Arin called a familiar number.

“Did you call?”

As soon as the call connected, the other person’s voice came through the speaker.

[Yeah. I was wondering how you were doing, so I contacted you. But why is it so noisy there? Are there a lot of customers?]

“Elder brother, I’m really exhausted.”

Arin felt her tense heart relax at Yu Hyun’s soft voice.

[Why? Did something happen?]

“No, it’s not like that. Actually, I just finished and I’m on my way down.”

[Already? There are still three hours left?]

“Yeah. Unbelievable, right? I think so too. It sold out incredibly fast. No. It was so hectic with the selling that many people came while I was in a daze.”

[You probably didn’t even have time to write a notice.]

She answered the phone and took the escalator down to the first floor.

“Yeah, I was completely out of it.] [Were they very angry?]

“No, fortunately the people who came weren’t angry, but they were so disappointed.”

[Ah.]

“I gave them coupons to come tomorrow if they had a chance, but who knows.”

[We’ll have to prepare more for tomorrow.]

“Will it be okay? This is really our limit doing it with just us.”

Leaving Arin alone, Yu Hyun’s mind was entirely on the pop-up store. She was in charge of sales, and he devoted himself to preparing the desserts to sell tomorrow.

[That’s true, but after listening to you and doing it today, I think it would be good to make more tomorrow.]

“Elder brother, actually I think so too.”

[Let’s try harder, we’ll do what we can for now and if it doesn’t work, we’ll have to find another way then.]

“Yeah.”

[How are the customers reacting? Are they saying it’s delicious?]

“Yeah, they said it was delicious.”

[That’s a relief.]

Arin and the pop-up store staff had no time to rest from before the opening time. Around 1 pm, even more people flocked in.

“Elder brother, the team leader said there are more people than expected.”

[Really?]

“Yeah.”

Arin recalled the crowd that had filled the 7-pyeong pop-up store, leaving no room to set foot.

“Honestly, I was a bit surprised too. I didn’t think this many people would come. We’re not some super famous store…… Anyway, you would have been surprised too if you saw it, elder brother.”

At first, she couldn’t believe the reality and rubbed her eyes several times, wondering if it was a dream. What she saw were still the many customers who had found Memoria, and at the same time, Arin’s heart warmed.

[There were that many?]

“Yeah. A really large number of people came.”

After leaving Jae Hyuk, she had merely been living without any dreams or hopes, just breathing.

Then Arin found a dream. The hope that came to her like fate completely changed her life.

That day too, Arin had been shedding tears since the morning and was sitting blankly on the bed.

[Arin, I made something delicious. Do you want to try it?]

Yu Hyun held out a custard cream puff, saying he had made it. Like any other day, she refused.

[Elder brother, I don’t have an appetite.] [Just take one bite.]

But somehow, she couldn’t refuse the sweet scent tickling her nose until the end that day. Arin took a bite of the custard cream puff Yu Hyun held out.

[How is it?] [……It’s so delicious.]

Eating the dessert, Arin recalled a happy moment from her hellish married life. It was the joy she felt while eating the macarons that her executive secretary Yu Jung had secretly bought for her. It was a memory she had forgotten because it had been too hard.

[Elder brother, I want to make desserts like you too. What should I do from now on?]

The sweet dessert created a dream like long-awaited rain in her life with no joy.

With the wish that the desserts she made with her own hands would give someone happiness at least while eating them, Arin started learning pastry-making, and that’s how she created Memoria with Yu Hyun.

[That’s a relief. They must have recognized that we put our hearts into making them.]

“Yeah. I think so.”

The week-long pop-up store had only just begun. Although she was anxious and nervous as it was her first time doing this, Arin somehow didn’t feel anxious anymore.

The reason was simple. Because today, she had confirmed with her own eyes that the desserts made with sincerity were receiving a lot of love from people.

[Aren’t you tired?]

Yu Hyun’s worried voice reached her ears.

“The team leader asked me if I hadn’t slept too.”

[It’s a burden. I was so nervous I couldn’t sleep either.]

Actually, Arin had trouble sleeping last night.

The Jeju store did well, so they launched a franchise in Yeonnam-dong. She was relieved that Cheol Yong and Su Han, Yu Hyun’s juniors who had studied the patissier program together in France, took charge of the Yeonnam branch.

But that relief was short-lived. As another store opened and became known to the world, there were downsides. Most customers praised them, but there were also many customers who gave bad reviews with malicious intent.

Of course, she knew that not everyone could love them. But she couldn’t help but feel discouraged whenever she heard bad reviews.

Things like it tasted worse than expected, lacked professionalism. Whenever she read posts saying it was shoddy or disappointing, she acutely felt their shortcomings and was also hurt.

[It’s okay. Everything will work out. We’ve been doing well so far.]

“……Yeah.”

So Arin thought again.

The path they had to take was not to become famous and make a lot of money, but to share the happiness that Memoria’s desserts had.

“So, I don’t think we should do pop-up stores anymore, elder brother.”

Besides, becoming too famous was rather poisonous. At least in the case of Memoria, it was. Mass production was impossible with the current system. She painfully realized that overproduction could only lead to lower quality desserts.

[Yeah. I agree with you, Arin.]

“……Yeah.”

[You and I both refused when we were first offered, remember?]

“Yeah. Because it felt like we weren’t ready yet, not that we were ignoring Memoria.”

