When I returned to the restaurant after taking out the trash, Choi Yoon had already come back.

He was standing on a chair, in the posture of installing a camera in the corner of the ceiling, looking down at me with a bright expression.

“Welcome back.”

Kim Ye Rin stopped abruptly at the entrance, startled.

And for good reason, as the restaurant had completely changed.

Each table had glass vases full of fresh flowers. The vases were well-polished and shining transparently. It seemed Choi Yoon had managed to find and place the ones Kim Ye Rin had forgotten in storage.

Colorful tea bags sorted by type were beautifully arranged in glass jars. All the shelves seemed to have been wiped with a damp cloth, as they were glistening with moisture.

Choi Yoon, still focused on the camera, said,

“I did a bit of tidying up. It’s better if the restaurant looks bright on camera. Of course, it was pretty before too.”

He dusted off his hands and took out his phone from his back pocket. On the screen was a floor plan of the restaurant. It looked like a camera placement diagram.

Passing by, she noticed an enormous pile of shopping bags on one of the tables and chairs. They were full of clothes, cosmetics, toiletries, and the like.

“You bought a lot.”

Suddenly, among the shiny new clothes, a receipt caught her eye. It was from the seed and nursery store in town that Kim Ye Rin often visited.

“Fertilizer? You bought fertilizer?”

“On my way out, I stopped by the village hall and asked the elders if they needed anything. I delivered it on my way back.”

Kim Ye Rin was a bit surprised. She hadn’t expected Choi Yoon to be so considerate. He must be busy enough with his own work.

“Your things are there too. I put them separately on the right.”

Choi Yoon said. He was busy adjusting the camera angle with one hand while checking his phone with the other.

Kim Ye Rin opened one of the several shopping bags placed separately on the right. She pulled out an apron.

It felt soft, light, and was meticulously finished. It looked handmade by someone with good sewing skills rather than store-bought.

Above all, it was her favorite color and design.

Her heart fluttered.

Choi Yoon was currently installing cameras. He had also said he chose Kim Ye Rin as his filming partner because she was pretty.

So this was just a means to make Kim Ye Rin look prettier for the filming.

It was no different from, say, picket signs used in protests or t-shirts with slogans printed on them.

This was work for Choi Yoon. So it should be work for Kim Ye Rin too. She should be indifferent.

But the apron was too pretty. She thought it was far prettier than what met the eye.

Kim Ye Rin casually reached behind her back to untie the apron she was wearing. She took it off and placed it on the table, then put on the new one. As she was about to tie the ribbon behind her back with both hands,

“Let me do it for you.”

Kim Ye Rin startled without realizing it. Choi Yoon had suddenly appeared behind her. His shadow, warm with body heat, enveloped her entire body.

Before she could respond, Choi Yoon took the strings from Kim Ye Rin’s hands. She felt him tying them skillfully behind her.

Then Choi Yoon strode around to the front. He looked Kim Ye Rin up and down face to face, then nodded with a serious expression.

“Hmm, not bad.”

“Why the apron?”

“It’s your battle gear.”

Choi Yoon said with a grin, then started taking out clothes from the shopping bags. In no time, dresses, cardigans, blouses, headbands, socks, scarves and the like piled up on the table.

He picked out a flowing green dress from among them and held it up to Kim Ye Rin’s shoulders. He said,

“I know you usually dress simply. I understand you prefer comfortable clothes since you stand in front of the stove all day. But you’re in a position to be seen by others now. I thought you might want to pay a bit more attention to your appearance.”

None of Choi Yoon touched Kim Ye Rin, but the dress fell against her whole body, brushing her chest with each breath. It was cool and smooth.

Choi Yoon put the dress down and picked up a blouse this time. Again, holding it up to her, he said,

“I’m not forcing you, but it will be good publicity.”

Then he looked at her intently.

“You don’t let your hair down often, do you?”

Kim Ye Rin unconsciously tucked her loose hair behind her ear.

She knew she was nervous from how stiff her hand felt. She found it hard to breathe. Only then did she realize she was feeling dizzy too.

She couldn’t even tell when it had started. Maybe it was from the moment she arrived at the restaurant and met Choi Yoon’s smile.

After all, she had never heard anyone say that to her before. Welcome.

She managed to answer,

“No. It gets in the way when I’m cooking.”

“I think you’d look pretty with it down. Want to try letting it down?”

Kim Ye Rin was flustered. Choi Yoon blinked, then smiled.

“I don’t mean all the time. Just occasionally when you’re done for the day and resting, or when it’s just the two of us. Or before going up to bed.”

Then he skillfully folded the blouse and put it down.

“We don’t have enough clothes for the filming period. But if we buy more and change every day, it won’t fit the natural concept. In these cases, letting your hair down or tying it up makes the visuals much more diverse. It won’t be boring for the viewers either.”

At the end, Choi Yoon smiled gently. It was soft, as if to reassure her.

“Of course, I don’t mean you’re boring at all. Shall we take a look? Have a seat.”

Choi Yoon sat Kim Ye Rin down in a chair.

