Ina’s mouth opened again at the words “my thing.”

Wow. Really… Lee Juwon is no joke.

To say such a cringe-worthy thing without batting an eye.

Ina’s cheeks turned red with embarrassment, yet her heart kept fluttering.

Juwon gently caressed Ina’s flushed cheeks with a loving gaze, then slowly leaned his upper body towards her.

After giving a light peck on Ina’s pink lips, he gently bit her upper lip, causing Ina to close her trembling eyelids.

Then Juwon cupped Ina’s cheeks with both hands and captured her beautiful lips.

As he began to delve into and savor the softness of Ina’s mouth, Ina let out a faint gasp.

Juwon continued to breathe in and out, almost uninterrupted, while fully savoring Ina’s moist lips.

After a long kiss like that, Juwon slowly pulled his lips away.

Ina’s face, flushed and panting like a baby bird, came into view.

Juwon’s gaze turned sensual as he looked at her.

Juwon fiddled with Ina’s moistened lips, then suddenly leaned over to the seat where Ina was sitting and pressed the height adjustment button.

Before Ina could be surprised, the passenger seat reclined backwards, laying her upper body down.

Ina’s eyes widened as Juwon approached her body, stretching out both arms to hold her in his embrace.

Then he lowered his head and sucked on Ina’s lips as if to devour them.

Ina’s heartbeat began to quicken at the intense kiss that seemed to steal her soul.

Ina felt like she was losing her mind at the passionate kiss, completely different from the sweet one just moments ago.

As Juwon’s deep kiss showed no signs of ending, Ina raised her trembling hands to grasp Juwon’s shoulders, and he suddenly pulled her waist closer.

As she pressed against Juwon’s firm chest, Ina felt as if her consciousness was drifting away.

Only after another long kiss did Juwon slowly pull his lips away and raise his head.

Looking into Ina’s dazed eyes, Juwon gave a peck on the bridge of her nose.

“You…”

Ina spoke with a dreamy expression, as if in a trance.

“Why are you so, so good at kissing?”

Juwon smiled, raising one corner of his mouth, then reached out to touch Ina’s lips.

“Encore?”

At those words, Ina startled and covered her lips.

“No? What are you talking about, encore!”

As words of resistance like that of a patriotic fighter came out from between her covered lips, Juwon chuckled.

“Are you trying to turn my lips into fish lips now? What’s this?”

“Okay, I got it. Then today’s kiss ends here.”

Juwon spoke as if he was a visiting tutor.

“Well then, shall we get out and walk a bit now?”

Juwon opened the car door and got out first, then kindly took Ina’s hand.

Suppressing her pounding heart, Ina took his hand and got out, and a cold river breeze blew.

The heat inside the car had been so intense that even that cold wind felt chilly.

Juwon started walking, holding Ina’s hand and interlocking their fingers, and the two began to stroll slowly.

Despite the late hour, people could be seen walking here and there, chatting on benches, and eating ramen at snack bars.

“Are you hungry? Want to eat some ramen?”

When Juwon asked, Ina shook her head.

Ina knew better than anyone how delicious ramen tastes when eaten while looking at the Han River.

But at this moment, she couldn’t even think of the word “ramen.”

That’s because the hot kiss from earlier kept replaying in her head.

The heat hadn’t even fully left her body yet, and she felt like if she poured hot ramen on top of it, her body might burst.

“If I eat ramen at this hour, my face will be totally ballooned up tomorrow morning.”

At Ina’s words, Juwon pinched her cheek lightly and said,

“Really? I’d like to see that. How cute of a balloon would it be?”

Ina looked up at Juwon, blinking her eyes.

“What?”

Ina looked around quickly, then raised her heels as high as she could and whispered to Juwon.

“If you call a woman who’ll be thirty next year cute, people will curse at you. They’ll curse.”

“Who will curse?”

“Ugh. I’m telling you people will curse.”

“If something’s cute, you call it cute. Then what should I say?”

As Ina groaned and looked at Juwon, he smiled and stroked her cheek.

“You’ll probably still be cute even when you’re a grandma over seventy.”

Haa…

Ina was wondering if she should separately list “Romantic” as an occupation on Juwon’s business card when Juwon looked down at her eyes and said,

“And who sees you as a woman who’ll be thirty next year? At most, you look twenty-six.”

Haa…

Mr. Lee Juwon’s eyes are seriously covered with rose-colored glasses. Really.

Juwon chuckled at Ina’s reddened face, then took her hand again and started walking.

The two walked slowly for about an hour before returning to the car.

The time had already passed 11 o’clock.

“You must be tired? I’ll take you home quickly. Go in and get some good sleep.”

Juwon said as he grabbed the steering wheel.

A moment later, Juwon’s car pulled up in front of Ina’s house.

“Then go in carefully and I’ll pick you up after work tomorrow.”

“Okay. You go home safely too.”

Juwon gave Ina a light peck on the cheek and told her to go in quickly.

Ina smiled shyly as she got out of the car, waved her hand, and went into the villa.

* * *

It was the first Friday since deciding to date Juwon.

