Darkness and light are in contact with each other.

Like that, it was a peaceful morning after Yoo Jung Hwa’s threat disappeared yesterday.

After cleaning up the kitchen after breakfast, So Yeon came out to the terrace with two mugs of coffee in both hands. There, Seo Jun was sitting on the bench at the very end, looking like a scene from a photo shoot, gazing at the garden dyed in colorful hues while lost in thought.

He was always a stunningly handsome man.

After briefly staring at him as if appreciating him, So Yeon approached Seo Jun, handed him a mug, and sat down next to him on the bench.

“Do you like autumn?”

“…I think I do now.”

Seo Jun took a sip of coffee and answered So Yeon’s question in a slow tone.

“If now, then you didn’t before? But you like it now.”

“Yeah. I used to think it was just one of the passing seasons, but this autumn is special.”

“Me too.”

As they entered the threshold of autumn, the three of them came to live together. They both knew well the amazing things that had happened this year, without needing to explain at length.

Seo Jun and So Yeon looked at each other with eyes full of deep emotion.

“Tell me.”

“Tell you what…?”

“It’s your birthday soon. I’m asking if there’s anything you want from me as a birthday gift.”

So Yeon’s eyes widened, not knowing at all that he had her birthday in mid-November, from autumn to winter, in mind.

“Well, isn’t a gift up to the giver?”

“I want to give Eom So Yeon what she wants.”

So Yeon’s face, which had been deep in thought, lit up brightly.

“I’m fine with just Hyun Woo and Tae Seo Jun.”

“But that’s already yours. You should say something else.”

“Well… what would I want?”

“Look at this woman. You didn’t even think about anything before? Like jewelry, or a trip that would remain as a good memory.”

Seo Jun raised his thick eyebrows widely. It was very awkward and embarrassing for him to act so unlike himself, not demanding but urging to give something.

“If it’s good memories, I’ve already received them. I loved going on a boat ride with you alone in Malaga, and when we went to that small island with the beautiful beach, it felt like the whole world was mine. So what gift could be better than that?”

It was true. So Yeon, walking on the sparkling sand with Tae Seo Jun, was so happy she couldn’t ask for more. She laughed a lot too, and Seo Jun had captured that sun-like expression and appearance in photos, wanting to cherish it.

So it wasn’t Eom So Yeon who received a gift then, but himself. Seo Jun pulled out his phone from his back pocket and brought up the photo he had shown So Yeon before in the dining room.

“I’ve looked at this photo every day since the day I took it. If I didn’t have even this, I probably couldn’t have endured a single day. I really almost went crazy missing Eom So Yeon. So this is a gift I received.”

“This is from when you left Cadiz after doing that hateful thing?”

It was then that she couldn’t consider Seo Jun’s feelings because of her own pain that felt like dying. So Yeon, feeling sorry anew, bit her lip and fiddled with her nails.

“So you do know? How cruel what you did wa- oof!”

So Yeon suddenly covered Seo Jun’s lips with her palm, admitting her own wrongdoing.

“I know, I know! I know how terribly I behaved, so stop talking about tha- mmph!”

But her words were soon cut off too.

So Yeon used her hand, but Seo Jun sealed So Yeon’s lips completely with his mouth. A morning kiss, you could say. After savoring her soft skin for a while, Seo Jun slowly pulled his lips away and grinned. It was a satisfied smile.

“So hurry up and tell me. What gift Eom So Yeon wants to receive.”

“…”

So Yeon’s heart rattled severely because of his lips that had suddenly visited.

This man missed me that much. He liked me that much. He only thought of me even when we were apart. Hearing these facts from his own mouth, So Yeon’s rapidly beating heart even began to ache.

“As I said earlier, I’ve already received everything. Good memories, of course, and Tae Seo Jun and Hyun Woo. What more could I need? Just yesterday, elder brother protected me and Hyun Woo. After receiving such a big gift, if I ask for more, I’d be shameless.”

“So, you don’t want anything more?”

“No.”

“Nothing at all?”

“That’s what I’m saying.”

“Wow…!”

How can she not understand a person’s heart like this!

