“Hmm.”

The warm sunlight poured in, and a sparrow, waking from its slumber, chirped sweetly.

Diana tried to burrow deeper into the white blanket, but within 10 seconds, she suddenly opened her eyes.

“Gasp!”

Springing up, Diana threw off the blanket and hastily looked around.

She saw the terrace with white light streaming in and the spotlessly clean tea table.

‘This is my room!’

“Was it a dream after all?”

Still feeling dazed as if wandering in a dream, she was certain that until she closed her eyes, she had been with Raoul.

He had whispered hot and honest words, giving her an unforgettable night. The fantastical scene replayed like a film reel.

〈But, since when…… did you start liking me……?〉

〈I realized my feelings around age 13. Even before that, I liked you because you were pretty and kind. I just couldn’t define it as love.〉

He lay with his arm propped up, looking down at Diana.

〈Oh my…… Then the cherry blossoms you gave me back then…….〉

〈……It’s amazing that you don’t know.〉

〈I thought it was just a gift from a friend to comfort me.〉

〈It makes me uneasy when you say that.〉

Raoul said seriously, pressing his forehead against hers.

〈What kind of friend does this.〉

They were close enough for the tips of their noses to touch.

〈Can you have this kind of conversation in this position with a friend?〉

〈…….〉

〈The thought of you showing this expression to someone else drives me crazy…….〉

Raoul whispered, holding her chin.

〈So don’t call me a friend. We’re not friends.〉

Diana couldn’t even answer in the thrillingly precarious atmosphere and abruptly turned her head.

After ending the recollection, she crawled back under the blanket and let out a silent scream.

“This is crazy……”

The heavy scent and warmth of his hot arms were still vivid. It was a confession without a confession, an eye lock instead of a kiss. Nevertheless……

“I’m trembling so much……”

Her heart was pounding so hard that she couldn’t even imagine what would come next.

How do people date and get married? Your heart would wear out.

She kicked her feet for a long time while lying face down.

Even when she contacted Paisar early in the morning about the portrait work and headed to the studio, the pounding didn’t stop.

After finishing her preparations and stepping out of the bedroom, she saw Raoul leaning against the corridor window.

Unable to meet his eyes, she timidly pointed to the stairs leading to the studio.

“Let’s go quickly.”

“Okay.”

Even though they were just walking side by side as usual, her fragile heart constricted.

‘I’m nervous……’

Thinking that love was underlying their actions, even the words and light skinship that came naturally felt awkward.

She wanted to fix his tousled bangs, wondering if he had rushed over in the morning, but her hand wouldn’t readily go up.

Even the brush of the back of his hand was noticeable, to say nothing more.

‘I’d rather link arms……’

Diana wrapped her arms around herself in an X and made unnecessary small talk about the weather.

“Ahem, perhaps because it’s morning, the weather is chilly.”

“Stick close to me.”

Contrary to her intention, the distance actually decreased.

As the cozy warmth hidden under the fabric was conveyed, Diana jumped like someone who had been electrocuted.

“No. It’s fine! We’re almost there anyway!”

Just then, the studio came into view. She quickly passed by his side as if sounding an alarm.

She had no idea in what state of mind she had nestled in his arms and conversed last night.

Before opening the door, she anxiously entreated him.

“You can’t be stern with me today, okay? I’m the client, so if you act prickly, I won’t be able to face you in the future.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure you never have to see me again.”

Raoul turned the doorknob, saying something that could have been a joke or serious.

She was about to glare and say something when an angelic, clear voice came from inside the door.

“Welcome, young lady. It’s been a while since I saw your friend as well.”

Paisar, who had arrived first, stood up from his chair and bowed politely.

Unable to withstand Diana’s glaring gaze, Raoul gave a light nod and immediately sat on the sofa.

‘It would be nice if he could treat him a bit more warmly.’

As Diana made an admiring expression and made excuses on his behalf, Raoul sat up straight like a soldier and said,

“I’ll give you an hour, so finish it within that time.”

‘He’s acting like a complete despot!’ It was after he had utterly forgotten her entreaty.

How did this happen? Diana hurriedly wrapped her arms around her neck, nestled in his angry embrace.

Thud!

Raoul opened the front door with a bang, holding Diana. The door he had broken with his strength after awakening as a holy being was in tatters as the magic power ran out.

The sound of him stepping on the dirt had barely rung out a few times before they were at the main building.

Falling onto the bed in the inner room, Diana thought as she saw the blanket coming down on her.

‘How did it come to this?’

This was how the incident unfolded.

