“I like you…”

Yu-gyeom breathed heavily while kneeling in front of Hawon. His emotions overflowed as evidenced by the tears that slid down his cheeks leaving a wet trail. The eyes of the man looking down on him were deeper and darker than ever.

“I like you, Boss!”

Hawon’s fingers slowly combed through Yu-gyeom’s hair shining in the moonlight. Long fingers ran down the cheek that looked like it would burst if touched and lifted his chin. A tearful gaze met his eyes. Crystalline eyes that seemed they would shatter with a tinkling sound at the moment they met. Wrinkles formed on Hawon’s smooth forehead as he faced himself reflected on those eyes.

“Even though I know I shouldn’t do this… hyuuk!”

His lips were blocked from naming the emotions that had been denied, again and again, as a tearful cry leaked through the small gap between their fervent lips. Hawon roughly blocked his cry and pushed Yu-gyeom back. Further back.

“Ha…”

Leaning against the wall, the bodies tangled and writhed as if trying to inhale and swallow each other’s breath. The lips slowly parted with a breathless moan. Hawon’s gaze was still fixed on the lips glistening with saliva. In the darkness that filled the room, the man in Hawon’s arms shined provocatively.

“The first time, the first time I saw you–”

“…”

“I knew I would love you like this!”

Like a child’s clumsy confession, his words tickled Yugyeom’s ear.

“And when you pointed your gun at me I knew–”

Hawon tilted his head and smiled languidly as the two shadows overlapped again.

“That we would end like this.”

* * *

“Heeyuk…!”

The dream ended as if it was dragged out and evaporated into unconsciousness. Sunlight poured brightly on my heavy eyelids. Blinking my cloudy eyes a couple of times, my vision gradually became clearer. It didn’t take long for me to realize that this place, where I was lying, contained a large, luxurious bed that took up more than half the studio in which I had been living the last three years. At the end of my slowly moving gaze was the back of a hand with a needle inserted on it. Only then did some last memories come rushing in like a tide.

“Kiieeeeeh!”

“Milady? What’s happening?!”

“Who are you? Don’t say- is that a real gun?!”

“It’s dangerous, Milady! Get down from there!”

Memories from some kind of pandemonium. I covered my mouth before I could scream.

‘What kind of crazy shit did you do?’

To find the cause for this mess, I thought back to the day before opening my eyes in this bed. Twenty-five years old. After taking a mid-study break, I was about to graduate. That day too, I had spent the whole day busy with assignments, but I was able to fit in a run in the morning.

“Let’s drink and die! Cheers!!”

Frankly, I may have gone a bit too far. Seeing that my memory was hazy, it seemed that the video record of my night was cut halfway through. And when I woke up, like a Princess in a strange land, I was lying in this place I had never before seen.

Five times the size of my 9-pyeong* small but cosy home, the room around me was so spacious that it was difficult to even call it a ‘room.’ At first I thought it was a dream, then I considered human trafficking. But then I touched a vase, knocking it accidentally to the floor, where it smashed into pieces. But the moment when the vase I accidentally touched fell to the floor and shattered–

“Milady, what’s going on?!”

When I saw men with guns rush through the suddenly burst open door, I screamed.

“First, can you come down from there… Milady, Please!!!”

I think I stood on the windowsill, holding onto the lace curtain, crying and screaming for a long time. Brutal scenes from noir films flashed through my mind, and dozens of stories with black-suited men and guns unfolded. And then…

Why did I faint? I tilted my head forward and tried to wrest the most important part of the lost memory from my head, but I couldn’t remember anything else about the night before I passed out, much less that night when I partied like a wild thing. An important fact. I think I forgot something very important.

Knock, knock. Someone knocked. I quickly left the bed and headed toward the window where I had affectionately held my curtain while crying and shouting for my life.

“Heol~”

I had no intention of jumping. However, my heart skipped a beat upon noting the scenery outside the window that I had not seen before fainting. Beyond the large window where sunlight poured in, I could see the endless blue sea behind buildings with exotic structures. The sparkling jewel-like sea was a marvellous sight.

“The windows are locked.”

At that moment, I heard a strange voice. I felt as if my heart would sink. I didn’t realize that the knocking had stopped and the door was opened because I was blinded by the outside view. I turned in surprise and a man was standing behind me and looking at me with a weary expression. He wore a black suit like one of those men in my memories before fainting, though, perhaps because of his warm aura, he gave off a different atmosphere from the others.

