“You want us to… use the same room?”

“Yes. To be precise, the same bed.”

“The same bed…”

Se Eun blinked slowly, feeling dazed.

Separate rooms. Wasn’t that one of the things they had agreed on about a month ago?

It was clearly about living without bothering each other and not crossing boundaries.

But now looking back, there was more than one boundary that had been subtly broken.

“Why are you thinking so hard? There’s no better way than this. Oh, by the way, I have no intention of giving up Cho Bbang.”

“That’s…”

Se Eun looked bewildered at Sun Woo, who was preciously holding Cho Bbang.

The tiny baby Shih Tzu cradled in Sun Woo’s large hands.

Cho Bbang’s round eyes seemed to be speaking to her.

Saying let’s sleep together. That it would give off a sweet scent next to her.

“O-Okay. Let’s sleep together!”

Raising her voice uncharacteristically, Sun Woo showed a chuckling, victorious smile.

“Good thinking, Miss Yeon Se Eun. Then come to the room. I’ll bring Cho Bbang along well.”

“What? Oh… okay.”

“Then I’ll see you in bed.”

He winked and smiled, then smoothly disappeared from sight.

Not sure what had just happened, Se Eun stood blankly for a moment.

It didn’t take long for her to realize she had been swept up by Ki Sun Woo once again.

*

“What are you doing? Hurry up and lie down.”

A moment later, as soon as Se Eun cautiously opened the door to the newlywed room, she saw Sun Woo leisurely lying on the bed.

Unconsciously recalling how he had provoked her on their first night, Se Eun looked around, searching for something to ease her tension.

“Ah, Cho Bbang. There you are.”

“We bought a bed for Cho Bbang earlier, remember? It’s perfect, right? He’s already fallen into a deep sleep, it’s so comfortable.”

Sun Woo pointed to Cho Bbang proudly.

But for Se Eun, it was a predicament.

She had secretly hoped to wait for him to fall asleep first while putting Cho Bbang to bed.

As expected, Sun Woo didn’t leave her standing there at a loss for what to do.

“Come quickly and lie down. We should sleep too.”

We… At Sun Woo’s expression, Se Eun felt her spine stiffen nervously.

But the situation had already unfolded, and she was the culprit.

“Then… excuse me.”

Awkwardly, Se Eun took careful steps towards the bed, one foot at a time.

It was strange.

She was just going to sleep, but she could feel her heart rate increasing.

Gently, Se Eun settled at the corner of the bed.

It was an attempt to maintain a safe distance, but as soon as she laid her head on the pillow, her body felt so slanted that she thought she might fall to the floor.

“…Ugh.”

Trying not to fall, she put too much strength in her toes, causing a strange sound to escape her lips.

At the same time, a hearty laugh burst from Sun Woo’s mouth.

Se Eun felt embarrassment rising to the tips of her hair.

“D-Don’t mind me, Ki Sun Woo, you go to sleep first.”

“How can I not mind when you’re like that? It looks like you’ll fall with a thud in 30 seconds.”

“…It’s okay. I won’t fall.”

“That’s you ignoring the law of gravity, Miss Yeon Se Eun.”

Unknowingly biting her lip, Se Eun was caught in an internal conflict.

If she compromised a bit and turned to her side, at least she could avoid falling.

Just as Se Eun was about to quietly turn her shoulders, that very moment:

“Come here.”

Suddenly, a soft breath settled on top of her head, and then her view changed abruptly.

What Se Eun saw was Sun Woo’s smooth black shirt that she had been looking down at until now.

In other words, it meant she had been embraced in his arms.

Not content with just suddenly hugging her, Sun Woo naturally slipped his long fingers into Se Eun’s hair and patted it.

“You’re already sensitive to cold, how were you planning to sleep curled up in that corner? Sleep warmly.”

“…Okay.”

“You’re still cold now. I guess your body temperature drops rapidly when you take off your furry clothes. Can’t be helped. We’ll have to sleep like this. No complaints, right?”

“…Okay.”

Like a fool, she could only answer “okay.”

She was afraid her voice would tremble if she said more than one word.

She had never understood the saying that your heart could jump out, but now Se Eun was keenly feeling it.

The way it was thumping, thumping on its own felt like a small mischievous ball had been put inside her body.

Perhaps tired from too many events, Sun Woo let out a light, cloud-like yawn.

Then he murmured in a drowsy voice.

“Good night, Yeon Se Eun.”

This time, her heart was trembling so much she couldn’t even answer, and Se Eun nodded, not realizing her forehead was touching his chest.

Unaware that Sun Woo, who was about to close his eyes, opened them once again due to her tickling his chest unexpectedly.

*

The next day.

As soon as the sun rose, Se Eun hurriedly fled from the bed.

She was tired from spending the whole night wide awake, but there was something important today.

It was Cho Bbang’s first visit to the hospital.

Wanting to accompany for this big event, she had boldly taken a day off.

