Even before opening the door, the sound of the ringing bell was leaking out.

Ji Eun Jae, who had wrapped her still damp hair with the towel she was holding, quickly picked up the phone she had left on the bed as soon as she entered the room.

“I was going to do it first.”

This girl, I knew she’d call. Eun Jae’s expression brightened as she confirmed the caller.

She wondered if she had gotten home safely. There were a few things she wanted to ask. There were also some parts she got stuck on while writing the marriage registration form.

Eun Jae pressed the call button with a very pleased expression.

“Yes! Ye Rim. I was just about to call you—”

[Are you alright?]

Eun Jae asked back, puzzled by Ye Rim’s sudden question as soon as she answered the phone.

“Alright?”

[That bastard, I mean, that man, did he pounce on you or something?]

At those words, last night’s dream and what happened in the morning unconsciously came to mind.

The dazzling face and pretty lips of the man she had encountered when she opened her eyes after struggling in her dream flashed before her eyes again.

Eun Jae’s pale face turned red in an instant. Although nothing had happened, her throat felt parched, perhaps because of the sensual dream. Unlike her eyes darting around in confusion, Eun Jae answered in a calmly composed voice.

“What do you mean ‘that bastard’? He’s going to be your brother-in-law.”

[You like calling him brother-in-law. I regretted leaving you in that house as soon as I left, I was wondering if I should rush back in.]

She didn’t remember, but she had been praising herself for somehow finding her way home despite being completely drunk.

“Were you the one who brought me home?”

[No, that man came to pick you up.]

“What?”

Good heavens. How did that man know? No, how did that man end up there? Before she could ask, Ye Rim’s answer continued.

[I called him, that man.]

Eun Jae’s entire body stiffened. It felt like the world was crumbling.

“You’re saying that person came?”

You called and he came just like that? That’s not like him.

Eun Jae nervously nibbled on her shortly trimmed nails.

[Eun Jae. Do you love that man? Is this marriage really out of love?]

“What’s with that all of a sudden?”

[Meet Yoon Tae Gyu instead, Tae Gyu has been looking for you constantly. His family background is good too, and above all, you used to like Yoon Tae Gyu!]

She did like him. But that feeling was brief, really very brief.

“I never did.”

[Then why did you ask about Tae Gyu back then? Didn’t you ask because you were interested in meeting him?]

“That was…”

If she started explaining that, she might end up spilling everything. As she chewed on her lips, unable to come up with a suitable excuse, Ye Rim cut in.

[You said the debt was 200 million won, right? If I take out a full loan from the company and combine it with my savings, it should come to about that much.]

“Ye Rim. What are you—”

[I’ll help you, so don’t go through with this marriage.]

Eun Jae shut her mouth tightly at Ye Rim’s attitude, speaking like someone who knew something. She couldn’t say anything.

Did I make a slip of the tongue yesterday that I can’t remember? How much does she know?

What if I talked about the contract, surely not, as she anxiously clenched her hand on her knee, suddenly the clause specified in the contract flashed through Eun Jae’s mind.

—All content related to the marriage contract shall not be disclosed to any third party.

If the man found out about this, it wouldn’t be 200 million but 400 million. No, he might even demand 600 million like in the dream.

Eun Jae looked around her empty space, worried that the conversation might leak out, and whispered in a low voice, covering her mouth with her hand.

“Ye Rim, I don’t know what you think you know, but there’s a misunderstanding, and absolutely don’t tell that person—”

That’s when it happened. Eun Jae’s door was knocked, and then the man’s voice was heard from beyond the door.

“Are you taking long?”

“Ah, no, I’ll be out soon.”

Eun Jae, who had first answered the man while covering the phone with her hand, calmed herself and brought her lips back to the phone.

“Whatever you think you know, you can’t tell anyone, okay?”

[Hey, I already—]

“Ye Rim, I’ll call you back later, I’m hanging up!”

After hurriedly ending the call, Eun Jae appeared in the living room with her hair only roughly dried. As usual, she saw the man busy placing side dishes on the dining table.

Eun Jae stood in the spot where she could see Sun Woo best and admired his appearance for a moment.

