“Because it’s just parting with you without doing anything.”

Even Hee Won couldn’t understand why she was saying such things to a man she had just met for the first time.

It was simply that he was the first man to make her heart flutter, to empathize with her sadness that no one else had acknowledged, and to gently wipe away her tears, even if there was no real feeling behind it.

“I’m confident I won’t regret this one night.”

As the bartender handed her the cocktail, Hee Won looked at the man and downed it in one gulp.

The man chuckled as if in disbelief.

Hee Won felt like she had truly fallen for the man.

The man also looked at Hee Won and drank the martini he was given in one go.

“Let’s go.”

The man extended his hand to Hee Won.

As soon as they entered the hotel, without anyone taking the lead, they kissed each other.

While still kissing, the man lifted Hee Won up and supported her buttocks. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her body closer to avoid falling.

The clothes they were wearing fell to the floor one by one.

Soon, Hee Won felt the soft touch of the bed behind her back.

The man, who she thought would be rough and cold, was as gentle as if he were with a woman he loved.

He held her carefully as if handling fragile glass and kissed her softly.

If she showed even the slightest sign of pain, he would startle and ask countless times if she was alright.

Hee Won thought once again how fortunate it was that it was this man.

The man, who had thrown off his dress shirt, dominated above her.

His well-muscled, toned body glistened in the soft moonlight coming through the floor-to-ceiling windows.

Hee Won reached out and stroked the man’s chest. At that, the man flinched his left eye.

Somehow, that sight gave her a feeling of pleasure.

But that was only for a moment as the man, as if in retaliation, began to explore every inch of Hee Won’s body.

She couldn’t come to her senses. Finally, she closed her eyes and surrendered her body to the pleasure he was giving.

It was the moment when the large hands that had been gripping her snow-white thighs moved downward.

“…Could it be your first time?”

At the sound of his voice, Hee Won opened her eyes and looked at the man.

Probably surprised by the fact that it was her first time, the man’s eyes were wavering.

Hee Won hoped it wouldn’t stop here.

She wanted to tell him that she chose him because it was her first time, but it felt like too much emotion for a one-night stand.

She ended up answering by wrapping her arms around his neck instead.

“Am I really okay for you?”

The man said, carefully cradling Hee Won’s head as she clung to him.

“Yes. It’s okay… because it’s you.”

Hee Won uttered the words that had only been lingering in her mouth. The man’s eyes flickered widely at her words.

It was just as she was about to open her mouth again, worried that it might have been burdensome.

“Then I’m glad.”

The man said, gently caressing her cheek. His touch made her feel strange.

Even though they weren’t in love, even though they had just met today, his actions were like those of a lover.

So she thought once again. That she wouldn’t regret this night.

Even though it was something she herself couldn’t believe, it felt like it would be okay if it was this person.

“I’ll try not to hurt you.”

The man whispered in Hee Won’s ear.

“Tell me if it hurts.”

His voice was so sweet that Hee Won nodded instead of answering and closed her eyes.

* * *

The next morning.

The bright sunlight coming through the floor-to-ceiling windows woke her up.

As she opened her eyes, she saw an unfamiliar ceiling.

“Haa.”

As she sat up, her body felt as heavy as a water-logged sponge. At the same time, pain swept over her as if her entire body had been beaten. Her lower body ached so much that she was afraid to move.

“Are you satisfied now?”

She asked herself.

The answer was the same as yesterday and today.

Once in a lifetime, but no regrets.

Hee Won looked down at the sleeping man’s face. The man who had acted like a beast until dawn now looked like a boy as if nothing had happened.

She reached out and lightly lifted his bangs.

“He’s handsome. I guess I liked faces like this.”

Hee Won carefully examined the man’s features that filled his small face – long eyelashes visible through his naturally falling bangs, a high nose bridge, clear skin without a single blemish.

She had thought she wasn’t particularly interested in men, but that wasn’t true. She just hadn’t met a man who suited her taste.

Moreover, his embrace was warm. When she nestled into his firm chest with well-maintained muscles, it felt comfortable even though he was a man she had just met.

The man, while maintaining his manners, was like a beast, and even when acting like a beast, he became gentle.

It was the first time, letting herself go like that.

It would be the last time.

Surrendering her body solely to her own desires.

Because it was just a one-night escapade.

Once she left this room, Hee Won had to live like a doll as before.

She had to live until she died, accepting it as a fate she couldn’t escape even if she wanted to.

“What kind of man is he?”

Hee Won’s gaze fell on his belongings scattered on the floor. A high-end brand wallet and clothes, everything the man wore was luxury.

