Chapter 1

Rumble—Crash. Thunder and lightning accompanied the start of the monsoon rain.

Pouring down. The sudden shower poured as if celebrating.

Heavy raindrops pounded against the living room window of Lee Sung’s apartment.

Having just finished showering, Sung’s body was covered only by a towel and droplets of water.

His lower body was wrapped with the towel, but his exposed upper body showed off a magnificent 1% body fat.

Droplets of water rolled off his firm muscles, sparkling as they caught the light.

Sung wiped away some droplets with the towel in his hand, then shook his hair with one hand and walked toward the refrigerator.

At 188 cm tall, with broad shoulders and a muscular body, his presence was imposing.

He strode across the kitchen sink with a well-proportioned frame, but his pacing in front of the refrigerator looked strangely awkward and suggestive.

He grabbed a can of beer and sat down on the living room sofa.

He found the air conditioner remote on the side table and increased the cooling. The sudden rain had made the air sticky and humid.

Next, he picked up the TV remote and opened the OTT Netplay app.

His drama was scheduled to be released at exactly 10 PM.

He vividly remembered filming across the country over the past six months. This was his first time watching the completed series, not just a rough cut.

He was curious about the audience’s reaction and his expectations were high.

Before he knew it, the clock pointed to 10:05 PM, and he idly played with the remote.

Then—

Ding dong. Ding dong.

The sudden sound of the doorbell shattered the silence.

There weren’t many people who could ring the doorbell at his front door.

His schedule was free today, and his manager Seokhyun had no reason to visit.

So the possible visitors were limited.

He walked to the intercom on the living room wall.

The visitor’s face appeared on the blue screen. The face was one that gave him a headache, the back of his head disturbing him greatly.

“Ha… Gamjeong?”

Soaked in rain, looking pitiful beyond words.

Why was she standing in front of his house in such a miserable state right before something big?

You’re completely unpredictable.

Why is she out in the rain alone, leaving her boyfriend behind at this late hour?

Ding dong. Ding dong. The doorbell rang again urgently.

“Wait a moment.”

He raised his voice slightly and headed to the dressing room. He quickly put on a white short-sleeve T-shirt and loose jeans and went to the entrance to open the door.

Click.

Gamjeong’s appearance was even more miserable than it looked on the screen. Before he could scold her, tears welled up in her eyes as she vented her frustration.

“Life… sucks. I’m fed up.”

Her large eyes, with pupils dilated like a cat’s tail raised high.

Her eyes were more intense when angry and sad than when happy or joyful — now she was angry and sad.

What on earth happened? Usually emotional and quick-tempered, she sometimes cursed, but today’s atmosphere was unusual.

This was no ordinary matter.

He opened the door wide and gestured for her to come inside.

“Come in.”

Gamjeong trudged past him and collapsed onto the sofa like she owned the place, still soaking wet.

A towel he had left on the sofa was there, and Gamjeong grabbed it to roughly dry herself.

“Why don’t you take a shower?”

She shook her head and kept wiping herself. She seemed too exhausted even for that.

Well, if a woman about to get married took a shower at her male friend’s place, her boyfriend would probably go crazy.

“Want some clothes?”

Gamjeong just shook her head again.

He sat beside her, crossed his legs, and watched her behavior.

Should he give her tissues if she cried? Checking the tissue box on the side table, he noticed she grabbed his beer can on the table.

Suddenly he recalled the number of beer cans left in the fridge. Would she need a lot?

The thought quickly stopped. Gamjeong popped open the can and gulped it down in one go. Her slender neck made swallowing sounds.

Now that he noticed, her white wet T-shirt was almost see-through, revealing her underwear clearly. Her chest line was conspicuous.

He fetched a new towel and threw it over her head.

“Put this over you. You look rough.”

She draped the towel on her shoulders and asked him,

“Any more beer? Or any kind of alcohol.”

He took all the beer cans from the fridge and placed them on the side table.

“Now tell me. Did a thunderbolt strike you?”

“Ha… damn it… shit…”

The curses mixed with a sigh were clearly sorrow swallowing anger.

“Future bride, you shouldn’t be swearing like that. Your wedding is coming soon.”

It was three days before the wedding. Gamjeong’s wedding was just three days away. In three days, the woman swearing like a soaked rat in his house would be a married woman.

“I threw the wedding away.”

“…What?”

“Thrown it in the trash.”

True to her name, she was very emotional. Did she really cancel the wedding with just three days left? Well, if it was Gamjeong, his friend, it might be possible.

They had been friends for nearly 30 years.

A friend who fiercely got angry at things that deserved anger and grieved intensely when sad.

She also loved passionately. After dating a friend, she quickly took the steps to marriage.

At first, he thought it was a lie. But as he got involved in the wedding preparations, he realized it was true.

He helped find a new home, picked the wedding dress, checked the appliances.

He was busier than the groom himself. Gamjeong once said jokingly that being his ‘testicle friend’ was a curse.

“Now tell me. Did you fight with the groom?”

Gamjeong grabbed another beer can from the side table and poured half of it into her stomach. Then she finally answered him.

“Go Dohun, that bastard, cheated on me.”

“Wow — cheated on you three days before the wedding? That bastard for sure.”

“They had been seeing each other for two months. Using the excuse of being busy, he ignored the wedding preparations. While I was picking out appliances with you, that bastard—ha. Do you know where I caught those two?”

“Wasn’t it some normal place?”

He also grabbed a beer can and took a sip.

“If I had caught them at a hotel or motel, I wouldn’t have been this shaken. The house we planned to live in after marriage, the one I filled with appliances — he had already moved in there a month ago.

Gamjeong bit her lower lip and reluctantly spoke.

“But he was fooling around with another woman there… ha… can you believe it? No, I must be crazy. Insane.”

“Gamjeong, anyone would lose their mind.”

“Exactly. That’s why I slapped Go Dohun. But, you know… Sung-ah.”

Gamjeong usually called him ‘Lee Sung’ formally, but only dropped the surname in very serious or awkward moments.

Gamjeong and Lee Sung — anyone would know. Without their parents’ scheming, it would be hard for friends to have such names.

He was born first and called ‘Lee Sung,’ and Gamjeong’s name was chosen by their mothers, who were friends and schemed together.

Thanks to their mothers, they had spent a lot of time together since childhood, and Lee Sung could easily understand Gamjeong’s feelings.

Her large, cat-like eyes with clear pupils and irises glowed mysteriously, showing all her emotions.

“So what else? What made you angry and sad?”