Who knew the combination of a white dress shirt and blue apron could be so breathtaking!

Hyunkyung could only stare blankly at Taehoon, completely mesmerized.

Wow! How can a man in an apron be this sexy?

“Ms. Ju Hyunkyung?”

When she didn’t respond, Taehoon called out to her with a puzzled expression. Finally snapping back to reality, Hyunkyung composed herself and smiled brightly.

“I came to look after the assemblyman. Yuri asked me to before she left for America.”

“You don’t need to worry about that. I’m more than capable of taking care of the assemblyman on my own…”

“Were you in the middle of preparing lunch?”

Fearing he might tell her to leave, Hyunkyung cut off Taehoon’s words and quickly stepped into the kitchen.

She had expected a kitchen that looked like a bomb had gone off, but surprisingly it was very neatly organized. All that was on the counter were a knife and cutting board with finely chopped green onions and peppers.

Wow, this man must do the dishes while cooking at the same time.

The dish drying rack held freshly washed kitchen utensils neatly arranged, and a seafood stew was bubbling away on the gas stove.

“Did you make this yourself? Or…”

“Yes, I made it. I stopped by the market and the crabs looked fresh. The assemblyman likes seafood.”

“Wow! The broth tastes amazing.”

Hyunkyung took a taste with a sampling spoon and let out a sincere exclamation of admiration.

“You must like cooking?”

“It’s not so much that I like it, but I can’t eat out every day.”

Hyunkyung nodded quietly at his words.

She had already obtained all the information about him through Manager Kim.

His family, including his parents and older brother’s family, had immigrated to Canada 5 years ago, leaving only Taehoon behind. Since then, he had been living alone in his parents’ apartment. His family had tried to persuade him to go with them, but he refused, saying he couldn’t leave Assemblyman Chae’s side.

Taehoon was too talented to remain just an aide. He had been admitted to Korea’s top law school as the top student, passed the first bar exam in his junior year of university, easily passed the second exam as well, and became a judicial trainee upon graduation.

But for some reason, he decided to drop out in the middle of his training period. After a year of wandering, Taehoon joined Assemblyman Chae’s team and took on work related to policy coordination. And he has remained by Assemblyman Chae’s side ever since.

Aside from the girlfriend he had dated from freshman year until before joining the military, it’s unclear if he’s had anyone he was interested in, but he hasn’t officially dated anyone.

– Surely not, right?

Manager Kim had looked uneasy when he handed over the information on Taehoon to Hyunkyung at her request. Having observed Hyunkyung for many years, Manager Kim seemed to have sensed something.

– Was it that obvious?

When Hyunkyung widened her eyes, Manager Kim frowned as if in dismay.

– What if the chairman finds out?

– That’s why, uncle, this is just between the two of us.

– Sigh.

Manager Kim let out a deep sigh at Hyunkyung’s brazen attitude. But true to his loyal nature, he kept his mouth shut and didn’t tell anyone.

In truth, Hyunkyung wouldn’t have minded much even if Manager Kim had reported to Chairman Ju. She believed that Chairman Ju, more of a romantic than he appeared, would eventually approve of any man Hyunkyung chose.

“Ms. Hyunkyung, have you eaten lunch? If not, why don’t you join the assemblyman?”

Taehoon’s voice snapped Hyunkyung out of her reverie.

“What about you?”

“I already ate while cooking.”

If she couldn’t eat with him, she didn’t really feel like eating.

“I already ate with Yuri at the airport.”

With those words, Hyunkyung headed to the study. She told Assemblyman Chae that at Yuri’s request, she would be staying here for a while to keep him company.

Whether Yuri had already spoken to him or not, Assemblyman Chae gratefully offered the guest room downstairs. That room was connected to another guest room used by Aide Kim, with a bathroom in between.

Staying at Assemblyman Chae’s house for over a week, Hyunkyung discovered new sides to Taehoon.

He was polite and thoughtful in front of Assemblyman Chae, but this man was surprisingly temperamental.