She felt curious about the man. Thinking that this would be the last time she saw him made her feel regretful.

“You’re stupid, Seong Hee Won. What a foolish thought.”

But this relationship had to end the moment they left this hotel.

Hee Won shook her head vigorously to shake off the lingering feelings in her heart.

“Thank you.”

It’s over now. Everything now.

The joy and happiness that were just a midsummer night’s dream now had to be let go from her hands.

Hee Won, who had slipped out of bed without waking the man, picked up the clothes strewn on the floor and put them on.

After dressing, she walked over to his sleeping side.

Hee Won pulled out a sheet of hotel memo paper.

After writing the memo, she took out her wallet from her bag and placed all the cash inside on top of the memo.

-Thank you for last night. We’ll probably never see each other again… but I hope you’ll be happy.

“This is the only way I can express my feelings. I hope you don’t misunderstand.”

Hee Won bowed her head towards the sleeping man, then carefully slipped out of the dark hotel.

Somehow, her heart ached.

But she had to erase it all.

Because once she left this place, she had to live like a doll as before.

Until then, she couldn’t even imagine.

That this wouldn’t be her first and last meeting with the man.

[This is the timeline separator]

The man woke up after Hee Won had left.

“Ah, did I fall asleep?”

The first thing the man did when he opened his eyes was to let out a sigh.

He, who had been suffering from insomnia and unable to sleep, hadn’t slept until morning like this since the day Lucas left.

“Seong Hee Won…”

Kang Woo softly called Hee Won’s name. He already knew the woman who had proposed a one-night stand to him.

He reached out and smoothed the blanket where Hee Won had been lying. The empty space beside him had already grown cold, but the image of her in his mind was hot.

[Do you want to sleep with me?]

He should have firmly rejected the clingy woman and turned away. He should have done so even more in preparation for when they would meet later.

[I don’t think I’ll regret it at all. Living like a doll like this is more frustrating. But it seems like I won’t be able to do anything I want in the future. It’s my life, and I just wanted to do what I wanted at least once.]

But he wavered at the words the woman uttered. An unfamiliar emotion swept through his heart like a typhoon. Empathy and sympathy.

At that moment, that’s why he couldn’t pass her by.

[I feel like I definitely won’t regret spending the night with you.]

It was the first time he had felt such emotions looking at someone.

When the woman’s hand boldly touched his cheek, the hesitation rippling in Kang Woo’s heart disappeared.

Her clear face hidden behind heavy makeup, the woman’s smile scattered like an afterimage.

[Alright.]

It was unlike him.

It was the first time he had acted on impulse.

But it was already after his lips had touched the woman’s lips to regret it.

He told her she might regret it, but it seemed like he would be the one to regret it.

And his prediction was right.

He couldn’t get Hee Won’s image out of his mind.

“Haa, I’ve gone crazy.”

He got up, ruffling his hair. He walked to the window and flung open the curtains wide. His broad shoulders and firm muscles glistened in the bright sunlight that poured through the floor-to-ceiling windows.

Cha Kang Woo.

He was the man mentioned as the next successor of LS Group, ranked first in Korea’s business world. As much as he drew public attention, vicious rumors followed him.

He’s an ugly cripple.

He never sleeps with the same woman twice, he’s obsessed with women.

His sexual preferences are strange.

But he wasn’t bothered at all. The rumors were spread by his own hand, after all.

But while rumors were rampant, he had never actually slept with a woman.

The woman before his eyes had declared that their night together would be just one night.

The man didn’t want to get married as arranged by his parents.

No, he wasn’t interested in the institution of marriage in the first place.

All women approached him for his background. Sometimes their means were sexual, sometimes it was power.

The more this happened, the more disgusted he became with marriage and felt aversion to the very existence of women.

But this time was different. This time, his father had set conditions that he couldn’t refuse.

[If you want another decorative piece for the household, do as you wish. If what you want is a wife, I’ll give up my position. But Father, don’t pretend later that you didn’t say what you just said to me now.]

The man already knew about Hee Won. And he thought Hee Won was the same as other women.

But when he actually saw her, cracks formed in his firm beliefs.

He had spread rumors because he didn’t want to get married, but when he saw that her wounds were so similar to his own, his heart wavered.

The moment he heard her say that there was nothing she could do, he felt a sense of kinship. Moreover, experiencing Hee Won in person, she was quite different from the women who had approached him so far. During their night together, he found himself strongly attracted to Hee Won without even realizing it.

That’s why. For the first time, he became interested in marriage.

“I can’t leave it like this. We’ll meet again soon.”

The man said, looking down at the Seoul cityscape.