Whether it was the man’s forearms visible above his rolled-up sleeves, or even his ordinary navy tie fluttering in his wake looking stylish, it seemed she had truly fallen head over heels.

Sun Woo, who was setting down a steaming bowl of soup, noticed Eun Jae’s presence and looked up to meet her gaze.

“Sit down.”

“It’s the 10th, isn’t it?”

She asked and questioned again with her eyes. Aren’t you going to work?

“Day off. Sit down for now.”

Just a moment ago you were grabbing people like catching mice, and now you’re suddenly using polite speech? It’s hard to get used to. That hospital of yours sure has a lot of days off.

“Either use polite speech or casual speech, choose one. It confuses me too.”

As always, his expression didn’t change at all despite Eun Jae’s brusque words. Sun Woo quietly pulled out a chair and sat down, indicating with his chin the seat where Eun Jae usually sat.

“Sit down, eat.”

“…”

Tch, so you switch to casual speech right away.

“Are you satisfied now?”

Tsk. Making a small sound to express her dissatisfaction, Eun Jae sat down across from the man with a sulky face.

“I really don’t feel like eating. My stomach feels a bit uncomfortable.”

“Eat.”

Pouting her lips, Eun Jae reluctantly lowered her head.

Until just a moment ago, she felt like her stomach would turn just looking at any food in the world, but as soon as she saw the milky pollock soup, her appetite suddenly returned.

The spoon she grabbed went straight for the soup. As the savory and warm broth went down her throat, it felt like her discomfort was instantly settled.

“Ah, I think I’ll live.”

As Eun Jae kept scooping up soup, unconsciously voicing her inner thoughts, Sun Woo watched her for a moment, briefly lifting the corners of his mouth in a smile before finally taking a spoonful of soup himself.

About halfway through the meal, the scratch on the man’s lower lip caught her eye. It was a wound she hadn’t noticed earlier.

Was he tired? Or couldn’t he sleep? Did he have that nightmare again? He looked really troubled then.

Eun Jae was needlessly worried but felt too proud to ask directly. While eating, she casually asked, pretending not to care.

“What happened to your lip? Did you get hurt?”

The man looked at Eun Jae with his characteristically languid expression and answered.

“Are you curious?”

“No.”

Eun Jae shook her head and moved her chopsticks again. Although she was a little, no, very concerned, she decided not to ask any further due to the man’s meaningful expression.

“I guess a drunk cat must have bitten it.”

“A cat?”

“Don’t try to find comfort in alcohol you can’t handle. If you need someone to listen, just talk to someone who can.”

Contrary to his gruff words, the man gently pushed some grilled asparagus towards her.

Adding that asparagus contains 50 times more asparagine than bean sprouts, which helps the liver break down alcohol.

As expected of a doctor.

Eun Jae chewed on the asparagus while listening to the man’s words that strangely sounded like nagging.

“You saw me with Dr. Joo at the hospital yesterday, right?”

Eun Jae was startled by Sun Woo’s words. How did he know? I thought I hid well, did he see me?

Eun Jae tried to hide her surprise and emotions as she picked up another asparagus.

“In such situations, you should first ask the person involved what happened and give them a chance to explain, rather than trying to figure it out and imagine on your own.”

At Sun Woo’s words, Eun Jae put down her chopsticks as if she had something to say.

“I didn’t imagine anything, I only believe what I saw. You did stay still while another woman touched your hair, right? Although this is a contract marriage, don’t we have a shared responsibility for this marriage?”

Sun Woo slowly blinked his eyes in affirmation to the question that seemed to seek agreement.

“Go on.”

“In a situation where you need to receive the hospital transfer as soon as possible, how do you think it looks to others if a man about to get married is often seen with another woman like that?”

“How do you think it looks?”

“Like it’s a fake marriage, like you’re showing it off. Marriage is marriage and dating is dating. If you have this kind of attitude, you should meet her after everything is settled with me. You’re a person with social standing.”

Sun Woo smiled faintly at Eun Jae, who was speaking without taking a breath with her small, cute lips, and leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms leisurely.

“So, what would you like me to do? Should I make an excuse?”

“Please say that you’ll take responsibility for any problems that arise from this. Whether the hospital transfer falls through and this marriage becomes invalid—”

“That won’t happen.”

