She had to decide.

If she took this hand now, it would be the first time a man other than Lee Han entered Ba Ha’s life. Ba Ha, who had only looked at Lee Han as a man throughout her life, thought and thought again, and Tae Un watched her, waiting and waiting for her choice.

“……”

This level of waiting didn’t matter to Tae Un. He wanted Ba Ha to take his hand after considering it thoroughly. He knew this one night might be an impulse to forget him, but he hoped she wouldn’t regret it after taking this hand.

“Hoo……”

As Ba Ha took a deep breath solemnly and exhaled, Tae Un watched her, standing in front of her and silently waiting once again. Finally, as if she had finished making her choice, she looked into Tae Un’s eyes, and Tae Un once again extended his hand towards Ba Ha.

“I’ve… decided.”

As Ba Ha swallowed dryly and reached out her hand, Tae Un, as if he had been waiting, snatched Ba Ha’s slender wrist and pushed her against the wall, trapping her in his arms.

So she couldn’t escape.

“Why… are you looking at me like that? It’s embarrassing……”

Ba Ha turned her head away, avoiding eye contact with Tae Un who was staring intently at her trapped in his arms, feeling shy. Tae Un cupped Ba Ha’s face with his large hand to make eye contact with her.

“Because you’re pretty.”

Tae Un, now seemingly satisfied, smiled with one corner of his mouth raised and slowly moved his gaze from Ba Ha’s eyes to her lips.

As if warning that her lips were next.

“Close your eyes.”

Tae Un’s lips slowly approached and overlapped with Ba Ha’s, initiating a kiss that was careful yet affectionate. Between their slightly parted lips, their hot breaths intertwined, and the rising breath carried a strong and bitter whiskey scent.

“Haa……”

Tae Un separated his lips and opened his eyes to look at Ba Ha. Why did Ba Ha, looking at him with both cheeks flushed red, appear so beautiful? He brushed away Ba Ha’s fallen hair with his fingers.

“Don’t ever go somewhere and say such things to just anyone again.”

Although he felt sorry for Ba Ha trying to destroy herself to forget her sorrow, she was beautiful. He wished no one else knew about her flushed appearance.

If anyone else saw that appearance, it would be hard for anyone to keep their senses straight.

Just like himself now.

“What do you……”

Tae Un put his hand in Ba Ha’s hair as she spoke with furrowed brows, covering her mouth and tormenting her more roughly and persistently. When Ba Ha looked at him with slightly unfocused eyes, letting out excited breaths in response to Tae Un’s persistence, Tae Un flinched at her appearance.

Was all this because of the alcohol?

He didn’t want to end it like this.

He wanted to be entangled with Ba Ha even a little more.

Whatever it might be.

“What’s your name? Shouldn’t I at least know that much?”

“……Do you need to know? We’re not going to see each other again anyway.”

At Ba Ha’s words, saying they wouldn’t see each other again with a bitter smile, Tae Un felt inexplicable irritation and his insides twisted again. His face frowned at the clear line she was drawing.

“Not seeing each other again… Somehow I feel like we’ll meet again.”

“Even if Seoul is small, do you think we’ll really meet again?”

Not seeing each other again? If you don’t tell me, I’ll just find you. It wasn’t difficult to find you.

As long as you’re in my company, within my fence, we’ll keep seeing each other.

“This is the last time. Tell me now… if you want to stop.”

For a moment, Tae Un tried to let her go in a fit of emotion, but that resolve didn’t last long. Tae Un’s mouth spoke lies he didn’t mean, saying to stop even now, while his eyes looked at Ba Ha as if they would devour her.

It was as if reason and instinct were fighting to the death.

“If I was going to stop, I wouldn’t have started.”

She said, staring intently at Tae Un with round eyes. She just wanted him to push her to the point where no thoughts could enter her mind. Ba Ha was in pain as thoughts of Lee Han kept rising in the brief gaps. So she reached out to Tae Un again, grasping him.

“Ha…… You chose this.”

Tae Un picked up Ba Ha, who was clinging to him, and headed towards the bed.

Her slightly disheveled hair and slightly unfocused eyes made Tae Un flinch, and at his words seemingly full of excitement, Ba Ha covered her face with both hands, embarrassed as if she had forgotten her own provocation. Seeing her face suddenly turn red, Tae Un burst into a chuckle, finding her cute.

“Are you embarrassed now? Isn’t this too different from earlier?”

“……”

“Don’t cover up, look well.”

Only Tae Un’s low voice resonated throughout the room. Tae Un removed Ba Ha’s hands from her face as she covered it in embarrassment, unable to say anything, and gazed into her eyes for a while.

