“……So, was the date enjoyable?”

Caught off guard by Kyle’s provocative question, Se Hee felt as if she had been suddenly thrown from the warm spring sunlight into the midst of a cold snap.

Was it my imagination?

Is it just my imagination that he seems almost jealous, speaking formally as if he were being serious?

Se Hee couldn’t answer right away.

Although she couldn’t know his true intentions in asking, the unexpected question gave rise to a sudden feeling of anticipation.

She gazed intently into Kyle’s deep eyes, which were fixed on her as if waiting for an answer.

She wanted to know a little more about this man’s feelings.

Whether her thoughts were correct.

“……Date…… you say?”

Se Hee asked back with a guileless expression.

Kyle regretted Se Hee’s response.

He had only been a little curious about the man he had encountered in front of the restaurant.

No, he admits he had been very curious.

But there was no need to confirm it so directly like this.

The question had slipped out before he knew it.

Strangely, when he was with this woman, his reason seemed to become paralyzed.

Kyle’s brow furrowed immediately.

“If not, then I apologize for the presumption.”

The words he spoke again were not to his liking either.

But he couldn’t very well ask who exactly that man was.

“Ah, that person?”

Belatedly catching on to his arrogant tone returning to normal, Se Hee replied glibly as if she had just understood.

That person.

Se Hee immediately caught Kyle’s eyebrow twitching at those words.

“That person?”

As expected, Kyle reacted by repeating Se Hee’s words.

“Did you see us going to the restaurant together? I didn’t see you, Mr. Graham. If I had, I would have said hello. How disappointing.”

Se Hee was getting a little excited.

Although Kyle’s expression changed so subtly that it would be hard to notice without careful observation, Se Hee could see it all clearly.

The novel experience of seeing this man, as solid as an Arctic glacier, reacting moment by moment to her words was making Se Hee feel light and fluffy.

“Rather than a date, it was just, you know, that kind of thing?”

Se Hee watched Kyle’s expression as she tried the tactic of trailing off vaguely, enough to amplify his curiosity.

Now, it’s time to take the bait.

Se Hee struggled to hide the victorious smile that was about to burst forth.

“I’d prefer you not play word games.”

But it was Kyle’s counterattack that not only cut Se Hee’s fishing line, but snapped her fishing rod as well.

The cold gaze and low tone completely blew away the victorious smile Se Hee had hidden.

Kyle’s expression settled into coldness.

He had almost fallen for it again.

This woman was utterly unpredictable.

A woman who was hard to anticipate which way she would go, and thus stimulated his nerves even more.

“Ah, I understand. It wasn’t a date. There was something I helped him with, so he treated me to dinner.”

Se Hee declared her surrender and told the truth.

He really was not an easy man to deal with.

But it had been fun for a moment.

So this is what it feels like to be on edge.

Se Hee stared blankly at Kyle, not realizing her lips were curved upwards.

“What’s with that expression?”

He asked, seeming uncomfortable.

“Huh? It’s nothing.”

Se Hee quickly turned her head and directed her gaze toward the painting.

“I’m asking this out of concern, but you’re not upset that you couldn’t have dinner with me, are you? I’m just asking out of curiosity.”

Se Hee said playfully, slyly glancing at Kyle’s expression from the corner of her eye.

“Is this how you propose a date?”

Kyle asked with a look that said she didn’t have a chance.

“Ah, no. Not at all. So don’t worry. Ah… Should we maintain a safe distance here too?”

Se Hee quickly moved a few steps away from Kyle’s side.

She was taken aback by Kyle’s sudden counterattack.

“You seem to be misunderstanding something, but a date… is something you do with someone whose feelings match yours and who you can have fun with. If you do it with someone like a frozen person, how chilly and cold would it be……”

It was words blurted out in an attempt to hide her flustered state.

Se Hee belatedly covered her mouth, but there was no way to take back the words that had already escaped into the world.

This time, I think I crossed the line a little, no, a lot?

“Fro.zen.per.son?”

As Se Hee had expected, his brow furrowed properly.

“You’ve never even been on a date with me… yet you make such an assessment?”

His gaze, clearly displeased, flew sharply towards Se Hee.

“No… I mean. Just looking at you, Mr. Graham…?”

Se Hee quietly closed her mouth, thinking that if she uttered the words ‘you look like a workaholic’, her head might fly off under that fierce gaze.

“…That’s right.”

“I believe I said I don’t like word games.”

Kyle’s expression, which had been looking at Se Hee with displeasure, began to change to a savage light in an instant.

Kyle’s voice became even lower than before.

“You’re looking at me like you’re going to eat me up, I can’t say anything more even if a knife were at my throat.”

