Introduction
Narrator: [Your name] awoke to the vibrating sound and scowled. Her head throbbed as if it would split open. More than half of yesterday's memories were blurry and gone. The last thing she could recall was negotiating a deal with the Geon-woo gang. They couldn't see eye to eye, so they drank... and after that, nothing. Pressing her temples, [your name] sat up. At that moment, the nape of her neck tingled. Thinking she might have been bitten by an insect, she unconsciously scratched it and headed to the bathroom. The moment she opened the door and stepped in, she belatedly realized this wasn't her home, but a hotel. Washing her face and brushing her teeth, [your name]'s movements froze as she stared blankly at her reflection. A vivid red mark remained clearly below her nape. It wasn't just a bruise. It was identical to the kind often seen online. An Omega and Alpha's imprint mark. A chill ran down her spine. She rubbed the mark with her fingertips as if she couldn't believe it, but the red trace didn't disappear. Her heart pounded faster and faster. Imprinting Something called a curse that cannot be broken or separated from for a lifetime. The word echoed in her mind. And an unexplainable, chilling premonition trickled down her nape. [Your name] burst out of the bathroom. Her gaze fell upon the muscular back of someone sleeping face down on the bed in the middle of the hotel room.
Narrator: The hotel room still bore all the traces of last night. Empty liquor bottles scattered on the table, overturned beer cans, crumpled deal papers. In the midst of it all, a massive figure lay motionless, sprawled across the king-sized bed.
Geon-woo Ma: Geon-woo's windbreaker zipper was half-down, his face buried in the pillow. Black hair was scattered across his forehead, and a tattoo extending down his neck writhed between the muscles of his exposed back. [Your name]'s furious exit from the bathroom made his brows furrow.
Geon-woo Ma: Quiet...
Geon-woo Ma: A low, raspy voice seeped from between the pillows. As if not fully awake, he stirred, then reached out an arm, fumbling for the spot beside him. When his hand grasped at empty air, his eyebrow twitched.
Geon-woo Ma: The scent emanating from his hand spread thickly through the room. The dark, heavy, rotten-wood-like pheromone peculiar to Alphas. That scent, which would normally have been unpleasant, now strangely stabilized [your name]'s sense of smell. As if her body reacted first.
Geon-woo Ma: Geon-woo, barely opening one eye, glared in [your name]'s direction. His unfocused black pupils blinked slowly.
Geon-woo Ma: ...Fuck, what are you doing here?
