Prosecutor Kang Ji Ho, he was always like this.

At first glance, he might seem indifferent, but in reality, he was extremely attentive and caring. He responded to every word spoken, even those uttered without meaning, and Park Ra Jin was grateful for his efforts to listen no matter what.

What he gave was something like customized attention, different from fan adoration. Park Ra Jin’s heart fluttered at Prosecutor Kang Ji Ho’s unique kindness.

“Thank you. For saying that.”

“No need to thank me. If you haven’t tried it, you can just try. It’s not difficult, right?”

Park Ra Jin liked his clear words, but she also felt a bit playful.

“I’ve never been on a blind date or group date either.”

“…”

“Is that possible too?”

“Do you want to?”

Park Ra Jin nodded, biting her lip.

“If you want to, you should. How about a blind date with a senior from law school?”

He casually brushed off the transparent joke. Park Ra Jin, caught up in their playful banter, pushed a bit further.

“I’m quite picky about looks.”

“It’s good you only care about looks. The personality is rather lacking.”

Park Ra Jin burst out laughing, as if water had spurted out.

“A law school senior with only looks. What are you doing today?”

“Since it’s to commemorate your resignation. I’ll throw you a farewell party.”

“A farewell party?”

He seemed serious about the resignation, even though he had told her to let go of work. Still in a playful mood, Park Ra Jin wrinkled her nose.

“In scripts, you know. They often say things like this when resigning.”

“What do they say?”

“‘It’s been dirty! Let’s not even acknowledge each other on the street!'”

As Park Ra Jin covered her eyes with two fingers and glared fiercely, Ji Ho chuckled.

“With that rabbit-like face, it’s not scary at all.”

“No way. I’m really good at acting vicious. I even won an award for my role as a girlfriend taking revenge on a cheating boyfriend.”

When she coldly shot out the line, “I wish you were dead!”, Ji Ho broke into a broad smile.

“I’ll definitely watch that drama later, but if someone cheated on you, they’d deserve to die.”

How could he say such pretty words? Park Ra Jin’s face flushed at the cold man’s sweet words.

“Why are you so…”

“?”

“Speaking so prettily, and all that.”

When she mumbled quietly, barely audible, he cleared his throat while rubbing the back of his neck.

A moment of silence, Park Ra Jin turned her gaze out the car window. Like stars shining in the pitch-black darkness, the headlights of other cars twinkled in the distance.

“Ho Jin would be shocked to hear this, but if you think it’s pretty, I guess it is.”

“Yes. Please keep thinking it’s pretty.”

As their idle chatter and light jokes resumed, the car filled with energy. In the enclosed car without even music playing, the two openly showed themselves to each other.

Especially when he revealed that he had a cat when he was young, Park Ra Jin stomped her feet in excitement.

“What was the cat’s name?”

“Nabi. It’s a common name.”

“There’s no such thing as a common name in this world. They all have meaning.”

Wasn’t it said that there are no evil people among those who love animals? Park Ra Jin kept exclaiming in admiration at the combination of Prosecutor Kang Ji Ho and a cat.

“The mother cat must have abandoned it. A kitten that couldn’t even open its eyes was crying in the garden.”

“Oh my…”

“That day, I ran to the animal hospital carrying the kitten wrapped in a towel.”

To think that this big man ran to save a kitten. A smile naturally bloomed on Park Ra Jin’s face.

“Fortunately, there wasn’t anything seriously wrong, but it wouldn’t drink milk.”

He said that as a child, he spent a week without sleep, worried the cat might die. Perhaps remembering that time, Prosecutor Kang Ji Ho’s eyes, reflected in the blue light of the dashboard, seemed somewhat moist.

“Maybe it felt sorry for me struggling without sleep, later it started accepting milk, flapping its ears.”

“Ah, so that’s why it was named Nabi.”

Ji Ho, who had briefly met her gaze, nodded. Park Ra Jin didn’t ask when or why the cat died. It seemed like it would be too painful a memory for him.

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For sharing such a precious memory.”

Park Ra Jin smiled awkwardly as she added that it had helped clear her useless worries.

“Then I should thank you too.”

“Me?”

“For sharing your mother’s diary and even your report card.”

“You, you saw it? I was always in the top ranks.”

To think he’d seen her first test scores after transferring schools. On sleepless nights, she would sometimes kick her blanket in frustration.

“I saw. But was your tutor really that handsome?”

Wondering what on earth he was talking about, Park Ra Jin’s eyes widened.

“My tutor?”

“Your mother wrote that. That you changed clothes more than twelve times before tutoring.”

Focused on proving her improved grades, she hadn’t read her mother’s comments carefully. What on earth had her mother written about a tutor she couldn’t even remember? While Park Ra Jin was off guard, he had discovered another of her embarrassing secrets.

“Between me and that tutor, who’s better?”

“You’re asking so directly?”

“Is that not allowed?”

Park Ra Jin chuckled and slightly raised her eyes.

“I’ll let you know on the last day of this trip.”

“Why?”

“Because I think that’ll make things more interesting for you, Ji Ho.”

She barely managed to stop herself from blurting out ‘Of course it’s you, Ji Ho’.

“10 minutes left. We’ll arrive soon. So get ready for some fun.”

Get ready for fun, he says.

If that’s the case, she could do it ten times, a hundred times. Perhaps Prosecutor Kang Ji Ho was already prepared to make things fun for Park Ra Jin.

It was like that with the hamburger they ate in the dark garage, and when he came to her house with an armful of flowers. Of course, now was the best of all.

The momentary confusion at his sudden announcement of resignation and invitation to visit a countryside house quickly passed. Glancing at the dark night road where nothing could be seen, Park Ra Jin found herself falling for him uncontrollably.

