“Aren’t you curious how my number is saved in your phone?”

Jeho smiled brightly and showed her his phone.

The name displayed on the screen was simply ‘Chae Yuri’, just three characters. Yuri couldn’t help but feel a twinge of disappointment in her eyes. Of course, she wasn’t expecting a cute nickname like ‘my girl’ or ‘my baby’.

But still, just three characters of her name. It would have been less barren if it was just ‘Yuri’…

“Oh dear, you look disappointed. Should I change it then?”

As he playfully laughed and tried to press the phone buttons, Yuri hastily waved her hands.

“No. It’s okay. I’ll change mine.”

Yuri quickly changed ‘my man’ to ‘Kwon Jeho’. She couldn’t keep it saved as ‘my man’ anyway.

She thought he would say something even if he didn’t stop her, but Jeho just leaned his arms on the glass railing and watched. As Yuri put her phone in her jacket pocket after changing the name, Jeho leaned his upper body towards her and spoke.

“You look a bit different today.”

“Ah, I borrowed Hyunkyung’s clothes.”

At those words, Jeho slowly looked her up and down. The jacket was the one Yuri brought yesterday, but the blouse she wore underneath was Hyunkyung’s.

It wasn’t clinging to her chest or emphasizing her curves, nor was her cleavage showing, but it was more low-cut than what she usually wore. Yuri buttoned up the jacket just in case.

“I was talking about your makeup, not your clothes…”

“Ah.”

This morning when she arrived at work, it had already caused a stir once. Everyone praised her, saying she looked great. It was ironic. She had just put on heavier makeup to hide the bruise on her cheek, but people were cheering that she looked pretty. However, Jeho noticed right away.

“Is the mark still there? Enough that you have to cover it with makeup?”

Cupping Yuri’s cheek with his palm, he muttered in a low voice.

“The swelling is still a bit there.”

It must be visible to Jeho’s keen eyes. Actually, the inside of her mouth was more of a problem than her swollen cheek. The inside of her mouth was torn, so it stung every time she ate, which was quite uncomfortable. She would have to eat only the softest foods that weren’t too salty for a while.

“Does it still hurt?”

He asked softly as he slowly rubbed her cheek with his thumb.

It was probably done out of concern, but Yuri unknowingly flinched and stepped back. Her lips trembled from the sharp, tingling sensation.

For some reason, now even small touches made her body react differently than before. Was it because she realized her feelings?

Yuri turned her head to avoid Jeho’s confused gaze. Then she spoke in a somewhat dry voice.

“I was really grateful then. If you give me your account number, I’ll send you the money for the clothes and any other expenses.”

Jeho stared silently at Yuri, who suddenly changed her attitude. Then after a moment, he said with a slanted smile.

“My, my. You’re trying to make me feel bad.”

At the mention of feeling bad, Yuri turned her head towards Jeho.

“Do I seem like the kind of petty guy who would remember all that and ask for it back one by one?”

“No. That’s not it. I just don’t like feeling indebted. It makes me uncomfortable.”

She was sincerely uncomfortable feeling indebted. Also, for now it was the most she could do to draw a line. She said she wouldn’t budge no matter how much he tempted her, but she crumbled on her own before he even tried. However, she couldn’t let him find out.

“Then I’ll go in first now.”

As she hurriedly passed by, Jeho reached out and grabbed her arm.

“But we still need to find the necklace. Ah, you can’t do that either because it makes you uncomfortable?”

His voice sounded a bit dejected, as if he was offended. As Yuri remained silent, unable to say anything, Jeho sighed deeply. Then he let go of the arm he was holding.

“Don’t worry and come find it with peace of mind. I’m not enough of a thug to jump a woman who came to find her late mother’s keepsake.”

She couldn’t outright refuse the offer when he was being this considerate. And more than anything, it was about her precious mother’s keepsake.

“Then is it okay if I come tomorrow after work?”

“Sure. Tomorrow.”

After answering, Jeho turned his back and walked towards the rooftop door. She thought he would stop walking and look back at least once, but he went down from the rooftop just like that. It was a natural reaction to her cold attitude.

But why did it sting so much inside?

Yuri pressed her throbbing chest hard with her palm, reproaching her foolish self.

I’m really disappointed in you, Chae Yuri.

The next day, Yuri didn’t know how the day passed. Not because it was too fast, but because it was so slow that Yuri was going mad inside. Of course it was because she was nervous about going to find her mother’s necklace, absolutely not because of anticipation about going there alone with him.

Anticipation? Ha, no way. She should avoid a man who blatantly says he’ll seduce her.

Yuri explained her plan for tonight to Hyunkyung and told her she might be late. Then Hyunkyung pushed Yuri’s back in an excited voice.

―It’s fine. You can just sleep there and come back tomorrow.

The wedding was the day after tomorrow, so this was the time to stop her even if Hyunkyung was in her right mind, but she was encouraging it instead. It seemed she didn’t like the marriage with Minwoo from the beginning, so she was hoping it would break off using this chance.

Finally quitting time came and as Yuri hurriedly turned off her computer, Jeho came out of the director’s office and approached her.

“Here are the car keys. Take my car and go there first.”

Putting the car keys on the desk, he said.

“There’s a small issue at the construction site, so I need to stop by with the director. I’ll go as quickly as I can after finishing up.”

“…Ah.”

“It’s okay. The car has a transponder installed so the gate will open automatically. Press the rearview mirror button to open the garage door and go inside the house through the garage. I turned the alarm off, so don’t worry.”

