The next morning, Chae Won selected and wore small teardrop-shaped earrings, then stood up straight and looked in the mirror.

Chae Won surveyed her white sleeveless dress that revealed her shoulders, then tidied her hair with her hands before heading to the entryway.

Chae Won slipped her feet into sandals and was about to grab the doorknob when she paused momentarily at the sound of the neighboring door slamming shut.

After a brief moment of thought, Chae Won seemed to make up her mind and pushed open the door.

Yoo Gun turned his head naturally, dressed in a sharp navy suit. Momentarily distracted by his eye-catching appearance, Chae Won soon greeted him.

“Did you sleep well?”

“How could I?”

Knowing well the reason without asking, Chae Won ended the conversation with a quiet cough.

Soon, the elevator that had smoothly descended from the 45th floor arrived with a chime and opened its doors.

A woman who appeared to be in her mid-30s, already inside, kept her head down, fully focused on her phone.

The two naturally stepped into the elevator.

“Did you sleep well, Chae Won?”

The woman on her phone glanced at Yoo Gun upon hearing his casually asked question while keeping his gaze forward.

Startled as if wondering if such a person had always lived in their apartment, the woman briefly looked at Chae Won before turning her attention back to her phone.

“Yes, I slept well.”

“How could you, after how long we went at it yesterday.”

Chae Won turned to the woman in embarrassment, flustered.

As expected, the equally surprised woman froze, unable to focus on her phone.

“Ahem. Yes, we did talk a lot yesterday.”

Chae Won immediately added a wholesome subject to supplement his words.

“We didn’t just talk a lot.”

With her face burning, Chae Won hurriedly turned to Yoo Gun.

Knowing it couldn’t be undone now, it was also his pressure not to be cowardly anymore.

As their kisses deepened yesterday, it had been very difficult until they finally parted ways to their respective homes, and Chae Won, no less than Yoo Gun, had trouble falling into a deep sleep.

“We can’t go on trips or openly date like others. As you know, my sister is still bedridden, and also Noh Jae Min…”

“If I were the pushy type, I wouldn’t have pretended not to notice since our first kiss.”

Yoo Gun finally turned his head towards Chae Won.

As they gazed at each other, the elevator doors opened with a ding at the underground parking lot.

The woman who had been holding her breath the entire time quickly slipped out of the elevator.

Chae Won turned her head and hurriedly exited the elevator as well.

She had admitted her feelings to him, and their relationship had changed.

Now, unsure of what to do next, but needing to go to work…

“Well then, have a good day.”

Chae Won gave Yoo Gun a light greeting before approaching her car and sitting in the driver’s seat.

Feeling a bit disoriented, she reached for the seatbelt when suddenly the passenger door opened.

“Oh.”

As Yoo Gun naturally turned his head after settling into the passenger seat, a flustered Chae Won suddenly felt as if the car had become cramped.

“How cold. I feel like I won’t be able to work if I leave like this.”

Yoo Gun approached without hesitation, cupping Chae Won’s cheek and naturally kissing her.

The soft, probing kiss feels even more sensual than yesterday.

Kissing like a thirsty person, he briefly paused to say:

“Let’s be late today. I gave in yesterday.”

As Chae Won tried to respond, her lips were once again drawn into Yoo Gun’s.

Realizing now that his words were a declaration, Chae Won felt dazed by the hot, mingling breath and slowly closed her eyes.

She thought it was a kiss worth being late for.

*

“Ugh, my head.”

Jae Min woke up in bed and groaned, clutching his throbbing head.

As he painfully opened his eyes and looked around, Ro Na stood there expressionless, wearing a loose-fitting dress.

Come to think of it, this familiar place was Ro Na’s bedroom.

“What? How did I end up sleeping here? Yesterday I…”

“You drank with Kim Hee Joo. With Kim Hee Joo who came out after you desperately contacted her.”

Jae Min, who had been blinking slowly, hastily began to make excuses.

“Ah, no, that’s not it, I mean, Hee Joo was the one who begged to meet…”

“I saw all the messages you sent to Kim Hee Joo.”

“…What?”

“Kim Hee Joo showed me. Said you were clinging to her like this.”

Looking at Jae Min’s blank expression, Ro Na spoke in a controlled voice.

“She might have already noticed about us.”

“That’s not possible. She can’t lie. She starts crying at the slightest thing. There’s absolutely no way.”

A voice full of confidence. How could he be a lawyer? Well, he only studied; he hasn’t had any clients for months.

Noh Jae Min, lacking both tact and sense, didn’t have many clients seeking his services due to his low win rate.

“Kim Hee Joo doesn’t know you have a girlfriend?”

“What nonsense are you talking about?”

Again, a voice full of confidence.

It was a face that wouldn’t believe unless he saw it with his own eyes.

“There’s no way she’d see another man besides me, Hee Joo likes me so much.”

“Don’t just blindly believe like a fool, at least test it. I clearly saw Kim Hee Joo leaving with a man yesterday.”

While thinking it was absurd, Jae Min recalled the glances of unfamiliar men showing interest in her recently.

Considering Hee Joo’s noticeably changed appearance, he couldn’t definitively say it was an impossible occurrence.

That aside, it was then that he thought today’s unusually calm Go Ro Na seemed strange.

“Get up, we have somewhere to go.”

“Huh? Where?”

Jae Min tilted his head at the sight of Ro Na putting on her bag.

“Hospital.”

