“Teacher Jin, I got a message that she arrived safely in Singapore.”

At Woo Gyeol’s words, Jeho nodded while keeping his gaze fixed on the tablet PC screen. Woo Gyeol, who had been poking at his salad, put down his fork and continued.

“At first, I didn’t understand your decision. But thinking about it again, it’s not necessarily a bad thing.”

Only then did Jeho look up at Woo Gyeol.

“That Minwoo bastard is so cunning, I realized we couldn’t sell anything through Teacher Jin except for the President Park case. But President Park is completely domestic, right? It’s certain he wasn’t the one who did that to the Vice Chairman. So there was no need for Teacher Jin to stay by Minwoo’s side anymore.”

After a brief pause, Woo Gyeol continued.

“Still, you shouldn’t have passed that information to Assemblyman Chae. It could have been the most powerful weapon to take down Minwoo.”

“I care more about finding out who tried to harm my father than Minwoo’s downfall.”

“Then what are you doing now? I’m not saying don’t date Yuri. But the fact is you approached her with intentions, right?”

A bitter smile flashed across Jeho’s face at the painful point.

“What if, by any chance, it’s revealed that Assemblyman Chae was behind it? What will you do then?”

Jeho remained silent. He couldn’t bring himself to tell Woo Gyeol.

He knew it was crazy, but he couldn’t let go of Yuri now. That one mistake ten years ago, when he just left for America, was enough.

If asked what his feelings for her were now, he still wasn’t sure.

But now he needed Yuri. That much was certain.

“Elder sister, are you alright?”

Yuri had briefly stopped by the house to pack some things when Yuri approached her with a worried face.

“Mom went out to a gathering.”

As Yuri looked around, Yuri quickly informed her.

“She said she needed to control the people around before strange rumors spread about how the wedding turned out yesterday.”

“I see.”

“It’s good, elder sister. A bad man like Minwoo deserves an equally bad woman. Or just watch from afar. Otherwise, you’ll get hurt.”

Sometimes it seemed like Yuri saw through to the essence of Minwoo more accurately than Yuri did. Her occasional advice was quite on point.

“So where are you staying now?”

For some reason, Yuri seemed to be in a good mood today. She followed behind Yuri with a bright smile.

“Are you staying with Jeho?”

Yuri didn’t answer and silently put clothes she would wear into her suitcase. She noticed the silver dress that Hyunkyung had prepared as a couple look. Yuri put the dress in last and closed the suitcase.

“I’m going now.”

After giving Yuri a light hug, Yuri left through the front door with her suitcase. After putting the suitcase in the trunk, she started the car and drove off. Packing her things to go to Jeho’s place made her feel somewhat excited.

Jeho had sent a text message a couple hours ago, but Yuri hadn’t even checked it. Jeho thought about calling her, but decided against it in case she was sleeping and he would wake her up.

“Um…”

As it was nearing the end of the workday, Sunyoung took the lead and approached. Although no one except Jeho and Manager Kim had gone to the wedding venue since it was a weekday wedding, they seemed to know it had been cancelled. Even though it was a political marriage, all the coworkers appeared worried about Yuri.

“I wasn’t sure if I should call and ask. Is Yuri alright?”

“Yes, she’s fine. Thanks for your concern.”

At those words, Sunyoung returned to her seat with a relieved expression. Jeho watched Sunyoung’s retreating figure and sent another message.

Again there was no response.

He had told Sunyoung she was fine, but having left Yuri alone, he felt uneasy.

She might have been okay yesterday from the shock, but symptoms could appear the next day. He couldn’t focus on work, wondering if she had collapsed somewhere or was crying alone.

When it was time to leave work, Jeho immediately got up from his seat and drove home. The way home felt especially long today, and his heart pounded as he got closer to home.

After parking the car in the garage and hurriedly entering the house, Jeho stopped in his tracks with a surprised expression. An unexpected scene unfolded before his eyes.

“…Ah.”

Startled by his presence, Yuri turned around with a shocked face. Yuri was standing in the kitchen that looked as if a war had broken out.

“You’re home?”

Various dishes were laid out on the dining table. It looked as if a hotel banquet catering service had come and gone. It made him wonder if it was his birthday today.

“What is all this?”

Instead of answering, Yuri pointed sheepishly at the double oven installed on the wall.

“I used the oven a bit, is that okay?”

When Jeho nodded, she finally smiled brightly and started explaining.

“I stopped by the fish market and there were a lot of fresh seafood. I grilled the black cod with a soy sauce base. I also made fried shrimp and seafood pancakes.”

Now he understood why she hadn’t checked his messages. She had been so focused on cooking until now that she didn’t have time to answer the phone.

“I made some side dishes too, and tried making various things. I have to earn my keep while I’m staying here, right?”

Yuri turned off the gas stove as she took off her apron. Though not an exceptional cook, she could make any dish thanks to learning bit by bit while doing volunteer work.

She had been so focused on cooking that Yuri didn’t even notice the flour on her bangs. Jeho chuckled and brushed off the white powder with his fingertip. As she went “Ah?” in surprise, he quickly pressed his lips against hers.

“I’d be happy with this as payment.”

After a long while, he whispered softly as he pulled away.

“And this is punishment for ignoring my texts.”

After saying that, Jeho lowered his head again. The punishment for not replying to his messages was a bit longer and more intense.

Only when Yuri, who was suffocating, couldn’t bear it anymore and hit his chest with her fist did he reluctantly let go. Yuri looked up at him with a reddened face, breathing heavily.

“Haa, we should settle accounts properly. That’s the only way I won’t feel uncomfortable.”

