Yeonwoo stood in front of a building that didn't match the street filled with loud singing and the smell of alcohol, clutching his phone and hovering around. On his phone screen, the words 'Calling...' flashed continuously.

One of the guards, who had been looking quite suspiciously at Yeonwoo's behavior as he lingered in front of the building, approached him.

"What brings you here?"

"Ah, well... I received a message saying my frie... friend is very drunk."

With frozen hands, Yeonwoo hurriedly touched his phone and showed the typo-filled message from Hyunmin.

[Hyunmin: Come get me save meeeee] 10:28 PM

Below that message, the club name and address were written accurately without a single typo.

Yeonwoo added an explanation, feeling unnecessarily self-conscious.

"I'm just going to take my friend and come right out..."

"You cannot enter without an invitation. Please let us know once you've contacted your companion."

They firmly blocked the door. But Hyunmin, his companion, was not answering his calls at all, as if he had collapsed after that last message.

Yeonwoo added several more speech bubbles below his replies, where the 'unread' mark hadn't disappeared.

[Choi Hyunmin, I've arrived out front]

[Is this the right place? There are scary-looking guys standing in front]

[Ahhhhh, nothing's happened, right? Why aren't you answering your phone]

[They say I can't go in, so once you see this, just come out to the entrance, I'm freezing to death]11:30 PM

Just as he was glaring at the innocent messenger window, the 'unread' mark disappeared. Yeonwoo glanced at the guard and hurriedly called Hyunmin.

"Are you okay? I've arrived out front, so pack your things and come out. They say I can't go in."

Instead of an answer, loud music followed.

"Choi Hyunmin? Just how much did you drink? I'm really cold, so come out quickly."

Just as he was grumbling at the seemingly heavily intoxicated Hyunmin, the door the guard was blocking opened and a man stepped outside. And he walked straight toward Yeonwoo.

"Are you 'Lucky Yeonu'?"

"......Excuse me?"

When a man he had never seen before approached him and suddenly said something strange, Yeonwoo instinctively took a step back. At that, the man murmured an 'ah' and waved his phone screen at him.

"You are, right? Lucky Yeonu."

The screen showed a calling window with the name 'Lucky Yeonu'. It was the name Hyunmin had saved him as. Yeonwoo, looking back and forth between his own phone, which was still in a call, and the phone the man was holding, nodded his head.

"Ah, yes, yes! Are you a colleague of Hyunmin's?"

"I'm Kim Noyoung. I happened to see the messages. Don't wait outside in the cold; let's head inside for now."

He wanted to say that Hyunmin just needed to come out, but seeing as the phone had even passed to another person, it was certain that he had already completely passed out. Since he had received a serious message asking to be saved, he couldn't just leave his friend without checking.

"Then I'll just take Hyunmin and come right out."

"Come in quickly. A cold wave warning was issued for tonight, and it definitely is freezing."

No wonder it was so cold.

Even though it was their first meeting, Noyoung treated Yeonwoo quite warmly. Even the guards, who had looked like an iron fortress, held the door for Yeonwoo at just a few words from him and let him inside.

"Thank you for coming out to meet me."

"It's nothing. I was curious, actually."

"Pardon?"

"I was curious just how lucky you were for him to save your name like that."

To be precise, it was a contact name Hyunmin had entered, saying that Yeonwoo's luck would improve someday. It was a misunderstanding, but Yeonwoo remained silent, thinking there was no need to explain his misfortune to a stranger.

After passing through a long corridor, the main hall began to appear. It was said to be a party where people from the broadcasting industry gathered, and more people than expected were moving around the large hall, drinking freely.

As Yeonwoo hesitated, unable to hide his awkwardness, Noyoung gave a small laugh and gestured. The lighting inside wasn't very bright to begin with, but the place Noyoung pointed to was so dark he couldn't even see it properly.

"I've left PD Choi over there."

"Thank you."

Yeonwoo's mind was filled only with the thought of taking Hyunmin and leaving. He didn't know how long it had been since he was in a place with so many people. For Yeonwoo, who would break his nose even if he fell backward, it was an environment where he couldn't help but be nervous.

Beside him, Noyoung continued the conversation, skillfully adding more words.

"Let him sleep for a bit and then take him when he sobers up later. Well, if he doesn't sober up, it's fine to take him to my place."

"I couldn't impose like that..."

"My house has long since become a hideout for people. Everyone just comes and sleeps over whenever they want. And anyway, they've rented this place out until the morning, so if it doesn't work out, it won't be a big problem to let him sleep in that room further inside."

He pulled Yeonwoo's shoulder, telling him not to worry.

"Actually, PD Choi has talked about you a lot, so I've been curious."

"About me?"

