“Because there’s no connection between you and me, senior.”

“Connection?”

“I believe people should associate with those who match them.”

At my answer, Yeo Hae-jeong tilted his head with a vaguely puzzled expression. It’s strange, isn’t it? For a moment, his face looked blurry. I rubbed my eyes with my hands and barely managed to maintain my balance. Yeo Hae-jeong continued speaking without any particular reaction to my condition.

“I see. You’re a very realistic type.”

“……”

“Have dreams, Yeo Eun-ah.”

What is he saying? Is this person drunk?

Anyway, I had said all I needed to say. I threw the now-shortened cigarette against the wall to extinguish it. Watching the spark burst like a flame, I suddenly felt dizzy. I suspected that last drink had been too much.

“…I’ll be going now. Enjoy your smoke.”

I felt like I might make a mistake if I stayed any longer. Just as I was about to quickly leave the alley, the ground beneath my feet felt strangely soft. The wall I was leaning on felt the same way. I staggered like someone walking on marshmallows.

Only then did I realize. The alcohol was hitting me belatedly. Behind my floundering steps, I heard the sound of footsteps approaching.

“Leaving?”

“Ah… just a moment. Ugh.”

My body slid down the wall. I collapsed to the ground like a deflated balloon.

The world spun. I leaned my back against the cold wall and tried to keep my increasingly heavy eyelids open. The starless night spread across my field of vision.

“Yeo Eun-ah, want to come to my place?”

I raised my thousand-pound hands to rub my sticky eyes. After my vision went black and came back to life several times, Yeo Hae-jeong’s face overlapped with the dark sky.

“Let’s go to my place. I’ll give you anything you want to eat, anything you want to have.”

He seemed to be mumbling something, but I couldn’t hear a word. Maybe it was because I was overworked, or because I had drunk alcohol when I wasn’t used to it, but sleepiness was pouring over me like crazy.

“Just answer me. Okay?”

“……Okay.”

“Did you just say ‘okay,’ Yeo Eun-ah?”

My hand, which had been rubbing my eyes, fell limply to the ground. This isn’t good, this isn’t good… I stepped on the ground with my dirt-covered sneakers. But my feet slipped with every step.

“…How am I going to take this dusty thing home?”

He seemed to have muttered something, but I couldn’t possibly stay alert with the wave of sleepiness washing over me.

“I’m dizzy, ah… ugh.”

“Dizzy? Hold on a little longer.”

The smell of alcohol resonated with every breath I took. Yeo Hae-jeong responded with an indifferent face.

“You keep trying to stay conscious, that’s why it’s worse.”

“Hnngh, ugh…”

Yeo Hae-jeong stared at me like I was a bug as I struggled desperately to stay conscious. What is it, what’s going on, really…? I kept trying to get up in my confused state. The toe of my slipping sneaker bumped right into his foot.

Finally, all the strength in my body drained away, and my limbs went limp. Blink, blink—my eyes began to close weakly. Yeo Hae-jeong looked at me and whispered quietly.

“…You’re quite tough.”

It’s hard, I’m dizzy, it’s heavy. It was too much. I let Yeo Hae-jeong’s words go in one ear and out the other, then closed my eyes. A darkness deeper than night shut off my consciousness.

* * *

And that’s how I found myself in this situation when I opened my eyes again. My memories were spotty and blurry. I clutched my throbbing head and tried to properly recall my conversation with Yeo Hae-jeong, but I couldn’t remember a single thing.

Then suddenly, I realized I wasn’t wearing any underwear. Just a single white t-shirt draped over me. Oh, sh*t…… I looked at Yeo Hae-jeong standing calmly in front of me and struggled to speak.

“Senior, did we sleep together?”

Yeo Hae-jeong’s eyes widened at my abrupt question.

“What?”

“I’m asking if we slept together. Otherwise, why would I be in this state……”

No matter how I thought about it, unless I spent the night with him while drunk, there was no reason for me to be like this. Somehow my lower body felt sore too. I raised my gaze with an uncomfortable expression, and Yeo Hae-jeong looked down at me with disbelief.

“…You really don’t remember anything.”

For a moment, a faint sadness appeared on his face. He fidgeted with his eyebrow, looking somehow wounded. Did he really do something with me?

“That’s sad, you’ve completely forgotten.”

Yeo Hae-jeong’s lips drooped as if he might cry at any moment. Seeing that tender and beautiful face made me feel like the worst scum on earth. I hastily opened my mouth with a bewildered expression.

“…I probably made a mistake because I was drunk.”

I didn’t know what had happened. But my guess was that I’d had a one-night stand with Yeo Hae-jeong. And passionately enough to involve being tied up. I must have been out of my mind.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”

I apologized first. Whether he was sincere or not wasn’t my concern, but since something regrettable had happened, an apology seemed appropriate. How could my memory be so completely erased? I pressed my thighs together, feeling a stinging sensation between them, and struggled to stand up.

“…I’m really sorry. But I’d appreciate if we could pretend this never happened.”

“Never happened?”

“It seems like both of us were drunk……”

What kind of s*x did we have? What did we do that made my lower body throb and ache like this? And what about my tied hands? I staggered to my feet and stood in front of Yeo Hae-jeong. With his back to the window, he now looked quite cold and chilly, unlike before.

Wasn’t he smiling just a moment ago? Unable to read the completely changed atmosphere, I chattered away.

“Actually, before that, could you untie this……”

“I don’t want to.”

“…What?”

Did I hear wrong? I tilted my head and smiled awkwardly. What’s with this guy……

“I told you it was a mistake. And I need you to untie the rope so I can go home.”

I wriggled my bound hands. No matter how much I twisted them, they showed no signs of coming loose—he had tied them so tightly. My fingertips were going numb. As I focused on freeing my wrists, regardless of Yeo Hae-jeong’s presence, a dark shadow fell across my face.

With one step, Yeo Hae-jeong moved closer. Just as I was about to step back from the shortened distance, he raised his smooth finger and flicked my forehead. My wobbling body instantly fell flat onto the bed.

“What are you doing……”

“You didn’t make a mistake, Yeo Eun-ah.”

“……”

“I made the mistake. It’s my fault for letting you walk around with such big br*asts on display.”

My ears suddenly buzzed. Did I hear wrong? What did this senior just say?

“Actually, I wasn’t planning to bring you here today.”

“What, what are you……”

“But your t*ts were just too big. They kept bouncing in front of my eyes, so what could I do?”

T*ts, bouncing. These shocking words pierced my ears. I shook my head vigorously, wondering if I was still drunk. But Yeo Hae-jeong continued to babble, as if to remind me this wasn’t a dream.

“All those guys there were probably thinking the same thing.”

“…Senior, are you still drunk?”

“Me? I’ve been sober for ages.”

Yeo Hae-jeong shrugged as if to say ‘what are you talking about?’

“Then drugs……”

“I don’t do drugs either. That stuff scares me.”

He’s saying these things while sober, without drugs or alcohol? In his right mind? I looked him up and down as if he were insane. To be honest, Yeo Hae-jeong in his thin loungewear with his hair neatly down looked much more rational and sane than I did right now. I straightened my disheveled appearance and struggled to speak.

“Then why, why are you doing this to me……”

“I like you, Yeo Eun-ah.”