After meeting Ha-neul again for the first time in ten years, Ho-su's heart pounded harder than ever. More than when he started a new company, more than when the game he released became a massive hit, more than when his name was mentioned in the business papers, he felt alive.
When he discovered her at a casting site for advertising models, Ho-su decided to keep Ha-neul by his side. Even if her feelings weren't directed toward him, he wanted to be with her. No matter what means or methods it took, he wanted to hold on to her.
His desire seemed to have swallowed him whole. But somewhere in his heart, a thing called conscience still remained.
On the day he returned from meeting her a few days ago, he regretted his words in the car. Again and again.
'Wasn't that kind of relationship what you wanted? Then why that night?'
After parking the car, he leaned his head against the steering wheel and stayed that way for a long time.
He couldn't forget the look on her face when she asked if he'd thought of her as an easy woman. All he'd been thinking about was keeping her by any means necessary. So he'd thought that if she wanted it, he could accept even a casual relationship with her. But now he wondered if that had been a misunderstanding.
In his life, where he could have anything he wanted, the one thing he had never been able to possess was Ha-neul.
“Senior.”
It was Ha-neul's voice that brought Ho-su back from his deep thoughts.
“I've been thinking.” “Yeah.” “I'll just be honest. That kind of proposal… it really wasn't pleasant.”
Ha-neul didn't have the courage to meet Ho-su's gaze as he looked at her. She lowered her head and continued.
“I guess I made a mistake.” “But I was still curious. Why would you make that kind of proposal to me? Why couldn't I reject you right then and there?” “Can't you think of it as proof of how desperate I am?” “…” “Think of it as me wanting to keep you by my side so badly that I even made ridiculous excuses to you.”
Ha-neul squeezed her eyes shut as she listened to Ho-su.
'It's a lie.' 'It's all a lie.' 'Don't fall for it.'
Everything he was saying sounded like a lie to her. If what Ho-su was saying was true, if he really was desperate, how could he have told her they should just have a little fun?
But this time, too, she couldn't coldly cut him off.
“Give me just a little more time.” “Okay. But I hope you decide soon.”
A little while later, Ho-su brought a wineglass, a bottle of wine, and a plate with several kinds of cheese to the living room table.
“I brought one that isn't too strong. Try it. It'll be fine.” “…Okay.”
Ho-su quietly watched Ha-neul as she lifted the wineglass to drink.
She was the woman who made him act like a madman. The woman who made him realize just how strong his possessiveness could be. The woman who had captured his heart when even a little of his innocence remained—and whom he'd hated just as much for it.
“It's good.” “Really? That's a relief.” “It's kind of interesting because it's different from what I usually drink.” “Hm?”
Ha-neul set down her wineglass and looked at him.
“What kind of person do you remember me as, Senior?” “Why are you asking that all of a sudden?” “The twenty-year-old Cha Ha-neul who couldn't drink even a little hard liquor, right?” “I suppose.”
Ho-su gave a small nod at her words.
“It was ten years ago. I've changed a lot over that long a time.” “Have you?” “Yes. You're not the only one who's changed, Senior. I'm not a twenty-year-old kid anymore, either.”
Ha-neul finished the remaining wine in one gulp, then said to Ho-su,
“This is too light, though. Do you have any whiskey?”
Ho-su took a bottle of whiskey from the display cabinet and glanced toward the sofa. Ha-neul reached for a piece of cheese, popped it into her mouth, and chewed.
He'd never imagined she'd ask for whiskey. He'd even less imagined that he'd take out the thirty-year-old whiskey he'd once received as a gift for Ha-neul.
He cleared away the wine and wineglass, replacing them with the whiskey bottle and Glencairn glasses.
“Are you sure?” “Of course.”
Ha-neul smiled at Ho-su's worried gaze, her eyes curving into gentle arcs. Then, as if she were used to it, she picked up the bottle and filled the glass in front of her.
“When you live alone, there are times when you can't sleep properly. Whenever that happens, I just have a drink.”
Ha-neul sounded as though she were telling the truth. There was nothing awkward about the way she lifted the glass to drink. She looked so accustomed to it, as if she'd always done it.
But to Ho-su, she looked quite dangerous. What had happened during all the time he'd known nothing about?
Ho-su had to leave for about an hour after receiving an urgent call from the company and handling a work-related conversation. How much had she drunk in that time?
“Drink slowly.” “Stop worrying.”
Ha-neul reached out and placed a finger against Ho-su's lips.
“Wait, when did you drink this much? Half the bottle…”
Ho-su picked up the bottle to check and clicked his tongue. No matter how strong she was with alcohol, no one could drink that much and not get drunk.
“You're drunk. Stop drinking.” “I'm not? I'm not drunk at all.”
It was obvious. She was drunk.
