Love for One Night

Ch 2: Over-the-Shoulder Throw (7)

The night feels like another form of makeup, capable of concealing flaws and transforming someone into a completely different person. Under the shifting glow of the darkness, people's expressions turn mysterious. Their eyes seem veiled by a thin layer of gauze, blurring the sharp edges and boundaries of everything, leaving only ambiguity.

Admiration leads to desire, and the inability to attain what one desires makes it alluring. Someone like her, who's already his, yet embarrasses him so openly in broad daylight—still, he spares the time to think about her.

Arden and Ryo accidentally locked eyes, but both quickly turned away and downed their glasses of whiskey in one gulp. Moya watched the two with great interest and, for the 103rd time, asked curiously, "What's going on with you two?"

As expected, her question earned the 205th and 206th eye rolls.

Unable to break the tension, Moya decided to tackle them one at a time. She propped her chin on her hand, tilted her head toward Ryo, and asked, "Where's your girlfriend? Didn't you say you'd bring her for a drink?"

Ryo growled angrily, "Don't mention her!"

Moya turned to Arden, leaning in conspiratorially. "What's with him? Did he break up with that girl?"

Arden didn't respond, just glanced at the back of Ryo's head. Moya took his silence as confirmation and exclaimed in exaggerated surprise, "No way. A girl that he couldn't win over in more than a week. Must be a perfect ten. And Ryo just let her go?"

Arden let out a cold laugh. "Not just a perfect ten—she's the extraordinary of perfection."

Ryo, visibly provoked, spun around and retorted, "Yours is the real extraordinary of perfection. She's more perfect than perfect. Her whole family's perfect!"

He was babbling nonsense again. Moya chuckled and patted Arden's arm. "How did you get dragged into this too?"

Ryo, pleased to see Arden's face turn ashen, gleefully exaggerated the story: "His 'perfect one'—the girl he's been obsessed with for months after just one night—gave him a glorious over-the-shoulder throw today. She hit him so hard, she even busted his hemorrhoids!"

Arden smacked him. "You're the one with hemorrhoids!"

"Whoa!" Moya gasped dramatically, covering her mouth in mock shock. She looked at Arden with unrestrained admiration and asked excitedly, "There's actually a woman bold enough to treat our Prince Charming like this?"

Ryo pulled Moya closer and asked jealously, "Why is he the Prince Charming, not me?"

Moya slapped his hand away. "That's not the point. The point is, both of you have finally met your match."

"Match? What match?" Ryo scoffed.

Moya leaned in closer, her tone coaxing, "If you let her go just like that, it's as good as admitting defeat."

She shot a glance at Arden and continued, "It's like admitting that you, Ryo, aren't as impressive as you think. If the men of the Ryo family keep declining with each generation, unable to win over a no-name model, how will you survive in the modeling world, let alone inherit your father's entertainment company?"

Ryo straightened his back. "She's just an oblivious blockhead, ungrateful and unreasonable. Am I supposed to use force?"

Moya leaned against his arm suggestively. "We all know you're a gentleman. If you intended to use force, it wouldn't have taken so long. If she truly didn't care, she wouldn't have caught your attention in the first place. She must be a diamond in the rough. With some polishing, who knows how brightly she'll shine? Great things take time—just like finely ground sesame oil has the richest aroma."

That made sense. Ryo leaned forward, propping his elbow on the bar as he began to ponder.

Arden pushed Moya's drink toward her and shook his head helplessly. "You really enjoy stirring things up, don't you?"

Moya took a sip, glanced at Ryo, and replied seriously, "I'm doing it for his own good."

Arden raised an eyebrow. "Do tell."

"He's been spoiled by women all his life. Everything he eats, drinks, and sleeps with has been handed to him like it fell from the sky. He's lived too smoothly, practically like someone disabled. He doesn't even know how to hunt for himself—how's he supposed to take over his father's business?"

Arden nodded in agreement.

Finding a comrade in her argument, Moya didn't forget Arden either. "And what about that girl who threw you over her shoulder? How are you planning to deal with her?"

"Deal with her?"

"Yeah."

Arden smirked coldly. "A barbaric woman like that? I have no interest."

"That's exactly why you shouldn't let her off the hook!" Moya interrupted with a mischievous smile. "I'd love to see what happens if you two end up fighting it out in bed—who'd win?"

A shiver ran down Arden's spine at the thought. To think he had reminisced fondly about her. Now, just recalling it made him feel a little... twinging.