This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 210

Caught off guard by an unexpected assault from Bora, Dogun was choking and coughing at that very moment. Just then, there was one other person equally flustered, and that was none other than Baeksulhwa.

What can I say?

When Dogun opened his eyes due to the tickling sensation on his face, Baeksulhwa was already awake.

Even so, Baeksulhwa remained on Dogun’s bed, and the reason she hadn’t left the bed yet was simple.

She felt that flustered.

So flustered, in fact, that she couldn’t move her body, and thus she could only sit there, occupying Dogun’s bed.

‘What the heck…’

What on earth happened?

That was the very thought that had been occupying Baeksulhwa’s mind since waking up.

And it was only natural.

No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t figure out why she was lying here.

To be precise, it felt as if all the events from the previous night had been wiped clean, as if eraser had scrubbed them away.

No matter how hard she tried to overcome that overwhelming feeling, tugging at her hair or bouncing around, doing that repeatedly yielded no significant results.

Everything that came to her mind was still at zero, and her last memory remained of going upstairs to her room and lying down.

So… that’s why she felt so bewildered.

According to her last memory, she should have woken up in ‘my room,’ so why on earth was she opening her eyes in Dogun’s room? It was incomprehensible; she couldn’t remember anything from last night.

What if perhaps nothing had happened?

For a brief moment, that thought—or rather, that wish—peeked into her mind, but no matter how much she pondered, it didn’t seem likely.

After all, when she had woken up, there was no one else in the room.

If indeed nothing had happened last night?

When she woke up, the first thing her eyes would have landed on would not have been some never-before-seen pillow, but rather Dogun peacefully sleeping.

However, the reality was different, and she had to accept it.

Something had definitely happened last night.

‘What if…’

What if she lost control of herself after a night of drinking and rudely showed up in Dogun’s room, causing a scene?

And then, thinking it was too much, Dogun had fled to another room, leaving her lying alone in his space?

Honestly, that was about the extent of the possibilities that came to mind.

And even just that was quite frightening.

What if, by some chance, Dogun had been disappointed to see her drunk and causing a ruckus during the night? What would she do then?

The immediate thought made her secretly resolve.

‘From now on…’

She swore not to touch alcohol again.

To be honest, initially, she had been curious about the taste of non-alcoholic beer and had drunk it, later realizing it was just beer. The curiosity had led her to drink more, but she had never imagined this would happen.

If she had known it would lead to this, she wouldn’t have touched it at all.

Just like time couldn’t be reversed, she knew better than anyone that regretting it now wouldn’t change anything, yet those thoughts still lingered.

While she sat curled up on Dogun’s bed, digging herself into the floor, there was one particular thing that caught her attention—an odd sensation around her lips.

How should she describe it?

It felt like her lips were slightly swollen unlike usual.

Not that they were obviously puffed up; it was just a little, but still…

The problem was, she had no idea why they felt that way.

‘Could it be that…’

Did she bump into something while being drunkenly rowdy in Dogun’s room?

When that thought suddenly crossed her mind, her face turned fiery red.

And then came the thought—

‘What the hell am I gonna do… facing Dogun now?’

That was the crux of the matter.

Moving forward, how was she supposed to face Dogun?

Honestly, she hadn’t been this bewildered even when she realized she had started liking him.

Now, with her face all flustered, she couldn’t even imagine how it would be when she actually met Dogun.

“Ugh…”

As she struggled, her eyes caught the scenery in the room.

Of course, this wasn’t her first time entering Dogun’s room.

She had been there two days ago when he showed her around his house.

However, back then, she felt too conscious of Dogun standing next to her to look around freely… but being left alone in his room like this felt strangely fascinating.

After all, it was the first time she’d thoroughly explored someone else’s room, a guy’s room at that, and especially Dogun’s room, it felt even more peculiar.

And as she did, she noticed a real truth: the owner’s scent and traces felt particularly strong in someone else’s room.

Perhaps it was because he spent a lot of time there.

Inside the room, she could smell the refreshing scent she usually caught when standing by Dogun.

There were no visible air fresheners, yet it lingered.

Was it that Dogun’s fragrance had permeated the room?

Or perhaps the room’s scent had absorbed into Dogun himself?

One thing was clear: the scent she had unconsciously started to like wafted around from all sides, making her feel a bit… embarrassed.

It was hard to pinpoint exactly what made her feel that way, but that’s how it was.

She hadn’t yet tucked herself into the thin blanket Dogun had provided; it felt different from what she had brought from home, which made her carefully rise from the bed.

After all, since it was a place where she spent hours lying down, Dogun’s scent felt strongest there.

Sitting there felt oddly like being tightly hugged by Dogun.

‘Come to think of it…’

Yoonseo had truly been coming back and forth to this house almost daily. Did she feel this way too?

Just thinking that made something swell up inside her.

Of course, that feeling didn’t last long.

It couldn’t, since the situation had now changed.

Before, she could only watch as Yoonseo lived next door, enjoying her advantage of proximity, but now…

Yoonseo was still living next door, while she was now living under the same roof as Dogun.

Of course, Yoonseo wouldn’t just sit still, trying to come around more than before, but in the end, she would have to return home when the time came.

And what about her?

Whatever happens next is uncertain, but the place she could return to now was right here, Dogun’s house.

That difference infused her with a strange sense of security.

However, the troubling issue popped up—namely, the two other people she would be living with…

Among those, the one who worried her the most was undoubtedly Bora.

Literally, the kid could do anything—like an unexploded bomb just waiting to go off.

Yet despite that, her relationship with Dogun wasn’t bad, making it even more concerning.

Ten years ago, back in kindergarten, they had been close friends, but for some reason, they had to part ways, living in different places, only to reunite after ten years and end up living together!

Doesn’t that sound like something out of a novel or a drama?

If she, as a third party, thought about it that way, she couldn’t even imagine how Bora felt.

Thus, she had to deal with Bora first over Chae-rim…

‘By the way…’

How on earth was she supposed to face Dogun?

It seemed that her thoughts, which had wandered elsewhere for a moment, returned to their original place.

Her face, which had calmed down a bit, started to heat up again.

As she stood awkwardly in the middle of Dogun’s room, her feet fidgeting, it felt as if she was waiting for the right moment as a light knocking sound echoed through the room.

“Hem-hm… uh… Senior?”

And then came the voice that she wanted to avoid the most:

“Um… are you… awake?”