ICWN 07

Chapter 7

Still dazed, Yulia only blinked blankly as relief slowly hit her that she had not fallen.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Maybe she had been so startled because she thought she would definitely fall, because only now did her heart begin pounding rapidly.

What is this? Why is his body so nice?

Once she came back to her senses, she could clearly feel the firm body supporting her from behind.

Yulia quickly straightened herself, trying to get away from the man.

“T-This…”

She twisted her arms, trying to free herself from his grip, but the man must have assumed she was drunkenly struggling because he held her even tighter and pulled her against his chest.

Held deep in his embrace, Yulia slowly turned her head and looked up at the man tightly holding her.

Dark green eyes filled her shaky vision.

Wow, he’s unbelievably handsome…

When their eyes met as Yulia stared at him absentmindedly, the man finally helped her stand properly.

“Can you stand? I have the room key. Want me to open the door?”

Yulia slowly nodded.

The man glanced down at her blank expression for a moment before opening the door to Room 207 with the key in his hand.

Letting out a sigh, he muttered,

“How much did you even drink…? And that idiot just watched you like this.”

“Wait a moment…”

Just as she was about to enter the room, Yulia suddenly turned around and walked toward him.

Then she lifted both arms and wrapped them around his waist.

It was definitely a hug of gratitude, though even she could not tell whether there were selfish feelings mixed into it.

“What is this…?”

The man’s body stiffened at the sudden physical contact.

“I’m thankful. Thank you for bringing us here tonight.”

“Ha… What a terrible drinking habit.”

Carefully, the man grabbed both of Yulia’s arms and pulled her away from him.

Now standing at a distance from him, Yulia looked up.

She could see the man’s long eyelashes lowered over his eyes.

Below them was his sharp nose, and lower still, his full lips.

Maybe because of the alcohol making his blood circulate faster, his lips looked deeply red, and Yulia could not stop staring at them.

Pretty lips…

“Why are you so handsome?”

Huh? What did I just say?

Yulia carefully raised her right hand and touched the man’s face.

Her body was moving on its own, ignoring all reason.

Her instincts acted first, without any filter.

“…You’re really drunk.”

This time, her eyes wandered to the man’s sharp jawline and smooth neck.

Yulia swallowed hard and slowly moved her hand down to his neck.

She felt the man’s broad shoulders twitch.

Yulia could not control the strange heat flowing through her body.

She wanted to pull him into the room immediately.

Without realizing it, Yulia stared once more at his lips and quietly murmured,

“I want to kiss you.”

“…What?”

Yulia lifted her heated eyes and looked up at the man standing before her.

She stepped closer, rose onto her toes, and wrapped her arms around his neck.

“……”

The man simply stared at her silently with darkened eyes.

After hesitating for a brief moment, Yulia impulsively pressed her lips against his.

Their touching lips were hot.

Startled by the sudden kiss, the man clenched the hand that had been bracing against the door.

Yulia lingered against his unmoving lips before lightly biting his lower lip as if urging him on.

At her small provocation, she could feel the stiff man beginning to waver.

Without stopping, Yulia slowly scattered small kisses along his lower lip.

Then the atmosphere around the silent man changed instantly.

The man took a deep breath before suddenly lifting Yulia, who still had her arms wrapped around his neck.

Veins rose along the forearm supporting her thighs firmly.

Surprised by the sudden change in height, Yulia parted her lips, and the man’s soft tongue slipped between them.

His tongue moved through every corner of her mouth as if he intended to steal even her smallest breaths.

“Mmh…”

Forgetting even to breathe, Yulia struggled to accept him.

Still holding her in his arms, the man slowly moved deeper into the room.

Yulia tightened her arms around his neck and pressed herself even closer to him.

Finally, the open hotel room door slammed shut.

After exchanging rough breaths for a long while, they finally pulled apart slightly and looked into each other’s eyes.

“Haa…”

The corners of Cassian’s eyes were flushed red.

His gleaming eyes were filled with unresolved desire.

“Ugh… I’m thirsty…”

Yulia woke with a frown.

Her throat burned from terrible thirst.

She stretched her left arm toward the bedside table, searching for the water bottle.

The bottle she always kept there did not touch her hand today.

“Where is it…?”

Instead of a bottle, her hand touched her small bag.

Yulia slowly opened her heavy eyelids.