“Who are you?”

I felt a sense of incongruence at the high pitched voice that came off as if screaming, but I was not relaxed enough to think about it at this point. Startled by my question, the man’s eyebrows furrowed, but he spoke calmly as if he quickly had realized something.

“You might not know, my name is Ji-Woon. Although, you may recognize me as the Boss’s secretary.”

Ji-Woon? Boss? What the– He spoke calmly as if stating something familiar, but five trillion question marks flashed through my head in an instant. I almost asked what kind of bullshit was that, but, fortunately, that thought remained unspoken. I stared blankly at the poised eyes watching me for a moment. He was patiently waiting for my response. And at that moment, a ridiculous idea flashed through my mind.

‘…It can’t be!’ I shook my head hard before even a second had passed of having such a ridiculous idea. ‘If I ever drink like this again, I’m certainly not human!’

It’s crazy. Just my imagination. However, as if I had found the missing piece of a puzzle, even though I knew it was utter nonsense, things that fitted this incomprehensible development began to come to mind. It was ridiculous. This… couldn’t be right.

“Ji-Woon, by any chance… are you good at shooting? Like, you pretend to be a smart secretary in charge of intelligence, but actually, you’re quite a frightening well-versed marksman.”

“What does that…”

The face of the man named Ji-Woon distorted greatly. His cool eyes convinced me that I would get hurt if I went any further.

“A bulletproof vest in your jacket.”

Nevertheless, once the idea was in my mind, the words that shouldn’t be said vomited from my mouth.

“And do you carry two guns?”

“Miss Yeonbyeol.”

I felt my face pale at the name that Ji-Woon uttered. Even if I didn’t hear any answers, his stiff face told me that it was all true. The man approached me hurriedly. Preoccupied with thoughts that threatened to make my head explode like a grenade, I didn’t even think about avoiding him.

“How did you know?”

It was only after a dark shade cast over my eyes that I realized he had come close enough for me to feel his breath. I lifted my head.

“My name is Yeonbyeol? Cha Yeonbyeol?”

“What the hell are you saying right now?”

Ji-Woon. Cha Yeonbyeol. And,

“Baek Hawon.”

It came to mind. Like a tsunami approaching land and sweeping away everything in its path. The memory of that night that I had forgotten. After returning home, I lay down in bed and looked for my cell phone. And like a habit, I went to the web novel page.

“Woah, really insane. Crazy…”

“No! Don’t die! How am I supposed to live if you die?!”

In the days of my misspent youth, I was half crazy about romance novels that were close to fantasy. I read, read again, and then I would take a break and binge read each all over again. It was the only joy in my life. Thus, I was reading that day as well.

“Milady? Where are you going now?!”

I forcibly ripped my IV off and ran from the room past Ji-Woon.

Baekcheon. On the surface, it was a financial company that entered Russia and Europe, mainly in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao, Singapore, and Taiwan, but the company with a size comparable to that of a large corporation was just a façade. In reality, from casinos to the drugs and guns trade, it was an organization established over several generations that held the backbone of the world in its fist. The main base was located on an island that didn’t even appear on maps. In the building called ‘Square,’ in the centre of the island, some executives and even the same Boss, Baek Hawon, lived there. Since there was too much-hidden information about the main structure of the building, it was quite difficult to understand it and enter without getting lost. It was the same for the original ‘Cha Yeonbyeol’ who was Baek Hawon’s sibling only in name, but I was different from her.

Check. You need to check and confirm it. I ran along several paths recalling the descriptions I had read in the novel. The marble floor glistened in the sunlight cascading through the tall stone pillars aping a Roman temple. My heart tightened as I walked down the hallway. It was just as I had imagined.

The Boss had two offices. One was the official office known to all, placed on the first floor; and the other was the place where he spent most of his time, a room known only to those whom Baek Hawon trusted the most, such as Ji-Woon.

“Miss!”

Ji-Woon shouted from behind, but I didn’t stop running. Drops of blood fell from the back of my still unhealed hand, staining the white marble scarlet.

