Theo stared at Yeonha standing next to him for a few long seconds, he knew that there was no way that his relationship with other girls could take such a sudden turn as it had with Nayun.
He and Nayun were a special case, a case in which certain circumstances, even if unintentional, helped a lot.
With Nayun, there was a series of events that, even unintentionally, brought them together almost inevitably. The promise to bring Chae Jinyoon back, something that touched the most vulnerable spot in Nayun's heart, was the catalyst. And once trust was established, the bond between them grew quickly, driven by intense emotions, gratitude, desire... and a closeness that neither of them had anticipated.
Now, with Yeonha or any girl who came after, things would be different.
With Nayun, everything happened so quickly that it was almost unbelievable. The pain, the hope, the vulnerability... Everything conspired to accelerate the feeling between the two of them. But Yeonha. Even if she was beginning to feel something, even if her heart wavered when Theo spoke with that disarming sincerity, it wasn't enough.
A little attraction? Yes, perhaps. An interest that arose without her wanting it to? Probably. But that wouldn't be enough to make her take a step further.
Yeonha was the kind of person who needed structure, trust and time. For her, feelings were serious commitments, heavy decisions that couldn't be made in the heat of the moment.
'Of course, if I were to follow this path, who knows when this girl would accept me...'
Weeks, months, maybe years.
Theo could use various ways to get closer to her more quickly, some that would certainly make her see him even more positively.
'But that's boring...'
Using misunderstandings to bring them closer together was fine, but Theo didn't want something like that. Manipulating feelings like that wasn't his style, of course if it was she herself who created these misunderstandings, he'd be fine with it, now him doing it? No, Theo would rather pass.
After all, he wanted "them" to accept him being by their side knowing exactly what he was getting into. He wanted sincerity, not convenience.
Using "save the princess" events to make her develop feelings would also be a great and tempting way to go, but it would take too long; the events involving this girl wouldn't start to appear for another month or so.
'Ah! I'm really no good.'
Being hypocritical was already becoming normal for him, one moment he would say he didn't use manipulation, but the next he would say it was okay to use it, even just a little.
If that wasn't hypocritical, what was?
His voice called her back to the present. Yeonha blinked, coming out of her own thoughts, and found Theo shifting, guiding his fingers to her chin.
With a gentle gesture, he lifted her chin with his index finger. Their eyes met, violet eyes and red eyes, reflecting a mixture of feelings.
She looked at him in surprise. Theo, however, didn't look away. The way he watched her lips made it clear what was about to happen. Yeonha understood immediately.
"...Feel free to refuse, if you want I'll stop..."
His voice was low, almost a whisper, but there was an honest firmness in his words. He wasn't pressuring her. He didn't hold her down. He just put desire on the table, leaving the choice entirely in her hands.
That was the safest, most effective approach with someone like Yeonha. Be proactive, but respectful. Showing her what you wanted, without demanding it.
Letting her know, in no uncertain terms, that he wanted her... but that the final decision was hers.
Yeonha felt her heart race. Reason and sentimentality began to fight an internal battle. She knew that this wasn't just a physical rapprochement, it was an emotional crossroads.
Reason whispered that it was wrong. That there was no point in kissing someone without being sure of how you felt. That it was rash, impulsive, out of place.
But sentimentality said something else.
She wondered if, by refusing, she wasn't betraying her own heart. If she wasn't denying something that, deep down, she was already beginning to want, even if she didn't really understand why.
The two ideas seemed similar, but for Yeonha, they were completely different. Reason sought to protect, while sentimentality sought to liberate.
And there, in front of Theo, with his eyes waiting for the answer, everything seemed to revolve around a single moment.
Yeonha stood still, almost as if time had stopped around her. Her breath caught in her chest, her eyes fixed on Theo's, firm, intense, but still gentle. He didn't move. He didn't push her, he just waited. But it was precisely this waiting, this space granted, that made everything even more difficult.
The silence between them seemed to gain weight.
She hated herself for hesitating.
Because deep down, she wanted to. She wanted to know what would happen if she allowed herself to. She wanted to understand why, even with so many barriers between them, there was something about Theo that moved her.
Yeonha had known what she felt for someone else for years, her heart beating for someone who didn't even seem to notice her existence the way she did.
A silent, persistent, painfully one-sided love. It was this feeling that prevented her from completely seeing someone else in his eyes.
Accepting Theo at that moment would be like betraying all that. As if she were giving up something she had held on to for so long. And as frustrating as it was to live in the shadow of this unrequited love, this feeling was still hers.
More than that: it was Theo. The boy who, in an almost debauched way, had declared in all letters that he intended to build something like a harem. A word that sounded absurd and offensive in the real world, but which he said with a strange mixture of conviction and honesty. As if he really believed that he could love more than one woman, truly.
Yeonha didn't know what bothered her more: the fact that he meant it, or the fact that he didn't hide it from her.
'Is he really telling me that he likes me... but also wants to like other women?'
She felt like laughing and mocking him. Maybe both at the same time.
A part of her said that this was an outrage, that she should turn her back and never look at him again. What kind of girl would accept that?
What kind of woman, with the slightest bit of dignity, would allow herself to be just "one more" in someone's life?
But another part... a quieter, more tired part... whispered that maybe it wasn't that simple. That maybe the world wasn't just made up of binary choices between right and wrong. That maybe what she wanted now, more than anything, was to be liked.
Not by the crowd, not by those who fawned over her for being the daughter of who she was. But to someone who was looking directly at her.
And Theo was looking at her, with a desire that wasn't vulgar.
Even if he had questionable intentions, even if it was complicated, she still didn't say no.
It was a brief sound, a whisper that escaped her lips the instant her face caved in a little as she turned fully towards him.
And then, without realizing it, or maybe she did and just didn't want to admit it, Yeonha nodded slightly.
"I see... Just don't go regretting it later."
Her face tilted slowly, respecting every centimeter of the distance that remained. It gave her time, space, freedom and the chance to move away. But Yeonha didn't pull back; on the contrary, she threw her arms over his shoulder and brought her lips close to his.
Theo raised an eyebrow at her assertiveness, but said nothing.
Yeonha let out a small sound as she felt Theo's lips latch onto hers.
And then, the world changed...
The voices in the hall became a distant hum, the bright lights seemed to dim in contrast to the fire that was now burning her. His body reacted before his mind could process it, his spine arching to fit better against him.
Theo didn't let her will down.
He traced one of his arms around her waist, pinning her completely against him, completely preventing any chance she had of escaping.
But what he didn't know was that she didn't want to escape.
The warmth of his touch, the firmness of his arms, the way he seemed to know exactly what to do, not as an experienced man, but as someone who was paying attention, all disarmed her with such ease that she found herself completely losing her train of thought.