The work had gone smoothly. Raoul never changed a pose once he had taken it.

He showed no signs of struggling like Diana, so Paisar was also able to focus comfortably on his work.

“It seems like it’s been well over an hour. Is it not done yet?”

“Ah, I apologize. I’m nearly finished.”

‘I told you not to make me pose!’ Diana got up from her seat and approached behind the easel.

“Take your time. We don’t have any other plans anyway, so he’s just being needlessly impatient.”

Diana stood next to Paisar and took in the work process with her eyes.

It was fascinating to see the outlines of a man resembling Raoul gradually taking shape with each stroke of the pencil on the canvas.

“I’m always behind the canvas, so I think this is the first time I’m seeing the drawing process.”

“It’s a first for me as well, except when I draw on the streets……”

Diana was so focused on the painting that she was completely unaware of how close the two were getting.

She had absolutely no intention of provoking him.

“Having you watch makes me a bit shy.”

Paisar turned his head toward Diana with a gentle smile.

It was truly an accident when Diana, who had been bending over to look at the canvas, and Paisar’s tall noses brushed against each other.

“I’m sorry……!”

Almost simultaneously with the transparent man’s face turning explosively red, Raoul abruptly stood up from his chair.

“Wait a moment!”

Diana ran to Raoul at the speed of light and pressed down on his shoulders. In that instant, the tone she used to cajole the orphanage children slipped out like a habit.

“It was an accident….. Let’s sit down first. Be good, okay?”

“There’s no time to waste. Hurry up and draw.”

His agitated shoulders rose up. His voice, calm to the point of being frozen, brought winter into the studio.

Diana straightened his solid shoulders back to their original position and sat by the window, waiting for the sketch to be completed.

As soon as the uncomfortable three-way confrontation ended, Raoul took Diana and headed for the forest.

She couldn’t even properly see Paisar off.

“I knew I couldn’t trust him after all.”

“This absolutely never happens normally. I’m telling you, this was really an accident, okay?”

“Let’s say it was an accident on your part. How do you know what the other person is thinking.”

“Isn’t my heart the most important thing? I have no interest in Paisar whatsoever.”

“Even if I know that, I still feel uneasy.”

Raoul wrapped his arms around Diana’s silkworm cocoon-like body and closed the half-open bedroom door with one hand.

Diana trembled at the loud creaking sound.

‘Why is he closing the door when it’s just the two of us?’

As if unwilling to tolerate even a breeze of external stimuli, he tugged on the doorknob again.

A space left solely for the two of them, Diana wrapped tightly in a winter blanket. Raoul stared at that sight for a long time before burying his face in her vanished shoulder line.

“Tell me I’m the most special to you.”

“Raoul is the most special to me…… I mean it.”

“Tell me I’m more than a friend.”

She couldn’t readily answer those words. Diana hesitated for a moment before answering with difficulty.

“You’re my most special friend. Isn’t that enough?”

Raoul, who had been nuzzling his tall nose bridge on the blanket, finally raised his head.

“It’s not enough.”

“This deep bond is only possible with you…… Can’t you be satisfied with just that for now?”

Raoul, who had been staring at Diana without a word, eventually propped his arms beside his body and pressed his forehead against hers.

“What do you mean by a deep bond?”

“Well…… like this.”

“I don’t really get it.”

Diana sensed the atmosphere drifting in a strange direction and backed away with shuffling steps, but he didn’t allow even the slightest distance.

Her back was slowly pushed back until the flower and bird folding screen touched the back of her head.

Against the background of the bright pink plum blossom painting with flowers and butterflies fluttering about, the shadows of the two overlapped.

“Wait, hold on a moment.”

“How am I special? Tell me.”

His eyes were flushed. As if he desperately wanted something. An alarm rang out in Diana’s mind.

‘I haven’t sorted out my feelings yet. We shouldn’t do this.’

“You already know……!”

“I don’t know. I have no idea.”

‘What do you mean you don’t know! You cunning wolf!’

Diana hurriedly threw off the blanket and barely managed to pull out one foot.

Although she had no such intention, it ended up looking like she was kicking Raoul’s stomach with her foot.

She secured a safe distance of barely a knee’s width by half-lying and leaning on the blanket, but she couldn’t relax at all.

“Treat me like I’m the most special. Then I’ll know.”

The moment he grabbed her ankle, the startled Diana straightened her knees.

Contrary to her original intention of pushing him away, her own body was pushed back instead.

The folding screen fled to the end of the wall, and Diana’s body fell with a thud onto the blanket.

‘What do you expect me to do!’