Chapter 6
“Ah! I’m sorry.”
Horrified, Ibella placed her hand on the man’s chest and sat up. Even in this situation, she could tell that the man’s chest was as firm as a warrior’s. It was evident just from the texture of his chest visible through the parted shirt collar, and the texture of his skin felt against her palm through the wet clothes was also distinct.
As the sky, which had been blocked by her face, cleared, streaks of rain struck his face. Showing no particular sign of dislike, he wiped the moisture from around his eyes with his hand and half-raised his body. The distance between their faces, which had barely separated, narrowed once again.
“Are you okay?”
“Do I look okay?”
“Pardon?”
Because she didn’t expect the man to ask back, Ibella opened her eyes wide in embarrassment. He wasn’t openly angry, but an unconcealed irritation was imbued in his tone.
“My back hurts to death. My clothes got dirty, and the rain pouring on my face stings.”
“I’m sorr—”
“And because you are sitting like that, it’s heavy below too.”
“……”
Feeling sorry for the man’s dissatisfaction was only brief; Ibella racked her brain to understand his last words. The posture she was sitting in, the man’s lower body, something heavy poking her buttocks.
“Ah. I-I’m sorry. Someone was chasing me, so while running away, I just…”
Realizing the shocking fact late, Ibella immediately brought her legs down and moved away from him. Absurdly, she hadn’t realized the fact that she was sitting on the man’s lower body until he pointed it out. Whether it was because he was overly handsome, or because she was out of it due to the injury and rain, neither could be an excuse.
Why didn’t she notice at all? This was her first time experiencing this, so she could only let out a hollow laugh at herself.
“You were the one in a dangerous situation, but I’m the only one who got hurt.”
The man gave a crooked smile, subtly blaming her. Indifferent to his body getting wet, he slowly stood up. The tall and well-built man filled her vision in an instant. As he tried to brush off the dirt on his clothes, he flinched as if his back was hurt and frowned.
“Ah, I think I’m hurt more than I thought.”
“Does it hurt a lot?”
“It doesn’t hurt just a little.”
The man’s monologue pricked Ibella’s conscience. The back of his coat, covered in mud, also added to Ibella’s guilt. It wasn’t what she intended, but anyway, since his state becoming like this was mostly her responsibility.
“Where is your house?”
*Pouring.* Ibella raised her voice to ask because the rain was too heavy.
“It’s far.”
“Then……”
Ibella hesitated for a moment. There was no place to seek shelter from the rain here, the man was injured, and both of them looked a mess. She couldn’t possibly leave a man who ended up like this because of her alone.
“Would you like to go to my house?”
The man did not look dangerous, and even if he was dangerous, she wasn’t afraid. Ibella had learned swordsmanship as a child and had also mastered the basics of marksmanship on the battlefield. Unless the man was a soldier or fighter skilled in combat, she wouldn’t easily suffer anything.
“By any chance, is there food there too?” The man asked shamelessly, showing no sign of hesitation even out of courtesy. Ibella felt strangely uncomfortable, but since her whole body was already soaked, there was no choice.
“Probably……”
Recalling a few pieces of bread, cheese, and some fruits, Ibella answered.
The man bent down and grabbed Ibella’s luggage, which was rolling around, with both hands.
“Lead the way.”
Nodding his wet face, he urged Ibella.
For someone whose shoulders and back hurt, the way he carried the luggage looked light.
***
“Wipe yourself.”
Ibella took out a dry towel from the shelf and handed it to the man. Though she was pretending to be calm, her mind was becoming tangled in a complex way. The man’s body and clothes were too soaked, his overcoat was covered in mud to the point of being unwearable, and he was even injured. As the homeowner, she had clothes to change into, but what should she do about that man?
“Do you live here alone?”
The man asked apathetically, wiping his face and neck with the towel. While she pondered over the answer, his gaze swept around the inside of the house in a circle. Ibella, who was contemplating whether to say she lived alone or not, realized it was a completely unnecessary thought. This place, where only a bed, two small chairs, a bookshelf, and a desk sat desolately, clearly showed that it was a space meant for only one person.
“Yes. I’m living alone for the time being. A fierce dog entered the house, so I ran away from home.”
“It’s the opposite for me. I was looking for a sly cat because it left the house.”
“Back there earlier?”
“Yes. Because it’s a path the cat passes by.”
The man replied nonchalantly, taking off his dirty overcoat. He didn’t look like someone who would care about a single small cat, but unexpectedly, he seemed to have a meticulous personality. Her wariness toward the man subsided just a tiny bit.
“Cats have a free-spirited nature, so it must be hard to find.”
“It’s fine. Because I know where it is.”
“That’s a relief. I hope you find it well and take it with you. Without getting scratched.”
At Ibella’s words, he grinned instead of answering. The pure smile that comes out when happy suited the man well. He was handsome even when expressionless, but his smiling appearance had a charm that made people feel good.
