Chapter 5

“So… you really are a virgin? But you’ve had girlfriends. I know at least one, two, three… four. How is that even possible?”

Most of them had ended within three months, and the longest relationship he had was with his ex, Seo Yeo-ra.

Maybe just thinking of her was what made him lose control. Or maybe the alcohol she had been pouring into herself loosened her own restraints. Her blunt honesty kept flying at him, unfiltered.

“You dated Seo Yeo-ra for about a year, right? So how… how is that possible?”

She’d joked plenty in front of him before—about kissing, sex, raunchy topics—but when it came to his relationships, she dove in deep.

“This past year’s been the busiest of my life. But do I have to report my sex life to you? Let’s agree to not pry that far into each other’s business.”

“Sex life… do you even have one? Look at the kinds of doubts I have about you. Doesn’t that piss you off? Seo Yeo-ra went around telling people you were impotent. She even hooked up with my fiancé.”

“I told you, I’m not impotent.”

“Then… why? Why would Seo Yeo-ra say something like that? Why did she act out from sexual frustration and cause all this mess? No, it’s not your fault. I’m not blaming you. It’s just… the whole situation sucks. Ugh.”

After chugging from her beer can, she explained calmly.

“I just wasn’t that into it.”

She had to take a moment to interpret his words. Not that into it… meaning he wasn’t into being physical with his girlfriend.

“That’s basically saying you’re impotent.”

“It’s not that it doesn’t work—I just don’t feel like doing it.”

Even someone as rational as I-seong could be overtaken by emotion. It stirred people up in ridiculous ways.

Like this.

“If there’s something wrong, you should see a urologist as soon as possible. And if it’s psychological, maybe a therapist would help—”

She acted like some kind of counselor, empathizing too seriously and offering over-the-top kindness.

Even if she seemed fine, she was likely blackout drunk and unaware of the nonsense spilling from her lips.

The fact that she was discussing her friend’s urological issues said as much.

“There’s nothing wrong with me. Why don’t you believe human words? What, do you need me to drop my pants to prove it?”

He tried to brush it off with a somewhat over-the-top joke. To sober her up a bit. But her eyes suddenly sparkled mischievously, like she’d caught him in a trap.

She answered with surprising clarity.

“Yup.”

Ha. He let out a dry laugh. She might’ve looked sober, but clearly, her blood alcohol level was off the charts. He had worried about how much she drank, but she looked fine on the outside.

He didn’t expect the joke to go this far.

“If you drop your pants, I’ll believe you. Hmph.”

Lifting her chin proudly, her tone and expression clearly said: If you can, go ahead. Completely transparent.

“You’re really drunk. Have you forgotten tonight’s issue? Your fiancé cheated on you three days before the wedding.”

“With your girlfriend. Oh, I mean your ex. But that ex of yours also spread a juicy little rumor about you. Which… may not be a rumor.”

She looked at him like she was ready to grab his waistband and confirm the truth for herself. Her gaze was sharp.

And desperate to forget the pain and heartbreak.

He felt the raw, pathetic ache buried beneath her teasing. This joke was her way of masking it. Of trying to suppress the overwhelming sadness.

As always, he would play along.

“If I show you… will you forget that bastard cheated on you?”

His handsome face blurred in her drunken vision. Was it the alcohol fully kicking in? Her head felt heavy and cloudy.

Did he really just say that?

Ah…

“If I show you… will you forget that bastard cheated on you?”

What the hell did he mean by that with a straight face? Right—this was the guy with supposedly flawless looks but alleged performance issues.

But what if that wasn’t true? What if Seo Yeo-ra was the one with the problem?

How could she be so brazen, cheating with a man about to be married, even getting caught in the act?

Seo Yeo-ra’s the one with the problem.

If she could prove that? That I-seong was fine. That the real problem was Seo Yeo-ra and Go Do-hun.

She turned away abruptly, hit by a storm of thoughts. She nodded dully.

“…Yeah.”

I-seong frowned and let out a small laugh.

After a beat of silence, he smirked like a mischievous kid. Something about him shifted.

“I might need a little help.”

Even I-seong, the ever-detached one, had moments when he became persistent—like when acting, or when that troublemaker smile crept in.

He had something he wanted to focus on. And that made her uneasy. She asked in a tense voice.

“What kind of help? You want me to pull your pants down?”

She tried to defuse it with another exaggerated joke. But—

“Don’t I just need to check if it works?”

Their banter turned into a prideful standoff.

Their games never ended unless one of them backed down.

Would she really have to pull down his pants? Her guts churned, but she feigned calm and nodded.

“Yeah, I guess so.”

In that instant, I-seong leaned in from the sofa, closing the gap between them. Close enough that his breath swept into her space.

This was a face attack. His strongest weapon—the one she tried to resist the most. She swallowed hard.

That unfairly gorgeous face was a cheat code.

The alcohol suddenly felt like it was evaporating.

She tilted her head back and clicked her tongue.

“You shouldn’t waste a face like that. You need to be more careful. You know you’re good-looking, right? You should expect that it might stir things up for people. Haven’t I always told you? You should help me not see you in a sexual light.”

She rattled off her usual speech like a reflex. Like reciting multiplication tables.

Usually, he would laugh and back off. But maybe tonight wasn’t usual. How many beers had they had? I-seong didn’t look away—he just stared at her, lazy and intense.

Still using his face attack.

“What… What are you doing?”

Her heart fluttered, small but fast, under his steady gaze. He let out a soft laugh.

“Ha. Jeong-a. You can’t help me. We’re like siblings. What could we possibly do?”

They had grown up like siblings, ever since they were born—Jeong-a and I-seong. Their bond had always been labeled as sibling-like. But today, the word grated on her.

His smirk triggered something in her.

“This is how you’re hiding it, huh? That it doesn’t work. Right?”

I-seong scoffed, then gave her a pitying look.

“To show you, I’d need some sexual stimulation, wouldn’t I? How the hell am I supposed to get that with you right in front of me?”

“Well… yeah. Between siblings, that’d be incest.”

But why did it feel this way? Was it the alcohol? Or was her brain misfiring after being so thoroughly betrayed and dumped today?

She wanted to go wild. Burn everything down. Ruin even this long-standing friendship with I-seong.

Was it all Go Do-hun’s fault? Or Seo Yeo-ra’s?

“Hey, isn’t the forbidden always more exciting?”

She stared into his eyes, big like a cat’s and gleaming.

Suddenly, I-seong’s gaze shifted. It was no longer friendly. Not familiar.

This was the gaze of an actor.

Not her friend I-seong—but the rising sexy star I-seong. A stranger staring her down.

He’d probably laugh it off any second now, shout “What kind of siblings do that?” and go back to joking.

Then she could follow his lead. Keep playing along.

But—

I-seong shattered everything with a line that was not a joke.

“Can you kiss me?”

Mouth agape, she stared at his face—calm, unwavering—after dropping a bomb like that.