It didn’t matter whether he liked it or not.

Regardless, the habits already ingrained in his body would continue to repeat themselves in the future.

“Have a good day.”

Do Eum, who had followed Ji Wan out to the garden, came back in and cleared away the untouched breakfast table.

Seeing Woo Seok ask about the morning’s events that had only left wounds for her, she could imagine what the cold-blooded man must have said in the car on his way to work.

“…Yes, that’s right.”

At her gloomy response, Woo Seok, having grasped the situation, added an unnecessary explanation.

“When he was at the main house in Anseo-dong, he never missed breakfast, but since moving out he keeps it simple. He’s quite picky about food, so it’ll be hard to match his taste. He only goes to the same Korean restaurant, and has very set preferences for coffee and clothes.”

In other words, he ate breakfast well at home when it suited his taste, but after moving out there was no one to cater to his preferences so he stopped eating it.

For someone who had worked as a kitchen assistant in the company cafeteria for a year, not to mention years of experience in fast food, Chinese, and Western restaurants.

Do Eum’s pride was badly hurt.

“Han Manager, about the housekeeper who was supposed to start this afternoon.”

“Yes?”

“Please just cancel that. I’ll… do my best.”

A needless stubbornness arose.

Cooking was the one thing she was better at than the man who constantly looked down on her, and she didn’t want to give up that one thing out of youthful pride.

Besides, Sokyeong’s wife did most of the work anyway, and all she really had to do was prepare meals, iron, and pack the man’s suitcase for business trips, so a housekeeper didn’t seem necessary.

“I enjoy cooking, and I don’t have much else to do so I get bored. If I don’t even do that, it’s too dull.”

There wasn’t even a mart nearby, let alone friends to talk to.

Though she had a driver, her outings were so limited that her complaint of boredom wasn’t entirely incomprehensible.

“Well, give it a try and let me know if it’s too difficult.”

As Woo Seok turned to leave, he glanced up at the living room ceiling.

“Ah! The electrician came by this morning, right?”

Do Eum had been startled when the electrician arrived just as she was preparing breakfast.

It wasn’t even 7 AM yet, and Ji Wan hadn’t even left for work.

“I was really surprised they came so early. I didn’t know people started work that early…”

“They don’t, absolutely not. Who would go to work at that hour? The CEO gave them an earful, told them to come right away.”

She recalled the cold face of the man who had asked last night if her mouth was just for decoration.

“With his angry orders so late last night, they had no choice but to come at the crack of dawn. Ah, I’ve set the door to auto-lock. The CEO said to use a passcode the madam won’t forget, so Do Eum… I mean, madam, we used your birthday.”

After giving her a look that said ‘why are you being so troublesome when you don’t do anything properly’, he had gone to his room and apparently given everyone an earful, keeping them up all night.

If he was going to do that anyway, he could have just said one word about how she’d put up with the inconvenience well until now.

If he had, she would have thanked him for his consideration, and it would have been better for everyone.

Do Eum pursed her lips, thinking he was just someone who couldn’t speak a single kind word.

“Han Manager, couldn’t you just call me comfortably when it’s just us? Being called ‘madam’ is too uncomfortable.”

Woo Seok occasionally called her ‘Miss Do Eum’ before quickly correcting to ‘madam’.

“If I slip up in front of the Chairman, I’ll be in big trouble. My head would roll that very day. Please bear with it for a year, even if it’s uncomfortable.”

Do Eum smiled along with Woo Seok as he showed his even teeth in a grin.

She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had a smiling conversation with someone in this house.

“Ah, yes.”

The corners of her mouth that had lifted in excitement became awkward the moment she realized this.

Her large eyes with distinct double eyelids shrank beneath her long, curled eyelashes.

Watching this, Woo Seok quietly lowered his gaze and erased his own smile.

The difficult superior he served was that kind of person.

No matter who he was with, or how long he had been with them.

He was a man who could intimidate and immobilize the other person in an instant.

He was already worried about the woman’s future.

“We haven’t disposed of the CEO’s previous residence, the officetel. If it gets too hard, please let me know anytime. I’ll discreetly escort the CEO there on such days.”

Swallowing the words ‘Can’t you take me to the heart of the city instead of that stubborn CEO?’, Do Eum smiled brightly at the sincerity disguised as a joke.

*****

As the time approached 10 PM.

Upon receiving Woo Seok’s call that he had left the company, Do Eum hurried to the kitchen.

Since the Korean breakfast had been harshly criticized, she planned to make pasta with the fresh seafood Sokyeong’s wife had bought.

After preparing a proper Western meal, complete with sauce made from blanched tomatoes, Do Eum stood on the garden terrace.

She kept wiping her dry hands on her snow-white apron, seemingly nervous.

Do Eum’s eyes squinted at the headlights of the black sedan just cresting the hill.

Woo Seok and driver Park held their breath when they saw the woman standing with one hand shielding her dazzled eyes.

It was clearly a sight the man in the back seat would disapprove of.

“You did relay this morning’s message correctly, didn’t you?”

Sure enough.

As soon as the woman in the snow-white apron came into view in front of the car that had reached the top of the hill, a cool voice from the back seat asked.

It was a confirmation that he had properly conveyed the instruction to not do anything for him at all, from meals to even turning his shoes.

