CHAPTER 1
The day her four-year relationship came to an end, Hye-joo truly wanted to ruin herself.
And she meant that literally—she wanted to ruin herself physically.
She had always prided herself on living according to her convictions, staying steady without being swayed by the people around her.
Yet what did that bastard Kang Young-moo even mean to her?
‘I told you about that senior, remember.’
‘…….’
‘I love him. I think our love will be complete only if you support us.’
‘Oppa…….’
Hye-joo’s voice trembled as she called out to Young-moo, but he continued speaking coldly without showing the slightest concern.
‘Let’s stop this pathetic relationship. Yuri says she can give me everything. Her father is Assemblyman Ki Woon-hoo. He says he can even set up an art museum for me if I want and send us abroad to study together. Your parents can’t do things like that for us, can they?’
‘…….’
‘What did your parents do again? A fruit shop, a hair salon? What could those old folks who do things like that possibly do for us? Right, Hye-joo?’
‘…….’
‘I want you to bless us. You’re understanding, aren’t you? You’re the kind of girl who says it’s okay even when I don’t contact you for half a month.’
Young-moo’s words still echoed vividly in Hye-joo’s mind.
Rubbing her chest as though it felt stifling, Hye-joo let out a deep sigh.
White breath scattered around her lips.
“Yeah, what’s the point of living so diligently like this? It was a relationship that was worth less than something shallow. I was just the only one who didn’t know……”
After downing an entire bottle of soju in one go, Hye-joo found herself standing in front of a noisy club in Gangnam that was famous for drawing huge crowds.
Amid the drunken people laughing and talking noisily with their groups, Hye-joo alone stood there motionless in front of the club.
She had thought it would take her a long time to gather the courage.
But then the image of her ex-boyfriend, Kang Young-moo, smiling as he tightly held that woman’s hand came to mind.
Hye-joo squeezed her eyes shut once before opening them, then strode straight into the club.
But contrary to the determination she had made, her body refused to move the way she wanted it to.
“In movies and dramas, they’re always good at grabbing some stranger of the opposite sex, kissing them, and hugging them.”
Standing a little away from the stage, Hye-joo muttered to herself.
Anxiety and bewilderment were clearly visible in her eyes.
Hye-joo moved over near the bar and kept ordering drinks.
Each time an empty glass was placed in front of her, Hye-joo’s eyes grew increasingly hazy.
Perhaps the alcohol had given her courage, because Hye-joo narrowed her brows and carefully looked around before suddenly raising her head.
Her eyes met those of a man leaning against the railing of the second-floor VIP lounge, looking down below.
From a distance, she could only make out his silhouette, but even so, his figure had perfectly defined curves.
As if possessed by something, Hye-joo made her way to the staircase leading to the second floor.
However, a guard blocking her path stopped her.
“……?”
But not long afterward, the man whose eyes had met hers earlier casually raised a hand toward the guard.
Hye-joo stared blankly at the guard, who stepped aside as though nothing had happened, then staggered up the rest of the stairs.
Let’s ruin myself.
Let’s give him everything except my heart.
As Hye-joo thought that, the silhouette of the man gradually drew closer.
‘……He’s handsome.’
The man standing in front of Hye-joo was far too impressive to be someone she ruined herself with in a fit of anger.
A solid physique, broad shoulders, and firm, thick contours visible beneath his shirt.
The man simply looked down at Hye-joo without saying a word.
Hye-joo merely tilted her head back as far as she could and blinked with her eyes half-closed from intoxication.
“……!”
And then, it happened in an instant.
Hye-joo abruptly rose onto her tiptoes, wrapped her arms around the back of the man’s neck, and kissed him.
The man, whom she had expected to push her away, instead wrapped an arm around her waist.
Rather, he lowered his head slightly and delved deeper into her.
In that moment, the roles were reversed.
As they pushed and pulled against each other, Hye-joo kissed the man while sweeping through the club hallway with him.
Hye-joo’s foot caught on a step below, and her body swayed dangerously.
Without hesitation, the man scooped Hye-joo into his arms.
Holding her with practiced ease, the man continued kissing her as he slowly descended the stairs.
She could hear neither the gazes of the people around them nor the loud music.
For Hye-joo, the only thing she could hear was the man’s breathing.
The kiss at that moment was rough yet sweet, and sweet yet fragrant and soft.
While she was kissing him so frantically that she failed to notice everyone’s eyes were focused on them, a cold breeze suddenly struck Hye-joo’s back.
When she opened her closed eyes, she realized she was in the man’s arms, still kissing him as they were walking out through the back door of the club.
‘W-wait…… where are we going right now?’
Soon, Hye-joo’s back touched something again.
She slightly pulled her lips away and, still clinging to the back of the man’s neck, shifted her gaze.
A brightly colored sports car was parked there.
Perhaps it was because of the alcohol.
