“Ugh…… It hurts……”
When I spoke, my head rang more. Damn it, cursing, I barely opened my eyes and tried to raise my body, when I saw someone standing in my blurry vision.
The moment I blinked and realized it was Rashanin, I bolted upright. But that was a mistake. My head rang as if my brain was tilting to one side. Really damn it.
“You finally woke. I didn’t know how to answer.”
Rashanin smiled magnificently. With exquisite timing, the phone’s ringtone cut off at that moment. And I could recall what I had done with him last night. Embarrassment and awkwardness, and some indescribable sensation swirled up and I couldn’t manage my expression.
But Rashanin smiled broadly.
“You have the face of someone who saw something they shouldn’t have.”
“Why are you……?”
“Even as time passed you didn’t come out of your room, and the bell kept ringing. Wondering if something had happened, I entered your room without permission. I apologize for that.”
“Give it to me.”
“It smells terribly of alcohol.”
There was a strong smell of alcohol from my mouth. Not only that, but on one side of the bedroom were many bottles of liquor I’d drunk last night. Still, I pretended not to know and held out my hand toward Rashanin. He handed over the phone with a smile like a well-fed tiger. Having the absurd thought that I wanted to split open this man’s head to see what he was thinking, I checked my missed calls.
It was the office. Just as I wondered what it could be, the moment I checked the time, I froze. It was 11:29. Oversleeping wasn’t even the half of it. Though I had drunk an incredible amount, I still couldn’t understand how I hadn’t heard the alarm. As I frowned wondering what to do, the cell phone rang again.
It was the office again.
“Yes. This is Lee Unhyuk.”
―It’s me. Why are you answering so late? Is something wrong?
As expected, it was Team Leader Lee Tae-woo.
“Well… I overslept a bit……”
“Tell him you drank with me.”
Rashanin interjected from the side. When I turned my head in surprise, Rashanin was grinning.
―Overslept? Do you know what time it is now? What about the schedule?
“Ah, well, I had some drinks.”
―What?!
“Tell him I forced you to drink. That you overindulged because of that.”
“The distinguished guest kept telling me to drink, forcing it on me, so I drank whatever was given and passed out.”
The situation was urgent, so I made excuses following Rashanin’s advice that it was his fault. I heard Team Leader Lee Tae-woo’s sigh over the receiver.
―It’s past 11 and you’re not moving, we can’t reach you, and the employee who brought breakfast at 9 said it wasn’t you but the VN who opened the door. Do you know how worried we were? The surveillance team said there were suspicious movements last night, so we thought you’d been eaten.
Unlike what Team Leader Lee Tae-woo said, I was eaten. Remembering what I did last night, I froze in place.
I must have been crazy.
And a surveillance team. It meant that someone from the surveillance team, who must have been aiming at the 23rd floor from far away with a telephoto lens, saw not only Rashanin holding me like a princess and soaring up, but also kissing on the balcony. No, since there were no tall buildings nearby and it would be an upward angle from below, there was a high probability they didn’t see the kiss.
But still, if there was even a one-in-a-million chance of a witness—in that situation, having a witness was synonymous with being recorded on video—my life would become endlessly depressing.
―Besides, even if you drank, you should be aware this is work.
“Tell him it’s my fault. Say we’re resting today.”
I was fortunate that there wasn’t a grain of suspicion in Team Leader Lee Tae-woo’s voice, when Rashanin, who couldn’t even understand Korean, kept tossing out excuses that fit the situation like a ghost.
“He suggested drinks saying there was no schedule today anyway, so it shouldn’t be a big problem.”
My throat was parched from overdrinking, so it was hard to speak, and my voice was strange. Still, it wasn’t difficult to give assurance that there would be no problem. I could clearly hear the Department Head saying something in the distance and the Team Leader explaining to him. Even so, how could anyone oversleep until noon. Being so out of it. Do you know how important this is? Be careful from now on. While answering “yes, yes” half-heartedly to the nagging of my superiors over the receiver, I repeatedly shouted only ‘damn it’ in my head.
