Ji Soo couldn’t sleep all night. As soon as morning came, she called Ok Soon.

“Mother, is my brother there by any chance?”

[What kind of phone etiquette is that? You don’t even think to say good morning? This is why kids who grow up without proper manners are no good!]

“II’m sorry. Seung Oh went out for a drive yesterday and hasn’t come back yet… I’m getting worried.”

[Seung Oh slept here.]

“Then, ccould you put him on the phone, please? I kept calling him yesterday, but he didn’t answer.”

[Why are you bothering him when he’s busy getting ready? He’s going to wash up, have breakfast, and go straight to work from here. Just know that. I’m hanging up!]

The call was abruptly ended. Ji Soo couldn’t hear his voice, but it was a relief that he was at his family’s house. She finally relaxed and enjoyed a rare morning without preparing breakfast.

“Maybe I’ll have some toast.”

Ji Soo took out bread from the freezer and put it in the toaster. Just as she pressed the button, a melodious announcement came from the living room’s wall pad.

[The vehicle has passed through the front gate.]

“Huh?”

Seung Oh was supposed to be preparing for work at his family’s house. Unless he could teleport, it was impossible for him to come home now.

Five minutes later.

That impossible event occurred.

“Did you sleep well, darling?”

Seung Oh, who appeared at the front door with a big smile and arms wide open, greeted her. Ji Soo hesitated for a moment before hugging his waist and they kissed.

“Where have you been? You didn’t even answer my calls. I was worried.”

“I just drove around the neighborhood and then went to my family’s house to sleep. I didn’t want to wake you up if I came in late.”

“…So, are you on your way from your family’s house now?”

“That’s right.”

Seung Oh sniffed the air around him and frowned.

“Do you not know that I dislike having bread for breakfast?”

“I thought you wouldn’t be coming home. I’ll quickly prepare a proper meal for you!”

Ji Soo hurriedly put on an apron and took out ingredients from the fridge to chop.

But she couldn’t concentrate on cooking. Unless she was a fool, how could she not know that Seung Oh wasn’t coming from his family’s house?

“Ouch!”

The sharp knife blade cut near her thumbnail. Bright red drops of blood fell onto the cutting board.

“Are you okay?”

At the sound, Seung Oh rushed over and examined her finger.

“II’m fine.”

“You’ve cut it quite deep. I’ll just eat breakfast at work today, so don’t cook.”

Seung Oh dumped the chopped zucchini and tofu in the sink and brought a bandaid.

“Seung Oh.”

Ji Soo stared at him carefully as he wiped her bloody finger clean and applied the bandaid, then she hesitantly spoke up.

“Hold on. I’m done.”

Seung Oh finished applying the bandaid to the cut and looked up.

“Why did you call me, darling?”

“……”

She recalled Seung Oh’s cold back as he left last night after she had been a bit sulky.

What would happen if she questioned where he had been last night instead of his family’s house?

Ji Soo licked her lips several times and just lowered her head.

“I wanted to say thank you. And, I’m sorry about last night.”

“I knew you would apologize.”

Seung Oh gently smiled, hugged Ji Soo tightly in his arms, and comforted her.

“Even if Jo Seo Ha lacks in education and experience, she has quite a sense for it. I think her performance will be good at the next product evaluation meeting. Then it’ll be good for you, the design team, and my company, right?”

The ‘product evaluation meeting’ was a necessary step that had to be taken before preparing new products every season.

Designers would each create a sample and put them on models, and then the managers of each store and company executives would gather to choose the designs that would actually go into production.

There was no place for the youngest designers in such an important task.

They usually didn’t even have time to look at their own designs, as they were busy with a myriad of miscellaneous tasks while their seniors designed and created samples.

“You want Jo Seo Ha to participate in the product evaluation meeting?”

When Ji Soo incredulously asked, Seung Oh shrugged his shoulders.

“She’s an official designer. Is there any problem with that?”

“She just got her designer badge. Youngest designers usually don’t participate in product evaluation meetings.”

“I want to see it.”

In fact, it was Kyung Joon who suggested sending Jo Seo Ha to the product evaluation meeting. Since Seung Oh couldn’t explain it in detail, he just casually said that he wanted to see it.

That statement was a tremendous shock to Ji Soo.

“II didn’t get to participate in the product evaluation meeting in my first year either!”

“I know, so let’s go quickly. Since Secretary Ryu can’t come today, let’s go to work together.”

“I love you,” Seung Oh said and gave a light kiss on Ji Soo’s forehead.

“Please complete the work order by tomorrow morning!”