As Sun Woo’s soft yet hot breath tickled Green’s nape, she instantly froze.

“Um, Jin Sun Woo?”

Green weakly called out Sun Woo’s name, only rolling her eyes, but he didn’t budge.

Inevitably, she had to remain still in that position, unable to move even a finger.

She worried that if Sun Woo, who had finally fallen asleep after struggling with jet lag, woke up because of her.

Green endured until her back ached and her shoulders tingled, but after more than an hour, she could no longer bear it and removed the shoulder she had lent him.

As the shoulder he was leaning on disappeared, Sun Woo’s body collapsed onto the bed in a ㄱ shape. The fact that he didn’t wake up meant he must have fallen into a deep sleep.

Green stretched her body with a yawn and loosened her stiff muscles, then went under the bed and pulled his legs with all her might.

After straightening Sun Woo’s ㄱ-shaped body into a straight line with effort, she finally had the leisure to examine his face.

Red, plump lips, a high nose bridge, a sharp jawline, thick eyebrows, and lush eyelashes. His eyelashes, in particular, were as full as the fake ones Green used to wear.

‘How can a man have such long eyelashes?’

Curious, Green gently brushed the tips of his eyelashes with her index finger. The sensation against her finger was incredibly ticklish.

Suddenly, Sun Woo’s red lips caught Green’s eye. She wondered what it would feel like to touch those lips.

Green, who had been smiling mischievously to herself, was startled. Then she hit her head hard with her palm.

‘You’re crazy, Han Green. What were you thinking about someone who’s barely asleep from exhaustion?’

Feeling like she might continue having crazy thoughts if she stayed by his side, Green quickly left the bed.

Sleep had already fled, and looking out the window, she could see the faint light of dawn breaking.

‘Maybe I should prepare breakfast instead?’

Although Mrs. An Sung had prepared many side dishes, Green wanted to make one or two dishes herself for Sun Woo.

After all, it was their first home-cooked meal together since getting married.

Considering her mediocre cooking skills, the earlier she started, the better.

*****

Sun Woo, who had slept well for the first time in a long while, opened his eyes feeling refreshed, but the bedroom he woke up in felt both unfamiliar and familiar.

After blinking a few times, he finally realized that this was not the lodging in Marseille, but the master bedroom of the Seoul apartment.

‘I was definitely looking at photos with Green!’

Sun Woo sat up abruptly and looked around, finding the tablet PC they had been looking at together neatly placed on the bedside table.

The bedding Green had laid out on the floor was nowhere to be seen.

He couldn’t remember when he had fallen asleep, whether she had slept on the bed or gone down to sleep on the floor.

‘Damn. She didn’t really sleep on the floor, did she?’

He felt guilty, thinking he’d be the worst husband if he had made his wife sleep on the floor on the first night they spent together after a year of marriage.

Just then, he heard a crashing sound.

Sun Woo quickly got up and went out to the living room. The sound seemed to have come from the kitchen.

“What happened? Are you hurt?”

He found Green crouched on the water-soaked kitchen floor, busily sweeping up something black.

“Oh, Sun Woo. You’re awake?”

Green’s face was full of embarrassment as she looked up at Sun Woo. It was the face of someone who had been caught in a scene they absolutely didn’t want to be discovered in.

“I’m not hurt, it’s just that I was trying to wash the soaked seaweed, but my hand slipped and…”

“Didn’t Mrs. An Sung make side dishes? Why the seaweed?”

Sun Woo crouched down beside her and started gathering the scattered seaweed with his hands, but Green jumped up and tried to stop him.

“Just leave it. I’ll clean it up quickly. Sun Woo, you should go wash up first.”

Despite Green’s protests, Sun Woo gathered the seaweed strewn on the floor into a bowl and brought a mop to wipe the wet floor. Green kept fidgeting beside him.

“What were you trying to do with the seaweed?”

“Well, I remembered you said you liked seaweed soup.”

Sun Woo recalled the conversation he had with Green during their first meeting with both families.

“What do rich people usually eat?”

“Grilled fish and soybean paste stew are almost daily on the table, and I like seaweed soup and japchae.”

“Really? That’s surprisingly ordinary.”

Sun Woo was slightly touched that Green remembered what he had said in passing a year ago and was trying to make seaweed soup that he liked.

“Next time, make seaweed soup with lots of dried pollack.”

“Lots of dried pollack. Got it.”

Seeing Green’s smiling face, Sun Woo asked what he had been most curious about since waking up.

“Um, where did you sleep, Green?”

“Huh? Of course, I went down to sleep on the floor after watching you fall asleep.”

“Ah, I see.”

Sun Woo sighed, feeling pathetic for making his wife sleep on the floor, but to Green’s eyes, it looked as if he was sighing with relief.

‘Why is he relieved? Did he think I would pounce on him if I slept on the bed?’

Green muttered inwardly, and only when Sun Woo left to wash up could she finally breathe normally.

She couldn’t breathe well because she felt like a thief caught red-handed, remembering how she had secretly enjoyed the feel of Sun Woo’s lush eyelashes.

‘This must be why people can’t live after committing crimes.’

