Are you in love with me?

“What was it, that… that squirrel! She’s exactly like that.”

Lee Jungwook said. His gaze was fixed on Sana, who was bustling around with a large tray.

“A squirrel, huh…”

Choi Doha, standing next to Lee Jungwook, murmured to himself. ‘Indeed.’ He didn’t voice the rest of his thought, but he fully agreed with Lee Jungwook’s opinion.

He had thought that taking off her white hanbok and putting her in a uniform would make her less noticeable, but that wasn’t the case. With her handsome features that made it hard to tell if she was male or female, and her small stature, various customers kept hitting on her even while she was serving.

There was no one more difficult to deal with than a drunk customer. Many would even throw punches, claiming she was disrespecting them. But Sana didn’t panic even with such people.

She smiled brightly, appeased them appropriately, and quickly returned to her work.

“Where did you bring her from? She’s really saved us.”

She was doing her part well, so much so that the floor manager genuinely thanked her. Honestly, it was unexpected. Although he had just thrown her into the job because they were short-staffed, he had expected her to run away within an hour.

‘Did she say she needed money?’ For someone so desperate, she was too cheerful.

When she smiled brightly while stating her name, even Doha, who rarely showed emotional fluctuations, flinched. It was an innocent smile, belying her twenty years.

Even though they were both orphans, she was different from him. Perhaps that’s why his eyes were drawn to her more.

Still, this was as far as it went. He didn’t know what kind of difficult situation she was in, but this was all Doha could do to help—offer her a serving job.

“Start tidying up.”

As it approached 4 AM, many customers had left.

The rooms on the second floor were already empty, and only a few customers remained in the first-floor hall. Doha instructed Lee Jungwook to clean up and then went out the back door of the club. He wanted to smoke.

As he stood in the back alley, taking out a cigarette to light it, he heard the back door open.

“I found you!”

Sana, having spotted Doha, approached with a bright smile like a child. Truly, it was a smile that didn’t suit this back alley, he thought.

“What are you doing here?”

Instead of answering Sana’s question, Doha held up his cigarette.

“Ah.”

Sana nodded and stood next to him. Doha looked at her with an unexpressive face, as if wondering what she was doing, but she paid no mind.

“Brother Heukrang?”

As she called out the name she had heard earlier, a deep furrow appeared between his eyebrows.

“I’m not some gangster bastard… don’t call me that.”

“Then what should I call you?”

She blinked, looking up at him, and for some reason, he frowned then turned his head first.

“Choi Doha.”

“Choi Doha?”

As she simply repeated his name, he frowned again.

“Such a young punk, with no manners.”

At that, she realized what he didn’t like.

“Then, Mr. Choi Doha?”

She corrected the title, but it still didn’t seem to please him.

“Brother Doha?”

Since others called him Brother Heukrang or whatever, she tried changing the honorific at the end. This wasn’t it either, as he let out a deep sigh.

“Don’t call me ‘Brother’ with that face. The disconnect is too much.”

She couldn’t understand what the problem was.

Everyone else called him ‘Brother,’ so what was she supposed to call him? As she agonized over it, Doha, who had finished his cigarette, flicked the butt into the trash can.

“Just ‘Brother’ is fine.”

He tossed out the words and turned away first.

Sana instinctively reached out and grabbed the hem of his jacket. Then, realizing her mistake, a short gasp escaped her lips. Doha, who had stopped, looked down at Sana’s hand clutching his clothes.

“You have a bad habit of grabbing things.”

Sana laughed awkwardly at Doha’s remark. She didn’t usually have such a habit of grabbing people’s clothes. But with this person, she was anxious… so her hand kept reaching out without her realizing it.

“Are you, by any chance, in love with me?”

Doha asked, furrowing his brow. ‘In love?’ Not understanding what he meant, she just blinked, looking up at him blankly. Ha, Doha let out a short breath. Then he took a swift step closer.

He stood less than a foot away, then reached out a hand, grabbed Sana’s chin, and lifted it.

“How naive are you, really?”

She couldn’t tell if he was speaking to Sana or to himself.

As she looked up at him with a clear expression, his face slowly drew closer. She just stood there, blinking, even as he approached within an inch of her face.

“No sense of danger either.”

His breath was so close it brushed her cheek.

“Let’s stop. What am I even doing…”

He let go of Sana’s chin and stepped back. He tried to turn away, but Sana was still holding onto his clothes.

“Well…”

Sana was also a little flustered. Yet, for some reason, she didn’t want to let go.