Even though the owner gave permission, Yuri was a bit concerned about entering someone else’s house like that. But she took the car keys, thinking it would be fine since Jeho said it was okay.

“Don’t worry about turning on the lights either. It’s set to motion sensor function.”

Just as Jeho said, the moment Yuri set foot inside the mansion, cheerful music played and it brightened as if it were broad daylight. The mansion she visited after several days felt warm, as if someone was living there, though that couldn’t be.

Yuri took off her jacket and put it on the sofa with her bag as she looked around. She tied her hair up and rolled up her sleeves. There was no time to waste. She had to hurry and find the necklace before Jeho arrived. Though the necklace that hadn’t been seen for days probably wouldn’t suddenly appear now.

As expected, the goddess of luck didn’t smile upon her today either. Yuri searched the whole house without rest to the point that sweat beaded on her nose bridge, but the necklace was nowhere to be found. There were only two places she hadn’t looked here.

The master bedroom the owner used and the garden with the swimming pool. She hadn’t entered the master bedroom even on her first visit, so the chances of the necklace being there were close to zero. But just in case, she headed to the master bedroom.

Click, she turned the knob but it didn’t open. The bedroom door was locked. Come to think of it, it seemed to always be locked.

“Whew.”

Yuri checked her wristwatch with a long sigh. It had been over 2 hours since she arrived here. Jeho said he would come as quickly as possible, but it seemed he would be even later.

Then the last place to look for the necklace would be near the swimming pool and garden. Yuri put on her jacket and headed to the garden. The garden lighting system must have also been set to motion sensor function, because the moment Yuri stepped outside, it lit up brightly as if it were daytime.

Even though she wore a jacket, the night breeze felt quite chilly, so Yuri rubbed her arms with her palms.

“Chae Yuri, let’s find it quickly and go!”

She cheered herself on with a murmur and started looking for the necklace. But the goddess of luck didn’t smile in the garden either. Where on earth did she drop it? She wouldn’t lose it forever like this, would she?

They couldn’t suspend construction indefinitely either. Once construction started, the chances of finding the necklace were close to zero.

“…I’m sorry, Mom.”

As tears welled up from the anxiety, Yuri plopped down on a lounge chair by the swimming pool. She blankly stared at the pool when a gentle breeze made ripples on the water surface. Along with the waves, the soft lighting also wavered.

That’s when it happened. Something gold glimmered in the blue water.

Huh? Is that?

Yuri got up from the lounge chair, knelt by the edge of the pool and peered intently into the water.

“…Ah!”

It wasn’t clear because it was underwater, but it looked like a necklace. Yuri looked around for a pool bottom cleaning brush or long pole, but couldn’t find a suitable tool.

Should she wait until he came?

But even if Jeho came, there was no real way for him to help. She couldn’t ask him to drain the pool water, and even if he did, the necklace might get sucked away somewhere in the process of draining the water.

No choice. If not now, she might never find the necklace. Yuri took off her shoes and jacket and tied her hair tightly again. The water would be a bit cold, but she was confident in swimming, so it wouldn’t be a big problem.

Splash, Yuri immediately dove into the pool. The pool water was much colder than expected. Pain like being pricked by needles spread throughout her body, but Yuri gritted her teeth and swam towards the glimmering gold object.

Oh my gosh! The gold object was indeed the necklace she had been desperately searching for. It was as moving as meeting her mother again. Yuri grabbed the necklace in one go and headed straight up.

“Whew.”

The moment she emerged from the water, she let out the breath she had been holding. Then from somewhere, an angry loud voice shouted.

“What are you doing?”

Turning her head towards the voice, Jeho was running over with a grim expression. Yuri waved at him with a big smile.

“I found the necklace!”

“What? Necklace? You, right now?”

He frowned, looking very angry.

The moment she reached the edge of the pool, Jeho’s strong hand grabbed her shoulder and pulled her out. As she came out, the chilling night breeze made her flesh crawl.

“Damn it.”

As Yuri gasped for breath, shivering, Jeho cursed under his breath and wrapped her body with a large towel from the lounge chair. Then he held her and headed inside the house. Water dripped from her body with each step.

“…Ah, no. The carpet will get all wet.”

Yuri abruptly stopped at the boundary where the marble and carpet met after entering the living room. Jeho made an absurd expression.

“Is the carpet getting wet the problem now?”

“…I …this is someone else’s house.”

Despite shivering, Yuri stubbornly shook her head as she leaned against the living room glass wall.

“Ha!”

Jeho ran his hand through his hair as if annoyed, then left Yuri for a moment and hurriedly disappeared into the bathroom. After a while, he brought several large towels and exchanged the wet towel wrapped around Yuri’s body. But as Yuri’s body kept shivering, Jeho held her tight.

“This won’t do. First, take off your wet clothes.”

With those words, he roughly started to unbutton Yuri’s blouse. As the blouse opened, bare skin was exposed to the air. The skin that had felt numb as if frozen from the cold burned like it was on fire the moment his hand touched it. Startled by her own reaction, Yuri hurriedly grabbed Jeho’s wrist. But he didn’t stop.

“No time. Take it off quickly before your body temperature drops more.”

“…Th, then…”

Her pronunciation was so slurred from shivering that Yuri thought it didn’t sound like her own voice. She couldn’t tell if she was shivering from the cold or from fluster.

“…I… I’ll take it off.”

Covering Jeho’s hand that was unbuttoning with her own hand, she spoke as if pleading. He loosened his motion and met eyes with her.

Yuri’s pale cheeks slowly reddened.