Living in the same house led to various conflicts with Hyunkyung over trivial matters, and each time, Taehoon’s irritated reactions were unbearably stimulating to her.

Once, Hyunkyung forgot to knock and opened the bathroom door abruptly. It seems Taehoon had forgotten to lock the door too. He was about to take a shower, having just taken off his shirt and was about to remove his pants.

“Oh, sorry.”

Though she apologized verbally, Hyunkyung stood still, gazing at Taehoon with enchanted eyes, making no move to leave.

“Ms. Ju Hyunkyung.”

When Hyunkyung remained motionless, Taehoon called her name in a low, growling voice.

Wow, amazing!

It wasn’t just his sculpture-like, well-balanced body that had mesmerized her. She fell for Taehoon’s tone as he spoke through gritted teeth, trying not to raise his voice. His low, husky voice made her heart skip a beat.

It was cool, so cool that it felt hot.

Like the description in a famous novel where holding a diamond so cold and clear it seemed about to freeze actually felt as if it were burning.

“Y-yes. I’ll leave.”

Turning around quickly and closing the bathroom door, Hyunkyung swallowed hard.

This man, how hot must he be in bed!

Just imagining it made her whole body flush with heat.

It wasn’t just because her sex hormones were active as she approached the end of her 20s and entered her 30s.

This was all because she had met a proper partner who could ignite her desires.

Hyunkyung’s once tedious days changed from black and white to vibrant color.

After that day, her attraction rapidly progressed to love, and she looked for every opportunity to approach this man. But it wasn’t easy.

How can a man have not even the slightest opening?

But she wasn’t one to give up easily and back down.

She approached Taehoon by even taking on translation and interpretation volunteer work at the free legal counseling center.

When Hyunkyung continued to volunteer diligently, contrary to expectations that she would soon quit, Taehoon’s attitude towards her softened a little. At least he no longer seemed to treat her as an immature third-generation chaebol.

“Oh? You came out on a Saturday too?”

As she entered the center, Lawyer Choi, who had just finished a consultation, greeted Hyunkyung as he walked out of the consultation room.

“Yes, I have some work to do.”

After a brief greeting, Hyunkyung hurried to the very end of the hallway. There was Taehoon’s personal office where he handled administrative work. After knocking and entering, Taehoon shifted his gaze from the computer monitor to the door.

“I just received the CCTV footage you requested.”

“I didn’t come to rush you. I came to see if there was anything I could help with.”

Hyunkyung said as she pulled up a chair and sat down next to Taehoon. As he played the downloaded video on the computer, Taehoon frowned in surprise after a moment.

“What’s this? That woman is Ms. Na, right? And the one being hit is Yuri.”

“Yes.”

Hyunkyung briefly explained what had happened yesterday.

“So you’re planning to upload this online for a trial by public opinion?”

“Of course.”

Hyunkyung smiled brightly and gently leaned her body against Taehoon’s arm. Despite her blatant closeness, he maintained his expression and silently stared at the monitor.

Is this man oblivious? Or is he deliberately ignoring it?

He never gave Hyunkyung a glance except when necessary.

Like boss, like subordinate. Assemblyman Chae Hyungsik’s aloofness and Aide Kim Taehoon’s aloofness were quite similar.

Still, Hyunkyung found him irresistibly attractive.

She didn’t realize before, but a stoic man like a stone Buddha was surprisingly sensual.

“…Taehoon.”

Even when called in a nasally voice, he only looked at her with dry eyes.

But Hyunkyung could see that barely perceptible cracks were forming in those dry eyes. A gap that would finally shatter with just a little more pressure was emerging.

“Date me.”

Instead of beating around the bush, Hyunkyung pushed straight ahead. Three months ago, at a company dinner, Hyunkyung had blurted out asking to date, and since then, she had begged to date whenever she had the chance.

Each time, Taehoon frowned as if to say ‘What are you talking about?’ It seemed he was burdened both by Hyunkyung’s chaebol background and their 8-year age difference.

However, as the saying goes, “No man can resist being hit on ten times,” and as Hyunkyung kept pushing, he started to show signs of wavering about a month ago.