He stood behind Kim Ye Rin and leaned forward. His shadow fell over her. In that shade, the scent of the soap they shared in the bathroom wafted.

As she felt the tie holding her hair come loose, her hair scattered over her shoulders and chest.

Choi Yoon ran his fingers loosely through her hair once. His fingertips languidly brushed down the nape of her neck. Kim Ye Rin unconsciously held her breath.

Choi Yoon came around in front of Kim Ye Rin and rummaged through a shopping bag, finding a dainty case and opening it.

A pair of earrings sparkled like fragments of the afternoon.

Choi Yoon lowered himself in front of Kim Ye Rin. He knelt on one knee.

He gazed steadily at Kim Ye Rin. Suddenly she thought this was the first time they had been this close.

“I’m going to touch you a little.”

Choi Yoon’s fingertips touched her earlobe.

A shiver ran down her spine, and Kim Ye Rin had to hold her breath. She managed to say,

“It’s been a long time since I wore any……”

“I’ll be gentle.”

Choi Yoon whispered.

His touch was careful. Kim Ye Rin witnessed his concentrated expression up close.

“Tell me if it hurts. I’ll stop.”

She felt something pushing in.

Contrary to her worries, there was only a brief, small pain, and in the midst of a dizziness she had never felt before, Kim Ye Rin knew from Choi Yoon’s heated sigh that the earring had been smoothly inserted.

As if to soothe the pain, Choi Yoon’s hand gently caressed Kim Ye Rin’s entire ear. Then it seemed to cup her cheek, before moving back to almost grasp the back of her head. Following his touch, her hair swayed greatly, brushing her shoulders.

She startled right after. Choi Yoon hastily removed his hand from Kim Ye Rin. He backed away.

“I’m sorry.”

Choi Yoon held up both hands slightly. His eyes wavered.

“I’m sorry. That was… a mistake. I apologize.”

Kim Ye Rin was equally flustered. Her stomach churned.

Choi Yoon hurriedly grasped the case. He dropped it.

He picked up the rolling case and took out the remaining earring, then held it out towards her.

“I’m sorry. You can do it yourself. I don’t know why I did that.”

With a confused expression, Choi Yoon hastily added,

“Maybe… usually stylists do this kind of thing for me. So I thought I should do it too. That must be why I did it.”

It was an excuse that anyone would find nonsensical, but Kim Ye Rin wanted to say it was okay. After all, she hadn’t refused either.

She wanted to smile and make light of the situation like a joke, and was about to reach out to take the earring.

But a strange impulse arose from deep in her lower abdomen.

Choi Yoon pressed the back of his hand not holding the earring against his lips. He was clearly struggling to control his breathing. Only then did she realize that he had turned bright red down to his nape.

“Please do it.”

Choi Yoon’s pupils, which had been wandering aimlessly, suddenly froze. He stared at her intently without even blinking.

Kim Ye Rin added,

“I have trouble doing it myself without a mirror.”

Choi Yoon adjusted his grip on the earring. The small jewel sparkled in his well-groomed fingertips.

When Choi Yoon gently brushed back her fallen hair and grasped her earlobe again, Kim Ye Rin saw his Adam’s apple move greatly.

She felt Choi Yoon putting in the earring while trying his best not to touch her. It ended quickly without pain.

Backing away slightly like a sigh, he whispered in a low voice. There was no hint of a smile on his flushed face.

“Look at that. Isn’t it pretty?”

His voice was hoarse, as if suppressed.

“I knew it would suit you well.”

She thought she felt dizzy. That she wanted to stay and leave at the same time. Kim Ye Rin gripped the edge of the table. Just as she was about to stand up with force,

Choi Yoon straightened his upper body. His hand came forward and grasped the back of the chair Kim Ye Rin was sitting in.

Overwhelmed by his shadow, Kim Ye Rin sank back into her seat.

Choi Yoon’s eyes looked down at her meticulously. Though it was just a glance, Kim Ye Rin felt as if he was cutting into her.

“Let me ask you something.”

His voice was low and devoid of any emotion.

“That time, when you came to bring my phone after my speech ended. You defended the disguised ones. You remember, right?”

Choi Yoon scrutinized her carefully.

“If you were born as a yokai……”

For a moment, Kim Ye Rin thought that all of this was in Choi Yoon’s grasp. That there might be some intent behind every action he took.

“……would you have disguised yourself?”

The silence was long.

Kim Ye Rin knew she shouldn’t react hastily here. She had to calculate.

How would an ordinary human respond? Laugh it off as a ridiculous question? Get angry first, asking what he took her for?

But she also knew that all such judgments were already useless.

Kim Ye Rin had already defended the disguised ones in front of Choi Yoon before.

“Yes. That’s right. I would have had surgery. I would have pretended to be human.”

“Why?”

She thought it was an ignorant question. Ridiculous, arrogant and terrible.

So she was glad. Her rapidly beating heart calmed down instantly.

She was no longer dizzy.

“Choi Yoon. I like cooking. Yokai can’t open restaurants.”

Kim Ye Rin hoped her gaze wasn’t too cold. She wasn’t sure.

“You promoted it, didn’t you? Do you remember?”