Chapter 1
Even after the intensely wet s*x, sleep wouldn’t come.
It was Juyeon’s chronic insomnia. An ailment that no matter what she did, she just couldn’t fix.
The nights she spent wide awake felt like a punishment. Sometimes she thought she deserved it. If there was a God in this world, they would want to give a sinner like her some kind of punishment.
Maybe having her sleep taken away was a merciful act.
The man next to her, whom she had met for the first time today, was sleeping with his back turned to her, oblivious to the world. Juyeon sat on the still-damp sheets, smoking one cigarette after another. The smoke momentarily blocked the blue light of her smartphone that was seeping onto her face.
The features revealed in the darkness were ordinary. A deep scar running across his right eye was perhaps his only distinguishing feature.
What was more impressive than that was her colorless expression.
It wasn’t a face a woman her age should have. It was a look that would only be permitted to an old woman who had weathered harsh storms and had been gifted, or cursed, with boredom.
Her expression was so indifferent it looked as strong as a glacier that would not break no matter how hot the world got.
But the moment the smoke from another exhale cleared, Juyeon’s solid expression twisted.
“Ha, what the f**k.”
Her hand gripped her smartphone tightly. Juyeon then threw the phone. With a jarring crash, the smartphone slammed into the wall. The sleeping man slowly turned over.
“Umm… noona? What’s wrong?” (t/n: ‘noona’ is a Korean term a younger male uses to address an older sister or older female he’s close to)
“Ah… this is the ending? Are you f*****g kidding me?”
“Noona, are you smoking? I told you not to smoke while I’m with you. I don’t like the smell…….”
“Hey.”
Juyeon’s already low voice sank even deeper. A coldness settled on her indifferent face.
No, it was bloodlust. At least, that’s what the man felt.
The light brown-haired man with a tear mole flinched. He was so scared he cursed to himself.
“Get lost and stop making noise.”
“…….”
“Don’t you get it? I’m done with you. Do I need to kick you out the door?”
“Ah, no! S-sorry. I’ll go!”
The man got up in a hurry. His body, not covered by even underwear, was bruised and stained from their hot session. He looked as if he’d been torn apart.
The man who had barely managed to put his panties on gathered the rest of his clothes and opened the door. He hesitated, glancing back to see if he should say goodbye.
Juyeon was still leaning against the headboard, smoking.
From a distance, she looked like an ordinary woman, but in fact, this woman was the boss of a criminal organization that had its hands in Korea, China, and even Singapore.
“Just a moment.”
Suddenly, the door was flung open. Along with a soft voice asking for his understanding, a lanky man, a head taller than him, entered.
The hesitating man was involuntarily pushed outside. At the same time, the door closed. The newly arrived man had a pitch-black shirt buttoned all the way up to his neck. His face with the tear mole was very boyish.
He resembled the man who had just been with Juyeon. The tear mole under his eye, his boyish look, and even his light hair color. He looked so much like the man who had just left that one could believe he was his superior version.
Juyeon’s demeanor also noticeably changed when she saw him.
“Ryang.”
“Yes, Boss.”
It was a voice distinctly different from the one she used with the man on the bed. Cheong-ryang smiled, looking satisfied.
“What were you doing until this hour?”
“My hobbies.”
“What hobbies?”
The smell of smoke was strong. Juyeon ground out her cigarette in the ashtray on the side table and threw off the covers. Her solid arm muscles bulged as she pushed open the large window.
Then, she turned and sat on the windowsill, nodding her head.
“Come here.”
Along with the cool air from outside, Cheong-ryang approached.
Cheong-ryang.
Even after ten years, that child was still the same. He was just as pure and beautiful as the day she first saw him.
From up close, the two of them exchanged looks without touching. Juyeon was only in her underwear without even her pants on, yet there was no s****l tension between them.
No, maybe they were desperately trying to prevent it.
“Were you outside?”
“Strictly speaking, I was indoors.”
“Is the hobby a secret?”
“I’ve also reached the age to have hobbies like that, haven’t I?”
“Ha, getting cheeky.”
Even as she said that, Juyeon didn’t look annoyed at all.
Her face was distinctly different from when she was dealing with the nameless man she had just slept with. A faint warmth was even mixed with her cold expression.
“Did you throw it again?”
Cheong-ryang motioned with his eyes. It was the smashed smartphone that Juyeon had thrown.
“I shouldn’t have read that novel you showed me to the end.”
“Why, because the female protagonist was stupid until the very end?”
“Yes. If it were me, I would never have lived like that.”
Casual s*x, alcohol, and all sorts of bad things.
Among the hobbies Juyeon had to slowly destroy her life, the most wholesome was the web novel Cheong-ryang had recommended.
The female protagonist was frustratingly naive, but the story was somehow compelling enough to make her purchase the next chapter. Juyeon had been reading the series in real-time for the first time in her life, and she had just finished the final chapter.
Of course, thanks to the ridiculous ending, her mood had seriously soured.
“If it were me, I would have trampled them all.”
“Like how you paid back the former boss and took this organization?”
“Yeah.”
“I knew it.”
“…You knew it?”
Cheong-ryang smiled with a face that held no meaning.
It was at that moment.
Bang!
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