Tap tap tap. Outside the window, rain was falling with a loud noise.

Amid the noise of people filling six round tables, Chae Won and Ro Na looked at each other with closed lips.

“I’d like to have a drink too, but as you know, I have a baby in my belly.”

Chae Won smiled softly as she watched Ro Na gently touch her belly.

If Hee Joo had seen this, how would she have felt?

The shameless and brazen Ro Na would have continued to provoke like this, and the soft-hearted Hee Joo would have trembled and cried.

But Go Ro Na’s actions don’t provoke her in any way as she wishes.

Because the woman in front of you is not Kim Hee Joo.

“Ro Na, I’m really curious about your fiancé.”

When Chae Won spoke in a gentle voice, Ro Na looked down and smiled.

“My darling is close by. Very close.”

“Really? Then ask him to come.”

“No. I prefer talking just with Hee Joo right now.”

“I see. But is your fiancé causing a lot of trouble? Or has he been under a lot of stress lately?”

Ro Na, who had been smiling, widened her eyes with a surprised expression.

“Me? No, nothing like that at all.”

“Here.”

Chae Won stared intently at Ro Na’s face and pointed to the side of her own nose with her finger.

“You have a pimple. This is usually related to stress.”

Ro Na touched the side of her nose, feeling the different texture of her skin, and laughed awkwardly.

“That’s just because I’m busy preparing for the wedding. It’s hard enough to prepare everything when you’re single, let alone with a baby.”

“That’s why you should leave everything to your fiancé. At times like this, the man should take care of everything.”

Ro Na glanced at Jae Min, who was sleeping with his forehead on the next table.

Although various upsetting emotions were rising, she didn’t show it and poured water into her cup.

She thought that Kim Hee Joo must have called him out today, and the weak-hearted Jae Min ended up in this state.

Ro Na suppressed her heat with a sip of water and looked at Chae Won again, holding her head high.

“Everything’s going well for me, so don’t worry. Rather, I’m worried about Hee Joo.”

“About my divorce?”

“Yes. Jae Min is trying hard to change your mind, isn’t he?”

“Ah.”

“Although things have changed a lot, it still won’t be easy… Should I try to help from the middle? As you know, Jae Min and I are very close. We’ve been inseparable since high school, knowing everything about each other.”

“Still, marital issues should be resolved between the couple. I’m handling it, so don’t worry, Ro Na.”

How could someone who knows him so well not realize that her husband’s heart is straying and end up in this state?

Ro Na inwardly sneered and chuckled.

“To be honest, Hee Joo. Even though I’m Jae Min’s close friend, as a woman, I’d advise you to just get divorced.”

“Why?”

“It’s pathetic, isn’t it? Clinging to a man who doesn’t want you, it’s actually unsightly and upsetting as a fellow woman.”

Satisfied with her natural jab, Ro Na was about to pick up her water cup when she looked up at Chae Won’s voice.

“Well, but. He hasn’t said he doesn’t want me.”

“…What?”

“He contacts me so much all day, it’s actually annoying. Want to see?”

Chae Won took out her phone and showed the messages from Jae Min.

Ro Na, who had been skeptical until the end, soon widened her eyes and looked at the messages.

Despite Kim Hee Joo not responding, he kept messaging first, and his delight at her single text message continued.

Ro Na, who had been staring with disbelieving eyes, froze stiffly, and when Chae Won put away her phone, she had a blank expression.

“Am I right?”

“…”

“I guess being apart made him realize he still loves me.”

Ro Na should have said something and responded naturally, but realizing that it wasn’t Kim Hee Joo who was shaking things up, but rather Noh Jae Min shaking up Kim Hee Joo, she felt betrayed and couldn’t make any gesture.

Only her hands trembled under the table.

After watching her shock, Chae Won checked the familiar footsteps outside the window and gathered her bag.

“Ah, I’m tired. Well, I have an appointment with a friend, so I’ll be going now.”

At the mention of leaving, Ro Na looked up with surprised eyes.

“A, a friend?”

“Yes.”

Ro Na looked back and forth between the sprawled Jae Min beside her and Chae Won with a confused expression.

It was hard to understand how she could leave her husband, who she supposedly wanted so badly not to divorce, and go meet a friend.

“You’re here?”

Just then, a tall man entered the store.

Chae Won, who had gathered her bag, stood up, and Ro Na turned around with a bewildered expression.

A tall man with a clean, handsome appearance at first glance was looking at Chae Won.

So she’s leaving her husband to go out with that man?

Thinking that this didn’t make sense for a normal couple, Ro Na laughed incredulously and said,

“Hee Joo. You said friend earlier, right?”

Chae Won, who had exchanged greetings with Yoo Gun, turned her head at Ro Na’s voice.

“Yes.”

As if finally caught, one corner of Ro Na’s mouth rose in satisfaction.

“I don’t believe in friendship between men and women. Just tell me honestly, Hee Joo.”

Chae Won, who had been looking at her, tilted her head slightly.

“Aren’t you two friends?”

“What?”

“Jae Min and Ro Na are also friends of the opposite sex, aren’t you?”

Caught off guard by the unexpected point, Ro Na’s face turned flustered as she stuttered.

“Since you’re such close friends that you’ve never been apart, please take that person home. I have more to talk about with my friend.”

Well then, goodbye.

After saying goodbye and turning around, Chae Won left.

With a final long look from Yoo Gun, whose emotions were unreadable, Ro Na was finally left alone.

In the pouring rain, a man was walking away with his arm around Kim Hee Joo’s shoulder under one umbrella.