Hanging his removed overcoat over the back of the chair, the man picked up an apple on the table. He had asked if there was anything to eat when they were outside, so he really seemed hungry.
“Give me the overcoat, I’ll wash it roughly for you. If you take off your shirt too, I’ll dry it for you.”
All the clothes the man wore were soaking wet and dripping with water. Providing food wasn’t difficult, but she couldn’t let him eat food in that state. Fortunately, she had lit the fireplace in the morning to dry out the damp moisture in the house, so embers remained. If she lit a fire and dried the man’s clothes, it would at least be enough to wear on his way, even if not perfectly dry. She felt like she could comfortably change her own clothes only after resolving the man’s troublesome situation, even if roughly.
“Over there, in the bathroom……!”
She was about to tell him to change, but her words could not continue to the end. Before Ibella could even finish her words, the man put down the apple and without hesitation, pulled his shirt up and took it off. Because it happened in an instant, Ibella didn’t even think to turn her head away. Afterward, her gaze, which had ascended over his body as if possessed, did not return.
The valleys continuing deeply beneath chest muscles like a shield, the finely defined abdomen, and the line of his strong sides. It felt as if a landscape with beautiful valleys and rocks was unfolding over this man’s body. The moment her gaze climbed up his firm skin again and touched the two mountain peaks.
“Aren’t you looking too blatantly?”
Frowning, the man took a step toward her.
“Because someone’s eyes are rolling over my body so much, I can’t bear the itchiness.”
“I-It’s not that I intended to look, but because you took it off so naturally, without realizing……”
Ibella, without realizing it, babbled on with her excuses. She herself couldn’t understand the action she had just taken. Even though a strange man was taking off his clothes in front of her, she wasn’t afraid or displeased. She felt he was cool, and it even felt familiar. Knowing it wasn’t a common-sense reaction, she was flustered.
“You can look. You can, but……”
Stopping his words, the man placed his hand on the wall next to her.
“Because I want to look too.”
No sooner had the sluggish voice dropped than the man’s gaze swept down along Ibella’s face. Whether in earnest or in jest, every time that strange look touched her, her body stung as if burned by fire. Reflexively lowering her head, she too looked at her own body which the man’s gaze had swept down.
Oh my god!
Her clothes, soaked by the rain, were clinging tightly to her body. Of all things, because it was thin, white fabric, her shoulders, arms, collarbones, and even cleavage were clearly revealed. In a way, it felt even more erotic than openly showing her body.
Ibella swallowed her dry saliva and tried hard to maintain her composure. This man was so calm, so she didn’t want to behave restlessly covering her body by herself.
“If you want to look, look with your mind. It’s wet, so the outline shows roughly anyway, doesn’t it?”
Ibella shrewdly countered his words, conveying an answer to imagine for himself. Unprepared for her to come out like this, the man’s pupils dilated greatly. For the first time, a crack appeared on his face, which had been relaxed from the moment they met until now. As the opponent she countered became flustered, Ibella felt a thrilling sensation.
She threw one more decisive word before going to the bathroom to change her clothes.
“For your information, it’s bigger than the apple you were just holding.”
“Ha!”
Dumbfounded, the man let out a hollow laugh. At the same time, his bulging trouser front caught Ibella’s eyes. The shape was revealed more clearly because the fabric was wet. A size that made her breath stop.
Her relaxed stance changed all at once. She hurriedly averted her eyes, but the vivid afterimage did not disappear. Without even realizing that she turned red from her face to her neck, she opened her mouth, trying hard to pretend to be calm.
“Could you move this arm?”
Just as Ibella, who dealt the final blow, was about to grab the man’s wrist. He took his hand off the wall first and grabbed her wrist.
“What are you doing?”
“I’ve already seen it all with my mind. But you can’t feel the taste with your mind, can you?”
“What?”
Ibella’s nerves were set on edge by the man’s unusual words. The moment she glared at the man, he let go of Ibella’s arm and stepped back a couple of steps. Oblivious to her gaze demanding an answer, he picked up the apple placed on the table a moment ago. Having regained his composure before long, the man was smiling, stretching the elegant corners of his mouth.
Placing the apple inside his two hands, he began to rub it left and right ostentatiously. It wasn’t simply a meaningless hand movement before eating an apple. Full in his hands, slowly, suggestively.
“……”
Ibella, who was watching, couldn’t say anything. Even though what he was doing was utterly absurd and infuriating, she couldn’t summon the courage to rebuke him.
Having fondled the apple to his heart’s content within his hands, he held it in one hand and brought it to his mouth. Holding Ibella with his gaze so she couldn’t turn her head, he took a big, *crunchy* bite of the apple.
Gasp.
She didn’t know why. That a tingling pain was transmitted to one side of her chest at that moment.
While the frozen Ibella was looking at the man, he smiled and *crunched* on the apple in his mouth. At some point, noticing the apple juice that splattered on the back of his hand, he stuck out his tongue and licked it away.
“It’s delicious.”
The man smiled with a highly satisfied expression.
