“What?”

“I’m asking if it was Chairman Jang’s instruction to send me to find out your intentions.”

Ji Wan’s eyes flashed sharply, hiding his emotions.

“Your mother must have been so hurt to see the news of her only son’s marriage in the papers. Though they call it an art museum director position, it’s no different from exile to an unseen place.”

It was sarcasm disguised as concern.

This man blamed Ji Wan’s birth mother for the death of his own mother who passed away from illness, so even as he openly chewed him out, Ji Wan remained calm.

“If we’re talking about hurt feelings, wouldn’t Elder Mother be the most hurt?”

This time, Ki Hyeok’s eyebrows rose fiercely.

“As if just waiting for her death, you brought in a second daughter-in-law. I wonder if she even closed her eyes in the afterlife.”

“What, you bastard!!”

Fearing unsavory rumors might spread across the peninsula about an early death, Lady Jang held the daughter-in-law’s funeral as quietly as a mouse.

Without any regard for the grandson’s grief at losing his mother or the son’s sorrow at being alone, Lady Jang simply said,

“Bring in the younger one.”

That one sentence.

Before the funeral was even over, Lady Jang replaced the daughter-in-law as if changing batteries.

This was why Ki Hyeok thought his mother’s death was not unrelated to Ji Wan’s birth mother.

“How dare someone like you mention my mother?”

As the atmosphere grew ominous, Han Woo Seok at the entrance turned to leave, but Ji Wan raised his hand to stop him.

Adjusting his suit collar and brushing off dust, the man remained composed to the end.

“From now on, please let me know before coming. I’ll receive you properly then.”

It was an excessively polite greeting for someone who had just stabbed with sharp words.

As Ji Wan left the office, Woo Seok followed with quick steps.

*****

The clothes the man bought were all either flashy or overly elegant.

But jeans and a t-shirt didn’t seem right either, so she tried on and took off the few outfits she had several times.

Considering Ji Wan would be in a suit after work, she chose a dress that was neither too formal nor too casual.

A V-neck dress with tiny floral prints.

After checking that the skirt length came above the knee, she stepped out to the yard at exactly 6:50 PM.

The wait that she thought would be about 10 minutes stretched on for over 30 minutes.

The air heated by the midday sun remained hot into the afternoon.

Unable to sit for fear of wrinkling her skirt, sweat beaded on her forehead and trickled down her neck as she stood.

‘Should I call? No, the meeting might have gone long or he could be driving.

There must be a reason he’s late.’

Just as she was thinking she’d wait exactly one hour and then go inside after 20 more minutes,

A black sedan appeared coming up the hill.

The anxiety from waiting melted away like snow, and the woman’s sandaled feet began bouncing excitedly on the green grass.

*****

Leaving Ki Hyeok alone in the office, Ji Wan hurriedly instructed to head to Hwa-an-dong.

Stuck in traffic, he checked the time on his wrist several times and picked up and put down his phone, uncharacteristically anxious.

“Did something happen with the madam?”

When Woo Seok, who had been watching carefully, asked, Ji Wan just shook his head without a word. But as soon as Do Eum came into view through the front windshield at the entrance to Hwa-an-dong garden,

Woo Seok saw the smile that appeared on Ji Wan’s lips.

“It seems you two are going somewhere nice.”

Woo Seok’s lips twitched, feeling left out yet curious about the man who kept it a secret until the end, unable to even call and just picking up and putting down his phone.

“Did you think I might follow you?”

Leaning back leisurely in the back seat, eyes focused only on the view through the car window, the man who rarely smiled certainly looked pleased, as if not even hearing Woo Seok’s words.

As the floral dress swayed with her bouncing steps, revealing her graceful neckline, Ji Wan finally raised his right hand to cover his eyes.

The woman who quickly forgot the wait time at the sight of his car, excited like a puppy wagging its tail at just the words “Let’s go for a walk”.

‘Pfft.’

The chuckle that inevitably escaped beneath his hand was a strange mix of bewilderment at ‘what to do with this woman’ and regret that ‘I should have come earlier.’

But not being the type to coo at an excited tail-wagging puppy, Ji Wan showed no reaction other than lowering the corners of his mouth as he got out of the car.

“Did you wait long?”

“No, I just came out. Just now.”

Despite saying she just came out, the beads of sweat on her forehead were not fitting.

“Madam, here.”

Woo Seok, standing behind, held out a handkerchief.

Ji Wan furrowed his brow at Woo Seok’s tactless action of offering a handkerchief to the woman who didn’t want to show she had waited long, essentially telling her, ‘You’re dripping with sweat right now.’

No wonder this guy, despite having everything, had never dated.

“Ah, sweat. Ah, haha.”

Sure enough.

The woman laughed exaggeratedly as she wiped her forehead with the offered handkerchief.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes!”

As Do Eum cheerfully moved towards the black sedan at the man’s words, Ji Wan grabbed her arm.

“No, not that way, Director Han.”

“Me?”

“Go home and finish work for the day.”

Ji Wan’s face turned slightly, gesturing with his chin towards the black sedan he had just arrived in.

