“Are you crying because of another man right now?”

Due to the blur in front of her eyes, Yuri couldn’t clearly see what expression Jeho was making. Just by his voice, he seemed quite angry.

“Who the hell is this bastard?”

“It’s nothing.”

“Nothing my ass. Why are you crying if it’s not because of a man?”

Yuri couldn’t answer and just looked at the man in the laptop.

How should I explain this?

It was truly embarrassing.

1 hour ago.

Yuri had a brief phone call with Hyunkyung. Even if it was a secret from everyone else, she had to tell Hyunkyung. Hyunkyung didn’t take it too seriously.

―I don’t think it’s bad to have a secret relationship for a while.

She didn’t say she wasn’t concerned about the future. Because she would worry.

She felt pathetic for wanting to be by Jeho’s side even like this, but she couldn’t help it.

Not long after hanging up with Hyunkyung, another call came from an unknown number. It was an international call again.

[Yuri? Are you okay?]

It was Aunt Miyeon who was in Europe.

[I was going to send you a wedding gift today, so I called An Misook, but she said the wedding was canceled.]

Miyeon called Lady An by her full name without honorifics. Knowing well about the affair, there was no way Miyeon would look kindly upon Lady An.

“Yes, that’s what happened. Don’t worry. I’m fine.”

[I heard the groom didn’t show up at the wedding venue, and your dad didn’t even protest? He’s always so conscious of others’ opinions.]

After So Yeon’s death, Miyeon stopped calling Chae Hyungsik “brother-in-law”. To Yuri, she called him “your dad”, and in front of others, she called him “Assemblyman Chae”.

“Um, Aunt?”

For a moment, she felt the urge to ask if she knew about the relationship between her mother and Assemblyman Jung Taehyuk.

[Yes? What is it?]

“…When are you coming back to Korea?”

But she couldn’t bring herself to ask. Miyeon might not know either. It seemed like something she should carefully ask face-to-face.

[I have some business in Korea soon. Let’s meet then.]

“Yes, Aunt.”

The brief conversation with her aunt once again reminded her of the relationship between her mother and Assemblyman Jung.

How much must her mother’s heart have ached, living with another man after parting from the one she loved? How sad must she have been, giving birth to a child of a man she didn’t love? Was Yuri’s very existence a burden to her mother? Such thoughts came to mind.

Of course, So Yeon was a perfect mother. She loved Yuri sincerely, without any lack. But it must have been hard.

Fiddling with her mother’s necklace around her neck, Yuri started searching for Assemblyman Jung on the internet. Until now, she had only seen him as her father’s rival. Online, there were plenty of happy family photos.

She felt bitter. It seemed he had completely forgotten her mother and was happy with his wife, so why did he appear belatedly and shake her mother? She felt resentful.

She wanted to see the young days of the man her mother loved. So without much thought, she searched for photos and enlarged the best one she found. The young Jung Taehyuk in his twenties was smiling brightly in the photo.

As Yuri looked at the photo, she found herself crying. She could feel her mother’s unhappiness, and she thought she could somewhat understand her father who had been hurt loving such a mother.

Yet adultery could never be forgiven. She was worried about Yuri who would have to live with the label of an illegitimate child for life. Tears flowed from all these complicated feelings.

But Jeho caught her in this state.

What should I do? It’s too late to hide it. But I can’t tell the truth either.

“It’s Assemblyman Jung Taehyuk. He’s also a strong candidate for the next presidential election.”

“That man?”

Jeho narrowed his eyes as if he couldn’t believe it.

“It’s an old photo. Somehow it came up in the search… It’s really nothing. Looking at the photo reminded me of when I worked on the election campaign, it was very tough then. It was not long after my mom passed away.”

I’m not sure how much of this is truth and how much is an excuse.

Jeho silently looked at the man in the photo. Looking again, it was indeed Assemblyman Jung Taehyuk as she said. He didn’t recognize him at first because it was a photo from his younger days. It wasn’t enough reason for Yuri to cry, but Jeho decided to accept it silently. He didn’t want to clash with her over something trivial.

“I’m sorry. For getting angry.”

He apologized as he closed the laptop and gently pulled her into his arms. Yuri hesitated for a moment, then put her arms around his back.

“…You got off work early.”

“Yeah, I was worried.”

He whispered softly as he cupped Yuri’s cheek with his palm.

“I was afraid you might be crying alone like this when I’m not around, so I couldn’t focus on work.”

“I’m not a crybaby, you know.”

“You always say that, but…”

Seemingly irritated by those words, Yuri looked up at him.

“Why does it seem untrue?”

“Didn’t I tell you not to hold back and cry when you need to?”

“Ah.”

Jeho had a blank expression for a moment. She was referring to the time she had choked back tears in the car.

“That was when I told you to cry when I’m beside you. Not like this, alone.”

“Anyway, I…”

Before she could argue further, Jeho quickly covered her mouth. It might sound crazy, but he had wanted to do this from the moment he entered the house.

The sight of her crying quietly made him even more anxious. He felt the urge to make her cry in a different way. He wanted to make her cry out of overwhelming pleasure, unbearable ecstasy.

He removed his lips for a moment and looked down at Yuri. Her red lips were slightly parted, trying to steady her rough breathing. The breath escaping through the gap in her lips felt unbearably sweet.

“I’m supposed to be the one seducing, but it feels like I’m being seduced by you instead.”

He lowered his head again and pressed his lips against hers as if to bite. One hand cupped her cheek to prevent her from turning her face away, while the other wrapped around her waist as he slowly moved forward.

Yuri took steps backward as if being pushed while in his embrace. She couldn’t think of anything as Jeho kept changing angles and pressing his lips against hers without giving her a chance to breathe. It felt like she was thoroughly bewitched. As she lost her senses to the rising pleasure, she found herself already in the dressing room.

