“Oh, senior!”

“What?”

Da Eun, who was about to stop him, tilted her head after seeing his expression.

Isn’t it spicy……?

“Senior, are you okay?”

“What?”

“That……”

Before Da Eun could finish speaking, the employee quickly approached and apologized.

“The taste has indeed changed. I’m sorry. I’ll make it again for you.”

Yu Kwon looked alternately at Da Eun, who was staring blankly at him, and the apologizing employee. It didn’t take long to grasp the situation.

Da Eun put a glass of water in his slightly trembling hand.

“Drink it quickly.”

Yu Kwon drank the water. Only then did he realize his lips were stinging. A sneer escaped him, finding it absurd.

“It’s fine. I’ll just come back next time.”

Da Eun replied that it was okay to the employee who kept apologizing, then took Yu Kwon’s hand and stood up.

.

.

.

“Why aren’t you asking?”

Yu Kwon and Da Eun sat side by side on a bench in front of the pharmacy, amicably eating stomach protectors.

“I thought you didn’t want to talk about it, so I didn’t ask.”

“……”

“That’s what I was thinking.”

Da Eun muttered, staring blankly at the sky.

It had been quite an eventful day.

This was all because of Yong Ju.

After drinking so much water, her stomach felt full, and she didn’t feel like eating anything else. Yu Kwon seemed to feel the same way.

“I can’t taste anything.”

She had suspected it all along. Thought there must be some secret.

“Ah, I see.”

Da Eun answered as calmly as Yu Kwon and slowly nodded her head.

Then suddenly, really out of nowhere, she burst into tears.

Even though it wasn’t her problem, she suddenly felt sad. The events from earlier came back to her, amplifying her emotions.

Tears fell from Da Eun’s eyes.

Yu Kwon, who had revealed his long-held secret with a feeling of punishment, was taken aback by the sudden situation.

“Why are you crying?”

“…No, it’s sad, isn’t it? There are so many delicious things in the world.”

Yu Kwon took out a handkerchief and handed it to Da Eun. She took it, unfolded it to cover her face, and sobbed.

Yu Kwon was more than surprised; he was dumbfounded.

“Is this something to cry about?”

“Then what kind of thing is it?”

Da Eun’s voice came through the handkerchief.

“It’s not a big deal.”

“Then why did you hide it so tightly? Something that’s not a big deal and not worth crying over?”

Da Eun removed the handkerchief and asked.

Yu Kwon was bewildered. He stared blankly at Da Eun, then spoke as if he had realized something he hadn’t known before.

“…You’re right. Why did I make such a big deal out of it?”

He felt dejected. Also somewhat refreshed. More precisely, it felt like he had been hit on the back of the head.

“Wait a moment.”

Da Eun went into the convenience store right next to them and came out with two ice pops. She gave one to Yu Kwon and pressed the other against her eyes.

“…What are you doing?”

“My eyes are swollen from crying.”

Yu Kwon burst into laughter.

Da Eun removed the ice pop from her eyes and glared at him.

“Why are you laughing?”

“Because you’re cute.”

This time, Da Eun looked like she had been hit on the back of the head.

“Senior, do you remember?”

“What?”

“Eight years ago……”

“Why are you laughing?”
“Because you’re cute.”

Eight years ago, Yu Kwon told a drunk Da Eun that she was cute. And she promptly kissed him.

To Da Eun, being called cute meant asking her out.

“What about eight years ago?”

Da Eun, who had been blinking at Yu Kwon, grabbed his shoulders and kissed him right there.

“Now it’s gone.”

After giving him a short kiss, Da Eun faced forward again.

She opened the half-melted ice pop and put it in her mouth. Yu Kwon watched her as if in a dream.

Suddenly, he touched his earlobe and it was hot.

What’s this, Cha Yu Kwon? Over something like this.

Even though we’ve had much more intense skinship.

Yu Kwon shook his head, finding himself ridiculous even to his own thoughts.

“Senior, you know.”

“Yeah.”

Da Eun spoke while still staring into space.

“There’s something I’ve wanted to ask for a while.”

“What is it?”

Da Eun took a deep breath and then opened her mouth.

“Why did you do that back then?”

Yu Kwon couldn’t understand at all. Da Eun, also thinking she had spoken too vaguely, added an explanation.

“The message you sent eight years ago. Why did you say never to contact you again?”

Yu Kwon, who had been listening quietly, tilted his head.

“What?”

Just as Da Eun was about to speak again, her phone vibrated.

“Excuse me for a moment, senior.”

Da Eun immediately pressed the call button. She thought it would be the delivery person. Hyanglimjae was good in every way, but receiving packages was a bit inconvenient.

“Hello.”

―This is Jin Se Yeon.

“Who did you say you were?”

―Yu Kwon’s girlfriend. The one you saw earlier. Can we meet for a moment now? Make up an excuse to Yu Kwon about having an urgent appointment.

“Why me……”

―We have things to talk about, don’t we? Yu Kwon won’t tell you anyway. You’re curious about me, aren’t you?

Da Eun slowly blinked and then hung up the phone.

