Chicken galantine.

A traditional French dish where minced meat and seasoning are stuffed inside chicken or duck and steamed.

It was a name Ji Wan had never heard before in her life.

When Tae Sung said he wanted it, she thought it wouldn’t be too expensive since it had “chicken” in the name, and would be easy to find.

But that was a miscalculation…

This unfamiliar dish in Korea could only be found in the course menu of authentic French restaurants.

No matter how many calls she made, places selling it as a single dish were rare, and even the restaurants that did sell it said it would be difficult right away.

To think there was such a rare chicken dish in South Korea.

If it was going to be like this, it would have been better to serve Korean beef, which would have been a big hit to the wallet but easy to obtain.

This was clearly Joo Tae Sung’s dark scheme.

Desperate to not be able to push Ji Wan around, Joo Tae Sung seemed to be playing a nasty trick again this time.

“Joo Tae Sung… What am I going to do with this guy?”

Ji Wan, who belatedly realized this fact, felt anger bubbling up from deep in her chest.

But she forcibly composed herself with a deep breath.

Now that she wanted something from Joo Tae Sung. If she endured with patience, it might pave a flower path for her career.

“Right, I’m Lee Ji Wan. This level of trial is nothing.”

Ji Wan muttered to herself like a mantra as she entered the apartment complex.

On her way to buy old-fashioned whole chicken sold in front of her house instead of that damned chicken galantine.

She didn’t want to give Joo Tae Sung even the common chicken, let alone pickled radish, but she was buying something anyway to try to make a good impression.

The scenario was somewhat organized in her head.

While highly praising the merit of solving the Kim Young Jae case, she would naturally mention Joo Tae Sung’s disappearance article that broke today, and say that she would properly cover this.

In this process, she planned to persuade him that it would be better to exclude the story of their marriage.

If she could get an interview focusing on his current physical condition and state of mind after the attack, Ji Wan’s existence wouldn’t need to be revealed.

It would be even better if she could make up some recent news here.

“Okay. I can do this. He’s staying at my house anyway. Of course he’ll do this much. Yeah!”

Ji Wan kept encouraging herself endlessly until she reached the front door of her house.

This Joo Tae Sung character was someone who could intimidate people just with his eyes, so this level of mental preparation was necessary.

Arriving at the house like that.

“I’m home! Did you wait long?”

Ji Wan greeted brightly, as if she had never been angry about the chicken galantine.

Tae Sung, who was just setting up wine glasses, welcomed her with a gentle smile.

“You’re late. I was waiting.”

“Haha, I’m sorry. It’s because Mr. Joo Tae Sung’s order was so demanding.”

As she put the old-fashioned whole chicken in the center of the table, the corners of Tae Sung’s mouth curved even more smoothly.

“The visuals are quite different from the chicken galantine I know.”

“I’m not sure about galantine, but it’s definitely chicken. It should go well with wine, right?”

“Do you really think so?”

“If not, there’s nothing we can do. This is the limit of my abilities.”

Ji Wan answered with a smiling face.

She tries to hide her emotions somehow, but her answer has sharp thorns.

Tae Sung, who wanted to see exactly this kind of reaction, spoke with the composure of a satisfied winner.

“Good job. Change into comfortable clothes and come back. I’ll do the plating in the meantime.”

People, I tell you! After rolling me around as much as you can!

You think acting mannerly at the end is everything?!

Ji Wan wanted to shout out loud, but she swallowed it down like bitter medicine this time too.

Asking for favors is a much harder task than I thought.

If it’s this precarious from the build-up stage, I’ll fall seriously ill with anger if I have to ask for two favors.

* * *

The dining table she returned to after preparing to eat.

The 10,000 won old-fashioned whole chicken was plated as elegantly as a dish from a high-end restaurant.

She thought his touch would be rough since he had large hands and a big frame, but he does a really nice job with the setting, whether it’s innate sense or not.

“Wow, Mr. Tae Sung’s touch is really magical! Were you the fairy godmother who dressed up Cinderella in your past life?”