“Yes, I conveyed it without omission.”

Ji Wan gently stroked the tip of his chin.

“And yet she’s standing out there like that?”

Beneath her wavy hair tied tightly in a ponytail, her delicate neckline gleamed white in the light.

With her hands clasped demurely in front and long eyelashes that always lowered when she saw him, she looked like a frightened rabbit before a fierce beast, making him feel like the bad guy even though he hadn’t done anything.

Though he had volunteered for the villain’s role and it didn’t matter if he became the bad guy before or after doing something, he found it remarkable how this woman could make him feel that way with just a look.

What kind of defiance was this, insisting on doing things she was told not to do, when she was too scared to even meet his eyes?

Was it that she felt obligated to do her part since she had received something, even though she couldn’t even speak a word for fear of annoying him?

Or was it her meager pride, insisting that even if she didn’t do it, it would be entirely her own will?

The man’s thick eyebrows furrowed with a face full of displeasure.

“She also said she didn’t need a housekeeper. She said it was too boring to do nothing at all. Since she doesn’t know anyone around and has nowhere to go, I thought she might feel that way, so I put the housekeeper on hold for now.”

Meanwhile, the car had stopped in front of the main entrance, and Woo Seok hurriedly got out.

“Good evening, madam.”

While Woo Seok exchanged greetings with Do Eum after getting out of the passenger seat, Ji Wan couldn’t wait and opened the car door himself to step out.

“Then please go in, CEO. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Woo Seok bowed deeply to Ji Wan’s back as he entered the house without a word.

“He hasn’t had dinner,” he whispered to Do Eum.

The woman, who had worried about being rejected again like at breakfast with just one pre-meal hint, disappeared into the main building, scurrying with joy.

It was when Do Eum’s small feet were heading towards the kitchen after habitually turning the direction of the shoes the man had taken off and neatly arranging her own shoes as well.

The man, who had stopped on his way to his room and only slightly turned his head, surveyed the neatly set table, causing the hurried steps to halt.

What could it be?

What excuse would he use to dismiss this meal?

What excuse? He wasn’t the type to make up pretexts.

He might just tell her outright to clear it away.

By the way, is Western food not good either?

If so, should I try Chinese or Japanese cuisine next time?

Behind the back of the man’s neatly combed head, an unsatisfied expression was imagined.

With her hands clasped neatly, she looked every bit like she was waiting for the impending harsh words, having instantly sensed his mood.

“I suppose pasta is a bit much for this late hour? I thought you didn’t like Korean food much, so I changed the menu. I was short-sighted. I’ll prepare something simpler again.”

Unable to bear even that brief moment of silence, Do Eum hastily added, but Ji Wan cut her off.

“Skip the spaghetti, let’s just have the salad.”

The man’s low, heavy voice always sent a chill through a corner of her heart.

Even though that voice was saying he would only eat the salad, which she had put the least effort into, pushing aside the main dish, the woman’s face brightened with joy at the one thing chosen.

While Ji Wan went to his room at the end of the hallway.

Do Eum pushed the pasta aside and added more fresh fruit and nuts on top of the salad plate.

Her busyness, disproportionate to what she was actually doing, was not much different from a child seeking praise, wanting something to be satisfactory.

The woman, who had never been told she couldn’t do her job well anywhere, had been constantly scolded by the man.

For Do Eum, hearing a simple “Well done” or “Good job” was as difficult as plucking stars from the sky.

As soon as Ji Wan sat down in front of the neatly arranged salad on the silver tableware, Do Eum pulled out the chair opposite and sat down without hesitation.

As if she had been eagerly waiting for the man to sit down.

Unaware that perking up her ears and brightening her eyes was quite burdensome to the man about to eat.

“The gardener came by today. We planted hydrangeas, evening primroses, and various other things together.”

The man quietly began his meal in front of the chattering Do Eum.

“Hydrangeas look like tightly packed balls, don’t they? And the colors are so elegant and beautiful. Did you know that in the old days, they used dried hydrangea flowers as a fever reducer? Isn’t that fascinating?”

It seemed he wasn’t eating for the taste, as there was no particular emotion in the act of putting the salad skewered on his fork into his mouth.

Regardless, Do Eum’s mouth didn’t stay still for a moment.

“Ah, I just learned this today too. The color of hydrangeas is determined by the acidity of the soil. They turn blue in acidic soil and pink in alkaline soil. Isn’t that really amazing?”

The man finally raised his head and met her gaze at the woman’s question, her upper body leaning far towards him.

Seeing herself fully reflected in his deep brown eyes, Do Eum lowered her gaze as if coming to her senses.

And for good reason, as the man’s eyes seemed to find her more fascinating than the hydrangeas that change color based on the soil, as she chattered excitedly, her bottom nearly lifting off the chair.

“The flower language of hydrangeas is sincerity. The flower language of evening primrose is… Ah!”

As if remembering something, Do Eum raised her hand to point at the bird of paradise placed in front of the living room’s floor-to-ceiling window.

“Someone named Seol sent a flower pot.”

Seol.

At that name, even the small movements the man had been making stopped.

“The flower language of the bird of paradise is said to be eternal and unchanging.”

The cool gaze touching the flower pot slowly moved to the woman across from him.

“…Who is Seol?”

Where did that courage come from?

Finally, that question popped out.