This scent…?

The same exact scent I just felt from Minwoo.

It was the scent of lemon.

But I wasn’t sure. Maybe I had mistaken the lemon scent emanating from Minwoo. Though it strangely bothered me, Yuri didn’t say anything and followed Minwoo into the office.

“Was there something important you had to tell me today?”

Minwoo asked as he sat down on the sofa.

“Not really, but I didn’t want to put it off until tomorrow.”

Yuri continued speaking as she sat down across from him.

“I found out after hanging up the phone with you. That Ji Ho agreed to design our newlywed home.”

“…Oh, that.”

As if just recalling it was unpleasant, Minwoo’s expression twisted.

“If I had known earlier, I would have opposed it. I’m uncomfortable too. So if you really don’t want to, you can tell the chairman and refuse.”

“Huh?”

Minwoo was momentarily taken aback by Yuri saying he could refuse. He thought she wouldn’t care who designed the house, or would even like it. But now that she said she was uncomfortable too, his mind suddenly became complicated.

He didn’t want to start their newlywed life in a house designed by Ji Ho, but going to refuse to Chairman Kwon was a different story altogether. Just imagining standing before Chairman Kwon made him lose his nerve.

“Um, Yuri.”

Minwoo leaned his upper body towards Yuri and carefully began speaking.

“Ji Ho is such a famous architect, you know.”

Now that Yuri said she didn’t want it either, he felt relieved on the contrary. He had been anxious, wondering if she might be drawn to Ji Ho, but when she said it made her uncomfortable, he thought maybe it was a groundless worry.

“Grandfather specially requested it for us, so if we refuse saying we don’t like it, he’ll be upset.”

“What?”

Yuri was momentarily taken aback by Minwoo’s 180-degree change in attitude. Clearly when they spoke on the phone earlier, Minwoo had let out a long sigh as if the world was ending.

“Let’s just leave it to him. He’ll design our house really beautifully.”

Yuri had no more words for Minwoo, who smiled brightly at her. He had always been very fickle. This time too, it seemed he had changed his mind for some reason. If so, continuing a long conversation with Minwoo would just be a waste of time.

“I understand what you mean.”

Yuri said dryly as she stood up from her seat.

What should I do?

Yuri fell into contemplation as she got on the elevator after leaving the office.

As Councilor Chae said, going to refuse to Chairman Kwon doesn’t look good. But she couldn’t start her newlywed life in a house designed by Ji Ho either.

Even now she’s wavering like this… If she lives in a house he designed, she might keep having the same dream. Just imagining it made her suddenly afraid.

Just then, the elevator heading to the lobby stopped on a middle floor. As the doors opened, Assistant Shin, whom she had seen in the hallway earlier, appeared. It seemed she was on her way home.

Though they didn’t exchange greetings, Assistant Shin made eye contact with Yuri and smiled brightly in acknowledgment. Yuri also smiled faintly in return.

As Assistant Shin got on the elevator, a familiar scent filled the small space, and Yuri quietly inhaled.

It wasn’t a mistake after all. She could smell the same lemon scent from Assistant Shin standing next to her as she had from Minwoo. Glancing sideways, she saw that like Minwoo, the ends of her hair were slightly damp. Earlier she hadn’t noticed because they had passed by so quickly.

A moment later, the elevator doors opened at the lobby. Assistant Shin nodded slightly towards Yuri and hurriedly exited the elevator.

Yuri silently watched Assistant Shin’s retreating back.

Now she understood why Minwoo hadn’t answered his phone at all, and why he was so flustered to see her when she came to the company. If they’re trying to hide it, she hopes they’ll hide it perfectly so she doesn’t have to pay attention to it.

“Hah.”

Letting out a scoff, Yuri firmly pressed the close button with her finger.

In that moment, she recalled the sweet and cool scent she had felt in last night’s dream. That man’s unique scent of musk and citrus mixed together… The elevator was filled with a lemon scent, but she didn’t know why she suddenly thought of that scent.

Because she was in an elevator? Because of the dream? As the image of their lips naturally overlapping came to mind, Yuri gently bit her lower lip. It was just a dream, but her heart started beating faster.

[This is the timeline separator]

While driving home, Yuri called Hyunkyung. Despite the late hour, Hyunkyung answered the phone after just one ring.

“Hyunkyung, it’s me.”

[Yuri!]

Hyunkyung’s voice was heightened, as if she had been waiting for Yuri’s call. The two hadn’t had a chance to talk for the past few days as Hyunkyung was visiting Singapore.

[Why does your voice sound like that? Is something worrying you?]

Just from her voice, Hyunkyung immediately noticed what state Yuri was in. Hyunkyung was always like that. She lavished comfort on Yuri that she never received from her family.

“It’s not really a worry, but something troublesome has come up.”

Yuri briefly explained the situation. At first, Hyunkyung’s reaction was the same as Councilor Chae’s.

[What’s wrong with that? A world-renowned architect is designing it for you, you have nothing to lose, right?]

“Ji Ho almost married me before.”

[That’s true. He was also your first love.]

If only he was just my first love.

Even now he keeps barging in unexpectedly. But no matter how close of a friend she was, Yuri couldn’t honestly share about the dream she had today. Others might easily bring up personal stories as topics of conversation, but Yuri couldn’t do that.

“Anyway, I’m uncomfortable with it. Even if everyone else says it’s fine, I don’t like it.”

[Hmm.]

Instead of arguing with Yuri, Hyunkyung let out a long sigh. The good thing about Hyunkyung was that if Yuri said no, she usually accepted it as is. She respected Yuri sufficiently and tried to solve problems from Yuri’s perspective.

