“Alright, cover up well with the blanket. Good night.”

Ki Yeon finished the affectionate phone call and put down his mobile on the bar table with a regretful expression.

As if on cue, a heavy voice filled with sarcasm was heard from the seat next to him.

“Where did you learn to say such creepy things? I heard you’ve been investing in romance movies lately, did you see it there?”

Romance movies.

What used to be just a genre has now become his business, and he’s starting to understand a little. Why people cry and fuss so much about love, whether to live or die.

What’s so precious that they get so anxious, jealous, and happy about.

To Ki Yeon, Yoo In was exactly that kind of existence. Like the protagonist of some romance, she appeared one day, turned his life upside down, tore it apart, and left him completely helpless.

“If Chairman Seo wants to be loved by his fiancée, he should learn well.”

Ki Yeon threw a not-so-subtle piece of advice at his friend sitting next to him, who was also the owner of the bar they were in.

In response, a man who looked as if he had just stepped out of a sophisticated, antique medieval-style frame laughed leisurely and retorted.

“No matter what, isn’t an 8-year age gap too much? You said she’s still a student.”

The ice in Ki Yeon’s on-the-rocks glass had already melted, losing its shape.

The amber liquid sloshed around, paler than its original color, but the large hand lifted it without hesitation and drank it straight.

“Is age the problem? What matters is that I’ve fallen for her.”

“Fallen for? Who, Do Ki Yeon? For a mere college girl?”

“What’s with that reaction? Am I not allowed to fall for someone?”

“It’s not something I’d expect to hear from a selfish loner like you.”

Ki Yeon gave a crooked smile to the man who called him a loner, then ordered new ice from a passing bartender.

As he stared at the liquid swirling with newly added ice, Ki Yeon spoke.

“That’s why I’m even more certain that I can’t let her go. I feel like there won’t be another woman who can shake me up like this again.”

“…You’ve really lost it, haven’t you?”

Eun Han clicked his tongue with an interested expression and clinked his glass against Ki Yeon’s, asking,

“I heard you did something unnecessary at that restaurant in Nonhyeon-dong recently.”

Ki Yeon put a cigarette in his mouth instead of drinking. Click- The Zippo lighter flared, and white smoke spread from his mouth.

“The unnecessary thing was done by that bastard.”

“I heard you publicly humiliated him, that rookie actor.”

Ki Yeon lazily rubbed his forehead with his thumb, as if bored.

“Are there still people in this field who don’t know that I despise entertainment lobbying and anything similar? Well, I could have let it slide out of pity for his pathetic attempts to get in my good graces. As Chairman Seo said, I did publicly stomp on him.”

His lazy black eyes suddenly turned fierce. His cold, sneering lips murmured coolly, “How dare he.”

“But he saw her with me and mistook Yoo In for someone being sponsored. That pissed me off so much that I kicked him out of the drama. Told them to reshoot all his scenes. My secretary had a hard time because of it.”

“What could I do?” Ki Yeon grinned mischievously as he inhaled deeply on his cigarette and exhaled, his cheeks hollowing.

Eun Han shook his head and openly mocked him.

“No matter how young the woman you’re dating is, you shouldn’t become childish too. Act your age, Director Do.”

“What does this have to do with age? I absolutely can’t stand seeing her get hurt. From now on, I’m only going to take her to places where people won’t notice us.”

“Huh. Are you really the Do Ki Yeon I know? This is creepy.”

Despite his old friend’s harsh criticism, Ki Yeon laughed leisurely as he inhaled smoke.

“I can’t control myself well in front of her. But when she looks up at me coyly, I feel like I could endure anything. I think, ‘Can’t I do just this much for her?’ Then when I turn around and she’s out of sight, I get anxious and jealous. Even I think I might be a bit crazy.”

“Right. Not just a bit, you’re completely crazy. That interrogation about her daily schedule earlier was really psychotic.”

The man who looked like a prince straight out of a fairy tale spoke roughly as he snatched one of Ki Yeon’s cigarettes.

Was it that bad in a third person’s eyes?

Even so, as long as one person was okay with it, Ki Yeon didn’t care. And that one person probably wouldn’t have any objections.

She had answered all his questions obediently and clearly. His smooth lips curved into a deep smile.

“Lately, I’ve been thinking. If I could, I’d like to tell her not to do anything without me. Not to meet anyone else and only think of me.”

“…Director Do. Don’t ever say things like that in front of that girl. She’ll run away crying because it’s scary. Especially to such a young girl.”

“She can’t run away. She can’t.”

“Why? Have you already put shackles on her? Why can’t she leave?”

Ki Yeon, who was carelessly tapping ash into the damp ashtray amidst the billowing smoke, smiled with his eyes narrowing sensitively.

“Because she likes me too.”

Eun Han, who was bringing his share of whiskey to his lips with cigarette-holding fingers, frowned with a dumbfounded expression.

“Even the interrogation that Chairman Seo called psychotic, she accepts without any fuss. She’s already completely mine, tailored just for me.”

“Sigh… So how long are you going to keep talking about that girl? It’s getting harder and harder to listen.”

“Is it hard? Then why don’t you talk about Chairman Seo’s fiancée?”

Eun Han’s straight brow furrowed completely. For him, the existence of his fiancée was like an Achilles’ heel, and just mentioning her could ruin his mood.

Knowing this, Ki Yeon’s bringing it up was pure mischief. Ki Yeon grinned and pulled out his next weapon.

“See, you don’t like it. Or should we talk about work?”

In private meetings with Seo Eun Han, the second son of the domestic conglomerate SJ and CEO of SJ Hotel, who became friends with Ki Yeon during their study abroad days and developed into a business partner, they never discuss work. That was the rule between them.

