After finishing their meal, Ina rolled up her sleeves, stopping Juwon who was about to clean up.

“I’ll clean up today, so you just sit down.”

“Huh? No. You’re tired. I’ll do it.”

“Am I more tired than someone who worked overtime? Hurry up and sit down.”

As Ina grabbed Juwon’s arm and urged him to sit on the chair, Juwon reluctantly sat down.

“Alright.”

Once Juwon sat, Ina threw away the leftover food and took the dishes to the sink.

As she was about to do a quick pre-wash before putting them in the dishwasher, suddenly Juwon’s hands slipped around both sides of Ina’s waist.

“Huh? What are you doing?”

Startled, Ina turned around to find Juwon giving her a back hug with his arms stretched towards the sink.

“It’ll be faster if we do it together.”

“Eh? But there are only a few dishes?”

“Still, let’s do it together.”

Juwon placed his hands over Ina’s, which were holding the dishes, and turned on the water to wash them.

The warm water flowed down Juwon’s large hands and dripped onto the back of Ina’s hands.

For a moment, Ina couldn’t tell if Juwon was washing the dishes or her hands.

But anyway, the dishes were quickly washed and put into the dishwasher.

“Shall we go wash up now too?”

Juwon whispered in Ina’s ear and then turned towards the bathroom.

Then he took Ina’s right hand, lifted it up, and shouted.

“Charge to the bathroom!”

Then he hugged Ina’s waist and swung her from side to side as he charged towards the bathroom.

Feeling like a child, Ina giggled and laughed as Juwon put her down in front of the bathroom.

“You shower first. I’ll put your clothes out front.”

“Okay. Got it.”

As Ina entered the bathroom and was putting toothpaste on her toothbrush, Juwon said he had put the clothes in front of the door.

Ina replied that she understood and opened the door to get the clothes.

A moment later, after Ina finished showering and came out, it was Juwon’s turn to go in and wash up.

As Ina sat at the powder room drying her hair, Juwon came out after finishing his shower shortly after.

Watching Juwon come out while drying his hair with a towel, Ina stood up from her chair.

And she gestured for Juwon to sit in the chair.

“Last time you dried my hair, so this time I’ll dry yours.”

Juwon said it was fine, but when Ina insisted again, he reluctantly came and sat in the chair.

Ina turned on the hair dryer and slowly started drying Juwon’s hair.

It felt strange as she touched and dried his short hair here and there.

It was the first time she had dried a man’s hair.

After drying it completely, Ina took a comb and neatly combed his hair, then looked at Juwon in the mirror.

“Really… whoever’s boyfriend you are, you’re incredibly handsome.”

Juwon chuckled and pulled Ina to sit on his lap.

Then he looked into Ina’s eyes and smiled lovingly.

“Ina.”

Ina responded with a “Hmm?” to Juwon calling her name in an affectionate voice.

“Can you tell me what happened now?”

“Huh?”

“Something happened after work, right?”

When Ina just blinked her eyes in response to Juwon’s serious gaze, Juwon reached out and stroked Ina’s cheek.

“Why? Is it something you can’t tell me?”

“Uh, it’s not that…”

As Ina hesitated, Juwon brushed her hair back and said,

“Is it… related to Minsuji?”

Ah, Lee Juwon really… his intuition is no joke.

As Ina was hesitating whether to speak or not, Juwon pulled her waist closer and hugged her tightly.

“Are you… still feeling anxious because of Minsuji?”

Seeing the apologetic look on Juwon’s face, Ina immediately shook her head.

“Absolutely not. It’s not that.”

“Then… why did you look so unwell earlier?”

Ina silently looked at Juwon, then let out a short sigh and opened her mouth.

“Actually… when I came here earlier, Minsuji was standing in front of your house door.”

Juwon’s eyes widened.

“What?”

Juwon’s expression, which had asked back in disbelief, immediately hardened.

Then he closed his eyes tightly, took a deep breath, and slowly opened them.

“I’m sorry, Ina.”

Ina looked at Juwon with round eyes as he apologized as soon as he opened his eyes.

“No. Why are you sorry?”

“I thought there would be no chance of seeing her after that day… I’m sorry you had to encounter her again like this.”

“No. It’s not like you made us meet. She came to your house on her own.”

Juwon, who had been silently looking at Ina, let out another deep sigh.

“I never thought… she would come all the way to my house.”

Juwon ran his hand through his bangs and then looked at Ina again.

“So, what did Minsuji say? She didn’t say anything harsh to you, did she?”

Ina hesitated for a moment before speaking.

“Actually… I was going to just send her away, but I felt uneasy so I had coffee with her.”

“Coffee?”

Juwon asked, furrowing his brow.

“Yeah. I thought I should ask why she came here. So we went to a coffee shop and talked, and… both she and I got a bit excited and raised our voices a little.”

Juwon’s eyes widened again.

“What did Minsuji say to you?”

Ina hesitated, then briefly recounted the conversation she had with Minsuji.

After listening to everything, Juwon let out an annoyed sigh and bit his lip tightly.

The deep anger in Juwon’s expression was palpable.

Ina quietly reached out and unclenched Juwon’s bitten lip.

“It’s okay. I got her good though, right? Or was it twice?”

