Chapter 1.2 Sean : My first banter with stranger

I woke up in an unfamiliar room.

My eyes blinked a few times before slowly scanning my surroundings.

“Whose room is this? Why am I here?” I muttered, still trying to process it. “And… Erwin? Lee?”

I called out my friends’ names one by one as I pushed myself off the bed.

But after just one step, my legs gave out.

My body collapsed back down onto the edge of the bed.

“My head hurts so much…” I lowered my head, massaging my forehead.

Then I noticed something.

My clothes had changed.

“W-why are my clothes…” My eyes widened.

This definitely wasn’t mine. Bright red. Slightly oversized. What the hell actually happened?

As I tried to piece everything together, the door suddenly opened.

A man walked in.

He immediately stared at me sharply.

“Did he bring me here?” I thought as I watched him approach.

“Good. You’re finally awake.”

He stopped a few steps away from me, arms crossed. His gaze was cold.

I couldn’t remember anything clearly, but judging from his expression… I must have caused trouble.

Whatever it was, I didn’t know.

But the only thing I could do now was apologize.

“I’m sorry… I may have done something that bothered you, but I really didn’t mean to cause trouble for anyone, so… please forgive me…” I said, bowing slightly.

Then suddenly, something churned in my stomach.

Nausea.

“Urgh…” I quickly covered my mouth.

Not now. Just hold it.

But my body didn’t listen.

The pressure rose sharply in my throat.

“If you’re going to throw up, go to the bathroom. Don’t hold it,” the man said coldly.

“A-ah, y-yes, thank you!”

I rushed into the bathroom inside the room.

The moment I reached the sink, I vomited everything I had been holding back.

It took several minutes before it finally stopped.

I turned on the faucet, washing my face and hands. For a moment, I stared at my reflection in the mirror.

A mess.

Pale. Disheveled.

“Haah…” I exhaled softly and stepped out, still slightly unsteady.

The man hadn’t moved. He stood like a statue.

“Done?” His voice was flat.

I nodded weakly, avoiding his gaze. His eyes felt too piercing.

“Follow me. I have something to talk about.”

He walked out first, leading me to the dining table.

“Sit.”

His tone was firm.

I glanced at him briefly, then pulled out the white chair and obeyed.

Soon after, he pulled out the chair opposite me.

Now we sat facing each other.

“Your name is Sean, right?” He opened first.

“Yeah…” I nodded quickly.

“Do you remember what happened last night at the club parking area?” He asked, sitting back and crossing his arms.

“Mmm… what I remember is….” My eyes shifted slightly to the side as fragmented memories surfaced. But none of them clearly showed the man in front of me.

“Anything?” He asked, sounding impatient.

“I remember my three friends taking me out of the club… but after that, I don’t remember anything…” I answered honestly.

“Hmph…” He scoffed.

Then he stood up and walked into another room.

Maybe his bedroom? I wasn’t sure.

I just waited until he came back with something in his hand.

“Do you know what this is?” He asked, holding up a shirt in front of me.

“If you mean a white shirt, then yeah,” I nodded.

“Do you know how much this shirt costs?” His voice rose as he threw it at me.

It landed on my face.

“How would I know? Maybe a few tens or hundreds of thousands at most!” I shot back, grabbing the shirt and placing it on the table.

“Twenty million and last night you vomited on it!”

My eyes widened.

No way.

“I don’t care. You damaged it, so you’ll pay for it,” he said with a cold exhale.

“What are you, crazy?!” I shouted without thinking.

I stood up and slammed the table.

“If you don’t want to, I’ll report you to the police.”

“You…!” My words got stuck.

This was ridiculous. He was completely unreasonable.

My eyes shifted back to the white shirt.

It looked perfectly fine to me.

“This shirt isn’t damaged at all!” I grabbed it again and inspected it carefully.

No tears. No stains. No wrinkles.

Still clean. Like new.

“Are you blind? How is this damaged?” I held it up in front of him, showing both sides.

He exhaled sharply. “You vomited on it. That means it’s damaged.”

“What? You’re calling this damaged because I—this is clean! How can you even say that?”

I was honestly running out of words.

“He’s giving me a headache…”

“So what will it be? Pay, or I call the police?”

Two choices. Both bad for me.

My chest rose and fell rapidly.

Twenty million? That was almost the rest of my remaining savings.

The man suddenly took out his phone and started calling someone.

“Hello, police? Can you help me? My address is—”

“HELP! THERE’S BEEN A SEXUAL HARASSMENT HERE!”

I shouted, cutting him off.

He stopped, hung up, and stared at me.

“Are you crazy?!” He snapped, sounding panicked.

“No, I’m not crazy,” I replied quickly. “That could be true, right?”

“What are you talking about?!” He growled.

“First, you brought me here—your apartment—without my consent while I was unconscious. Second, I woke up wearing different clothes.”

“That’s because I changed them! Your clothes were wet!”

His jaw tightened, his voice clearly holding back anger.

“That’s what you say. There’s no witness. You could’ve done something to me!”

“What do you mean? I'm still normal!” He snapped.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. I’m reporting you anyway. You’re not the only one who can threaten people.”

I turned and started walking toward the exit, waving my hand dismissively.

After a few steps, he stopped me.

“Okay, wait. What do you want?!” He glared.

I turned back with a victorious smile.

“Simple. Don’t report, and I won’t report you either. The shirt issue is settled. Deal?”

He didn’t answer. His eyes stayed sharp on me. But eventually, he gave in.

“Fine. You don’t have to pay anything,” he said reluctantly.

My smile widened even more.

I walked up to him and lightly patted his shoulder.

“See? Think before you threaten someone. Not everyone is someone you can intimidate, rich guy.”

I laughed slightly and turned away, quickly leaving his apartment.

“Phew… that was close…,” I muttered, rubbing my chest once I reached the door. “Now I should go home. Dad must be worried… and those guys better watch out. How dare they leave me with a stranger like that!”

My chest burned as I remembered my three friends. Traitors. What if that guy had really done something to me?

My mind suddenly started imagining things.

Right… why am I thinking about this now?

“I mean… no way. He said he’s normal. He wouldn’t do something like that to a guy… right?”

I quickly shook my head, pushing the thought away.

“But if he did… I’ll make him pay!”

I walked out of the apartment building.

Outside, I took a deep breath like someone finally released from captivity.

After a moment, I started walking again.

Home.

I choose to walk to save money since I actually lived just behind this building.

“Hah….”

My pace, which had been fast, slowly slowed down.

It had been months since my father and I moved there after our mansion was seized.

But I didn’t regret it. At least it reduced the burden of debt. Now there was still one billion left to pay.

“Why am I thinking about this again…?”

I sighed.

My mind felt more crowded these days.

Drrrt… drrrt…

My phone vibrated in my pocket. I quickly picked it up.

“From home…?” I muttered after seeing the caller ID.

I answered immediately.

“Hello? Dad? What happened? Is your illness acting up again?”

“Sean, this is Aunt Maria from next door.”

My stomach sank.

“Aunt Maria…?” I guessed.

“Yes,” she said quickly. “Sean, can you come home right now? Your father just fell in the bathroom! He’s—”

“I’m coming right now! Please, stay with him!”

I hung up immediately without waiting.

My father… the only family I have left… had fallen.

My heart started pounding uncontrollably.

“I need to get home… fast.”

I ran as fast as I could.

“Please… don’t let anything serious happen to him… please….”

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