“Just ask me to hold you instead.”

His heavy words echoed in the quiet emergency stairwell.

That uniquely clear voice seeped into Ji Wan’s heart rather than her ears.

Perhaps that’s why.

Before she could even think that it made no sense, her emotions were already stirred.

At this moment, Ji Wan, tired as she was, needed someone’s embrace more desperately than any words of comfort.

Ji Wan held her breath and quietly fixed her gaze on Tae Sung.

Tae Sung was still standing there, staring at her intently.

It was the gaze that Ji Wan had been somewhat afraid of. The look she had been wary of because she couldn’t read what was behind it.

But now, with a gap in her emotions, his deep, dark eyes were just like a vast ocean.

It seemed like anything could disappear into those depths.

“Then… will you hold me?”

Ji Wan said.

Tae Sung’s eyes were still fixed directly on her.

Tae Sung didn’t give her any reply.

It clearly wasn’t that he was ignoring her. His unwavering gaze was blatantly aware of her.

“Hold me once. Please.”

Ji Wan turned to face him. Then she took two more steps closer and stood right in front of him.

By now, Tae Sung could only see the top of her head.

Her hair, slightly disheveled from his caress, moved a bit closer to Tae Sung’s chest.

Ji Wan’s arms wrapped around Tae Sung’s waist.

Her arms, tightening like she was hugging a large teddy bear, were almost clinging to him.

Tae Sung’s regular breathing stopped for a moment.

His arms, awkwardly spread to the sides, hung in the air, unable to settle on Ji Wan’s body.

It was more like he was being embraced rather than him embracing her.

Tae Sung, seeing their reflection in the emergency exit window, consciously exhaled the breath he had been holding.

“Hmm…”

Along with a hot breath, Tae Sung’s arms belatedly wrapped around her.

Her body, fitting into his embrace, was smaller and more delicate than it looked.

Where did such a brave spirit come from in this body?

Tae Sung found her even more intriguing in his arms. Though he didn’t want to openly ask about it.

“Tae Sung, you’re surprisingly warm.”

Ji Wan said with her eyes closed. Tae Sung replied a beat later in a calm voice.

“… Is that so?”

“Yes, just looking at your face, you seem like the personification of the bitter cold winter…”

“I thought I had been quite gentle. I’m disappointed.”

“I said ‘just looking at your face’, didn’t I?”

Ji Wan giggled.

The small breath that escaped as she laughed tickled Tae Sung’s chest.

He almost lost his composure following her. Though he tried hard to suppress it, believing himself not to be someone easily swayed by others.

“Alright, negative thoughts cleared out.”

Soon after, Ji Wan, having fully shared his warmth, gently pulled away from him.

Though it had been a simple embrace, the disheveled state of their clothes showed how closely they had been pressed together.

“Did it help?”

Tae Sung asked, smoothing out her shirt first.

At his naturally caring gesture, Ji Wan’s gaze turned to Tae Sung.

Tae Sung was looking down at her again with his characteristic inscrutable smile.

A relaxed and leisurely gaze, yet strangely tension-inducing.

Caught in that gaze, Ji Wan belatedly realized whose body heat still lingered on her.

“Ah… I’ve come to my senses. This method really is better than a hundred words of comfort.”

“I can provide even stronger stimulation.”

“That’s enough. This level of comfort is just right.”

Ji Wan replied calmly, trying hard to hide her embarrassment.

Tae Sung merely let out a small smile at her, rebuilding her walls.

“Shall we… go now?”

She, having ended their first embrace matter-of-factly, stepped two paces away from Tae Sung.

She had been bolder than anyone when pulling him into an embrace, but now her attitude had suddenly become cautious.

Tae Sung gave a light nod in response.

As soon as he answered, Ji Wan quickly left the emergency stairwell like a child given permission to go out.

Tae Sung’s gaze lingered on her retreating figure for a moment.

The fact that he had looked at her longer than usual was something even Tae Sung himself failed to notice.

* * *

“Wow, how tall is our future son-in-law? Anyone who sees him would think he’s a movie star. Don’t you hear that a lot?”

“Haha, is that so?”

“Of course! There’s a drama I’ve been watching lately, and he looks like the male lead there. That guy is very handsome, you know? But I think our future son-in-law is even more dashing.”

“Thank you. I’m honored that you think so highly of me.”

A truly troublesome situation had arisen.

Dal Hyun was so taken with Tae Sung.

Dal Hyun, addressing Tae Sung as his future son-in-law with such obvious affection, was making Ji Wan extremely embarrassed.

Ji Wan tried to calm Dal Hyun down.

“Dad, please stop. You’re making Tae Sung uncomfortable.”

“What did I do wrong?”

“You’ve been trying to pair us up since earlier. I told you, he’s just someone I got to know through work?”

“How can you say he’s just someone you know when he rushed here to help with our family matter?”

But Dal Hyun was not easily deterred.

He kept countering Ji Wan’s attempts to draw a line, all while sending subtle glances at Tae Sung.

Ji Wan resorted to false praise to rebut him.

“He’s just naturally meddlesome and kind-hearted.”

Even though she knew it was an absurd compliment, Tae Sung immediately agreed.

“That’s right. Kind indeed.”