“Jae Min! Jae Min!”

Ro Na thought Jae Min needed to see this.

She urgently tapped his back to wake him up.

“Jae Min! Noh Jae Min, wake up! Look at that, Kim Hee Joo is walking away arm in arm with a man right now! You’ve been played too!”

No matter how many times she tapped his back and shook his body, he not only didn’t wake up, but his heavy body spilled onto the floor.

“Oh!”

The sight of Jae Min completely passed out drew the attention of everyone in the store.

“Ah, really!”

Looking at Jae Min, who had become like a limp rice cake, Ro Na bit her lower lip hard with bloodshot eyes.

“I have a lot to say, so wake up quickly, Noh Jae Min!”

Ro Na’s loud shout was drowned out by the thick raindrops and couldn’t spread any further.

*

The rain showed no signs of stopping and was pouring down even more heavily.

Passing by the still-lit office buildings and the increasingly bright shop lights, Yoo Gun tilted the umbrella a little more towards Chae Won.

“Isn’t what you did today dangerous?”

“It doesn’t matter. Noh Jae Min won’t remember anyway, and Go Ro Na will be more suspicious of me. That’s all I wanted.”

Chae Won straightened the umbrella that was considerably tilted towards her.

“What do you gain by building up such suspicion?”

“That’s…”

Chae Won’s lips, which were about to say more, suddenly stopped.

Realizing this, Yoo Gun tilted the umbrella again and turned his head towards her.

“I won’t say.”

“Why?”

Chae Won looked at Yoo Gun with a coy expression and said,

“In the meantime, Choi Yoo Gun, you might have become friends with Ho Tae.”

His expressionless face quickly twisted his eyebrows.

Seeing this, Chae Won chuckled.

“Fortunately, it seems you’re still not on good terms.”

“There’s no reason to get along, so stop bringing up that bastard’s name, will you?”

Chae Won, who had been laughing amusedly, soon asked with a careful expression.

“But I’m really curious, why don’t you get along?”

Yoo Gun, who had been looking at her, walked with a thoughtful expression, his gaze fixed straight ahead.

“On the day I was devastated after losing my family, that bastard and my uncle were laughing.”

Chae Won’s eyebrows rose widely at the unexpected answer.

“Laughing? Why…”

“Whether they were happy to take over the company, or had some other good news, or whether I misunderstood something, I don’t know, but from the moment I accidentally saw that, I couldn’t help but feel detached.”

Still, his brother had died, what could there possibly be to laugh about?

Whether it was a misunderstanding or not, he didn’t want to understand.

The moment he had barely finished the funeral and was returning, instead of offering words of comfort to his young nephew, they warned him with sharp expressions not to even think about the company, and the reason for their laughter was already certain.

“It might be rude to say, but if it were me, I would have set a goal to reclaim my father’s company. It’s too outrageous, isn’t it?”

Chae Won, who had become angry as if it were her own affair, spoke with a suddenly chilly expression.

“I have no intention of reclaiming it. I might destroy it though.”

Perhaps because he spoke threatening words with a calm face as if choosing a menu for lunch, Chae Won felt that Yoo Gun was very chilling now as she met his eyes.

“Don’t worry. The bigger I grow, the more ways I have to either reclaim or destroy.”

Looking at Yoo Gun’s profile as he walked with an expressionless face, Chae Won calmly closed her lips.

“Dedicating my life to punishing such fools is not what my parents in heaven would want either.”

Listening to Yoo Gun’s words, Chae Won suddenly wondered what her own parents in heaven would say about the time she replaced Hee Joo.

And what would Hee Joo say?

“…My parents.”

Chae Won’s eyelashes slowly rose from her calm, deep thoughts.

“I think they would say I did well.”

Yoo Gun, who had been looking at Chae Won’s confident face, soon chuckled.

“You have quite a strong conviction.”

Chae Won laughed along with him.

“But where did you park the car?”

“It will be here soon.”

“What will?”

As she was looking with puzzled eyes, a young man with a transparent umbrella came running.

“You called for a designated driver, right?”

“Yes.”

As Yoo Gun naturally handed over the car keys, Chae Won turned her head with a surprised look.

“Why a designated driver… Choi Yoo Gun, did you drink?”

“No.”

“Then why?”

“Just, because it’s bothersome?”

At the unexpected words, Chae Won spoke with a somewhat apologetic look.

“Ah… I guess I called you out unnecessarily when you’re tired.”

“You called at a good time. I just find driving bothersome, but I wanted some fresh air.”

His car, which had been parked straight, stopped in front of the two.

Chae Won, who had been watching, soon came to her senses and got into the car.

And Yoo Gun took a seat next to her.

“Sleep if you’re sleepy.”

“No. I’m not sleepy at all. It’s not like I asked you to take me home because I was tired, Yoo Gun.”

Tap tap tap. The rain streaks sticking to the window continued endlessly.

Chae Won, who had said she couldn’t sleep at all due to severe insomnia, soon became quiet when not spoken to.

Yoo Gun slowly turned his head and stared at Chae Won, who had fallen asleep leaning her head against the window.

Her breathing was quiet as it rose and fell, but it was clearly a deep sleep in a short time.

Following yesterday, she must be lacking sleep and had a few drinks too.

He had thought she would fall asleep like this and that’s why he said he would come to pick her up.

The thought of someone else seeing her in such a defenseless state made him feel uneasy.

Yoo Gun turned his head towards the window and fixed his gaze on the night lights passing by quickly.

He thought it was a night as beautiful as her beside him.