“… So?”

Ina asked, suppressing the emotion rising from the bottom of her chest.

“What are you trying to do by telling stories from the long-gone past?”

The smile disappeared from Suji’s lips at Ina’s sharp voice.

Suji leaned back in her chair and slowly crossed her legs.

Then she looked straight into Ina’s eyes and said,

“I told you before, didn’t I? Juwon, whom I saw after 3 years… is still charming enough to want to reclaim.”

Instead of answering, Ina stared at Suji with force in her eyes.

“But now, I really think I should reclaim him.”

Ina furrowed her brow and looked at Suji at these nonsensical words.

“Now, if Juwon just comes back… I’ll accept him with joy no matter how little, and I’ll never leave him.”

Suji looked at Ina with a determined expression after finishing her words.

Ina silently looked at Suji like that and then picked up her coffee cup and took a sip.

The coffee tasted more bitter than the herbal medicine she had first tried as a child.

Soon, Ina put down her coffee cup and opened her mouth, looking at Suji.

“You seem to have a delusional tendency unlike your appearance?”

Suji narrowed her brow at Ina’s words.

“What did you say?”

“Why are you talking so easily as if you’re going to retrieve a lost item from the lost and found center?”

“What… lost item?”

Looking at the dumbfounded Suji, Ina straightened her upper body and said,

“By the way, do you know that the storage period for lost items is 6 months? Even if you show up after 3 years and claim ownership, do you think Juwon will go to you?”

Suji licked the inside of her cheek once and laughed incredulously.

Then, not bothering to hide her twisted feelings, she glared at Ina and spat out,

“I’ve been feeling this since before… You look cute, but the words coming out of your mouth aren’t cute at all? Is this why Juwon likes you? Because you’re a different style?”

At this rude remark crossing the line, Ina decided to cross the line too.

“I guess so.”

Suji’s eyes widened at Ina’s informal speech.

“But you’re too different from your appearance.”

“What?”

Suji glared at Ina with wide eyes.

“You look like a goddess, but your actions are worse than a back alley wildcat?”

“What, back alley wildcat?”

Suji raised her upper body and glared at Ina as if to kill her.

“Why are you being so messy over a relationship that ended 3 years ago? Juwon doesn’t have even a speck of lingering feelings for you, so why are you alone making a fuss about reclaiming him?”

Suji bit her lip hard and glared at Ina, then asked with a sneer,

“You act cute in front of Juwon… does he know about this sharp and dirty personality of yours?”

At those words, Ina laughed.

“Why? Are you going to call and tell him if he doesn’t know?”

At Ina’s words, Suji bit her lip and glared fiercely at Ina.

“You hid that dirty personality… well behind that cute face and seduced our Juwon?”

This time, Ina bit her lip tightly.

Then she exhaled a deep breath drawn from her core and opened her mouth.

“Not your Juwon, my Juwon.”

Suji’s eyes widened at Ina’s words, each emphasized strongly.

“And the one with the dirty personality is you, who came all the way to my house to try to steal someone else’s man, isn’t it?”

“What? What did you say?”

Suji stood up abruptly.

Suji, who had bitten her lips mercilessly in anger, looked down at Ina with blazing eyes.

Then Ina also stood up abruptly, picking up her handbag.

“And you don’t seem to know, but I didn’t seduce him, Juwon seduced me. He says he likes me so much he could die. And you said earlier, didn’t you? That honey dripped from your eyes when you saw Juwon? Well now, Juwon tells me this. Every time he sees me, honey drips so much that he’s considering starting a beekeeping farm.”

Red flames blazed in Suji’s eyes as she glared at Ina.

Those flames looked like they would burst out and burn Ina at any moment.

But Ina didn’t seem to care as she put her handbag on her shoulder and said,

“When I saw you at the wedding back then, the male classmates treated you like a goddess. Why don’t you pick one of them instead of wasting your energy in the wrong place?”

Suji clenched her fists and her lips trembled.

“If you’re a goddess, act like one. Don’t cling to a man who left you so disgustingly.”

After spitting out those final words, Ina moved her feet before Suji could retort.

Then she opened the coffee shop door and left without hesitation.

Suji glared at the door Ina had left through, her shoulders trembling.

It was the first time in her life she had been insulted like this.

She had bitten her lip so hard that blood was forming.

Tasting the metallic blood, Suji glared at the door once more.

Ina’s legs trembled as she opened the common entrance again.

Her hands shook as she pressed the elevator button.

She didn’t know what spirit had possessed her to pour out those words in front of that woman, but as she got on the elevator, her heart was having a frenzied fit.

As Ina had never had much cause to get angry or fight with anyone in her life, the confrontation with Min Suji just now was a major event for her.

Fortunately, thanks to the sudden descent of ‘that person’ with a sense of mission to protect her man, Ina was able to fire back rapidly.

Along with the surprise of ‘Did I have such a sharp side in me?’, her insides churned and her head began to ache.

Ina took a deep breath and touched her face.

Her cheeks were burning hot as if scalded.

Looking in the elevator mirror, she saw her own face flushed red.

