As soon as they entered the house together, Tae embraced Sihyeon without a word. She thought he was consoling her, but after holding her for a while, he suddenly said,

“I will never do anything you dislike. Even if I die, I won’t look at another woman, and I won’t lie.”

“Tae-ha.”

“So, you won’t abandon me, right?”

Sihyeon’s heart trembled at the anxious tone of his voice.

“Why are you like this, even though that guy is the culprit?”

She tried to push him away a bit and make eye contact, but Tae embraced her even more tightly, as if he didn’t want to let her go for a moment.

“He’s all messed up now… Anyone would fall apart when they lose someone like Kang Sihyeon.”

Sihyeon almost burst into laughter.

“If someone hears this, they might think I’m really an amazing person.”

But Tae was very serious.

“He won’t be able to fill the void no matter who he meets in the future.”

As if afraid that she might disappear somewhere, Tae held Sihyeon tightly and vowed.

“I will never end up like that. I’ll definitely hold onto you.”

That night, Tae held Sihyeon in his arms over and over again.

Normally, he endured a lot considering the difference in physical strength, but on that day, he just couldn’t restrain himself. Anxiety endlessly stimulated desire. He wanted to confirm incessantly that she was his and he was hers.

Although she tilted her head with a kind smile, eventually, she followed along quietly.

Not hitting that guy who dared to provoke him earlier was because he had already received enough punishment.

Being abandoned by Kang Sihyeon.

He knew too well what that dreadful feeling was like. He had lived in that terrible feeling for a long time.

Even now, even though she was in his arms, the feeling of anxiety did not easily disappear.

The pretty and kind sister who said that when they first met.

At that time, Tae thought it was a lie.
For days, even skipping school, no one showed interest in the cunning, smelly, yellow-eyed little fellow. Neither the teacher nor friends, not even the grandmother who raised him cared.

It was a miracle that she stayed with him for just one day, and it didn’t seem like such a miracle would happen again.

However, that angelic sister overturned expectations and came the next day, and the day after that. Every day for Taeha was a series of miraculous events.

On the contrary, Sihyun gained nothing. She spent her allowance, lost study time, couldn’t hang out with friends, and received scolding at home for being late… It was all loss for her.

Such a relationship couldn’t last forever. Even in his young heart, Taeha thought so.

Even though she came every day, in reality, he was anxious every day.

What if one day she suddenly doesn’t come?

He couldn’t shake off that old feeling of anxiety in his heart, even until now, when he was loved by her.

“I will never abandon you. Why would I throw away something so beautiful that I picked up?”

Sihyun always tried to reassure him in her own way. So, for a while, he could be relatively calm, but then Wujin became the trigger.

“Sihyun, please. I really can’t live without you, okay?”

To the guy who begged with his hands together, Sihyun was as cold as ice. She didn’t even give him a sympathetic look.

“Then die.”

The thought that came to him after seeing that was not that it was refreshing or relieving. It was just that he must never become like that.

Being abandoned by Kang Sihyun. It was the most terrifying thing within the range he could imagine.

Holding the sleeping woman in his arms, Taeha murmured like a prayer.

“I’ll do well. I’ll do anything. So, don’t abandon me.”

…So don’t throw me away.

He blinked, and when he opened his eyes, everything was bright. Reaching out naturally to the woman next to him, instead of a warm body, only a cold blanket came to him.

Sleepiness disappeared. Taeha got up in a hurry.

A note with neat writing was on Sihyun’s pillow. Taeha hurriedly put on his clothes and headed to his empty home.

When he opened the door, the smell of delicious food wafted in.

“Oh, Taeha. Are you up now?”

Sihyun, wearing an apron, welcomed him with a delighted face.

“…….”

Instead of an answer, he rushed forward and hugged Sihyun, who was surprised.

“What’s wrong? I left a note in case you get lost again… Didn’t you see it?”

After hugging for a while, his heart calmed down a bit. After a while, Taeha looked over Sihyun’s shoulder with wide eyes.

A small table was full of food, and even a cake was placed.

Looking at the seaweed soup, Taeha realized that today was his birthday. A warmth surged from the depths of his chest.

“Why did you do this? Go back to sleep.”

“Huh?”

Sihyun’s surprised voice came.

“When I was a kid, you did enough. You don’t have to get your hands dirty for me now that I’m all grown up.”

He said it bluntly, but he was ecstatic. No matter if she gathered all the treasures in the world, this bowl of seaweed soup would be incomparable.

Ah, this woman really loves me.

Overwhelmed with an insane sense of relief, Taeha shook his body. He became so happy that even his eyes became hot.

“Why are you so moved by this, just because I made a meal.”

She didn’t understand his heart and made a face as if she didn’t get it.

At the moment she blew out the candles on the birthday cake she had prepared.

Taeha sincerely made a wish.

“…I want to get married soon.”