《Black hair with a hint of blue reminiscent of a vast night sky. Black eyes deep as the abyss. A sharp nose, craggy like it had been hewn by waves.》

《No one could have imagined that the cold-blooded head of Baekcheon, who was called a ruthless demon, would have such a beautiful appearance.》

I recalled the sentences that I had read and reread more than ten times. I was out of breath. Blood flowed dizzyingly from the back of the hand where I had ripped the needle out, but I couldn’t stop. I had to check. I had to confirm it.

So that I can understand.

I stopped in front of the plain white door, which could easily be mistaken as part of the wall.

“It can’t be. It certainly isn’t.” I wished for this to be a dream. But the cold touch of the doorknob was enough to wake me, and I turned it breathing raggedly. As I opened my closed eyes, I couldn’t help but cover my mouth with both hands.

“…”

The moment I saw the face of that person standing before me in the same space, I could deny it no longer. This was the world of a novel I read before. It was just as I imagined it and pictured it in my dreams. No, it was beyond that. To the point where the word ‘beautiful’ used in the novel fell short,…

Oh how insanely handsome this man is!!!

At first, I was dazed by a face that seemed to have been shaped by God Himself.

“…!”

However, the moment I saw the gun pointed at my face and blocked me from seeing his, the most important thing I had forgotten came to mind.

“How did you know this place?”

His voice was cold enough to send chills down my spine. His cool eyes flashed quietly like a wild beast ready to devour its prey. The gun, loaded so that it could be fired with the small movement of his finger, was not withdrawn even when our eyes met. As if ice water had been poured over me, I snapped back to my senses.

I didn’t possess the heroine of this novel like those female characters in the most common romance fantasy novels. Neither the villainess who will capture the male lead’s heart nor a supporting side character who would change her fate and take the place of the original heroine.

“There’s no way Ji-Woon would have told you about this place. Are you going to act coy now?”

Baek Hawon tilted his head crookedly and permitted himself a malicious smile.

The name of the body I had possessed was Cha Yeonbyeol. Villain woman #1 dies at the first meeting of the main characters.

And the title of the novel was〈The Boss’s Man〉

It wasn’t a romance fantasy novel with a Prince,

It was a Crazy AF, Noir, BL novel.**

——

*Pyeong: Korean traditional unit of space. This is often used to measure the size of building space and the size of land space. 1평 = 3.3 m^2. So~ 9평 = 29.7..m^2 or something, I’m bad at maths

**Crazy AF and Noir: okay~ I want to say something about this. The word used here is 막장 (Makjang) which is a slang word that means something so insane, ridiculous, and dreadful that it can’t get any worse. Dramas with this tag are always stories with dark plots, mystery, murder, and so on. e.g ‘Did you read the ending? It was freaking insane-makjang-‘ And since we (Tea and I) couldn’t find a fitting word for this, well, we used the most common idiom to express it in English lmao. Also~ Noir is a subgenre of crime fiction. In this subgenre, right and wrong are not clearly defined, while the protagonists are seriously and often tragically flawed. Generally featuring a disturbing mixture of sex and violence.

────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

                         I couldn’t believe it.

I was used to the trope of the girl reincarnating or being isekaied to a novel and playing the role of villainess or heroine. If it was that kind of situation, it was easy to choose how to deal with it according to the genre.

But it was a BL.

What the hell can I do in the middle of two handsome men who claim they love each other…!

“This is not real…”

It wasn’t even a fresh campus drama but a freaking noir novel with bloody gunfights in every damn episode. I couldn’t even believe a gun was pointed at my heart. Even recalling it, I couldn’t help but close my eyes tight at the dizzying memories.

“Aren’t you acting too sly now?”

Overwhelmed by the murderous intent I felt for the first time in my life, I couldn’t lift a finger. It wasn’t that his actions were not understandable given the novel setting. The original Cha Yeonbyeol was so crazy about Baek Hawon to the extent that she liked his behaviour because it meant he was paying attention to her. For him, she was just one of the nuisances brought by the woman who took the place after his mother died. And yet, she was a foolish woman who coveted his love.

“Boss, there was a commotion earlier. It seems that she must have made it because the young Miss is out of her mind right now. She must have found this room just by luck.”

If Ji-woon hadn’t stepped in front of me, who was stiff and speechless, he might have shot me. Baekcheon’s young boss, Baek Hawon, was a person capable of that for sure.