[Right. I think so too. We finally changed our minds after the persistent persuasion of many people, and unlike our worries and concerns, countless people came to eat our desserts that day, but that’s it. It was a new challenge for us, but there won’t be a second time.]

“Yeah.”

Arin choked up. The expressions of people sitting in the dining area set up in front of the pop-up store and eating Memoria’s desserts with great relish came to her mind.

“Actually…… After listening to the team leader, I thought I would have regretted it if we hadn’t done it, but that was it. The team leader said that because Memoria’s products are sold in limited quantities, the main reason is that people who couldn’t eat it because it was far or quickly sold out came…… Hearing that, I thought it was better to keep doing it the way we are now.”

Arin recalled the conversation she had with Yu Hyun and his juniors.

[We should close the Jeju and Yeonnam-dong stores after announcing it in advance on SNS. If we take out the quantity to go there, I think the amount will roughly match.] [I don’t think we can handle mass production yet. It’s realistically too much for us. We’re not operating with a factory, and it’s difficult to provide this amount to customers while maintaining the taste.] [So, when a store known for its delicious food is mass-produced, it’s natural for the quality to drop easily. It makes money, but it’s easy for people’s hearts to leave.] [Customers who remember that delicious taste and bought the products will feel disappointed that it’s not the same as before, and then people will start saying that the products sold at the store have ‘changed.’ I think there will be fewer people who love and come for Memoria’s desserts like now.]

Listening to the conversation between Yu Hyun and his juniors, Arin had nodded. And the last thing Yu Hyun said was stuck in her head and wouldn’t leave.

[The reason you and I created Memoria was because we wanted to make desserts that give a feeling of happiness at least while eating them, no matter how sad or depressed we were. Of course, I’m really grateful that many people are coming, but it seems like we’re moving away from the thought we had when we first created Memoria.]

“Anyway, let’s talk when you get here, elder brother.”

[Okay. Then come safely.]

“I’ll buy dinner. Tell Cheol Yong and Su Han that I’m buying them a meal, elder brother.”

[Okay.]

Just then, the escalator arrived on the first floor. As Arin was walking towards the main entrance and about to put her cell phone in her bag, it happened.

Her head collided with someone. She looked up, startled.

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t looking ahead……”

As her eyes met the person she had bumped into, she couldn’t say anything.

“……”

“……”

It was the same for the other person. The other person’s eyes were shaking roughly upon seeing Arin.

Her heart fluttered. Her heart was beating rough and fast.

‘……Why?’

Arin looked at the person she had bumped into, forgetting to breathe.

‘How can we…… meet like this.’

Jae Hyuk was standing in front of her.

“……Arin.”

A rough, cracked voice flowed out between Jae Hyuk’s dry lips.

Meeting him was…… the first time in a year. They hadn’t even passed by each other after leaving family court.

Because she had been living in Jeju Island, it was difficult to have a chance to meet, and even when she came to Seoul, she consciously reduced the time she spent there.

It was all to eliminate the option of ‘reunion’.

Jae Hyuk’s gaze became a snare and tied Arin up. In his deep eyes like a black hole that seemed to suck in everything, only she was reflected completely.

She thought she could just look away, but she couldn’t take her eyes off him.

“……Sir Ban Jae Hyuk.”

At Arin’s voice, Jae Hyuk’s face turned strange. He was looking at her with a bizarre face that was neither crying nor laughing.

Arin noticed the confusion swirling in Jae Hyuk’s eyes. The sound of her heart thudding and sinking loudly filled her ears.

‘I thought I had erased you completely in order to live. But why is my heart fluttering like this?’

Looking at Jae Hyuk’s eyes fixed on her, Arin grew even more confused.

Longing? Hatred?

The emotions she felt from Jae Hyuk now were different from those in the past.

The emotions that stirred her heart were too complex to express in a single word. No, they were so complex that they couldn’t be expressed in any words.

‘Think of it simply. Choi Arin, that’s not it. It’s nothing special. It’s natural to be flustered when you meet your ex-husband. Anyone would be.’

Arin bit her lower lip hard. She clenched her fists tightly, trying to find composure.

They had become a relationship where even a formal greeting was ambiguous. A relationship that had become ‘strangers’.

Ban Jae Hyuk and Choi Arin had become a relationship where even common courtesies were difficult.

She composed her expression. And bowed her head towards him.

“I wasn’t looking ahead. I apologize.”

Arin spoke firmly with all her strength. It was to completely hide her trembling voice.

Her effort was in vain as the end of her voice trembled slightly.

There was no way Jae Hyuk wouldn’t have noticed the slight tremor in her voice, but he said nothing.

“Then I’ll be going first.”

At her polite smile, his face sank deep like an abyss.

Arin was somehow convinced that Jae Hyuk wouldn’t grab her. So she decided to pass by him like that.

She clearly felt his gaze moving according to her movement. All she could do was turn away. Pretending not to know, she approached him to pass by. The closer the distance, the more the familiar scent lingered around her nose. She took a deep breath and bit her lower lip harder.

‘This is for the best.’

It was the moment Arin passed Jae Hyuk. His clenched fist, clenched so tightly it turned white, came into her sight. The blue blood vessels on the tightly clenched fist were distinct.

But he didn’t stop her. As if to say, if she wanted to pretend not to know him, then do so……