Choi Hyunmin was Yeonwoo's only friend. He was absolutely not the type of person to go around talking carelessly about Yeonwoo being a fox beastman. If he had talked about him, it was probably just along the lines of having a friend who had the worst luck in the world.

'Is he talking to me on purpose because he's curious about just how unlucky I am?'

A sense of wariness toward Noyoung grew in an instant. Since he was a child, there were many who made bets on Yeonwoo. Trivial bets like, 'Will Hong Yeonwoo fall into a trash can today or not?' or 'Will he get water poured on him or not?'

And they would purposely spill water on him, claiming it was a mistake, or trip him while he was going to throw out the trash, then laugh and chatter with each other about winning the bet.

Could Noyoung be one of those people?

"Ah, he didn't say anything special. PD Choi is usually quite taciturn, but whenever he talks about a friend, Yeonu's... name always comes up."

"Ah, I'm Hong Yeonwoo."

Yeonwoo corrected the name for Noyoung, who seemed to hesitate for a moment, perhaps confused.

Perhaps due to the alcohol, Noyoung began to chatter and laugh heartily at the trivial remark.

"Every time he opened his mouth, Yeonwoo’s name came up. He bragged about you so much."

"I've known Hyunmin for a long time, so I've received a lot of help from him."

"Oh, please. Just looking at you now, it seems like Producer Choi is the one who owes you. He didn't even blink when he saw the actor Sun Inhyeok; he just kept praising his friend for being more handsome... But he blabbered about it so much that everyone thought he was bluffing."

Sun Inhyeok was an actor so famous that even Yeonwoo, who lived a life without enough leisure to keep up with movies or dramas, had vaguely heard his name.

He didn't really know what the actor looked like, but the thought of being praised in comparison to someone so famous made Yeonwoo glare toward where Hyunmin was out of sheer embarrassment.

"He even said you eat so much you could enter a competition, yet you never gain weight. Everyone was like, 'Where on earth does a unicorn like that exist?'"

"Excuse me...?"

The moment Yeonwoo let out a weak sound, Noyoung spotted a group of people in the distance and shouted.

"The unicorn is here! The unicorn Choi Hyunmin was talking about!"

In an instant, everyone's eyes focused on Yeonwoo. In the sudden situation, Yeonwoo wanted to run away immediately, but Noyoung gripped his wrist tightly and wouldn't let go.

Just how did Choi Hyunmin act around others that they would flock to see his friend like a rare animal? And a 'unicorn,' of all things. It was a title he had never heard in his life.

In the end, the captured Yeonwoo was forced to join the drinking session with Noyoung and the other people from Bluerim Media.

"Does Yeonwoo work in this industry too? An actor? Or maybe a commercial model? Why do you look so familiar?"

"No. Producer Choi said back then that he didn't want to show him because he doesn't work in this field. He said he’s someone who doesn't have a speck of interest in the entertainment industry."

"I've worked quite a few part-time jobs at restaurants. You might have seen me there."

Yeonwoo was being sincere, but everyone was busy laughing, saying, "Really?" Some of them were already past the point of having a normal conversation. Even though they were all talking about different things, no one found it strange as the banter continued back and forth.

Yeonwoo secretly pulled out his phone and searched for Sun Inhyeok's name. A photo of a dazzling face appeared prominently.

'Choi Hyunmin. Just you wait until tomorrow.'

The fact that he had praised Yeonwoo by comparing him to a face like that... Unable to bear the shame, Yeonwoo moved to a corner of the sofa. A desperate urge to go home surged within him.

'I'll stay just a little longer, check on Hyunmin, and then leave.'

Fortunately, the cocktail Noyoung made for him tasted almost nothing like alcohol; it was sweet and might as well have been juice. Moreover, it had the strawberry flavor Yeonwoo liked, even if it was artificial, so it suited his palate perfectly.

'I was hungry anyway.'

The cocktail glass in front of Yeonwoo was soon emptied. Perhaps because he was in poor condition after getting soaked and hit by the biting wind today, his throat kept feeling parched, so Yeonwoo gulped down the orange juice placed in front of him.

At that moment, a man with shaggy hair flopped down next to Yeonwoo and asked.

"The Bluerim kids were calling you a unicorn or something. You must be quite the drinker, huh?"

It was a man named Park Jungman, who had briefly exchanged greetings with the Bluerim staff while Yeonwoo was catching his breath. Some people had bowed their heads, calling him 'Assistant Director.'

Seeing how a slightly uncomfortable atmosphere settled in when Jungman appeared, he might have been a person of higher status than he looked. Or perhaps he was just a strange person.

It didn't take long for Yeonwoo to realize the answer.

