I encountered another scumbag. I went to a bar to drown my sorrows. I wanted to call my best friend, Zoey, to vent. Then I was heartlessly mocked instead.

I was furious. Wiping away the tears from the corners of my eyes, I shouted into the phone, "Next time, I will find someone, who is more attractive than him. The man will have a better figure, and he will be older... older... older by one grade."

I hesitated for a moment and hung up the phone. Then I almost forced myself to salvage my shattered dignity with a low voice.

I saw the roommate of the scumbag standing behind a counter in front of me. He was staring at me intently.

He was wearing a black sleeveless trendy T-shirt. His angular face was highlighted by his grayish-blue messy hair. His tall stature rendered him oppressive. I somewhat couldn't breathe.

My face started to burn. The DJ was playing music so loudly that maybe he didn't hear the second part of my ambiguous words just now.

I was too awkward. I decisively pretended to be ignorant and prepared to escape. I convinced myself that the scumbag's roommate had nothing to do with me, so it didn't matter if I had embarrassed myself or ignored him.

Just as I was about to get up, he said, "Do you want to give it a try?"

I was dumbfounded, saying, "Try what?"

He replied seriously, "Others say that I look pretty good. Moreover..." Unexpectedly, he lifted the hem of his T-shirt, revealing his well-defined and solid abs. A faintly visible V-line extends downwards.

"I'm a senior... in college."

As if on purpose, he paused for a few seconds and emphasized it.

I was stunned. I, who had planned to escape, instantly sat back onto the chair.

After a while, I finally realized what he meant. My scumbag ex-boyfriend was a junior this year. This boy was a senior, making him a perfect option for me. He met all the criteria I had mentioned about being my boyfriend.

He was a pure-hearted senior with a hot figure. He even wanted to pounce on me!

"I am hitting the jackpot! I am so blessed!"

"It's indeed too exciting."

I couldn't help but smile.

I reluctantly looked at the dropped hem of his clothes and planned to promise him. Suddenly, Zoey's scolding voice rang in my ears, "It's all because you fell into a love trap that you deserve to meet a scumbag!"

My ex-boyfriends were weird in their ways. One of them went crazy, selling insurance to me after we started dating. Another convinced me to quit my job and make artificial flowers. The last one planned to study abroad. Then he dumped me instead after I paid the tuition fees for him.

The brutal history of me being betrayed was engrained in my mind, making me calm down.

I gritted my teeth and struggled to say briefly, "No."

"It's okay if you don't want to."

He suddenly bent down as he spoke. I thought he was going to kiss me. Nervously, I closed my eyes.

"Lisa, don't cry. I will ask you next time."

He spoke gently. He brushed my eye corners twice with his slender fingers.

I stubbornly said, "I didn't..." But tears uncontrollably streamed down my face.

I was furious when I found out that my boyfriend treated me as an ATM and cheated on me. I felt angry at worst. I cried pretentiously.

"But now I feel so heartbroken for rejecting such a kind-hearted man."

He didn't give up because of my indifference. He said, "Shall I take you home, Lisa?"

"No!"

This time, I refused even faster. If he followed me home, I would swallow him alive!

"I can't bear it!"

"I absolutely can't bring him home."

He lowered his eyes and stood up without saying anything. Then he calmly shook the cocktail glass beside him.

After a while, he pushed a glass of golden cocktail to the front of me. He said, "Taste it. It's customized for you."

"Oh my god, he's so good!"

Looking at him, who was pitiful, I couldn't turn him down three times in a row tonight.

I took a sip of the cocktail. It tasted sour and sweet, which was delicious, so I drank most of it in a few sips.

"Are college students nowadays so amazing? A part-time bartender created such a drink, and it tastes so good."

I felt like he's a master at keeping girls hanging. "Maybe he just randomly made a drink that I've never seen before and said so to flirt with me."

I asked, "What's the name of this drink?"

He smiled and leaned close to my ear, saying, "To coax you."

