Young In barely lifted her heavy eyelids, as if a stone had been placed on them.

With her head feeling foggy and her whole body languid, as her blurry vision cleared, an unfamiliar ceiling came into view.

‘Where am I?’

Her questioning eyes slowly scanned the room. And found the answer.

‘Why am I here……’

After desperately gathering the fragments of memory floating around, she began to vaguely recall yesterday’s events.

Just as the memory of Cha Sung Hyuk sitting in the driver’s seat after leaving the room with Hae Yoon’s support flashed through her mind, a familiar voice pierced her ears.

“Are you awake?”

It was a voice that indicated this was not an unfamiliar space, but one she had not visited in a long time.

Young In’s memory went back 3 years.

Cha Sung Hyuk, who had always been energetic without showing any signs of fatigue, even after pushing her all night until she didn’t have the strength to move a finger.

“Since you don’t exercise at all, I’m giving you a workout.”

His irritatingly brazen words echoed in her ears.

Young In, who had unconsciously been lost in old memories, sat up abruptly as she faced reality.

No way!

Her widened eyes frantically looked down.

The moment she confirmed she wasn’t naked, the tension drained from her shoulders that had been nervously hunched.

“What are you doing.”

Just as she was feeling relieved that at least the worst situation had been avoided, Young In shrank back to avoid Sung Hyuk approaching the bed.

As her back touched the headboard, he sat on the edge of the bed. The fresh forest scent that suited Cha Sung Hyuk so well rushed into her nostrils.

“Why? Afraid I might have done something to you while you were unconscious?”

“……”

The words ‘You might have’ tickled her throat, but Young In couldn’t bring herself to say them out loud. If there was a problem, it was that her thoughts were plainly visible on her face.

Sung Hyuk’s brow furrowed.

“What do you take me for.”

“……”

The person who had tried to wrongly accuse him, while knowing better than anyone that Cha Sung Hyuk wasn’t that kind of despicable man, lowered her eyes slightly as if in reflection.

“I’m not trash enough to touch a drunk woman. Unless you wanted it.”

Young In’s eyes flashed angrily at his added comment as she retorted.

“As if I would want that.”

“You never know about people. Don’t be so sure.”

Do we have to argue again?

Young In, feeling tired at the mere thought, let out a deep sigh and lowered her gaze, only to realize that Sung Hyuk wasn’t wearing a top right now. Her gaze that had been resting on his firm chest quickly fell away.

“…Why don’t you put on some clothes?”

She belatedly felt embarrassed for having looked so nonchalantly at such a familiar sight. Now that she was aware, she suddenly didn’t know where to look.

“I just got out of the shower and came to check if you were awake.”

As he was about to stand up obediently after explaining it wasn’t intentional, Sung Hyuk noticed Young In’s eyes fixed on the water bottle in his hand. He smiled slightly and opened the cap, holding it out to her.

“Drink.”

Young In didn’t refuse. Or rather, she couldn’t.

How could she not drink water offered even by her mortal enemy when she was suffering from such thirst, her lips parched and her throat burning?

Soon the bedroom was filled with the sound of gulping water.

When her head, which had been tilted far back, returned to its original position, about two-thirds of the water was gone.

Sung Hyuk tore his gaze away from her long, pale neck that seemed about to melt. The impure heat flickering in his eyes also quickly disappeared.

He took the water bottle from Young In’s hand and poured the remaining water into his own mouth.

Finishing the food Young In had left was something all too familiar to him. It wasn’t because he was easygoing, nor because he didn’t want to waste it.

If someone had given him leftovers to eat, he would have considered it an insult, but strangely, he voluntarily reached for what Young In had left behind. In this world, the only saliva besides his own that wasn’t dirty was Young In’s.

Thanks to Sung Hyuk changing the atmosphere at an appropriate moment, Young In forgot what conversation they had been having. And also that he was still shirtless.

Now that her throat was moistened and she felt a bit better, all sorts of questions came to mind at once.

“Senior, why am I here? I was definitely with Hae Yoon……”

“I told Hae Yoon I would take you. You agreed too.”

Sung Hyuk immediately corrected himself.

“To be precise, it wasn’t agreement, you chose me.”

Young In’s eyes widened.

“I did?”

“When Hae Yoon asked who you wanted to go with, you clearly said my name with your own mouth.”

“……”

Young In furrowed her brow and tried to recall. But nothing particular came to mind.

“If you don’t believe me, ask Hae Yoon directly.”

She had no intention of asking. Because she didn’t think it was a lie.

However, the fact that she had chosen Cha Sung Hyuk in an unconscious state was quite disconcerting. It rendered meaningless her attempts to deceive even herself that her wavering towards him was just lingering attachment to a relationship she had to ruthlessly cut off.

