“Are you not going to make eye contact?”

Tae Un tapped Ba Ha’s tray with his finger as he spoke, while she kept her head down without meeting his eyes.

“T-Tae Un? What brings you here?”

“I’m also an employee here, Han Ba Ha.”

Doo Na, who was listening nearby, couldn’t hold back her laughter, and all eyes turned towards Ba Ha’s table.

“Here, eat more of this.”

Ignoring the stares, Tae Un deliberately placed some grilled fish on top of her rice, causing Ba Ha to glance at him shyly.

“Director Jang, should we just move to another table?”

“Let’s pretend we didn’t see anything.”

“Ah… I guess we should? Yes, we understand.”

Woo Joon whispered to Doo Na, shaking his head at the sight of Tae Un and Ba Ha, and Doo Na simply nodded.

It was truly a strange sight.

Tae Un and Woo Joon, who usually don’t come down to the employee cafeteria, were having a meal at the same table with Ba Ha and Doo Na.

Ba Ha liked how he seemed to focus only on her, not caring about anything else.

“Hurry up and eat. Stop staring.”

“Why? I want to look at you, and I want to give you food.”

“T-Tae Un! If you keep doing that, I’m going to stop eating and leave.”

When Ba Ha, embarrassed, lowered her head and spoke in a small voice, Tae Un found her so cute that his raised cheekbones showed no signs of coming down.

“Alright. Alright, Han Ba Ha.”

Bzzz-!

As the four were eating, bickering and flirting, Ba Ha’s phone suddenly rang.

The cozy atmosphere was easily shattered by that vibration sound, and Ba Ha immediately frowned as she looked at her phone, putting down her spoon.

Bzzz-!

“Aren’t you going to answer it?”

“Sigh… I don’t want to.”

When Tae Un asked with a worried expression on his face, Ba Ha let out a faint sigh at his concerned look and forced a smile.

Bzzz-!

As if ignoring Ba Ha’s desire to ignore it, the phone kept ringing. Ba Ha, who had been looking at Tae Un, let out consecutive sighs and picked up her phone.

“Hello.”

– Are you doing this on purpose? How many times do I have to call before you’re satisfied?

It was Chairman Han.

As soon as Ba Ha heard Chairman Han’s voice, she felt like the food she was eating was stuck in her throat. Whenever she answered his calls, it seemed like nothing would go right that day, and only bad things would happen.

“Sigh… If you know, then please just stop calling. Please.”

Ba Ha answered the phone as quietly as possible, suppressing her rising irritation in case his voice might reach Doo Na’s ears.

– Come home. With Woo Tae Un.

As soon as Ba Ha heard Chairman Han’s words, her brows furrowed.

Why was he calling them to the house again?

Ba Ha didn’t want to repeat and show it again.

The sight of them tearing each other apart, hurting each other, and only ending when they seemed satisfied by seeing that scene.

“Why?”

– It’s not you I need to see, so just bring Woo Tae Un. If you don’t like it, I can contact him separately. Is that…

“Fine. Stop it.”

– I’m hanging up.

As soon as the call ended, Ba Ha gripped her phone tightly, and Tae Un, seeing her like this, held her other hand and looked at her.

“What’s wrong?”

“Chairman Han… No. We’re called to the house. With you, Tae Un.”

“Let’s go. We’ve been there once, it won’t be any harder the second time.”

Seeing Tae Un smiling brightly at her while looking at her gloomy face, Ba Ha felt her worries becoming somewhat lighter.

Whenever he showed his smiling face, it seemed that even heavy worries and sadness became a bit lighter.

She was grateful.

She was grateful for Tae Un, who always smiled at her. She was grateful for him, who wanted to share all her worries and pain.

“Thank you, Tae Un.”

“Sigh…”

Every time she stood in front of this door, she couldn’t help but sigh. The pressure felt like it was choking her, making it hard to breathe.

Ba Ha, with a stiff face, didn’t press the doorbell and exhaled deeply, taking a moment in front of the door once again today.

“Are you okay?”

“You know what, Tae Un? Sometimes I’m scared.”

Once, this place was like a ray of hope for Ba Ha, who always longed for the shelter of family, but now that hope was shattered, it was different.

This shelter was now just a hellish place that only brought anxiety.

“I’m so scared that this house will shatter your illusion. Should we just turn back now?”

Seeing Ba Ha muttering quietly as if anxious before pressing the doorbell, Tae Un gently took her hand.

Hoping that this hand could ease her anxiety even a little.

“Let’s go in. I don’t mind. Whatever you’re like, my illusion is just you, Han Ba Ha.”

Tae Un spoke as if nothing was wrong, squeezing Ba Ha’s hand and smiling brightly.