I knew Rashanin had been staring intently since earlier, but I couldn’t quite bring myself to meet his eyes, so I pretended not to notice and kept my gaze elsewhere.
“Yes. I understand. Then I’ll hang up.”
I answered the Department Head’s order to come in the afternoon and report if there was no work, then hung up.
“You’re trying not to meet my eyes. It’s frustrating to be made into a bad guy who did terrible things to an innocent person.”
Making my worry about what to do seem pointless, Rashanin’s voice as he spoke to me the moment I hung up sounded somehow pleased.
“Nothing happened last night though.”
“What do you mean nothing happened?!”
I shouted reflexively. We kissed, and I almost gave in completely. When I glared fiercely at Rashanin, he smiled and held out a glass of water.
“Drink.”
I looked back and forth between Rashanin and the cup filled with cold water, then reluctantly took it. But I didn’t drink the water. Why is he acting so friendly?
“How do you feel?”
“……”
Does he not know? When I didn’t respond and stayed quiet, Rashanin smiled gently.
“You’re not angry, are you?”
“Don’t ask such things.”
“I don’t want to be hated by you though?”
“Someone like you……!”
I was about to shout asking why he did such a thing when my head throbbed and I frowned. Alcohol is the enemy.
“I sent you back, didn’t I?”
“Even so, I don’t know how to face you.”
“Why?”
“Just, can’t I be replaced with another agent?”
I stated the solution I’d arrived at after agonizing while drinking all night. Then Rashanin’s eyes widened and he chuckled.
“Planning to run away?”
“It’s not that, I can’t handle this situation.”
“You didn’t dislike it.”
“I did dislike it.”
I disliked it. I disliked being pursued by a man. Most of all, I really disliked being placed in a situation like last night.
Though I clearly expressed my dislike, Rashanin didn’t budge.
“If you dislike it, just refuse to the end. Like last night.”
“……?!”
“I told you. I’ll wait until you say yes.”
“What……”
“But that doesn’t mean I’ll just sit idle, so stay alert.”
My head, ringing from the hangover, couldn’t work properly. I couldn’t understand what the man smiling leisurely was saying. No, actually I didn’t want to understand. As I stared blankly at Rashanin unable to respond, he clicked his tongue.
“You’re still not fully awake. Go wash up. A late breakfast is waiting. And since you seem to have difficulty moving, as I said earlier, let’s rest for the day.”
Rashanin said he’d wait and turned to leave. Even after confirming the door closed, I couldn’t move for a long time.
“Damn it.”
I wanted to strangle the sly man’s neck. But before that, I wanted to strangle my own neck for being swayed, even briefly.
Like Rashanin said last night, it wasn’t that I refused stubbornly because I disliked him.
Actually, I was captivated by his dry voice.
I almost nodded at his words saying he wanted me. If he had pushed, I would have given in helplessly. I hated that even though I couldn’t accept that fact and drank because of it, the pounding of my heart from that time remained vivid. If the same situation came again, the probability of it happening again was very high. Even now my heart was stirring. I felt like I’d become strange.
“I’m crazy.”
I couldn’t believe that even for a moment, I had such feelings toward a man, a vampire, and moreover the distinguished guest I was in charge of. Besides, Rashanin kept coming at me as if he’d made up his mind.
I glared at the water glass in my hand for a long time, then drank it all at once. The water was cool, but my head was still dizzy.
*
Rich black coffee, milk, orange juice, croissants, sandwiches, jam, butter, cheese, and some fruit were nicely arranged in dishes. It was a luxurious breakfast. But Western food didn’t suit me, and I had no appetite due to the hangover, so there was nothing appealing. Especially with Rashanin sitting across from me staring intently, my appetite dropped even more.
“No appetite?”
As I only sipped coffee without touching anything else, Rashanin commented.
“My stomach feels bad.”
“You should drink in moderation.”
BOMBASTIC sideye