This, this isn’t right.

Se Hee could feel in her skin that the more she moved her mouth, the bigger the situation was getting.

“I should clear up this misunderstanding.”

“Pardon?”

“A date with me. I’ll let you experience it directly right now.”

“A, a date? With me? R-right now?”

Se Hee’s eyes widened at Kyle’s unexpected proposal.

“Why? Do you lack the confidence to handle it after all?”

Kyle looked down at Se Hee with an arrogant expression.

“……Handle what, it’s just one date. Anytime. I’m in!”

“Is that so? I like that attitude.”

Kyle naturally extended his hand as if to escort her.

After hesitating for a moment, Se Hee placed her hand on top of his.

The warmth transmitted from his hand, which exuded a chilly aura, was warm again today.

Moreover, Se Hee couldn’t help but feel tense at the strange sensation conveyed through that hand.

“The date hasn’t even started yet, are you already trembling?”

Kyle’s low voice reached Se Hee’s ear.

Se Hee, startled, visibly flinched even her shoulders, which Kyle clearly saw.

“Tr-trembling? Who’s trembling? I’m an adult, and I have a lot of dating experience, you know?”

Se Hee answered rather boldly.

“I hadn’t thought that far, but you want an adult date then?”

Kyle said teasingly and chuckled.

“No, I mean… You seem to have misunderstood something. That’s not what I meant.”

“Shall we go somewhere close by?”

Kyle led the way, lightly ignoring Se Hee’s words.

“No… Excuse me. That…”

A smile played on Kyle’s face, as if amused by Se Hee’s dumbfounded appearance.

* * *

Kyle stopped walking after not too long.

It was in front of François, the restaurant where Se Hee had had dinner.

“It’s closed now because it’s late. If you don’t even know such basic things, how can you talk about dating?”

Se Hee chided Kyle in a sullen voice.

“Is that so?”

Kyle rang the doorbell.

Then, a waiter came out from inside.

The waiter, upon seeing Kyle, politely asked them to wait a moment before hurrying back inside.

Not long after, he came out again with an elderly gentleman who appeared to be the general manager.

“I’ll show you to the private room.”

The elderly gentleman immediately guided them inside, even though Kyle hadn’t said anything more.

Private room?

Se Hee followed the guidance and moved along with Kyle.

She had been curious about the elegant marble staircase in the center of the hall, and it seemed that staircase led to the private rooms.

As they climbed the stairs, three large doors came into view.

The general manager, who guided them to the middle door among the three adorned with luxurious embossed patterns, opened the door and stepped back with courtesy.

Kyle also stopped and turned around, as if telling Se Hee to enter first.

Se Hee, who carefully stepped inside, was left speechless.

Through the floor-to-ceiling glass windows, the Mediterranean Sea was visible as if it were right there.

It created the illusion of being right in the middle of the sea.

The soft lighting spreading from outside naturally illuminated the dark outdoor scenery, but the interior was not visible from the outside.

Moreover, the sofa and table, which looked like they could have been used by an emperor in the Middle Ages, further elevated the prestige of the place.

“Why don’t you sit comfortably?”

Unlike Kyle who sat down naturally, Se Hee, for whom such a place was a first, was careful even in sitting down.

“Ah… Yes. I was momentarily stunned because it’s such an amazing place. As expected of a shipping company operated by the Evans Group. It’s the best.”

Se Hee sat down with a bright smile.

Although it was clearly praise for the Evans Group, Kyle didn’t quite like that praise.

Did he want praise for himself for bringing her to a place like this?

How did it end up coming here again?

Kyle sighed softly.

He couldn’t understand why he was being swayed like this.

“It’s late, so shall we have a light drink?”

“Yes… I’ll have a cockt… No… I’ll have what I usually drink.”

The image of Jung Yeon smiling and saying she didn’t like weak alcohol when Se Hee mentioned attending a cocktail party remained in her mind.

Jung Yeon saying that looked like a sophisticated and haughty woman.

Se Hee wanted to look like that kind of woman on this date too.

“What you usually drink?”

Kyle asked curiously.

“Yes. I like cold vodka. Straight up. About six glasses is enough to get me pleasantly drunk.”

Se Hee said boastfully.

This should be enough to look haughty, right?

In fact, she had never even drunk six glasses before.

“That’s unexpected.”

Kyle tilted his head slightly.

Of course it’s unexpected.

I might be able to handle up to two glasses somehow.

Se Hee clenched her fists tightly.

“There’s no need to be so combative on a date.”

The corners of Kyle’s mouth turned up slightly.

“Combative? I’m plenty comfortable.”

Se Hee forced a smile.

Kyle rang the bell, and the general manager came in.