It was also the first day of a proper date.

Ina woke up at 6 and opened her closet, agonizing over what to wear.

It was the first date on a Friday night, and she wanted to wear the prettiest clothes possible.

After much deliberation, Ina picked up a dress she had bought two weeks ago but never worn.

It was a mini floral dress made of chiffon with shirring on the chest, giving off a lovely feeling. Ina put on the dress and sat at her vanity, focusing intently on her makeup.

She did eye makeup in a refreshing peach tone that matched the dress color, then added a highlight with shimmering gold pearl. After carefully applying mascara to her long lashes, she finished with a moisturizing pink lipstick.

She curled her long hair in waves that would put Miss Korea to shame, then opened her earring box.

She took out one of the earrings Juwon had bought her in Samcheong-dong, which she hadn’t worn last time.

It was a long earring with cubic zirconia densely set, three-dimensionally expressing each flower petal.

Ina smiled at the memory that gently came to mind as she looked down at the sparkling earrings.

After putting the earrings on both ears, Ina finally sprayed some subtle perfume on her wrists and stood up to look at herself in the full-length mirror.

“Did I… try too hard?”

Tilting her head as she looked at herself in the mirror, Ina checked the clock and startled, grabbing her jacket.

“Oh well, it’s Friday night. I should dress up this much at least.”

Ina ran to the entrance and habitually put on flat shoes, then quickly took them off and hurriedly took out 12cm high heels from the shoe rack.

She stumbled a bit as it had been a while since she wore them, but muttered that this much was bearable as she left the entrance.

* * *

“Oh my. Ms. Seo! Are you going somewhere nice today?”

As Ina arrived at work and was just taking off her jacket, Sena, who was standing in front of the copier, exclaimed in surprise.

“Huh?”

“Wow, you look so pretty today! Like a total goddess.”

“G-goddess? What are you talking about.”

Ina waved her hands with a reddened face, as if afraid someone might hear.

“No, really! You’re truly beautiful!”

Sena’s voice, full of fuss, drew the attention of the HR team employees.

“Oh my. No, it’s just makeup. Just makeup.”

Embarrassed, Ina quickly sat down at her desk, and Sena approached to whisper,

“You must be going on a date with that sculpture-like boyfriend today, right? Hehe.”

“Huh? Well, yeah.”

As Ina laughed awkwardly, Sena looked at her with eyes full of envy.

“You must be so happy, Ms. Seo. A date with your boyfriend on this Friday night.”

“I hope Sena gets a boyfriend soon and goes on dates too.”

“That would really be my wish come true.”

Sena picked up the copies with a gloomy expression.

With about 20 minutes left until the end of work, Ina went to the bathroom to check her makeup.

She took out her foundation powder and applied it once more, then reapplied her pink lipstick.

After confirming her beautifully colored lips, she returned to her seat and received a message from Juwon.

−I’m sorry, what should I do? I think I’ll be about 40 minutes late leaving work.

−It’s okay. Then I’ll go wait somewhere like a coffee shop.

−Would you do that for me? I’m sorry.

−It’s fine. Then I’ll just go there and wait for you.

−You want to? Then I’ll send you the company address. There’s a coffee shop on the first floor across from the company. If you wait there, I’ll finish as quickly as possible and come.

−Okay, got it. Don’t rush too much and finish your work slowly. I’ll be drinking coffee.

−Okay. See you later.

After work, Ina took the bus and headed to Samsung Station.

After getting off at Samsung Station, Ina slowly walked to the address Juwon had sent.

After walking for about 10 minutes, Juwon’s company came into view.

Looking up at the building boasting quite a high number of floors, Ina smiled slightly at the thought that Juwon must be working hard inside.

Then she entered the building across the street and headed to the coffee shop on the first floor.

The coffee shop was full of people sitting and chatting here and there.

Ina ordered a warm sweet potato latte and sat down at a table in the back.

She took out her phone and started looking at the news while sipping her latte.

After about 30 minutes had passed like that, the coffee shop door opened and someone came in.

It was Juwon.

Ina’s heart started pounding at the sight of Juwon, who was radiant even from a distance.

Juwon also spotted Ina sitting at the back table and walked over with a smile.

As that gentle smile made Ina’s heart flutter, suddenly someone’s voice was heard.

“Oh, Mr. Lee.”

At that high-pitched voice, Juwon and Ina’s faces turned simultaneously towards the source of the sound.

A woman stood up from the table behind where Ina was sitting and looked at Juwon.

“Did you come to have coffee?”

The woman asked with a face full of delight.

‘Who is she?’

Ina looked at the woman with a puzzled expression.

“I’m waiting for a friend.”

Before Juwon could answer, the woman spoke first, her cheeks flushing red.

And seeing the woman’s expression, Ina felt strange.

Those reddened cheeks… She knew all too well what that meant.

‘No, who is this woman to be blushing at someone else’s man?’

Just as Ina was starting to feel unpleasant, Juwon smiled at the woman just enough to be polite and said,

“I came to pick up my girlfriend.”