Fortunately, he paid no further attention to me and didn’t even ask about the commotion. Cha Yeonbyeol’s intrusion and yesterday’s pandemonium were nothing but small annoyances to him. The gun was removed from my face, and I was led from the room by Ji-Woon's hand. My head was so troubled on the way back to the room that I couldn’t think of anything.

“She’s so pretty… she should have met other men.”

My reflection in the mirror was awkward no matter how many times I looked at it. The hair, flowing to the waist and fluttering softly with every movement, shone greedily as if it had stolen the night sky. The sharp, cat-like eyes had an atmosphere that enchanted any gaze that met them, and whenever the plump, blood-red lips moved, they drew a breathtaking line.

When she had this killing appearance that could give her any men she wanted with just a snap of her fingers, I couldn’t understand why she was so obsessed with a man who didn’t even look at her.

“Haa…”

I felt a tingling sensation when I touched my throbbing head. ‘Wouldn’t it be great if I could just watch the story unfold while cheering for the love of the two main characters inside the novel I liked?’ Unfortunately, this body was doomed to die soon if the novel unfolded as I had read. Exactly, in the first meeting of Baek Hawon and Yu-gyeom.

“I cannot die here.”

Clap! As I clasped both cheeks loudly with my cold hands, I came to my senses. I opened the paper I barely found in the corner of the bookshelf and grabbed a pen. A specific plan was needed in order not to be dragged along the novel’s plot, and, most importantly, not die. I named it 《Happy Endings for Everyone! – The Project》

The main characters in the novel, Baek Hawon, and Yu-gyeom, could be described in one phrase as a modern Romeo and Juliet. Yu-gyeom was an illegitimate child born to a ********** and the head of ‘Utopia,’ which was Baekcheon’s nemesis.

Baekcheon had always pushed it back, but Utopia invaded the stronghold to uncover its weakness and foolishly kidnapped Cha Yeonbyeol as soon as they entered Baekcheon’s base. Thus, to punish Utopia for its cheeky attitude, whether fortunate or not, Baek Hawon goes directly to Utopia himself.

Behold their (blo)holy first meeting.

[tl-n: Bloody/holy just a silly joke I guess lol]

‘I guess they didn’t think that the head of Baekcheon would come in person.’

Eyes that curved with a soft line. Snow-white ears were full of sparkling piercings that he fidgets with like a habit. The moment Baek Hawon saw Yu-gyeom, he fell in love at first sight. Of course, it took him a long time to realize that himself.

Yet, if I reach that fate, I’ll surely die. At the hands of my bias Yu-gyeom, no more no less.

Baek Hawon became so obsessed with Yu-gyeom, that he didn’t care whether Cha Yeonbyeol died or not, and Yeonbyeol was never mentioned again as if she had never existed.

“Never get kidnapped.”

I wrote it, and emphasized each word, under the title.

《Happy Endings for Everyone! – The Project》

〈no. 1 DON’T EVER BE KIDNAPPED〉

I wrote it down pressing so hard that it wouldn’t have been odd if the paper was torn.

《Happy Endings for Everyone! – The Project》

〈no. 1 Don’t ever be kidnapped〉

〈no. 2 Don’t ever be kidnapped〉

〈no. 3 Don’t ever be kidnapped〉

“I’m the most precious… My life is so precious.”

I felt more relieved. I know the whole story, so preventing my kidnapping would be enough to stop it, right?

It took a while for their first meeting to go awry, but as the plot unfolded, their love had a sad ending anyway. In the end, I cried all night long at the scene where Yu-gyeom was shot to death instead of Baek Hawon.

‘I live! My bias lives! One stone, two birds, the perfect plan!’

While I was thinking about where to put the paper on which I wrote the plan…

“Uh?”

Something hit my foot and made a dull sound. As I lowered my head toward the sound, I saw a key lying in a corner. I reached out for it. Instantly, my gaze reached the spot where the key seemed to fit perfectly.

“Is it the drawer key?”

The three drawers from the top were unlocked. However, there didn’t seem to exist such a thing as categorization. Red lipstick, black leather gloves, crumpled stationery, a transparent bottle full of white pills, dried rose petals.…

‘What the hell? Is this a trash can?’ I tilted my head as I pulled out the last drawer. There was only a rattling sound, but the last drawer did not open. When I put the key into the hole, it turned and opened. However, the item in it was completely unexpected.