He only ordered vodka.

“The, the same thing? You said you’d have something light. You don’t seem to know, but vodka isn’t a light drink.”

A fleeting sense of unease crossed Se Hee’s face.

“Well, it has its own charm with its clean taste.”

Kyle said calmly.

Did I get myself into trouble here?

For a moment, Se Hee felt a chill.

A bottle of vodka, preciously contained in a golden ice bucket, was prepared along with various appetizers including caviar.

“Well then, it’s Korean style to empty the first glass cleanly, right?”

Se Hee raised the glass she had filled.

“……To our first date.”

Saying the toast, she poured the contents of the glass into her mouth.

“It has quite a high alcohol content, you should drink it slowly.”

“40 degrees or so is nothing. It’s fine.”

The alcohol content of vodka that Se Hee knew was 40 degrees.

Of course, for Se Hee who was weak with alcohol, it was fatal.

“It’s a bit higher than that.”

“Well, whether it’s 40 degrees or 50 degrees, there’s not much difference.”

Se Hee answered Kyle, who was speaking casually, as if it didn’t matter.

“What if it’s higher?”

Kyle spoke again as if playing a guessing game.

“Just how high is it?”

Se Hee raised her voice as if telling him to stop joking and just say it.

“70 degrees?”

At Kyle’s words, Se Hee’s expression froze instantly.

No wonder she felt like her mouth, all the way down to her esophagus, was burning up the moment she swallowed it.

“That’s, that’s good. Well, whether it’s 40 degrees or 70 degrees. Let’s have another glass.”

Se Hee dangerously filled her glass again.

“It should be quite different though?”

Kyle still held up his glass that remained full.

“A man being so timid.”

Se Hee picked up her glass, lightly toasted, and once again poured the alcohol into her mouth.

The second glass was like experiencing hell.

It felt like she might breathe fire if she opened her mouth now.

Kyle filled a glass with ice water and placed it in front of Se Hee.

“No. I’ll pass.”

But Se Hee flatly refused.

“I said let’s go on a date. I didn’t say let’s play a game of who can drink faster.”

“……Right?”

“You’re drunk.”

Kyle’s brow moved at Se Hee’s voice, which had quickly become slurred.

“I’m not drunk.”

But even Se Hee herself could tell that her pronunciation was becoming seriously slurred.

Se Hee’s face turning red, her eyes cutely scrunching up.

Even her slender fingers trembling.

Kyle was watching all of it intently with gentle eyes.

“I feel really good though. Look at that pitch-black, endless night sea. Isn’t it amazing? I’m in the Mediterranean right now.”

Se Hee’s voice trembled as she spoke as if moved.

“I thought I’d never get beyond the Han River in my lifetime. The Mediterranean, can you believe it.”

As if her throat was closing up, Se Hee lowered her head with a pained expression.

“Whew… Cha Hyo Jun… Thanks to you, I’m experiencing a trip like this.”

Soon, dewdrops fell from Se Hee’s eyes.

“Oh no… Haa. I’m, I’m sorry. I guess I really am drunk. I’m sorry. I’m not usually like this.”

Se Hee hurriedly wiped away her tears.

Se Hee slowly raised her head and looked for Kyle.

But he wasn’t visible in front of her.

Huh, he was definitely sitting across from me just now.

Moreover, it was dark all around, as if darkness had fallen.

Dizzy… Her head was spinning.

Se Hee collapsed right there.

* * *

Kyle quickly stood up and safely cradled Se Hee’s falling head.

“Really, this is just…”

Even while grumbling at this unbelievable situation, Kyle moved to the seat next to her so that Se Hee could comfortably lean on his shoulder.

The current situation was a reversal among reversals.

No woman had ever mentioned another man in front of Kyle Graham Evans.

There had never been a woman who actually got drunk and collapsed, even if they pretended to be drunk to seduce him.

Kyle was in the midst of experiencing various new situations because of Se Hee.

For a moment, unable to bear the weight, Se Hee’s head fell limply and slid close to Kyle’s neck.

Her steady breathing stimulated Kyle’s ear.

Soon, the sweet scent of Florent mixed with the sharp alcoholic fumes rose up Kyle’s nose.

At that terribly stimulating sensation, Kyle unconsciously clenched his fist tightly.

For some time now, he felt as if he could hear the sound of his own severely pounding heartbeat in his ears.

As if sensing this, Lee Se Hee’s small head burrowed a little closer into Kyle’s embrace.

The moment Se Hee’s hot breath was fully transmitted to Kyle’s Adam’s apple,

Her moistly settled lips sensitively stimulated Kyle.

Where Se Hee’s lips touched felt as if it were burned by fire.