The bed was empty.
Aster sat up sharply, panic clawing through his chest. The space beside him was cold, sheets carelessly crumpled. She was gone—like a whisper that had slipped from his grasp.
A knock came.
"Good morning, boss," Kim greeted when the door opened.
Aster's jaw tightened. "I don't want to talk about it."
But when Kim pressed, the truth spilled in pieces—how the girl had slipped into his life, how her touch had branded him.
"I think I've fallen in love," Aster admitted at last, his voice hoarse.
Kim blinked, stunned. "You? The man who's never looked at a woman twice?"
"She was different," Aster muttered, frustration and longing twisting together.
Kim's eyes darkened. "Or it was a trap. You know your rivals—they'd love to ruin you."
Aster exhaled sharply, unwilling to believe it. That night couldn't have been staged. It had felt too real. Too raw.
"Find her," he ordered. "No matter what."
Kim bowed his head. "As you wish."
But even when the door closed behind him, Aster's thoughts refused to let her go.
---
Anya's apartment erupted the moment she walked in.
"Anya!" Ivy and Ji-su rushed forward, their eyes widening at her disheveled clothes.
"I'm fine," she insisted, though her trembling hands betrayed her.
Later, in her room, the truth slipped free.
"I lost my virginity," she confessed softly.
Her friends gasped. "To your ex?"
Anya shook her head. "No. A stranger."
The room stilled.
"I don't even know his name," she admitted. "I was drunk. I went into the wrong hotel room. And then…" Her voice trailed, heat rushing to her cheeks.
Ji-su's lips parted. "Did he take advantage of you?"
"No. If anything, I took advantage of him." Anya smiled faintly, remembering the way he'd held her. "It felt… right. Like heaven. He even said he loved me."
"He was probably caught up in the moment," Ivy scoffed.
"Maybe," Anya whispered. "But it's over. I'll never see him again."
Her heart fluttered with a mix of fear and longing, but she pushed the memory down. Her stepsister's engagement dinner was in two days—and she had no space left for foolish dreams.