She did not even feel like refusing.
The man naturally opened the car door and put Hye-joo in the passenger seat.
After giving her a light kiss, the man climbed into the driver’s seat.
At that moment, Hye-joo stopped him by raising her hand.
“Is it okay to drive after drinking? That’s a criminal offense……”
“I didn’t drink.”
The man’s low, heavy voice, perfectly suited to his face, rang in Hye-joo’s ears.
Wow, he has a nice voice.
Thinking that, Hye-joo stared blankly at the man before asking again.
“What?”
“I didn’t have even a single sip.”
“Ah……”
“…….”
Hye-joo looked at the man with an awkward expression before trying to turn her gaze away, but the man stared straight at her.
As their gazes became entangled, Hye-joo swallowed nervously.
“Why? Wh-what is it?”
Under the man’s blatant gaze, Hye-joo asked back because she suddenly felt as though her face was heating up.
The man gave a crooked smile and spoke in a low voice.
“You’re worried about that, but you’re okay with having a one-night stand?”
At the man’s teasing tone, Hye-joo nervously darted her eyes around.
She felt as though she was suddenly sobering up.
Hye-joo suddenly grabbed the man’s hand as it moved toward the steering wheel.
“I think you should drink some alcohol.”
“I don’t have a hobby of doing things on impulse after drinking.”
The man had a point.
She shouldn’t do something on impulse after drinking.
It was true that she shouldn’t, but……
What should she do?
Even so, Hye-joo did not want to explain her circumstances to this man in detail.
“What if you’re a strange person? I mean, there are all sorts of scary rumors going around……”
“Are you scared now?”
The man leaned slightly toward Hye-joo and shrugged.
At the same time, his long, outstretched arm reached across the passenger seat.
The passenger-side door opened as the man’s arm moved.
“If you’ve changed your mind, get out.”
“……What?”
“Get out now, if you want.”
“I’ll do it.”
“I’ll do it.”
Clenching both fists tightly, Hye-joo nodded as though she had made up her mind.
This time, the man closed the open car door and leaned his body heavily toward Hye-joo.
At a distance close enough for their noses to touch, the man spoke.
“You’re not being sold off somewhere, so why are you going this far to sleep with someone whose identity you don’t even know?”
“……I just want to ruin myself a little today. You know how everyone has days like that.”
“I’m too impressive a partner for you to ruin yourself with.”
At the man’s overflowing confidence, Hye-joo furrowed her brows deeply and lifted her chin defiantly.
As she raised her head, her lips overlapped with the man’s once more.
Despite the soft sensation, Hye-joo stared at the man with her eyes opened as wide as possible.
“I’m not exactly someone who loses out anywhere either.”
“No, and why are you speaking casually to me?”
“You speak casually to me too.”
“Fine.”
“Fine!”
After that conversation, the man’s car left the club and began heading somewhere.
“What’s your name?”
At Hye-joo’s question, the man, who was looking straight ahead, let out a quiet chuckle.
“It’s not information you need to know for a one-night stand.”
Ah, that was true too.
She had decided to completely ruin herself for the night, yet the question had slipped out because something about it still bothered her.
Hye-joo awkwardly nodded.
The man’s eyes curved into crescents as his gaze fell on her.
“Why?”
“…….”
“What is it? I’m not ashamed of anything. I’m not a strange person!”
“I never said you were strange.”
“I’m Kwon Hyo-joo.”
Since there was no chance they would ever meet again anyway, she gave him a name that sounded roughly similar to her own.
The man simply nodded without answering.
Hye-joo stuck her head slightly out of the open window, taking the freezing wind directly against the tip of her nose.
‘What am I really doing? Is this really okay?’
That thought lasted only a moment.
Instead of sobering her up as she had expected, the longer she exposed herself to the cold wind, the more intensely the alcohol seemed to hit her.
It was because she had downed several shots of high-proof liquor right before kissing the man.
Screeech.
At that moment, the man’s car came to a stop in front of a five-star hotel that looked like something she had only ever seen in blog reviews.
“…….”
An employee standing outside opened the car door and politely greeted both the man and Hye-joo.
The man handed the employee his smart key with a familiar ease.
Hye-joo was right on the verge of completely losing consciousness.
Growing a little bolder, Hye-joo wrapped her arms around the man first.
Without pushing her away, the man wrapped an arm around her waist and entered the hotel with her.
‘Why is he so natural about this? Has he had this many one-night stands before……?’
The man accepted a key card as naturally as though he had been coming to the hotel for years.
Then he walked back to Hye-joo and placed a hand around her waist.
Up until then, Hye-joo had felt as though she might suddenly come to her senses, but the moment they stepped into the VIP-only elevator, everything scattered like an afterimage.
The man carefully positioned Hye-joo against the wall and kissed her.
His hot, wet tongue intertwined with hers.
