Where did Kye Da Hae, who used to detest this, go? Changed into feather-light underpants and a soft t-shirt, she was in high spirits.

A warm spot on the floor, sweet potatoes freshly taken from the fireplace, makgeolli slightly past its expiration date but heavenly delicious.

The eerie sound of wind hitting the sash door. Rafters fully exposed on the white-painted ceiling.

Could there be a more romantic isolation?

Adding to the situation of being unable to leave, it was almost excitingly strange – truly a beast-like adaptability.

Of course, there were some annoyances. Da Hae glanced at Jae Kyung, who was focused on peeling sweet potatoes.

“Didn’t you give me a t-shirt?”

Mercilessly broad shoulders. A rugged chest and abdomen with strong self-assertion. Prominent hip bones.

There was nowhere proper to look because of the man sitting there, fully exposing all of that. So she had no choice but to fiddle with the sweet potatoes.

“There were only two spares, and I couldn’t strip an elder.”

Kang Jae Kyung raised an eyebrow as he passed over a sweet potato revealing its golden flesh.

The crooked upturn of his lips and his persistent staring at the t-shirt were easy to read. If it really bothered her that much, he meant for her to give up her own.

She clicked her tongue and shook her head, which he found amusing, spreading his lips in a refreshing laugh.

Even under the dim fluorescent light nearing the end of its filament life, that face was truly handsome.

Da Hae took a big bite of sweet potato to hide her cheekbones that were threatening to rise inappropriately.

“Hot… whew… mmm…”

As her round eyes squinted shut, his sharp single-lidded eyes softened, and when her chewing lips let out a ticklish laugh, the man’s lips smiled along.

Just watching was endlessly entertaining.

Jae Kyung, hopelessly captivated by the woman eating so deliciously with blackened fingers, started peeling the next sweet potato.

As he peeled off the charred skin, he spoke in a calm voice.

“It’s difficult right now. I’ll show you on our wedding anniversary.”

“…?”

Da Hae, who had been chewing diligently, tilted her head in confusion.

“You said you wanted to greet them, elder sister.”

Ah…

The momentarily slowed chewing resumed to finish what was in her mouth.

Da Hae stared quietly at the milky-colored makgeolli for quite a while before finally giving an insipid smile.

“We don’t have a wedding anniversary.”

No sooner had she finished speaking than the man, who had been leaning back, straightened up and retorted casually.

“We’re married, so why wouldn’t we have an anniversary?”

“Usually, people consider the first year as the anniversary. For us, that day is when we stamp the papers.”

“That…”

“Oh! I met your grandfather recently. I’m telling you because we agreed not to keep secrets.”

An intentional change of subject. Looking down at her face with his head tilted, the woman raised a fabricated smile as she began her next words.

As if she didn’t want to talk about that anymore.

Was it anxiety? An uncomfortable and unpleasant emotion resembling unease enveloped his entire body like the raging storm outside.

The man did not interfere with the woman’s efforts to avoid his gaze.

She continued talking without pause, saying that his grandfather had called Kang Jae Kyung a Hanyang swallow, and that it was also troublesome to hear envious comments because he had bought ice cream for the team members.

Having talked for so long, her throat seemed dry as she put the makgeolli cup to her lips and then removed it, staring back at the man who was just looking at her without responding.

“Why didn’t you change?”

Her face, which had been smiling softly while saying that the color combination was quite a sight even upon reflection, soon had that smile faintly fade.

“Why should I care how others see it? You chose it to your taste.”

“…What’s the big deal about that.”

“That’s enough. For me.”

Da Hae, following his pleasant baritone voice with her eyes, quickly lowered her head when their gazes met.

The sweet potato that had been going down smoothly suddenly choked her throat.

Feeling that it would be difficult to hide her awkward expression if she stayed, she excused herself to the bathroom.

Again. This feeling again. This sensation of fear or anxiety that makes a corner of her heart ache. The bridge of her nose stinging so hotly that it wouldn’t be strange to burst into tears right away.

“Haa… I told myself not to attach meaning.”

The notion of getting closer is just her misconception. As always, a clearly drawn line will appear.

She regained her composure by washing her face with ice-cold water.

