It seemed Do Hyun was really going to continue being shameless.

A few days later, Shin Joo returned home from work and opened the bathroom door to take a shower.

As the steam that had filled the bathroom cleared, she saw that the large bathtub was full of water.

Shin Joo smiled helplessly at the bubbles overflowing from the tub, lifting her lips.

“How did you know I like this sort of thing.”

Did he really understand a woman’s heart so well?

It seemed Do Hyun had even prepared a bubble bath for her to melt away her fatigue.

Humming a tune, Shin Joo began unbuttoning her white dress.

One, two, as she was unfastening the buttons down to her chest.

From within the tub, as if a dragon was surging up, a black head burst through the bubbles.

Startled by the water droplets flying into the air, Shin Joo stumbled back, and unfortunately slipped on the bubbles, her body swaying.

Before she could identify the object emerging from the water, Shin Joo’s bottom fell with a splash into the tub.

Her soaked white dress clung to her skin, revealing her flesh tone.

Wiping the water from her face with her palm, Shin Joo turned her head to the side.

Do Hyun, who had come out of the tub, was looking at her while pushing back his wet hair.

Even Do Hyun, who was usually always calm, looked quite flustered.

Scratching his eyebrow with his wet fingertip, Do Hyun lifted one corner of his mouth.

“I’d be happy if you suddenly pounced on me, but.”

“…”

“As you can see, I’m completely naked right now.”

Shin Joo quickly lowered her head.

His bare upper body, and then even lower.

As the water that had been causing large ripples calmed, the bubbles parted to the side.

‘Oh mother…’

Shin Joo, who had called out for her mother in the nursing home, lifted her head before she could stop herself.

“I, I didn’t see anything. Really.”

“Don’t move.”

As Shin Joo shook her head vigorously, Do Hyun frowned as if uncomfortable for some reason.

Closing his eyelids tightly for a moment, Do Hyun slowly opened his mouth.

“Let’s move your hand first before we talk. Your hand is somewhere it shouldn’t be right now.”

Shin Joo’s eyes trembled as if an earthquake had struck.

She thought she had touched the hard floor, but it turned out to be part of Do Hyun’s body.

Quickly raising both hands above her head, Shin Joo struggled out of the tub.

Water dripped from her soaked dress skirt.

Shin Joo, who had turned her body away, quickly fixed her gaze straight ahead when she saw Do Hyun rising.

She heard the splash of Do Hyun’s feet touching the bathroom floor.

Do Hyun was standing right behind her, not wearing a thing.

Her heart pounded like a fish was living in it.

Do Hyun’s damp arm stretched out to the side of her vision, grabbing the shower robe hanging on the wall.

As she clearly heard the sound of the fabric brushing against Do Hyun’s body, her lips became parched.

“I think I need to know exactly. Where did I touch earlier?”

“It was a dangerous place.”

With a start, Shin Joo spun around.

Do Hyun was tightly fastening the shower robe around his waist.

“Don’t tell me I touched your, your, your…!”

“You almost did. If you had missed by just a bit, you would have touched it properly.”

“Th-thank goodness.”

Oh my hand, you did so well.

Shin Joo felt like kissing her hand for finding a good landing spot.

“I’m disappointed though. I can’t tell you to take responsibility now.”

“Then it’s even more fortunate for me.”

“Ah, maybe I should have lied and said you did touch it.”

“It’s too late now.”

Shin Joo shook her head firmly, as if that was out of the question.

“And if you think about it, it’s more your fault. Why were you using the living room bathroom when your room’s bathroom is fine?”

“If you’re going to argue, let me remind you that I told you the floor tiles in my bathroom were broken and scheduled for repair this afternoon.”

Belatedly, Shin Joo remembered what Do Hyun had said just a few days ago.

She had been half-asleep early in the morning and hadn’t really listened to Do Hyun’s words.

“Looks like you completely forgot.”

“I thought you had prepared some kind of surprise event for me.”

Do Hyun chuckled.

“You thought I’d prepare a bubble bath for you and wait? That’s creative.”

Shin Joo’s face flushed red as she bit her lip, unable to say a word.

As if he knew what she wanted, Do Hyun placed his hand on Shin Joo’s shoulder.

“I’ll prepare it for you next time. I’ll even float rose petals.”

“You don’t have to. I absolutely hate burdensome things.”

“You hate it but you jumped into the tub?”

“That was because I slipped… ah-choo!”

Just as her nose started to tickle, a sneeze burst out.

Do Hyun passed by Shin Joo and opened the bathroom door.

“I’ll go out so you can shower comfortably.”

“Are you going out without showering?”

“Want to shower together? I won’t refuse.”

Do Hyun grabbed the end of the knot tying his waist, as if ready to take off the shower robe at any moment.

Crossing her arms over her chest in an X, Shin Joo burst out:

“You can’t possibly mean we should shower together?”

