Two steps into the office, their strides became intertwined.
As soon as the door closed, due to his body overlapping hers, Gaeul let out a small sigh, taking advantage of the moment when their lips were close.

“Representative. Just a moment.”

“No.”

Lately, he had been willing to listen to anything I said, but now he stood firm.

‘It was just a request to take off the shoes and come in.’

“Exactly, who keeps acting cute? Hm?”

“Well…”

Professing love, he whispered softly in her ear, and it turned into endless kisses.

Despite the unyielding firmness, Gaeul’s eyelids gradually drooped with each gentle kiss. It was then.

‘…Huh? Why is that here?’

Into Gaeul’s view, a painting appeared.

The eyes that had been closed in a daze rose again the moment they discovered the painting.

The space was not very large, making it easy to see everything at a glance. Moreover, it was a familiar space, so finding the changes wasn’t difficult.

The painting was none other than “” from my second exhibition.

But why was that painting in the representative’s apartment?

Pointing to “” with her hand, Gaeul asked, “Representative, why is this here? I distinctly heard that it was sold.”

Seeing Gaeul’s flustered state, he did not hide the regretful expression as if the aftertaste of the kisses lingered.

With a chuckle, as if to say it was because of that, he smiled and said, “I bought it.”

“Well…”

The next day, the first thing that caught Gaeul’s eyes upon waking up was not the representative but Paul.

“Paul, come here.”

It was cute to see Paul, who she hadn’t seen in a long time.

Gesturing to the empty space next to me, Paul approached with a pouting expression. Seeing that, Gaeul burst into a small laugh.

In my absence, the representative must have taken good care of him. His growth was noticeable. It seemed like he had grown another inch.

As Paul approached with bouncy movements, Gaeul hugged him and asked, “Paul, where did the representative go?”

When she got up, she noticed that the seat next to me was empty. Only Paul was playing alone.

Gaeul naturally recalled the events of last night. They chatted about my painting for a long time, and then the representative playfully kissed my face…

“Ahem. I should get up now.”

As Gaeul remembered last night, her face turned red again. Feeling the warmth, she got up, opened the door, and there he was.

Straight away, he appeared. Gaeul, who was about to call him, closed her mouth for a moment and silently stared at him.

With a faint smile and an air of contentment, he seemed to be enjoying my painting since morning.

Last night, he said that he couldn’t just pass by this painting. So, even before the exhibition approached, he bought it.
Gaeul asked where the representative had managed to buy it before she could showcase it to collectors. In response, he made a ridiculous statement, claiming it was a privilege unique to gallery representatives who had famous artists under their affiliation, making Gaeul burst into laughter.

Gaeul, who had been glancing at him without resentment, suddenly recalled a memory and threw another question at him.

“Representative, by any chance, when you said you felt good after buying a good painting… was it my painting?”

Upon that, he lightly touched my cheek and nodded, saying, “Yeah, Yoon Gaeul is surprisingly clueless. Right, I discovered that painting that day.”

Of course, Gaeul had no way of knowing. Usually, she only knew when a painting was sold. She had no business knowing who bought it and why. At that time, the fact that my painting was hanging in a prominent place didn’t even register. She had no intention of asking about it.

Now, thinking back, that painting wasn’t even hung on the day of the exhibition.

‘I must have been out of my mind that day.’

Mulling over yesterday’s conversation, Gaeul approached him, still unaware that it was her painting. He was still deeply engrossed in appreciating the painting.

“Representative, are you looking at paintings since the morning?”

Having finally spared a glance for me from his art appreciation, he extended his arms as if beckoning me to come closer.

To be embraced by him, Gaeul approached with arms wide open.

He caught her, pulled her close from behind, and smoothly answered, “Yeah, because I like it.”

“Since you bought it a while ago, you must have seen it a lot. Besides, you’ve seen it plenty at the gallery.”

“Still, I never get tired of it.”

“What do you find so appealing about it?”

As Gaeul playfully asked him to tell her once, he burst into laughter and immediately responded as if there was no need to hesitate.

“Oh, it reminds me of the day when you and I walked in the botanical garden. And, above all.”

“…?”

“The painting you drew thinking about me. A painting that an artist made thinking specifically about me. Who wouldn’t like that?”

He answered as if he were asking me.

“No one would dislike it.”

In response to his words, Gaeul nodded silently.

It seemed like what the representative said was correct.