Ga Eul eventually stood up without even touching the cake.

Gi Tae secretly smiled behind her as she walked ahead of him, still so shy.

The urge to tease her more welled up, but he held back, afraid she might run away from his arms, and walked towards the car.

The two got in the car to go back the way they came.

“I left some documents at the office, so I think I need to stop by for a moment.”

Focused on Ga Eul, he had forgotten something he needed to bring. Ga Eul nodded with a smile at Gi Tae’s words.

“Okay, then let’s go to the gallery first.”

“Alright.”

Gi Tae also relaxed as the date flowed no differently than usual. Unlike when they rushed to the reserved restaurant, the journey back was comfortable. Both Ga Eul and Gi Tae were smiling.

Arriving in front of the gallery, Gi Tae got out of the driver’s seat. Ga Eul also got out of the passenger seat, following Gi Tae. Seeing Ga Eul do this, Gi Tae paused his steps and asked her.

“Why? I’ll be right back down, just stay in the car.”

“I just… wanted to come with you.”

Cute Yoon Ga Eul.

Gi Tae ruffled Ga Eul’s hair and interlaced his fingers with hers, nodding.

“Okay, let’s go up together.”

Ga Eul looked down at their intertwined hands and smiled brightly. Then they walked together.

At some point, without anyone saying anything, the two people’s steps matched each other’s pace, neither too fast nor too slow, side by side.

As they walked from the parking lot towards the gallery entrance, a familiar voice from somewhere stopped them in their tracks.

“Ga Eul!”

“…?”

At the sound of her name being called, Ga Eul turned her head.

There stood Yeon Woo.

Ga Eul’s expression darkened.

If they had just been walking, it might have gone unnoticed. But it was because she was holding his hand.

Startled, Ga Eul quickly pulled her hand away from his, just like yesterday.

Though she didn’t pull away as harshly as yesterday, Gi Tae’s smiling lips instantly dropped as Ga Eul withdrew her hand again in that moment.

Gi Tae said nothing.

He simply looked down silently at Ga Eul, who was once again behaving strangely.

The two began to exchange awkward greetings.

“Ga Eul. Seeing you after so long feels a bit awkward.”

“Haha, it does. Shin Yeon Woo. But, what brings you here…?”

Ga Eul asked cautiously.

Only then did Yeon Woo turn his gaze to Gi Tae and greet him with gentle eyes.

“Hello, elder brother.”

“…”

“I mean, Han Gi Tae. Ahaha…”

When Gi Tae didn’t return the greeting, Yeon Woo looked flustered for a moment before letting out an awkward laugh and continuing to speak to Ga Eul.

“I was just passing by and saw the gallery, so I thought I’d stop in and say hello if you were here. It’s been a while. But are you on your way somewhere? Since I ran into you, I was hoping we could chat a bit…”

Ga Eul quickly nodded in response to Yeon Woo’s question.

“Yes. I don’t think that will work right now. I have a prior appointment with the CEO…”

“Ah, I see. That’s too bad. I was hoping we could have dinner together as friends.”

“Haha…”

“We agreed to be friends, didn’t we?”

Gi Tae’s expression crumpled as he looked down at them chatting amicably. Then, he asked in a slightly chilly voice.

“Yoon Ga Eul. What are you doing right now?”

“Huh? What do you mean, what am I doing?”

“I’m asking what you’ve been doing since yesterday.”

Ga Eul shrank her shoulders as Gi Tae spoke, wiggling the hand she had let go of.

“Ga Eul…?”

“…”

“Ah, I just stopped by briefly to see your face since I was in the area…”

Yeon Woo looked around nervously at the suddenly chilly atmosphere.

“I’m sorry. I’ll go ahead and leave. Please don’t mind me and talk comfortably, you two.”

Noticing something was off, Yeon Woo reluctantly took steps to leave and clear the space for them.

Yeon Woo disappeared from view.

Gi Tae, who had leaned crookedly against the gallery’s outer wall at some point, looked down coldly at Ga Eul.