Park Jungman reeked of alcohol. Even though Yeonwoo's nose was stuffy from a slight cold and the alcohol he'd just consumed, he could still smell it. He couldn't even guess how much the man had drunk.

"So, are you an aspiring actor or something? I heard you work part-time somewhere?"

Jungman, who had naturally dropped into casual speech, rested his hand on Yeonwoo's thigh. Yeonwoo shifted his leg slightly and shook his head.

"No. I'm not interested in the broadcasting side."

"Why not? Come on, seeing as you used your friend's connection to come all the way here, you must be interested."

"I only came to pick up my friend because he's very drunk."

He expressed his refusal firmly, but Jungman, whether he didn't notice due to his intoxication or simply didn't care, continued talking.

"You have exactly the kind of look I've been looking for. How did you know to come here?"

Even though Jungman was the one who approached him, he was now talking as if Yeonwoo had approached him.

"I know quite a few directors and celebrities I'm close with. Shall I take you along and introduce you? You know the movie Sun Inhyeok debuted in, right? Horizon. I know it well because I was a staff on that project too."

Just how great was this actor Sun Inhyeok that everyone he met brought him up?

Yeonwoo hesitated as he recalled Sun Inhyeok's face, which he had glimpsed through a phone search. Park Jungman, keenly catching that moment, smirked and began to put on airs.

"Anyway, you'd be surprised if you heard how many rookie actors try to get on my good side. Last time, who was it... that guy who appeared as a eunuch in that recent fusion historical drama..."

"Um...!"

As Jungman's touch became increasingly blatant, Yeonwoo couldn't stand it any longer and bolted up from his seat.

"I... I have an urgent need for the restroom, so I'll be back in a moment."

"Ah, we were having such an interesting conversation, and you're going to the bathroom?"

Jungman grumbled, but Yeonwoo was in no state to listen. His head was spinning because he had stood up so suddenly.

'Uh...'

Yeonwoo squeezed his eyes shut and opened them again, trying to regain his senses, but the dizziness wouldn't subside. However, fearing he would be caught by Jungman again if he stayed, he forced himself to walk through his blurred vision.

All he had consumed was the single cocktail Noyoung had made and the orange juice. Yet, Yeonwoo's gait as he headed toward the restroom was clearly that of someone heavily intoxicated.

Meanwhile, someone who came by the table Yeonwoo had left chuckled and poured a 40-percent spirit and orange juice into the empty bottle.

"Where'd the Mimosa that was here go? Everyone said they didn't like Mimosas because they didn't taste like alcohol, but they're tasty, right?"

Unaware of this fact, Yeonwoo only blamed his own condition and low tolerance. He hadn't realized it while sitting still, but the moment he moved, the alcohol began to ravage his body.

Yeonwoo, who usually stayed away from alcohol, found it difficult to keep his wits about him as he was tossed around by the strong alcohol for the first time in a while. If he lost consciousness and became a total mess, and by any chance his ears popped out, it would be a major disaster.

Yeonwoo left the crowded hall and headed toward a dark, deserted hallway. It was the area with the private rooms Noyoung had mentioned earlier.

Only after passing several doors from which voices could be heard did he fortunately find a restroom sign at the end of the hallway.

'Restroom, restroom...'

Walking with difficulty, Yeonwoo stumbled and flung the door open.

However, there was already someone inside the restroom. And it was a crazy man sitting on a toilet that had no partition, fully clothed.

The surreal sight should have felt alien, but for Yeonwoo, the tension he had been barely holding onto snapped once he thought he had taken refuge in a secluded restroom. Consequently, the last bit of reason he had left evaporated completely.

"Uh...! I'm sorrrry."

Yeonwoo, his face flushed bright red, hurriedly turned around and lost his balance, swaying. He desperately tried to put strength into his legs, but his body, consumed by alcohol, moved of its own accord.

In the end, Yeonwoo fell flat on his backside on the floor. Thanks to the alcohol, he didn't feel any pain, but the floor was shimmering, and his legs had lost all strength, so he just lay there in a sprawled position.

'I have to get up.'

Yeonwoo, blinking at the ceiling through his spinning vision, suddenly turned his head toward a gaze he felt. The man who had been sitting motionless was silently looking down at him.

Yeonwoo barely fended off the overwhelming sleepiness and sat up halfway. Then, staring intently at the man's somewhat familiar face, he muttered.

"Why are you so familiar?"

"......What is this? Please leave."

A cold voice flowed from the man, who not only withdrew his gaze but turned his head away completely. Shivers ran down Yeonwoo's spine, and he straightened his swaying upper body.

"Ah, I'm in a bit of a hurry... I'll go over there quickly. I'm sorrrry."

Now that he thought about it, this was a restroom. Even though it was a strange restroom without any partitions, he must be really drunk to have talked to someone who was doing their business.

