The faint smell of cigarette smoke and the pungent scent of alcohol wafting from the alleyway made me frown instinctively. The strange sense of liberation and the heat of revelry emitted by kids who had just turned twenty poured out every time the pub door opened.

And in the middle of it all was Yeom Tae-ha.

"Oh? Babe, what are you doing here?"

Tae-ha, who was coming out of the pub as if he had just been to the restroom, paused when he spotted me. However, his flustered look lasted only a split second. He soon curled his lips into a loose smirk and walked over brazenly, as if he were glad to see me. His stride was so shameless it made my blood run cold.

Come to think of it, Yeom Tae-ha had been this kind of guy from the start.

Rumors that everyone knew since our second year of high school. Dirty rumors like he's dating a senior girl, he sends DMs to anyone at dawn, or he's actually a player.

But when Tae-ha confessed to me in our senior year, he was completely different. With that intimidatingly handsome face, he scratched the back of his neck, his ears turning red as he didn't know what to do with himself.

'The rumors must have been unfair. He's so good to me, would he really cheat?'

I was an idiot for falling for that innocent confession.

It wasn't outright cheating at first. It was just a series of unpleasant behaviors, like playing games all night alone with a female friend, or casually stepping out for a bit when a female friend called while he was at a PC cafe with the guys.

And now that he's an adult, he's started showing his true colors like a horse off its leash.