“Remember.”

“……”

“Who’s beside you now. Who’s holding you now. Don’t cover up, remember it all. Everything.”

Ba Ha found it hard to hide the bitterness that welled up behind her embarrassment towards Tae Un, who was looking at her with hot eyes.

Lee Han was no longer by her side.

Lee Han, who had always guarded the spot next to her, was gone, and Lee Han, who had always looked at her warmly and embraced her warmly, no longer embraced her.

The person holding her now was Tae Un, not Lee Han.

Ba Ha, confirming their separation once again at Tae Un’s words, gave him a faint smile, and sadness was visible in her eyes.

“Are you… really okay with this?”

Ba Ha asked Tae Un, who was looking at her with unwavering eyes.

Even as she kissed him, her mind was still chasing after Lee Han. Somehow, it felt like she shouldn’t continue like this. She felt sorry for Tae Un for doing this out of her own selfishness.

“If you want to stop too, tell me now. This is the last chance.”

Ba Ha’s eyes, now looking at Tae Un, were gradually becoming wet, and her slender body was trembling with sadness. Ba Ha turned her head and bit her lower lip. She was trying hard to hold back the surge of emotions.

“It doesn’t matter. I was the one who reached out.”

It didn’t matter.

Tae Un wanted to erase the existence of Lee Han from Ba Ha. He wanted to tell her that if he had forgotten her, she could forget him too. So he wanted to tell her that there was no need to be this sad because of the man who abandoned her.

As the excitement subsided for a moment, Tae Un’s eyes caught sight of the ring necklace around her neck through the gap in her thin blouse. As soon as he saw that sparkling ring, Tae Un gradually furrowed his brows.

“You don’t need this anymore now.”

Tae Un, bothered by the ring on the necklace that he could guess who had given it, put his hand on her nape and unfastened the necklace without any hesitation, dropping it beside the bed where she was lying.

“……”

The ring that had never been shown to others, never worn outside, fell from Ba Ha’s neck as soon as it was seen by someone other than Lee Han.

The ring fell to the floor with a sound as it rolled away, and now nothing remained for Ba Ha.

Neither the ring he had given, nor even the evidence of the feelings he had conveyed remained.

Tae Un gently intertwined his fingers with Ba Ha’s, holding her hand tightly, and kissed her lips again.

Was it because of Lee Han remaining in her heart that hurt?

Or was it because the warmth conveyed from Tae Un’s eyes as he looked at her felt comforting?

As she kissed Tae Un with her eyes closed, tears flowed down Ba Ha’s cheeks. After parting lips with Tae Un, Ba Ha softly sobbed, trying hard to hold back the crying that was about to burst out.

“Hic… ugh.”

Tae Un stroked Ba Ha’s head as she burst into tears, holding her in his arms. Perhaps to prevent what could have been the worst one-night stand, Tae Un comforted Ba Ha, holding her in his arms.

Tae Un didn’t want to add the emotion of guilt to Ba Ha’s sadness.

“You’re crying again. I wish you’d stop crying.”

“Hic… ugh. I’m sorry.”

He felt sorry for her.

From the moment he first saw her until now, as she was in his arms.

Why did she, always looking with wet eyes, keep haunting his mind?

Tae Un wanted to take away all of Ba Ha’s sadness. He wanted to erase the big shadow of Lee Han from her. If she could shake off that sadness in his arms, he wanted to hold Ba Ha tighter.

“It’s okay. Just cry.”

And so, Ba Ha used Tae Un to escape in a struggle to forget someone she had loved for a lifetime, and Tae Un embraced her, waiting for her delicate trembling to subside so she could cry in his arms.

“Hic……”

Ba Ha endlessly shed tears in the arms of a person she barely knew because his embrace was too warm.

Ba Ha endlessly shed tears because the words saying it was okay to just cry were too warm.

How much time had passed?

Ba Ha’s delicate trembling gradually began to subside, but Tae Un did not let her go from his arms until her trembling completely disappeared, soothing Ba Ha’s sadness.

“……”

When Tae Un confirmed that Ba Ha, who had been crying endlessly, had fallen asleep from exhaustion, a faint smile appeared on his face.

Surely, if I had mixed bodies with you as you intended, I would have only remained as regret to you.

I didn’t want that.

I didn’t want to become your regret.

He wiped away the traces of Ba Ha’s tears with his hand and brushed her disheveled hair with his fingers. Tae Un silently gazed at Ba Ha sleeping beside him, breathing softly, for a long time.

“Ha…… What am I doing? Sleep well.”