Everything was a blur of soft neon and the warm haze of soju. I vaguely remembered wagging my finger at Seo Ji Hoon's face and saying something dramatic like—
"You should smile more. You're ruining your own boyfriend potential."
The next moment, I lost balance and fell forward. Thankfully—or maybe not—Seo Ji Hoon caught me by the arm before I faceplanted into the sidewalk.
"Aish, you can't even stand properly," he muttered, attempting to steady me. "How many bottles did you drink?"
"Only two! I counted! I can count!" I declared proudly.
He gave me a look. That unreadable, always-slightly-irritated look. "You're barely five feet tall. Two bottles for you is like… suicide."
"I'm five-four, thank you very much," I mumbled. "With heels."
Then I promptly leaned my entire body weight against him.
To his credit, he didn't let me fall. But he definitely froze like I'd activated a fire drill in his brain. Poor guy. Probably wasn't used to having a woman draped on him like a designer coat.
"Okay, okay. Let's get you home—wait, where do you even live?"
"Secret," I sang, poking his cheek. "Very classified."
"You can't even walk. You expect me to—"
And then—
"Miss Ah Ra!"
A stern, breathless voice cut through the air like a guillotine.
Ji Hoon immediately stepped back. I nearly collapsed if not for the hands that caught me from behind—large, firm, and instantly familiar.
I blinked up at the face of Kang Do Gyu, my ever-loyal bodyguard-slash-shadow-slash-professional scowler.
"Wh-what are you doing here?!" I slurred.
Before Do Gyu could answer, Ji Hoon stepped forward with narrowed eyes.
"Who are you?" he asked sharply.
Do Gyu looked at me, then at him, then back at me. "…Her guardian."
Ji Hoon immediately inserted himself between us. "Guardian? You were following her?"
Oh no.
Not this.
"This is exactly how stalker cases start," Ji Hoon said, chest puffed up and eyes blazing. "You wait until she's drunk, then swoop in—"
"What?!" I yelped. "No, no, no! He's not—he's not a stalker!"
"Step back from her," Ji Hoon warned Do Gyu, looking ready to square up. "I'm calling the police."
"Aish! Everyone, stop!" I cried, flailing in the middle like an inflatable noodle man.
Do Gyu raised his eyebrows silently. Ji Hoon looked like he was one syllable away from fighting.
My brain—despite being half-pickled in soju—frantically searched for a believable lie.
"He's my cousin!" I blurted out.
Both men froze.
"…Your cousin?" Ji Hoon repeated skeptically.
"Y-yeah. From Busan. Very… protective. He's also… a bit dramatic. You know… family stuff," I added weakly, giving Do Gyu a pleading glance.
To his credit, he bowed stiffly. "Yes. I apologize for causing concern. I'm just… concerned about my cousin."
"She didn't text anyone all night," he added smoothly. "Her parents are… strict."
Oh. Oh! Not bad. I could work with that.
Ji Hoon visibly relaxed a little. "You should've led with that."
Do Gyu stepped forward, careful not to touch me this time. "I'll take her home."
Ji Hoon still looked unsure, but stepped aside slowly. "You sure you're okay?"
"I'm great," I lied. "I'm peachy. I'm so peachy I could be a fruit salad."
Ji Hoon's expression twitched. Was that… almost a smile?
Do Gyu offered his arm. "Let's go, cousin."
I nodded weakly and leaned on him, avoiding Ji Hoon's gaze entirely.
The moment we were several steps away, I hissed through my teeth. "Oppa, you were supposed to be invisible! What if you ruined everything?!"
"I was instructed not to let you pass out on the street," he replied coolly. "Chairman's orders."
Ugh. Appa.
I groaned and slumped into the car once we reached the black SUV parked nearby. The tinted windows, the faint scent of leather—it was like stepping into a different universe. A universe where I wasn't pretending to be Ah Ra, normal business student with zero fashion sense and a fake cousin from Busan.
Back to being Yoon Chae Ah—the girl with too many black cards and too many secrets.
As the car pulled away, I peeked out of the window. Seo Ji Hoon was still standing there, watching.
He looked thoughtful.
Or maybe just confused.
Or maybe judging me for having a 'cousin' who looked like he could snap necks as a hobby.
Either way, I was officially mortified.
—
The next morning was a disaster.
I woke up with my face in a pillow, my hair tangled like ramen noodles, and my soul somewhere between the 4th and 5th layer of shame.
"Oh my god," I whispered, recalling bits and pieces of last night. "Did I tell him to smile more? Did I poke his cheek? Did I call Kang Do Gyu my cousin from Busan?!"
I flopped back down and screamed into the pillow.
No response. Not even from my phone.
Wait—
I grabbed it off my nightstand. Two notifications in the class group chat. Someone had posted photos from last night's dinner. Thankfully, no one had captured my drunken dance moves or the part where I interrogated a trash can thinking it was a person.
Someone had commented:
"Ah Ra-ssi, are you okay? You were so cute when you were drunk ㅋㅋㅋ"
Another:
"Seo Yoon and Ah Ra… visual queens 👑"
I blinked.
Wait. Was I… trending?
I scrolled down and saw someone had uploaded a selfie of the group, and there I was—red-cheeked, tipsy, and smiling next to Seo Yoon. She, of course, looked like a dainty fairy goddess in her yellow cardigan.
But somehow… I didn't look half bad either.
"Huh," I whispered. "Maybe acting normal is working?"
My phone buzzed again.
Seo Yoon 💗: "Unnie, you were hilarious last night ㅋㅋㅋ Let's sit together next week?"
I smiled.
Sure, I'd nearly outed myself, insulted a guy who probably carried this university's GPA average, and lied about a trained bodyguard being my cousin from Busan—but…
I'd also made a friend.
And maybe, just maybe… I'd caught the attention of someone who never smiled.