As soon as the excited footsteps crossed the entrance door, Ji Ho, who stood tall above people’s heads, came into view.

It was the time when the outpatient treatment ended. The gazes of people pouring out inevitably glanced at Ji Ho.

Whether they knew who he was or not, the reactions were not much different. His dashing appearance that elicited exclamations naturally drew anyone’s gaze.

Regardless, Ji Ho raised his hand towards Yi Soo, who was approaching from beyond. Then, the bracelet wrapped around his wrist and the ring on his finger sparkled in the setting sun.

Amusingly, whenever Yi Soo saw those, she somehow felt relieved for no reason. It seemed like a promise engraved unchanged on Ji Ho’s hand for the past 6 years. Just by looking at it, she felt like Seo Ji Ho was hers.

In that sense, a necklace was also invariably hanging around Yi Soo’s neck, and although it was cumbersome to take off and put on every time she entered the operating room, she never left the ring behind.

Yi Soo brightly smiled and approached Ji Ho, who was standing dashingly like in a pictorial. Behind her, those who might have had even more excited hearts than Yi Soo followed closely with shy faces.

As if only seeing Yi Soo, Ji Ho’s steps striding towards her quickly closed the distance.

In the blink of an eye, Yi Soo was pulled into Ji Ho’s embrace as if being sucked in. Tightly hugging her, Ji Ho affectionately kissed the top of Yi Soo’s head.

At that sight, the people who had followed behind flinched and just blinked their widened eyes.

“Ji Ho……”

Conscious of her colleagues, Yi Soo barely pulled herself out of Ji Ho’s arms.

“These are the people I work with, and they said they wanted to greet you……”

Yi Soo turned around and spoke with an embarrassed expression, taking a step back.

“Ah.”

Only then did Ji Ho’s gaze shift, and as if on cue, they all stamped their feet and let out exclamations.

At first, they seemed at a loss for words, just opening and closing their mouths, but soon they opened their mouths with trembling voices, stammering.

“Ah, hello!”

“I…… I’m a, a really big fan of yours!”

“Wow…… You’re really so handsome.”

“Thank you.”

Ji Ho slightly bowed his head with a gentle smile.

As Ji Ho was always generous and kind when it came to matters related to Yi Soo, this time was no different.

“I was so disappointed that I failed to get tickets yesterday, but I’m truly honored to see you like this!”

“Ah…… I’ll send you invitations through Yi Soo. Please come and watch.”

“Wow! Really?”

“Oh my! Thank you so much.”

“Then…… Let’s meet at the concert. I’ll take Yi Soo for now. It was nice meeting you.”

With one charming smile and concert invitations, Ji Ho alleviated the disappointment of the short meeting, then unhesitatingly opened the car door.

Because Yi Soo’s face was filled with fatigue, he didn’t want to waste any more time.

“Yes, yes! Please go ahead!”

“Teacher, be careful on your way! I’m really grateful today.”

They had waited for 3 hours and met for barely 3 minutes. The few words they exchanged were all, but everyone was overjoyed and didn’t know what to do with the unexpected invitations.

Everyone was smiling with happy faces.

Towards Ji Ho, who was politely bidding farewell, they sent honey-dripping gazes filled with their fan hearts.

Yi Soo also smiled and greeted them, thanking them. At that moment, she felt a little guilty in her conscience for selling out her great boyfriend.

After the car completely left the hospital, Yi Soo leaned her temple against the passenger seat and looked at Ji Ho.

It was the face she had been missing for days. Perhaps because he had gotten makeup done for filming, he seemed to shine even more than usual.

“Thank you and I’m sorry. For bringing people without telling you beforehand.”

“You must have forgotten again.”

“What?”

“I told you to use me to your heart’s content without hesitation. What are you thankful and sorry for just greeting people?”

“Still……”

As a pleasantly amused smile forced its way onto Yi Soo’s lips, Ji Ho’s large hand cupped her cheek.

The familiar scent of perfume from his wrist seeped into her nostrils. It was the fragrance that first made her remember Ji Ho.

