Staring intently at her phone, Da Jung put it down and looked at Kyung Jun. Her expression clouded briefly before she spoke in a cheerful voice.

“No, Kyung Jun. Let’s go to the flower expo.”

Her voice was bright, which was suspicious, but Da Jung was always unaware of this fact.

“I don’t think I’m tired after all. I was just being sensitive. I think we can go. Let’s leave right away.”

Most of the important things in Kyung Jun’s life were related to Yoon Da Jung. Meaningful passwords. Vacation periods matched to Da Jung’s days off. Favorite movie tastes and such. Noticing Da Jung’s mood changes was no big deal.

Right now, Yoon Da Jung was hurt.

“…Alright. Let’s go.”

Kyung Jun took the wheel, thinking about a few possibilities that could have hurt Da Jung.

If she was going to the hospital, she would have reacted strongly to issues like the mother’s health or premature birth, but she was on leave now, so he ruled that out. The anniversary or birthday of her elder brother or father, news of her mother’s worsening health could also be causes, but there were no such events currently.

“Turn right here.”

Da Jung spoke brightly for no reason.

“I have eyes too, you know.”

The rural road on a weekday was so empty it was as if they had rented it out. Thinking there couldn’t possibly be not even one car passing by, he turned right when a black sedan appeared in the opposite lane.

It automatically caught his eye as a high-end foreign car out of place in the countryside. It glinted brightly. The luxury sedan turned into the direction Kyung Jun had come from.

“15km left.”

“I can see that too.”

Kyung Jun laughed lightly as he chided her, but he was inwardly flustered. Yoon Da Jung was still hurt, and he hadn’t even figured out the cause. This was a first.

There was always only one thing about Yoon Da Jung that Kyung Jun didn’t know. Lee Jae Ho.

Lee Jae Ho’s schedule, movie filming, coffee truck gifts, merchandise, and such were things he neither could nor wanted to know about. If it was Lee Jae Ho related that hurt her this much, could it be… Did Lee Jae Ho announce his marriage?

It wasn’t impossible. Just recently, top star Seo Tae Seok had shocked the nation with a surprise marriage announcement. The news had reached even Kyung Jun’s ears, who had no interest in celebrity news, for a whole week. Why do women get hurt by such news even when there’s no possibility of marrying the celebrity themselves?

“What’s Lee Jae Ho up to these days?”

Kyung Jun grumbled as he asked.

Da Jung’s heart dropped when Lee Jae Ho’s name suddenly came out of Kyung Jun’s mouth. Why was Kyung Jun suddenly curious about Lee Jae Ho? He never cared before. As if he knew something and was asking.

She couldn’t be more grateful that Kyung Jun was looking ahead while driving. She thought her face must have contorted for a moment. Da Jung quickly composed her expression and spoke brightly.

“Well. He’s probably resting.”

“You don’t know?”

“Do I have to?”

“Of course you do. Who would know if not the fan club executive?”

…Lee Jae Ho was right in the building next door.

He had held her tenderly all night. Said he would give her sweet dreams. As if he knew she often suffered from nightmares.

She had listened to his sweet voice until just before falling asleep. They had promised to go to the flower expo together once Kyung Jun went back to Seoul.

It felt like the scent of autumn flowers was wafting around her nose.

[I’m going to the flower expo with a friend. Something came up for me today.]

The words that had made her heart flutter disappeared by morning.

She felt like she had given everything to a man who swept in like a storm less than a month after meeting. In truth, Da Jung knew nothing about Lee Jae Ho.

What Da Jung knew as a fan would only be a tiny part of Lee Jae Ho, and his real personality, family, background were all things she would have to learn anew.

Even though she had tens of thousands of Lee Jae Ho’s photos, she suddenly realized those were just of the celebrity Lee Jae Ho, and not a single one applied to the Lee Jae Ho who had cradled her to sleep.

She didn’t know. Suddenly he felt very distant.

“I don’t know. What Lee Jae Ho is doing. What he’s thinking. What’s going on.”

Her expression darkened.

“How would I know.”

**

Director Choi’s assistant secretary struggled to carry in a waist-high potted plant. As Jae Ho stared somewhat incredulously at the plant placed by the sunny window, Director Choi greeted him with a smile.

“Congratulations on purchasing the building.”

“Does this big thing fit in a passenger car?”

“Haha. Well. Somehow.”

“…”

“What made you think of buying a pension? You never showed much interest in real estate before.”

Jae Ho had bought the newly built pension that Jung Director had scoured all of Taean to find as soon as Da Jung posted about it, without even seeing it in person. But he didn’t particularly want to tell Director Choi about it.

“Grandfather doesn’t like the camper van, you know. Killing two birds with one stone. To be a good boy.”

“You did well. He was worried you’d take that strange vehicle again this time. By the way, this is a really nice place for a retreat.”

Praising the surrounding scenery while drinking coffee, Director Choi slowly got to the main point. It was something Jae Ho had already anticipated.

“The Chairman said to arrive home early for his birthday this time.”

“Don’t you have a phone, Director? You could have just called. Why come all the way here to tell me?”

“He told me to check on how you’re doing too. Haha. I was missing you too, so I rushed over.”

Come to think of it, it had already been a few months since they last met.

