Blink, blink.

Eyes that had been staring at the flat lighting on the high ceiling suddenly drop to the floor.

The gaze that had been meaninglessly counting marble tiles ends at the firmly closed ivory door.

The bathroom where Kang Jae Kyung is washing, with the shower stream pouring out a refreshing sound.

When he suggested I shower first, I said I’d shower at home, and he smiled meaningfully while saying he’d respect my preference.

As always, he didn’t ask twice.

Sitting like a guest with only half her bottom on the edge of the sofa, Da Hae wiggled just her toes.

Though the space had become quite familiar, the impressions felt upon each visit were curiously different.

Though it was the first time coming with the intention to stay overnight, it was amusing to be so obviously conscious as if I’d come to a real lover’s home. Getting newly nervous and all.

Though a cool spring breeze blew in through the open window, the heat in my flushed cheeks wouldn’t easily subside.

Even without drinking, I felt slightly dizzy as if drunk.

My heart was pounding as if I’d overdosed on caffeine, though I hadn’t even had a cup of coffee.

There wasn’t any particular awareness when getting in the car.

His joking words kept replaying in my mind, asking how late we’d stay up and saying everything was prepared, just waiting for the lady’s signal, awakening an uncomfortable consciousness.

What signal…

The fanciful daydream ended as my phone vibrated.

The caller was Oh Se Dong from downstairs.

“What.”

-Where are you?

“Where else, Kang… home.”

I unconsciously started to say “Mr. Kang’s home” but changed my words.

At that, the grumbling voice asking what “Kang home” meant changed to a rather serious tone.

-The, the lady of the house…

“What about Grandmother.”

-Um… well… Ah.

“What.”

-She’s so hungry she can’t speak. Right now, we need tteokbokki…

Suddenly Oh Se Dong’s voice grew distant. At the same time, a thick scent of skin lotion wafted on the breeze.

Da Hae, who had been absentmindedly answering while picking at her ear, raised her gaze to follow her phone that had left her hand.

“Oh Se Dong.”

The man’s brow furrowed as he dryly recited the caller’s name on the screen. Recognizing his voice, Oh Se Dong caught on.

-Good night.

As the call ended, the long horizontal eyes fell at an angle. Clear displeasure showed in the black pupils.

“You seem to meet quite often at late hours.”

“He must be lonely after moving in.”

“Does loneliness justify calling my wife?”

The grumbling low voice was pleasant to hear. It was a strange thing.

I kept looking at the man who was shaken by just one call from Oh Se Dong, as if he were my real husband. A smile I couldn’t quite hide spread across my face.

Eating dinner with in-laws and returning to the newlywed home to wait for the husband to finish showering.

Living such an everyday life wouldn’t be so bad, I thought. Then I laughed. Thinking how sly I was being.

As he came closer, I could clearly feel the residual heat from his shower. His damp hair fell naturally over his forehead.

Even his unadorned, raw appearance was flawlessly handsome as Kang Jae Kyung muttered something about tteokbokki being a very dangerous food.

Was he getting immersed in playing the married couple role because he was good at everything? In any case, it felt quite nice that he was being mindful because of me.

“Why are you laughing?”

“I’m not laughing?”

First he starts speaking casually on his own, and now he’s even teasing.

Should this be counted as one of his talents too? He hides his true nature so well.

The quiet eldest son in the Kang family. The gentlemanly, well-mannered CEO in society.

In reality, a two-faced fox who’s playful and argumentative about everything. Though annoying, it felt like a privilege to know his true nature that only I knew.

The man who had disappeared into the dining room reappeared with his hands full of things to eat and drink.

Single malt whiskey wrapped in a black label. Technically peeled apples and cherries with a fresh purple hue.

“Where did you learn to peel apples like that?”

I asked as I took a bite of the apple intricately carved into a rabbit shape. The man, who was shallowly filling crystal glasses with an amber liquid, chuckled.

“You cut a lemon in half earlier.”

He must have seen the remains of the lemon I used. He always picks up on things to tease about like that.

“As long as it tastes good, right?”

“So. Was it?”

“Of course.”

“Did Kang Pil Seung say so too?”

“He didn’t particularly say anything… but…”

Da Hae’s voice, which had been answering smoothly, faded without finishing. Her eyes widened round and turned to Jae Kyung.

Wondering how he knew about Kang Pil Seung’s visit that she had kept hidden until the end.

“You knew…?”

“I was just guessing.”