Having found something to praise, Ji Wan exaggeratedly extolled Tae Sung.

It was stage 1 of the build-up before making her request.

Tae Sung answered with a chuckle and poured wine into her empty glass.

Encouraged by that smile, Ji Wan began to praise everything about him.

“Oh my, goodness. Look at the aroma of this wine. Mr. Tae Sung’s taste is really sophisticated, I tell you. Is that why you exude dignity just by looking at you?”

“…”

“Well. Just looking at your features, the size is obvious. Mr. Tae Sung might have been a prince in his past life.”

“…”

“No, that’s not it. Ha, just a prince? Considering this taste and sense, there’s no emperor ruling over the east, west, south, and north quite like you.”

“Stop.”

Suddenly Tae Sung stopped her flattery.

It was just when she was thinking this might have been a bit too much.

“How about saying what you want? It seems like a hardship for both the one making unfitting comments and the one having to listen to them.”

I guess it was too much. Seeing his smile turn cold, it seems I’ve rather provoked antipathy.

Ji Wan, hit right on the mark, cleared her awkward expression with a cough.

If it’s an opponent whose favor can’t be won, the only option is to thrust straight ahead.

“You’re right. I do have something I want.”

Ji Wan started to lay out her honest business.

Tae Sung’s eyes fixed exactly on Ji Wan as he brought the wine glass to his mouth.

It was a gaze that somehow made her feel intimidated, but Ji Wan gathered her courage and began to speak.

“I don’t know if you’ve seen it, but an article about Mr. Joo Tae Sung came out today. It says he went missing after being attacked. The culprit hasn’t been caught yet, it says.”

Tae Sung put down his wine glass with a calm expression at the information he already knew.

“So?”

“Our newspaper wants to find Mr. Joo Tae Sung’s whereabouts. It seems like they’ll be persistent since it’s a story the higher-ups are paying attention to.”

“That’s good. While you’re at it, tell the company. That Joo Tae Sung is your husband.”

“Talk sense! We’re about to divorce, really…!”

A chuckle escaped through Tae Sung’s lips at Ji Wan’s intense reaction.

Ji Wan, who knew it wasn’t a situation to joke around, decided to subtly bring up the main point before the mood soured.

“So I was thinking… How about we match our stories?”

Tae Sung’s gaze settled on her again at the proposal he didn’t understand at once.

Ji Wan sat up straight and began her full-fledged persuasion.

“If someone else writes the article, there’s no guarantee of the content, right? It could contain information dangerous to you, or private matters that absolutely must not be revealed could be exposed.”

“…”

“If that’s the case, I think it would be better if I write an article favorable to us from the start. What do you think?”

“…”

“If you throw me some information that would be appealing, I’ll write an article that’s safe for you. In other words, mutual benefit!”

Contrary to her worries, a pretty plausible scenario came out.

This way, Ji Wan’s career ambitions wouldn’t show at all, and it would look like a proposal solely for Tae Sung’s benefit.

Gaining confidence, Ji Wan appealed more clearly for what she wanted.

“So please do an interview with me. I want to write the articles related to you.”

Ji Wan’s eyes flashed brightly.

The fleeting desire that passed by in an instant was too intense for Tae Sung to ignore.

Tae Sung took his gaze off her for a moment and spoke while filling his empty glass.

“The title would be something like ‘Prosecutor Joo Tae Sung Embroiled in Disappearance Suspicions, Exclusive Interview on His State of Mind’.”

“Oh my, the word ‘exclusive’ sounds so good.”

“If we clarify that it wasn’t a disappearance but that I was recuperating, my whereabouts will naturally fade from interest, and additionally, we can leak the severity of the injury, my complicated current state of mind, future investigation direction, and expected return date?”

“That’s exactly it. The picture is already coming together!”

Ji Wan’s mouth corners rose more and more at Tae Sung’s smooth answers.

Is it because he’s a smart prosecutor? It’s admirable how he completes ten things when you throw him one.

Tae Sung gave a gentle smile as he looked at Ji Wan’s face full of hope.

The voice that flowed out was softer and more gentle than ever before.