“A gun?”

A black gun that didn’t fit this room resembled a poorly assembled collage.

The moment I held the gun in my hand, I had the illusion that the heat in my head was cooling.

* * *

Bang–!!

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

“Whoo–”

I put down the gun and wiped the sweat from my forehead. I was very excited. The mouth of the man who —half-forced— guided me all the way here unknowingly opened in surprise.

“Damn, I’m screwed. Completely screwed.”

‘How can you be so bad at shooting?’ I knew Cha Yeonbyeol grew up as a precious flower under Baekcheon’s protection. I had never read about her shooting a gun in the novel, yet, as there was a gun in her room, and she grew up in a place like this, I had some hope. However, it was difficult to even withstand the recoil, so it was a natural result that all the bullets hit outside the target or somewhere unknown.

“Ha…”

I finally let out a deep sigh and sat down.

‘What if I end up being kidnapped by Utopia as in the novel?’ In the original plot, Baek Hawon goes to rescue Cha Yeonbyeol, but her safety, which had always been a nuisance for him, wasn’t his real interest. He didn’t go all the way with his killing skills, so she died.

I knew inside. The best plan to prepare for the kidnapping was to have Baek Hawon do everything in his power to save me. “Aren’t you acting too sly now?” Yet, recalling the cold eyes I had met didn’t give me the confidence to even try, even though I knew. I shook my head vigorously and buried my face in my lap.

Baek Hawon and Yu-gyeom’s first meeting happened on the most clichéd day of all: the day of the first snow.* Looking at the weather, it was clear that less than a month was left.

Plan no. 1 – Don’t be kidnapped. And to live, I think I should make Plan No. 2 〈Without Baek Hawon I won’t be able to live〉but…it was very unlikely I could devise it within a month.

“Greetings, Boss!”

“Boss! What are you doing here? Shall I drive everyone out?”

At that time, the gunfire stopped and loud voices rang throughout the shooting range. Startled, I lifted my head and looked around.

“What? Baek Hawon?”

I muttered faintly, hid behind a pillar, and peered toward the side where the sound came from. Contrary to the warm sunlight pouring down from the glass ceiling, Baek Hawon had a fitting cold ice-like expression on his face.

“Everyone, leave for an hour.”

Everyone at the shooting range went outside at Ji-Woon's words, and I, who had no intention of adding a new death flag here, did the same. But not long after, my steps halted.

Bang-!!! Straight angle, unobtrusive posture. The bullet pierced the centre of the target with one shot.

“Woah…”

I quickly hid behind the pillar again. ‘Right, it would be better to watch and learn from the strongest guy.’ I took a comfortable seat and stared at Baek Hawon as hard as he stared at the target, focused on aiming his gun for the next shot. Not a single shot deviated from the centre of the target. Of course, he wasn’t the Boss for nothing!

A lot of time passed like that. Baek Hawon lowered his gun and started walking after the last shot. I thought he was about to switch weapons. Nevertheless, at that moment, he, whom I thought was moving away, turned to where I was. Surprised, I hurriedly tried to hide behind the pillar.

Bang! An unreal situation unfolded in front of my eyes as if in slow motion. A gun was pointed at me, followed by an explosion-like gunshot that ripped through my eardrums.

“Kyaaaak!!” I collapsed to the floor, screaming. Even the hands that covered my ears were trembling. It was an instinctive reaction. Taking a deep breath, I slowly raised my head. A small bullet rolling down the floor caught my eyes.

‘BB gun?’

[tl/n: a gun that uses air pressure to fire small metal balls]

The moment I checked it, a burning and churning sensation burst from my mouth, far from being called relief. It didn’t matter if it was live ammunition or a toy gun. He looked at me, he shot. Just when it became clear that that ridiculous sentence was my reality, my reasoning shook dizzyingly.

“Well, well.”

The voice that fell over my head was dry, as if he had turned off a switch and erased all his emotions. My curled fingers quivered at the hair-raising dryness.

“I thought you were a rat.”

Just like when you step on an ant while passing by, there was no emotion. As I met that gaze up front, I started to hyperventilate and broke into tears. Baek Hawon, crouched in front of me to meet my eye level, stretched out his hand and whispered,

“Why, were you surprised?”