Blinking a few times to focus, she was met with an unfamiliar ceiling she had never seen before.

Where am I?

Yulia soon realized she was inside a room at the Dunkirk Hotel.

She must have safely made it back to the room after drinking too much with her friends last night.

She seemed to have drunk quite a lot, but strangely, there was no hangover, nausea, or stomach pain left.

The only problem was that she could barely remember what happened last night.

The medicine Madam Catherine gave me really works… I’m not even dizzy…

The wide, soft pillow and pleasantly rustling blanket made her body feel incredibly comfortable.

Feeling deeply satisfied, Yulia closed her eyes again.

She still had not escaped the lingering feelings from last night’s banquet.

The new alcohol she tasted throughout the evening had been delicious, and the atmosphere of the banquet had been perfect.

She thought she finally understood why people wasted time that should have been spent preparing for the future just to drink and meet others.

She could not remember the last time she laughed so loudly while forgetting all her worries and concerns.

Smiling faintly, Yulia rolled over to the right.

“Eek?”

Still drowsy, Yulia almost screamed when she suddenly saw a figure right in front of her.

Her eyes widened as she saw an unfamiliar man lying beside her, turned toward the opposite side.

Yulia quickly covered her mouth tightly with both hands to stop herself from screaming.

Her mind cleared instantly, and all sleep vanished.

W-What is this…?

Yulia hurriedly turned around, opened the bag on the bedside table, and put the last remaining eyesight-improvement eye drops into her eyes.

After blinking rapidly to absorb the medicine fully, she quickly turned her head back.

Under the messy blanket, she could see the man’s firm upper body completely uncovered.

For a moment, she considered screaming and jumping out of bed or grabbing the heavy pillow and smashing it into the man mercilessly, but she dreaded causing a scene and waking this uninvited guest, only to face an awkward situation.

…Jerome?

At least it was not Jerome.

The man’s hair was pitch black.

Who exactly are you, and why are you sleeping in my bed?

Yulia stared at his back with confused eyes.

His broad, muscular back rose and fell steadily with his breathing.

Yulia stopped moving completely and tried to calm her racing heartbeat.

T-This is exactly when I need to stay calm.

She silently screamed while banging the back of her head softly against the headboard.

At that moment, the sleeping man shifted and turned over.

Gasp!

Yulia immediately stopped squirming and pulled the blanket all the way up to her neck while squeezing her eyes shut.

She could hear her pounding heartbeat in her ears.

The man, now fully turned toward her, seemed to have woken up.

She could feel his gaze quietly resting on her.

Pretending to stay asleep, Yulia waited nervously for what he would do next.

Is he shocked too? Maybe he’s so drunk he remembers nothing either? Is this my room? Or his room? I wish he’d just get dressed and leave first…!

While desperately thinking with her eyes still tightly shut, Yulia suddenly felt the man’s large hand touch her left cheek.

She flinched violently, never expecting him to touch her.

“…You kept whining in your sleep all night. Did you sleep well?”

A soft, deep voice fell beside her ear.

The owner of the slightly husky morning voice gently stroked her cheek and ear with the hand touching her face.

Recognizing the strangely familiar voice, Yulia slowly opened her tightly closed eyes.

The man’s broad chest muscles filled her vision.

Aaaah…!

Yulia quickly raised her eyes to look at the owner of those unbelievable chest muscles.

The moment she saw the man’s defenseless face smiling lazily at her, Yulia was utterly horrified.

“Ca… Cassian…?”

It was Cassian Eshade.

There was no mistake. The man looking gently at her with dark green eyes was definitely Cassian Eshade.

Yulia stared at him with her mouth hanging open in disbelief.

Instead of answering, he smiled and pulled her tightly into his arms.

The warmth of his body, freshly awakened from sleep, surrounded her softly.

Trapped helplessly between his arms, Yulia could not understand anything anymore.

Why had she woken up in the same bed as Cassian Eshade?

Why was he half naked?

And more than anything—

Why was Cassian treating her so gently right now?!

Yulia lightly pushed him away.

Cassian, pushed back slightly, looked down at her with confusion.

“Um… right now… this… I mean, what exactly is this situation?”

“What do you mean?”

The moment Yulia saw the harmless, affectionate expression on his face as he asked softly, she realized the truth.

Ah… I slept with this man.