Even now, he seemed to be contemplating, unable to look away from Hyunkyung.

Noticing the cracks widening a bit more, Hyunkyung moved even closer to Taehoon’s side.

Finally, he answered.

“Alright. If it’s just dating…”

At the positive response, Hyunkyung smiled brightly and cupped Taehoon’s face with both hands.

“Yes, I won’t ask for anything else. Let’s just date. Date!”

Fearing Taehoon might say something else, Hyunkyung quickly kissed him.

For now, she only planned to date.

Just a long, slow-burning, fiercely passionate romance.

Until he desperately begged her to marry him, for a very long time.

Hyunkyung was confident she could make Taehoon propose to her on his knees within 3 years.

Of course, she wouldn’t give up if it didn’t happen in 3 years.

Anyway, Rome wasn’t built in a day.

First, let’s start with dating…

Taehoon’s lips, pressing intensely, were much sweeter and hotter than she had imagined.

A moan of happiness involuntarily escaped Hyunkyung’s lips.

“Wow! What a coincidence to meet here!”

Claire came running towards Yuri and Jeho, who were heading to the airport parking lot, with a smile. Behind her, Woo Gyeol could be seen pulling a suitcase.

“Are you coming back from Jeju Island? We’re on our way to Jeju… If you have time, want to grab a coffee before we go?”

At Woo Gyeol’s suggestion, everyone went into a nearby cafe. Due to being busy, they had only talked on the phone and hadn’t seen each other face to face in quite a while. Especially Claire, who had just come from America the day before, it was the first time since the wedding.

“How’s married life?”

“It’s incredibly good. Woo Gyeol oppa is great, and so is Jasmine.”

Claire smiled brightly as if she owned the world in response to Yuri’s question. Then she grabbed Yuri’s hand.

“This is all thanks to you.”

“Thanks to me?”

“Yes. I had decided that if I caught the bouquet you threw, I would propose to Woo Gyeol oppa.”

At Claire’s words, Jeho’s gaze quickly turned to Woo Gyeol. Woo Gyeol raised the corner of his mouth with a smirk, as if to say ‘Didn’t I tell you?’

Woo Gyeol’s mind naturally drifted back to the day of Yuri and Jeho’s wedding.

“Gasp.”

The moment Claire, leaping like a basketball player, deftly caught the bouquet, Woo Gyeol let out an exclamation.

This is bad!

As Woo Gyeol fidgeted helplessly, Yuri and Jeho, who had just finished kissing, noticed Woo Gyeol’s pale face and looked puzzled.

“Han Woo Gyeol, what’s wrong?”

Finally, Jeho let go of Yuri and approached Woo Gyeol with a worried expression.

“Claire caught the bouquet!”

“Why? Are you afraid Claire will say something because you didn’t catch the wedding garter?”

“That wasn’t because I couldn’t catch it, I gave it up. How could I push aside someone with a cast on their leg? I may not look it, but I’m a man with a warm heart.”

Woo Gyeol, who had been rubbing his chest with his palm, shook his head vigorously as if to say this wasn’t the time for that.

“What should I do? I think Claire is going to propose to me.”

“Propose?”

“Yeah.”

How many years had they been together as lovers? Woo Gyeol knew Claire’s psychology as well as he knew the back of his hand. When she threw her whole body to catch the bouquet like that, it meant she had made a firm resolution about something.

Like proposing, for instance…

“Are you sure? That she decided to propose to you if she caught the bouquet?”

Woo Gyeol nodded hurriedly while watching Claire being surrounded and congratulated by the guests.

“What are you worried about? If Claire proposes, accept it and get married. Just because you’re married doesn’t mean you have to live together, right?”

Jeho thought Woo Gyeol was hesitating to marry Claire because they lived in different countries. But that wasn’t it. Woo Gyeol had a more serious reason.

A dark shadow fell over Woo Gyeol’s face.

He had a secret that he could never reveal, even to Jeho, his best friend.

And that was…