The frozen heart in those deep dark brown eyes, the courage shown in an instant was pure recklessness.

Clack.

The sound of the fork being put down shattered what little relaxed atmosphere there had been.

“Contract clause 5, obligation 3 of party B. Party B shall not interfere in party A’s private life whatsoever.”

Instead of answering, the man’s eyebrows furrowed slightly as he recited the contract clause.

His expression clearly showed how many times this had happened before, and how annoying it must have been each time to recite the contract clause.

“I’m sorry.”

The red lips that had been excitedly chattering just moments ago were now tightly closed with a quick apology.

Seo Ji Wan stood up from his seat with a face that showed even an obvious apology was tiresome.

Feeling like she had interrupted the meal that he had at least been eating, if not particularly enjoying, Kang Do Eum hurriedly stood up as well.

“I won’t do it, I won’t ask anything! Let’s just finish the meal you were having, okay?”

Only her belated cry echoed emptily in front of the man’s firmly closed study door.

Kang Do Eum pouted her lips and plopped down in the dining chair, stuffing the pasta the man hadn’t touched into her mouth.

She had been about to say that organizing shoes was a long-standing habit, not something done for him, and that the meal was just adding another place setting to what she was already cooking for herself, so he shouldn’t feel burdened.

And if the mood was good, she had hoped to maybe ask what kind of food he liked.

But the conversation had ended without her getting to say what she wanted, let alone hearing even a fraction of the response she should have heard.

The sweet and sour pasta sauce that filled her small mouth tasted strangely bitter.

*****

Seo Ji Wan leaned back deeply into the leather chair in his study and closed his eyes tightly before opening them again.

His furrowed brow recalled the recent moment and let out a faint sigh.

Most of the people around him would criticize or curse him behind his back, but to his face they acted as sweet as candy in their mouths.

The implicit criticism that wasn’t said outright wouldn’t bother him, and he felt that level of treatment was only fitting for his position.

But this mouse-eyed little woman, though she feared and was intimidated by him, still tried to match his mood like candy in her mouth!!

Strangely, he felt like he was being pulled along every time.

It was her calm composure in doing what she wanted no matter what, even while watching his reactions, and how she never became dispirited no matter what reprimand she received.

She made it clear that since he hadn’t given anything, she had no expectations, and thus nothing to be disappointed about.

At least that’s how he felt.

The previous seven women had all invoked sincerity and expected something else from him.

He was tired of the predictable ending where they would give their hearts when told not to, and show tears at a single rejection.

Not expecting or wanting anything from him, and thus having nothing to be disappointed or hurt by.

Now that this woman was so casually doing what he had longed for, it made him uneasy in its own way.

Seo Ji Wan took out his phone and pressed speed dial number 2.

The headache that had been throbbing all day disappeared, only to return with the loud ringtone.

“Elder brother!”

The voice on the other end of the phone, a couple tones higher, made his head buzz.

“Even so, isn’t it too much not to invite me to the wedding? Why, afraid I’ll make a scene if I come? Maybe I should have just barged in wearing a flashy dress? I should have seen that stubborn old lady trembling with my own eyes.”

Seo Ji Wan silently listened to the bravado of the woman who couldn’t even meet Lady Jang’s eyes when actually in front of her.

“Oh, right. Do you know what I filmed yesterday? A premium townhouse built by Bando Construction!! You pulled some strings for that, right?”

It would have been Han Woo Seok’s careful care in his own way for someone within the boundaries of the superior he served, so this contract too must have been that kind of meticulous attention.

His mouth tasted bitter, as if an unswallowed pill was rolling around somewhere inside.

“You’ll deny it again, but whatever. Thanks anyway. But don’t think this makes up for not inviting me to the wedding. I am hurt, you know. If you make a fool of me like this one more time, I won’t just sit back and take it.”

“…The flower pot, was that your doing?”

The single cold phrase he spat out with deeply furrowed brows, as if he couldn’t listen any longer, was chilling.

“Ah, right! Did it arrive already? It’s huge, right? I chose the biggest one from that flower shop, sending it with my earnest wishes for your unhappiness. So you won’t forget what you took from me every time you see it.”

Seo Ji Wan took a deep breath, standing there fully exposed to the arrows thrown with a smile.

“One more time.”

His flat voice devoid of any emotion was all the more vicious for being open to different interpretations depending on the listener.

“If you do this kind of thing again.”

The more a man refrained from making petty threats or intimidation, the more certain his meaning.

“It won’t be fun, I’m telling you.”

There was a moment of silence at the clear anger in his voice.

The single phrase, unembellished with further explanation, was truly threatening, with only tense silence flowing through the receiver.

That’s the kind of man he was.

He would endure blatant provocations without batting an eye, but if someone took even one step over the line he had drawn, it was over in an instant.

He might turn a blind eye to foolishness directed at himself, but that was the limit.

It was a kind of warning that he wouldn’t stand for the same behavior towards those around him.

Without raising his voice or changing his tone in the slightest, he made it clear that he was quite displeased, and Yoon Yi Seol lowered her posture before him.

The consequences of not properly grasping the meaning to keep pranks within reason would be enormous.

“I understand what you’re saying. I won’t do it again. But in return, don’t change the passcode to your officetel. I go there sometimes, you know. Okay? Are you listening?”

Click.

The call ended as soon as she said she wouldn’t do it again.

