Songhwa Village—where she fled back after quitting her job.

But somehow, from the very beginning, the signs are not good.

She’s told that since her home renovation isn’t finished, she’ll have to stay at the village hall for the time being.
And then—out of nowhere—she witnesses the naked body of a man named Woo Kangjun.

“Kangjun’s a eunuch, so it’s fine!”
“Pardon…?”
“He can’t get it up. Completely a eunuch! I hear he doesn’t even get worked up. Says he’s got no sex drive at all.”

Then what, exactly, was that massive thing she saw rising straight into the sky?

Is that man really a eunuch…?
Could everyone be mistaken?
No—if he grows chili peppers for a living, being a eunuch is just too tragic.

“Miss Gyeong Sowon, I thought you said you weren’t interested in me. Then why do you keep looking?”
“That’s… I only looked because Mr. Woo Kangjun was sleeping so soundly.”
“For that to be true, don’t you think your gaze lingers in rather specific places?”

No matter how she thinks about it, that thing back then had looked like a Pringles can…

“Are you curious? Whether the rumor that I’m a eunuch is true.”

***

“Who taught you that line?”

She swallowed dryly, waiting anxiously for what would come next, when Kangjun let out a soft scoff of laughter.

“The one about how lips should be stopped with lips.”

With a bold tug, her wrist was yanked sharply forward. Her balance tipped; her body lurched ahead. Their lips collided, and without giving her time to avoid him, his thick tongue pushed inside. It swiftly ensnared her startled, stiffened tongue and dragged along the inside of her cheek, slick and insistent.

The movement was persistent yet careful, and her mind grew hazy. The fist she had clenched tight gradually lost its strength.

It felt strange. Completely different from the brief kiss earlier—this one advanced on her from the start. But she didn’t want it to stop.

Sowon timidly clutched the hem of Kangjun’s T-shirt and awkwardly moved her tongue in return. The lewd sound of sticky saliva mixing pierced clearly through the sound of pouring rain and burrowed into her ears.

When she exhaled a heated breath, the hand that had been firmly supporting her waist slowly slid upward. It threaded through her damp hair and drew her by the nape of her neck.

His rough fingers lightly stroked her flushed earlobe, and her breathing quickened. She didn’t know what to do with the unresolved heat building inside her. After merely writhing restlessly, Sowon finally wrapped her arms around his neck.