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Episode 5
A large hand wrapped around her slender wrist in one go. As Dasom flinched, Han-gyeol slowly brought the straw to his lips.
Dasom’s eyes shook as if an earthquake had struck.
‘…What is this?’
The fact that such a simple action looked this suggestive meant she was definitely drunk. A burning sensation rose from the wrist Han-gyeol had held.
“There’s none left.”
After drawing once on the straw, Han-gyeol frowned slightly and muttered, then released Dasom’s wrist.
But even though her wrist was free, Dasom couldn’t move for a while.
“You drank it all. There’s none left.”
“Huh? Oh, r-really?”
Startled back to reality, Dasom brought the straw back to her own mouth to check. She didn’t seem to care at all whether his lips had touched it or not.
Han-gyeol moistened his dry mouth. Somehow, the tip of his tongue felt sweet.
“There really isn’t any. Then I’ll go buy a new one!”
“What? No, Chae Da-som….”
Dasom already seemed drunk enough from having finished one packet by herself. Even in university, though she liked drinking, her tolerance was weak.
Her reddened cheeks didn’t seem solely due to the wind; Han-gyeol tried to grab her as she stood up, but she was quicker.
Dasom hurried back inside the convenience store. This time, she came out carrying a packet of soju and a bag of shrimp crackers.
“This is the snack! So you don’t ruin your stomach, senior! Wow, what a kind junior, right? Don’t you think?”
Chattering excitedly, Dasom tore open the shrimp crackers and stuck a straw into the second soju packet. And this time, she offered it to Han-gyeol first.
“Here! This time, senior drinks first!”
“…….”
Licking his lips quietly, Han-gyeol again caught Dasom’s wrist. Then, bringing the straw to his mouth, he drew in the soju.
It should have definitely tasted the bitter characteristic of alcohol, but strangely, it wasn’t bitter.
“Good enough?”
As if to say he had only drunk it because she wanted him to, he took his lips off the straw and picked up a shrimp cracker.
Dasom stared blankly at him, then put her mouth on the same straw he had used. Strangely, saliva pooled in her mouth; she chewed on the straw once before finally drawing in the soju.
“And I didn’t go to Khan; I went to Seongsu.”
“Huh? Seongsu?”
“My parents’ house is there. I went for a family meal.”
Han-gyeol said this nonchalantly. As if correcting a misunderstanding so Dasom wouldn’t get the wrong idea.
But this just made Dasom sulk, thinking her joke must not have been that funny.
Han-gyeol quietly studied her face, then spoke.
“You don’t need to be jealous of me.”
“…….”
“So just say what you want to say. Don’t make excuses like you can’t even talk to me.”
His words seemed exactly like a response to what she had said earlier, and Da-som’s eyes went round.
Pretending not to care, but it seemed he had secretly taken her words to heart. Correcting misunderstandings one by one like this, answering earnestly, yet acting indifferent when speaking.
Dasom eventually let out a hollow laugh.
“What is this, senior. You’ve gotten cuter than before.”
“What?”
Han-gyeol frowned. On a normal day, that cold gaze would have made her flinch, but today, she didn’t mind at all. Maybe she was getting bold from the alcohol.
‘Wait, did I actually say out loud that senior is cute?’
Judging from how Han-gyeol suddenly frowned, it seemed she probably had.
But Dasom didn’t stop drinking her soju, nor did she stop talking.
“Come to think of it, senior, did you know I lived here? You’re the building owner, after all.”
“Being the building owner doesn’t mean I know every tenant.”
“I was completely shocked when I saw you yesterday. But you didn’t seem that surprised….”
“I just… thought I’d run into you again somewhere, sometime.”
Dasom didn’t quite understand his answer, but feeling too lazy, she just said “I see” and let it pass.
“Honestly, if I’d been like this in university, you would have just left me behind.”
“Since you can’t even hold your liquor, I’d probably tell you to spend your drinking time writing instead.”
“Han-gyeol is the demon king of nagging….”
“What?”
“I said you’re handsome, senior.”
Smiling sweetly, Dasom picked up a shrimp cracker and ate it. Han-gyeol looked at her as if dumbfounded, but he didn’t leave his seat.
Despite acting annoyed, he answered her every time. Seeing this, Dasom kept laughing.
His voice, appropriately low and resonant, felt better to hear the more she listened.
No wonder a single word of praise from that voice could make someone’s heart flutter so much.
“But, senior. I can’t write.”