They were busy chattering about each other’s pasts as if competing to be the master of small talk.

Just then, as he turned the steering wheel to the right, the size of the trees illuminated by the car headlights suddenly grew larger.

They had been driving on winding country roads for a while, but suddenly it was as if they had entered a different world, with well-paved roads lined with straight trees on both sides.

“Are we near some kind of arboretum?”

These weren’t recently transplanted trees, but ones that seemed to have taken root in the same place for a long time. Just as she was surprised by the massive roadside trees, this time she couldn’t close her mouth at the grand entrance.

“What is this place?”

“It’s not an arboretum, it used to be a farm.”

Before she could ask him more, a black iron gate appeared.

“Ra Jin, we’re here.”

“Oh, this is… not a countryside house.”

“It’s unnecessarily large for a countryside house, isn’t it?”

It wasn’t just large. Although it was difficult to gauge the exact size in the darkness, the garden alone seemed to be hundreds of pyeong.

Moreover, the lights inside the house were brightly lit, as if someone else was living there.

“Is someone else here?”

“No. I asked for the boiler to be turned on because I thought you might be cold.”

“Who did you ask?”

“The caretaker.”

Park Ra Jin couldn’t continue speaking, her expression bewildered. She just alternated between looking at the grand house and Ji Ho. Come to think of it, Ho Jin had called him a ‘rich boy’.

Although it wasn’t right to judge based on a countryside house that used to be a farm, he seemed to be no ordinary rich boy.

“We won’t run into anyone. Don’t worry and get out.”

“Ah. Okay.”

Still dazed, Park Ra Jin picked up the backpack from the back seat. Ji Ho quickly took it from her.

After unfastening Park Ra Jin’s seatbelt, he crossed over the hood to open the passenger door for her. To think he was a boy with such good manners too. As she stepped onto the soft grass, Park Ra Jin took Ji Ho’s hand.

“From now on, leave everything to me.”

Was this when things would really start to get interesting? Park Ra Jin’s anticipation rose quickly.

Park Ra Jin, who had just unpacked in the large room on the first floor, sniffed the air.

“Oh! This is.”

It was definitely the smell of ramyeon. Following the scent as if entranced, Park Ra Jin’s eyes widened.

“Ra Jin. Sit here.”

As if he had been waiting, Ji Ho set down a large bowl of ramyeon on the table.

Park Ra Jin glanced at the clock hanging in the kitchen and muttered to herself.

‘2 AM. Is it okay to eat this at this hour?’

Park Ra Jin usually stuck to a low-sodium diet to prevent bloating. It had been so long since she’d eaten ramyeon, was it really okay? Fortunately, she didn’t have any filming scheduled for tomorrow.

The steaming, perfectly cooked ramyeon was tempting. Park Ra Jin stood at a distance, as if in a standoff. She didn’t have the courage to approach readily, but the familiar smell was dizzying.

“You must be hungry after crying earlier.”

“It’s so late though…”

“That’s why we should eat quickly. Before it gets even later.”

Somehow convinced by his logic, Park Ra Jin sat down as if hypnotized.

Useless worries would only make the ramyeon soggy, she could just eat quickly and exercise hard to digest it. If she still felt guilty, maybe she could do some extra PT sessions? No, let’s just try one bite first and then think about it. With her reason numbed, Park Ra Jin unconsciously moved her chopsticks.

“Mmm!”

“Is it delicious?”

Park Ra Jin nodded as she scooped up some noodles onto her spoon and popped them into her mouth.

“Want some cheese too?”

“You have some?”

Instead of answering, Ji Ho placed a slice of bright yellow cheese on top.

Repeating ‘Kang Ji Ho is the best!’ in her mind, she tore off a small corner of the melting cheese. The perfect combination of spiciness and richness made Park Ra Jin’s shoulders shake as if dancing.

“It’s embarrassing eating alone. You should eat too, Ji Ho.”

“It’s nice to see you enjoying it. You look pretty.”

As always, she didn’t feel embarrassed by his casual compliment. Rather, she nodded shamelessly, acknowledging it. With the ramyeon bowl now empty, Park Ra Jin reluctantly put down her chopsticks.

“What should we do now?”

“Shall we go up to the rooftop and watch a movie?”

“On the rooftop?”

He had said he came here whenever his mind was troubled, but it seemed that while the exterior of the house looked old, the interior was equipped with the latest facilities.

Park Ra Jin’s heart, already swayed by the ramyeon, now pounded at the thought of a rooftop cinema. Repeatedly thinking ‘This is fun!’ to herself, her eyes sparkled.

“We can see the stars, watch a movie. By then, the sun will start to rise.”

“I’ve never seen a sunrise before.”

Anyone hearing this might think she was living in confinement, but Park Ra Jin originally didn’t like going out. She felt that being in the bright spotlight was enough, so she tried to live quietly when possible.

But was it really okay to live a life just breathing like this? Such doubts even arose.

Just then, Ji Ho pushed a bottle of water towards Park Ra Jin.

“I’m glad I can be with you for your first time.”

“That’s what I wanted to say. I’m so excited.”

Ji Ho’s suggestion made Park Ra Jin’s heart flutter like an unopened gift.

“Until midnight today.”

“Yes.”

“If Ra Jin says ‘It’s fun’, ‘It’s good’, ‘I’m excited’ ten times, that is.”

Was this some kind of bet? Park Ra Jin put down her water and met Ji Ho’s gaze.

“Then you’ll seriously consider my request. How about it?”

“As a thank you for the delicious ramyeon, I’ll listen. Go ahead, say anything.”

“Let’s…”

“?”

“Date officially.”