Gyeo Wool quietly placed the plate she had brought on the table, then raised her heels and carefully approached Tae Wook one step at a time.

She approached Tae Wook, carefully raising her heels and taking one step at a time.

A face relaxed at ease.

The sound of regular, even breathing.

His eyelashes, longer and darker than a woman’s, remained still.

Tae Wook, who said he could only sleep with the help of alcohol, was asleep leaning on the sofa.

Thank goodness.

Relief settled on Gyeo Wool’s face.

Oh! This is not the time for that.

Gyeo Wool quickly moved. She went to the guest room and brought out a thin blanket.

Carefully, carefully.

She spread the blanket quietly and covered Tae Wook’s body.

His uncomfortable-looking posture concerned her.

She wanted to pull the table over and prop up his legs.

But if that woke him up.

He might not be able to fall back asleep.

Gyeo Wool chose to quietly sit down next to Tae Wook without doing anything.

The expression of relief at seeing him asleep had now settled into a heavy sadness.

Her heart felt even heavier, as if a large rock had been placed on it.

To think Tae Wook was struggling with insomnia again.

He said it wasn’t Gyeo Wool’s fault.

But was that really true?

“Haah…”

A sigh escaped involuntarily.

She knew that stress was a major cause of Tae Wook’s insomnia.

When he was under severe stress, the symptoms would worsen.

The insomnia that started with their divorce.

Gyeo Wool felt guilty, as if it was all her fault.

“I’m sorry.”

Not knowing he was going through such a difficult time…

The divorce was decided wishing for Tae Wook’s happiness.

She left his side with a heart-wrenching feeling, but contrary to her wishes, wasn’t he living a life far from happiness?

“It’s not, right? My decision wasn’t wrong, was it?”

Gyeo Wool wanted to hear Tae Wook’s answer.

That he had been happy while she was gone.

That it absolutely wasn’t because of her that he was struggling.

Gyeo Wool bit her lower lip hard.

With moist eyes trembling sadly, she stared at Tae Wook’s sleeping face for a long time.

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In his sleep, Tae Wook felt something touching his shoulder, then falling off, then touching again.

What is it?

He slowly lifted his heavy eyelids.

The sudden bright light pouring in.

It was too dazzling, so he squinted his eyes closed then opened them again.

As he moved his eyes, familiar furniture came into view.

The living room? Wasn’t I in the bedroom?

He recalled Gyeo Wool saying she would go to the kitchen to bring some food.

Judging by the lack of memory after that, he must have fallen asleep right away.

How long had it been?

Since he had suddenly fallen asleep like losing consciousness.

Moreover.

“My body feels refreshed, as if I didn’t sleep on the sofa.”

Tae Wook tried to get up from the sofa.

As he had felt in his sleep, something heavy touched his shoulder again and fell off a moment later.

“Secretary Han?”

He turned his head and saw Gyeo Wool right next to him.

Her head was repeatedly moving left and right as she sat uncomfortably cross-legged.

“Why are you sleeping here…”

Gyeo Wool’s head was about to return to the distance it had been from his shoulder.

He quickly reached out and gently pressed her head.

Then he leaned his shoulder towards her body. To a position where she could feel comfortable.

The sound of her soft breathing pierced his ears.

Like a baby…

The corners of his mouth loosened into a relaxed smile on their own.

The thought of waking Gyeo Wool had already disappeared.

What time is it?

Tae Wook rolled his eyes to look at the clock on the wall, curious about the time.

The small hand of the clock had passed the number 5.

He blinked his tight eyes several times and checked the clock again.

He hadn’t misread the position of the clock hands.

‘Are you saying I slept for almost 5 hours?’

He frowned with a complicated expression, surprised.

“Without even relying on alcohol…”

Tae Wook muttered in disbelief.

He thought he had just dozed off and woken up.

But to have slept for hours without even knowing Gyeo Wool had covered him with a blanket.

The more he thought about it, the more amazing it seemed.

Tae Wook stared blankly at Gyeo Wool.

“No way.”

It suddenly occurred to him that his chronic insomnia had disappeared not long after marrying Gyeo Wool.

And with the divorce, the insomnia returned.

Now that Gyeo Wool was back and he had slept deeply.

“Is Secretary Han the cure for insomnia?”

Pff.

Tae Wook let out a chuckle, finding his own imagination so ridiculous.

Perhaps because his shoulder shook from laughing.

“Mmm…”

Gyeo Wool frowned and twisted her body, seemingly uncomfortable.

Is she awake?

The moment he thought that, Gyeo Wool burrowed into Tae Wook’s arms.

“Oh!”

He gasped in surprise.

She had wrapped her arms around his waist.

“Secretary Han…”

Is she doing this on purpose?

Tae Wook carefully examined Gyeo Wool’s face.

A face completely fallen into deep sleep.

As if she had finally found a comfortable position, a satisfied smile briefly appeared and disappeared on her face.

“Geez, really.”

He kept letting out sighs at the completely unexpected situation.