“Why?”
“It’s clumsy, messy, I’ve disappeared….”
“…….”
“They say Chae Dasom’s bubble has burst. Push-to-pay.”
Though her tone was playful, Han-gyeol could immediately recognize the discouragement hidden within.
So this was why there had been no news from her lately. He leaned forward.
“Who said that? That your bubble burst?”
“Everyone says it. That there’s no point in seeing Chae Dasom anymore….”
It had been the same in university. In Han-gyeol’s eyes, Chae Dasom was a truly talented, gifted person.
A junior he couldn’t take his eyes off, anxious she might miss even a moment’s sparkle.
But for all her talent, she lacked confidence. Not that she was timid, but perhaps her self-esteem was quietly low.
She’d easily become deflated at someone’s sharp words, often falling into deep thought alone, leading to self-deprecation.
Han-gyeol found it a pity. Regrettable and sorry.
Because he genuinely loved Da-som’s talent.
He wanted to see her soar high. And someday, he wanted to soar together with her….
By around that time, what Han-gyeol loved was no longer just Da-som’s talent.
“Senior, do you remember the rumor that went around in university?”
Her voice snapped him back to reality. Realizing he had leaned too far toward her, he quickly pulled back.
Fortunately, Dasom didn’t seem to notice. Han-gyeol steadied his voice.
“What rumor?”
“About a muse.”
“A muse?”
“Like, if you have a muse, inspiration wells up, all your worries are solved… that all your blocked work would unravel.”
Dasom, who had been talking about muses, suddenly stared intently at him. Han-gyeol, unsure where her words were headed, merely tilted his head slightly.
His face, illuminated by the convenience store neon, was impossibly beautiful and elegant.
Like Orpheus from mythology. Like those whom the goddesses of art loved.
A face that could make even a goddess fall in love—how could she, a mere human, not love him?
“Senior, you’re someone who receives a muse’s love.”
That’s why every project you touch succeeds, receives praise, never gets stuck. Because you’re loved by a muse, you don’t have worries like I do.
Jealousy toward Han-gyeol suddenly reared its head again. He said she had nothing to be jealous of, but that wasn’t true at all.
He didn’t know anything.
She wanted to steal his muse away. So that he, having lost the muse’s favor, would struggle with worries just like her.
Wanting to tear someone down was truly a mean and spiteful thought….
But just this once, she wanted to do it.
“Senior, close your eyes for a second.”
“Why should I?”
“Then keep them open.”
Dasom set down her empty soju packet on the table. And abruptly stood up from her seat.
Han-gyeol’s dark eyes followed her upward. Those sparkling eyes were unbearably captivating… and enviable.
The inspiration that constantly bloomed in his eyes.
I want it.
With that single thought, Dasom grabbed Han-gyeol’s cheeks with both hands.
“Chae Dasom, what are you—!”
Dasom’s lips, approaching boldly, touched his. Han-gyeol’s voice cut off sharply.
He alternated his gaze between her gently closed eyes and the lips touching his, then parted his mouth.
He meant to exhale the hot breath pooling inside, but his unintentionally extended tongue lightly licked Dasom’s lip.
The bitter taste of soju was there, but only briefly. Han-gyeol felt the back of his neck tingle. It wasn’t from the cold wind seeping in.
Without meaning to, he tilted his head, about to slip between Dasom’s lips—when Dasom pulled her lips away.
“Was that enough?”
Having driven him to desperation, Dasom merely tilted her head innocently. Impatient, he rose, following her.
His shadow instantly enveloped Dasom’s small frame.
But whether she knew he was about to devour her or not, Dasom, eyes hazy, only spoke of things not of this world.
“Did I steal the love you had, senior?”
“What are you talking about, seriously?”
“That’s not it. I don’t feel chosen by a muse.”
“…….”
“Still not enough?”
The muse she spoke of—he didn’t know about that, but he was certainly lacking. Han-gyeol wrapped his large hand around the back of Dasom’s neck.
As the unfamiliar warmth touched her sensitive nape, Dasom trembled slightly. She looked at him with unfocused eyes.
An unfamiliar light sparkled in Han-gyeol’s eyes. Different from inspiration, yet the desire to take was the same. She coveted everything he possessed.
And so, as if spellbound, Dasom parted her lips.
“Senior, do you want to sleep with me?”
Han-gyeol, who had been about to pull her closer by the nape, stopped his hand mid-motion.