Confronting her own feelings that she had desperately tried to ignore wasn’t very pleasant. She felt as if she had exposed her true face not only to him but also to herself.

“By the way, where did you see me?”

Her face twitched as she tried to act nonchalant.

“The lounge bar.”

“Why were you there?”

“I had plans with a friend.”

“You had plans but still asked to have dinner together yesterday?”

“I moved today’s plans to yesterday because I was bored after getting rejected by you.”

Young In let out a disbelieving laugh.

“You tell me on the same day and then make me out to be heartless?”

“Alright. I’ll tell you in advance next time.”

Sung Hyuk added with a smile.

“Let’s have dinner tomorrow.”

Young In slightly rolled her eyes at him for not missing an opportunity, and changed the subject.

“Was that lounge bar the original meeting place?”

“No, somewhere else. I heard it was a hot spot, so I wanted to check it out and changed the meeting place.”

“Liar.”

“Yeah, it’s a lie.”

He calmly admitted it and then confessed honestly.

“I was worried about that Ji Seung Chan or whatever his name is. I was afraid he might do something to you.”

“Why do you care what that bastard does or doesn’t do to me?”

“Why ask when you know why.”

“……”

At a loss for words, Young In bit her lip.

It wasn’t that she didn’t know the reason for asking. She just meant for him not to care. But he went a step further.

“Don’t play drinking games at gatherings from now on.”

“I didn’t want to play. The atmosphere was such that I couldn’t be the only one not participating.”

There was also the fact that she felt reassured because Hae Yoon was there, and the fact that she got drunk quickly from drinking penalty shots in succession, leaving her no time to do anything about it. Though it wouldn’t happen again like yesterday, she couldn’t help feeling somewhat wronged.

“If you absolutely have to, call me. I’ll be your white knight.”

“……”

Young In couldn’t help imagining him appearing as a white knight. The thought of everyone’s shock made her laugh.

“If you won’t call me, from now on only drink with me.”

“I quit. I won’t drink anymore.”

“……”

Sung Hyuk held back from saying there was no need to quit completely. Along with the desire to keep seeing Chae Young In with her guard down.

“By the way, why did you bring me here? Someone who knows where my house is.”

“If I had taken you home, wouldn’t your family have thought it strange? I don’t mind, but I thought you wouldn’t like it, so I brought you to my place. Did I do wrong?”

Though she couldn’t think of anything stranger than waking up in an ex-boyfriend’s bed after drinking heavily, the thought of her elder sister going ballistic made her not want to blame him for bringing her here.

“Coming to your place is fine. But this house has a guest room, doesn’t it?”

“Why would I put you in the guest room? You’re not a guest to me.”

“If I’m not a guest, then what am I? An acquaintance since we know each other?”

“You’re not a guest or an acquaintance. We’re much closer than that.”

“We were once close, that’s all. Not anymore.”

Young In firmly stated it was the past, not the present. Though she said it to him, it was also meant for herself.

It was because she knew that if she didn’t stop him now as he was closing the distance at a speed too fast to get her bearings, it would become increasingly difficult.

Not knowing it was useless for him who had already awakened.

“Right, not now.”

Cha Sung Hyuk was a man who knew how to take one step back to take two steps forward. Of course, this applied only to Chae Young In.

Strictly speaking, Young In hadn’t said anything wrong. Past and present were correct, she just hadn’t mentioned the future. ‘Soon to be close again’ would have been accurate.

“Let’s call it even since you didn’t treat me like the homeowner either.”

Young In eagerly took the bait Sung Hyuk had casually thrown to change the subject.

“What did I do?”

“You were calling the homeowner’s name casually, saying ‘hey, you’.”

Young In’s eyes widened in surprise.

“I did?”

It was already the second time today she was saying this.

“Who else but you? You don’t remember at all?”

“……”

Her shifting pupils suddenly stopped moving. It was because she vaguely recalled herself speaking informally to him.

Sung Hyuk, who had been closely observing Young In’s expression, curled up the corner of his mouth.

“Looks like you remembered.”

“No. I don’t remember anything.”

Young In feigned innocence. If she had known she would be countered, she wouldn’t have done it.

“Then I guess you don’t remember confessing your love to me either?”

Young In’s eyes nearly popped out of her head.

“When did I ever!”

“I thought you didn’t remember anything, why are you so flustered? It could have happened.”

“It couldn’t have!”

She believed it to be so. It had to be so.

“Then did I do it?”

“……”

Young In quietly closed her mouth, lacking the energy to deal with him becoming even more brazen.

Sung Hyuk got up from his seat, smiling.

“Wash up and come out.”

Young In retorted primly.

“I can wash up when I get home.”

“Then just come out and have some hangover soup. I ordered bean sprout soup that you like.”

“……”

Young In silently watched the man who remembered even such things turn around and leave the bedroom, then got off the bed.