“What are you doing now?”

Juwon asked with furrowed brows.

At that, Juhee looked up at Juwon with wide eyes.

“I woke up and Ina wasn’t there. I waited but she didn’t come, so I checked the living room, bathroom, and closet, but she wasn’t anywhere. Her clothes and bag were still there, so I was worried where she went. Just in case, I opened your door and…”

Juhee took a deep breath, drawing from her core.

“You… you were embracing our Ina?”

“What? You?”

At Juhee’s demeanor, as if she had returned to 13 years ago when they were in 9th grade, Juwon furrowed his brow and asked back.

“Yes! You! What are you? What kind of guy are you? Who are you to be hugging Ina? Huh? Since when have you had ulterior motives towards Ina?”

“What? Ulterior motives?”

“Yes! Ulterior motives! You waited until Ina fell asleep and secretly took her out, right? Right?”

Treated like an unexpected kidnapper in the 21st century, Juwon looked at Juwon with an incredulous face.

“Are you seriously saying that right now?”

“If not that, then what? Are you saying Ina went on her own? Now?”

At Juhee’s growling words, Ina, who had walked there on her own, gulped and slowly got up.

“Um, Juhee.”

But as if Juhee couldn’t hear Ina’s words, she glared at Juwon, shooting lasers from her eyes.

“So, are you going to hit me with that baseball bat now?”

At Juwon’s words, Juhee raised the baseball bat to Juwon’s face and answered.

“Depending on what answer comes out of your mouth.”

“Ha. This lady is not in her right mind right now?”

Juwon brushed up his bangs and deeply furrowed his brows.

At that, Juhee took a stance as if about to swing the baseball bat.

Startled by this, Ina quickly ran over and blocked Juwon.

“Um, Juhee. Calm down first and listen to me. Okay?”

“Ina. I’ll listen to the victim’s statement later, so step aside for now.”

“What, victim?”

As Juwon tried to push Ina aside with a face that said he couldn’t take it anymore, Ina quickly made a confession, thinking this wouldn’t do.

“Juhee! W-we’re dating!”

For a few seconds, silence fell in the quiet living room after Ina’s shout.

After a moment, Juhee put down the baseball bat and tilted her head.

“What did you say?”

“We… we’re dating.”

“Who? You? With Lee Juwon?”

“Yes. J-Juwon and I…”

Juhee tilted her head once more.

“…Why?”

Juhee asked in a pure and innocent voice.

“…Huh?”

“Why? Why are you dating him?”

“Huh? That’s…”

As Ina stammered in embarrassment, Juwon sighed and took Ina’s hand.

“Why date? Because we like each other. Are you seriously asking that question right now?”

At Juwon’s words, Juhee looked at Juwon’s hand holding Ina’s with wide eyes.

Looking at their hands held so naturally, her brows furrowed involuntarily.

“Ina. Is it true? Are you really dating?”

“Y…yes.”

“Why? How did you end up with Lee Juwon?”

“‘How’? Are you seriously saying that right now?”

Juwon’s eyebrows curved like seagulls.

“No, there are so many men in this world, how did you end up dating Lee Juwon?”

At the words ‘many men in this world’, cold lasers shot mercilessly from Juwon’s eyes.

Somehow feeling like Juwon might return to that prickly self from 13 years ago, Ina hurriedly said,

“There may be many men in the world, but there’s only one man like Juwon.”

At Ina’s words, Juwon and Juhee looked at Ina simultaneously.

Ina also felt suddenly embarrassed, as if she had just said something too cheesy.

As Juwon looked at Ina with a loving face, Juhee shook her head as if she had seen something she shouldn’t have, then looked at Juwon with a slightly softened expression.

“Fine. Well, objectively speaking, Lee Juwon is handsome, tall, and his personality has mellowed a lot. But… how did you end up dating right after meeting again after 13 years, that’s what I’m asking.”

“Well, actually… there’s something I haven’t told you. Do you want to sit down and listen to me?”

At Ina’s words, Juhee glared at Juwon once before taking Ina’s hand.

“Alright. Come here. Tell me slowly what happened.”

Then she took Ina’s hand and sat down on the sofa.

“But, are you sure you don’t need to sleep more? You woke up so early.”

Ina asked, looking at Juhee’s belly with worried eyes.

“No, I’m wide awake now because of that scoundrel.”

“What? Scoundrel?”

As Juwon approached with narrowed eyes, Ina quickly opened her mouth.

“Juhee. On that day when I coincidentally ran into Juwon, something actually happened to me. It’s…”

Ina carefully unfolded the story about Park Jeonghun, how Juwon helped her, and how they started dating a few days ago.

After hearing the story, Juhee’s expression turned serious.

Biting her lip, Juhee suddenly shouted with an angry face.

“No! What, there’s a bastard who deserves to be fried in sewage and it still wouldn’t be enough?”

Ina’s eyes widened at the intense expression, and Juwon sighed.

“J-Juhee! You shouldn’t say such things! The baby can hear everything!”

Ina exclaimed in shock, belatedly covering Juhee’s belly.

“It’s okay! When our Byeol hears about this later, she’ll understand why mom reacted like that.”

Even while saying that, Juhee was still panting with unresolved anger.

“Augh, really! If that bastard was in front of me, I would have broken his legs and used him for shot put!”