As Ina spoke with a smile, Juwon silently stared at her and then gently reached out to hug her.

Embraced in Juwon’s broad arms, Ina reached out and hugged Juwon’s neck.

Juwon gently stroked Ina’s back with his large hand.

“Still, I’m sorry. For making you go through such stress because of Minsuji.”

“It’s okay. If I said that much, she probably won’t show up again.”

Juwon quietly pulled Ina away from his embrace and asked.

“Is that why you asked if there was honey in my eyes earlier?”

“…Yeah.”

Juwon touched Ina’s cheek with an affectionate expression and spoke in almost a whisper.

“Ina. I can’t live without you now.”

As Ina’s brown eyes widened, Juwon smiled softly.

“Since meeting you, I’m surprised every day at myself, wondering if I had such romantic cells in me.”

Juwon fiddled with Ina’s moist lips with his thumb.

“Whether my eyes are open or closed, you’re all that’s in my mind. When I think about how good this feels and why we only met now… I regret all that time that has passed. But I take comfort in knowing that we have much more time to spend together in the future.”

Ina looked at Juwon with surprised eyes.

Her heart fluttered and trembled at Juwon’s words that sounded like a confession.

“From this moment on, there will absolutely never be a time when I see Minsuji again. So you never need to feel anxious or worried. Okay?”

Ina nodded her head with an overwhelmed heart.

“Unless you kick me away saying you don’t like me, I will never leave your side. I’ll stick by your side until I die.”

“How could I kick away such a handsome man? That would be heartbreaking.”

Juwon chuckled at Ina’s words and hugged her again.

Ina also smiled and buried her face in Juwon’s embrace.

As Juwon stroked the back of Ina’s head with a smile, his eyes suddenly turned sharp.

It was as if Minsuji was standing right in front of him, as he glared ahead with cold eyes.

* * *

Juwon, who had been tossing and turning, quickly reached out to turn off his phone as the alarm suddenly went off.

Looking at the clock, it was 6 AM.

He had promised the night before to drop Ina off at 6 AM, as she said she needed to stop by her house to change clothes and pick up some documents to take to work.

Juwon looked down at Ina, who was still sleeping soundly despite the alarm.

Looking down at Ina sleeping peacefully like a baby, Juwon smiled and kissed her cheek.

“Ina. You need to wake up. It’s 6 o’clock.”

As he whispered in her ear, Ina frowned and stirred before slowly opening her eyes.

“Is it 6 already?”

“Yeah.”

Ina rubbed her eyes and slowly got up from the bed.

Juwon, who had been fiddling with Ina’s cheek, took her hand.

“Let’s get up. I’ll take you.”

Ina got up in a half-asleep state and followed Juwon to the living room.

After briefly washing up and brushing her teeth, Ina came out and was gathering her coat and handbag when Juwon held something out to her.

“What’s this?”

“It’s a sandwich I bought on my way here yesterday. I put it in the fridge, so eat it when you get home.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

Juwon looked lovingly at Ina, who still had sleepy eyes, and helped her put on her coat.

“Let’s go down.”

Juwon took Ina’s hand and went down to the underground parking lot, where he opened the passenger door for her.

Juwon waited for Ina, who was yawning as she got into the passenger seat, and even fastened her seatbelt before giving her a quick kiss on the lips.

“I wish I could wait and take you all the way to work, but I have to go to the office early today too.”

“No, it’s okay. I can take the bus, it’s not far.”

“Alright. Instead, I’ll come to your place as soon as I’m done today.”

“You said you’d be finishing late today, right?”

“Yeah. But I’ll try to finish as early as possible and come over.”

“Okay. Got it.”

Juwon smiled and went back to the driver’s seat.

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

Ina unfastened her seatbelt and gave Juwon a quick kiss on the cheek.

“Thanks for dropping me off. See you tonight.”

Instead of answering, Juwon pointed to his lips, and Ina chuckled before giving him a quick kiss on the lips.

Juwon smiled with satisfaction and whispered in Ina’s ear.

“I’ll return the favor with a deep kiss tonight.”

“W-What are you saying?”

Ina lightly hit Juwon’s arm once before quickly getting out and waving her hand.

“Go in. I’ll leave after I see you go in.”

Ina nodded, waved her hand once more, and went into the villa.

Juwon, who had been watching with a smile, immediately changed to a cold expression as soon as Ina went in.

Then Juwon took out his phone, let out a short sigh, and called someone.

After a few rings, someone soon answered the phone.

-Hello?

Minsuji’s surprised voice was heard through the phone.

“It’s me. Lee Juwon.”

Juwon spoke in a cold voice.

-J-Juwon. Why are you calling so early in the morning?

Those words made him chuckle.

It was amusing to see her pretending not to know about the trouble she had caused last night.

Juwon glared straight ahead as if Minsuji was standing in front of him and said,

“Are you still living in the same place?”

-Huh?

“I’m asking if you’re still living in that villa in Nonhyeon-dong.”

-Uh? Yeah. That’s right…

“I’ll be there in 20 minutes, so come out with your apartment access card.”

-Huh? What do you mean…

Before Minsuji could finish speaking, Juwon hung up the phone.

Beep beep beep beep-

Only the disconnected dial tone was heard like static noise.