The next morning, Si Hyun’s mind was like a tangled skein of yarn.

She should be on the verge of exploding with rage about Woo Jin’s infidelity by now. But what actually preoccupied her more were the words Tae Ha had said last night.

From the moment she woke up in the morning, she remembered what she heard yesterday.

“…She was just as beautiful to me, even after several years.”
During that conversation, Tae Ha’s gaze was fixed on Si Hyun all along.

“She was pretty in a school uniform, and even with an employee badge hanging around her neck.”
“…….”
“And even when she walked around late at night, reeking of alcohol, she was so beautiful I could die.”
It would have been a confession. If only the person saying these words hadn’t practically raised me since I was nine years old!

‘What on earth did he mean by that?’
Si Hyun bit her lip in thought.

Until now, she had never even dreamt that Tae Ha might see her as a woman.

There had been a time when he’d acted a bit strange, as if he liked her when she first came to the company, but she thought that was because he’d lost his memory.

“Then take a good look. Whether I’m a man or not.”
Even when he’d shown off his body saying that, she thought it was simply because he was upset about being treated like a child. It was like a tantrum, saying, ‘look how grownup I am.’

‘What if that wasn’t it? If Tae Ha really sees me as a woman…’
She stopped thinking and violently ran her hands through her hair.

To be thinking such things about Tae Ha, of all people!

I must be crazy, she thought. Just yesterday she’d found out that Woo Jin was cheating on her. Now was the time she should be agonising over whether to go ahead with this marriage, whether to break up.

Why was it that the only thing that kept spinning in her head were the words she heard from Tae Ha yesterday?

Because of this, she couldn’t sleep, and her stomach was churning, probably because the alcohol she’d drunk yesterday hadn’t fully worn off. She wanted to take a sick leave because she felt sick, but Si Hyun forced herself to head to the bathroom.

The reason was solely because of Tae Ha. She didn’t want to look like a person so unprofessional as to miss work because her fiancé was cheating.

She forced herself to wash up and came out, but the sudden ringing of the doorbell almost made Si Hyun scream out loud.

The face on the intercom screen was Tae Ha’s.

Come and have breakfast.
“Huh?”

For a moment, Si Hyun thought that Woo Jin would hate it, then she fell into a bitterness. Right, that man had cheated.

After stating his purpose, Tae Ha left.

Si Hyun quickly changed her clothes and ran to the vanity to look in the mirror. She had drunk too much last night and her face would have been swollen… As she examined her face anxiously, her heart suddenly sank.

‘Why am I looking at the mirror before eating with Tae Ha?’
Si Hyun thought, flipping her heated ears behind her head. Because she had heard that she was beautiful for the first time in a long while, she didn’t want to disappoint. She would have cared even if the security guard had complimented her.

When she rang the bell next door, Tae Ha opened the door. At the same time, a delicious smell wafted out.

“What’s making this delicious smell?”
Si Hyun tried her best to act casual towards Tae Ha.

Today’s menu was bukeoguk (dried pollock soup). The warm soup going into her stomach, twisted by the liquor she had drunk yesterday, felt like it was reviving her.

Eating the bukeoguk diligently, Si Hyun genuinely complimented.

“Wow, our Tae Ha. You’re a toptier husband material, huh?”
Tae Ha replied without smiling.

“Then take me away already.”
Another thread was added to the already complicated tangle in her mind. He always said everything with such a serious face, how could she tell if it was a joke or not.

It was the same yesterday. What was he thinking when he said that to me?

What if that was actually a confession?

Then how should I respond?

Si Hyun’s hand, moving the spoon, began to tremble slightly. She didn’t know what to do just by thinking about it.

“Uh…”
As if he had read Si Hyun’s mind, Tae Ha cautiously began to speak.

“About last night, I…”
Si Hyun unknowingly cut off his words.

“Oh my. Did I meet you last night?”
Tae Ha looked at Si Hyun’s face with startled eyes.

“You don’t remember? Not at all?”
“I guess I must have blacked out. I can’t live like this, I need to quit drinking.”
Seeing Tae Ha staring blankly at her, Si Hyun even made a face of surprise.

“Did I ask you for money by any chance? If that’s the case, just ignore it because I was just babbling…”
Tae Ha curtly interrupted.

“Just eat your food.”
Seeing Tae Ha moving his gaze back to the food, giving up, Si Hyun let out a sigh of relief inside.

For the time being, she managed to dodge it.

((()))

As she switched her constantly vibrating phone to silent mode, Bo Ra grumbled in annoyance.

“Isn’t this just plain stalking?”