Why does the angry Juhee overlap with Hyunju…

“Stop getting so worked up. You’re scaring the baby.”

Juwon said as he sat down next to Ina.

Juhee, who had been flaring her nostrils, glanced at Juwon sitting next to Ina, then looked over the two sitting side by side.

“Hey. Lee Juwon.”

Juhee, who had been quietly looking at Juwon, narrowed her eyes and asked.

“Be honest. You had ulterior motives towards Ina from the start, right?”

“What?”

“It’s great that you helped Ina! Totally good job! But… you honestly had ulterior motives too, right?”

“Ha.”

Juwon brushed up his bangs again with an incredulous expression.

“That’s right! Our Ina was pretty in middle school, but now as an adult, she’s become so breathtakingly beautiful! How could you not have ulterior motives as soon as you saw her?”

At those words that greatly overestimated herself, Ina tried to mediate with a reddened face, but Juwon opened his mouth.

“Yeah, that’s right! As soon as I saw her, my eyes just rolled back. I couldn’t sleep that night thinking about how to make Seo Ina mine. I spent every night wide awake with those thoughts. Happy now?”

Juwon’s harsh tone was so unfamiliar, but Ina’s cheeks were still flushing red.

Seeing Ina smiling shyly with a faint smile and Juwon sitting with an annoyed face after being treated as a perpetrator, scoundrel, and now accused of ulterior motives, Juhee chuckled.

“Alright. If you’re being that honest, I won’t press you any further. I’m sorry for misunderstanding. Don’t be angry. Only the brave can win a beauty. Congratulations, Lee Juwon.”

Juwon looked at Juhee, who was extending her hand towards him, with an incredulous face.

“Your hormones are really all over the place since getting pregnant, huh? Just a moment ago you were about to beat me to death with a baseball bat, and now you’re congratulating me?”

“Can’t you accept the congratulations graciously?”

“Were you gracious to me?”

At the two’s precarious conversation, Ina quickly reached out and grabbed Juhee’s hand.

“Th-thank you, Juhee. We’ll… try our best.”

Then Juhee looked at Ina with a pleased expression and stroked Ina’s cheek.

“Aww, our pretty Ina. How on earth did Lee Juwon manage to win over such a pretty Ina?”

Seeing blue flames ignite again in Juwon’s eyes, Ina quickly answered.

“No, it’s not like that. I liked Juwon too. We liked each other.”

“Really? What did you like so much about Lee Juwon?”

Juhee asked with shining eyes, as if not caring about Juwon’s glaring gaze.

“Huh? Um… he was very attentive to me… and affectionate.”

Ina said, covering her cheeks shyly as she spoke.

“Well, isn’t that the bare minimum for a man trying to win over a woman?”

At Juhee’s words, red lasers blazed in Juwon’s eyes.

Seeing that look, Ina quickly added,

“And also, Juwon is han-handsome and tall and very… attractive.”

Ina said shyly, biting her lip hard.

At this, the lasers in Juwon’s eyes disappeared and small hearts began to emerge.

Juwon raised the corners of his mouth and gently pinched Ina’s cute cheek.

Seeing this, Juhee made a gagging gesture.

Juwon looked at Juhee with a displeased face, but suddenly Juhee’s eyes sparkled and she grabbed Ina’s hand.

“Ina. So does this mean we’re becoming family now?”

“Huh?”

Ina’s eyes widened at the sudden words.

“When are you thinking of getting married?”

“M-married?”

“Yes. Married.”

“Th-that… we’ve only been dating for a week?”

“So you’re not going to marry our Ju?”

“Um… huh?”

Ina blinked in confusion at Juhee’s emotional line, which had suddenly changed from calling Juwon a scoundrel and kidnapper to ‘Ju’.

“You’re going to marry our Ju, right?”

“Huh? Um… that’s.”

“Stop!”

Juwon raised his hand to stop Juhee.

“Stop pressuring her and go to sleep. Quickly!”

Juwon pulled on the two women’s hands, telling them to get up.

Then he looked at Ina and said,

“You have tomorrow off anyway, so sleep in late. I’ll make you breakfast when you wake up.”

“Oh, Lee Juwon. Are you practicing being a groom-to-be?”

For a moment, Juwon had a strong desire to hit Juhee’s mouth, but he couldn’t bring himself to hit a pregnant woman, so he just imagined it in his head and pushed Juhee’s back.

“Stop saying useless things and go to sleep quickly.”

Juhee giggled and took Ina’s hand.

“Okay. Ina, let’s go get some good sleep.”

“Okay.”

Ina also held Juhee’s hand tightly.

“But wait a second.”

Juhee, who was opening the door, turned around and looked at Juwon with sharp eyes.

“Even though your relationship has been revealed, if you take Ina away one more time, I’ll kill you! Got it?”

“I got it, so hurry up and go in.”

Juwon replied with an indifferent face.

After the two women went in and the door closed, Juwon let out a deep sigh and returned to his room.

Several hours later,

After 9 o’clock, Ina woke up and quietly slipped out of bed, seeing Juhee still asleep.

After glancing at the quiet living room, Ina went to the bathroom and quickly washed up and brushed her teeth.

After applying lotion to her face, Ina came out of the bathroom and almost screamed in surprise.

Juwon was standing next to the bathroom with his arms crossed, having come out at some point.