Chapter 76

The girl held onto the railing of the Han River Bridge and started to vomit loudly, her heaving making Li Zhong feel heartache, not for the food she was expelling, but for the girl herself.

From behind, the girl's figure was well-proportioned. It was early March in Seoul, and the weather was still chilly, but the girl was only wearing a mini skirt that hugged her buttocks perfectly, her straight legs clad in black stockings, and a red blazer on top. When she bent over, a glimpse of her smooth lower back was revealed.

After vomiting for a while, the girl seemed to have emptied her stomach, but she continued to retch. Li Zhong couldn't bear to watch and walked over, gently patting her back. The girl seemed to gain some strength and continued to retch for a bit. Suddenly, she seemed to remember something, and with a "slap," she turned around and knocked Li Zhong's hand away, looking at him with blurry, drunken eyes. "You... you want... what? I... I am... a black belt in Taekwondo..."

Li Zhong looked helplessly at the girl, who was clearly very drunk. Yes, no wonder she had such strong protective instincts; she was indeed a beauty. Even though she had just vomited messily, she was still a beauty. Her features were delicate and gentle, like a figure from an ancient painting.

"I don't want you to misunderstand. I saw you so drunk and wanted to help you," Li Zhong said, waving his hands.

"No... no need... go, go..." The girl, with a flushed face, said to Li Zhong's left side... then she lost her balance and was about to collapse on the ground...

Li Zhong saw this and realized she was really drunk. He wondered why a girl would drink so much. In one swift move, he came to the girl's side and supported her.

The girl, still being supported, mumbled softly, "Stay away, stay away..." Perhaps she smelled something from Li Zhong, and gradually fell silent, as if she had fallen into a deep sleep.

Li Zhong looked at the beautiful face, "It seems I always run into beautiful women when I don't go home at midnight!" he thought to himself.

There was no way he could take her back to his apartment, so he had to find a hotel. In the taxi, Li Zhong didn't dare to look the driver in the eye. The driver kept looking at him with an ambiguous expression, as if he understood everything, which gave Li Zhong a headache. Li Zhong wanted to explain, but there was no way to do so. The girl was hugging him tightly, her face flushed and reeking of alcohol. Anyone would think the worst.

Li Zhong asked the driver to take him to the nearest hotel. The driver, thinking he was smart, took Li Zhong to the nearest love hotel. Li Zhong had also drunk quite a bit and was a bit dazed. He didn't notice where they were and just checked into a room.

Entering the room, Li Zhong placed the girl on the bed. "It's a water bed, this hotel is quite unique!" Li Zhong saw the girl bounce slightly on the bed and touched it, confirming it was a water bed. At this point, the alcohol was starting to affect him, and he didn't pay much attention to the girl. He covered her with a blanket and fell asleep on the single sofa...

"Ahh... Pervert!" A high-pitched scream woke Li Zhong up. He shook his head, feeling a bit dizzy, and gradually saw the situation. The girl was sitting on the bed, screaming. Li Zhong recalled the events of the previous night: drinking, thinking on the Han River Bridge, seeing the girl vomiting, and then finding a hotel. So, they were in a hotel now.

"Stop screaming, stop screaming. You were very drunk last night, sitting on the Han River Bridge. I couldn't just let you freeze to death in the early spring, so I brought you to a hotel," Li Zhong said, still rubbing his head, as if he had been exposed to too much wind.

"You say you didn't do anything to me, but look at this," the girl shouted, covering herself with the blanket.

Li Zhong loosened his tight shoulders and suddenly his face darkened. He saw things that shouldn't be in a hotel room: lingerie, sex toys, and even some strange items. The room was lit with a pink light. Li Zhong looked at the coffee table and saw a hotel sign: "Xiumei Love Hotel, Welcome to Paradise."

Li Zhong's face was now completely dark. As his mind cleared, he remembered more from the previous night, including the driver's ambiguous look in the taxi. He had been tricked.

"Um, beautiful lady, please don't misunderstand. Check yourself, you haven't taken off anything, right? And you woke up first, and I was sleeping on the sofa at that time," Li Zhong said calmly, afraid the girl would scream again.

The girl looked at herself. Apart from her blazer, which was placed to the side, everything else was still on her. Her undershirt was a bit wrinkled but intact, and there were no signs of her stockings or skirt being removed. The girl finally felt a sense of relief.

Calmly, the girl gradually recalled some of the events from the previous night. She had vomited profusely on the bridge, then collapsed. The man in front of her had helped her up. He had a pleasant smell, different from other men who looked at her with obvious desire. With this man, she felt a sense of security and a long-lost peace.

"Um... thank you. I really drank too much last night. My name is Lee Ji-hyun," the girl said, a bit embarrassed.

Li Zhong had been paying attention to the girl's reaction. Seeing the beautiful girl in a daze, he felt a bit at a loss.

Seeing the girl come to her senses, Li Zhong sighed in relief. "Hehe, Lee Ji-hyun, that's a nice name. I'm Li Zhong. Don't drink so much next time."

Lee Ji-hyun looked at Li Zhong and felt a desire to confide in him. Since coming to Seoul, no one had genuinely cared for her. Men lusted after her beauty, and women envied her. She had almost no friends. Last night, in that situation, the man in front of her hadn't taken advantage of her, making her feel as if she had found a family member. Only family had ever treated her like that.

"I am a student studying acting. Last night, I was drinking with a producer for a TV drama audition. We girls drank a lot, and I ended up quite drunk. He forced me to go home with him. At the traffic light on the bridge, I couldn't hold it in anymore and had to get out of the car. After that, you know what happened. If I had continued with him, I would have been in real trouble last night," Lee Ji-hyun said, feeling a chill as she recalled the events.