His large hand covered mine. Baek Hawon’s smirk deepened as he took the gun that was in my hand, leaving only an icy sensation that flowed from my hand through my body like water.

“Didn’t you come here for this anyway?”

“…”

“Doing things to attract my attention no matter how crazy it is. You like it.”

It wasn’t an incomprehensible treatment. As he said, if she could get Baek Hawon’s attention once, Cha Yeonbyeol would have abandoned human ethics and done things outside of common sense. Nevertheless, despite all that, it was beyond my control now. ‘Why would I want to be in this kind of situation?’ The resentment of falling into this bloody damn situation turned into anger in an instant. Biting my lip, I lifted my head, grabbed Baek Hawon by the collar, and pulled him toward me. With the unexpected action, his body leaned by natural gravity.

“I’ll say it just once, so listen carefully, Boss.”

We were so close that we could feel each other’s breath. If everyone saw this scene, they would say that this lady finally went all cuckoo-crazy, but my mind was clearer than ever.

“My heart is out of here now.”

When I poked Baek Hawon’s chest, his forehead narrowed. I spit out every word powerfully, suppressing all the overwhelming emotions.

“I’ll be independent within this week, so please prepare a farewell party.”

It might have been impulsive, no. It was impulsive, but it was a decision filled with sincere despair.

“I think it would be a blessing for Boss too, so making it as glamorous and luxurious as possible will be fine, right?”

As expected, let’s just follow plan no. 1.

——

*First Snow: There is a superstition that if you witness the first snowfall with the person you like, true love will blossom between both and it will be long-lasting. It’s the most common belief. Usually represented in k-dramas. But there are also other meanings such as being forgiven if you confess a lie on that day; buying alcohol for another person; making a wish and it will come true, and the last one is that if you paint your nails red (with a particular balsam flower. This flower blooms on the fourth lunar month, therefore, you must colour your nails around late summer or early fall) and the colour stays until the first snow you’ll find the love of your life.

                               ‘Did I finally go crazy?’

As soon as Baek Hawon was grabbed by the collar, Ji-woon reflexively pulled out his gun and then returned it, rubbing the dark circles under his eyes in wonder.

“I’m only going to say it once, so listen straight, Boss.”

Holding onto the Boss’s neck so tightly that veins spurted out of the back of her white hand, she even poked his chest with her finger. Like his wrinkled forehead, Ji-woon also furrowed his eyebrows.

“My heart is out of here now.”

“…”

“I’ll be independent within this week, so please prepare a farewell party.”

A powerful voice crushed the heavy silence and shattered it. Under the sun, bright brown eyes lit up and became slightly larger. It was a small change, but it was a rare chance for Ji-woon, who was accustomed to the robotic members of the organization.

The existence of Cha Yeonbyeol in Baekcheon was not something that could be defined so simply. A woman brought by Baekcheon’s former boss, because she resembled his beloved dead wife, and that woman’s daughter. She did not belong to the organization, but at the same time, if anyone looked at it in a different light, she also held the second-highest position after the current Boss. The organization members called her Lady and couldn’t treat her recklessly.

Rather than being in a position created by the presence of Cha Yeonbyeol, her own words and actions had made her existence like it was now. A supercilious, immature idiot. There was an atmosphere around her that overwhelmed people enough to make native fools who didn’t know better think she was some kind of executive in the organization.

Not to mention, she spoke about love to the Boss like a madwoman. Whether animal or person, if his eyes stayed on them for a long time, she would snap at it, destroy everything, and hold onto Hawon with blood-stained hands, confessing her endless love.

The more she did so, the more Baek Hawon hated her. Nevertheless, he put Cha Yeonbyeol under Baekcheon’s care because of the risk to the organization if he took her somewhere else, and the irresistible will left by his ex-Boss and father.

“I think it would be a blessing for the Boss too, so making it as glamorous and luxurious as possible will be fine, right?”

But finally?

Did she finally go crazy?

No.

She changed.

That which was always the same as the dull hands of a clock changed. It had changed so much that it was impossible to pinpoint the cause. And Baek Hawon also felt the change. Ji-woon noticed it right away. The dark abyss of the eyes that reflected Cha Yeonbyeol shone with a different light than before.

Baek Hawon merely looked at her with numb eyes. From the rolled up corners of her dazzling mouth in her face full of wrath, until she suddenly collapsed into his arms.

