In front of the station.

Joo Hye Ji encountered Yoon Sun Woo returning from his rounds. Unlike Hye Ji, who hesitated and reacted upon seeing Sun Woo from afar while flipping through her chart, Sun Woo passed by without even a glance at her.

In fact, Hye Ji had been waiting for Sun Woo since earlier. At this station front, which he must pass to reach the professor’s office.

Watching Sun Woo simply walk by, Hye Ji smiled bitterly. Though expected, she couldn’t hide her disappointment.

Hye Ji exhaled deeply. She quickly closed her chart and moved to Sun Woo’s side. Though her pride was hurt, she didn’t want to waste the time she had waited.

“Hey, Yoon Sun Woo. You’re quite funny, aren’t you?”

“What is.”

Sun Woo answered without stopping or looking away from ahead. Hye Ji almost ran to keep up with Sun Woo’s wide strides, closing the gap between them.

“It’s obvious you’re avoiding me. Just act like you used to.”

“You make me uncomfortable.”

Sun Woo’s words, spoken without a moment’s hesitation, made her eyes sting.

She thought she’d be fine, but facing the reality was unbearable.

The wedding invitation received on his behalf, and his unfamiliar demeanor of not even meeting her eyes as he passed by, made her chest feel tight.

He had never turned around at once when called. Still, he would slow down or wait briefly when he noticed her presence.

Yes, that’s how it used to be.

The Yoon Sun Woo before her now seemed like a completely different person.

As Sun Woo continued walking without looking back once, Hye Ji, displeased by his behavior, finally grabbed his collar and forcibly stopped him.

Sun Woo stopped without much reaction, merely looking down at her rude gesture. His gaze was utterly dry. Hye Ji’s heart sank once more at that look.

He may not have had affection, but at least he had been warm.

“Didn’t you somewhat expect this when you said it?”

Hye Ji bit her lip at Sun Woo’s words.

I never dreamed it would come to this, because I never thought you’d refuse.

When you, who never even dated, said you’d get married, I knew. That you’d do anything to have Ye Rim.

I thought then.

Even if I was just a means to you, even if it was just a facade, I had found an excuse to be by your side.

I was willing to accommodate you no matter what. Even if that marriage was just for show, it didn’t matter to me at all.

“Yoon Sun Woo. To me, you’re still a friend, unchanged. I thought we could understand each other in many ways. That’s why I proposed it as a business deal.”

Sun Woo was looking at Hye Ji without answering, but Hye Ji felt she knew what he was saying.

You expect me to believe that? That was exactly the expression he wore.

Perhaps due to her forcibly upturned lips, her face seemed to twitch.

Will I look ugly?

Even at a time like this, I’m worried about how I’ll appear to you.

“Are you the one with other thoughts? What, did I confess my love for you or something? Hey, that’s creepy. Me? For you?”

Struggling to control her expression, Hye Ji forced a smile.

She didn’t want to be found out. Though no direct words were exchanged, the atmosphere that day clearly conveyed Sun Woo’s perception of the situation.

However, Sun Woo seemed to know that changing their relationship based solely on his assumptions was ambiguous.

As Sun Woo’s silence lengthened, Hye Ji, growing anxious, directly voiced her desire.

“I find your behavior more uncomfortable. Just act like you used to.”

After a brief pause, Sun Woo started walking again. Naturally freeing his sleeve from Hye Ji’s grasp without touching it, he said,

“Do as you like.”

It was a typical Yoon Sun Woo response. A voice similar to his indifferent gaze.

Sun Woo quickened his pace again. Hye Ji didn’t give up and followed closely behind him.

“I didn’t receive the wedding invitation from that nurse. You give it to me directly.”

Sun Woo, who had been softly sighing at Hye Ji’s words, stopped walking. Hye Ji quickly intercepted Sun Woo’s words that seemed about to pour out. As if telling him not to say anything else.

“Didn’t we agree to act like before?”

Seeing Hye Ji smiling brightly, Sun Woo sighed once more and slowly brushed up his bangs. Just as Sun Woo opened his lips to say something, a vibration sounded from his pocket.

Sun Woo nodded briefly, as if reluctantly agreeing, with a deep sigh. Then he quickly pulled out his phone from his pocket.

Sun Woo’s expression changed instantly as he looked down at the screen. The stiff expression he had maintained until just moments ago was melting away in an instant.

With just one phone call, Yoon Sun Woo.

“I’m going.”

Delivering a brief farewell, Sun Woo turned away coldly. He walked away, answering the incoming call.

“Where are you? Have you arrived already?”

Sun Woo’s conversation faded as he moved away. An excited voice, a smile I’d never seen in front of me.

So it is that woman after all.

Though it had never been mine, Hye Ji’s smile faded as she felt as if she had lost to that woman all the aspects of him that had never belonged to anyone.

[This is the timeline separator]

“No. I’m about to leave now.”

[Is that so? Nothing’s wrong, right?]

Ji Eun Jae stared blankly at the two lunchboxes on the table as she answered.

“It’s nothing like that…”

When she visited Sun Woo’s house, she made tofu pancakes using the recipe she got from Aunt Seongsan.

Thinking it would suit her mother’s taste as well, she tried making it, and it turned out quite good. As she made more than expected, she packed a lunchbox for him too.

In truth, this is an excuse. She wanted to eat together. She thought about just dropping it off as he might be busy, but hearing his bright voice made her greedy.

‘Let’s eat together.’