[Even so, it’s not right for you to go refuse to Chairman Kwon yourself. So I was thinking…]

Yuri held her breath, waiting for Hyunkyung’s next words.

[How about this? I mean…] [This is the timeline separator]

The next morning, Yuri headed to the company with firm resolve. Following Hyunkyung’s advice, it seemed better to persuade Ji Ho rather than meeting Chairman Kwon to refuse.

At first she was skeptical, wondering if it was really necessary, but when she had a similar dream again last night, her mind changed.

The second dream ended in a more advanced state, so even after waking up in the morning, her heart pounded for a long time. The endless moans still seemed to echo in her head.

Yuri was shocked by her own boldness, performing so skillfully in the dream an act she had never experienced before.

Only after showering under cold water for a long time did her muddled mind clear a bit.

It’s already like this, so if she lives in a house he designed…

Yuri’s expression rapidly darkened.

Even if dreams can’t be controlled by reason, she felt pathetic for easily giving in to desire.

Today she had to have it out with Ji Ho no matter what. She was prepared to face him to the end without being flustered no matter what jokes he threw, and to speak sharply without hesitation if needed. She didn’t care if he thought she was rude or if she was called disrespectful.

Yuri entered the office, boosting her fighting spirit.

But as they say, it never rains but it pours. Even after lunchtime passed, he hadn’t come to work.

“Wow, he’s so diligent. There’s no need to go that far, right?”

After finishing lunch, Sun Young chattered as she handed Yuri a takeout coffee cup.

“Who?”

“Who else? Kwon Ji Ho. As soon as he came to work today, he went down to Changwon with the director.”

“Changwon?”

“Yes. They went for the village hall reconstruction project. That’s purely a volunteer project, but…”

If he went down to Changwon, would he be able to return before quitting time?

“Probably both of them will go straight home from the site.”

Sun Young said, as if reading Yuri’s mind.

Even after quitting time passed, Ji Ho didn’t appear at the office. Yuri headed home, trying hard to soothe her disappointed heart. Of course, the reason she was disappointed was because she wanted to settle things as soon as possible, but it was postponed until tomorrow.

That night, Yuri suffered from another nightmare.

Unfortunately, the third dream was more intense than the second. If the dreams kept continuing, eventually it would go all the way…

No!

Recalling the very passionate hands that had burrowed under her shirt, Yuri shook her head vigorously. But she couldn’t spend the night wide awake. This must all be a side effect of the anxiety from not resolving things in time.

She wanted to believe it was a phenomenon that would naturally disappear after meeting and talking with Ji Ho. While having it out with him, she should politely ask him to stop with the strange jokes too.

However, sadly, even the next day Ji Ho didn’t come to work. Sun Young tipped her off that the work ran late so he spent the night in Changwon. He would probably come up to Seoul late in the afternoon.

Then does that mean she can’t see him today either? With her troubled heart, Yuri felt like crying.

Is she troubled because the planned task keeps getting postponed? Or is she troubled because she can’t see him?

Yuri pressed the back of her hand against her hot eyelids and glanced at the empty seat next to her.

[This is the timeline separator]

As she was cleaning up her desk to leave work, she got a call from Director Kim. Yuri wanted to ask if he was still in Changwon, but held back.

[Yuri, I’m sorry to ask at quitting time, but could you print out the blueprints I’m telling you about and leave them on my desk? It’s urgent…]

“Yes, of course.”

Yuri wrote down the numbers of the blueprints Director Kim requested on a piece of paper. The fact that he was asking her, who was about to leave, meant that Director Kim would return to the office late at night. Then that means Ji Ho would come up to Seoul with Director Kim too.

With the expectation that she would be able to see him tomorrow at least, Yuri gladly complied with Director Kim’s request. But because it was a complicated blueprint, it took quite some time to set up the printer. By the time she finished the task, she was left alone in the office.

Yuri examined the blueprints carefully one more time, then placed them on Director Kim’s desk. Just as she was about to walk out of the director’s office, the door opened and Ji Ho entered.

Even though it had only been a day since she last saw him, the moment she saw him her heart sank. Tears welled up as if she hadn’t seen him for a long time. Surprised by her own reaction, Yuri quickly averted her gaze to the side.

Ji Ho nodded slightly in greeting out of courtesy, then walked straight to his desk. He picked up the blueprints Yuri had just put down.

“The call from the director earlier, I asked for it. You must have left work very late because of me. I’m sorry.”

“…Oh, yes.”

Yuri replied briefly, avoiding eye contact. Despite her resolve to have it out with him as soon as possible, the words wouldn’t come easily.

Was it because she had strange dreams two days in a row? Just looking at him made her face heat up as the images from her dreams kept overlapping.

He must be tired after just coming up, I can’t hold onto someone like that to talk.

Yuri made a plausible excuse to herself and postponed it to next time.

“I’ll be heading home now.”

Yuri greeted Ji Ho, who was looking over the blueprints, and headed towards the door. But instead of accepting her greeting, Ji Ho asked a question.

“By the way, you haven’t told the chairman yet?”

Turning around, she saw Ji Ho put down the blueprints on the desk and walk towards her.

“About designing the newlywed home, I mean.”

“The chairman is busy, so I couldn’t tell him right away.”

“…Is that so?”

He twisted his lips as if disappointed.

“I thought you had changed your mind, and was secretly excited…”

Now is the time. Now was the opportunity to persuade him.

Yuri slowly inhaled and then blurted out:

“Do you think you could spare some time today?”

“Time?”

“Yes, I have something to say.”

Yuri stared straight into Ji Ho’s curious eyes and emphasized:

“Just the two of us.”