“As you wish. But don’t forget that I’ll collect payment in my own way too.”

As he tried to lower his head again, Yuri jumped back in surprise. She remembered what happened on the kitchen island yesterday. Unlike yesterday, it was now cluttered with all sorts of food ingredients.

“Hurry and change your clothes, then wash your hands and come back.”

When Yuri pushed his back with her hands, Jeho laughed and obediently walked to the bedroom. It had been quite a while since he came home to find someone cooking and waiting for him. It felt strange.

Entering the dressing room, he saw Yuri’s other suitcase placed in the corner. It seemed she had stopped by her house earlier today. Her clothes were hanging demurely in one corner.

Just the fact that Yuri’s clothes were hanging there made his heart flutter. It was as exciting as seeing her in front of him when he woke up in the morning. It felt like they had become newlyweds.

He was almost scared that he might not be able to be apart from her even for a moment.

After changing into comfortable clothes and washing his hands, he came out to find the kitchen already neatly cleaned up except for the dishes.

As Jeho sat down, Yuri placed the soy sauce grilled black cod she had taken out of the oven in front of him. Beside it were various dishes like fried shrimp, seafood pancakes, and jellyfish salad.

“How does it taste?”

Yuri asked carefully as she waited for Jeho to take a bite.

“It’s delicious.”

“You don’t have to force yourself to say it’s good.”

“It really is delicious.”

“You just can’t eat spicy food, right?”

An expression of “how did you know that?” appeared on Jeho’s face.

The dishes he had prepared so far were all non-spicy foods like abalone porridge, chicken noodle soup, cream-based pasta, and clam chowder.

In Geoje, he had gone to eat codfish stew on a stone plate for her sake, but he had barely touched the codfish stew. He seemed to have only tasted one bite of the codfish stew and mainly ate the side dishes that came with it.

Small details that she had passed by without much thought at the time began to stand out clearly. Anything related to him, even the tiniest things.

Yuri silently watched Jeho as he enjoyed the food she had made.

When their eyes met briefly, he smiled gently at her. At that smile, a small pain arose somewhere near her heart. Strange. Before it had just been fluttering, but now it hurt like being pricked by an awl.

She was starting to feel a bit scared. Because it felt like she had fallen for him to a degree incomparable to her first love.

Yuri smiled back at Jeho, but she couldn’t smile comfortably. Emotions that couldn’t be easily sorted out were tangled complexly in her head and heart.

The meal was perfect, right up to the vanilla ice cream garnished with blueberries and mint leaves that came out for dessert.

“I’ll do the dishes.”

When the meal was over, Jeho got up and picked up the plates. But Yuri quickly snatched the plates from his hands.

“No. Let me finish everything today.”

Yuri pushed Jeho away with her shoulder and headed to the sink, stacking the dishes neatly. As she was putting the leftover food into the food waste dryer, he suddenly came up behind her and embraced her.

“Then let’s finish together.”

Her back pressed against his chest.

“It’ll help with digestion too.”

Jeho rinsed the plates with water while hugging Yuri from behind. Then he started putting them into the dishwasher one by one.

Yuri was stuck between the sink and Jeho, unable to move. She was completely enveloped in his arms. There was no reason for her to say she would do the dishes like this…

“Don’t do this. I’ll do it.”

“It’s almost done.”

He didn’t seem to have any intention of handing over control to her. After putting the last plate in the dishwasher, he now covered her hands with his large ones.

“Okay, we’re done, so let’s wash our hands.”

Still embracing her from behind, he put hand soap on Yuri’s hands and lathered them up. With their fingers interlaced, he washed her hands slowly and thoroughly as if caressing them. Why was this? It was just washing hands, but it felt like their bodies were overlapping, not just their hands.

As he lowered his head, she felt his hot breath near her cheek. Along with the mint scent of the vanilla ice cream they had for dessert…

“You’re too dangerously sweet. You always drive me crazy.”

He whispered lowly as he nibbled on Yuri’s earlobe. At the dizzying sensation, Yuri hunched her shoulders. Last time it was the kitchen island, and today it’s the sink? Yuri gently twisted her body, trying to break free from him.

“You said you cared about place last time, and now too.”

“I don’t care in my own home.”

His hands wrapped more tightly around her waist.

“How can you say that?”

“Why, don’t you like it?”

I don’t dislike it. The problem is it’s even more heated. As he blew hot breath into her ear, her legs weakened and her knees buckled. If not for his hands around her waist, she would have collapsed right there. His touches became a bit more blatant, and Yuri had to grab his wrists to stop him.

“Don’t do that, let’s watch TV.”

At Yuri’s words, Jeho obediently let go and stepped back. But it felt somewhat disappointing that he gave up so easily. This isn’t some kind of training, is it?

Sitting side by side on the sofa watching TV lasted barely 10 minutes before Jeho stretched out his arm and made her sit in front of him. Like before, he held her tightly with her back against his chest. As he squeezed so hard she could barely breathe, Yuri squirmed trying to break free from him.

“What are you doing now?”

“Just stay still for a moment. I’m recharging.”

He murmured, pressing his lips to the nape of her neck. He had painfully held back the desire to do this all day long. He wanted to throw away work and everything else and come to the house where she was. It was the same even when he was getting advice from Woo Gyeol.

In short, I’ve gone crazy. For you.

“Jeho.”

Just then, Yuri called out to him. Concerned by her subdued voice, Jeho loosened his arms, and Yuri turned to face him.

Meeting his eyes, she asked carefully:

“Do you want to do it with me?”