Yeonwoo tried to get up in a hurry, but strength wouldn't return to his legs. Because of that, Yeonwoo had to flounder on the floor for a long time.

After practically crawling along the floor, Yeonwoo was finally able to pull himself up after grabbing the wall. Staggering toward a mysterious curtain, he grumbled quietly.

"It's hard to do the laundry if there's a curtain in the restroom. I wonder if they hire a company. Still, at this size, it would be hard just to replace it."

Yeonwoo worried about the workload of a part-time worker he didn't even know as he fiddled with the curtain. He still failed to make the rational judgment that this place might not be a restroom. Then, suddenly remembering something, he turned around.

"Who was that person just now?"

The man was still sitting in the same spot. Noticing Yeonwoo approaching, the man, who had his head bowed low, suddenly looked up at him. But Yeonwoo didn't mind in the slightest and walked toward him.

As the distance between the two closed, the man's forehead, which looked as though it were sculpted, crumpled with immense displeasure.

"Haven't we met somewhere before?"

Alcohol was a powerful thing. It was behavior the normal Yeonwoo would never have imagined. To approach a complete stranger without hesitation and spout a cheesy flirting line. Of course, he hadn't meant it that way, but it was more than enough to be misunderstood.

'Ah! Sun... Sun what was it?'

With the sole intention of remembering the man's name, Yeonwoo peered at the man's face from various angles, matching his eye level with the man who kept trying to avoid his gaze.

As he got close enough for their breaths to touch, the man lowered his head and clenched his teeth. While the man's face and ears were flushed red, his hands had turned pale. He looked ready to crush the toilet, no, the white sofa he was sitting on.

Just as the name was about to surface along with the face in the article he had seen on the portal site earlier, he realized the man's condition was strange. Yeonwoo gripped his shoulder with concern.

"Are you feeling sick?"

His eyes, which were examining the man, passed his neck, which was covered in cold sweat, and naturally moved down to his lower body. Even in his drunken state, Yeonwoo was startled and secretly pulled his hand away from the man's shoulder.

His faintly distant reason momentarily returned.

"......Are you okay?"

It seemed the man had had an accident without even lowering his pants, as if he were completely blacked out. Since he happened to be wearing gray pants, the wetness in that area was vividly apparent.

Yeonwoo, his hands twitching, eventually patted the man's knee after much thought. It was a gesture meant to express his concern. However, no reaction came back.

"You must be very drunk."

Yeonwoo, oblivious to his own state, worried about the man who had urinated without being able to even lower his pants.

Even though no one was around, he looked around for no reason and kindly whispered in his ear. They were close enough for their breaths to touch.

"Because of the... circumstances, I can't go outside right now. Instead, I'll be in therrre, so take your time cleaning up."

Deciding that it wouldn't be easy to take off one's pants in front of a stranger, Yeonwoo relied on his last remaining shred of reason to find a compromise.

'No wonder there's a curtain in the restroom.'

Yeonwoo nodded to himself and reached for the curtain behind the sofa where the man was sitting. Naturally, his upper body lightly brushed against the man's head before pulling away.

"Why won't this work?"

After struggling with the restroom curtain that wouldn't budge, Yeonwoo retreated, huffing.

But before he could fully move away from him, the man's ice-cold hand grabbed Yeonwoo's. It was a grip strong enough to make his body stagger.

"......What are you?"

In contrast to the hand that roughly gripped Yeonwoo, Sun Inhyeok's bloodshot eyes were trembling incessantly.

In many ways, he was currently experiencing the greatest shock of his life. Even though it was Yeonwoo who was caught, Inhyeok, the one who had caught him, had the most shocked expression.

The fact that he had shown such a hideous sight, having an erection and even ejaculating in front of a stranger, was, of course, a shameful thing. Perhaps tomorrow his face would be plastered on the front page of entertainment news. But Inhyeok's entire focus was on something else right now.

Yeonwoo tried to maintain a straight face under his questioning. A grown man had urinated while wearing his clothes and got caught, so he must be embarrassed.

"It's okay. That can happen when you're drunk. I have moments like that too. When I worked part-time cleaning motels before, I saw it quite often."

In truth, Yeonwoo had never had a urinary accident even as a child, but he added a small lie to comfort him. And while tidying up motel bedding, there were rare occasions when grown adults had seemingly had urinary accidents, as the bedding and even the mattresses were soiled.

"What..."

But to Inhyeok, this whole situation felt more than just bizarre; it was suspicious. It might have been better if he had simply had a urinary accident.

However, what had soaked his crotch was not urine. That fact was what made Inhyeok's reason fracture.

Because he was a patient with severe erectile dysfunction, in other words, he was impotent.