This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 265

Chae-rim’s Perspective

The moment I stepped into the hotel room, I let out a small sigh as I looked at the items that had arrived, seemingly waiting for me.

It’s simple to understand why.

After all, I didn’t need to ask who had requested such things from the hotel.

It was undoubtedly something that the careless Jain had sent.

How could I be so sure?

Well, this happened every time.

Whenever it was a day filled with emotional turmoil, Jain would inevitably send over food or alcohol as an apology.

It was a bit of a headache, to be honest.

If she had just kept being lazy, I could’ve concluded early on that “this is just her nature, it’s best to cut her off.”

But every time something went wrong, she always came forward to apologize, making it awkward for me to do so.

If it was going to be like this every time, she might as well have just lounged around.

Why does she even do this?

Despite all this, there was a slight relief in the presence of wine.

After all, I had just walked back from the beach barefoot and in slippers, making a shower quite necessary.

However, the way the bathroom looked made me hesitate to step inside.

The bathroom walls were made of glass, though it was frosted so it didn’t show anything. Yet, it was hard not to be conscious of it.

Given how much I had on my plate today, it was natural for me to feel this way.

But what if I used the power of alcohol?

Maybe it wouldn’t bother me as much.

“Perfect timing. Aren’t you hungry?”

Saying that, I casually sat on the sofa.

Since we hadn’t had dinner yet, I thought I might fill up with the delivered snacks while also enjoying a bit of the alcohol, but the reaction I got was slightly flustered.

“Um… did you order this, noona?”

The cautious question that followed the surprised response made me realize why Dogun seemed so on edge.

“Oh, um, no…! This is, uh…”

From Dogun’s perspective, it was perfectly understandable.

The spread on the table obviously looked like something couples who were madly in love would eat before spending a cozy night together.

Just looking at the snacks gave off that vibe, and it wasn’t even soju or beer; we had wine to boot… it would be weird if he didn’t think that way.

Given how naturally I acted in front of all this, it was no wonder Dogun was misunderstanding.

“That was ordered by that… Sprinter we saw earlier.”

“…that person?”

Perhaps he couldn’t believe that the one who seemed desperate to catch me at the event had sent such items.

Thanks to that, I had to sweat a little to convince a skeptical Dogun.

“…I see.”

“Y-Yeah, that’s right. I prefer beer over wine anyway…”

“Still, maybe it’s best to check that it’s actually safe before we eat.”

Checking it wasn’t hard, and Dogun had a point, so I quickly checked.

After confirming that it didn’t seem problematic, what came next?

We immediately began our late dinner together.

As we sipped the wine, the real reason I had wanted it slowly started to kick in, and I felt the alcohol working.

Was it because it wasn’t the beer I usually enjoyed, but wine instead?

But had I really only had three glasses?

It didn’t seem like that much, but I felt like I was getting tipsy faster than usual.

Maybe it was just my imagination, but that’s how it felt.

‘The taste is… not bad…’

Could it be a ridiculously expensive wine?

Considering the price range of the things Jain had sent in similar situations, it seemed likely.

Anyway, one thing was for sure: it went down surprisingly well.

So even though I thought I should consider stopping, I kept sipping from my glass.

Was Dogun intrigued by me?

He took a piece of steak, chewed, and swallowed before tentatively asking, “Is it good?”

“Hmm? This?”

“Yes.”

“Um… if you’re curious, do you want to take a sip?”

“…Me too?”

“Just one glass should be alright, right?”

Even though Dogun usually showed an unusually mature demeanor, he couldn’t resist this temptation, just like any other kid his age.

After hesitating for a moment, he awkwardly smiled and nodded.

“Well, just one glass…”

As I poured wine into his glass, I thought maybe Dogun was weaker against temptation than he appeared.

And perhaps the word ‘temptation’ triggered something in me.

The memory of what I had seen at the event began to replay in my head.

In other words… Dogun’s flustered face when he was cornered by Jain.

If only Dogun had firmly rejected Jain’s hand that was caressing his thigh back then, what would have happened now?

Was it because I imagined that moment?

The scene of Jain’s hand on Dogun’s thigh was stuck on repeat in my mind.

‘If only…’

If only Dogun had firmly pushed her away back then, things would’ve been so much better.

Had he perhaps been frozen in confusion?

That was quite possible… but what if he hadn’t?

What if, seeing that hand, Dogun’s suppressed instincts came bubbling to the surface?

From then on, would there be any guarantees that similar things wouldn’t happen again?

And it was fortunate that it was Jain; if a Villain disguised as an ordinary person or someone related to them found Dogun’s weakness and intentionally tempted him, what then?

Honestly, given how he had acted so far, I didn’t think he would, but what if in a moment of weakness he couldn’t resist that temptation?

Was I just overthinking, spiraling into negativity?

Or was it because of everything that had occurred today?

I began to worry inexplicably, and concerns started troubling me.

What if such a thing really did happen?

Seeing how he was willing to lie to avoid such situations, it seemed he had indeed been enduring a lot…

Wasn’t it dangerous to ask him to endure any more?

It was such a strange thing, or rather, a bizarre one.

I was continually sipping wine, yet I felt unusually parched.

The more I thought, the worse it got.

Honestly, if I could, I wanted to give Dogun the time and space he needed to deal with it himself.

However, I didn’t take action on that because I felt it would backfire.

If that approach didn’t work, then what should I do?

How could I alleviate even a fraction of the stress Dogun could still be feeling in this very moment?

‘I was told to just trust him, but…’

Now that it had come to this, I felt I had become someone purely offering empty reassurances, which I loathed.

‘If only…’

If there was something I could actually help with… then my heart wouldn’t feel so constricted.

I wanted to provide some sort of support, but with no way to do that, all I felt was frustration.

If only Jain were here instead, would anything have changed?

Perhaps it might have.

After all, Jain had experience handling situations like this.

So maybe she could’ve resolved everything without even having to think about it?

That said, I had no intention of handing Dogun over to her.

Jain might have claimed that Dogun was her type, but I knew that wasn’t sincere.

Of course, it was true that Dogun was handsome enough to make even Jain second guess, but… I didn’t want that.

So what should I do?

At the moment my thoughts reached that point, someone in my mind conjured up a scenario that made my already warm face heat up even more due to the effect of the alcohol.

From then on… I couldn’t remember what in the world I was thinking when I acted like that.

It was probably… the wine that did this to me.

“Um… you know…”

“Yes…?”

“Uh, are you… having a hard time…?”

Could he not understand what I meant?

Watching Dogun’s bewildered expression made me hesitate before cautiously speaking up.

“Y-You know, this… Sexual desire…”

“…!”

“If it’s difficult… d-do you want me to help a bit…?”