A self-deprecating smile appeared on Green’s lips.

Green, having finally composed herself, set the breakfast table with care.

It was simply a matter of taking out large containers from the refrigerator and transferring small portions onto little plates, but she still put her heart into it.

When Sun Woo returned to the kitchen, a rather presentable breakfast table was set.

Green scooped a full bowl of freshly cooked, hot rice.

“You must be hungry? Eat a lot.”

Various namul dishes, seasoned grilled beef, grilled fish, soybean paste stew, and even japchae. All the side dishes Sun Woo said he enjoyed were on the table.

But among the familiar side dishes, there was one unfamiliar one.

Seeing Sun Woo’s gaze fixed on that dish, Green carefully opened her mouth as if making a confession.

“The other side dishes were made by Mrs. An Sung, but I made this seaweed vinegar salad myself. So it might not taste very good.”

At this, one of Sun Woo’s eyebrows twitched.

“You didn’t make this with the seaweed you spilled on the kitchen floor earlier, did you?”

“Of course not!”

Green snapped at Sun Woo’s absurd assumption.

No matter how ignorant she might be about cooking, she wasn’t the kind of person who would make food with ingredients that had been sprawled on the floor.

“This is from seaweed I soaked earlier at dawn. The one from earlier was when I thought there wasn’t enough for seaweed soup, so I tried to soak a bit more and accidentally spilled it.”

As her explanation grew longer, Green’s voice became quieter. In contrast, Sun Woo’s smile grew wider.

“I’ll eat well.”

Sun Woo’s chopsticks went straight for the seaweed vinegar salad. He piled a generous amount of it on top of his warm rice and took a big bite.

“How is it?”

“It’s delicious.”

“Really? That’s a relief. I’ve made seaweed soup a few times, but this is my first time making seaweed vinegar salad.”

Green’s expression was one of genuine relief.

“How did you make it if it’s your first time?”

“I got help from the famous Chef Baek’s cooking method.”

Green waved her mobile phone. It was indeed a good world where even cooking novices could easily follow recipes with just a good search.

As Green’s chopsticks moved towards the seaweed vinegar salad, Sun Woo coldly pulled the plate towards himself.

“Since you made this for me to eat, I’m going to eat it all myself.”

“Why are you being so stingy over food?”

Green stood up and went to the counter. In a large bowl, there was much more seaweed vinegar salad than what was on the plate.

Ignoring Sun Woo’s surprised look, Green scooped some seaweed vinegar salad and stuffed it into her mouth.

“Ugh!”

The intense vinegar taste nearly numbed her tongue.

“What happened here?”

Green alternately checked Chef Baek’s recipe and the vinegar bottle.

Sun Woo, who wanted to hide the truth, looked at Green with sympathetic eyes.

“Seeing that the vinegar is called ‘3x Vinegar’, I think you were supposed to use only one-third of the specified amount.”

“Ah!”

Green, having gained a great realization, glared at the vinegar bottle for a while, then strode to the table and mercilessly removed the plate of seaweed vinegar salad.

She couldn’t forgive this dish for making Sun Woo, who couldn’t lie, say it was “delicious”.

“There are plenty of other side dishes, so please enjoy your meal anyway.”

Sun Woo glanced at Green’s expression. Green, who had been pretending to focus on her meal nonchalantly, finally burst into laughter when her eyes met Sun Woo’s.

“Pfft! Oh, come on! Stop looking, it’s embarrassing.”

“Pfft! Ah, I’m sorry.”

“I think I’m going to develop a trauma about seaweed. I won’t be able to make dried pollack seaweed soup for a while either. Just buy it instead.”

“Alright. Pfft!”

They spent the entire meal laughing, which made the meal time longer than usual. Sun Woo found Green, who was embarrassed yet couldn’t stop laughing, incredibly cute.

As the meal was nearing its end, Sun Woo suddenly realized that she had put quite some effort into her appearance.

It wasn’t as elaborate as when she went to his mother Park In Young’s gatherings, but she had light makeup on and was wearing a blouse that seemed too uncomfortable for home wear.

At first, he thought it might be because of him, but Sun Woo asked a more realistic question.

“Green, are you going out somewhere today?”

“I’m going to return the sponsored clothes to Hannah. Jenny said she only has time during lunch, so I’ll return the clothes, take photos of Jenny, it’s going to be a busy day.”

Sun Woo didn’t like the idea of being left alone in this spacious apartment when Green went out.

Even though he had lived here alone for over ten years before marriage.

“Can I come along?”

“You too, Sun Woo?”

“They’re your closest friends, I’d like to greet them too.”

“Actually, I’ve been getting scolded by my friends for the entire year. For not inviting them to the wedding.”

Green, lost in thought for a moment, suddenly became curious about Sun Woo’s friends as well.

“If I introduce you to my friends, will you introduce me to yours?”

“You’ve already met my friend.”

“I have? When?”

“Secretary Ahn Yong Gi has been my friend since high school.”

“Don’t tell me Secretary Ahn is your only friend?”

“Yes.”

Green was once again at a loss for words at Sun Woo’s confident reply. She thought this man always managed to surprise her or leave her dumbfounded.