A high school student who had lived his whole life as the child of an unwed mother, suddenly becoming the third generation of a chaebol family, and a bachelor in his forties. Despite the strange combination, the two got along quite well.

Until Jung Director was selected as Jae Ho’s exclusive secretary, Director Choi had devotedly assisted Jae Ho.

Director Choi smiled benevolently, the wrinkles around his eyes deepening.

“It’s time you step into management, Director.”

“…”

“The Chairman has aged a lot. He’s only looking to you now.”

Director Choi called him “Jae Ho” like in the old days.

The day he was blindly led by his mother’s hand to stand in front of the big gate in Pyeongchang-dong felt as vivid as yesterday. The day after the false report of “all fatalities” in the , Kim Mi Jung cried like a madwoman upon seeing Jae Ho who had miraculously returned alive.

‘I shouldn’t have raised you in hiding like this.’

Saying her selfish desire not to lose her son had almost killed him, she poured out emotions that Jae Ho couldn’t understand at the time, then packed her bags with a resolute look as if she had made a decision.

‘Let’s go! Get up. It’s mommy’s fault. We have to go to your rightful place.’

Jae Ho’s opinion was not considered at all in the process of changing his identity. Looking back, it was a day as shocking as the fire incident.

“Director. I still have nightmares. Taemyung doesn’t feel like home. How can I become a successor with this mindset?”

“You’re still having bad dreams?”

He looked ready to contact Dr. Kim right away. Jae Ho raised his hand in refusal.

“Ah. I’ll take care of the treatment myself. I’ve already found the medicine.”

The night he gathered his courage to hold onto Da Jung. He fell into a deep sleep with her tucked in his arms like a security blanket. It was a night he wanted to put Da Jung to sleep, but in reality he was the one who slept soundly.

At the end of his thoughts, Yoon Da Jung kept snagging.

His thoughtless message must have hurt her. The flower expo he couldn’t go to together kept weighing on his mind.

“…”

“Anyway, I’ll do as you say. I’ll visit Pyeongchang-dong early next week. Thank you for coming. You can go now.”

“Are you kicking me out?”

Director Choi asked sheepishly. Jae Ho pointed his finger at the potted plant by the window and said,

“Something like that. Ah. Take that plant back too.”

**

The flower expo was even less impressive than expected. It was quite spacious so they had to keep walking, and there were various exhibition halls and an observation deck, but it was all just mediocre.

Groups of people gathered here and there taking pictures in front of pretty flowers. It was decent weather for taking photos. However, Da Jung thought it was a rather boring place. She had left a strand of her nerves hanging on the door of the lodging. That place kept nagging at the back of her mind. Though she was walking on asphalt, the sound of crushed stone under her feet echoed in her ears.

Led by Kyung Jun’s hand, she took pictures in front of the pink muhly grass and they took selfies together, but when they left, she couldn’t remember any particularly memorable flowers.

It wasn’t until she got into Kyung Jun’s car that she realized her phone had been tightly gripped in her hand the entire time they toured the expo.

Kyung Jun observed Da Jung’s face intently for a few seconds before starting the engine. Just then, her phone vibrated.

[I didn’t mean for you to stay out together this long.]

The taut tug-of-war suddenly loosened. She thought if it hadn’t been in the car, she might have collapsed right there.

[Come to me.]

She finally realized the nature of the emotion that had bound her all day. Da Jung had been sulking at him. She was in the midst of a romance like others. Now she felt angry and relieved all at once.

[Let me apologize.]

He seems to know he did wrong. She steeled her heart, determined not to forgive him easily, but the corners of her mouth rose sharply upward.

“Kyung Jun! I’m tired. Can we go faster?”

**

She couldn’t remember how she sent Kyung Jun away. She hurriedly put him in the car and sent him off, even though he said he would stay for dinner. She quickly touched up her makeup and changed into a pink bustier dress.

It was a cute style that was casually comfortable, suitable for both going out and staying in. There wasn’t time to wash her hair so she tied it up in a bun. Then she opened the front door.

Jae Ho was standing in front of the door.

He had an obviously forced smile on his face, intending to apologize, but upon seeing Da Jung’s dress, his expression immediately crumpled.

“Did you go out with your friend dressed like that?”

Jae Ho’s finger traced from Da Jung’s head down to her toes.

“You look too pretty.”

“N-no. I changed after I came back.”

“Good.”

Only then did Jae Ho put on his forced smile again, looking relieved.

“I’m a bit upset thinking a male friend saw you looking so pretty first.”

He says such embarrassing things so casually. Da Jung’s cheeks flushed red as she deliberately sharpened her tone.

“You kicked away the chance to see me looking pretty yourself.”

“Ah.”

“The clothes I was wearing earlier, before I changed, were even prettier.”

Jae Ho, who had been leaning casually against the wall, straightened up at those words. He took a step closer, looking down at Da Jung with an indecipherable wariness in his gaze.

“Is that so?”

Dark eyes filled with possessiveness took in Da Jung.

“…Those words hurt.”

“…”

“Then show me those clothes from earlier later too. Since I should see what your male friend saw.”

“…More importantly, I was upset earlier.”

Da Jung threw out the words like a confession. Jae Ho held his breath briefly, then gave a small nod.

“I’m sorry. I’ll make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

“…”

“Today, I was wrong.”