Ho-su pressed his fingers firmly against his temples. Ha-neul hadn't done anything wrong, but that didn't mean watching her drunk was particularly enjoyable.
“Stop drinking and sober up before you leave. You're going to have an accident at this rate.” “You want me to leave? Why? And what kind of accident?”
Ha-neul opened her eyes wide as she looked at Ho-su. From her expression, it might have seemed like she was asking with genuine innocence, but there was nothing innocent about this situation.
“Why do you think? Aren't you going home?” “Why did you invite me here today, then? Huh? Don't tell me…”
Suddenly, Ha-neul crossed her arms in an X over her chest, covering herself.
“Seriously, what are you talking about?” “Why do you keep looking at me like that? Why?” “What kind of look did I give you?” “Like! Like you were looking me up and down.” “Ha…”
Even drunk, Cha Ha-neul remembered things like that remarkably well.
“At least I'm not going to touch you tonight, so just stay quiet and leave later. You can sleep here if you get tired. Or do you want to sleep in the bed?” “The bed? What are you planning to do in the bed? Huh? Huh!”
When he decided this clearly wasn't going to work, Ho-su approached Ha-neul, swept her up into his arms, and carried her toward the bedroom. Then he laid her on the bed and pulled the blanket up to her neck.
He was straightening up when her hand shot out from under the blanket and caught his collar.
Ha-neul pulled. Not hard, but he let himself be pulled, bracing one hand on the mattress beside her head. Their faces were suddenly a breath apart. Her cheeks were flushed from the whiskey, her eyes glassy and stubborn, and the oak-sweet scent of the liquor lingered on her lips.
“Senior,” she whispered. “Why do you smell like grass?”
“…What?”
“Every time. Ten years ago, too.” Her fingers loosened on his collar and slid up, clumsy, until her fingertips brushed the edge of his jaw. “It isn’t fair.”
Ho-su went very still. Her thumb grazed his lower lip, and his breath caught audibly. For one long second, everything in him leaned toward her.
Then he closed his hand gently around her wrist and drew it away from his face.
“Not like this,” he said, his voice rough. “Not when you won’t remember it tomorrow.”
“I’ll remember.”
“You won’t.” He laid her hand back on the blanket and smoothed it flat, as if putting something precious away. “And when it happens, I want you to remember every second.”
“Get some sleep. You'll sober up a little after you wake up.” “I don't want to sleep.” “You still need to sleep. You're really drunk right now.” “I'm not. I… I'm not dru—”
Ha-neul had drunk far beyond her limit and fell asleep in Ho-su's bed before she could finish her sentence. After confirming that she was asleep, Ho-su returned to the living room.
After cleaning up the table, Ho-su leaned back against the sofa and sank into thought for a while.
Too many things had happened lately.
He'd met Ha-neul, and she'd come looking for him again of her own accord. And his mother had been pressuring him to get engaged.
On top of that, the company was scheduled to announce its new game soon.
Any one of those things would have been enough to make his head explode, but suddenly, everything had happened at once.
Still, avoiding everything wouldn't solve a thing. He had to resolve each matter with his own hands, one by one.
The most urgent issue was his mother's pressure to get engaged.
While he was having dinner with Ha-neul, he received a text. He checked it after putting Ha-neul to bed and saw that it was from his mother.
─ The fact that you're the heir to Sewon Construction isn't going to change. The engagement will proceed as scheduled. Keep that in mind.
At this rate, he would end up engaged against his will within a few months. That couldn't happen. He had to stop it somehow.
“What should I do?”
Ho-su rested his head against the sofa and closed his eyes.
“If only Dad were here with me at a time like this.”
'…Could he have stopped Mom?'
But Ho-su soon shook his head as if to deny the thought.
When Ho-su was about ten, his father, Kang Jun-hyuk, left home with nothing but a suitcase. Ever since, he had been running a small café in Jeju-do.
He'd resented his father deeply when he was young, but now he could understand his father's feelings to some extent.
Jun-hyuk was too weak a man to embrace Min-hee, who had the mindset of a cold-blooded businesswoman. In the end, he was allowed to leave the house in Pyeongchang-dong on the condition that they would not divorce. And the reason they didn't divorce wasn't because the two of them planned to get back together, but because Min-hee had firmly declared that there would be no divorce in her life.
Min-hee was a perfectionist. She tolerated not even the slightest flaw in anything she did. One of the reasons she was pushing through her son's engagement was to add another line to her perfect life.
“If this keeps up…”
He might get engaged regardless of his own wishes.
“Words aren't enough. I need decisive action…”
At that moment, something came to Ho-su's mind, and he rose from the sofa and entered the bedroom. Then he approached Ha-neul, lying on his bed, and brushed back the hair that had fallen over her forehead.
“I'll prove that I never thought of you as something casual. If you don't want something light, then let's make this serious. You and me.”