"Indeed, he's a master, a genuine master!"

While gifting me a cup of wine, He was saying sweet words!

His low voice made him particularly sexy. It made me feel weak.

My body swayed a bit. I wanted to adjust my sitting posture. My whole body lost control and fell.

When I was resting against the counter, I seemed to hear his words in my ear again, "...Into a dream."

I felt the warmth of the sun on my face and stretched lazily, opening my eyes.

It had been a long time since I slept so well.

"Wait!"

"Why is there a handsome guy on my bed?"

My memories rewound crazily. Finally, I recalled the glass of cocktail...

"Hey, wake up!"

I lifted the blanket on him. Although it was a bit messy underneath, he was dressed up neatly.

I felt relieved. "It seems I didn't encounter a romance trap."

Then, I felt a bit disappointed because he was wearing too many clothes.

"Lisa, I have a name. Call me Troy Malone."

Troy opened his eyes. His voice in the morning sounded a bit hoarse.

"His name sounds nice and matches well with his face."

After Troy finished speaking, he didn't get up. Instead, he moved half of his body towards me.

I became alert and asked fiercely, "What did you do to me last night?"

"I did quite a lot."

Troy raised his chin behind me. When I turned my head, I saw a pile of makeup remover wipes, lotion, and essential oil.

"You said that not removing makeup would ruin your face. Then, you complained that wearing high heels all day required a foot and calf massage. Otherwise, your legs will become fat..."

As Troy complained, I was embarrassed. I usually didn't bother to do all these things. Now I was paying attention to them after drinking too much.

At the thought of him holding my feet with his slender fingers and giving me a massage, my skin started to burn.

"What else...?"

My confidence in questioning him began to crumble.

"Lisa, you look so cute when your face turns red," he answered ambiguously. Suddenly, circling his arms around my waist, he pulled me into his embrace and said, "I'm going to kiss you. If you don't like it, push me away."

I did push him away, but it was after we kissed.

He kissed me fiercely and urgently without any technique. It was as if he wanted to devour me. If I didn't push him away, I would suffocate.

I gasped for breath, saying, "Your kissing skills are so bad, yet you dare to kiss me randomly."

He probably didn't expect me to directly criticize him. Feeling a bit embarrassed, he said, "It's my first time."

"His first time? Is it his first kiss?" I was so shocked.

"Did you say it's your first time to seduce me?"

"Do you like innocent men, Lisa?"

"No, I like a wild one."

"Then I'm willing to transform myself for you, Lisa. I am so good at learning."

He spoke so seriously.

I, a negotiation expert, couldn't beat him at all while arguing with him. It must be because he was too good-looking that my performance was affected.

I changed the topic and tried to regain the upper hand. I said, "Aren't you friends with Javion Hunt? I used to be his ex-girlfriend."

"It is said one can't covet the wife of a friend. A scumbag's friend must be a scumbag too. I have to keep my eyes wide open."

"We aren't connected. The school randomly assigned us to be in the same dormitory."

He spoke briefly and cut off his relationship with Javion.

Thinking back, I only saw him at a birthday party. Throughout the whole time, he didn't seem to talk to Javion at all.

"Lisa, please don't mention his name in front of me anymore. It will make me sad."

Troy restrained his expression, looking serious. Instead of being sad, he was rather angry, muttering, "This is the first time."

But it only lasted a few seconds. He was as innocent and loyal as always. It was as if what had happened to him just now was my imagination.

"Last night, your cell phone kept ringing. Fearing that the other party would be worried that they couldn't reach you, I answered the call for you."

I picked up my cell phone, only to see several missed calls from Zoey.

"Lisa, you are letting down your guard. You can't drink things others give you in the future."

I frowned. He, the culprit, was educating me here.

Suddenly, I remembered that I had a meeting at 10 a.m. today. The time on my cell phone showed that it was 9:15 a.m.

I didn't have time to continue entangling with him. I hurriedly washed up. When I left, he was shouting behind me, asking me to remember to contact him.

