Do Eum was determined to gather up her courage.

I’m too naive to hide my feelings for you with mere sympathy or loyalty, and it would show eventually, so I just wanted to surrender and raise both hands at this point.

I knew it was unrealistic to think we could live like this forever, but I briefly made the impudent wish that we could just be happy as we are until the contract period ends.

“…!”

Ji Wan’s eyes were filled with a woman’s face, whether it was fear or something else.

More precisely, it was the emptiness of a woman who had been boldly rejected before she could even express her true feelings.

“Even if I pounce on you like a madman.”

Push me away.

“Even if I cling to you like an idiot.”

Tear me off.

“Don’t waver, just stay as you are now.”

Take what you want from me, have whatever you desire.

Use me as you please.

Be with me, but date other men too, do whatever you want.

Just.

“Don’t waver because of me.”

It wasn’t a confession.

It was merely a rejection disguised as a confession.

For Ji Wan, who believed there was no other way to protect something precious except by not looking back, this was the ‘best’ he could do.

Do Eum’s pounding heart plummeted to the bottom, as if thrown down.

The two had reached different conclusions about the same feelings.

The choice of what to do was entirely up to the man, so Do Eum slowly nodded.

“…Yes.”

They say first love is desperate because it’s unfulfilled.

This first love had become desperate before even being confessed.

*****

It was a life of disapproval.

It had been that way since birth and continued throughout his upbringing.

At age fourteen,

The fact that he had another mother was both a shock and a thrill for Ji Wan.

It finally explained his grandmother’s coldness and Ki Hyeok’s contempt, and he thought that maybe now he would receive proper love with the appearance of his mother.

The harsh treatment and oppression his beautiful mother endured before his eyes was not part of the plan.

His mother was simply included in the coldness and contempt that had been reserved for him alone; nothing else had changed.

The more his mother came to him to bestow the love she couldn’t give before, the more Chairman Jang Ho Muk and Ki Hyeok’s oppression increased.

Sending his increasingly ill mother Eun Hee far away as the director of an outlying art museum was his own way of being considerate.

For Ji Wan, love meant keeping it as far away from himself as possible, caring for it only within his means.

This woman was no different.

He could imagine what hardships his love would bring to Do Eum.

It was clear as day what shameless demands those lowly people would make of this woman under the pretext of love.

Neglect and coldness become normal over time, taking away even the slightest will to react angrily.

She would compromise and ignore it, losing her vitality like a withered tree, eventually drying up completely.

Like his mother, Eun Hee.

Or like himself.

This should rightfully remain a one-sided love that would disappear into nothingness once it ended for him alone.

“Answer me.”

Ji Wan urged the woman who had already filled her heart with one man.

“…Yes.”

Eyes brimming with tears blinked in agreement.

Ji Wan, unaware of Do Eum’s feelings, thought the tear-filled eyes were due to fear of something difficult.

That this small woman was scared of experiencing something unfamiliar for the first time.

“Just ignore it, it won’t be that hard.”

Since your feelings are different from mine, ignoring should be easy.

Ji Wan smiled as if he had just casually thrown out a difficult task after slicing up her small heart with a sharp knife.

It was an extremely bitter smile.

The hand that reached out to pat Do Eum’s small head was excessively affectionate.

“You’re so good.”

If only she were a little less good.

If only she, like an ordinary woman, would use the emotions of the man who said he liked her as a weapon to demand this and that.

Ji Wan wished she would lose all affection for him that way.

No.

Even if that were the case, there’s no way this woman would lose all affection for him.

From the start, he was fundamentally wrong, feeling like he would be dragged around like a dog on a leash by this woman’s fingertips, giving her everything he had and more, baring his white belly to her.

Ji Wan, born with foresight, never set foot in matters he knew he couldn’t succeed in, even if he spent tens of billions of won and time.

It wasn’t just work.

It was the same with personal relationships.

He never gave even a moment of his time to those who weren’t his people from the start.

Yet here was this man, pleading for her to do anything but clap her hands to the one he was offering, saying he would give her all his time and money.

“I’ll go slow.”

“…?”

“If going crazy and rushing in is a 10, I’ll try to hold back to a 6 or 7.”

Throwing out those words as if mocking the idea that whatever he did wouldn’t be all he wanted to do, Ji Wan lightly tapped Do Eum’s nose bridge.

[Sir, the situation on that side doesn’t look good. It’s unsettling that they’re meeting with people from Team Leader Kong Ki Hoon’s side.]

It was a message from Woo Seok during a drinking session with Ki Hoon.

The report that the movements of Ki Hyeok’s people were suspicious included the name of Ki Hoon, one of his few people.

It was a separate issue from the threats that were at most spreading malicious rumors or manipulating a few shareholders.

If Ki Hoon’s name was on the radar, it meant that his safety was in danger, given that he had no great connections and even if he did, he didn’t seem likely to use them.

The time they hadn’t sought each other out to avoid causing harm had been in vain.

His people are all in danger simply for being close to him.

The only way he could protect them was by keeping them far away from himself.

With a heart as heavy as if thousands of tons of iron had settled in it, Ji Wan pulled Do Eum into his arms.

This moment of holding her would somehow get him through the next ten days in a place without her.

“…I’m sorry.”

Do Eum felt sorry for Ji Wan, who apologized after confessing his feelings.

It was still much better than her, who couldn’t even confess her feelings, but that’s how she felt.