* * *

“The fever was over 39 degrees. Fortunately, it’s down to 38 degrees now, but it’s still dangerous. It seems that the body aches she suffered last time have gotten worse.”

The boundaries between dream and reality were blurred. As if the heat had melted away my sense of reality, I was dizzyingly sinking into something deep.

“Are you out of your mind? You can’t do this unless you’re insane.”

What made me open my eyes at once on such a day was a clear voice that made me wonder if I had heard wrong.

‘Oh, I’m regaining consciousness.’

I blinked my heavy eyelids slowly and finally closed them again. On second thought, I wondered if I heard it wrong. Was there anyone who could say something like that to Baek Hawon?

“How could you leave that child unattended to the point she passed out twice?”

“What’s happening? I don’t think there’s any reason for Do’s heir to come directly.”

“I came to see her, why? Do you have any complaints?”

Clank- A brutal sound followed the next second. Although I hadn’t heard it for more than a few times, I knew it was the unmistakable sound of a gun loading.

“You said I was raised kindly, but I see it’s completely arbitrary.”

“What the— Then, if I raised you so toughly, why are you acting as you please?”

Really… It was too much for anyone to pretend to sleep in such a deadly atmosphere. When I opened my eyes, I saw a few pictures on the ceiling that I had already gotten used to. It was Cha Yeonbyeol’s room.

Once I opened my eyes, I was choked by a heavyweight like a large rock that weighed on my body. I thought about closing my eyes again to the helplessness that came over me like a wave, but I couldn’t take my eyes off of the person who had been on my side so far.

Above all else, the hair was like cotton candy. Colourful cotton candy. As much as the unusual hair colour, the attire also stood out. From a jean jacket embroidered with colourful flowers, red socks, yellow shoes, and teddy bear-shaped earrings hanging over the shoulders. As I slightly turned my eyes, I saw Baek Hawon. Aiming a gun at Cotton Candy.

‘This freaking bastard is always holding out a gun and making a riot here and there.’.

“Cotton Candy.”

It was the only phrase I could barely utter. Fortunately, Cotton Candy turned towards me, probably wondering if she had heard right, and our eyes met. The boyish beauty that was evident at first glance suited Cotton Candy’s downy hair. It was a face with soft and firm features that naturally melted together even the excessive fashion in personality. ‘I bet they’d be even prettier with a smile. Usually, a kid with such an appearance is a villainous mastermind.’ Lost in my absurd thoughts like that, I was blatantly staring at the face in front of me with a distorted expression.

“Why do you look uglier?”

What? I could feel my face crumble at the words that made me lose focus. There’s no way I would have forgotten a jerk like this, whose every word is like a bomb… maybe he’s an extra?

Judging from his face, he is at the same level as the main characters, but since Cha Yeonbyeol died in the early stages, there was enough possibility that he would not appear if he was on Yeonbyeol’s side.

“Bring the doctor.”

“Yes, Boss.”

Looking at me, Baek Hawon put the gun down. As if he was displeased, Cotton Candy frowned.

“Isn’t the Boss too old-fashioned?”

My wariness of Cotton Candy raised along with my favouritism. ‘It’s hard to see such a mindset on this floor, how could I not like you?’ As I groaned trying to get up, Cotton Candy grabbed me and helped me lean against the head of the bed.

I had never seen him in the book, so I couldn’t even guess three letters of his name. Judging by the fact that he was said to be the heir of the Do family, I guessed his last name was Do. The Baekcheon was led by the Baek family, and five families followed the head, dividing and managing Baekcheon domains accordingly. It looked like one of those families was Cotton Candy’s family.

“Hey, Cotton Candy.”

“Cotton Candy?”

“What is your name?”

Perhaps because of the fever, the words I was thinking passed through the filter without any resistance and came out in my hazy mind through my lips. Cotton Candy’s eyebrows narrowed seriously.

“What? Are you still out of your mind?”

“Do Siyoo, stop this and leave.”

The answer was issued from the mouth that I didn’t want to hear.

Do.Si.Yoo. I rolled those three syllables in my mouth, but nothing came to mind. It was my first time hearing that name.

