember a black mark tomorrow.’
‘Even if you forget, I’ll remember everything.’

He had said he would remember it all.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, Seula seized his jaw with both hands and kissed him hard. His tongue surged in at once, splitting her lips, filling her mouth with wet heat. She opened wider, struggling to keep pace. Their mingled saliva echoed in the quiet room.

One arm wrapped her waist, the other dragged at her nape, forcing her closer. His tongue plunged deep, teasing her palate, while her hands trailed down to his chest, feeling the ridges of muscle beneath his shirt.

“Haa… wait.”

He broke away, breathless. A string of spit stretched between them. Bracing his core, he lifted off the sofa just enough to strip off the clinging T-shirt, tossing it aside.

“Now you can touch me all you like.”

With his sly grin, he could have passed for someone in his twenties—reckless, transparent, utterly unrestrained. Seula’s chest tightened with guilt; the thought crept in that she was laying herself over someone too young.

She had lived over five centuries, earned countless degrees, carried the weight of ages—and still, here she was, thinking like this.

“How old are you, Kang Tae-shin?”

Straddling him, she asked. He tugged playfully at the hem of her shirt, teasing without removing it.

“Old enough. But does it matter right now?”

“It feels strange.”

“Then I’ll make a new identity. Pick an age for me yourself.”

He licked his lips, eyes narrowing as though annoyed by the question.

‘How old do I look?’
‘Twenty-nine? Thirty-three at most.’
‘Then let’s split the difference and call it thirty-one.’
‘Who picks an age by splitting the difference…?’

She pulled the memory from deep within, her chest twisting.

“…Thirty-one.”

He chuckled softly and nodded.

“Fine. Thirty-one it is. Now… let’s keep going.”

His hands slipped to her buttons, undoing them one by one until pale skin spilled into the air. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he took her in.

Seula’s nails dragged from his collarbone down to his sternum. He let out a low hum. Shoving the last button open, he gripped her waist, thumbs sliding under her bra to brush the undersides of her br3asts.

She bit her lip, palms smoothing over his chiseled abdomen, down to his belt. Slowly, she unfastened it.

“Hurry and take it out.”

His voice was husky, mischievous, teasing her ears.

“Don’t rush me,” she muttered back, flustered.

His thumb grazed over her n1pple through the bra cup, making her shoulders jolt. A smirk curved his lips.

She glared at him briefly, then tugged at the bulge in his pants, unzipping until the outline of his c0ck pressed against his underwear, straining, desperate to break free.

“I’m already hard.”

“I didn’t need you to say it.”

“I’ve been like this ever since I saw that man confessing to you outside your place.”

His grin lingered, playful, but it didn’t sound like a lie. There was no reason for it to be.

“You held out this long?”

His smirk deepened. He leaned in close, whispering as if confessing a secret.

“Truth is… I already let one out earlier. In the bathroom.”

A hot, tangled breath slipped out between Seula’s teeth.