Just that one line would do, but those words simply wouldn’t come out. As Eun Jae hesitated for a moment, a faint laugh was heard through the receiver.

[It’s almost my lunchtime too. Shall we have lunch together?]

At Sun Woo’s words, which seemed to have read her mind, Eun Jae, who had been fiddling with the lunchbox straps, smiled softly.

Eun Jae was overjoyed, but she didn’t want to show how happy she was. She quickly composed her voice.

“I packed some lunch. I was going to eat with my mom, but if you’d like, come to the hospital room.”

[I’ll be there on time. See you later.]

Even after hanging up, her flushed face wouldn’t cool down. Her heart was pounding, and the corners of her mouth refused to come down.

“Shall we have lunch together?”

Eun Jae mimicked what he had said, making a fuss.

Cupping her cheeks with both hands, Eun Jae blushed again as she recalled what had happened this morning, or more precisely, at dawn.

When she was pulled onto him with such force that she couldn’t resist at all, the sensation of her hands on his chest still remained vividly.

“You shouldn’t just enter a man’s room alone.”

“It’s dangerous.”

Recalling the man who had held her hands for a long time, not letting go as she tried to escape from him, she kept getting caught up in strange feelings.

“Won’t you let go…?”

“I don’t want to.”

“…It hurts.”

The vain thought that maybe he was feeling similar emotions to hers.

The fact that the man who was about to leave after breakfast suddenly asked her to see him off, the fact that he wanted to have lunch together, and his excited voice over the phone.

“Does this guy really like me?”

Then can I hope a little?

Then should I express myself a little too?

Though her skills were lacking, Eun Jae’s lips kept curving into a smile as she held the carefully packed lunchboxes in both hands.

[This is the timeline separator]

Even after hanging up the phone, the upturned corners of his mouth wouldn’t easily come down. Sun Woo checked the time by lowering his head and, thinking of Eun Jae whom he would soon meet, groomed his reflection in the black screen.

He tried flipping his hair to the side and combing through with his fingers to check for any stray hairs. Then, Eun Jae’s voice from the receiver brushed his ear.

“Cute.”

He had intended to look only until Eun Jae arrived at the hospital. In the end, he closed the paper he was holding without managing to flip through more than a few pages.

It might not be bad to go early and wait. Then she’d look up at him with those round eyes again, right?

Imagining that sight makes him smile again.

Sun Woo’s steps were light as he walked with his hands in his pockets. As he walked across the cloud bridge towards the VIP ward, cherry blossom petals nearing their end fluttered over his head.

It was around there, wasn’t it?

The image of Eun Jae leaning against the cloud bridge, admiring the cherry blossoms, appeared before his eyes like a mirage.

Back then, I unknowingly found Eun Jae pretty.

This dawn.

He chuckled at the unfamiliar sight of himself, seeing only the lips of the woman nestled in his arms with a thoroughly flustered face.

If he had stayed a little longer, he felt he might have pulled the woman’s face closer. The thought of swallowing her lips and having her lie beneath him, her cheeks flushed and breathing heavily, kept coming to mind, driving him crazy.

Now, just thinking of Eun Jae made his whole body heat up. Feeling his body changing, Sun Woo cleared his throat several times and looked around. Then he quickly buttoned up his gown and swiftly left the cloud bridge.

If you were to discover my feelings now, what expression would you make?

After saying I’d let you go in a year, if I were to say that even at this moment, I regret how quickly that time is passing,

Ji Eun Jae, what would you answer?

Would you still say you’d stay by my side?

[This is the timeline separator]

It was when he was almost at Miran’s ward, checking the appointment time on his watch.

“Yoon Sun Woo? Why are you here? Aren’t you going to eat lunch?”

Sun Woo tilted his head as he encountered Hye Ji in front of Miran’s hospital room.

“Why are you here?”

Hye Ji tapped the nameplate with Miran’s name on it in front of the door with an incredulous expression and said,

“Because I’m this patient’s attending physician.”

Ah. Sun Woo let out a small sigh and rubbed his forehead. It was because of his own behavior, reacting sensitively due to unnecessary thoughts.

Hye Ji smirked and put her hands on her hips.

“Did you think I was following you or something?”

“We must bump into each other quite often for you to say that.”

Sun Woo maintained an indifferent expression. Though it was no different from before, those expressions kept making Hye Ji uneasy.

“It’s still before lunch, right? I heard there’s a place that makes amazing tteokbokki right in front. You like tteokbokki, don’t you?”

“I have an appointment. And I don’t like tteokbokki.”

“Liar. You always seek it out whenever you go on overseas assignments.”

“Who says that? I don’t like tteokbokki―”

Suddenly, Hye Ji took a step closer to Sun Woo and reached out over his head, standing on her tiptoes. Sun Woo narrowed his brows and asked about the sudden action that left no room to avoid.

“What are you doing?”

“What’s this?”

Sun Woo looked down at Hye Ji with a very displeased expression. Hye Ji then stretched out her hand, holding something in front of Sun Woo’s eyes. It was a cherry blossom petal.

“Did you walk all the way here wearing this? The great Yoon Sun Woo?”

Seeing Hye Ji laughing loudly as if the thought was hilarious, Sun Woo briefly wondered if she really didn’t have any other feelings. It was more ambiguous because no direct words had been exchanged.

“Use your words. This kind of skinship is not pleasant.”

“Okay, okay.”

Still, Sun Woo decided to maintain boundaries more strictly, judging it right not to give any room for misunderstanding.

“Go about your business. This patient is going to be my mother-in-law, so please take good care of her.”