“There’s nothing threatening about you at all? And aren’t you hot all bundled up like that?”
Alice understood why he asked if she wasn’t hot.
It was a summer dress, but it had long sleeves and reached her ankles.
Most of the clothes she owned covered her body. Given the hot weather, it did look stuffy just to look at.
“The air conditioning… the air conditioning is cold! That’s why I turned up the temperature earlier.”
Ryan nodded, as if he understood.
Silence fell.
Ryan broke the silence again.
“I noticed before.”
Alice flinched at his low, deep voice and slowly raised her eyelids.
“Secretary Alii talks a lot when she drinks.”
“I do tend to talk more, don’t I?”
Strangely, she didn’t feel the usual pressure she felt from Ryan.
When did that start?
“It’s kind of fun, though.”
Seeing Ryan smile and his eyes crinkle, her heart fluttered and throbbed.
“Like when you laugh like this.”
That’s why everyone says, “Ryan, Ryan.”
This kind of gaze was a foul.
Alice stared blankly at the corners of Ryan’s smiling eyes.
“Also…”
Also?
“Were your eyes always this big?”
Oh. Her efforts to make her eyes look smaller were failing repeatedly because of this damn alcohol.
Alice nervously rolled her eyes.
“No, so continue what you were saying earlier.”
“What… what was I saying earlier?”
Alice realized she had been answering Ryan’s question about why she wore such large clothes.
“Well, my father runs a Wesley restaurant, and there was a regular uncle who often came. He did something wrong to me.”
“Something wrong?”
Ryan’s brow furrowed, as if he understood the meaning of the phrase.
Alice explained the incident to Ryan.
It was the first time she had told anyone except Olive, yet the words flowed out without hesitation.
“So, that’s how it happened.”
“That worthless guy disgraced all men.”
Ryan’s rather harsh words surprised Alice.
Considering Ryan’s personality, it made sense that he would curse a man who couldn’t control his desires.
Still, it was satisfying to have him curse on her behalf.
A faint smile played on Alice’s lips.
“And then, a few years later, I received a confession from a male friend I’d been close to for years. It was a shock. I didn’t know he liked me; I really thought we were just friends.”
She didn’t know why she was talking so freely, but she was now revealing her past to Ryan.
“I didn’t know you were so charming.”
Men saying someone is charming is a roundabout way of saying they’re ugly, isn’t it?
“Well…”
I guess so. Alice swallowed the last words.
Ryan drained the remaining alcohol. Alice followed suit, emptying her glass.
As they talked and shared drinks, they finished the Soju they had bought.
“But we should also drink the wine you brought.”
Alice glanced at the shopping bag Ryan had brought.
Alcohol begets alcohol. She wanted to have just a few more drinks and then pass out.
She didn’t want it to end like this. Was it because she had talked so much that the alcohol had worn off?
Whether it was the alcohol or the moment, she wanted to talk to Ryan a little longer.
Alice looked at the display cabinet in the corner of the living room.
“What’s that? There’s a lot of liquor in the liquor cabinet?”
So, let’s get one out.
“I think I’m already a little drunk. Liquor is stronger.”
Alice tightened her eyelids.
She didn’t want to show her drunken eyes. She wanted to say she wasn’t drunk yet.
She only planned to have one or two more drinks and then go to bed. She wanted him to keep her company until then.
“I’m still okay.”
As if it were the last drink, Ryan added ice to the glass.
Then, he brought out a container of watermelon that the housekeeper had cut and stored in the refrigerator as a snack.
Cheers-.
As soon as Ryan handed it to her, Alice clinked glasses and drank it down.
The strong alcohol burned her lips, and her throat felt parched from the whiskey. The heat rising from her throat made her nose wrinkle.
“Don’t drink that much at once.”
Why didn’t he tell me sooner?
She had already gulped down the whiskey Ryan had poured, like Soju.
The glass dangling from Alice’s hand was empty.
“No wonder my throat was burning.”
Ryan laughed at Alice.
His low chuckle tickled Alice’s ears.
The tickling voice was so pleasant that her eyes drooped.
Alice struggled to keep her eyes open.
In the ensuing silence, Alice stared blankly at the watermelon.
Ryan, who had been sipping whiskey, broke the silence.
“It’s not just rutting dogs. There are also cats.”
Cats?
Ryan seemed to need more alcohol, pouring a much larger amount into his glass than before.
