Chapter : 02
Stay With Me Just for Today
I never imagined I’d hear something like that from a stranger.
“Please stay with me just for today.”
I doubted the words she spoke without looking away.
For a woman trying to seduce someone, her face was far too naĂŻve. I stared at her, checking if she was really the same woman who had fled the bar just moments earlier. Kang-woo frowned again when her lips repeated the same clear request.
“Please… stay with me tonight.”
Her mind made up, she bit her red lips. His eyes drifted to the way her plump lips were crushed beneath her teeth.
Fatigue washed over Kang-woo, and he wanted to end this ridiculous situation as quickly as possible, so he forced himself to ask a question.
“Do you even know who I am?”
Surprised, her disappointment showed plainly in her eyes.
“…No.”
“Then let’s pretend you didn’t ask.”
He had no desire to get dragged into something this absurd. He turned away and took a few steps as if nothing had happened.
But unexpectedly, she grabbed his arm—boldly enough to stop him in his tracks. Along that touch, a tingling sensation travelled up his arm.
“Just today. You can think of it as charity.”
“…”
Kang-woo’s brows knit as though scolding her. She seemed as startled and uncomfortable as he was.
Why?
Her expression stayed calm, but the hand gripping his arm felt desperate. Every time their eyes met, she skimmed his face with a wistful gaze. It was odd how much that look got under his skin.
“Men think one-night stands with women are no big deal, don’t they?”
The extra sentence shattered Kang-woo’s reason.
Bold words for someone rolling her eyes like that. Her voice was composed, but her gaze betrayed her.
She was trying to convince him that doing her this favor wasn’t a big deal for a man. Yet it felt too clumsy to label her a gold-digging temptress. And too desperate not to notice.
He examined her carefully.
Just a pretty, gentle face—common among East Asian women.
She looked exactly like the stereotype his foreign friends in New York had of East Asian women.
Her appearance wasn’t his taste, nor particularly striking—making her words and actions seem even more jarring.
But something burned in him at the thought that someone had filled this innocent-looking woman’s head with garbage about men.
“Who told you that?”
“…Sorry?”
“Who said a man turns into a horny mutt the moment a woman’s around?”
“…”
He said it like nothing, but his tone was unmistakably Kang-woo.
Calm words—yet ridiculous all the same.
Why was he getting angry?
Her face flushed briefly, but she didn’t avoid his eyes.
“Hah…”
Kang-woo grimaced.
He wasn’t even having a sexual conversation, yet his body reacted.
He didn’t know why she was desperately clinging to him, and that made it more suffocating.
He was annoyed that he was reacting at all.
Talking to her, he was the mutt she’d been told about.
The hallway outside the bar was quiet this late at night, amplifying even tiny sounds.
Just then, Jin-ho appeared, having gone to look for him.
“What’s taking you so long?”
Jin-ho’s gaze drilled into Kang-woo’s face, then shifted oddly to the woman gripping his arm. Chaekyung didn’t spare Jin-ho a glance—just looked at Kang-woo as if asking with her face:
Who’s this guy?
There was no explaining a woman he didn’t know himself.
Ignoring Jin-ho’s unspoken question, Kang-woo asked:
“Where’s Elliott?”
“He’s in great spirits. Looks like the project’s solid. He even asked about another one—”
Kang-woo cut him off.
“Later.”
“Got it. Are you coming back in?”
Jin-ho side-eyed Chaekyung.
A gesture that silently asked, With her?
Kang-woo glanced down at the hand clutching his arm.
He sighed despite himself.
“Elliott is yours, Director Kim. Tell him something came up and I had to step out.”
He used that clipped, businesslike tone that meant drop it.
Jin-ho understood immediately.
“Yes, sir.”
“I’ll be at the hotel. Call if you need me.”
“No need! I’ll finish up.”
“…”
Jin-ho vanished in a flash, certain Kang-woo was about to enjoy a good night.
Kang-woo found himself irritated—trapped by a stranger’s grip and his own uncharacteristic hesitation.
Looking at her face, he couldn’t quite bring himself to shake her off.
“Let go. I’m not leaving.”
He tried to sound civil but annoyance crept in. Probably no one else would have noticed—it still sounded calm. Finally, Chaekyung released him.
“With that face, I’m sure plenty of men would take you up on the offer. Find someone else.”
“It has to be you.”
She said it firmly, meeting his eyes.
Has to be me?
“Why? Why me?”
“That… I can’t tell you. But I promise I won’t bother you afterward. I won’t use this against you. You’ll never see me again. I swear.”
“…”
Her resolute expression made it even harder to understand. Kang-woo stared, frowning.
It has to be me—but she’ll never see me again afterward?
The contradiction pulled him into a maze.
He didn’t understand a thing she was saying—but the idea that it had to be Kang-woo prodded something reckless in him.
Curiosity is always dangerous.
Knowing that, he still couldn’t walk away—like a moth flying straight into flame.
It had been barely an hour since he entered the bar.
He’d planned on stepping away from business talk for thirty minutes to sip one whiskey.
But the unexpected shoved its way in.
He’d killed boredom by exchanging dry jokes with a woman who looked far from seductive. When she left first, he’d felt relieved.
Men like hyenas spot easy prey instantly.
Then he’d seen one grabbing her wrist.
Helping her had just been instinctive—a courtesy to someone in trouble.
He hadn’t expected it to snowball like this.
A moment stretched into forever.
He said nothing, she waited stubbornly.
Persuasion wouldn’t work on this woman. Maybe fear would. Maybe shocking her would make her drop this insane request.
Normally, he would have cut her off cold.
But he couldn’t make himself turn his back.
Since he couldn’t walk away easily, he forced her to reconsider.
“If I say yes—what do I get?”
“….”
“Why should I accept your proposal if I gain nothing?”
“My first time.”
“…”
The answer came without hesitation—stopping him cold.
Chaekyung’s face reddened, but she didn’t look away.
Embarrassed but steadfast—her actions and expressions flowed one after another.
But her resolve remained solid.
They stared at each other for a long time.
Her virginity meant nothing to him.
He wasn’t desperate enough to be swayed by something like that.
Logic said No.
His body said Yes.
It wasn’t the mood or the alcohol—it was her.
For the first time, he was drawn to a woman herself.
Reason said it was stupid.
But tonight, he chose to step outside his own rules.
Kang-woo stared at her, then seized her wrist.
They walked to the elevator.
She could have pulled away easily but never did.
Silence stretched as they waited.
Inside, he repeated:
I’m insane.
A one-night stand? At his age, long past naĂŻve first desire?
Kang-woo snorted softly.
He and the girl locked eyes, and she quickly looked away—so unlike when she’d proposed it.
You can’t even look at me and you asked me for that?
Absurd. But he wasn’t any saner for agreeing.
They walked the hallway and entered the room.
He stepped closer. She stepped back.
He stepped again and her back hit the door.
One hand braced against the door, he looked down at her.
He wondered, Why her?
He wanted to find out.
At this range, nothing could hide.
He saw every detail of her face.
She froze, swallowing.
Her tense eyes never left his.
Her shoulders trembled beneath her long hair.
“You sure you won’t regret this?”
His voice came out low and dark.
He felt he owed her at least that much warning.
“…Yes. I won’t.”
Her answer was firm.
In her clear, dark eyes—he saw himself.
A strange, almost feral desire rose in him.
He had never seen himself like this.
Facing his own hunger sharpened everything.
He frowned slightly.
“You chose this. Handle the consequences.”
His eyes dropped to her tightly pressed lips.
The longer he stared, the more his face lowered toward hers.