“Even if it won’t, please promise.”

Seeing her very determined attitude, Sun Woo seemed to think for a moment before reluctantly nodding.

“Please write it in the contract too.”

“A verbal contract is still a contract.”

“I can’t trust that.”

“Geez.”

“What reason do I have to trust you? We’re in a strictly contractual relationship. Unless it’s written down on paper.”

Was she always this talkative? Eun Jae seemed unusually verbose today. Sun Woo sighed deeply as if annoyed and got up.

He went to his room and came back with the contract, writing down what Eun Jae had said at the bottom of it in front of her.

With Eun Jae correcting any phrases Sun Woo missed in between.

As Eun Jae stood up to clear her place, having achieved her goal, Sun Woo asked her with a disgruntled face.

“Are you satisfied now?”

“Yes.”

A pretty smile was on Eun Jae’s face as she looked at the contract modified to her liking.

Seeing that expression, despite the inappropriate situation, the same impulse as yesterday arose.

The drunk cat that bit my lip was you. Having already confirmed her feelings, the desire to pull the woman into his arms surged forward, but Sun Woo deliberately suppressed that impulse.

He also felt a bit annoyed at Eun Jae for completely forgetting when she had pounced on him, and wanted to tease her a little. Even if one day she remembered and blushed with shame.

“Joo Hye Ji’s actions were 100% without my consent.”

“Are you making excuses?”

“Not an excuse, a correction. It wasn’t a mutually agreed upon action, but a unilateral solo act.”

He said that Dr. Joo had taken it upon herself to remove the cherry blossom petal stuck to his hair. He added that he had given her a stern warning.

As she listened, Eun Jae suddenly became curious about something.

“I’m curious about something, how do you feel when other people touch you? Does it feel bad?”

“Very unpleasant.”

Sun Woo frowned as if even talking about it made him uncomfortable. He seemed to think about something for a moment before asking Eun Jae.

“What about you? How did you feel?”

“About what?”

“Then, how did you feel?”

He seemed to be asking about when she witnessed the scene of them together.

At that time, my feelings were…

You two looked so good together that there was no place for me between you. Maybe because I gave up so easily, my heart hurt and I felt bitter, and infinitely shabby. Well, something like that.

Pushing her true feelings into her heart, Eun Jae composed her expression.

“I felt a bit unpleasant too.”

Yet, at the fragment of truth that popped out, Eun Jae added words as if making an excuse.

“Ah! This is purely a matter of my pride. When people see the man I’m about to marry going around like that, what will they think of me?”

It was when Eun Jae was trailing off and about to head to her room. The man caught her wrist, bringing her back to her spot.

“Do you know how many times you’ve called me ‘ahjussi’ just today?”

Ah, right. He told me not to call him ahjussi.

The memory of him telling her not to call him that while attaching strange conditions suddenly flashed by. At Sun Woo’s question, Eun Jae scratched her head as if she couldn’t remember well.

“You’ve already called me that three times.”

“Why are you bringing that up all of a sudden?”

“So, before you leave today, call me three times.”

His lips slowly descended to whisper softly in Eun Jae’s ear.

“Call me ‘honey’.”

[This is the timeline separator]

Eun Jae’s heart was pounding as if it would burst when she returned to her room. With her hands on her cheeks that were surely red, Eun Jae kept replaying the man’s words, feeling the heat on her hands.

“So, before you leave today, call me three times.”

“Call me ‘honey’.”

Since when did those words become so sexy?

“I must be crazy!”

Eun Jae sat at her vanity, stroking her chest that she had barely managed to calm, and fell into thought with her chin resting on her hand.

“This is strange. Why do I feel like I saw that wound in my dream?”

The wound on the man’s lower lip kept bothering her.

Being her first time, her eagerness showed even in her dream, making her clumsy.

Unable to keep up with the man’s breathing as he skillfully led, she unknowingly bit the man’s lip, and only when she tasted the metallic liquid did she hastily pull away.

“Oh no, does it hurt? Should we stop?”

“It doesn’t matter, continue.”

Eun Jae’s face, which had been recalling that scene for a moment, soon turned pale.

“Huh? Am I that drunk cat?”