“Ha, what on earth is this really…”

To think that I would do something like fighting with a love rival over a man, like in a morning drama…

If we had stayed a bit longer, we might have ended up pulling each other’s hair…

“Ha…”

As Ina clutched her throbbing head, the elevator arrived at the 24th floor.

Ina trudged to room 2402 and held up her key card, opening the front door.

Ina looked around the quiet interior once, then quietly took off her shoes and stepped into the living room.

Without turning on the lights, Ina walked to the sofa, put down her handbag, and plopped down.

As she leaned her head back on the sofa and closed her eyes, her head continued to ring and ache.

All sorts of thoughts came and went in her mind.

With her heart complicated like a tangled skein of thread, her mood suddenly sank and extreme fatigue washed over her.

The energy drain from the battle of nerves with Min Suji seemed more severe than expected, leaving her feeling completely drained.

Ina, with her eyes closed, felt as if she was being dragged down to the depths of an abyss, and unknowingly fell into a deep sleep.

How long had she slept like that…

Suddenly, Ina startled awake at the sound of the front door opening.

Juwon, who had stepped into the living room, quickly turned on the lights when he saw Ina sitting on the sofa.

“What’s this? What were you doing with the lights off?”

“Oh? I was just sitting for a moment, but I must have fallen asleep without realizing.”

Juwon narrowed his eyes, came and sat next to Ina, and touched her forehead.

“What’s wrong? Are you sick somewhere?”

“Huh? No. I’m not sick.”

But Juwon looked at Ina with eyes full of worry.

“Then did something happen at work? I was worried when you didn’t answer your phone.”

“Ah… I must not have heard it because it was on vibrate. It was in my handbag.”

Juwon gazed intently at Ina, then touched her cheek.

“You don’t look well… Are you really not sick somewhere?”

“No. I’m really fine. I’m just a bit tired, that’s all.”

Juwon silently looked at Ina, then gently pulled her into his arms.

Ina, who had been quietly nestled in his broad embrace, softly opened her mouth.

“You must be even more tired from working overtime… I was a bit thoughtless, wasn’t I?”

Juwon released Ina and gazed intently into her eyes.

“No. I’m not tired at all. Just thinking about seeing you made my strength surge, you know?”

Ina couldn’t help but smile at Juwon’s words.

Juwon took off his jacket and placed it on the sofa as he spoke.

“Then you haven’t had dinner either, right?”

“Not really, I don’t feel like it.”

“You don’t feel like having dinner?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“Oh? Well, just…”

“Seo Ina, of all people, doesn’t feel like having dinner?”

Ina narrowed her eyes and looked at Juwon.

“Well, what… Am I not allowed to not feel like having dinner?”

“Yeah. You’re not.”

“Why?”

“You’re already so thin, you can’t get any thinner than this.”

“What, what are you saying? Who says I’m thin?”

“I do, since I’ve touched you everywhere, I know well.”

Ina’s face turned red at the sudden provocative words.

“What, what are you saying?”

Juwon went to the kitchen while rolling up his shirt sleeves.

“Let’s eat something light before going to bed. I’ll eat with you.”

“I really don’t feel like it…”

“No. You have to eat a little.”

Juwon said firmly as he went to the sink.

As Ina watched Juwon’s back as he washed his hands and set the table simply, she became lost in thought.

To think someone would try to take away my man, who is so wonderful and caring…

Really, how ridiculous!

Suddenly remembering Suji’s determined expression and the words that came out of her mouth, Ina bit her lip.

What if she comes again next time?

If she comes next time and runs into Juwon… what should I do then?

As Ina sat with a troubled expression, lost in thought, Juwon’s voice was heard.

“Come on. Let’s eat.”

Unable to refuse Juwon’s gesture as he spoke with a smile, Ina got up awkwardly.

When she went to the bathroom and washed her hands, a neat dinner of beef soup and a few side dishes was set on the table.

“I only put a little rice, so eat it all. Okay?”

Juwon said as he placed chopsticks in Ina’s hand.

Ina looked at Juwon instead of answering.

Juwon’s eyes, looking at Ina, were full of affection.

Seeing that gaze suddenly reminded Ina of what Suji had said.

That honey always dripped from her eyes whenever she looked at Juwon.

“What?”

When Juwon asked Ina, who was staring at him intently, Ina raised her upper body and moved closer to Juwon’s face.

“Juwon.”

“Yeah?”

“Is there honey in my eyes?”

“What?”

“When I look at you, does honey drip from my eyes? Or not?”

Juwon narrowed his eyes and looked at Ina at the sudden question.

“What’s that all about all of a sudden?”

“Just… It seems like honey drips when you look at me, so I was wondering if honey drips when I look at you too…”

Juwon put down his chopsticks and tilted his head.

“Why are you suddenly curious about that?”

“Huh? Just…”

Ina put down her chopsticks and made a gloomy expression.

Juwon let out a short sigh, then touched Ina’s cheek and gazed into her eyes.

“Why does it matter if honey comes out of someone’s eyes? I’m working hard to produce enough for your share too, so stop worrying about honey and eat quickly. Here.”

Then Juwon placed the chopsticks back in Ina’s hand.