Kim Chae Won and Choi Yoo Gun were facing each other across the table.

Food was served while listening to the whole story, and neither of them made any move to pick up their utensils.

“I have a good idea.”

Chae Won clapped her hands together, making a sound.

“Let’s get another room. We can just take the photos casually, and at night, we’ll get another room!”

“Unfortunately, it’s a hotel run by my uncle.”

“Ah.”

Chae Won muttered, unable to think of any other solution.

“Your grandmother is more meticulous than I thought, Yoo Gun.”

“We’ll have to be just as meticulous then.”

A hotel run by his uncle – if they acted rashly and were exposed as fake, ruining his plan, Choi Yoo Gun wouldn’t likely keep quiet about it.

After thinking a bit more, Chae Won soon straightened her head.

“You said the 29th, right?”

Yoo Gun nodded lightly.

“I’ll clear my schedule, let’s do it that day. A hotel staycation.”

“You’re deciding faster than I expected?”

“It’s not like I have a choice anyway.”

Yoo Gun, facing her, replied in a monotone voice.

“No, you don’t.”

Chae Won, who had been looking at him with closed lips, picked up the fork right in front of her.

“Let me warn you in advance, don’t even think of anything strange. We have a relationship formed exactly by a deal, and I’m helping you, Choi Yoo Gun, even giving up my precious vacation schedule.”

Chae Won continued, poking at the salad in front of her with her fork.

“But there’s one problem, isn’t there? Even though it’s said to be time easily spent between lovers, how will I be compensated for the damage to my pure reputation, having never frequented hotels with men before?”

“I’ll continue to keep quiet about your sister’s matter.”

An expressionless face that seemed merciless and a low voice that felt like a threat no matter what was said.

This man somehow gives off a feeling of being mean no matter how he speaks.

“Yes, that’s right. I wasn’t really saying I wanted to receive anything in particular.”

Chae Won, forced to lower her tail, put the cherry tomato she had forcefully stabbed with her fork into her mouth.

She had made the great decision to spend a night together, but the other party’s attitude was extremely arrogant.

But because her weakness was caught, Chae Won could only quietly chew on the cherry tomato.

“I heard you always say grace before meals, but I guess you’re taking a break today?”

Chae Won’s lips, which had been chewing discontentedly, stopped immediately.

Blinking her eyes a couple of times, Chae Won slowly turned her eyes to him.

“…It’s just vegetables.”

“Ah, because it’s vegetables?”

“You know, things like water, when you’re thirsty, you just drink without praying. It’s the same as that.”

“What a unique religion.”

I thought I’d only see you once.

If I had known we’d meet for a whole month like this, I wouldn’t have even started the crazy concept in the first place.

“Yes. It’s an extremely sacred and faith-filled religion.”

“A religion that discriminates against food, I’m very curious. What was it called again, the Yally God?”

This man, it feels like he’s teasing me even though he’s probably figured it out.

As she was looking at him with suspicious eyes, Chae Won felt her phone vibrate and straightened up.

The number on the screen was Hee Joo’s caregiver.

Could it be, has my sister opened her eyes?

Chae Won pressed the call button with a welcoming expression.

“Yes, it’s me! Is my sister conscious?”

− Ah, no, that’s not it. I’m sorry, but I think you need to come to the hospital right now.

“…Pardon?”

− Well. Uh.

As there was no voice after that, Chae Won checked her phone and put it back to her ear, saying,

“Hello? Hello?”

The call had been disconnected.

She tried calling several times again, but only the ARS saying the power was off played.

Sensing that something must have happened to Hee Joo, Chae Won rose with a pale complexion.

“I, I think I need to go to the hospital.”

Chae Won hurriedly gathered her bag and left the restaurant.

No way, sister…..

It can’t be, right? You’re not leaving me like this, are you?

We’ve only just met again, and now you’re the only family I have left….

“Where, where did I park the car?”

Chae Won, who had mindlessly gone down to the underground parking lot, tried to gather her wits while clenching her trembling fingertips.

No matter how many times she pressed the car remote, it was difficult to find where the signal sound was coming from in this vast parking lot.

Just as she was about to run up to take a taxi instead, she spotted her car parked next to a pillar.

