“Thank you for coming. It was so nice to see you today, oppa.”

Tae Eun’s eyes trembled as she read the two messages that rang one after another.

“Oppa, I love you.”

Reading the final message, she almost dropped her phone. It felt as if her heart had fallen to the bottom of her feet. The emotions she had tried so hard to forget resurfaced. The feeling of having to endure without acknowledgment when Woo Jin had to leave her side early in the morning to run to Park Seo Woo.

Despite knowing the truth and accepting it to some degree, it was more miserable than she had thought.

Moreover, seeing with her own eyes the two people who exchanged the word ‘love’ without any hesitation, which she couldn’t even hope for, was an even more cruel reality.

Everything was more painful than she had imagined. She should be used to enduring it by now, but she felt disillusioned as if she had no immunity.

However, she couldn’t resent anyone. It was none other than herself who had chosen to marry, accepting everything.

“My man… please take good care of him.”

From the moment Park Seo Woo appeared at the wedding hall, from the moment she reached out her hand to her, this pain had already been foreseen. So she had to accept it.

Fortunately, Woo Jin had never openly revealed the existence of Park Seo Woo until now. And he was a warm and reliable husband, albeit not affectionate. That fact was protecting her last bit of self-esteem.

Just as darkness and light coexist, and a coin has two sides, it’s natural to lose something when you gain something. There is no such thing as a perfect marriage in the world. So she thought she could endure her husband’s mistress.

Just then, when Woo Jin appeared at the entrance, she quickly put down his phone.

After a while, he handed her the scarf.

“Here.”

Would her husband be this kind to Park Seo Woo as well?

“Thank you.”

Tae Eun took the scarf and tried to avert her gaze out the window to hide her hurt feelings.

* * *

As soon as she got in the car, Seo Woo sent a message to Woo Jin first. It was just to inform him that she had been discharged from the hospital. However, the brief message that started that way ended up being a one-sided love confession that she couldn’t get back.

It was always like this, but Seo Woo was getting used to the one-sided love.

“You’re going straight home, right?”

Seo Woo nodded at Jung Keun’s question. Looking at her haggard face in the rearview mirror, Jung Keun spoke worriedly.

“I told you to stay one more day.”

“If I stay in the hospital for a long time, rumors will spread. And Jang Won’s doctor is in that hospital. He’ll keep his mouth shut, but the story will reach the chairman and oppa’s aunts. I don’t want to cause trouble for oppa.”

“Aish, seriously. When it comes to Vice President Seo, you really jump up even in your sleep! He has everything in abundance, so what difference does it make if you cause him a little trouble? And how does staying one more day cause trouble for Vice President Seo?”

“I have an overseas shoot, remember? I need to prepare for that.”

With that, Seo Woo threw her gaze out the window. Jung Keun was annoyed by her stubbornness. Usually she was so cold, but why did she lose all reason when it came to Seo Woo Jin?

“Vice President Seo is a married man now. You know that, right?”

“I know.”

“That means… there’s no more hope. In the past, it could have ended as just a scandal, but if it goes wrong, it’s an affair this time. You know what an affair means in Korean society, right?”

“…I know.”

“You really need to sort out your feelings this time. Otherwise, before people can stone you, Jang Won Group will bury you directly. I can’t bear to see that happen to you even if I die and come back to life.”

“I know, I said I know. Stop it.”

“Don’t just say you know, sort it out! How frustrated do you think I am to say this?”

“Why are you doing this too, oppa? You know very well! I’m already distressed. So please, just stop! Do you think I want to be like this? How can I help it when it’s impossible? If feelings could be controlled so easily, I would have cut off my feelings for Woo Jin oppa long ago! I wouldn’t have come this far!”

In the end, Seo Woo’s eyes filled with tears as her sorrow burst out. At this, Jung Keun also shut his mouth, unable to say anything more.

* * *

As soon as she arrived home, Tae Eun took a shower first. She wanted to wash away the tense and upset feelings with warm water. However, no matter how much she cleansed and washed her body, she couldn’t forget the last message Park Seo Woo had left.

“Love…”

She hated Park Seo Woo for saying that word she couldn’t even dare to hope for so casually. And she felt miserable for feeling this resentment towards someone she didn’t even know well.

She could feel herself getting smaller and smaller. She had resolved so many times not to care anymore, but Park Seo Woo was strangely getting under her skin.

After finishing the shower, when she came out to the bedroom, she saw Woo Jin looking at his phone with wet hair. Was he reading the message Seo Woo had sent?

Tae Eun closely observed his expression. She was curious about his reaction to receiving a love confession from Seo Woo. However, he touched the screen with eyes devoid of any emotion and then threw the phone on the table as if he couldn’t bear to look at it.

Anyone could see that he didn’t look like a man who had received a confession. Of course, that didn’t mean he and Park Seo Woo had no relationship at all.

Tae Eun walked past him, pretending not to know, and sat at the dressing table. To apply cream one last time. Then she felt his gaze slowly following her from where he was sitting on the bed. She could feel him behind her as she applied the cream.

His presence alone was enough to make people tense. To think that just being in the same space could make someone so nervous.