“You should sleep in bed.”

Tae Wook gently shook the arms wrapped around his waist.

“Secretary Han.”

Far from waking up, Gyeo Wool frowned as if annoyed.

– I fall asleep as soon as my head touches the pillow. Once I’m asleep, I wouldn’t even notice if someone carried me away.

– How is that possible? Are you lying?

Tae Wook couldn’t believe Gyeo Wool’s words back then.

It was something he had never seen or experienced before.

But now he saw that Gyeo Wool’s words were not at all made up.

“Now what should I do?”

Should I shake her awake and tell her to go to bed?

Or should I pick her up and take her to the guest room?

While he was pondering, it happened.

Gyeo Wool’s head moved, and her face came closer to Tae Wook’s neck.

Her moist breath tickled his nape.

With each rise and fall of her chest, the sweet scent of her body mixed with body cleanser stimulated his sense of smell.

“This is driving me crazy.”

Tae Wook, who had been staring blankly at Gyeo Wool for a while as if entranced, murmured softly as if sighing.

His fingers twitched towards her face.

Reason warned that it was wrong, but his instincts were whispering to do as he wished.

Perhaps it was impossible to resist from the beginning.

Tae Wook’s fingers rested on Gyeo Wool’s warm, silk-like soft cheek.

His fingers, which had been gently caressing her cheek, slowly moved downward.

On her slightly parted lips.

He moved his finger along her lip line, as if drawing a precarious picture.

It seemed as if her unusually red lip color would stain his finger.

And…

Greed that could not be satisfied with just fingers.

He wanted to bite those plump lips with his own lips.

Then it would taste sweet and fragrant, right?

He wanted to taste that flavor he remembered so vividly again.

‘What if Secretary Han wakes up!’

The voice of reason made its presence known, squeezing into his mind.

But the size of the flames flickering in Tae Wook’s eyes was too large to heed the voice of reason.

Gyeo Wool’s hot breath flowing between her lips touched his lips and scattered into the air.

As if drawn by a magnet, his face, his lips were getting closer to her.

They touched.

Tae Wook’s lips touched Gyeo Wool’s lips.

A soft and hot sensation.

A secret heat spreading throughout his body.

His heart, which had not moved for any woman in a long time, began to beat again with a creaking sound.

An intense desire to fully feel everything arose from deep within his body.

The size of the desire that could not be resolved with just a kiss.

Tae Wook’s hands began to twitch, ready to race madly with Gyeo Wool’s body as the racetrack.

Don’t be hasty.

If he rushed before winning Gyeo Wool’s heart, she might be startled and run away.

If that happened, his efforts could become futile in an instant, leading to an irreversible situation.

“Nngh.”

Tae Wook made a sound of painful restraint as he clenched his fist.

He must have applied so much force that the veins on the back of his hand bulged out.

Tae Wook pulled his lips away.

But unable to let go of his lingering feelings, he gave her one more baby kiss before pulling back his lips.

“Hold back. I must hold back.”

Tae Wook stared into empty space, forcibly resisting the urge to look back at Gyeo Wool.

[This is the timeline separator]

The bright sunlight seeping through the window tickled Gyeo Wool’s face.

She tried turning her head this way and that to avoid the light penetrating between her closed eyes, but it was no use.

Then Gyeo Wool’s eyes suddenly flew open.

“Gasp!”

She threw off the blanket and abruptly sat up.

“I must have overslept.”

She cried out in surprise and got out of bed.

She flung open the guest room door and ran out.

Tae Wook might be waiting for her to wake up.

She passed through the long hallway and came out to the living room, looking towards the sofa.

Gyeo Wool’s eyes shook with bewilderment.

Tae Wook was nowhere to be seen.

Moreover.

The neatly cleaned sofa and table.

There was no trace to be found of them having drunk wine, even if she looked with a magnifying glass.

Was it because she had come running out noisily?

The housekeeper came out of the laundry room.

The housekeeper’s gaze swept Gyeo Wool up and down.

It must be because Gyeo Wool had come running out in her disheveled state right after waking up.

“Has the CEO woken up?”

Gyeo Wool asked the housekeeper urgently.

“He left for work.”

“He left?”

Gyeo Wool asked in surprise.

“What time is it now? Did the CEO wait and then leave?”

“It’s almost 9 o’clock now.”

“W-what? 9 o’clock?”

“He said to tell you to take your time getting ready and come out.”

The housekeeper went back into the laundry room.

“This is not the time.”

Just as she had come running out, she ran back into the guest room.

She had to get ready quickly and leave.

She was already far too late.

Wait a minute!

“Why was I sleeping here?”

In Gyeo Wool’s memory, she was watching the sleeping Tae Wook until about 4 o’clock, rubbing her sleepy eyes.

She had no memory of falling asleep, and there was no way she would have walked to the room in her sleep.

Then did Tae Wook carry her to the bed…

“Oh no, oh no!”

Gyeo Wool’s face instantly burst into flames.