Chapter 1: A Night Best Forgotten
The neon lights of Seoul blurred into a dizzying haze as Han Seo-Ah stumbled through the doors of Luna Bar, her head spinning not just from alcohol but from the deep, bone-cutting ache inside her chest.
She had sworn she wouldn't cry anymore.
Had sworn she wouldn't let that worthless ex-boyfriend haunt her tonight.
And yet, here she was — half-drunk, heartbroken, and one shot away from completely losing her dignity.
"Another one, please," she slurred, waving at the bartender.
The man behind the counter hesitated. Seo-Ah, despite her flushed cheeks and watery brown eyes, looked heartbreakingly fragile. Her small frame barely balanced on the barstool, and her hands trembled as she tried to reach for the glass.
"Miss, are you sure you—"
"I'm fineee," she said, drawing out the word in a drunken whine, a ridiculous pout on her beautiful lips.
The bartender sighed but poured her a watered-down drink, sliding it gently in front of her.
Seo-Ah raised the glass in a messy toast to no one.
"To bastards who cheat!" she declared loudly, earning a few glances from nearby tables.
"To terrible boyfriends and their terrible, terrible... faces!"
She giggled to herself, then promptly swayed dangerously in her seat.
Across the room, in the dimly lit VIP section, the heavy glass doors opened with a soft click, and Lee Min-Jun stepped inside.
Tall, broad-shouldered, and devastatingly handsome, Min-Jun wore a crisp black suit that somehow looked sharper than the knives used in the kitchen. His sleek black hair was brushed away from his forehead, revealing a strikingly symmetrical face — cold, aristocratic, and utterly unapproachable.
Two of his friends — Kang Woo-Jin and Park Dae-Hyun — waved him over from a plush corner booth.
"Finally! We thought you were going to ditch us again," Woo-Jin called out, grinning.
Min-Jun merely gave a small, disinterested nod, adjusting the cuff of his shirt.
He hadn't wanted to come tonight. He never wanted to come.
Bars were messy, noisy, and full of drunken idiots — the very last place a man like him, a known clean freak and workaholic, wanted to waste time.
But his friends had insisted. "Live a little, Min-Jun. You're not a robot."
He had only agreed to shut them up.
Expression unreadable, he made his way across the bar toward the VIP section.
And that's when it happened.
Splat.
Seo-Ah, in her drunken stupor, had leaned over to reach for her drink — and missed completely.
Instead, she lost her balance and stumbled forward—right as Min-Jun passed her by.
The contents of her stomach, fueled by too many cheap shots, exploded outward without warning.
All over Min-Jun's immaculate designer suit.
The entire bar seemed to freeze for a second.
Seo-Ah blinked blearily up at him, too drunk to process what she had just done.
Min-Jun, meanwhile, stared down at the mess slowly staining his jacket — his face a mask of pure horror and disgust.
A muscle ticked violently in his jaw.
This.
This is why I don't come to places like this, he thought, fury flashing in his cold, dark eyes.
Seo-Ah's lower lip wobbled. She looked up at him, her big brown eyes swimming with tears, her cheeks pink from embarrassment and alcohol.
"I-I'm... s-sorrryy…" she hiccupped, her voice wobbling.
Min-Jun opened his mouth, fully prepared to unleash a merciless string of words — something sharp enough to cut her into ribbons.
But then—
Seo-Ah's drunken face twisted into such a pitiful expression of sadness and regret that it hit him like an unexpected slap.
"I didn't... mean to ruin your pretty coat…" she mumbled, eyes wide and miserable.
"You're soooo handsome… an' I'm just a disaster," she added, her voice cracking.
Then she burst into soft, hiccuping sobs, covering her face with her small hands.
Min-Jun stood frozen, caught between irritation and something he couldn't quite name.
Annoyance battled against an unfamiliar flicker of… was it pity? amusement? sympathy?
His clean-freak instincts screamed at him to push her away, to leave, to change suits immediately and erase this night from memory.
But somehow, looking at her — this tiny, drunk, heartbreakingly sad woman — the scolding words caught in his throat and died.
Woo-Jin and Dae-Hyun were watching from their booth, struggling to hold back laughter.
"Looks like you've made a friend, Min-Jun," Woo-Jin called out.
Min-Jun shot him a death glare.
Turning back to Seo-Ah, who was now wiping her nose on the sleeve of her oversized jacket, he sighed through gritted teeth.
"Someone get her a taxi," he said coldly to the bartender.
His voice was low and hard, but not as cruel as it could have been.
Seo-Ah peeked up at him through her fingers.
"You smell... s-sooo nice..." she whispered, half-giggling, half-sobbing.
Min-Jun closed his eyes for a moment, willing himself not to react.
Unbelievable.
He stepped back sharply as the bartender and a staff member rushed over to gently lift Seo-Ah off the stool.
As they led her stumbling toward the door, she twisted in their grip and looked back at him, waving a floppy hand.
"Bye, Mr. Handsome~! Don't be mad...!"
Min-Jun didn't respond.
He merely tugged off his stained jacket with visible disgust, tossing it into a garbage bin nearby.
But somewhere deep inside, a tiny, barely noticeable crack formed in the armor he had spent years perfecting.
And for the first time in a long time, he wasn't sure if he hated the feeling.