Thinking about it again, Yoon Ga Eul had not let go of his hand and run away last night because of Cha Hye Su.

She had simply been acting that way towards everyone in order to hide that they were in a relationship in front of others.

Realizing this fact, his mood that had been soaring endlessly now plummeted.

Gi Tae looked down at his hand that had been pushed away again. Only now did he notice, because of Ga Eul letting go of his hand again in front of others. His mood sank infinitely low.

“Now tell me directly with your own mouth. What are you trying to do?”

“T-That’s…”

“Ha-!”

Ga Eul stuttered in embarrassment. Seeing her expression still trying to hide something, Gi Tae suddenly grabbed Ga Eul’s hand and started walking into the gallery.

“CEO, you’re too fast…”

His steps were very quick. Unlike earlier when he had been considerate, now she could barely keep up behind him.

Ga Eul’s eyes drooped. The warm atmosphere from just moments ago had completely disappeared.

Was it because of Shin Yeon Woo who suddenly appeared in front of the gallery? If he had said he was coming beforehand, they wouldn’t have been holding hands, and she wouldn’t have abruptly let go of his hand.

But as Ga Eul looked at Gi Tae’s back, who seemed very angry, she immediately acknowledged that her thinking was wrong.

There was no guarantee that this kind of thing wouldn’t happen anytime she tried to hide their relationship.

It was just that something that would happen eventually had happened today.

Bang. Gi Tae entered the office, let go of Ga Eul’s hand, and walked to the office desk. Ga Eul watched him, catching her breath which had become rough from practically running.

Though she thought he would get angry, he simply returned holding something.

‘What is that?’

A red velvet box.

Gi Tae quickly opened the box. Inside were a beautifully placed pair of rings that anyone could see were couple rings. He took out one small ring and grabbed Ga Eul’s hand again, almost snatching it.

“Why suddenly a ring…”

“Put it on. It’s yours.”

“I don’t need a ring…”

“…”

Gi Tae tried to forcefully put the ring on Ga Eul’s finger.

Ga Eul, who had widened her eyes for a moment, subtly pulled her hand away while closing it, and carefully shook her head.

“It’s okay. And I… never asked you for a ring.”

In the end, a chilly voice escaped Gi Tae’s lips towards Ga Eul, who had even rejected the ring.

“It’s not okay. You just don’t want to wear it, right?”

“What?”

Though his irritation was rising, Gi Tae barely held onto his reason and asked Ga Eul again in a gentle voice.

“Tell me with your own mouth.”

It was to give her the opportunity to explain this irritating situation herself.

“…”

“…”

But Ga Eul threw away even that chance.

Gi Tae ran his hand through his hair and said, unable to hold back any longer.

“You want to hide it, right? From your position, a ring must be burdensome.”

“That’s not it.”

“How is it not? You can’t even answer why when I ask. Didn’t I hit the nail on the head?”

“…”

As if trying to suppress his boiling anger, Gi Tae took a deep breath and exhaled. His chest heaved roughly.

Unlike his usual self who spoke without hesitation, Gi Tae paused for a moment before finally saying exactly what he felt.

“Why? Were you planning to just date me briefly and break up? Are you worried I might block your future path? So…”

You’re trying not to leave any traces?

He didn’t want to say those words.

He wanted to believe it wasn’t like that.

But all of her actions felt that way to him. From hiding it from people around them to rejecting the ring.

Gi Tae now had a hurt expression on his face.

Gi Tae frowned at the stabbing pain in his chest, as if he had been stabbed with a knife.

In the end, he closed the ring case with a thud. Inside sat the ring he hadn’t been able to put on Ga Eul.

He hadn’t intended to give it to her so terribly. He wanted to present it nicely.

His heart was in turmoil after even the ring was rejected. Gi Tae barely passed by Ga Eul with his fists clenched tight.

Before leaving the office, he said with his back turned:

“I’m sorry, but I can’t take you home today.”

Is that what our relationship means to you?