As she wiped her face with her wet hands and fumbled inside the drawer for a towel, her fingertips caught on a fabric different from a towel.

Da Hae spread it wide with both hands and slowly ran her tongue inside her mouth.

Ha.

“And he said there were only two spares.”

A large-sized cotton t-shirt. The surge of emotion from earlier quickly disappeared.

Returning to the room, Da Hae stood with one leg cocked.

As she held out the fluffy t-shirt, looking at him as if daring him to make an excuse, the shameless Kang Jae Kyung tossed it into the corner of the room.

“Why bother putting it on.”

Since you’ll take it off anyway. Adding a whisper, the corner of his mouth turned up in a way that even seemed somewhat shy, causing Da Hae’s lower jaw to drop slightly.

“…”

…She was dumbfounded.

* * *

Da Hae woke up feeling a burning thirst.

Unable to properly lift her heavy eyelids, she fumbled at her bedside and grabbed a lukewarm water bottle.

After moistening her throat by opening the loosely closed cap, her eyes opened a little.

An unfamiliar space. Complete silence without a single noise and moonlight seeping through a small window.

Judging by the calm after the noisy wind that had been crashing, it seemed the typhoon had passed.

How long had she slept?

She had closed her eyes in the arms of the man who had insisted on being her arm pillow, but when she woke, what was supporting her head was not his arm but a colorful pillow.

…Did he go to the bathroom? As Kang Jae Kyung’s absence was noticed, this small space somehow felt as vast as the open sea.

Tossing and turning due to the creeping emptiness, Da Hae finally sat up.

When she pulled the iron ring, the hinge opened with a creaking, desolate sound.

A gust of air with a markedly different temperature brushed her cheek across the threshold.

“You’re awake?”

The scent of soil carried on the wind. The smell of the wet sea.

Along with these, a dawn-like voice flowed into her ears, and her unsteadily beating heart became eerily calm.

“What are you doing here?”

The man sitting with his feet hanging off the porch turned his head. His face, reflected in the moonlight, smiled gently at the woman approaching with small steps.

“My body was hot.”

“How much firewood did you put in? My clothes were all dry.”

“Not the room floor.”

“…”

Da Hae’s eyes narrowed as she sat down next to him. From her experience, she had a feeling she knew what he was going to say next.

“Because of you.”

The woman’s reaction of sighing and shaking her head as if even that was tiring seemed amusing to Jae Kyung, who laughed like a breath.

The process leading up to sleep hadn’t been smooth the night before either.

Although she had firmly rejected the persistently clinging man, it was equally difficult to be resolute.

It was also an environment where washing up was difficult, so she had barely managed to squeeze out some reason.

The man who had been grumbling that it was too much to still be half-naked despite his efforts, in a way that didn’t match his build, had generously said he could heat up plenty of water for washing, but since she might catch a cold, he’d let it slide just this once.

He’s such a consistent man, but paradoxically, it’s as difficult to understand his true intentions as it is consistent.

That’s why it’s always confusing to know how much distance to keep.

I heard this is what they call a bad man. Am I already swimming in his fish pond without realizing it?

Puff, puff. She puckered her lips into a circle, imitating a fish, and then laughed at her own silliness.

At that moment, her body floated up. She was suddenly lifted by a strong arm that came under her knees.

Soon after, a warm sensation touched her bottom as it left the hard wooden floor. Where she landed was on top of Kang Jae Kyung’s legs.

“The floor is cold.”

The man’s embrace, enveloping her body as if holding a child, was truly cozy.

Facing each other so closely in this position made her heart start to beat irregularly.

Her stomach tingled with a different feeling than when they were under the same blanket.

“I came out because it was hot, you know.”

Although her words were gruff, Da Hae leaned her head against him, removing her hand from his chest where she had placed it to steady herself.

The heartbeat transmitted clearly from the cheek pressed against his chest.

Her scarlet lips were quietly bitten. She was relieved that her face couldn’t be seen at this moment.

The occasional breath falling on the crown of her head and the gentle caressing touch.

The sea viewed from his embrace was so vague in its boundary with the sky that it looked like a single piece of the universe.

“Shall we live here?”