A sharp knock rattled the bedroom door.
"Hana-ya! Wake up! You're going to sleep through the whole day!"
Hana groaned, burying her face deeper into the pillow. Her head pounded with a dull, throbbing ache, and her mouth tasted like regret and too many cheap cocktails.
The world felt… hazy.
She forced one eye open.
The room was unfamiliar.
It wasn't her dorm room — the walls were pastel blue, posters of K-pop idols covering one side, a desk cluttered with textbooks and half-empty soda cans.
Chae-Rin's room.
What the hell—
Another knock, then the door opened and Chae-Rin's messy-haired face appeared.
"God, you look like death. Get up."
"What… happened?" Hana croaked, struggling to sit up as a wave of nausea rolled through her.
"You mean you don't remember?"
"I remember the club. The dancing. And… drinks."
Chae-Rin smirked. "A lot of drinks."
Hana pressed a hand to her temple, trying to gather scattered fragments.
Music.
Neon lights.
Aryan's hands on her waist.
His voice in her ear.
And then… nothing.
Except the dream.
The memory of it made her shiver, heat blooming across her face. It had felt so real. His touch, his mouth, the weight of his body above hers. The hunger in his gaze.
But it couldn't have happened.
Could it?
She looked down — still in her clothes from last night, though her shoes had been kicked off.
"How… did I get here?"
Chae-Rin plopped onto the bed beside her, handing her a bottle of water. "Aryan drove us back. You were out cold by the time we left the club. He was surprisingly… decent about it."
Hana's stomach fluttered at the name.
"I… I barely remember," she whispered.
Chae-Rin gave her a teasing nudge. "Yeah, well, you and Mr. Mysterious were getting pretty close on the dance floor. I thought I'd have to pull you two apart."
Hana's face flushed crimson.
Was that part real?
Or had her dream blurred into it?
"Don't look so scandalized," Chae-Rin grinned. "He seemed like a gentleman. Didn't even try anything when he dropped you off. Just made sure you got inside, then left."
Hana's heart sank a little at that.
She wasn't sure why.
Maybe because part of her had wanted it to be real — the touches, the kiss, the fire in his eyes.
She sipped the water in silence, her mind a tangle of emotions she couldn't name.
"Guess you've got yourself a campus heartbreaker crush," Chae-Rin teased.
"I don't."
"You do."
"I… maybe."
They both laughed softly.
But as Chae-Rin wandered out of the room, promising greasy ramen to cure the hangover, Hana lay back against the pillows, closing her eyes.
And in the darkness behind her lids, his face found her again.
Those eyes.
That voice.
Those hands.
A warmth spread through her.
And though she told herself it was foolish, dangerous even, a small part of her wanted to see him again.
Soon.