So bringing this up meant that he wanted Eun Han to listen to what he was saying without objection.

Realizing Ki Yeon’s arrogant intention, Eun Han exhaled a cloud of ash-colored smoke and said irritably.

“Does that girl know you have such a terrible personality?”

“Well. She might not know about my personality, but she knows all the rumors about me.”

“Isn’t that something everyone in our country knows? If you don’t know, you should give up being a Korean citizen.”

“Don’t exaggerate. I’m already annoyed because of that.”

“That’s why I told you to take care of it earlier.”

Ki Yeon, who had stubbed out his cigarette when it couldn’t get any shorter, irritably put another cigarette in his mouth and lit it.

“How could I have known it would become such a hindrance? When I heard that girl mention sponsorship or whatever. Really.”

Recalling that memory again, Ki Yeon cursed as he drained half of his whiskey glass.

Watching him blow out smoke repeatedly, unable to hide his anger even with the liquid that went down his throat causing a burning sensation, Eun Han smiled faintly.

“Start from now. So that your young lover doesn’t get hurt.”

“That sounds good.”

“What does?”

“My lover.”

Eun Han’s eyes looked at him like he was completely insane.

“Stop it, you crazy bastard! I’m sick of it!”

“What does it matter to Chairman Seo who’s not my lover? As long as Nam Yoo In is okay with it.”

Ki Yeon, smiling very satisfactorily, looked like a top predator in the food chain who had found something he liked and made it kneel before him.

Under the soft lighting, in his no-tie, black shirt attire, he looked like a dangerous, sinister, soft but cruel carnivore with aggressive tendencies.

Eun Han was about to ask Ki Yeon if he knew what kind of face he was making right now, but he closed his mouth.

He also swallowed the advice to keep hiding his ferocious possessiveness well so that his young lover wouldn’t run away scared.

Since he wasn’t in a position to interfere with anyone’s love life, he said nothing.

Eun Han, hiding bitterness on his beautiful face, casually threw out to Ki Yeon who was drinking alone.

“When are you bringing her to the hotel? Let me see her face once. Wasn’t she actress Nam Yoo Jin’s sister?”

“That’s right. A sister who doesn’t resemble her at all. What will you do if I bring her to the hotel?”

“Treat her to something delicious, of course. And if you want, I’ll give you a suite too.”

At the mention of a suite, Ki Yeon’s eyebrows twitched and he smiled.

“For free, of course?”

“Yeah. For one day.”

“One day? Just that?”

“Then how many days and nights do you want to be holed up there?”

“No. I was planning to use it whenever I needed.”

“Where do you spend all the money you earn, Ki Yeon? I’m not digging up money from the ground either, so be grateful for even one day.”

“What chaebol’s son digs up money from the ground to do business? Are you drunk, old man?”

Ki Yeon blew out the last puff of smoke and stubbed out the white stick. Then, as if something occurred to him, he chuckled and opened his mouth.

“Come to think of it, I’ve never smoked in front of her. She probably doesn’t even know I’m a smoker.”

“…So what?”

“That’s how much I like her.”

“…Please go tell that to her, for God’s sake. Don’t do this to me.”

Eun Han made a truly pained expression, as if he had reached his limit.

Ki Yeon’s sincerity, mixed half with a playful desire to torment Eun Han and half with genuine feelings for Nam Yoo In, rolled around on the bar table where they were sitting.

Ha ha. Ki Yeon, who was laughing brightly, narrowed his slender eyes and drove in the final nail.

“At this rate, I might book a wedding hall before Chairman Seo. I might do first what you couldn’t do in 10 years.”

“10 years or whatever. Cut it out. She’s only 23 now.”

“So what? Can’t 23-year-olds get married?”

“Ha, geez… Do you think marriage is child’s play? And would she even do it with you? Stop drinking your own Kool-Aid and come to your senses. It’s unsightly.”

The two men’s trivial chat seemed like it would never end, but it finally concluded in the deep hours of the dawn.

Ki Yeon managed to coax and persuade Eun Han into promising him permanent access to a suite.

The man, who showed such thoroughness as to even record it in case Eun Han might back out later, was already excited just thinking about the day he might be able to use this privilege he had acquired tonight.

The sedan speeding through the deep dawn drove without hindrance, and Ki Yeon, sitting in the back seat, opened the window to feel the crisp dawn breeze.

“…Hah, Nam Yoo In.”

He chews her name carefully in his mouth. Why does even the pronunciation of that name seem to give off a sweet scent?

A sweet fragrance that easily overpowers the strong whiskey scent rises and flows along the mucous membrane of his tongue. A peach-like, red and sweet scent torments his sense of smell.

“Huh.”

Ki Yeon, who had tilted his head back against the seat, swallowed a hollow laugh.

Just as Eun Han had said, he really looked like a completely crazy person. Does this make any sense? Talking about scents and whatnot just from saying a name once. Is this normal?

Now he’s even starting to scare himself. Because he feels like he’s really gone mad. Like he might cause some kind of accident because of Nam Yoo In.

What is he supposed to do when he’s already like this before they’ve even properly started?

“…”

No, it’s not that they haven’t started. Ki Yeon’s heart had been captured from the moment he first saw that small, white body crouched in the corridor, drunk.

He and Yoo In had such misaligned starting points. His heart had already raced far ahead, even mentioning marriage that may or may not come, while Yoo In hadn’t even decided whether to start or not.

Along with the rising alcohol, the man’s uncontrolled inner feelings stirred up unnecessary irritation.

When is she coming? How long should I wait? Can’t she come already? Will she even come?

Getting angry, then irritated, even trying to dislike her a little.

One man’s dawn, concluding with ‘I miss you’, deepened just like that.