STVWK | Ch 03

Episode 3

“Ugh…”
My head hurts. My stomach’s queasy. My mouth is dry. Every breath smells like alcohol and the world’s wobbling. My body feels heavy, like I’ve got muscle pain everywhere.

Rania pressed a throbbing forehead and slowly forced her eyelids open. A man was standing right in front of her.

Yes — a man. …A man?!

“…!”
Why is a man next to me? Her eyes and mouth both widened.

He was a stranger. Rania wasn’t great with faces, but this one was unmistakable — he was jaw-droppingly handsome. She had high standards for beauty, and even she thought, Wow, that’s insanely good-looking.

For a few minutes, hungover and dazed, Rania just stared at his face. She tried to remember last night—but this time, unlike before, her memory was patchy. Instead of a clear replay, things were foggy and missing.

As she frowned and tried to piece it together, one scene came back in shocking clarity: herself pouncing on this man — savage, like an animal, tearing his shirt off. She saw it like lightning.

“What did I even do…?”
She swallowed and broke into a cold sweat. Her lips trembled and her lashes fluttered.

Rania liked drinking and partying, but she’d never been this smashed. When she got drunk, she always quietly slipped out and went home — never caused trouble. But this time, she’d crossed a huge line.

“This is insane…”
She scolded herself silently. If she was sad, she should’ve stayed home. Why did she go out and cause trouble?

Drunk people get impulsive and lose judgment, and Rania felt shocked at how stupid she’d been.

She groaned inwardly, eyes half-closed, thinking: should I wait till he wakes up, or sneak out like nothing happened?

As she listened to his soft breathing, she suddenly remembered him moaning, “Stop it already…” and made her decision.

Run.

Rania decided to quietly leave and act like nothing had happened. Sure, she’d been a little rough, but he was a grown, tall, muscular man — if he’d really wanted to stop her, he would have. So she reasoned it was fine.

She calmly moved his arm aside. Weirdly, he was almost naked, but she herself was fully dressed. What happened last night? She couldn’t get it all back even if she tried — and the more she dug, the worse her headache got. So she chose to forget it.

She slid out of his embrace and climbed down from the bed without taking a breath. The bed was solid and didn’t creak at all. The room itself was fancier than a normal tavern room — too nice for that.

What caught her eye most, though, was the carpet littered with empty liquor bottles. Wow.
Rania stopped for a second, forgetting to leave. The labels were all top-shelf brands — some were the kind sold only to palaces or noble houses. She had no memory of drinking any of that, so the man must have downed it all himself. She licked her lips at the thought — even hungover, she couldn’t help it.

Shaking off the distraction, she crept to the door — but froze at the handle. If she stepped out, she’d definitely run into Andel, the kind tavern owner who helped her last night. She couldn’t face him sober.

Her eyes slid to the window. Two floors up, but not too high — she could jump. Maybe I should go out that way… It felt rude to leave without even a thank-you, but the thought of an awkward confrontation made her neck tense. If the man woke up and they had to talk, that would be even worse.

Rania found her wallet and tied it to the doorknob — it was fairly thick, enough to cover last night’s drinks and the room. She remembered fragments of the owner and the man talking in a friendly way, though she couldn’t recall the words.

Convinced the man wouldn’t just drink and run, she tiptoed to the window. Everything was clean and well-maintained — even the railing looked dust-free. She eased it open carefully.

The building was high, but Rania wasn’t afraid of heights. She was relieved the room faced the alley. Taking a last, embarrassed apology for making the owner worry, she stepped onto the sill and jumped down lightly.

At the same time, Andel was in the tavern downstairs, wiping glasses with a dry rag and worrying. Is that girl okay? He wondered. She was young, and he didn’t even know her name or who she was.

Enoch, who’d taken her to the room last night, hadn’t come down until late. When Andel went upstairs, he heard laughter and thought they were happily drinking the fancy bottles from the cabinet. It was confusing and a little worrying.

Soon, faint moans came from the room — and it turned out they were embarrassing moans. Enoch was begging, “Stop already…” Hearing that, Andel’s worry shifted: he wasn’t afraid the girl had been mistreated — he worried she might get stuck on a creep like Enoch. The girl was about the same age as Andel’s late daughter, and that made him extra protective.

Andel, who usually notices every sound around his tavern, didn’t realize Rania had escaped through the window.

Enoch came down looking like a scruff, clutching the wallet Rania left behind. He asked bluntly, “Andel. When did she leave?”

“Huh? When? Wasn’t she with the Master?” Andel answered.

“Oh, of course. The window was open, so I guessed she bolted out that way. Looks like she left the money for the drinks.” Enoch frowned and tossed the wallet at Andel.

Andel caught the wallet and was stunned. Did a normal woman really jump out of a second-floor window? Even Enoch hadn’t noticed. The thought made him shiver.

Enoch muttered, half-amused, “So that’s it. Drank and abandoned, huh?” He meant the expensive booze — she’d gulped it and run off, leaving cash. A few coins wouldn’t cover what she drank.

Andel could only laugh awkwardly, not sure how to react. But one thing was clear: she’d made a terrible choice. If she’d at least politely said goodbye, Enoch might’ve lost interest. Instead, she’d run off without them knowing, leaving her wallet behind — that odd mix of decency and cowardice seemed to spark Enoch’s curiosity more.

“That girl suddenly stripped because the drink spilled, you know?” Enoch chuckled to himself and called out, “Andel. You know what orders I’ll give, right?”

“…Yes. I’ll find out everything and report back within half a day.” Andel sighed inwardly at Enoch’s mood — he never could tell whether Enoch was pleased or annoyed.

Why did she run…?

Andel watched Enoch with a complicated mix of feelings and quietly let out a long breath.