On a clear spring night, with the moon bright and the stars sparse.

Outside the door of a hotel room washed in dim yellow light.

The girl was clinging to the tall, broad-shouldered, ridiculously handsome man like a little koala.

Both of them looked like they were already at their limit, impatient as hell.

The second the door shut, they crashed straight onto the big bed in the middle of the room.

They tore at each other’s clothes like their lives depended on it, skipping all the fluff and going right in...

After that near-devastating tangle of heat and desire, both of them were completely drained, so wiped out they could barely move, and eventually passed out on their own sides.

The next morning.

The noisy chatter from the breakfast place downstairs drifted into Aria Quincy’s ears.

Out of habit, she stretched lazily, only for her hand to brush against a firm slab of muscle.

That electric, tingling sensation shot through her so fast that her whole body shivered.

Her eyes flew open, and she instinctively pulled back.

Holding her breath, she carefully peeked at the man lying beside her.

He was turned slightly toward her. His thick brows were sharply defined, giving off a hard, steady edge. Beneath his high nose bridge, his thin lips were clean-cut and striking.

Seeing that his breathing was even and that he was still fast asleep, Aria’s gaze got a little bolder and slowly slid down from his neck.

Whoa.

What she saw made the blood in her body start heating up on the spot.

The muscles on him looked almost unreal, like they’d been carved by hand.

You didn’t get a body this insanely good without years of strict, hardcore training.

Aria couldn’t help swallowing hard.

Beep…

Some rude jerk out of nowhere leaned on the horn.

The sharp sound made Aria Quincy jump.

And fully woke her up too.

She didn’t even have time to think. She rolled over, got out of bed, and quickly spotted her clothes on the floor with scary accuracy.

In a few quick moves, she got dressed, grabbed her phone and bag and all her personal stuff.

Ready to make a quiet escape.

When she reached the door, she still couldn’t help stealing one more glance at that handsome guy.

Hot, for sure. No question. But a man like that? Definitely not boyfriend material. Better to treat last night like a dream and call it there.

Aria ran all the way to the elevator.

As if fate was finally doing her one tiny favor, the elevator was already on that floor. The second she hit the button, the doors slid open.

She slipped inside fast and kept jabbing the close button like her life depended on it. Only after the doors fully shut did she let out a breath.

Why was she acting like some thief?

She cursed herself silently.

After leaving the hotel, Aria picked a direction at random and walked down the street, eyes searching for the place she needed.

The moment she spotted the green sign of a pharmacy, her eyes lit up.

She stood at the entrance and peeked inside first. Only after making sure there were no other customers did she go in.

“I need a box of levonorgestrel tablets,” Aria said to the clerk behind the register, trying hard to sound natural. She didn’t say birth control pill. She used the proper medical name instead.

“One-pill pack,” she added after a second.

The clerk had probably seen this kind of thing a million times already. Without even changing expression, she walked briskly to the innermost shelf, skillfully took a box, and set it on the counter.

“Twenty-eight.”

“That expensive?” Aria Quincy glanced at the price tag, brows knitting. “Is there anything cheaper?”

The clerk’s face instantly soured. She turned around with obvious annoyance, then came back with another box.

“Sixteen.”

“I’ll take this one.”

Aria pulled out her phone to scan the code, only to realize it had shut off. Dead battery. Great.

She had no choice but to shove the phone back into her bag, dig out her wallet, count out sixteen in loose cash, hand it over, stuff the medicine into her bag, and leave as fast as she could.

After walking out of the pharmacy, she kept going down the street. When she spotted a supermarket ahead, she slipped inside and bought a bottle of mineral water.

With the bottle in hand, she stood at the entrance for a moment, looking around.

Across the road was a small park. Just then, the pedestrian light turned green, and she bolted over without a second thought.

She made it across right before the light changed red.

After circling through the little park once, she finally found a quiet rest area tucked away from the main path. Only then did she lower her guard and sit down on a bench.