“…”

The quiet voice settled over the whiskey glass. His lowered eyes followed the liquid swirling in the rotating glass.

Gulp. Da Hae’s throat bobbed noticeably.

Trying hard to suppress her legs that trembled habitually when embarrassed or nervous, she grabbed the notepad at the end of the table.

Looking for somewhere to rest her gaze and finding nothing suitable, she chose to doodle.

This was such an odd and rare situation that it was difficult to gloss over with jokes.

It was questionable enough that a not-so-close younger brother visited right after returning to the country, but neither truthfully explaining the reason for hiding it nor making up a lie was easy.

Saying ‘The young master asked to keep it secret’ seemed like it would incite conflict between the brothers,

And pretending to have forgotten by saying ‘Ah, I meant to mention it’ wouldn’t work since her behavior that day had been quite suspicious.

Feeling that carelessly speaking might only increase the potential for misunderstanding, she waited for Jae Kyung’s words first.

In the silence, scratch, scratch. The pen made timid sounds as it brushed across the paper.

One-dimensional pictographs like stars and fish were drawn on the white paper.

In the hands of a design major, they came to life with quite good quality.

Jae Kyung, who had been watching the top of her head bent low and absorbed in the random doodles, brought the glass in his hand to his mouth.

Two glasses with moisture remaining. He knew someone had visited that day.

His vague conjecture turned to certainty after dinner this evening. After seeing the strangely entangled gaze with Kang Pil Seung.

He knew Da Hae’s silence was at Kang Pil Seung’s request, but it still didn’t sit well with him.

That she kept her mouth shut even after being found out seemed like she was defending him. He really didn’t like that.

The man, who had sighed softly, looked at the doodles. The big-eyed fish somehow resembled a woman.

“Kye Da Hae.”

At the voice calling her name, her bent body slowly rose.

Though it was just her name, perhaps due to the atmosphere, her solar plexus area fluttered.

Her small head nodded readily, as if mesmerized by the deep eyes that didn’t waver from her at all.

Satisfied with that, the man lifted the corners of his mouth and said, “That’s right.”

Normally she would have shot back a retort, but she just let him smile. She wanted to.

The pen that had finished its job twirled on slender fingers.

Sitting side by side, the two continued their trivial conversation like that dawn not long ago. The only difference from then was that the topics were a bit more personal.

The debate was particularly fierce on the definition of a show window couple.

When Da Hae tried to gloss over it, asking why he was so fixated on that, Jae Kyung clung on with the determination not to back down until he received surrender.

In the meantime, a bottle of whiskey showed its bottom.

As the conversation went in circles, keywords were written on the notepad.

Show window? Contract marriage? Fixed-term? Using each other.

The man who had been quietly staring at those took the pen from Da Hae’s hand.

“I don’t like it.”

The pen tip that had been drawing large X’s over each written word paused over the last word.

The man who had been stroking his smooth chin as if in deep contemplation finally nodded in satisfaction after drawing a single quotation mark between the letters.

“Much better.”

“…That’s creative.”

Da Hae, now slurring her words from intoxication, let out a laugh like a sigh as she finished speaking.

Using each other.

‘Using’ each other.

Among all the scribbles on the paper, “each other” stood out particularly clearly.

The nuance strangely changed by a single punctuation mark. She seemed to understand the intention even without an explanation.

As she was clicking her tongue at the childishness of a grown man, his voice, which had become quite calm, burrowed into her ear.

“It’s not our first time. Us.”

An enclosed space, late night, low lighting, whiskey. It was a voice that went well with such things.

Slowly raising black pupils that lazily traced her face with its faint flush, he met eyes with her drowsy gaze.

The corners of Da Hae’s eyes curved upward.

“Was that so? There weren’t any particularly impressive parts.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Mmm, you’re right.”

“Shall we check?”

“Not a chance.”

This isn’t working.

The man who had withdrawn his gaze stretched the corners of his mouth in an attractive smile.

He says such teasing words so shamelessly with that brazen face.

As Jae Kyung rose, saying he would bring some warm water, Da Hae voiced the curiosity she had always harbored.

“Since it came up, I’ve been wondering.”

The man sat back down on the sofa and tilted his head. Gesturing slightly with his chin as if to say go ahead.

Her fingers resting on her leg tapped her nails. Her hesitant lips finally spat out a grudge from the past.

“Leaving a Post-it for a one-night stand woman. Is that Mr. Kang Jae Kyung’s style?”