At this point, Woo Seok took quite a while to understand the blunt intention for him to leave. Or rather, he pretended not to understand.

“Yes, I’m going. As if I would follow you two on your date. I’m also a busy person with plenty to do after work, haha.”

Ji Wan had planned it all along, having the chauffeur Mr. Park bring a personal vehicle to Hwa-an-dong this morning.

Woo Seok nodded as if finally understanding everything.

“I hope you two have an enjoyable time.”

The two people who got into the sleek black sports car passed through quiet national roads and arrived at an upscale restaurant designed like a glass greenhouse on the outskirts of the city.

The dome-shaped restaurant floating on a calm lake shone like the moon hanging in the dark night sky.

As the soft lighting spilling through the glass illuminated the dim surroundings, the calm lake sparkled.

The croaking of frogs in the lake was unmistakably that of a midsummer night.

“Are you very hungry?”

“I’m fine.”

“Then let’s walk a bit before going in. I love this sound.”

Perhaps due to the light leaking from the round dome, the woman’s joyful face was also dazzling.

“Alright.”

The two walked side by side along the wooden deck by the lake.

The silence between them was buried under the fierce croaking of frogs, as if competing to see who could be louder.

“Is this okay?”

“Hm?”

It was the first time a woman walked beside him, shoulder to shoulder, instead of always walking next to Woo Seok.

The man belatedly realized that slowing his pace when walking with a woman, matching her walking speed, was also a kind of ‘consideration’, unlike when he usually walked at his own pace with Woo Seok.

Ji Wan waited after asking if it was okay for her to walk beside him, at this current pace.

“Yes, it’s nice.”

“I heard that since I’m not an affectionate person, it would be difficult for you.”

“Who said that?”

“Director Han.”

“I thought Director Han was considerate, and I guess I was right.”

Ji Wan furrowed his brow at Woo Seok’s unexpected praise.

“Does that mean, it’s true.”

The woman who had been looking down at the water while holding the railing surrounding the lake, twirled around.

Her pure scent wafted on the sudden warm breeze.

“Let’s say we’re a couple who married for love, and I wondered what you would be like with a woman you love. I found it hard to imagine. The thought of you smiling and being happy while looking at me.”

It was an imagination he had never entertained either.

In all his previous relationships, setting aside the contract, he had certainly never been affectionate towards the opposite sex, not even once.

Since they weren’t relationships with ‘love’ as the emotion, they must have been very different from ordinary couples’ ordinary dates.

It wasn’t just romantic relationships, but all his relationships with people.

He was a son who was never affectionate even to his mother Eun Hee, who gave birth to him.

“If you were affectionate to everyone else but just not to me, I would have felt hurt. But, well, that’s not the case.”

Do Eum turned back towards the lake while oddly spilling out words about how he wasn’t an affectionate person to anyone.

“…Still, I want to see it.”

Her voice was as clear as the calm lake.

As the woman lost her balance and stumbled while standing on tiptoes peering into the lake, Ji Wan hurriedly reached out his hand.

The man’s firm hand supported her slender waist and steadied her.

From the excessively close distance, Do Eum’s words continued.

“That kind of look – gazing with incredibly loving eyes and being happy.”

Ji Wan’s eyes wavered at her not only imagining an appearance of his that even he had never thought of, but also unhesitatingly saying such embarrassing words about wanting to see it.

“When you truly fall in love with someone, I want to see what you’ll be like.”

The woman stepped away from his hand and walked ahead, her skirt fluttering.

As if completely unconcerned about the ripples created by tossing a pebble into the calm lake.

Walking ahead, she twirled around several times, smiling brightly at the man.

Unlike Do Eum who seemed purely joyful, Ji Wan did not smile at all.

Perhaps he had been mistaken in his arrogance that he could place this small woman in the palm of his hand and manipulate her as he pleased.

The person who could place the other on their palm, gently tickling then firmly crushing them, might be that woman rather than himself.

It felt like something had gone terribly wrong.

At the same time, it was the first taste of being at a loss.

“Let’s go in now. I’m hungry.”

Do Eum turned from the walking path and headed towards the restaurant entrance.

Despite the feeling of falling into an abyss, Ji Wan’s steps following the woman were strangely light.

*****

Jin Seo Hyeon, the only daughter of Jin E&C.

Marrying Ki Hyeok at 29 after meeting just five times was a gamble and adventure.

It was the opening move of an ambition to gain not just one hotel on the peninsula, but the entire peninsula.

But this damn husband was complacent with just one hotel in his name, making Seo Hyeon’s insides burn black with frustration.

Dressed in a silk robe, Seo Hyeon stood at the front door to greet Ki Hyeok who had just arrived home.

“Where did you sleep yesterday?”

It was his return after a full day away.

“I slept on the office sofa. I only meant to rest my eyes briefly while working, but that’s how it turned out.”

“Ah, so the sofa in Seo Ki Hyeok’s office lets you sleep, makes you feel good, and gives you everything you want?”

“…What?!”

“I’m asking when Clara became your sofa.”

Clara, the rising star of Eden Entertainment, a model and rookie actress.

She was just 23 years old.

She was the woman rumored to be secretly meeting with Ki Hyeok.