“It won’t work though.”

The problem was that the content was a roundabout rejection.

“…Pardon?”

Ji Wan, unable to readily believe the rejection that came out in such a good mood, asked again.

Tae Sung continued his leisurely answer while slowly turning his wine glass.

“Someone just said earlier. That we’re about to divorce.”

“So what?”

“It’s an issue involving my personal safety, can I entrust it to a woman who’s about to become a stranger?”

It seems the words she said earlier have become an issue.

Ji Wan, facing a crisis where ash was about to be sprinkled on her almost-cooked rice, desperately argued back.

“That has nothing to do with this!”

“Why would it have nothing to do with it.”

“We may be about to divorce, but we’re still in the same boat, and it’s better to entrust it to someone who knows the situation better than others, right? We both have to hide the fact of our marriage anyway.”

Tae Sung replied leisurely to her desperate face.

“I don’t particularly need to hide the fact of my marriage.”

“Ha, you’re going to be like this?”

“The missing person article is false reporting, so I just need to request a correction, and I can legally punish any reporters trying to investigate my background.”

“T-that’s true, but… because you could be in danger…”

“Don’t you think it’s more dangerous to entrust an important statement to a reporter with only 1 year of experience?”

His voice was only leisurely, but his skill in cornering her was no less than a ruthless fact-bomber.

Ji Wan, left speechless by Tae Sung’s logical counterattacks, couldn’t control her trembling eyes.

In contrast, Tae Sung continued speaking with only a relaxed expression.

“In other words, it’s an issue that requires trust… I always want to trust you, but you don’t want that, so I can’t even say the cliché words of ‘let’s trust each other and do well’.”

He shrugged his shoulders as if troubled.

Provoked by this, Ji Wan grumbled in a small voice.

“It’s not that hard to try trusting now that it’s come to this…”

“Hm?”

“You admit we’re in the same boat, right? So I don’t think it’s bad to build solid trust with each other through this mutual cooperation…”

Her voice was shrinking, afraid he might counter logically again, but Tae Sung didn’t make any rebuttal to those words.

Wondering if his heart might have been moved, she glanced at him, and he didn’t avoid that gaze as he threw a meaningful question.

“You want it?”

“W-want what…?”

“A relationship of trust.”

If only it could help with this matter.

“I want it. It’s time for us to trust each other now, isn’t it?”

A smile deepened on Tae Sung’s lips at Ji Wan’s answer.

For a brief moment, Ji Wan seriously pondered whether this was a sincere smile or a sign of an evil scheme.

Tae Sung let out a gentle voice as if to give her an answer.

“Then I should consider it positively too.”

Ji Wan’s eyes sparkled again at the word ‘positively’.

“Really? You mean that?”

Tae Sung nodded lightly and quietly moistened his throat with wine.

Seeing him say this much, it seems he’s not going to reject Ji Wan’s proposal.

“You thought well! Yes, even if life is lived alone, having a team to cooperate with is a good thing!”

Ji Wan, with hope rekindled, couldn’t hide her extremely excited face.

It was right at this moment.

When she believed she had achieved all her intentions. When she was certain she had grasped the initiative.

Tae Sung liked to reveal his true intentions at exactly this moment.

It was a new hobby that developed after coming to this house.

“I’m glad we agree after a long time. Then shall we build a relationship of trust?”

“Sounds good. How do we build it?”

“There’s only one most effective method for building trust between a married couple.”

“Huh…?”

“Spending the night together.”

An incredible answer flowed from Tae Sung’s lips.

Ji Wan heard it clearly but dared not digest it.

So as she just stood there with her mouth gaping open, Tae Sung shook her reason with an even more blatant comment.

“Since I have no memory at all, it feels just like that.”

“…”

“The wedding night.”

His pitch-black eyes, whose insides couldn’t be seen, stopped quietly at her nape and curved.

Unable to look away from that gaze that seemed like it would burn, Ji Wan could only gulp down dry saliva.

A herbivore that walked into a predator’s den of its own accord.

That’s exactly what it was like.