Because he felt he might end up asking a question that would only hurt in the end.

* * *

Two days had passed since he last saw Ga Eul’s face.

Though he hadn’t been able to sleep properly, Gi Tae woke up early for work. However, unlike usual, he didn’t immediately sit up, but rubbed his face with his large hand.

The work he always did even while cutting into his sleep time, despite being told to take it easy, felt pointless and terribly bothersome today.

It was all because of Ga Eul.

Gi Tae sighed and then let out a laugh that was close to a wry smile.

That little woman now shook him endlessly over even the smallest things. Making him happy, hurting him.

That was something only Ga Eul could do.

Gi Tae looked down at the empty space beside him. The image of Ga Eul smiling sweetly at him, making eye contact despite her shyness, came to mind. Even in this situation, he wanted to see her face again.

He had no intention of ending things like this anyway. Even if he wanted to end it, his heart was already too swollen to be able to do so. He knew he would go find her again.

Just… the fact that Ga Eul wasn’t thinking about a future with him.

And… his insides burned at the fact that she tried to hide his existence and even rejected the ring.

“I’m a mess.”

Gi Tae got up from the bed and went into the bathroom, dousing himself with cold water first thing in the morning.

He was planning to go find Ga Eul first anyway. They would resolve things well through conversation.

But.

He had never been hurt by anyone before.

The pain from Ga Eul’s wound throbbed, and he needed some time to collect himself.

* * *

Ga Eul was crouched on the floor of her studio with her head buried.

Her shoulders, which had been shaking for a while, slumped. When she lifted her head, her eyes were rimmed with red.

Ga Eul continued to cry, regretting her actions.

I made a big mistake. So I hurt the CEO deeply.

In fact, hiding their relationship was purely out of her own selfishness.

Wanting to stay by his side longer.

Afraid the chairman might find out, she tried to hide their relationship completely in front of people who knew him.

It was really just out of a pure desire to maintain their relationship for a long time.

Cha Hye Su, that woman – what if she said something to Chairman Han like she did before? That’s what she was afraid of.

But that wasn’t for him to know. It was just her own private circumstances that he didn’t know about.

She should have immediately said it was a misunderstanding and told him exactly what she was thinking.

But because of her damn pride, she couldn’t speak.

I wanted to hide it because I thought the chairman would oppose me being with you if he knew. The chairman would think I’m not a suitable woman for you.

Those words just wouldn’t come out no matter what.

Because it felt like admitting she was a woman of no worth. Because she had to say words that seemed to lower her value in front of him in order to clear up the misunderstanding.

“Ha…”

Ga Eul’s shaking breaths gradually calmed as she let out a sigh. She slapped her cheeks hard and got up, pushing open the studio door and going outside. The fresh air helped clear her head a little.

‘But are you going to keep acting like this? You should apologize first.’

Ga Eul, who had left the studio, wiped her face with her sleeve and walked towards the gallery.

She wanted to apologize to him face to face.

,

.

.

Ga Eul paced in front of the gallery at the time he was likely to stop by. But he didn’t come to the gallery.

‘Just a little… just a little longer.’

He must be working late. Ga Eul told herself this inwardly, trying hard to hold back the tears that were about to well up again. But there was no trace of him to be found anywhere.

Meow.

A kitten approached Ga Eul’s side. Pressing the corners of her eyes firmly with her sleeve, Ga Eul stroked the fur of the cat that had come up and was rubbing its head against her.

It was a very young kitten. But its mother was nowhere to be seen.

Ga Eul muttered.

“You must be lonely too…”

I’m lonely too.

Just the fact that he wasn’t by her side made her feel empty inside. It felt like there was a hole in her chest.

Maybe he was deeply hurt and this is how our relationship ends…?

Ga Eul’s insides burned with vague anxiety.

She could call him now, or go directly to his officetel.

But realizing that he was deliberately avoiding her, the little bit of courage that had brought her to the gallery had now withered and faded.

Ga Eul paced in front of the gallery for a long time, unable to do this or that.