“Ah, is it hospital day today?”

“No, I don’t think I can have the baby. I need a guardian, so hurry up and come with me.”

Jae Min, who was reaching for the water bottle on the nightstand, turned his head with a startled expression.

“W-What did you say?”

“I don’t understand why I should marry you when you still can’t escape from Kim Hee Joo’s swamp. I’m done. Let’s break up.”

“Hey. Hey, Go Ro Na.”

“Hurry up. It’s almost time for the hospital appointment.”

Ro Na’s expression was unyielding.

Feeling that this time was truly not good, Jae Min grabbed Ro Na’s clothes while his lips quivered.

*

It’s been a week.

As she looked at Noh Jae Min’s house, which felt somewhat familiar after visiting several times, Chae Won’s brow gradually furrowed.

It was large text written on a piece of paper stuck to the front gate.

It wouldn’t be Jenny, who was preoccupied with shopping on her phone, nor the confused Jae Min, and it was undoubtedly Young Ja’s handiwork.

“More childish than I expected.”

Chae Won scoffed before entering. After climbing the five stone steps, she stood in front of the front door and placed her hand on the doorlock.

She entered the password, but as expected, the door didn’t open.

From the moment she saw the paper that said ‘Kim Hee Joo Not Welcome’, she knew something was amiss, and sure enough, it seemed they had changed the password with the utmost intention of keeping her out.

Ding dong. She rang the bell and knocked on the door, but there was no sound.

“Hmm.”

After pondering for a moment, Chae Won took out Hee Joo’s phone.

She called Jae Min, then Young Ja, and then Jenny, but none of them answered.

Putting the phone away, Chae Won naturally walked towards the garden where the living room window was.

The living room curtains, which had been completely removed recently for washing, seemed not to have been rehung yet, as the interior was clearly visible through the floor-to-ceiling windows.

The lights were on, suggesting someone might be inside, but the lack of any sound made it seem like no one was there.

“What should I throw to make it break well enough to cause a rumor?”

Looking around the garden floor, Chae Won found a rock about the size of two fists put together and picked it up.

It was quite heavy, so Chae Won held it with both hands and raised it high above her head to break the window.

“Hmm, they said it was coffee beans from France, indeed the aroma is exceptio… Gulp!”

Young Ja, who was coming out of the kitchen savoring the coffee aroma, discovered Chae Won holding the rock and spat out her coffee.

“Cough! Cough! W-What, what what what!”

Young Ja strongly made an X sign, insisting that she absolutely must not throw it.

“Oh my my my, has she gone crazy? Don’t! Don’t! No! Don’t do it!!”

Chae Won, who had been watching with an expressionless face, soon lowered the rock from above her head to about chest level.

Still uneasy since she hadn’t put the rock down yet, Young Ja eagerly pointed in the direction of the front door, as if to say she would open it, so come over there.

Chae Won finally put the rock back where it had been, then walked elegantly towards the entrance.

Click. The door opened.

“Mother, good morning.”

Chae Won entered with a bright greeting as if nothing had happened earlier.

Young Ja stared at the back of her head, gasping for breath with a pale complexion.

“Oh my! Oh my!”

Still finding it unbelievable, Young Ja followed Chae Won and grabbed her shoulder, ready to confront her.

“Hey you! Are you crazy? If I had been a little later, you would have thrown that rock!”

“That’s right.”

“Oh my oh my, hey! Are you insane?”

“Isn’t it better than demolishing it with an excavator?”

“What?!”

“So why didn’t you open the door? You even changed the password.”

More irritated by Chae Won’s gentle expression, Young Ja raised her voice and confronted her.

“Didn’t you see what was written in front? I said I don’t want you here! Please stay away from our house!”

Unlike Young Ja, who was getting excited and flaring her nostrils, Chae Won smiled as if looking at a cute child.

“Don’t reject, love instead.”

“Love my foot! What nonsense are you spouting!”

“Hmm, the coffee smells good. I should have a cup too.”

As Chae Won entered the kitchen humming, Young Ja placed her hand on the back of her head with a reddened expression.

“Oh, the back of my head hurts. Oh my, she’s completely lost it! Augh!”

“I’m home.”

At that moment, Jae Min entered.

With his face still haggard from unshaken alcohol, barely keeping his eyes open, Jae Min slowly raised his eyes upon seeing Chae Won’s shoes in the entryway.

“Mom, is Hee Joo here by any chance?”

“Jae Min, that woman! She’s gone completely mad, just now she…!”

“Is she here?”

As Chae Won came out of the kitchen, her eyes met Jae Min’s, who stared at her with a hardened expression.

Chae Won gave a gentle smile.

“Happy weekend, honey.”

Jae Min, who had been staring intently at his wife, soon lowered his gaze in thought before raising his head again.

“You, come here.”

Jae Min pulled Chae Won’s arm and entered the main bedroom.

Standing directly face to face, Jae Min seemed to have an angry expression.

Slightly taken aback, Chae Won tilted her head and asked.

“What’s wrong?”

Gazing steadily into Jae Min’s eyes to read his intention, Chae Won soon spoke in a gentle tone.

“Tell me.”

“About us.”

“Yes.”

“Shall we get back together?”

Chae Won’s eyes widened slightly at the unexpected words.

“You move back in and live here starting today too.”

Chae Won pressed her lips together neatly as she looked at Jae Min, who wouldn’t take his eyes off her as if waiting for an important answer.