Chae Won walked quickly and opened the driver’s side door.

Tap.

As someone grabbed her shoulder, Chae Won turned her head to find Yoo Gun in front of her.

His breathing was uneven, as if he had run here.

“I’ll do it, the driving.”

“Look, Choi Yoo Gun, I need to hurry.”

Yoo Gun pulled Chae Won’s arm and put her in the passenger seat before going around to the driver’s seat.

“I’ll drive fast, so fasten your seatbelt.”

How can you drive in that state.

Even in the midst of her confusion, Yoo Gun’s voice was clearly audible.

Chae Won groped in the air and barely managed to grab the seatbelt.

“It’s Taesung University Hospital. Hurry, as fast as possible!”

Yoo Gun passed everything he could pass, and accelerated as much as possible before the signals changed.

At signals where he had to stop, Yoo Gun checked Chae Won’s complexion.

She was trying to maintain a calm expression with her lips closed, but her hands were trembling pitifully as she clenched them herself.

After looking at her, Yoo Gun turned his gaze back to the front and accelerated as soon as the signal changed.

*

“What would be good for the baby, I should buy fruit and… our Ro Na likes sweet things, so chocolate too!”

Jae Min, who had stopped by the mart, carefully selected and put various items in his shopping basket.

He had been on dates at Ro Na’s house several times before, but this was his first visit since the baby came, so he wanted to bring a lot of things.

With a cake in one hand and fruits and drinks for the baby in the other, Jae Min stood in front of the villa where Ro Na lived and pressed the doorbell.

“Ro Na, it’s me!”

The door soon opened.

“Why did you buy so much?”

“When I tried to buy for our baby too, even two hands weren’t enough, heh.”

Jae Min stepped into her small house, which was cutely decorated.

“Haven’t you eaten?”

“No. Jae Min, how’s the divorce going? Did you stamp the papers?”

Ro Na grabbed Jae Min, who hadn’t even put down his bags yet, and asked.

“Don’t worry, I think I’ll stamp them next week.”

“What?”

“Hee Joo said she’ll really seriously think about it this week.”

Ro Na’s face quickly contorted at the fact that it had been delayed by another week.

“So you’re telling me to keep waiting again?”

Jae Min carefully put down the bags he was holding and stood up straight.

“This is really the last time. Honestly, you should wait this much. You know how soft-hearted Hee Joo is.”

“W-What did you say?”

“We can give her some time to think, can’t we? Before, she absolutely refused and kept putting it off, but this time she said she’d think about it for the first time. If we wait a little longer, the divorce will happen, so don’t worry! Baby.”

Now the point that made her angry was completely different.

Saying he knows how soft-hearted Hee Joo is.

The tone that seemed to be defending her irritated Ro Na.

“You still have lingering feelings for that woman, don’t you? Huh? This crap!”

Ro Na kicked the bag Jae Min had put down, and the fruits inside rolled around haphazardly. As the apples he had carefully selected one by one rolled between the shoes, the shocked Jae Min opened his eyes wide.

“Are you crazy?”

“The crazy one is you. You’ve changed, if you have lingering feelings for that woman, say it quickly! Don’t waste my life for nothing! I’ll get rid of the baby and live like nothing ever happened!”

“What? How can you say that when our little bean is listening!”

“This crap! I don’t need any of this!”

Ro Na threw even the cake box in Jae Min’s hand to the floor.

“Hey! Go Ro Na!”

Jae Min shouted with a rough expression.

“Do you know what I need right now? Not this crap, but divorce papers. My belly will get bigger day by day, how long are you telling me to hide it? I’m a school teacher! Do you think the parents and kids at school will just sit quietly when an unmarried teacher’s belly starts growing? I’m dying of anxiety, but why do you keep saying a week! A week! What’s with this nonsense?”

Jae Min wet his lower lip with his tongue and straightened his back.

“How much can your belly grow in a week that you’re making such a fuss, huh? You can’t even wait a week? Do you think divorce is that easy? You don’t even know how hard I’m trying, but you’re getting so worked up!”

Seeing Jae Min’s rough side that she had never seen before, Ro Na blinked several times and then made a crying face.