It was quite a brazen display, but Dal Hyun, oblivious to it all, was simply delighted.

“He matches my ideal son-in-law type perfectly!”

It seemed she needed to separate the two before an even more awkward situation arose.

The nurse had said that the crisis was over and he would be fine, so even if she came back early tomorrow morning, she should take Joo Tae Sung home tonight.

“Dad, I’m going now. I’ll come early tomorrow morning to check on you, so sleep well tonight. Okay?”

“Future son-in-law, are you leaving already?”

“I’ve already said goodbye, why are you only sad to see him go?”

“You’ll come again with Ji Wan, right? I know you’re busy, but when you have time…”

To Dal Hyun’s words full of regret, Tae Sung replied in a gentle voice.

“I’ll visit again. Father.”

Dal Hyun’s eyes sparkled at the incredible form of address.

“Father…? Did you just call me father?”

“Ah, was that inappropriate?”

“No! Not at all! You can call me father as much as you like! Or even more intimately, you can call me dad!”

Dal Hyun, even grabbing Tae Sung’s hand, was clearly already planning his daughter’s wedding in his mind.

Teasing an elder like this was certainly something that deserved a scolding, but since she owed him today, she decided to let it slide.

“Oh, that’s enough, let’s go. Dad, I’m leaving! Don’t leave any food tomorrow morning, eat it all up!”

Ji Wan forcibly separated Dal Hyun and Tae Sung’s hands and bid farewell.

Dal Hyun, hiding his desire to keep them longer, tried to appear like a cool father-in-law and said goodbye cheerfully.

“Alright, our future son-in-law must be busy too, we can’t keep him here forever! Daughter, be careful of people and cars on your way home!”

And so the two of them left side by side.

The hospital room door soon closed, but Dal Hyun’s eyes couldn’t leave the spot where they had been.

“Ah… They really looked good together. It seems like it could work out well.”

A remark full of regret flowed out.

Unfortunately, he alone was unaware that what he wished for had already become a reality.

* * *

At the end of what had been, if anything, an exhausting day.

Ji Wan, tucked into her soft bedding, found sleep elusive.

As she lay there, staring at the ceiling with eyes adjusted to the darkness, memories kept floating up, making her heart flutter.

She had done such foolish things today.

Needing help but unable to properly ask for it, just mumbling instead.

Even she found it frustrating how she couldn’t straightforwardly state what she needed.

‘Tell me. What can I do for you?’

The outstretched hand of help offered to her in that moment was still unbelievably unexpected.

In all her life until now, had there ever been someone who had helped her so unhesitatingly through countless crises?

Except for her one and only family, there probably hadn’t been a single person.

Perhaps that’s why the emotion of that moment, when he readily extended a lifeline to her, had left such a strong, unforgettable impression.

“Hmm…”

Ji Wan sighed deeply, clutching her blanket.

It was a breath exhaled to calm her heart, but strangely, the presence of that person in the next room became even clearer.

I wonder if it’s about ten steps from here to where he is.

Even though they were so close, he had always felt more distant than anyone else…

But now, for some reason, the distance between them feels significantly reduced.

To the point where it’s disconcerting how reassured she feels every time she becomes aware of his presence.

.

.

.

At the same time. In a bedroom where the mood light remained on.

Even past midnight, Tae Sung sat quietly, leaning against the headboard of the bed.

He held case files in his hand, but he wasn’t reading them.

His gaze, slightly misaligned, was clearly reminiscing about something.

Looking back, so much had happened in a single day.

Ji Wan seeking him out when faced with a crisis, suddenly meeting her family, becoming someone she was grateful to for the first time – each of these was something he had never anticipated.

But among all of these, what he was least prepared for was…

‘Just ask me to hold you instead.’

Her response to the words he had casually thrown out to stimulate her when she was feeling down.

‘Then… will you hold me?’

Tae Sung was now remembering her wavering eyes that met his in that moment.

He was recalling the tips of her fingers that cautiously reached out.

And he was reminiscing about the warmth of her body that soon slowly approached and seeped into him.

‘Hold me once. Please.’

The feeling of someone who rarely approached him voluntarily nestling into his arms was both unfamiliar and strange.

The scent that brushed his nose was stronger than the fragrance he had sensed from afar, causing Tae Sung to momentarily hold his breath.

Tae Sung was not one to attach meaning to such physical contact.

Even in his adolescent years, he had never been stirred by something as simple as chests pressing together.

But why today. Why only with her. Why am I, to this extent, why.

Tae Sung couldn’t immediately answer the many ‘whys’ he was mulling over now.

But was there really a need to dwell on this further to find an answer?

He thought, of course not.

Joo Tae Sung, who valued an efficient life at every moment.

The unnecessary curiosity and inefficient sensations stirred up by this woman named Lee Ji Wan.

Those were things Tae Sung needed to shake off.

Especially now, when he was living a daily life no different from walking on thin ice, such sentiments were even more unsuitable.

Tae Sung’s eyes, which had been staring into space, quietly settled on the case files.

He began to read through the stiff sentences with a dry gaze.

The people who might have held knives to him during the lost three years endlessly bored into his mind.

It was clearly unpleasant, but at least for this moment, it wasn’t uncomfortable.

Thanks to this, the presence that had been stirring up his reason was fading.