Chapter 3

Chapter 3

When the doctor heard we had gotten into another fight, he was horrified. Fortunately, neither of us was hurt.

Back at the cottage, I tugged my collar open and wiped the red paint from my neck and the side of my face in front of the mirror.

A few jumbled fragments flashed through my mind.

Yet my heart remained utterly calm, as if I had long since grown used to things like this.

Song Jinbie’s clothes were a mess. The hem of his brown linen shirt had been yanked out of his waist sash, and his dark blue washed denim vest hung over the crook of one arm.

Pointing at the chaotic smears of paint all over himself, he laughed. “You really don’t hold back.”

“Go shower. You’re filthy.”

The more fun it had been while we were playing, the more torturous it was to wash off afterward.

“You did this. You help me wash it off.”

“Wash your own body yourself!”

“It’s fine. Whoever made the mess cleans it up. I’ll help wash yours off too.”

Song Jinbie pressed his thumb beneath my chin, wiping away the paint that looked like blood.

I tilted my neck up slightly, an indescribable feeling stirring inside me.

My breathing rose and fell. Water pattered by my ear, and diluted colors ran across the floor, making the whole place look like a crime scene.

My head felt hazy beneath the water, unable to tell reality from the illusory memories flooding in.

Until Song Jinbie lifted my chin and kissed me from behind.

……………………

Song Jinbie and I slept until the next afternoon, when Grandma finally dragged us up to eat.

“Young people really are affectionate. Everything you two do, you do together. Oh, right, are you planning to have children?”

“Ahem, ahem.”

Song Jinbie coughed so hard his face turned red.

I turned my head away too.

Grandma spoke with heartfelt earnestness.

“You two still need to recover your memories as soon as possible so you can go home. If you do plan on having children, staying here would really hold you up.”

“Uh, Grandma, actually, we haven’t planned on having children yet.”

What kind of friends with benefits had kids?

I grumbled inwardly.

After that topic came up, Song Jinbie and I both felt inexplicably awkward.

I made the excuse of needing to walk off the meal and strolled along the empty beach.

Against the deep blue sky, sea gulls wheeled and cried, their calls buzzing in the air.

I narrowed my eyes and watched for a while.

There seemed to be a small aircraft in the sky.

This island was remote and sparsely populated. Getting to the mainland required transferring between several boats, and transportation was inconvenient, leaving it cut off from the world.

Why would there be a plane here?

The aircraft hovered silently in the air.

Someone leaped out of it, opened a parachute midair, and landed steadily in the forest.

I hid nearby and watched to see what would happen.

The woman wore a uniform and held a communicator in her hand.

I ambushed her from behind and subdued her in one move.

“Talk. What are you doing here?!”

She tried to counterattack, but the moment she saw me clearly, she froze.

Her mouth fell half-open, her almond-shaped eyes widening. “Miss, I finally found you!”

?

“Who are you?”

The shock in her eyes did not seem fake. “Miss? You’ve lost your memory?! Damn the Song Family. Two months ago, during our conflict with them, you accidentally fell off the ship. Everyone said you were dead, but I refused to believe it. Why should the Second Young Master of the Song Family be alive and well, attending Congress, while you disappeared!!!”

She hugged me. “So you really aren’t dead. Huh? Miss, what’s that on your neck? Don’t tell me it’s…”

She pointed at the hickey on my neck, but I was focused on something else.

“This Second Young Master of the Song Family you’re talking about. What’s his name?”

“That bastard is called Song Jin-”

“Honey, why are you here? I’ve thought it over. Grandma is right. We should have a child.”

Song Jinbie walked over from a distance.

The subordinate, who had swiftly hidden behind a haystack, widened her eyes and stared fixedly at that damned bastard of a man…

Without letting anything show, I shifted sideways and blocked Song Jinbie’s view.

“What are you doing here?”

“Walking off lunch. Come on, let’s go back together.”

I looped my arm through Song Jinbie’s and led him away from the scene.

Although I didn’t completely believe what the woman who called me Miss had said, my instincts told me there was quite a history between Song Jinbie and me.

It was very possible we had been enemies.

Otherwise, even with amnesia, I wouldn’t have such intense, indescribable feelings toward him.

The next afternoon, Song Jinbie went out on a boat with the islanders to fish.

I lied that I wasn’t feeling well and stayed in bed, refusing to go.

A few minutes after the door closed, I was just about to get up.

With a creak, Song Jinbie came back.

I quickly shut my eyes.

Then I felt him gently lift my chin and kiss the corner of my lips.

“Development on the island is limited, so don’t wander around. Otherwise, you won’t even know it if some little wolf cub carries you off.”

Song Jinbie murmured in my ear, his breath making my neck itch.

It felt like the one who wanted to carry me off wasn’t some little wolf cub.

It was him.