This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 212

Unless there are some special cases, conversation is basically a two-way street.

If something comes from over there?

It means there must be something coming from this side too.

Because of that, it wasn’t only Baeksulhwa who picked up on something through a series of conversations.

Dogun also noticed something strange by looking at Baeksulhwa’s expression when she returned to the kitchen.

‘Could it be…’

Does he not remember what happened at night?

I found it hard to believe he couldn’t remember, considering ‘such things’ had occurred, but when alcohol was involved, the story certainly could change.

Alcohol is quite a curious liquid; while it can lift your spirits when consumed moderately, it can also erase perfectly good memories without a trace.

Even in my past life, I had lost my memory a few times because of drinking.

So if the Senior experienced something similar, it wasn’t all that strange.

Moreover, the Senior who visited my room last night wasn’t just under the influence of alcohol but also the drowsiness.

That meant she was in a foggy state, so by that point, it seemed more unusual for her to remember everything that had happened throughout the night.

Before I could fully process this thought, the Senior’s next words confirmed that my expectations were right.

“Um… about last night… Did I do something strange…?”

Last night, and something strange.

The mere use of those two words was enough to prove that the Senior didn’t remember anything from the previous night.

After all, if she had retained even a little bit of what happened last night, she wouldn’t be here asking such questions.

Given the situation, I couldn’t help but feel troubled.

It felt like two clear choices were shoved right in front of me.

Should I just overlook what happened last night, or should I honestly tell the Senior what really went down?

Those two choices kept flashing in front of me.

So I had to think hard about it.

Choosing either side was difficult since both had their pros and cons.

For that reason, I stayed silent for a moment, but it seemed like the Senior was interpreting my silence in a different way as she waited eagerly for my answer.

“So, um… it’s not strange or anything… It’s just that… when I woke up in the morning, it wasn’t my room but Dogun’s room…”

“Ah…”

Now that I thought about it, that was probably the case.

I had been so disoriented since morning that I hadn’t even considered that aspect.

Thus, even if I chose to brush it under the rug, it seemed I couldn’t just ignore it entirely.

Otherwise, I would leave an awkward tension between us.

“So… I just wanted to know how that happened…”

And the moment those words rolled out of the Senior’s mouth, I finally solidified my decision.

I could now decide which of the two choices shoved in front of me to choose.

“Um…”

As if unsure how to explain, I purposely made that sound, moving my hand that had been resting on my cheek to scratch it as part of my preparation.

“It wasn’t really anything big, but…”

“Still…”

“It seems like you might have just mistaken the room layout because you’re not familiar with the house yet.”

With that brief statement, was it enough for her to grasp what had roughly happened?

The Senior’s mouth opened slightly in an adorable round shape.

It was a reaction I hadn’t seen from her before, and I nearly let out a chuckle, but I held back and continued with what I was saying.

“I was honestly a bit surprised when you entered so suddenly, but I hadn’t fallen asleep yet, so I just let you pass and went downstairs to sleep.”

The moment my testimony ended, the Senior unwittingly morphed into a rogue who barged into her underclassman’s room and stole the bed, but knowing the truth, that seemed preferable in my eyes.

Of course, that was just my opinion, and the Senior seemed to think differently.

She probably never expected that the version of herself in a non-existent memory would act so wildly.

After hearing the circumstances from me, the Senior didn’t know how to respond, feeling terribly sorry.

It was also my responsibility to soothe her down.

“Honestly, there was nothing else, so you don’t have to feel so guilty about it.”

“But…”

“It wasn’t intentional; it was due to the alcohol. As long as it doesn’t happen again next time, that’s all that matters, right?”

When I asked for her agreement, perhaps she wasn’t too confident.

With a rather awkward expression, the Senior nodded her head.

And I thought that would be the end of it.

So, when the Senior offered to help clean up, I declined and sent her on her way, but little did I know.

That wasn’t the end—it was just the beginning.

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Baeksulhwa’s Perspective

I cautiously climbed the stairs to return to my room.

After putting some distance between me and Dogun, I finally exhaled a sigh of relief.

“Huff…”

As I sighed in relief, only one thought popped into my head.

‘Thank goodness…’

Nothing really happened.

From the perspective of someone who was worried that I might have drunkenly made a scene in Dogun’s room, it was such a relief that everything was fine.

Of course… When I first heard those words from Dogun, I had brief doubts.

I wondered if it really made sense logically.

So, there was a fleeting thought that maybe Dogun was lying just to avoid embarrassing me.

Of course, that thought didn’t last long.

After all, Dogun had no real reason to do that.

Besides, I couldn’t find anything awkward about Dogun’s expression while he was talking.

So, according to Dogun, nothing really happened.

I nodded my head in agreement with that conclusion as I was halfway up the stairs.

Suddenly, a question popped into my head, gripping my ankle just as I was about to step on the ground.

‘Wait a minute…’

Assuming Dogun was right about nothing happening at night.

Then why were my lips swollen when I woke up in the morning?

Could it be because I drank?

‘No.’

That didn’t feel right.

When I recalled the sensations from my lips at that time, they felt rough as if they had been scraped against something.

So, did I sleep on my stomach?

Did I scrape my lips against something while sleeping that way?

That could be a possibility, but… looking around, there were only soft-looking things nearby.

Even if I rubbed against them a hundred or a thousand times, it wouldn’t turn out that rough, would it?

So, what could it be?

What caused my lips to end up like that?

The question lingered in my mind even after I returned to my room.

‘Hmm…’

And I guess that was when it happened.

An image that seemed unrelated to what was going on popped into my head.

What should I say?

The image that popped into my head was none other than Dogun’s face.

More precisely, it was Dogun’s face from our conversation in the kitchen earlier.

And saying this now, but I don’t think I’ve ever stared at someone else’s lips as intensely as I did then.

Was that why?

In that mental image of Dogun, his lips stood out remarkably.

Thanks to that, my face flushed.

The image dawning on me made it seem like I had been looking at Dogun’s lips for something other than just staring at them.

As I became overwhelmed with embarrassment, my mind continued to conjure up images of Dogun’s lips—

‘…Huh?’

At some point, I realized.

That something was off.

So, what’s so off about it? It was swelling.

In other words… Dogun’s lips were also swollen.

And not just swollen, but they looked like they’d also be rough to the touch.

‘Just like…’

Just as mine had been when I woke up.

‘…!’

The moment I realized that, questions followed naturally.

Could this really be a coincidence?

Were our lips, both in distinct conditions, just a matter of random chance?

Could it really be true that, as Dogun said, nothing happened at all?

And the more I mulled over that question, the hotter my face felt.

Just like when I tasted alcohol for the first time yesterday.