The next morning.
Noran slowly opened his eyes, feeling a dull throb in his head as he gradually became aware of his surroundings—a hotel room.
Startled, he shot upright. His eyes widened in disbelief when he found himself nude. As he tried to figure out what had happened, a pair of slender hands came out of nowhere and embraced him.
"Awake already?"
Noran instinctively flung the hands away as he leaped out of bed, his eyes widening in disbelief as he realized Sophia lay nude beside him.
A wave of nausea swept over him as he finally realized what had happened – he had slept with another woman, aside from his wife.
"What have you done to me?"
He had lost his usual warmth, his demeanor turning cold as he glared at Sophia.
Sophia was surprised by this new side of him, one she had never seen before.
Nevertheless, she still smiled as she reached out her hand to him. "Have you forgotten already? We did many things together last night. You were so eager to explore every inch of my body…"
Feeling goosebumps all over, Noran cut her off by slapping her hand away.
"You plotted this…" He growled at her, realizing he couldn't have lost consciousness after a few glasses of wine.
"Does it matter how things become like this? Since we have slept together, I'm more than just your business client now," Sophia replied, looking at him greedily as if she had finally caught her prey.
Feeling utterly disgusted by her presence, Noran quickly went to the bathroom to get dressed and left the room without looking back.
He couldn't wait to escape.
Once outside, he checked his phone and saw numerous missed calls and messages from Shuri.
Panic surged through him when he realized Shuri had stayed up all night, worried sick, waiting for him. He quickly returned her call to reassure her of his safety, then hurried home. By the time Noran arrived, Shuri was already at the door with Snowball.
"Ran!" Shuri yelled out to him and immediately embraced him as soon as he stepped into the house.
"I was so worried. You never return any of my calls or messages. I thought something bad must have happened to you."
He noticed her red eyes, evidence of tears shed the previous night. Feeling deeply sorry, he embraced her tightly.
"I'm sorry… I might have had a little too much drink, and I lost consciousness on my way back. I don't know how I ended up spending the night at the hotel," Noran explained, withholding some of the details from her.
"You fainted?" Shuri widened her eyes in concern, not doubting his words. "Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere? Should we go to the doctor to get you checked?"
"I…I'm fine. Don't worry…" Noran assured Shuri, holding onto her hand to stop her from examining him.
"Are you sure…?" Shuri asked with concern in her eyes.
She looked back up at him and noticed that his hair was disheveled and his shirt wasn't buttoned properly. There was even a red stain on his collar, resembling lipstick.
"Ran, there's a stain on your collar…"
As Shuri pointed it out, Noran quickly covered the red mark with his hand.
"I might have gotten it when I collapsed on the ground…" Noran replied, trying not to sound awkward.
Lucky for him, Snowball distracted Shuri by whining pitifully since the couple hadn't paid him any attention the whole time.
"I'm sorry, Snowball. I miss you too…" Noran smiled warmly at Snowball and picked him up.
Snowball kept sniffing Noran and growled a little when he sensed an unfamiliar scent from him. "Grrr…"
"What's wrong, Snowball?" Shuri asked, surprised by Snowball's reaction. He had never shown any dislike toward Noran before.
"Yelp! Yelp!" Snowball replied, turning to look at Shuri as if trying to tell her something.
Recognizing the cause of Snowball's behavior, Noran gently placed his hand on Snowball's head to comfort him. "Snowball must be upset that I made you both wait for me the whole night."
Shuri took Snowball from Noran. "Don't be angry at Daddy. It's not his fault that he had to spend a night away."
Looking at his understanding wife soothing their dog, Noran suddenly felt a pang of guilt and couldn't tolerate being near Shuri in his current state.
"I'll go take a shower."
Noran hurried into the bathroom without waiting for Shuri's response. He had no recollection of whether he truly had sex with Sophia, but no matter what, he didn't want to face Shuri with another woman's presence still lingering on him.
He quickly removed his clothes and threw them into the washer before stepping into the shower and letting the water cascade over him, hoping to wash away any remnants of Sophia's presence.
As he stood under the stream, he noticed the love bites and marks Sophia had left on his body, adding to his urgency to scrub them away. With growing frustration, he lathered up, scrubbing vigorously in an attempt to erase any trace of her from his skin.
Frustration boiled within him, and with a sudden burst of anger, he slammed his fist against the wall, cursing himself for the predicament he found himself in.
"Damn it!"
He blamed himself for being careless. After living a simple and happy life with Shuri on the outskirts for over ten years, he had forgotten the need to always be cautious in the city, especially when dealing with people from high society.
Noran gradually calmed down after staying under the cooling water for an extended period of time. He knew self-loathe wouldn't solve anything. He had to find a way to avoid Shuri ever finding out what had happened last night.
He didn't want to lie to her, but above all, he didn't want to upset her.
As time passed, Noran spent a full hour in the bathroom before finally stepping out.
When he came out, his complexion had improved slightly.
With his hair still wet, he went looking for Shuri, only to find her holding a tissue near her nose, her complexion a bit pale.
"Rin?"