A week later.

Su-yeon and In-ho welcomed a happy morning together.

Su-yeon wandered around the kitchen to prepare breakfast, and In-ho roamed the surroundings, offering to help with anything.

“In-ho-ssi, just sit and relax.”

“I should try cooking more often. Just tell me what you want, and I’ll order it!”

In-ho confidently spoke with a strong voice.

Because of that, Su-yeon couldn’t express her awkward feelings, nor could she comfortably laugh.

In-ho had offered to help with meal preparations three days ago.

“Do I need to chop this?”

“What is it?”

“This, the onion.”

In-ho pointed to the onion he had peeled to put in the stew.

Until then, Su-yeon hadn’t thought In-ho would keep helping like this, so she nodded her head.

“Okay, I’ll do this.”

“Should I? No, I’ll do it.”

Su-yeon quickly took off her disposable gloves, not waiting for the seasoning to mix in the side dishes.

But when she approached In-ho, he already had a knife in his hand.

“No, I can do it well too. Leave it to me.”

Unable to stop him due to his overly confident words, Su-yeon could only watch anxiously as In-ho began chopping.

After about 5 seconds, Su-yeon had no choice but to sigh at the anxious cutting.

In the end, In-ho cut his finger with the clumsy knife work, and Su-yeon insisted that he should only guard the dining table that day.

The problem was that the same pattern had been repeating since the next day.

Whether it was out of guilt for sitting quietly or for whatever reason, he couldn’t help.

Though he was capable of handling easy tasks, Su-yeon became more unsettled because of that.

While preparing meals as planned, she needed to check if the tasks she had entrusted to In-ho were progressing well, even if she had to do it ten times over.

“Today is really okay. I’ll just take out the stew and a few side dishes I made last night. Is that okay?”

“Of course! I won’t complain about side dishes. You know that, right?”

In-ho replied with an overly confident tone.

At the moment, Su-yeon burst into laughter, hiding a bright smile.

“So, you don’t have to help with breakfast. I’ll ask for your help when making new stew or dinner later. So, can you just sit quietly at the table for now?”

“Really? Okay, then.”

In-ho scratched the back of his head and headed to the dining table.

Now that Su-yeon felt more comfortable, she quickly prepared the meal.

As she hadn’t made new side dishes, preparing the meal didn’t take long.

Su-yeon placed two rice bowls on the dining table.

“Enjoy your meal.”

“Yeah. I’ll eat well.”

Casual greetings exchanged over the past few days, and the peaceful meal between the two began.

In-ho took a sip of the stew and looked at Su-yeon.

“Oh, did I mention the surprise party to you?”

“Surprise party? No. I don’t remember you mentioning that.”
Su-yeon looked up from scooping rice with her spoon.

“I should have told you earlier; I completely forgot.”

“What’s going on?”

“We have a wrap-up party tomorrow. It’s a gathering with the actors and staff who worked on the recent film together.”

“Ah…”

Su-yeon’s response was brief.

Even without a detailed explanation, she seemed to understand the nature of such an event.

Memories flashed back to the days when In-ho returned home in a tipsy state.

Although he wasn’t easily affected by alcohol, he tended to return somewhat intoxicated on days with wrap-up parties.

“Do we have to drink a lot?”

“You’ll see, but it’s not the kind of gathering where you can just skip drinking. However, there’s no need to force yourself. If you don’t feel up to drinking due to your condition, everyone will understand.”

“…”

“I should have told you in advance; I’m sorry. Normally, we wrap up within a week after finishing filming. But this time, the director and actors had conflicting schedules, causing delays. I completely forgot about it.”

In-ho wore a somewhat uncomfortable expression.

Although the sudden news wasn’t pleasant, Su-yeon raised her head.

“No, it’s okay. It could happen. We’ve been a bit distracted lately.”

“Don’t feel too pressured. It’s not the kind of event you should stress about.”

In-ho expressed his apologies in a roundabout way.

Observing In-ho feeling uncomfortable, Su-yeon soon smiled and nodded.

Then, she spoke with a rather confident tone.

“It’s really okay. I’m quite confident in pretending to be In-ho. I even act like In-ho. What can I not do? Don’t worry! I’ll do well tomorrow too!”

Saying so, she took a big spoonful of rice into her mouth and chewed it.

Only then did In-ho relax his tense expression, following Su-yeon’s lead and smiling.

It was an enjoyable mealtime, as usual.

“No, In-ho-ssi! I can do it for real!”

“No, you cooked, so I’ll do the dishes.”

In-ho stubbornly took off the rubber gloves and firmly grabbed a sponge.

Not knowing what to do, Su-yeon watched as In-ho turned on the faucet and began washing the dishes.

Eventually, Su-yeon, who gave up on doing the dishes, stood close to In-ho.

She timidly observed In-ho’s every move, from applying detergent to washing the dishes.