“I wish the whole world would know that I’m your boyfriend. So that there’s no one who doesn’t know that you’re my woman.”

Instead of voicing the words lingering in her mouth, ‘It’s already spread everywhere……’, Yi Soo pulled Ji Ho’s hand and firmly pressed her lips against the back of his hand.

The matter that she had been postponing, using the excuse of being a student and then being busy. Yi Soo awkwardly avoided it without giving a proper answer, feeling too embarrassed to even turn a blind eye.

Come to think of it, she felt absurd, wondering who should actually be anxious. Ji Ho had been consistently unchanged in his belief that he liked Yi Soo much more from the very beginning.

No matter how much Yi Soo said she liked him more, he would only smile brightly without even responding.

Sometimes, when she saw pretty female celebrities confidently revealing Ji Ho as their ideal type on TV, she would feel a choking sensation.

Wondering what Ji Ho would think while looking at those women. The shock she had received when she first met Han Na also suddenly came to mind.

If she showed even a hint of such feelings, she couldn’t even pretend to be jealous after hearing him say to not be anxious and get married right away.

Whether in the past or now, being jealous of Ji Ho, who never made her doubt, was foolish in itself, but even knowing that, sometimes she unknowingly became a fool when they couldn’t meet for days.

“Is the filming all done?”

“No. I have to go back right after dropping you off.”

“Ah……”

It wasn’t even giving and taking away, but if she hadn’t seen his face at all from the beginning, the thought of parting right away made the disappointment feel several times greater. A long, deep sigh followed the voice that sounded like a lament.

“Sleep well. I’ll finish quickly and come. When you open your eyes tomorrow, I’ll be by your side.”

While driving, Ji Ho glanced at Yi Soo and smiled brightly.

His voice, comforting Yi Soo who was pouting her lips, was filled with affection.

“Then just don’t come. You’ll be tired from driving back and forth.”

“But I got to see you instead. Holding hands like this.”

Ji Ho, who was holding their interlocked hands tightly, pulled Yi Soo slightly towards him.

Although he was smiling from ear to ear, that smile couldn’t hide the fatigue in the corners of his eyes.

Yi Soo’s heart grew heavy at the thought that he had come all the way here, giving up his break time.

“You came here without even having dinner. What will you do when you’re tired?”

“I ate in between, so I’m not hungry.”

“We’ll see each other tomorrow anyway……”

“Because it’s hard to endure even those few hours. You’re good at enduring because you have strong patience, but I’m not very good at that.”

While saying that, Ji Ho couldn’t even properly look at Yi Soo as he was driving.

All he could do was glance at her briefly when the traffic light was red.

“It’s not like I’m good at enduring either……”

Yi Soo muttered in a slightly aggrieved voice.

Ji Ho’s belief that he liked Yi Soo much more had been consistently unchanged from the beginning.

Even if Yi Soo said she liked him more, he would only smile brightly without even responding.

“I mean it.”

“Okay. I’ll believe you, so instead of looking at me with a face that hasn’t slept a wink, sleep on the way home.”

“I don’t want to. I said I can’t endure it either.”

“You’re being stubborn……”

Smiling and glancing at her for a moment, Ji Ho’s eyes widened even more towards Yi Soo.

Honestly, she was in a state where she hadn’t slept a wink during the 36-hour shift, so she felt like she could fall asleep as soon as her head touched anywhere, but she became stubborn.

It seemed like he really wouldn’t believe her if she fell asleep here.

Yi Soo kept pushing up her heavily drooping eyelids and looked at Ji Ho, then stared blankly at Ji Ho’s hand casually placed on the steering wheel. More precisely, at the ring.

It was a ring that had become famous enough to have “J Couple Ring” appear as a related search term in the search box.

It had also become more famous after Han Na wore it, pretending it was a couple ring.

Even though it wasn’t a wedding ring, Ji Ho wore that ring everywhere he went, as if showing it off.

For that reason, there were rumors among fans that Ji Ho was a romantic, but she wondered how surprised they would be if they saw his actual self.

