Chapter 1.2

Hae-soo firmly believed this situation was a dream. If it weren’t a dream, there was no way—absolutely no way—she could be entangled in the same bed with Baek In-wook. 

As if to prove it, Hae-soo wrapped her arms around In-wook’s neck and boldly raised a defiant gaze upward. 

“I’ll do it, then.” 

“Hey, Yoon Hae-soo.” 

“I’ll do it, regret.”

Hae-soo responded in a rather calm tone. The more she did so, the stiffer In-wook’s expression became, but she paid no attention to it. 

In a dream, at least, Hae-soo wanted to do as she pleased. No, to be honest, she wanted to have such a forbidden dream. 

In that way, she wanted to confront the storm of a lifetime that had recently swept through her life. 

“You know, right? I’m being cursed as the craziest woman of the century these days.” 

“What, because of the scandal with an idol member from your company?” 

At In-wook’s returning words, Hae-soo’s pupils trembled for a moment. 

She had read and reread the flood of articles and the vicious comments below them until tears of frustration welled up. 

The phrase ‘scandal with an idol member’ was something she had heard so often during calls with acquaintances after those articles came out that it practically rang in her ears. 

Yet, every time she had to face that incident, tears would well up, and an indescribable bitterness burned in her chest. 

How could it be otherwise? Not only did a scandal emerge with a man she had never even been interested in, but because of it, she became the target of nationwide hatred. 

“I clearly told you not to ignore my feelings, Noona. Why did you keep disregarding me and let things get to this point?” 

“Hey, are you done talking? So, you’re saying all of this is my fault?” 

“If you hadn’t ignored what I said, at least things wouldn’t have turned out like this.” 

“Wow, are you messing with me right now? I’m getting all kinds of insults and having my personal info exposed because of someone, and you’re saying this!” 

“That’s why I said we should date when I asked you out. If we had, this wouldn’t have happened!” 

“Hah, what kind of lunatic are you? Hey, just because you’re okay with it, does that mean everything’s fine? I don’t like you! I’m not even remotely interested in you!!” 

The person involved in the scandal was a member of a boy group for which Hae-soo had served as the art director. Hae-soo had known for a while that he showed more than appropriate interest in her, but she thought it was a fleeting emotion that would soon fade. 

After all, he often interacted with pretty and cute girls his age during his activities, and compared to them, Hae-soo was a much older woman. 

She firmly believed that if she pretended not to notice and ignored it appropriately, someone as ordinary as herself would soon be forgotten. But who would have thought she’d be blindsided like this? 

Even when she tried, albeit late, to persuade him to calm public opinion, it was futile. 

In the end, all Hae-soo gained was a million haters and the title of unemployed. 

“Your company, my foot. I’m not an employee there anymore.” 

“Why? Did you quit?”  

“Yeah. Though in reality, it’s pretty much the same as being fired.” 

It had been over a week since Hae-soo received a recommendation to resign and left the company, but she hadn’t told anyone about it. Not even her closest friend, In-ah, knew. 

To confess honestly felt like a blow to her pride, and she wasn’t confident she could handle In-ah, who would likely be even more furious than she was. Even if she was to talk about it, it seemed better to do so later, once she had regained some strength. 

That’s why she hadn’t told anyone. 

“But I guess I wanted to confide in someone.” 

“…….” 

“Even if it’s just a dream, it feels so relieving to say it out loud.” 

Hae-soo gave a bitter smile. Suddenly, a wave of sadness washed her. The surging emotions gathered as a heat in the corners of her eyes. 

It was a feeling she had experienced constantly over the past week, not so much out of hurt but out of frustration and anger. 

But whatever the reason, she didn’t want to be consumed by that emotion anymore. 

“Enough of these pathetic stories, even in a dream.” 

Hae-soo took a deep breath and looked up at In-wook with clearer eyes. 

“I happen to be feeling very wronged in many ways right now, you know?” 

“So that’s why you drank until you ended up like this?” 

“Yeah. But even then, my anger isn’t subsiding.” 

Her eyes, still moist, sparkled mischievously. That gaze was so characteristic of Yoon Hae-soo that In-wook couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle. 

“So, what do you want me to do for you?” 

“Play with me, recklessly.” 

“Hah, what?” 

In-wook asked back with a dumbfounded expression. Even so, Hae-soo faced him with an unchanging smile. 

