Chapter 1

“Because of you, Sunbae, I’ve become strange. So take responsibility.”

Inside the cluttered department lounge, just past the sofa and a partition, sat an old mattress—the one the seniors used whenever they pulled all-nighters for assignments.

Even though it was broad daylight, the air in that dim corner was heavy with a clammy dampness and a strange heat, the kind that lingered after something had just happened there.

“Is that… a confession?”

The man asked with an excited expression.

Standing before Haeju was the one person she should never have gotten involved with—Jeong Taeheon, the infamous “Greatest Risk” of the business school.

With her rotten luck, he was at the very top of her must-avoid-at-all-costs list.

His profile:

• Name: Jeong Taeheon

• Age: 24

• Major: Business Administration, Korea University, Year 3

• Special Note: Currently receiving treatment at the hospital for… a problem down there.

“No, it’s not like that… I mean, uh…” Haeju pressed her face into her palm with a sigh. “Sunbae, you said you’ve been going to the hospital, right? That… that illness of yours. Is it… contagious?”

Taeheon blinked, then replied in a bright, crystal-clear voice:

“Ah, so you’re asking me to just whip it out.”

…What the hell did he just hear me say?

Haeju looked at him in disbelief, but Taeheon tilted his head and continued with the same bewildered expression.

“Why, am I wrong? Right now, you’re a mess inside your head, imagining all sorts of dirty things about me, aren’t you?”

“…”

She couldn’t deny it.

“You’re curious about mine, aren’t you.”

With a sly smile curling across his lips, he leaned closer.

The more he spoke, the drier her mouth felt—until suddenly, saliva pooled at the back of her tongue.

Gulp.

Catching the sound, Taeheon chuckled softly, and with maddening nonchalance, his hand went to his belt buckle.

“If you want me to take it off, I’ll take it off.”

He faced her directly, rising on his knees atop the mattress.

Today, his jeans were putting on quite the show, and against her will, Haeju’s trembling gaze slid downward.

The buckle came undone. Slowly, he tugged down the zipper.

How on earth did it come to this?

The moment that tangled her fate with this man—this walking disaster—had begun on the day she first moved into her new apartment, just before freshman year began.