The moment she realized she had fallen in love, her body and mind reached their peak, and finally, Yuri burst into tears with a scream.

What should I do?

When Yuri burst into tears, Jeho, with a surprised expression, held her in his arms and comforted her.

“I’m sorry, I teased you too much.”

But that’s not why…

However, instead of clearing up the misunderstanding, Yuri wrapped her arms around Jeho’s back and hugged him tightly. How could she hide her feelings? Just realizing her love was so overwhelming she could barely breathe, and her mind was confused about what to do next.

“It’s okay now.”

The gentle touch stroking her back once again made tears pour from Yuri’s eyes.

Yes, it’s not my fault. You’re the bad one. It’s because you treat me so kindly.

She shouldn’t have taken lightly the warning about protecting only her body and not her heart. Saying nonsense like she was trained and fine… She should have been careful. The careless playing with fire would eventually leave deep burns on both body and mind. But even knowing this, she couldn’t push Jeho away.

Yuri fell asleep while quietly sobbing in Jeho’s arms.

After confirming she was asleep, Jeho carefully got up. He got off the bed and went to the bathroom, returning with a warm, damp towel. Being careful not to wake Yuri, he wiped her tear-stained face with the towel. Yuri let out a low moan and shifted, but fortunately didn’t wake up.

After wiping away her tears, Jeho sat on the edge of the bed instead of lying down again, silently looking down at Yuri.

Tonight, she was definitely different somehow. What could it be? It doesn’t seem to be just because of the wine.

Even with just the slightest touch, she trembled and furrowed her brow. To be more precise, it was like she was shaken by emotions she couldn’t control.

Fortunately, the misunderstanding was cleared up, but was it because she mistook Claire for his girlfriend? Or did she notice something from the conversation with Woo Gyeol?

“Hoo.”

Jeho let out a long sigh, pressing his forehead with one hand. It felt like walking on thin ice while holding a time bomb that could explode at any moment. There are no secrets in this world, and if he slipped up even a little, the reason why he approached her could be exposed.

Thinking about the pain Yuri would feel when she learned the truth made his chest feel tight, as if crushed by a large rock. But he didn’t know how to unravel the tangled situation. Should he confess first? Or should he keep it a secret until he dies?

The wrong start would eventually catch up to him painfully. Knowing this, he still couldn’t let her go.

You have to stay by my side until the end. Whether you find out the truth or not.

Jeho bit his lips tightly and gently caressed Yuri’s cheek with his fingertips.

“Ugh, ugh.”

Yuri curled up on the bed, holding her head with both hands. Perhaps because she mixed wine and cocktails, when she opened her eyes the next day, a terrible hangover hit her.

But was it just her head? Due to being tormented until dawn as punishment, her whole body ached as if it had been beaten. And…

As Yuri blinked blankly, her hand automatically moved to her left chest. Especially since realizing she was in love, the area around her heart felt particularly sore. Even now, lying alone on the empty bed.

Jeho was not to be seen, having woken up earlier. Yuri reached out to where he had lain. Judging by the coldness of the sheets, he must have gotten up long ago.

Realizing that staying in bed would only worsen her headache, Yuri painfully raised her body. Almost crawling, she emerged from under the blanket and headed to the bathroom. After filling the bathtub with hot water, she dropped some bubble bath into the water and slipped into the fragrant bubbles.

“Ah.”

As the warm water touched her body, a moan involuntarily escaped her lips. As her stiff muscles slowly began to loosen, Yuri wrapped her arms around her raised knees and rested her head on them.

How much time had passed?

“Feeling better now?”

At the soft voice, she raised her head to find Jeho standing in front of the bathtub, having come in at some point. Startled, Yuri covered her face with both hands and sunk into the bubbles.

Soon realizing that the bubbles obscured everything anyway, she emerged from the water again. Wiping the water from her face with both hands, she brushed her wet hair back.

“My head still hurts a bit.”

“Just your head?”

Yuri silently nodded in response.

“Can you shower alone? Or do you want me to help?”

“Thanks, but I’ll politely decline.”

“Alright then. Come out after you shower.”

She had worried he might insist on helping until the end, but he withdrew willingly. After Jeho left the bathroom, Yuri raised her heavy body and entered the shower stall.

When she came out after showering, she saw Jeho busy cooking. Various food ingredients were scattered on the island countertop.

It was unexpected. Until now, he had cooked so neatly, taking out only the necessary ingredients, that there was almost no cleanup needed afterward.

“What’s all this?”

Yuri looked around at the vegetables and spice containers strewn about.

“Ah.”

He seemed not to have noticed Yuri approaching, focused on cooking. He turned around with a slightly surprised face. Yuri tilted her head to the side and looked down at the unidentified food bubbling away.

“I heard bean sprouts and dried pollack are good for hangovers, so I’m boiling them together.”

“Have you ever made bean sprout and dried pollack soup before?”

“No, this is my first time.”

Jeho grumbled that unlike Western cuisine, even simple Korean soups were difficult to make. Still, he managed to properly prepare the dried pollack and clean the bean sprouts well, boiling them without any fishy smell. Tasting a spoonful of the soup, Yuri smiled involuntarily.

“Are you sure this is your first time? It’s really delicious.”

“Good, I’m glad.”

He pushed the red pepper powder container towards Yuri, as if to say she could add more if she wanted it spicier. Yuri giggled and added a large spoonful of red pepper powder to the soup. Jeho watched with fond eyes as Yuri emptied her soup bowl with relish.

“My father can’t drink alcohol at all. He gets so drunk he almost passes out after just one sip. My mother only has about a glass of champagne. So we hardly ever had to make hangover soup at home.”