It’s not just any birthday, but my woman’s birthday. Why can’t this woman understand my feelings of wanting to do something for her with that excuse? Even if she asked me to pluck all the moons and stars from the sky, I’d gladly do it, but this woman says she doesn’t want anything from me at all.

At times like this, she’s so clueless and stubborn!

I wish I could hate her properly, but I can’t even do that. What am I because of you?

I’m going crazy because of you, really!

With a rueful chuckle, Seo Jun buried his face in So Yeon’s chest and stayed like that for a while, like an angry beast holding back its cry. Praying and praying again to make him like Eom So Yeon even just a little less. No, even just half of half of half less.

But unless it was the opposite, it was a wish that would never come true.

So Yeon left for a local shooting location with Do Soon in the morning for a CF filming.

Tae Seo Jun, who has recently started aggressively focusing on business rather than acting, spent the whole day at the headquarters and returned to his residence in Nonhyeon-dong as the sunset approached.

After entering the study and putting the documents handed by Manager Bong in the drawer, Seo Jun turned away from the desk and his first words were the answer that Chairman Tae was waiting for.

“Tell father that if he really wants to give, give it to Hyun Woo.”

“Are you saying to process all those assets under Tae Hyun Woo’s name?”

Chairman Tae, who had made a deal over his grandson, decided to release 10% of his assets to his children soon.

Originally, it was supposed to be given if they had a child within a year, but the first and second sons who were pregnant complained that he was favoring only the youngest grandson, so he had to hurry to silence them with precious stocks and real estate documents.

Knowing the situation, Seo Jun thought he might not accept it, but considering Chairman Tae who might feel hurt, he found an appropriate solution after some thought.

“I’ll manage it until he becomes an adult, but it’s not my share, is it? It was something father deliberately did with Hyun Woo in mind from the beginning. So I’d like Manager Bong to coordinate the transfer issue in conjunction with the personal secretariat in Gahoe-dong.”

“I’ll do as you say.”

Manager Bong, who received Seo Jun’s instructions and left the study, went down to the parking lot. And as soon as he exited the bunker parking lot.

“Hello, Jessica.”

Manager Bong opened the car window and raised his voice slightly when he saw Jessica standing in front of the gate with a travel bag beside her, and her emerald blue eyes smiled happily.

“Oh, hello, Manager.”

Manager Bong lowered the half-open car window a bit more as he watched Jessica approach the front of the car while greeting.

“Where are you going with such a big bag?”

Jessica, who was just about to call a taxi, told Manager Bong the rest of the story fluently.

“I’m going to Gahoe-dong. Chairman Tae seems to have tempted Hyun Woo with a puppy. It’s still a puppy, so it takes some time to separate it from its mother, but Hyun Woo is insisting on staying there until then. The chairman wants that too, and the young lady has allowed it, so I came over briefly to pack some things to stay in Gahoe-dong for a few days.”

Although Hyun Woo was a child who didn’t know how to throw tantrums, he was just as stubborn once he made up his mind. Partly because of that, but also grateful for Chairman Tae and his wife who cherished their grandson, So Yeon let Hyun Woo stay in Gahoe-dong for a few more days.

Therefore, it was Jessica’s job to stay by Hyun Woo’s side like a needle follows thread, but she found more meaning in vacating the house so as not to disturb Seo Jun and So Yeon.

“Get in. I’m on my way to see Chairman Tae too, so I’ll give you a ride.”

“If you do that, I’d say thank you.”

Manager Bong quickly got out of the car and opened the door for her, and Jessica readily accepted his kindness and sat in the passenger seat.

“Are all Korean men this kind?”

“Well, I don’t think all of them are.”

What else can a man do to show interest in a woman he likes besides being kind? He answered meaningfully while hinting at something.

“I see. Thank you.”

Jessica, who immediately understood Manager Bong’s meaning, smiled as she fastened her seatbelt.

After dealing with the company’s major issues and closing his laptop, Seo Jun got up from his desk and moved towards the window. It was a quick movement with wide, confident strides. Where those steps stopped was not at the window, but in front of a nearby bookshelf.

On the carpeted floor, a large box sat quietly, seemingly abandoned without being opened.