Ding dong-!

“It’s me.”

That smile was always a source of strength.

Every time, she opened the door with the same words and crossed this threshold with the same heart, but today was different.

Tae Un was by her side.

There was a different Tae Un from when she first crossed this threshold with him.

“Let’s go in.”

Ba Ha stepped over the threshold with him, still holding his hand.

“You’re here?”

There was someone different here too from the first time.

As soon as Mi Ran saw Ba Ha and Tae Un, she greeted them with a grumpy face and tone, unlike their first meeting.

The mask had long been removed, so there was no need to pretend anymore.

“They’re waiting over there, so go.”

Despite Mi Ran’s grating tone, Ba Ha and Tae Un said nothing and turned their gaze to where she pointed, moving their steps.

“Why does he keep calling her? So annoying.”

There wasn’t even a minimum of courtesy.

Mi Ran muttered in a low voice, frowning as she watched Ba Ha’s back.

It was too much.

Ba Ha didn’t even hope for a loving mother, and it was okay if she was ignored. She could just ignore back.

“What did you just…”

Even so, when Ba Ha’s face contorted with anger at Mi Ran’s remarks that seemed to disrespect Tae Un in front of him and she was about to confront her, Tae Un grabbed her wrist.

“Let’s go. Just ignore it.”

As Tae Un whispered quietly in her ear, Ba Ha exhaled, trying to calm her surging emotions.

As expected, her breath was constricted again today, and she wanted to leave this wretched house as soon as possible.

“It’s been a while, Chairman.”

As they moved forward, Chairman Han was seen sitting on the sofa. Tae Un greeted him as politely as possible on behalf of Ba Ha, even though the Chairman didn’t even glance at them despite the approaching footsteps.

“Come in. Sit down.”

As Chairman Han gruffly returned the greeting, Ba Ha raised one eyebrow crookedly and sat down with Tae Un.

“I heard you had something to say.”

Tae Un asked, looking at Chairman Han, and with the growing displeasure, he too wanted to leave this house as quickly as Ba Ha did.

Why did this man always remind him of that unnecessary person?

The uncontrollable displeasure he felt as soon as he faced him reminded him of his father, Chairman Woo, whom he hated.

“When are you going to do it?”

At Chairman Han’s question, Ba Ha slightly furrowed her brow.

That too was a skill if you could call it that. Every word uttered by the people in this house was as unpleasant to hear as if it was dripping with venom.

“What are you talking about? If you just cut off the context and speak like that, how am I supposed to understand?”

At Ba Ha’s irritated words, Tae Un gently patted the back of her hand. His warm touch once again calmed Ba Ha’s agitated heart.

“I’m asking why you’re still dawdling when it’s been so long since the matchmaking. Don’t even think about making that ridiculous excuse that you’re still getting to know each other, I don’t want to hear it.”

“So this is all you called us here for…”

Ba Ha’s face crumpled more and more at Chairman Han’s cold words.

As soon as she realized the true nature of what he had called them to this house to say, Ba Ha let out a bitter laugh as if there was nothing left to be disappointed about.

“We’re planning to start preparations soon.”

Tae Un interjected, cutting off Ba Ha’s agitated words. Ba Ha looked at him with surprised eyes, and Tae Un nodded when their eyes met.

“Han Ba Ha, are you sure about this? Answer with your own mouth.”

Chairman Han, who had been watching the two, spoke to Ba Ha with a stern face.

“Why are you in such a rush…! You heard it from his mouth. We’ll start preparing soon, you don’t need to press so hard.”

She was disgusted.

Ba Ha spoke irritably while looking at Chairman Han and continued as she stood up.

“Is that all you wanted to say? It seems like you’re done, so we’ll be going now.”

“I’m not finished talking. Sit down.”

What else could he possibly have left to say?

At that commanding tone, Ba Ha’s expression, which hadn’t relaxed once since entering this house, crumpled once again.

“You, come with me for a moment.”

As Chairman Han finished speaking and moved to change his seat, Tae Un also stood up.

Ba Ha was irritated and anxious at the sight of that brazen Chairman Han. What else would he say to Tae Un in a place where she wasn’t present?

She just wanted to leave this house.

“No. We’re leaving. We’re going.”

“Be quiet. If you really hate it that much, you can go first. Or go up to your room and wait. Do as you please.”

As Chairman Han finished speaking irritably and moved to the study first, Ba Ha grabbed Tae Un’s clothes and wouldn’t let go.

“Tae Un, let’s just go. Okay?”

As Ba Ha looked at Tae Un with shaky eyes and spoke, Tae Un gently hugged her with a faint smile.

“Don’t worry. I’ll be right back.”