“This is why it’s confusing.”

Doha sighed and peeled Sana’s hand off him.

“Didn’t you hear that guy earlier, talking about a ‘homo bastard’ or whatever?”

Again, Sana only tilted her head. Now that she thought about it, when they were arguing in front of the club, the slit-eyed man had indeed said something about a ‘homo bastard.’

“You probably can’t imagine it, but there are people whose romantic partners are men. Like me.”

“Ah.”

That was the extent of Sana’s reaction. She wondered what difference it made whether a romantic partner was male or female.

Doha, who had been quietly looking at Sana, seemingly surprised by her reaction, let out a long breath.

“You seem particularly obsessed with me, is that a misunderstanding?”

She flinched at the question. She couldn’t deny the word ‘obsessed.’ As she remained silent, he sighed again.

“Have we met somewhere before?”

Sana only bit her lips. She knew him. She had seen him so often that she could vividly recall his face even with her eyes closed. But she couldn’t say they had ‘met.’ Doha didn’t know her at all.

As she kept her mouth shut, refusing to give any answer, Doha gave up first and turned his head.

“Go inside and clean up. You can go home now.”

Fortunately, he didn’t pry further. As if he had nothing more to say, he turned and went back into the club. Only after he left her alone did Sana slump down onto the ground.

She had finally met him, but she didn’t know what to do.

She thought she would feel less anxious if he was right in front of her, but that wasn’t the case. If he disappeared from her sight for even a moment, she would become restless and unsure what to do.

‘What should I do, really?’

Having lived her entire life within Muryeong, forming new human relationships was unfamiliar and difficult in itself. Moreover, Doha was special.

‘Don’t dwell on every single thing; just let it flow. You cannot control the life or death of others.’

Muryeong’s leader, Mooyoung, used to say that whenever Sana was troubled by dreams. She thought she had grown accustomed to seeing people die… but this time, she couldn’t let it flow as Mooyoung had said.

She had impulsively sought out Doha, but the future ahead was daunting. She had no idea what she could do or how to proceed. She knew it was reckless, but she couldn’t give up now.

“I want to save him. No matter what…”

She murmured, looking at the club’s back door through which Doha had entered. All Sana desired now was that one thing.

When the club cleanup was finished, the employees were all told they could go home.

Sana, who had finished cleaning amidst the crowd, changed her clothes and came out, looking around. Doha, who had been visible during cleaning, was nowhere to be seen.

“Looking for something?”

The large man approached quietly from behind, startling her. She turned around to see it was Lee Jungwook, the man who had tried to kick her out in front of the club earlier.

“You’re not looking for Brother Heukrang, are you?”

She nodded at the mention of Doha.

“Why?”

It was a simple question, but when she hesitated, unable to answer immediately, Lee Jungwook, who had been staring, let out a humming sound.

“Are you… one of those too?”

She couldn’t answer, not knowing what ‘those’ referred to, and he narrowed his eyes.

Despite his massive size, his impression wasn’t actually that intimidating. Someone had once called him a ‘water bear’ in passing, and she could roughly understand why.

“Are you gay or something, is that it?”

“Gay?”

“Someone who likes men.”

She remembered Doha saying something similar in the club’s back alley.

‘So Doha is gay.’

“You’re after our Brother, is that it?”

Lee Jungwook specified his question. Now she understood his words, and what Doha had said earlier. It seemed he was misunderstanding, thinking that because Choi Doha liked men, she had come here to pursue him.

It was a little different, but it was true she had come to meet him, so as she pondered how to answer, she saw Doha coming down the stairs on the second floor.

The moment she saw him, her face must have brightened unconsciously, as Lee Jungwook, who was watching beside her, let out a gasp.

“No doubt about it.”

Pretending not to hear Lee Jungwook’s muttering, she kept staring at Doha, and he, feeling her gaze, approached.

“Why aren’t you leaving?”

“I was just about to send her off anyway.”

Lee Jungwook answered for her and turned to Sana.

Despite his gesture to leave, Sana didn’t budge. As she stubbornly stared at Doha, he sighed, perhaps feeling burdened by her gaze, and turned to her.

“If you have something to say, say it.”

He seemed to think she had something to say. ‘It’s not like I have anything in particular to say… Oh!’

“I have a favor to ask.”

At the word ‘favor,’ Doha looked at her with a strange expression.

“Please let me stay the night!”

At her next words, his eyebrows furrowed violently.