At the animal hospital, surprisingly, they said Cho Bbang was 3-4 months old.

However, because it was such a weak individual, it was small and malnourished.

Fortunately, there didn’t seem to be any major illnesses, so the opinion was that it would be fine if fed well for the time being.

The doctor added that it was probably abandoned thinking it would die, to which Se Eun tightly clenched her small fist and promised.

She would raise it well, not lacking compared to any other house dog.

“Well then, shall we give it a proper bath?”

As soon as they got home, Sun Woo rolled up his sleeves enthusiastically and picked up Cho Bbang.

Although they had roughly wiped off its fur, it was still dirty, probably from being abandoned in the bushes.

“I’ll bathe it.”

“Why? We can do it together.”

“No, it’s such a small puppy, I can do it alone.”

“Hmm~?”

Sun Woo narrowed his eyes and looked at Se Eun.

Se Eun was nervous about revealing her inner thoughts that it would be awkward to enter the bathroom together, even if it was to accompany Cho Bbang.

The power of space was great.

Se Eun had personally experienced that fact last night.

The newlywed room, the newlywed bed, the spot next to Ki Sun Woo.

Having felt how harmful it was to her heart, she wanted to avoid stepping into another dangerous space called the ‘bathroom’ together.

She wished he would agree quickly, but Sun Woo wouldn’t stop giving her suspicious looks.

“G-Give it here. Cho Bbang will like me bathing it too.”

Feeling it wasn’t working, Se Eun somewhat forcefully took Cho Bbang from his hands.

Then a light laugh escaped from Sun Woo’s lips.

A pleasant and joyful, yet somehow seductive laugh.

“Really? I’m curious to see how well you’ll bathe it, Miss Yeon Se Eun.”

“…!”

It was just talk about a puppy, but why did the nuance sound so subtle?

Se Eun, holding Cho Bbang, unconsciously hugged the puppy tightly.

As if it were a shield.

That’s when it happened.

There was a refreshing sound like ‘shwee~’, and then a damp sensation was transmitted into her clothes.

That wasn’t all.

Following a loud ‘bwoong!’ sound, things that shouldn’t come out here poured out.

It was the baby Shih Tzu’s first poop in this house.

It was so solid that it seemed to have pooped its entire body weight. Of course, in Se Eun’s arms.

“Kya… kyaak!”

As she screamed at the sudden disaster, Sun Woo quickly pushed Se Eun’s back.

“Oh no, this is bad! We need to wash right away. Quick, come this way! Hurry! Hurry up!”

Shouting urgently, Sun Woo swiftly led the two emanating a faintly stinky scent to the bathroom.

A moment later, Se Eun ended up standing in the bathroom side by side with Cho Bbang.

“…What in the world is this.”

Cho Bbang, who had literally drawn a poop map on her clothes, was just wagging its tiny tail left and right, seemingly happy with this satisfying bowel movement.

Se Eun looked down at her clothes stained with Cho Bbang’s first poop in a daze, standing awkwardly.

Meanwhile, Sun Woo busily moved his hands, finishing the bath preparations in the tub.

“Okay, give Cho Bbang here. Miss Yeon Se Eun, you wash in the shower booth next to it.”

“What? You want me to wash here?”

Only then did Se Eun realize that the place she had been dragged to was not the bathroom she had been using, but the one attached to the newlywed room.

It had happened so suddenly that she had just come along as she was pushed, but arriving here, it was Ki Sun Woo’s territory again.

“Then where else would you go in that state?”

“…”

“Phew, the smell is terrible. Cho Bbang really did a number on you. I’ll wash Cho Bbang first, so you hurry and go in to wash too.”

At the remark that the smell was terrible, Se Eun unknowingly blushed.

Even though it wasn’t her doing, she felt embarrassed as if she were the culprit of this situation.

Last night in his arms, she had wanted to unconsciously sniff the good scent, but now she was giving off a truly terrible smell.

“Ah, okay. Then… I’ll wash.”

Se Eun scurried into the shower booth as if escaping.

Fortunately, the shower booth was opaque, so there was no worry about her appearance being visible from outside.

Surely Ki Sun Woo wouldn’t suddenly open the door.

Thinking she just needed to wash quickly and get out, Se Eun carefully closed the door.

Soon, swish, her clothes fell to the floor.

“Whew…”

A held breath mixed with steam flowed out.

At the same time, Sun Woo must have started washing Cho Bbang, as a faint whining sound mixed with the sound of water.

Thanks to this, Se Eun focused only on erasing the traces left by Cho Bbang.

However, it was only for a moment before she realized the trap she had fallen into.

“…Ki Sun Woo.”

“Yeah?”

“…”

“What? If you called, you should say something.”

A voice tinged with enjoyment, like humming.

Se Eun finally voiced the favor she had been contemplating.

“Could you… bring me some body wash?”

Was it her imagination that she felt a gentle, breeze-like laugh from outside the shower booth?

Then his languid voice was heard right beyond.

“If you open the door.”