“Honey, did you just… get angry at me and our little bean? Is that it?”

“No, it’s not anger, it’s…”

“Ah, my belly.”

Ro Na pretended to be in pain, clutching her stomach that didn’t actually hurt.

“What’s wrong? Why are you like that?”

“I think it’s because of the stress, ah, it hurts.”

“H-Hospital! No, 119!”

“It’s fine, that’s not necessary!”

“No! We can’t let anything happen to our baby!”

Ro Na barely managed to stop Jae Min from calling 119, and gradually reduced her act of being in pain while clutching her stomach.

Comforted by the sight of him still cherishing her and the baby, her excited emotions also subsided little by little.

But she couldn’t wait any longer.

“Honey, do you love me?”

“Of course, you know how much I love you and our little bean!”

The words of the sharp-eyed Teacher Song, who had recently asked if she had gained weight because her belly seemed a bit bigger, bothered her, and she didn’t have the confidence to continue lying while hiding her growing body if the divorce didn’t happen again next week.

“I love you so much too. So you must get divorced. Okay?”

“Of course, just trust me. I’ll definitely do it in a week!”

Although she nodded, Ro Na clenched her hands tightly, thinking that she couldn’t just watch like this.

*

“I’m sorry, our second son caused some trouble so I had to go home urgently, but I couldn’t leave my post so I called to ask if you could come, but of all times, my phone battery was dying.”

Although deflated by the caregiver’s words, the thought that still came to mind was ‘thank goodness’.

Although she still had her eyes closed, it was a moment of gratitude for the normal heartbeat.

“Go ahead. You said you have an urgent matter.”

“I’m sorry. I’ll come to work without any problems tomorrow.”

After the caregiver left, Chae Won took a deep breath in relief.

Conscious of Yoo Gun beside her, Chae Won slowly turned her head.

“Your driving skills were impressive, Choi Yoo Gun. I thought I was going to heaven with my sister today?”

“If you had driven with those hands, that might have happened.”

She didn’t realize it, but her fingertips were still trembling.

“Ah.”

Chae Won quickly clenched her hands.

Yoo Gun, who had been looking at her, turned his head towards Hee Joo, who wasn’t moving.

They said they were twins, but although the eye shape was similar, it felt a bit different, maybe because of the swelling.

Whether it was genetic or not, her fair skin was pale white, whether it was her face or the back of her hand, just like Chae Won’s.

“When our sister wakes up, I’ll tell her we’re indebted to you.”

Chae Won, who had pulled out a chair and sat down, wrapped both her hands around Hee Joo’s hand. She seemed to be gripping a bit tightly, as if holding onto something precious she had almost lost.

Chae Won’s voice was calm, but there was desperation in her overlapped hands.

A moment when he had lost family without even being able to hold them like that briefly crossed Yoo Gun’s mind.

“If you’re indebted, you should repay it. Tell her she has one more reason to wake up.”

At Yoo Gun’s words, Chae Won showed a faint smile and turned her head towards him, thinking of sending him away first.

But then she realized they hadn’t taken a picture and let out an ‘Ah!’ sound.

“It’s not the restaurant, but should we take a picture in the park behind here?”

Since the location wasn’t really important, Yoo Gun also answered willingly.

“Let’s do that.”

The two left the hospital and headed to a nearby park.

All the way there, Chae Won didn’t show off as usual and was quiet.

She had clearly been very shocked in a short time.

As it was gradually starting to get dark, Chae Won stood in front of a suitable street lamp and asked a passerby to take a picture.

“Today’s concept is just looking straight ahead.”

Yoo Gun had been looking down at her hands habitually since they were in the car.

Fortunately, the trembling had disappeared, but one hand was hanging limply, as if pale beyond white.

Yoo Gun, who had been looking at her, grabbed her hand while staring straight ahead.

“Okay. Looking straight ahead.”

Her startled eyes turned back to the front at the voice of the passerby counting “One, two, three!”

“I’ll take one more for you.”

What expression did I just make?

Chae Won couldn’t pay attention to her expression as usual.

“One, two, three!”

She was only aware of the sensation of his hand, which he had gripped once more, being large and warm.