She took out the medicine box, tearing it open as she muttered under her breath,

“What a scammy pharmacy. They clearly had a cheaper one, but they still pushed the expensive one first. Too bad for them—I work at a hospital. I know this stuff way too well. Trying to rip me off? Yeah, not happening.”

Aria popped the pill from the foil pack and tossed it into her mouth, then unscrewed the cap and lifted the water bottle to take a gulp.

“So you work at a hospital. Are you a nurse?”

A deep, magnetic male voice suddenly sounded right by her ear.

Aria choked on the water and sprayed it out, coughing hard.

The man frowned and reached over, gently patting her on the back.

Aria jerked away on instinct, like she’d been shocked, and stared at him in panic.

“You—how did you find me?”

The corners of the man’s lips lifted a little. “I’m pretty good at finding people. If I want to find someone, there’s basically nobody I can’t track down.”

That one line made Aria Quincy’s scalp prickle.

Only then did she really look him over from head to toe.

Black leather jacket. Jeans. High-top Martin boots.

No matter how she looked at it, he had that full-on street-guy vibe.

Aria’s mother worked at a nightclub, and the men she dated were always this type, so Aria knew this kind of man way too well. Most of them were lazy, slick-talking, and allergic to real work.

She had sworn long ago that she would never, ever date a man like that.

If she was going to find a boyfriend, it had to be someone with a stable job, preferably someone in the system, someone reliable. That was the kind of man you could actually build a life with.

But apparently fate just loved messing with her.

“Last night was an accident,” Aria said, trying hard to explain herself clearly. “Someone put something in my juice, so that’s why…”

“I know.” The man folded his arms and looked at her with a half-smile. “Someone put something in my drink too.”

Aria blinked. “That can’t be that much of a coincidence, right?”

“Want me to help refresh your memory?” he said lazily. “Last night, you were the one who threw your arms around me and called me husband.”

Aria: “...”

The memories came rushing back in fragments, flickering through her mind like movie scenes.

And yeah... that did seem to be what happened.

Her eyes shifted quickly, and she forced herself to stay calm. “Then... that means we’re even, right? Let’s just treat it like nothing happened and go our separate ways.”

She truly did not want to get tangled up with some street punk.

The man had just parted his thin lips to speak when the phone in his pocket suddenly rang.

His brows drew together in an instant. His whole expression switched to serious mode, but when he answered, his tone turned deliberately careless, like he was playing it cool.

“Boss, I’m at Donghu Park. With who? A pretty girl... got it, I’m heading over now.”

He hung up, then looked at Aria, whose face had gone pale, and said with an apologetic smile, “I’ve got something urgent. I need to go right now. Here, your ID. Last night when we got the room, I handed it to the front desk for registration. Aria Quincy... nice name.”

Still smiling, he slipped his phone back into his pocket, then pulled out his wallet from the other side, took out an ID card, and held it out to her.

Aria Quincy glanced at it and, yep, it was really her ID. She snatched it back fast and shoved it into her bag.

In her head, she was already sure this guy had hidden it on purpose, just so he could use it as an excuse to come back, find her again, and strike up a conversation.

Yeah, right. As if she’d fall for a move that basic.

The man looked at Aria’s pouty little mouth, all puffed up in annoyance, and couldn’t help laughing.

He leaned in close, lowered his voice by her ear, and said, “I can’t tell you my name right now. Just wait for me. In one week, I’ll come find you, and then I’ll tell you who I am. Don’t worry. I’m not a bad guy.”

Aria’s bright eyes widened instantly. “Actually... you really don’t have to come find me. Last night was just an accident.”

The man straightened up a little. There was still that smile in his deep dark eyes, like it had never left. “It wasn’t an accident,” he said. “It was fate.”

Aria went speechless.

Seriously, could he not be this flirty?

One look and she could tell—this guy was absolutely a seasoned player.

That kind of cheesy line, and he just tossed it out like it was nothing.

The man glanced at the watch on his wrist.

Then he looked at Aria with unusual seriousness and said, “I have to go. Remember this—in one week, I’ll come find you.”