Cotton Candy, no, Do Siyoo showed his displeasure explicitly in his frowning face, but he stood up from the bed as if he could not go against the Boss’s order. I thought he would leave the room like that, but he turned around suddenly, grabbed my shoulders, and drew his face close enough to feel his breath. Unknowingly, I stopped breathing at his unexpected action.

“Anytime just tell me.”

“…”

“Whenever you want to leave here, just tell me.”

I didn’t respond to his incomprehensible words and looked at him with a blank expression, but Do Siyoo left the room as if he didn’t see my gaze.

‘Whenever you want to leave here?’ There was no way Cha Yeonbyeol would want to leave Baekcheon.

The novel seemed full of things I didn’t know from reading. Or is it because I possessed the villainess who died in the first chapter of a BL novel?

It felt like my head was going to break again. Still, seeing that he was close with Baek Hawon, there seemed to be no possibility of disguising or creating a fake identity, so it was clear that Do Siyoo was not the villain who killed Yu-gyeom.

I wasn’t sure what kind of relationship he had with Cha Yeonbyeol, but it was a bit of a relief to know that there was at least one person who liked her.

As the tension eased and the drowsiness came again, and I was about to fall asleep, my eyes met with Baek Hawon, who I thought had left with Do Siyoo.

“Boss.”

His eyebrows twitched and twisted at my words. My body shuddered at the incomprehensible gaze aimed at me. Baek Hawon’s face was like a night-sea or a swamp. It looked calm on the outside, but you couldn’t know the bottom until you touched it. Nevertheless, the moment you touch it, it raises a sense of fear as if it will devour you.

“Aren’t you leaving?”

Baek Hawon had been leaning against the door all the time and now took a step forward. Even if I walked while measuring each step with a ruler, I wouldn’t be able to create such perfection as him.

“Party.”

Slowly, an unfamiliar sense of weight permeated with each step he took, created from the things he was born to possess. The atmosphere surrounding him was the arrogance of a predator at the top of the food chain.

“Let’s throw a party.”

Baek Hawon’s white hand touched the rose on the table in an unsuitable way. The movement of fiddling with the blood-red petals made me nervous, but I struggled to turn a blind eye to my rising alarm.

I declared I would become independent, leaving Baekcheon. Grabbing Baek Hawon’s collar on top of that. I was insane at that moment, but looking back it wasn’t that crazy.

If I leave this island, I wouldn’t meet Yu-gyeom, who will sneak into this island and kidnap me. Nor will I die at the hands of Yu-gyeom on the day Baek Hawon goes to find me and meet him.

“I don’t think I’m going to be part of this organization when I’m not even good at shooting, so I think it’s time to leave and live.”

After independence, it wouldn’t be bad to ask Do Siyoo, whom I just saw, for help. Although I wasn’t sure what kind of relationship we had, it looked like ‘friendship.’

I looked at Baek Hawon and smiled softly. As if I could see the road leading to my survival, the corners of my mouth curled up naturally.

“The Boss also wants me to disappear, isn’t that right?”

At that moment, Baek Hawon gripped a flower with one hand. Strong enough for blood to flow out, yet he remained expressionless. The fragile flower broke too easily in his hand, and dark red petals fell to the floor with blood droplets from the bite of the thorns.

It gave me goosebumps, but I faced the gaze focused on me while squeezing the blanket tightly so as not to show my fear. I opened my mouth because the silence that burdened me while we stared at each other was too heavy.

“Boss.”

Baek Hawon let out a cold sneer.

“Cha Yeonbyeol.”

Saying my name in a low tone, he drew closer to me. Red petals scattered like fresh blood as he walked. The more I suppressed the desire to run away, the bigger it got. Baek Hawon, standing right in front of me, held out his hand, and I instinctively closed my eyes. The cool feeling of his fingers touching my cheek was too vivid.

“…You keep doing things you haven’t done before.”

I opened my eyes again to the sound of his voice. I was held by those black eyes that seemed to freeze whoever glanced at them. It was the same as the description I had read in the novel. Black eyes whose depth was unknown. I didn’t even dare to fathom its depth.

“When I think I know you,”

“The first time, the first time I first saw you,”

“I knew that I would love you.”

As his pupils deepened, the image of him in the novel in my mind overlapped with his current appearance.

“It seems that I don’t.”

The incomprehensible development and lines made me want to cry.

I think I just attached a new death flag to myself.