While smiling contentedly, recalling Ji Ho’s affection, the car entered the apartment parking lot.

The car stopped, but the engine didn’t turn off.

‘He has to leave right away.’ Yi Soo tried to suppress her lonely feelings.

Thinking about how much more Ji Ho’s heart would be leaving her behind, Yi Soo leaned in first and pecked Ji Ho’s cheek.

With a bright expression, she spoke in a lively voice.

“Drive safely.”

“…… I really don’t want to go to work. I’m always playing around except when you say I’m sexy.”

Laughing with a hint of humor, Ji Ho pulled Yi Soo into his arms.

His large hand affectionately caressed her small back.

As the heart-wrenching atmosphere continued even though they would see each other again in a few hours, Yi Soo laughed softly.

“If someone sees us, they’ll think we’re breaking up for a long time. You’ll be late. Hurry and go.”

“Okay.”

Despite answering, Ji Ho didn’t budge at all. Yi Soo reluctantly pulled away a little and lifted her head.

Yi Soo cupped Ji Ho’s cheeks with both hands and pulled him down. Soft lips touched and parted gently.

From a distance where their noses could touch, they gazed at each other for a moment before Yi Soo’s lips were deeply sucked into Ji Ho’s mouth.

A dull heat was felt from the palm that gripped Yi Soo’s nape.

As her mind gradually became blank, Yi Soo’s back was pressed into the passenger seat as if being buried by the force rushing in as if to devour her.

The coolness that had filled the car was no longer felt as her entire body heated up with passion.

The excuse that they couldn’t help it because it had been too long was crushed between Ji Ho’s teeth and disappeared into their excited breaths.

Yi Soo stopped trying to count the days since it had been and simply embraced Ji Ho tightly, fully savoring the sweetness she was experiencing again after a long time.

Whether it was because of drowsiness or the sweet kiss, her ears soon became muffled and her mind grew distant.

Just as she thought she might really lose consciousness at this rate, their lips parted.

She had to open her eyes, but they wouldn’t open easily.

“You look like you’re about to collapse. Shall I carry you to the house?”

When Yi Soo persisted in not opening her eyes until the end, Ji Ho’s fingertips playfully poked her cheek.

Yi Soo thought she would really like that, then slowly opened her eyes.

Her body, soaked in fatigue, felt as heavy as water-soaked cotton, and it was difficult to even move a finger after the kiss that seemed to melt her entire body.

As she just blinked her eyes, Ji Ho laughed with a chuckle.

As if trying to take responsibility for her words telling him to hurry and go, Yi Soo’s mouth opened belatedly.

“No. It’s okay.”

After staring at Yi Soo for a moment, Ji Ho laughed once more, then turned off the engine and got out of the car.

Opening the passenger door, Ji Ho sat on the ground on his knees with his back to Yi Soo.

“Get on my back. This is better than carrying, right?”

“What if someone sees?”

“The people in the neighborhood already know anyway.”

“It’s okay. You’re tired too.”

Yi Soo reached out her hand to push away Ji Ho’s broad back, which was blocking the door.

However, as soon as her hand touched him, instead of pushing him away, she gently caressed him.

She knew Ji Ho wouldn’t budge even if she pushed him away. That it would be a waste of time to struggle here.

It might sound like an excuse, but she thought it would be better to quickly get on his back and go home to send Ji Ho to the filming set on time.

“We’ll be late at this rate. If you don’t want me to speed, hurry up.”

“Okay.”

Reluctantly getting on his back at his urging, her body rose to a dizzying height as his long legs straightened.

As the warm body temperature was transmitted through their tightly touching chests, it felt surprisingly cozy even though he had a firm body.

Until the moment Ji Ho put her down on the bed, Yi Soo held Ji Ho’s neck tightly with both arms like a child who didn’t want to let go.

“Sleep well.”

“Okay.”

“I love you.”

“Me too.”

Ji Ho deeply pressed his lips against Yi Soo’s forehead, then detached and quickly left the bedroom.

Yi Soo tried to barely relieve her longing with the thought that tomorrow she would wake up in his embrace.