“Since I’m dreaming of being intimate with my best friend’s older brother, I might as well rationalize it to myself by thinking, ‘Let them curse me as the craziest woman of the century.’” 

The response that came back was, once again, utterly brazen. The touch that traced over his shoulders, down his firm chest, and along his toned body was even bold. 

“So, play with me, recklessly.”

A voice filled with suggestive breaths burrowed provocatively into In-wook’s ears. 

It was just a fleeting moment. The sound of the thread of rationality, which he had barely held onto, snapping echoed clearly in In-wook’s ears. 

“……It’s no use.” 

“What?” 

“Hoo, I’ve tried to stop you as much as I could, but since this is what you wanted, it’s no use regretting it later.” 

A low, heavy breath finally poured over Hae-soo’s face. 

The distance between the two quickly narrowed. 

* * * 

“Ha, now, stop……!” 

“If you’ve gone this far to seduce me, you should take responsibility. We’re just getting started, so what do you mean by stop?” 

“This, time……! Do you know, how, many, times, it’s, been, already?” 

“What does it matter how many times? I’m not cooling down yet.” 

“Ha, this is insane……!” 

It was an incredible dream. 

A dream that neither tired nor cooled, an incredible dream. 

It was so overwhelming that, even though it was a dream, when everything ended, Hae-soo could only fall into a deep sleep as if fainting. After that, as if by magic, she didn’t dream of anything else. 

It was a perfect, restful sleep. 

A deep slumber she hadn’t experienced in a long time. 

“Ahhh.” 

Hae-soo stretched out as usual. She had slept so sweetly that, despite drinking heavily with In-ah the previous night, she didn’t have a headache; instead, her body felt as light as if it could float. It even felt refreshing, likely the result of a good night’s sleep. 

“Wow……. Can a body feel this refreshed just from having a provocative dream?” 

She had heard that dreaming of intimacy was like being possessed. 

“Could it be that I was actually intimate with a ghost or something like that?” 

Hae-soo let out a silly chuckle. Even she found it absurd after saying it. Intimacy with a ghost? That was even more ridiculous than dreaming of being intimate with Baek In-wook. 

“……But for a dream, it felt incredibly vivid.” 

Muttering softly, Hae-soo blinked her eyelids a couple of times. It was exactly as she said. She felt very refreshed, but just below her navel, it throbbed and tingled as if the dream had been reality. 

Not only that. Her lower back felt heavy, aching as if right before a menstrual cycle. 

“I’ve lived and experienced all sorts of things. No matter how realistic the dream was, how can it feel like I actually had intimacy……!!” 

Why would it hurt the same way? 

Hae-soo grumbled to herself, intending to savor the lingering drowsiness she hadn’t fully shaken off. 

But the moment she turned halfway over while shifting in bed, her face was inevitably painted with shock. 

“Why, why……!” 

A shrill sound burst out instinctively. Her hand, regaining composure a moment too late, hurriedly covered her mouth. But her widened pupils couldn’t erase the bewilderment. 

What was seared into her eyes was the sight of In-wook asleep. That alone was enough to make her mind go blank, but what was even more shocking, enough to make her feel like fainting, was the fact that Baek In-wook, who shouldn’t be lying next to her, was completely bare. 

In an instant, the vivid dream from last night flashed through her mind. It was intensely hot and passionate, a storm that raged so fiercely it seemed endless…….

“Damn, this is crazy!” 

With the memory resurfacing so vividly, Hae-soo couldn’t help but yell out. Of course, she flinched immediately after, checking In-wook’s reaction. 

But even that was overshadowed by the silhouette burned into her vision, a scene so provocative it was unfit for younger audiences, forcing her to squeeze their eyes shut. 

“Ha, I’m going crazy. What on earth happened?” 

Hae-soo muttered in a hushed voice, unlike before, as she carefully got out of bed. 

It was definitely a dream. No, it had to be a dream, but Baek In-wook lying in the same bed as me? 

She couldn’t believe it. 

She needed a forbidden dream to rationalize things, not an actual forbidden act. 

A sigh welled up naturally. But this wasn’t the time to leisurely sigh. 

Hae-soo squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again, gathering the clothes scattered on the floor. 

For now, it seemed best to escape from this utterly unimaginable, utterly immoral scene.