Lowering his gaze to check the shipping address, Seo Jun realized it was a package sent from Canada and immediately opened the box. Inside were several albums with Hyun Woo’s name written in the corner and dozens of books that seemed to bear So Yeon’s fingerprints.

As this house, which had been his own domain, was gradually filling up with his woman’s and child’s belongings, Seo Jun felt a strange yet quite pleasant feeling as he took out one of the books that would occupy part of his bookshelf from the box.

Seo Jun stopped moving when he realized that what he held in his hand was So Yeon’s parenting diary.

The cover of the diary was white. On it, a baby angel drawn in black lines was smiling cutely. Guessing that Eom So Yeon had probably carefully drawn it thinking of the baby to be born, the corners of Seo Jun’s lips automatically pulled up into a smile with a quiet “heh”.

He had been wondering how to endure the night without Eom So Yeon by his side, but it seemed her parenting diary would fill that emptiness a little.

Seo Jun opened the first page.

A photo of a bean-sized fetus was pasted, and below it, pretty round handwriting filled the page densely.

Turning another page, he saw an ultrasound photo of a baby slightly larger than the first one, writing significantly shorter than the previous page, and what appeared to be dried water stains in several places.

“…”

That’s when it started.

When the chuckling smile faded and his pounding heart began to ache.

And on the next page, a faint smile returned, and on the page after that, an affectionate smile settled on his lips.

With each page he turned, his slight smile spread wider and wider.

“Heh…”

The laughter reached its peak and leaked out when he saw a photo of a round-bellied Eom So Yeon taking a big bite of ice cream. He couldn’t help but laugh at her bright, mischievous expression like a tomboy.

However, Seo Jun’s deep, dark eyes began to turn reddish when he discovered So Yeon holding a very small baby in the photo.

The image of Eom So Yeon finally becoming a mother.

So Yeon, preciously holding the newborn baby who hadn’t yet shed its blood-tinged appearance, was smiling brightly in the photo as if saying she was the happiest person in the world.

But what held Seo Jun’s gaze for a long time were her dry, chapped lips with white flakes of skin.

Unable to ignore that even at the moment this photo was taken, she was suffering from high fever with an unrecovered body, Seo Jun couldn’t even let out a wry laugh because of his stopped breath.

What are you so happy about that you’re smiling so brightly with that haggard face? Being so pretty even though you’re sick. I couldn’t be by your side, so you must have been even harder…

Yet you were so happy at this time…

You loved Hyun Woo so much, you were this happy to become a mother…

“Haa… I’m going crazy, Eom So Yeon…!”

Well, when has it been just once or twice that I’ve gone crazy because of you?

Seo Jun recalled the moment he first held So Yeon. That night when he was so excited that his reason was cut off and all his senses were stolen by her. Eom So Yeon was sweetness and comfort itself.

You, who were heart-flutteringly beautiful. You, who taught me for the first time a joy that couldn’t be explained by any expression. The person who taught me what heartache is, what first love is, was you.

That moment of selflessness with her…

That impulse that didn’t want to allow even the slightest disturbance…

That one time…

Maybe I had already decided to take all of Eom So Yeon at that night. Seeing how that attraction is still vividly in my memory.

Was I angry for a long time because you disappeared without a word? That intimate touch was so clearly imprinted in my mind that you became even more resentful.

So during those years when I tried to push away the me that wasn’t like me, to erase and forget the unknown you, you were crying through numerous trials you took from me. You were standing alone in that time without me and unknown to me.

So, in the end…

“I was really the bad guy…”

With a complicated and heavy heart, Seo Jun looked through the parenting diary to the end and stared blankly into the box, taking a deep breath. In the process, he discovered several other diaries crowded in one corner.

“This is…”

It seemed to be another parenting diary where she poured out her secrets alone.

Although it was shocking to find himself peeking at someone else’s diary, Seo Jun sat down on the carpet floor, stretching out his long legs, and began to read Eom So Yeon’s secret writings.

Until the sky outside the window darkened after the sun set.

Until his red-rimmed eyes were filled with numbness.

Until the black letters blurred with falling tears.

Until the read volumes piled up one by one.

Seo Jun couldn’t let go of the diary. Until the pitch-black night covering the window began to dimly brighten.