She reached out with her tightly clasped hands on her knees, about to stroke Ji Wan’s back, but then Do Eum held back.

She had been like that since childhood.

She never did what she was told not to do.

It was because she believed her mother’s words that she wouldn’t come back if she didn’t listen.

Afraid that he too might not come back like her mother if she didn’t listen, Do Eum bit her lower lip hard after nodding that she would do as he said.

“Even if you come rushing at 20 or 30 instead of 10. I won’t budge, don’t worry.”

She hid her true feelings and offered a petty consolation.

“Trust me.”

Adding ambition to the consolation.

A chuckle.

Ji Wan’s laughter leaked out over Do Eum’s small shoulders.

The conclusion he had reached after not sleeping a wink since last night’s kiss was more foolish than any decision he had ever made, and this woman who boldly declared “trust me” to this ridiculous proposal was just as foolish as him.

“…Alright.”

Feeling pathetic that he was reassured by the words of this small woman who wasn’t even half his size, Ji Wan just tightly embraced the woman in his arms.

The two people, pressed so close that no one could separate them, with their chests touching like that.

One promised the beginning of love, while the other promised to flee from that love.

It was a precarious and reckless game of hide-and-seek.

*****

She had overlooked it.

The man’s words, “Even if I pounce on you like a madman.”

It was because she hadn’t imagined in what situation and how he would pounce.

Knock knock.

In the early dawn before daybreak.

Beyond the door that Do Eum opened, stumbling out of bed.

Stood Ji Wan, neatly dressed in a vest and tie.

“I have to go.”

The touch that smoothed out Do Eum’s messy hair from just waking up and pulled down the rolled-up hem of her nightgown was incredibly affectionate.

“…Now?”

“The flight time is early.”

Berating herself for not checking the flight time, Do Eum hurriedly left the room.

“I’ll quickly prepare some toast. Please wait a moment.”

Turning around the body urgently heading towards the kitchen, Ji Wan embraced her in his arms.

Perhaps as he said last night, Ji Wan seemed determined to pounce like this at any time.

Do Eum was already afraid of what form this “like a madman” would take from time to time.

She held her breath briefly as she felt the man’s hand on her waist through the thin cotton nightgown.

“No need, sleep a bit more.”

The touch of his lips brushing her forehead was so gentle that Do Eum wondered if she was still dreaming.

So this is what he meant by pouncing, she thought.

If this was his intention, she needed to prepare herself mentally.

She was utterly useless when it came to not reacting to things like this.

Do Eum nodded.

Ji Wan chuckled as he gently turned around the woman who was about to follow him out.

“Unless you want to show that childish nightgown to the whole neighborhood, don’t come out.”

Ji Wan headed towards the entrance, glancing at the nightgown adorned with Disney characters.

“Take care, have a safe trip.”

“Eat well while I’m gone. I’ll be back soon.”

As he slipped his feet into his invariably neat shoes, Ji Wan looked Do Eum over once more.

He should have set up something, anything.

A pet cam or whatever.

Although it was his first long-distance business trip since getting married, he found it hard to leave now that the time had come.

“What about the madam?”

Woo Seok, waiting while opening the car door, peered beyond the entrance.

“I told her to sleep more and not come out, let’s go.”

Knowing that the two slept in separate rooms, Woo Seok slightly raised the corners of his mouth at the answer that implied they had been sleeping together and the man had just slipped out secretly.

He thought this business trip would probably be more about the heart than the tight schedule.

*****

Do Eum’s hand held a bouquet of wildflowers bought from a flower shop as she entered the campus.

It was mugwort, the most beautiful flower of this season.

For the ‘love’ stage of the 4-step ‘Marriage and Pregnancy’ report topic, the long-awaited proposal was planned for today.

She wanted to propose first, instead of the usual proposal made by men, so she had practiced what to say all night.

That’s why she had prepared the purple mugwort too.

She planned to make a calm proposal with sincerity to someone who, as Ji Wan said, didn’t need elaborate events.

Having often seen how embarrassing situations unfolded when Min Seung and Jae Han, who had decided to call each other “honey,” addressed each other that way, she omitted such terms of endearment.

In the distance, she saw Eun Hyeok approaching, surrounded by female students.

Knowing she would only be scolded again for tactlessly trying to push through the crowd, Do Eum crossed the road in a roundabout way.

On the other side of the narrow road was Eun Hyeok surrounded by female students, and on this side was Do Eum, hiding the mugwort bouquet.

“I heard this year’s graduation trip is to the west coast. They say they’ve already booked a luxury resort.”

“Are you going too, senior? Jae Han sunbae said he’d take you on the graduation trip no matter what.”

Eun Hyeok just kept nodding without a word to the comments being added one by one.

“Ah, I heard you’re taking ‘Family and Marriage’ as an elective with Do Eum sunbae? Are you doing that virtual marriage report together too?”

The excited voices of the female students were clearly audible to Do Eum walking alongside on the opposite side.

“We’re doing it together.”

A faint sigh followed, barely audible.

“I heard that’s really tough, like you have to go on dates as if you’re really dating, and even do a virtual pregnancy after the marriage… Oh, have you proposed yet?”

Eun Hyeok stopped walking at the barrage of questions.

The women, curious about what kind of proposal this handsome man might have made, also stopped in their tracks.

Eun Hyeok slowly turned his face to look at Do Eum across the road.