“You shower first. I can shower later.”

Only after Do Hyun left the bathroom did Shin Joo’s tension completely dissipate.

Her legs wobbling, Shin Joo nearly fell on her bottom.

“What do I do?”

Wiping her face with her palms, Shin Joo leaned against the tub.

Misunderstanding on her own, getting startled and falling in the water, and then touching his leg of all things.

Unable to even think about showering, she buried her face between her knees and stomped her feet on the floor.

Do Hyun, who had acted nonchalant in front of Shin Joo, couldn’t properly manage his expression once he entered his room.

Exhaling hot breaths, Do Hyun ran his hands through his hair and looked out the door.

Who would have thought Shin Joo would come in while he was briefly soaking in the water.

It happened because he hadn’t locked the bathroom door out of habit.

“This is driving me crazy.”

Blood seemed to rush to his thigh where Shin Joo’s hand had touched.

He could still feel her soft, long fingers wrapped around his thigh.

Her hand had come to the inner thigh, making him even more sensitive.

“I’m not some pervert.”

The glimpse he caught of Shin Joo as he left the bathroom lingered in his mind, refusing to disappear.

The red tips of her ears visible through her wet hair, the flesh tone clearly visible through her clinging white dress.

It was just one scene, but it chaotically jumbled his vision.

Though he wasn’t some beast unable to control his desires, he felt like he was going mad with urgency.

Unable to calm down at all, Do Hyun covered his eyes with his hand and pressed his temples.

The East Sea and Mt. Baekdu weren’t enough; he had to recite the names of the founding kings of Joseon to finally calm himself.

***

Shin Joo sat in the break room with a paper cup to her lips.

After unintentionally jumping into Do Hyun’s arms while he was bathing, he kept appearing in her dreams.

The maddening thing was that he always appeared naked.

‘Why are you naked when it’s so cold? I’d understand even if you wore two pairs of pants.’

Having perverted dreams every day, she could only act like a malfunctioning robot whenever she encountered Do Hyun.

This morning, she had to run out of the house as if escaping when Do Hyun tried to talk to her.

“Why are you tormenting that paper cup?”

Yang Mi, sitting next to Shin Joo, asked as she looked at the tattered edge of the paper cup.

‘My husband’s body is tormenting me.’

Unable to answer honestly, Shin Joo just smiled awkwardly.

Just then, the PR team’s new employee burst through the break room door.

“I just heard some huge news!”

“What news?”

The employees, thinking it was nothing special, didn’t pay much attention to the newcomer.

After catching her breath from running down the hallway, the newcomer quickly briefed them.

“You know Clark Resort? I heard it’s been decided that the CEO won’t go, and Director Kim will go next week instead!”

Shin Joo felt as if lightning had struck right above her head.

Just a few weeks ago, Do Hyun had said he would return to Clark.

But now the plane ticket to Clark had been handed to Director Kim instead of Do Hyun.

“Shin Joo, did you know the CEO isn’t going to Clark?”

Shin Joo didn’t hear Yang Mi’s question.

Rolling her eyes in confusion, Shin Joo abruptly pushed back her chair and stood up.

“I… excuse me for a moment.”

As Shin Joo hurriedly stood up, the chins of the seated employees lifted simultaneously.

Leaving the employees in the break room, Shin Joo came out to the hallway and got on the elevator.

The closer she got to the floor with the CEO’s office, the more she felt her pulse pounding throughout her body.

Getting off the elevator, Shin Joo knocked on the CEO’s office door and entered.

Despite it being lunchtime, Do Hyun was sitting at his desk working.

“What’s the matter, coming all the way to my office?”

Do Hyun’s attitude remained unchanged, as if nothing had happened.

Closing the office door, Shin Joo walked towards the desk where Do Hyun was sitting.

“Elder brother, are you not going to Clark?”

She got straight to the point without beating around the bush.

The hand holding the pen moving across the paper stopped.

As if it was no big deal, he spoke lightly while keeping his eyes on the report.

“News travels fast. Did that already reach your ears?”

“Are you really not going? Why? You said just recently that you’d be returning soon.”

Closing the report that wasn’t registering in his eyes, Do Hyun stood up from his seat.

“Did you think I’d confess to you and then irresponsibly go to Clark?”

Shin Joo knew well what Clark meant to Do Hyun.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the reason for their marriage was because of Clark.

Finishing the construction of Clark Resort and achieving results was the one and only chance to rise as a suitable candidate for the next chairman position.

Giving up now would mean throwing away the year he spent at Clark.

“But it’s the place you wanted to go, elder brother.”

Shin Joo couldn’t believe it.

How could he give up the Clark project, not knowing how this relationship would change?

“I’m not going to confuse you anymore.”

“…”

“I’m not returning to Clark.”