Ignoring Yu Kwon’s curious gaze about the call, she stood up.

“Senior, I just remembered I had an urgent appointment. I’ll see you at home later, sorry.”

“What’s it about? I have plans in the evening.”

“Then I’ll tell you tomorrow.”

Da Eun quickly moved away from Yu Kwon and called the woman named Se Yeon again.

She was curious about why she had felt uneasy from the moment she first saw her, what she was afraid of. Da Eun was curious.

She felt she might find out if she met Se Yeon.

What exactly this complicated feeling was.

And she was also curious about that woman.

From what she heard from Ju Ri and Yong Hee, she was someone extremely precious to Yu Kwon. They hinted that Yu Kwon was using Da Eun as a shield to protect the woman.

.

.

.

A woman who exuded a different aura from others at first glance was sitting by the window far away.

As Da Eun carefully approached, the woman stood up from her seat to greet her.

“Song Da Eun?”

“Yes, hello.”

Da Eun and Se Yeon met at the cafe. Up close, Se Yeon was truly beautiful. Her face was perfectly sculpted, more doll-like than a doll.

“I’m sorry for calling you out so suddenly.”

“No, it’s fine.”

Se Yeon smiled brightly at Da Eun’s words. When she smiled, her cold image changed to a softer one. She was a beautiful woman.

“But how did you know my contact information?”

“I heard it from Aunt Yong Hee. We’ve been close for a long time, and we kept in touch even when I was in the US.”

“…I see. What’s the reason you wanted to meet today?”

“Ah.”

Se Yeon burst into laughter and then opened her mouth.

“Our Yu Kwon, please use him cleanly and return him.”

She said something completely unexpected with an innocent expression.

“What did you say?”

“It would be better if you didn’t touch him at all.”

Da Eun was momentarily at a loss for words at the cheerful tone. She couldn’t have imagined such a development.

“I don’t understand what you’re saying, calling me out of the blue like this.”

“I heard you two are fake-married because of his grandfather, right?”

Da Eun felt her heart sink for a moment.

“That’s what I heard from Yu Kwon, but is that not the case?”

She muttered to herself and then chuckled.

“I’m not going to throw water at you or hand you an envelope of money.”

So she’s telling me to leave on my own? That I don’t even have the right to do that because it’s a fake marriage?

Da Eun didn’t want to lose.

“Well, my husband doesn’t seem to have any intention of leaving me.”

Cracks appeared on the face of the woman who had been smiling like a doll all along. It was unclear whether she reacted to the word ‘husband’ or to the statement about not wanting to break up.

In any case, one thing was clear. It wasn’t Da Eun who was in a hurry, but Jin Se Yeon.

“And if you’re not going to throw water or hand over an envelope of money, why did you call me?”

“……”

“Did you hope I would get scared and back down? Because it wouldn’t work on my husband?”

“Hey, Song Da Eun? You’re being a bit rude right now.”

“Am I not?”

Da Eun also chuckled. Just like Se Yeon had done.

Receiving the same treatment back, she frowned in displeasure but didn’t get angry.

“Then, shall we see if it works or not? We were supposed to meet for dinner anyway.”

Da Eun recalled Yu Kwon saying he had plans in the evening. Was it true?

Da Eun stared at Se Yeon without saying a word.

“But… it’s a fake marriage, but Da Eun, don’t tell me you’ve really fallen for our Yu Kwon? That’s not good. Don’t like him too much, you’ll get hurt.”

Se Yeon covered her mouth and laughed, “Hoho.”

“I’ll pay for this. You should save up the money you get from Yu Kwon tightly, so you can get something out of it.”

Da Eun clenched her fist tightly under the table.

Did he calculate this insult in advance and pay me a lot of money? Then I have to endure even this.

As Yu Kwon’s face came to mind, her heart swelled even more.

However, Da Eun desperately held back and smiled.

“There’s no need, I already paid earlier. I’ll leave first.”

“But does grandfather know?”

“Know what?”

“About your marriage.”

“……”

“He doesn’t know, does he.”

Se Yeon burst into laughter.

Da Eun looked at her with a cold face and then opened her mouth.

“I’m planning to tell him today. That a person named Jin Se Yeon was talking nonsense.”

Da Eun trusted Yu Kwon.

He wouldn’t have carelessly disclosed the contract that needed to be kept strictly confidential to someone else.

Because it was written in the contract. It couldn’t be disclosed except to the team Yu Kwon had assembled. If he had, it would have been an immediate termination of the contract.

He definitely wouldn’t have said anything. Even if the other person was someone he loved.

Moreover, if he had someone he loved, he wouldn’t have asked her in the first place. He wouldn’t have risked marrying her.

But if, by any chance, she was really the person Yu Kwon loved.

As she thought that far, her heart tightened and it became difficult to breathe. It also felt like something sharp was poking her heart.

Da Eun’s thoughts were right.

Once she met Se Yeon, she could tell. That she liked him more than she thought.

Only after entering the empty bathroom did Da Eun let out a big sigh. As if it had been waiting, a tear dropped from her eye.

Da Eun turned on the water and washed her face. As if nothing had happened.