The next morning, Ga-young sluggishly woke up to her alarm, her head pounding like a drum. Nothing made sense. She could barely lift herself from the bed.
"My head hurts…" she groaned, pressing her temples. "What happened? How did I end up like this?"
Then—like lightning—memories began flashing through her mind.
"I miss you."
Her eyes snapped open. "No."
Another flash.
"I can't live like that."
She sat up straight. "No, no, no—"
And then the last one hit, hot and sharp like steam against her face.
"I love you!"
She screamed, clutching her head. "No! That's impossible!"
"Seems you did a lot when you were drunk," Mrs. Choi said dryly as she walked into the room.
"Mom!" Ga-young jumped up, rushing toward her. "How did I get home yesterday?" she asked, panic flickering across her face.
Mrs. Choi crossed her arms. "My daughter came home drunk in a man's arms last night. I'm so proud," she said sarcastically.
"Mom!" Ga-young whined, holding her forehead. "I'm already going through a major crisis—don't make it worse!"
"You don't remember anything?" Mrs. Choi asked.
"I just remember drinking… then I passed out… and after that, I thought I was dreaming," Ga-young said, trying to piece things together.
Mrs. Choi sighed. "Well, it couldn't have been that bad. At least you didn't propose to anyone."
Ga-young froze.
Mrs. Choi tilted her head. "You didn't, did you?" she asked suspiciously.
Ga-young slumped onto her bed, covering her face with both hands.
"I told you to stop drinking so much," Mrs. Choi said, rolling her eyes.
Just then, Ga-young's phone buzzed. She peeked at the screen, and her soul nearly left her body.
Min-jae.
"This can't be happening ?!" she whisper-yelled.
"Give it," Mrs. Choi said calmly, extending her hand.
"What are you going to say?" Ga-young asked, horrified.
"Just give it," her mother repeated.
Ga-young reluctantly handed it over, mouthing a silent don't ruin my life.
Mrs. Choi answered sweetly, "Hello?"
"Mrs. Choi?" came Min-jae's polite tone. "Good morning, ma'am."
"Good morning! Ga-young isn't up yet—she drank a bit too much yesterday," Mrs. Choi said, smiling.
"Mom, stop!" Ga-young mouthed, flailing her arms.
Ignoring her, Mrs. Choi continued, "I hope she didn't do anything weird. She tends to get a little… dramatic when she's drunk."
"Mom!" Ga-young whisper-screamed.
"Oh, she once proposed to me," Mrs. Choi added casually. "And to her friend Ji-hye too. She's consistent like that."
Ga-young let out a muffled scream and buried her face in her pillow.
On the other end, Min-jae chuckled softly. "You don't have to worry, ma'am. She didn't do anything weird."
"Really? That's a relief," Mrs. Choi said, sounding pleased. "Do you have any message for her?"
"Yes. Please tell her to send me the list of all the projects handled by K&H Cosmetics and Fashion," he replied.
"Got it. I'll tell her once she's up," Mrs. Choi said cheerfully.
"Thank you, ma'am."
"You're welcome," she said, then hung up.
Ga-young slowly raised her head from the pillow, her expression blank. "You've killed me."
Mrs. Choi waved her off. "Relax, he said you didn't do anything weird."
"That's what makes it worse!" Ga-young groaned, dragging herself out of bed. "He's being polite! He's definitely judging me!"
She stumbled toward the bathroom, muttering, "I need to disappear. Maybe fake my death."
"Take a shower first," Mrs. Choi said, amused. "Then fake your death."
Ga-young slammed the bathroom door shut with a defeated sigh.
---
Later that afternoon, Ga-young sat at her desk, clutching her phone like it was a ticking bomb. She muttered a few half-serious prayers before finally opening her chat with Min-jae.
She had never texted him before. Not once.
He'd never texted her either—unless you counted that fake one Ye-seul sent to mess with her.
Her thumb hovered over the keyboard. She exhaled dramatically and began to type:
"Sorry if I did or said anything weird last night. I was…"
She stared at it for a second, then groaned and deleted the whole thing.
"That's terrible," she muttered. "He knows I was drunk. I can't just say that!"
She tried again.
"Did anything happen last night?"
Her eyes widened immediately. "Too direct! Way too direct!" she hissed, deleting that too.
Before she could come up with a third disaster, her phone buzzed.
A new message.
Min-jae.
Her heart stopped.
"You left your keys in my car. It seems important. I'll drop them off since I'm heading that way."
Ga-young shot up from her chair. "No way. No way! He can't come here—I can't even look at him right now!"
She began typing frantically:
"No! Sir, it's fine. I'm not at home currently."
The reply came almost instantly.
"Then I'll drop it with your mom."
"Noooo!" she cried, pacing in circles.
Her thumbs flew across the screen.
"It's really not that urgent, sir. I'll get it tomorrow at work."
This time, she bit her nails, staring at the three dancing dots of his typing bubble like they held her fate.
Then—
"If you insist."
Ga-young exhaled in relief, collapsing back into her chair. "One problem down," she mumbled. "Now how do I face him tomorrow? What if things are weird? What if he remembers something?"
She flung her legs in the air, groaning. "Why did you drink so much, you idiot!"
Silence.
Then her eyes drifted to the ceiling.
"But wait…" she said slowly. "He didn't mention anything about last night. Maybe nothing happened. Maybe it really was a dream."
A hopeful smile crept onto her lips—then vanished just as quickly.
"Or…" she whispered, eyes narrowing suspiciously, "he's just pretending to forget so I won't feel embarrassed."
Her smile dropped completely. She slumped face-first into her pillow with a muffled groan.
"I'm so dead."