Jiwon immediately drove to the villa.

Arriving in front of the villa, Ina felt nauseous, probably from the alcohol finally hitting her.

However, she was more concerned about Jiwon, who had seemed in a bad mood since earlier.

Ina unfastened her seat belt and glanced at Jiwon.

His expression, as he looked straight ahead, seemed inexplicably cold.

Ina hesitated to greet Jiwon, not knowing what to say, but then Jiwon called her name.

“Ina.”

“Huh?”

Startled, Ina responded.

“What did you mean by that earlier?”

“What? What are you talking about?”

Ina stumbled over her words, and Jiwon, gazing intently at her, asked,

“When you said, ‘Today, I’ll go with Jiwon.’ What did that mean?”

“Uh…?”

Ina blinked, unable to grasp why Jiwon was bringing up her words from the bar to Siwoo.

“Does that mean today you’re going with me, and next time with Kim Siwoo?”

Ina’s eyes froze for a moment before widening in shock.

She stared at Jiwon, surprised not just by his cold reference to Siwoo but also by the jealous undertone in his voice.

As Jiwon waited for an answer with an expectant look, Ina gulped.

“No, I didn’t mean it like that… It was just… just that I wanted to go with you.”

Ina fidgeted with her fingers as she spoke.

“For the future too?”

“Huh?”

Jiwon leaned back against the steering wheel, looking at Ina.

“So, you mean, if you get drunk again, I should take you home?”

Ina hesitated to respond, and Jiwon sighed shortly before saying,

“Of course, it’d be better if you didn’t drink to the point of getting drunk. But I understand that sometimes you want to. However…”

Jiwon paused, then took his hands off the steering wheel and said to Ina,

“Remember, no matter how close the friend, all men in this world are wolves.”

Ina’s throat tightened at Jiwon’s serious tone.

She looked down, fidgeting with her lips, and whispered,

“Are, are you the same?”

At her question, Jiwon stared at her with his dark eyes.

“I’m not an exception. I’m a man too.”

His heart-pounding words made Ina’s heart race as she looked into his eyes.

Turning her head to face the front, her heart pounded louder.

Worried that Jiwon might notice her racing heart, Ina quickly grabbed her handbag.

“I’ll go in now.”

“Are you free next Wednesday?”

Just as Ina was about to open the car door, Jiwon asked.

“Huh?”

“I’ll be busy with work for about a week. I think I’ll be free next Wednesday. If you’re available, would you like to have dinner?”

“Uh, sure. Let’s do that.”

“Alright. Then go inside. Make sure to drink the hangover cure before you sleep.”

“Thanks. I’ll see you… Wednesday.”

Jiwon smiled and nodded.

Ina returned an awkward smile, quickly opened the car door, and got out.

After waving once more to Jiwon, she hurried into the villa.

A moment later, Ina entered the front door, threw her handbag on the floor, and collapsed onto the sofa. Despite the throbbing headache from the hangover, her heart continued to pound foolishly.

She ran her hands through her hair.

“Ah…”

After a long sigh and ruffling her hair, Ina lowered her hands.
With her hair tousled like a lion’s mane, Ina sank into thought.

The unfamiliar feelings she had felt towards Jiwon these past few days, his inexplicable behavior towards her, and especially that cold look in his eyes when he came to pick her up after she was drunk…

Recalling Jiwon’s gaze, Ina gulped.

Could it really be like Hyunju said, that Jiwon might have feelings for her?

Unable to finish the thought, Ina covered her flushed cheeks with both hands.

Feeling the warmth on her cheeks, Ina thought she might not be able to fall asleep easily tonight.

The next day, Ina woke up with a throbbing headache, but thanks to the hangover remedy Jiwon had given her, it wasn’t too bad.

She got up from the bed, quickly washed up, and started getting ready for work.

Normally, she would have a light breakfast, but she didn’t feel like eating anything that morning.

As Ina was about to drink water, her phone rang.

It was Siwoo.

Why was Siwoo calling this early?

Ina put down the glass and answered the call.

“Hello?”

[Text] Hey, Ina. Did you get home okay last night?

“Oh? Yeah, I got home fine.”

[Text] Good. I was a bit worried since you didn’t contact me.

“Ah, sorry. I completely forgot. I went to sleep right away because my head hurt.”

[Text] Really? How are you feeling now? Still hurting a lot?

“No, I’m okay now. I took a hangover cure and went to bed.”

[Text] That’s good then.

There was a brief pause before Siwoo spoke again.

[Text] Ina, do you have any plans for Saturday?

“Saturday? I’m free on Saturday. Why?”

[Text] Do you want to go see a movie with me?

“A movie?”

[Text] Yeah. We talked about watching a movie together before, remember?

“Oh… right.”

[Text] There’s a movie that just came out that I really want to see.

“What movie is it?”

Siwoo told her the title, and Ina blinked.

It was a romance film currently topping the box office in the U.S., which she had seen previews for on TV.

“Oh… a romance movie?”