Is it because of his parents’ influence? Looking back, Jeho also seemed to rarely drink, maybe having a glass occasionally, but mostly drinking non-alcoholic beverages.

“That’s why it’s so shocking. A person who couldn’t even touch alcohol…”

Jeho’s face darkened as he muttered as if to himself. When Yuri looked at him with worried eyes, Jeho shook his head with a gentle smile.

“It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it. Do you want more soup?”

Jeho picked up Yuri’s empty soup bowl and walked to the stove. Yuri watched Jeho’s back as he ladled more soup, then cautiously spoke up.

“After I finish this, I’ll go home. I want to be alone today because I’m not feeling well.”

“Doesn’t that mean someone should be there to take care of you?”

He asked, setting the soup bowl down in front of Yuri.

“I’m not sick, just uncomfortable. At times like this, it’s easier to be alone.”

“Alright. I’ll take you home after you finish eating.”

After escorting her to the front of the officetel, Jeho earnestly insisted that she call him anytime if she needed anything. Yuri just nodded mechanically. After sending him off and entering the empty house, Yuri stood in place for a while.

Realizing she was alone, she felt inexplicably sorrowful. She wanted to stay by his side longer.

But she needed to get her careless heart in check, even now. If she let him take care of her while feeling unwell, she would eventually crumble beyond the point of no return.

“Ah.”

Suddenly, as if to punish her, a strong headache hit. Even standing still, her head throbbed so much that tears welled up from the pain. But she was grateful for such pain. It kept her from thinking about other things. Yuri held her head with both hands as she headed to the bedroom.

How long had she slept?

When she opened her eyes, it was already dark outside. Fortunately, the headache seemed to have completely subsided. Yuri slowly got up from the bed and left the bedroom.

Thanks to the automatic indirect lighting, there was no need to turn on the lights. Yuri walked straight to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator door. As she took out a bottle of water and closed the refrigerator door, she felt a strange sense of dissonance.

The positions of items in the refrigerator had shifted slightly. Yuri narrowed her eyes and looked around. Not just the refrigerator, but the kitchen as well. It felt as if someone had touched things here and there. But that couldn’t be…

As she opened the water bottle and took a sip, turning around, she discovered an intruder sitting on the living room sofa in the darkness.

“Aaah!”

Yuri screamed and dropped the water bottle. At the same time, the intruder quickly stood up from the sofa.

“It’s me, don’t be scared.”

Minwoo urgently grabbed Yuri’s shoulders as she was about to collapse on the spot, pulling her back up. Coming to her senses, Yuri pushed Minwoo away with both hands and shouted loudly.

“Are you crazy? What are you doing here?”

“Yuri, calm down and listen to me.”

Minwoo spoke rapidly with an aggrieved expression.

“I was worried when you didn’t answer any of my calls, so I came to check on you. Do you know how sorry and worried I was after we parted like that yesterday?”

“How did you get in here?”

“The door was open. I was terrified, thinking maybe a burglar had broken in. I looked around, but everything seemed fine, so I was waiting for you to wake up.”

The door was open?

Yuri moistened her dry lips with a blank expression. Had she been so out of it that she didn’t properly lock the door? She remembered opening the door to come in, but couldn’t recall checking if it had closed.

“Yuri, are you okay?”

Minwoo asked in a concerned voice. When Yuri gave no response, he continued speaking.

“No matter how good the security system is, you need to be careful. A woman living alone can become a target for crime. What if some guy with bad intentions had snuck in?”

He said this, but the one with bad intentions was Minwoo himself. Looking down at the sleeping Yuri, lewd impulses had arisen.

But unless they got drunk together naturally like yesterday, doing something now would be a crime. He had to be cautious. Having been caught by Assemblyman Chae, he couldn’t carelessly touch Yuri.

“…Hmm.”

Yuri inhaled, frowning in confusion. Her face looked very pale.

When he checked earlier, she had been sleeping like the dead. Was the effect of the drug appearing belatedly?

Yesterday, as Minwoo poured the last bottle of wine, he secretly slipped a drug into a new glass. Fearing Yuri might be suspicious, he pretended to taste it, taking a sip before handing the glass to Yuri. But Yuri, who emptied the glass completely, was fine while he alone passed out after just one sip.

When he came to his senses in the afternoon and looked into the drug, he found that sometimes it has no effect on some people.

Apparently, the only side effect is suffering from a hangover-like headache the next day, which happens when one has built up a tolerance to sleeping pills. Did Yuri frequently take sleeping pills usually? As Minwoo pondered to himself, his eyes met Yuri’s and he put on a gentle smile.

“Bad hangover? Should we go get some hangover soup?”

Minwoo slipped into his role of playing the caring male friend. But Yuri firmly refused with a cold expression.

“Thanks for the offer, but I’m going back to bed. You should go home now.”

“Yuri.”

Minwoo approached Yuri, who was pointing to the front door, and pleaded.

“Please give me a chance. I can show you I’d make a great husband.”

“Minwoo.”

“But since you’re not feeling well, I’ll just go for today.”

Minwoo’s face looked as sorrowful as an abandoned puppy as he looked at her. However, Yuri simply gestured towards the front door with her chin.

As he left the officetel with a dejected face, Yuri immediately locked the front door. Only after securely fastening the door chain did she lean against the door with a sigh of relief.

“Ha, fool.”

A bitter laugh escaped Yuri’s lips.

For that fleeting moment when she had hoped it was Jeho, she found herself unbearably pathetic.

Even now, at this very moment, she wanted to see him so desperately.

Yuri hated herself for feeling this way.