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Noah had gone looking for Yunah after she failed to return. Anxious, he headed toward the tents to check on her, but as he drew closer, his blood ran cold. He saw Yunah frozen on the ground just as Sabin began unzipping his tent from the inside.
Being quick-witted, Noah read the danger instantly. He rushed forward, his large hand snapping over Yunah's mouth the moment she turned to look back. Before she could react or utter a sound, he hoisted her up effortlessly, his arm locking around her waist as he vanished with her into his own tent.
When Sabin finally stepped out, the clearing was empty. He scanned the shadows, suspicious, but found nothing. His gaze drifted further away to where the others were still drinking and dancing— dismissing the noise as a trick of his mind, he walked off to join the group. Shortly after, Preeti emerged. She wore a practiced, fake smile, but it couldn't bury the profound sadness and pain reflected in her eyes.
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Inside the dim, shared tent, the air turned thick and heavy. Yunah found herself sprawled directly over Noah, their bodies tangled in an accidental, suffocatingly intimate position. Noah's hand was still clamped over her mouth, his other arm locked tight around her waist. Their hearts hammered in a frantic, chaotic rhythm—neither of them knowing if it was the fear of being caught or the sudden, electric jolt of desire making their blood boil.
When Yunah shifted, trying to find her footing, the friction made Noah's jaw tighten. He finally released her mouth, his breath coming in jagged hitches, but his grip on her waist only tightened.
Yunah slid off him, collapsing onto the fabric beside him, but she didn't look away. As their eyes locked in the dark, the silence became unbearable. A parching thirst took hold of her; the urge to close the distance was so intense it felt like a physical fever. Panicked by her own longing, she tried to jolt upright, but Noah was faster.
In one fluid, dominant motion, he pinned her back down. Now, he was the one looming over her, his silhouette blocking out the world. His eyes, dark and heavy with a lethal mix of affection and raw hunger, traced the line of her lips.
"Noah... what are you doing? Let me go," Yunah whispered, her voice betrayed by a soft tremble.
"Di... can we kiss?" Noah's face was dangerously close, his hot breath ghosting over her skin and sending shivers racing down her spine.
"We can't, Noah. What are you even talking about." she breathed, the lie tasting like ash. Her eyes were pleading for the very thing her lips were denying. "I'm older than you. This is wrong."
Noah didn't flinch. His gaze dropped to her mouth, his expression one of absolute, singular focus. "I don't care about 'right.' All I care about is you," he countered, his voice a low, possessive growl. "And it's not like this is our first time. I can see it in your eyes—you want this as much as I do. Just one kiss. Think of it as payback for helping you to be your fake boyfriend."
Yunah's fingers curled into the fabric of her clothes, her mind a battlefield of guilt and forbidden want. Finally, she let the desire win. "Okay. J-just one—"
He didn't let her finish. Noah closed the distance, his lips crashing against hers in a kiss that was both desperate and devastatingly passionate.
Yunah stiffened for a heartbeat, but then she melted, her world narrowing down to the heat of him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, her mind going blank as the kiss deepened into something fiery and uncontrolled. Noah's hand slid down, molding her waist to him, pulling her so close there wasn't a breath of air left between them.
As the kiss turned hungrier, Noah began to lose his grip on his restraint. When his hand started to wander, Yunah's survival instinct flickered back to life. She grabbed his wrist, breaking the seal of their lips. Noah leaned back in again, unsatisfied and hunting for more, but she turned her head away.
"That's enough," she panted, her chest heaving as reality crashed back in. "We have to stop. Now."
Guilt flooded her, sharp and cold. Noah sensed it immediately. He rolled off her, settling into the space beside her with a calm, knowing smile.
"Don't," he said, his voice steady. "Don't start blaming yourself or looking for reasons to ignore me tomorrow. If there's a sin to be accounted for, blame me. I'm the one who pushed." He turned his head to look at her, his eyes serious. "And if you want me to take responsibility for you... I will."
"Who asked you to take responsibility?" Yunah snapped, her face flushing a deep crimson as she sat up. "If anything, I'm the older one. I should be the one responsible."
"Oh?" Noah's eyes sparked with a sudden, sharp intent. "Then take responsibility for me. Make me your real boyfriend."
"What?"