She closed the cream lid and got up from her seat. She wanted to take off her robe and get into bed to sleep, but it was very difficult to untie the knot at her waist. It was because Woo Jin was staring at her too intently.

“Why, are you going to sleep in that?”

“No.”

Although they had already spent their first night together, it wasn’t easy to show bare skin yet. But Tae Eun mustered up the courage to untie her robe. Then the front opened, revealing a black slip in its entirety. Seeing that, Woo Jin laughed.

“Did you buy that with Manager Song too?”

“Yes.”

“This won’t do, Manager Song. Why did you buy so many types? You won’t even be able to wear them.”

“I can’t… wear it? Why? I bought this to sleep in.”

“You can’t when you sleep with me.”

Saying that, Woo Jin approached, casting a large shadow, and flicked one of her slip straps with his index finger, making it fall off. Tae Eun, startled, grabbed her chest area tightly to prevent exposure, and he laughed.

Was he going to do it again?

Her inner thighs were still sore from the two times they had been intimate yesterday. Everything was a first for her, and he was too much for her to handle. Still, she was so proud of herself for not pushing him away.

But today, again? She looked back at him with questioning eyes, but the gaze looking down at her gave a clear answer. Even without saying a word, she could tell from his eyes alone what he was going to do next.

Her prediction was correct. Woo Jin lowered his lips and made her wrap her hands, which had been desperately clutching the falling slip, around his waist. Then, narrowing the distance between them even more, he devoured her lips.

A sigh close to a scream escaped her surprised mouth. But even that ended up being swallowed by him.

The slip she had barely been holding onto had long since fallen to her feet. He lifted her up in his arms at once, and she had to cling to his neck while kissing him so as not to fall. By the time she came to her senses, she was already lying on the bed.

Tae Eun looked up at him with reddened eyes. She could read endless desire in the gaze looking down at her. His eyes meticulously swept over every corner of her body.

“Why… are you looking at me like that? Don’t look at me like that.”

“Why? I’m looking because you’re so breathtakingly beautiful.”

“Still, looking at me like that is a bit…”

“Then you look at me too. You can look, can’t you?”

Before she could answer, Woo Jin sat up and took off the robe he was wearing and threw it aside. Then he too was in a stark naked state. However, Tae Eun couldn’t bring herself to look at him properly and turned her gaze away.

“No, that’s not what I meant…”

She really didn’t intend to say it in that sense. She wasn’t used to looking at his naked body yet, even though he was her husband. But Woo Jin grabbed her chin and made her look at him.

“You need to get used to it now. You’ll have to see it every day.”

Her eyes, reddened with embarrassment, looked up at him deeply without a word. But she could only look at his face, not daring to freely sweep her gaze over his body. It was embarrassing and embarrassing again. Just taking him in with her eyes made her feel like she had committed all sorts of immoral acts in the world alone. That’s how perfect he was.

The broad shoulders and well-balanced muscles made it obvious how hard he worked out on a regular basis, even without looking. Tae Eun couldn’t even lower her gaze, embarrassed by his silhouette alone.

But Woo Jin, reading her intention, leaned over and whispered.

“Then, why don’t you touch me?”

Her hand, held by him, defied her will and swept over his body on its own. From the firm chest muscles to the well-defined abs. He held her hand and moved very slowly so that she could fully feel his body.

Tae Eun stiffened in surprise, but he didn’t stop. She silently looked into his eyes that were looking down at her. The solid sensation felt by her fingertips was as vivid as seeing it. She couldn’t breathe. The firm muscles she was feeling for the first time in her life squirmed as if alive every time her fingertips brushed against them.

And she saw it. The way his dark eyes flickered slightly each time those muscles squirmed.

“Woo Jin, wait… there…”

In that fleeting moment, her eyes widened. But he lowered his lips with a satisfied sigh at her touch. He swallowed up her trembling lips, startled by the unfamiliar sensation, in one gulp.

An unbearably hot heat passed from him to her.

She thought the new world would be the first and last yesterday, but today was different again.

She loved the way his muscles twitched under her touch. The muscles, tightly connected like a single organism, reacted like a living being. So even after Woo Jin let go of her hand, Tae Eun swept over his body of her own will.

Surprised by her cautious yet bold touch, he lifted his lips and whispered.

“Ah, Tae Eun…”

That tightly locked voice sounded unusually affectionate. As if she was the only woman in his world, it sounded desperate.

After that, he called her name many more times. Tae Eun stimulated him several times because she liked hearing her name from his mouth so much. But she didn’t forget. The fact that this man’s affection lacked emotion.

Just like the courtesy shown to a stranger, the affection he displayed was because she was his wife… She tried not to forget that. Unfortunately, this man’s love was not her share. He just needed an obedient wife who would silently protect his hidden love.

So don’t fall for it. Don’t be mistaken. Be a married couple, but think of it as living together without love. Let it go, thinking of it as such. Because that’s the only way not to get hurt. Because that’s the only way to survive forever in this loveless marriage.

That’s what Tae Eun was pledging to herself as she looked into his eyes that completely contained her.

Never to love this man, forever.