Small and Fragile Things - Chapter 17

Irang’s breath faltered when her eyes met those pitch-black pupils that gave nothing away. Her lashes, curled up so prettily at the ends, trembled ever so slightly — making her look pitiful enough to pity, yet believable enough that someone might think she was doing it on purpose to provoke desire.

Either way, she was cornering herself now.

“Are you… sick or something?”

“I did drink a bit, but I’m fine. Why? Do I look insane?”

Muk-hyun was coiled tight, staring down at his prey.

There was still enough reason left in him to think it through — if she stepped back now, he’d let her. But if she chose to walk right into danger, he’d gladly open his jaws.

He’d prefer the first choice. For everyone’s sake, it’d be cleaner.

But if she went for the second, he wouldn’t feel sorry for her. He’d given her plenty of chances to run — whatever happened now was on her.

A lazy heat seeped up from somewhere deep inside him.

It had been so long since he’d felt anything like this in front of a woman.

The first thing that had shriveled when he’d given up on life was his lust — he couldn’t even remember the last time he’d held someone.

“If not your name… can I do something else for you?”

“Something else? Like what?”

Her lashes, which had been drooping low, lifted gently — and she flinched like she’d seen something terrifying.

Yet she still couldn’t look away — and damn it all, it worked on him perfectly.

That slight tremor of her shoulders, the soft breath like she was exhaling feathers, the way she looked like she’d let him catch her if he just reached out — it was hitting every raw spot in him on purpose, or so it seemed.

He realized it then — this was dangerous.

“If you tell me what you want…”

Unfortunately for her, she’d picked the wrong answer.

“If I tell you.”

A dangerously wrong, terrible, worst answer.

“You’ll do whatever I say?”

***

The gentle glint in his eyes vanished — and he turned into someone else entirely.

The man who’d slouched there, lips curved lazily with a cigarette pinched between his fingers — gone.

His features shouldn’t have changed just because he made up his mind — but it felt like his whole face had.

Had his features always been this sharp? That scar, was it always that big? She couldn’t even recall the face she’d been staring at moments ago — that’s how suddenly cold he’d become.

Maybe she should have run.

Maybe when he’d let her go, she should have bolted like she didn’t know any better.

But when his soft coaxing had broken her down into tears, she’d felt the want stirring inside herself.

I want to stay by him.

I want him to keep looking at me.

The moment it budded, that longing had burst up like a weed, wrapping roots around her feet so she couldn’t step away.

It wasn’t all his fault, either — he’d been too kind, whatever his reasons were.

Whatever he wanted, he’d always comfort her when she trembled, always called her gently — Irang, Rabbit, meaningless words maybe, but they’d cracked her open until there was nothing left to hold shut.

One second she was crying, the next she was pouring out all her hurt — pathetically, stupidly.

When he’d said he wanted something in return — she’d felt it was inevitable, but weirdly, it reassured her.

Why did it comfort her to know he wanted something from her?

He’d been giving her hints this whole time that he was dangerous. She’d seen it in his eyes when they turned sharp and predatory — and still, she’d nodded without a fight.

Why was she so — so easy, so helpless for him?

“Ha…”

Her vision blurred — and then the tears spilled down, streaking her cheeks. Those eyes, beautiful and cruel as a blade, seemed to dig straight to the bottom of her soul. Inside the layered cold of that stare, she was trapped — drowning for breath.

Breathe, he murmured, his voice low and shadowed.

“Stop… please…”

“How much do you think you’ve done, huh?”

When he came closer again, she pushed him away without thinking — only for him to grab a fistful of her hair.

“Did I say you could push me off?”

Her head was wrenched back — when she fumbled to pry his hand away, the pain eased just enough to keep her still. But the ends of her hair stayed tangled around his fingers.

“Stay still and let it happen.”

She was kneeling between his legs, helpless under him.

The moment she’d whispered she’d do anything, he’d gone cold — and given the order like it was nothing.

“Get on your knees.”

Then it had started — without warning.

It hadn’t stopped since. All one-sided.

He bit wherever he wanted, licked wherever he pleased, and sucked until her mind went blank. She could do nothing but let out ragged, choked moans — trapped like a captive, with nowhere to run.

The only shirt she had on had long since been stripped away.

Before the chill of the air could even sink in, her body was burning hot — feverish all over. Every place his lips touched felt like it was catching fire.

Her head snapped back each time her waist buckled or her shoulders twisted under him. More than once, her hips got a sharp slap. One hand tangled in her hair, the other groping her br3ast — he was rough, relentless, like a marauder tearing through.

“Ah… ah…”

It was her first time having her chest sucked like this.

It had started at her lips, drifted past her ear, down the side of her neck — until he was here.

It felt so strange.

Something deep inside her ached, tingled unbearably, while her spine shivered as if something cold and electric was crawling up it.

What did people even call this? Did others do things like this too?

It wasn’t an exaggeration — it felt like he was devouring her bit by bit, and yet, instead of screaming, all she could do was moan.

“You need to answer.”

She couldn’t even remember what he’d asked, but she nodded frantically anyway.
“Mm… yes… mm.”

Her n1pple, so swollen it looked pale and sore, was suddenly bitten down on.

“Ah—! Y-yes, yes…”

“You promised to behave, didn’t you?”

“Yes… I’ll… ah…”

“If you forget what I teach you, you’ll pay for it.”

Ever since he’d forced her to kneel, he’d been commanding — absolute. His voice still sounded gentle enough, but his eyes… his eyes made it impossible to resist.

Cold, like an ice pick pressed to her throat — the way he looked at her while he gave his orders left her no choice but to obey.

When he’d pulled her shirt off, he’d warned her, ‘whatever you expected — this isn’t it. I’m a little… broken.’

It hadn’t taken long for her to understand exactly what he’d meant by that.

So go ahead. Regret it, see if I care.

The way he did things was nothing like what she thought she knew.

“Don’t close your eyes. Look at me.”

At some point, instead of questioning it, she’d just started to comply — like she’d been hypnotized.
One hand buried tight in her hair held her head steady so she had no choice but to watch her flushed, marked chest disappear into his mouth again and again. Her ears burned hot.

“Hngh…!”

When his tongue rolled around her stiff peak, something low in her belly twisted sharply. The prickling rush made her squirm, but when she shook her head to get away, he bit down hard enough to drag her back — forcing her to see.

When she lost focus and slumped, his hand cracked across her backside, hard enough to make tears prick her eyes — only for his mouth to soften over the welted skin again, sucking gently where his teeth had left marks.

At some point, she couldn’t tell pain from pleasure anymore.

Was this what it felt like to have your mind unravel? Her brain felt pickled in his sticky heat and spit.

With nothing but a handful of damp, sensitive flesh, he’d completely undone her.

Kneeling between his legs, she was helpless — purely passive, nothing but shivering thighs and mindless, wet moans.

Yet the strangest part of all was how it made her feel… safe, somehow.

Safe because he was holding her tight, because he hadn’t looked away from her even once.

“Nngh…” The muffled whimpers slipped out no matter how hard she tried to bite them back, humiliated by how raw they sounded.

When he sucked hard on one br3ast like a hungry child while pinching and tugging at the other, she let out a cry so shameless she startled herself — but that only made him torment her more, teasing every hair-raising, trembling bit of her with cruelly soft touches that scraped and tickled until her skin was electric.