Having clearly conveyed his point, Seo Ji Wan irritably tossed his phone aside and opened a drawer to pop a sleeping pill into his mouth.

He needed to sleep.

Without thinking about anything, he felt like sleeping was the only way to ease the headache that had been throbbing all day.

*****

7:50 AM.

At the end of the long hallway centered on the kitchen was Seo Ji Wan’s room, with Kang Do Eum’s room at the opposite end.

Kang Do Eum had been pacing the hallway in front of Seo Ji Wan’s bedroom for 10 minutes.

Walking back and forth over a distance of just over twenty steps by her stride, Kang Do Eum was restless.

He should be coming out to eat breakfast around this time to avoid being late for work, but for some reason the man’s room was quiet.

Knock knock.

No answer.

Once more, knock knock.

When there was still no answer, Kang Do Eum slowly opened the door.

Pitch darkness spilled out through the slightly opened door.

“…Sir?”

Under the thickly drawn blackout curtains, on the wide bed that could easily fit three adults.

The man was lying motionless.

Kang Do Eum approached closer, unable to see if his eyes were closed or open due to his right arm resting on his forehead.

Is he sleeping?

Secretary Han had said he was punctual to the minute, but.

At this rate he’d definitely be late.

After confirming his deeply closed eyelids, she was about to wake him, but then turned back at the thought that a company CEO doesn’t really have set work hours.

Just as she was about to leave the bedroom.

Haa…

It was a faint gasping sound rising from deep in his throat.

Kang Do Eum whirled around at the barely audible moan escaping from between the sleeping man’s lips.

She lowered the man’s arm from his forehead and placed her hand there instead.

It was like a ball of fire, as if continuously burning logs wouldn’t be this hot.

‘My goodness, to think a man who seemed to have a heart made of steel could be sick.’

By the time she had searched the house for a first aid kit, taken his temperature, and given him fever reducers from the emergency supplies, Han Woo Seok’s car was pulling into the garden.

“He gets deliberately sick once a year. It’s usually in early winter, but I guess it’s summer this time.”

Moving towards Seo Ji Wan’s bedroom, Han Woo Seok called Dr. Choi, the attending physician.

He swiftly informed Team Leader Yeon at the secretarial office about Seo Ji Wan’s condition and instructed her to postpone the scheduled appointments.

Adding that they should keep quiet about his ill condition so it wouldn’t get back to the family home.

The newlywed home in Hwa-an-dong quieted down only after the attending physician Dr. Choi had left.

“There are some urgent matters I need to handle at the office in place of the CEO, so I’ll have to head to the company. Please take good care of him.”

Kang Do Eum nodded at Han Woo Seok’s request.

Her expression was so solemn, as if she were a knight heading off to battle, that Han Woo Seok let out a laugh.

“Don’t worry too much, he’ll be back on his feet soon. Still, it’s reassuring to have you here, madam. He always suffered alone before.”

As she saw Han Woo Seok off, Kang Do Eum asked:

“May I ask why we need to hide that the CEO is sick from the family home? People can get sick sometimes…”

Han Woo Seok, who had stepped down to the garden, smiled slightly.

“Madam, have you ever watched the documentary ‘Animal Kingdom’?”

Kang Do Eum just nodded a couple times at the puzzling question.

“In the Serengeti episode about the wild plains, there’s a scene where the alpha lion is surrounded by a pack of hyenas. Even when he’s so wounded he can barely stand, he still roars fiercely to show his dominance. He never shows his back, right up until his last breath.”

She was familiar with stories about the leaders of animals living in groups in the wild.

“That’s exactly like our CEO, who must never show weakness to anyone. That’s the kind of person he is. He fundamentally hates showing any vulnerability, especially to the family home.”

“But still, family should be the ones you can trust and rely on, right?”

She recalled Seo Ji Wan’s expression and gaze, colder than usual, when they went to An-seo-dong.

“That’s true. He’s quite a lonely person, with nowhere to lean on.”

Han Woo Seok quickly erased his expression as he retorted with a complaint and got into the car.

“What am I saying? Well then, I’ll come by again tomorrow morning.”

After seeing Han Woo Seok off, Kang Do Eum returned to the main house and ground soaked rice and pine nuts.

Whirrr, whirrr.

The loud noise of the blender made her thoughts even more jumbled.

She felt there wasn’t much difference between herself, who had been thoroughly neglected despite having family, and this man who couldn’t show weakness even to his family.

There was a time when she thought her loneliness was worse because she had nothing, but seeing this man made her realize it wasn’t so simple, leaving her feeling uneasy in various ways.

‘Whether you have money or not, loneliness is the same.’

Carrying the porridge with ground pine nuts, she headed to Seo Ji Wan’s bedroom.

He needed to eat something to take medicine, but the man was sleeping as quiet as a mouse.

Yellow light poured over the sleeping man’s face from the wall-mounted lamps on either side of the bed.

Beneath his neat eyebrows,

His eyes with long single eyelids were just as scary whether open or closed, so Kang Do Eum sat down on the bed slightly turned to the side.

The man who was too scary to face head-on was somewhat better from the side.

She reached out and touched his forehead.

His forehead, still feverish, was hot.

She brought lukewarm water to wash his face and wiped his sweaty nape.

When it was time for medicine, she dissolved the pills in water and slowly trickled it into his mouth.

Late at night,

The attending physician came by once more to change the IV, and the woman’s nursing continued throughout the night.