How could Won believe that?

He gave her a look of pity.

‘What is it? Why does he look at me like that?’

Won felt insulted. She felt weird obsessing over a piece of candy. He was in the wrong for taking it, but she felt her defensiveness was lame. However, he has a knack for getting under people’s skin.

“How sad it is that there is so little trust between us. Just so sad.”

“Was there ever trust between us?”

“If there’s no trust between us, why did you trust me with both your body and soul? My pretty girl is as slutty on the inside as she is on the outside.”

“That’s not true!”

Won, who was about to reply that she was only going along because of the urgency of the situation, shut her mouth, conscious of the cameras. If she continued this conversation, she would only get caught up in his pace. It’s better to avoid it.

‘I shouldn’t talk unless I have to.’

With a vicious turn, she left Top Dog behind and went to her room. She changed her destination midway to the restroom when a question popped into her head.

Standing in front of the acrylic mirror that occupied one wall of the bathroom, she scrutinized her reflection. She stood as close as possible to make the image distorted as much as she could.

“My pretty girl is just as slutty on the inside as she is on the outside.”

“What does he mean?”

Won didn’t understand. She was wearing baggy, patient clothes, but he was acting like she was wearing something slutty and revealing.

‘Does that mean I look like I’m easy? Me?’

Won frowned thinking of Top Dog’s arrogance. She never heard such a thing in her life. If she had, she wouldn’t have let that person roam free, tearing them apart limb from limb.

‘Could they not say it to her face? Do they only talk about it amongst each other?’

Once she started thinking about it, she felt uncomfortable.

There are probably very few people in the world who want to appear easy to others. Overcome by a sense of urgency to get to the bottom of this, Won turned her body this way and that, trying to find the reason she looked “slutty.”

With each fluid movement of her waist, the silhouette of her thin waist, wide hips, full breasts, and toned hips became more prominent, but nothing stood out to her. She was used to seeing her body every day, so she was indifferent to it. Instead, it was her hair, which fell below her waist, that caught her eye.

‘Is it my hair? It’s the only thing that I changed from usual…’

Won tried gathering her hair together and hiding it behind her head. It seemed to make her appear more like herself and gave her a sharper impression.

She couldn’t think of any other reason. The culprit must be her long, thick hair; the combination of her features and hair was a bad match.

‘It’s heavy and cumbersome to have it like this anyway…’

She’ll cut it off when the mission is over, but until then, what should she do? Should she wear it in a ponytail?

Unsure of what to do with her hair, Won remembered the source of her unproductive worry.

“Saying such useless things.”

It was his loud mouth unnecessarily bothering her.

“It’s you who is like that…”

He was the naughty one.

She thought about the one time Ju-hee said that Top Dog and Target were treated by nurses in opposite ways. Top Dog was like irresistible food and hungrily clung to him, while Target was like a feast that shouldn’t be touched and treated with caution. It was a great insight.

Top Dog is charming, but he doesn’t have the dignity of the target, so he’s coveted. He spills his innate color all over the place, and since he has no walls, there is no shortage of moths.

‘Compared to him, I’m a pure maiden.’

Who is to say that she couldn’t see it…

‘If I could just fix your speech, you’d be better off.’

If he didn’t talk the way he did, there would only be half the number of moths flying around him. His looks acted as a barrier in and of itself.  Many don’t dare to overcome it, but because his words and actions chipped away at the wall, he’s become like a wall-less commune.

‘If he could get rid of that perverted attitude, he would be a much better man than he is now…’

Won solidified her thoughts to that point, but then she stopped.

‘Why am I having such useless thoughts? It’s not like I have time to spare.’

After vigorously shaking her head to clear her mind, she left the bathroom. When she returned to her room, Black Cat was pacing nearby. He didn’t stand at her door, but he reached out as if he were to knock, then withdrew his hand.

Won coughed, wanting her uninvited visitor to hear her. Turning his head toward her, he paused and looked away. It was like he was wondering what was wrong with him coming to her first, then he spoke.

“Excuse me… Can we talk?”

Won shrugged.

“Sure, do you want to come inside?”

She reached for the handle to her room as Black Cat jerked away in embarrassment.

“No. To my room… No, don’t get me wrong. I’m not asking you to go to my room with ulterior motives, I just want to talk to you alone, and I thought it would be better if you went to my room than if I went to your room, Won…”

The explanation got longer and longer. Won nodded to indicate she understood.

“Don’t get me wrong, I know you’re not the kind of guy to do that.”

‘You aren’t Top Dog.’

He is the kind of guy who walks into a room like he’s got other business and then leaves like he has other things to do.

“Should I thank you or…”

Black Cat’s voice trailed off in an odd tone.

“Or?”

“Never mind, I’m not saying anything.”

For some reason, his voice sounded higher. Won was puzzled, but she didn’t ask. If he wouldn’t tell her, there was no way for her to find out.

“So, do you want to come into my room, or do you want to go to your room?”

“Um, let’s go to my room.”

Black Cat stiffly replied and took the lead. Won followed behind.

‘He’s never been in a real relationship.’

Even as the female patients surrounded him, gossiping about it, she honestly doubted it. There was just no way a man of his stature wouldn’t have a woman around him, but his behavior proved her wrong.

She can’t believe he was embarrassed to ask her to go to his room. After all, there is a CCTV, so it wasn’t like they were truly alone.

It’s a different kind of innocence than someone who talks in the main hall about how much money they are making and saying all sorts of nasty things, whether someone is listening or not.

The man who should know shame doesn’t know shame, and the man who does know shame is overly shamed when he doesn’t have to be. What a messy world.

Suddenly, remembering that someone in the Romance Corps said that Gyeom was popular made her laugh.

He’s a hundred times better than anyone. He isn’t an animal, so everyone should live with restraint. In other words, humans who make fun of themselves are no different from animals.

If it was said out loud, she might be criticized for having an archaic mindset, but she always believed it.

There may be some people who find messy men attractive, but Won wasn’t one of them.

Of those who are attracted to messy guys, the vast majority only like the formula of a messy guy knowing true love and becoming a loyal dog. They aren’t actually attracted to the man, just the catharsis of the messy guy turning into a love-sick man.

If you really prefer a “messy man” per se, you have to be okay with the idea of him sleeping with other women even after finding his true love. Won hadn’t met a single woman in her life who had such a preference.

In the end, the overwhelming majority of women like a man who is a jerk, whether he is a natural jerk or an acquired jerk.

In dramas, movies, and novels, a troubled man becomes a pure man overnight, but that is just fiction. In real life, a troubled man is a troubled man until he dies. The only exception is the level of beans in a drought.

‘Top Dog won’t change.’

If a girl comes along that he likes, he will flirt with her like he did with Won. He would probably even say the same lines.

He is the hallmark of a flirt. If you go back and forth with him, you end up confused about what you are talking about. He’ll do the same thing in front of other women, sucking on a lollipop and smirking…

“… Won?”

“What?”

“When you make that face, your eyebrows wrinkle.”

With a serious look, Black Cat reached out and placed his thumb and foreign at the beginning of both of her eyebrows.

Won froze at the contact.

His fingers slid along her brow, brushing it from side to side. She felt a cool sensation as he firmly pressed downward. It felt like he was stretching her face.

After repeating the action three times, he removed his hand and gave her an apologetic look.

“Oh, it’s a habit… I’m sorry if it offended you, but I didn’t mean anything by it…”

Won felt like teasing Black Cat as he stuttered through his explanation.

“So, whenever you see someone with their eyebrows furrowed, do you just straighten it out of habit? Even if it is just a random person on the street?”

Kofi