While kissing her with his mouth, he was unbuttoning and untucking Yuri’s shirt from her pants with both hands. She suddenly came to her senses and hurriedly stepped back.

Why the dressing room of all places, when there’s a bed?

“Even if it’s your house…”

As she tried to protest, a cotton T-shirt came down from her neck. While Yuri had a dumbfounded expression, Jeho slipped her arms through the sleeves of the T-shirt. Then he put a baseball jacket with a team logo over the T-shirt, tied Yuri’s hair into one, and put something on her head.

“It suits you better than I expected.”

He smiled contentedly as he looked at Yuri.

“What is this?”

Jeho led Yuri, who was looking at him with incomprehensible eyes, to the full-length mirror.

“You said we should have a secret relationship. We’re going on a trip together, but we can’t be noticed by others, right? So we need a disguise. I can’t dress up as a woman, so…”

“What?”

Yuri looked at her reflection in the mirror with an incredulous face. Surprisingly, a pretty boy was standing in the mirror. Not only the outfit but even the short curly wig was perfect.

“This will make it perfect.”

Jeho took out silver-rimmed glasses and carefully put them on Yuri’s face. Even to Yuri’s own eyes, it was hard to tell if she was a boy or a girl.

“My taste might be questioned, but no one will recognize you as Assemblyman Chae’s daughter.”

She was about to ask where they were going with all this preparation, but he told her first.

“I have a villa in Gangneung. Let’s stay there for a few days. We’ll go to the fish market, see the sea, and especially see the night that’s as bright as day.”

“Gangneung?”

Seeing that her response wasn’t as enthusiastic as he thought, Jeho cupped Yuri’s cheeks with both hands to make her look at him.

“I thought about going abroad too, but there would be immigration records. I was worried it might cause problems later, why? Should we book a flight now?”

“No, it’s not that… I just thought you must be tired, so there’s no need to go on a trip.”

At those words, Jeho bit Yuri’s lips lightly with a playful smile and then let go.

“Hmm, if you’re worried about me, I’m less tired going on a trip. If we stay home, I’ll just want to roll around in bed, and that would consume more energy.”

Yuri flinched with a flustered expression. Jeho lowered his head to touch foreheads with her and smiled gently.

“Can you handle me in bed all day long?”

“What can’t I handle?”

Realizing he was teasing, she put on a prim expression.

“I guess so. After all, the one who’ll be more exhausted is me, not you. How about we test it now? Who’ll have a harder time?”

“No!”

A urgent and loud voice came out of Yuri’s mouth. With her face red up to her neck, Yuri spoke emphasizing each word as if to stress:

“I, really love going to the fish market. Let’s go, to Gangneung.”

Finding her so adorable, Jeho suppressed his laughter and pressed his lips against hers once again.

[This is the timeline separator]

Just because she wore a black mask, had no makeup on her face, short hair, and wore men’s clothes, most people mistook Yuri for a pretty boy. They considered her a simple companion to Jeho, not even looking at her with curious eyes. The atmosphere was quite different from what they experienced in Geoje last time.

When they were nearing Gangneung, they stopped at a rest area for a short break. While waiting at the entrance as Jeho went to buy drinks, she heard whispering from somewhere. When she turned her head towards the sound, three or four middle school girls were gathered, looking at her. One of the girls’ face turned red and she quickly turned away.

One of them, seemingly the representative, approached Yuri and asked:

“Excuse me, are you Juno oppa from Two Fium?”

Yuri looked around, wondering who they were talking to. But there was no one else around.

Then?

Are they asking me if I’m Juno oppa from Two Fium? The middle school idol who debuted recently?

If she spoke, they would realize she was a woman, so she just shook her head, but Jeho approached with the ordered drinks in hand.

“What’s going on?”

As the very tall man approached, the middle school girls stepped back with tense faces. But they couldn’t back down like this, so they approached again.

“Um, mister? Can we take a picture with Juno oppa?”

The middle school girls seemed to have mistaken Jeho for a bodyguard or manager. When Jeho refused with an incredulous face, the girls quickly took out their phones and took selfies with Yuri in the background. Then they ran away screaming, “Kyaa!”

“Pff.”

Yuri tried to hold back her laughter, but as soon as she got in the car, she burst out laughing. It was so funny that tears came to her eyes. Even after driving for a while, Yuri kept giggling, and Jeho looked at her with disbelieving eyes.

“Is the situation funny?”

“Isn’t it? They called you… pff, mister…”

The situation of calling Jeho “mister” with such a natural face was too funny, more so than mistaking her for a middle school idol. Suddenly, she felt mischievous. She had only been teased until now, but this was her chance to tease him.

“Mister, I want to eat a hot bar, can you buy me one?”

At being called “mister”, Jeho frowned and looked at Yuri with a displeased gaze.

“Mister?”

“Yes, mister. I want to eat a hot bar here right now.”

“Ha.”

When Yuri playfully spoke with a slight lisp, Jeho burst into laughter as if he couldn’t believe it.

As if he was really going to the rest area, he turned the steering wheel and exited the highway. But the car headed towards a deserted road, not the rest area. Jeho parked the car in a very secluded place and clicked, unfastening his seatbelt.

Feeling something strange, Yuri turned her head towards Jeho. When their eyes met, he smiled brightly, showing his teeth.

“I told you before. I’m quite picky about places when it comes to actions.”

Of course, she remembered.

Yuri nodded quickly.

“But I also said I don’t care about places in my house.”

As Yuri nodded again without much thought…

Ah! A warning light went off in her head.

Jeho said in a dangerously low voice:

“Right now, we’re inside my car.”