My project was in a critical period. I arrived at the company and immersed myself in a series of meetings, forgetting that I had left Troy alone at home.

During lunch, Zoey called me via a video call. She questioned me about what had happened last night. After listening to my retelling, she encouraged me to give it a try unexpectedly!

I asked, "You didn't say so yesterday!"

Zoey said, "That's all for ordinary people. Given his looks, what else do you need to consider? Even a fool knows to grab the opportunity."

"It seems reasonable. According to Zoey, Troy specifically made a video declaration last night to reassure her. He is quite reliable."

I nodded in agreement. Zoey smiled in relief.

The more I looked at her, the more uncomfortable I felt. I paused and angrily said, "Fine. You think I'm worse than a fool!"

"Click." The video call ended, leaving me with a slow internet connection again.

...

I stood at the door, lost in thought. While opening the security door, I had a sense of tension as if I had opened a limited-edition random box.

The door opened. It was pitching black inside. As expected, Troy had left.

I turned on the light and found that the things I had scattered around the room were in their original places. Overall, it looked much cleaner. Troy must have cleaned the surface and taken out the trash.

There was a bouquet of pink tulips in the empty vase on the table. Upon closer inspection, they were made of folded crepe paper. The flowers were very delicate and lifelike.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Those who study art are so impressive."

There was a small card next to the vase, with a phone number scribbled on it.

I searched the number on WhatsApp and immediately found a profile picture with a nickname, that was, Troy.

I took a screenshot casually and exited the page before adding him to the contacts.

"My project has just started. I'm afraid I won't even have time to fall asleep for the next month. Although flirting with men is important, my work is more important!"

...

It was dark outside. I moved my stiff neck and thought about ordering some takeout.

My assistant knocked on the door and came in, holding a lunch box in his hands. He said it was delivered by delivery service. The food inside was still hot.

I looked at the lunch box with a paper rose on top, feeling a bit delighted.

...

I pinned the daily lunch flowers on the cork bulletin board, including cherry blossoms, lilies, wisteria, hydrangeas, and poppies.

After a month, I had a flower wall.

The major matters that I needed to control for the project had been finalized. The rest needed to be steadily progressed.

I flipped through the album and looked at the screenshot of Troy's profile picture. I was planning to reward him after receiving the lunchbox tonight.

Time passed by. Soon, midnight came.

The lunchbox didn't arrive.

...

Another half month passed. The lunchbox didn't appear again. There was no news from Troy.

"Am I tricked again? Did he think I was hard to get? Did he get tired of me? Did he give up?"

I accelerated the treadmill crazily. Although I was tired, I probably would run to a beauty salon to kill someone if I stopped now.

I was so angry that I didn't pay attention. The speed had been to the maximum.

I twisted my foot and started to fall backward.

The imagined pain didn't come. Someone held me firmly in his arms. It was Troy.

I was stunned for a moment. I started to struggle.

But it was useless.

Troy's arms were tight and strong. He carried me to the rest area and started checking if my ankle was injured.

Troy looked gloomy as he frowned. I had never seen him like this before, which made me dare not make a fuss for a while.

Troy said, "You're not thanking me?"

"What's the matter?" I reluctantly said, "Thank you."

Troy said, "You are just saying it?"

I was unhappy, but it was indeed a dangerous situation just now. I didn't want to owe him. I started to be sarcastic, saying, "Then what do you want? As long as it doesn't violate the law and moral principles, I can do it to satisfy you."

Troy said, "Invite me to dinner at your place."

I was speechless.

...

There was only pasta at home. I deliberately didn't mention buying groceries.

Pasta would satisfy him in 15 minutes.

I planned everything so well.

Troy, who had been silent all the way, suddenly held my hand as I was opening the door. He sighed, saying, "How can you easily bring a man home?"

I was so confused.

Before I could react, he pulled me into the house and pressed me against the door panel. Then, he held my chin and kissed me.