Eun Jae sat restlessly in the car heading to the district office, tightly gripping the seatbelt and staring out the window. Perhaps due to the hot weather, her hand holding the belt was drenched in sweat.

She could clearly feel the man’s gaze upon her, but Eun Jae absolutely refused to look at him.

After realizing that last night’s memories were not a dream, she lacked the courage to look him directly in the eyes.

She already knew her feelings had grown too big to hide, but they must never be discovered or spoken of. It was clearly a violation of the contract, and the damage it would cause Eun Jae was immense.

‘What on earth did you do to that person, Ji Eun Jae?’

The more she tried to recall the fragmented events of last night, sighs escaped between her teeth.

She had been drunk, and when she opened her eyes, there he was in her blurry vision – the one she had longed for so desperately.

The man’s deep eyes gazing at her as if she were lovable endlessly pulled her in like a magnet. Her gaze lingered on his unusually red lips, unable to look away.

She wanted to devour him. She felt greedy.

If only she could have him in her dreams. That was her one and only wish.

“Looks like a drunk cat took a bite.”

The man knows everything. He figured it all out.

Not realizing this, she had carelessly asked him what he ate last night and why his lips were like that. She wanted to crawl into a mouse hole and hide her clueless self from just hours ago.

What am I going to do now?

Faced with a problem that seemed to have no way out, Eun Jae let out a deep sigh in resignation.

“What’s wrong?”

Startled by Sun Woo’s sudden voice, as if he had caught onto her thoughts, Eun Jae jumped and replied.

“Huh? I didn’t…”

“You’ve been sighing constantly since getting in the car.”

“Ah… I guess I was… Don’t worry about it. It’s nothing.”

“I can tell your mind is troubled, but―”

The man seemed to be asking if it was because of the marriage registration.

“Ah, no. It’s not because of that.”

Eun Jae vehemently denied it and turned her head towards the window. She leaned on her arm against the window, staring blankly at the quickly passing scenery.

Why is he pretending not to know when he knows everything?

Normally, the man would have surely said something like this: Ji Eun Jae, why are you putting personal feelings into the contract? Will you take responsibility if you mess up the job?

‘I know, I know. I can’t take responsibility, I can’t.’

Right, he’s the type of person who would say that and more.

I thought he would immediately question me about the contract, but unexpectedly, the man was quiet.

It was even more frustrating that she didn’t remember everything from yesterday. The fragmented memories tormented Eun Jae even more.

As her thoughts became complicated, a headache started to set in again. She lowered the car window slightly, wanting to feel the breeze for a moment.

Just as the cool wind thoroughly tousled Eun Jae’s hair, a conversation she had with the man in her dream suddenly came to mind.

“You’ve already violated the contract.”

“Then how much do I have to pay back? Since it’s double, 400 million won?”

“600 million.”

I couldn’t even pay back 200 million and was so anxious about it, how on earth am I supposed to pay back 600 million?

When did it become 600 million? Eun Jae grumbled in a voice only she could hear, then glanced sideways at Sun Woo sitting next to her, turning the steering wheel.

‘You, what exactly are you planning?’

How much more will he torment people over this? How am I supposed to endure it?

No, he probably thinks I don’t remember anyway…

I don’t know, let’s just deny it.

What can he do if I say I don’t remember?

[This is the timeline separator]

She hadn’t expected anything grand just because it was a marriage registration, but she didn’t know the procedure would be this simple.

After taking a number and submitting papers with their personal information, they were given a receipt saying the registration was complete in less than 5 minutes. Along with a reply that the paperwork would be processed within a week.

Still, it was a major life event that would affect the rest of their lives, so it felt strangely simple.

It was anticlimactic. To think I had struggled so much over something this easy.

“Congratulations on becoming husband and wife.”

The district office employee smiled and handed Eun Jae a small gift. She received it with a quiet “Thank you.”

He said he had the day off, but after returning home, the man said he needed to urgently go to the hospital for work.

After saying that and going into the room briefly, Sun Woo came out pushing a large suitcase. Eun Jae looked at him quizzically and asked. Hadn’t he said he was going to the hospital?

“Are you going somewhere far?”

She was bewildered, wondering if he was going on a business trip, when an astonishing statement flowed from the man’s lips.

“I’ve packed in advance, I’ll come pick you up in the evening.”

She naturally assumed it wasn’t hers. But that suitcase was pushed towards Eun Jae by Sun Woo’s hand. Eun Jae stopped the rolling suitcase and asked.

“What luggage? Where are you going?”

“The family home.”

Family home? Surprised by the unexpected words, Eun Jae’s eyes widened as she pointed to herself and asked.

“What? Me too?”

“Am I going alone then?”

With a displeased expression, Sun Woo slipped his arms into the jacket he had been holding. As Sun Woo strode towards the entrance, Eun Jae followed closely behind and asked.

“So suddenly? Weren’t we supposed to go after having the wedding ceremony?”

“Grandfather said to come by today.”

“What?”

Sun Woo stopped walking and turned around to look at Eun Jae’s widened eyes as he asked.

“Anything else you’re curious about?”

“…”

“No, right?”

At Eun Jae’s continued silence, the man’s body leaned slightly towards her.

“I think it’d be better if I call you now rather than at the family home.”

“W-What…”

“Or should I call you myself?”

The man’s lips moved softly as they unhesitatingly approached Eun Jae’s ear. A warm breath caressed her earlobe as a sweet, melodious voice melted into it.

“See you later, honey.”

As she packed, Eun Jae wanted to deny reality. Going to the family home so suddenly without any preparation.

She lacked confidence. Just seeing the man made her face flush, her mind go blank, and she’d likely stutter her words. What if she got caught like this?

Moreover.

“Don’t go.”

“Can’t you just stay by my side?”

The fact that memories from yesterday were resurfacing one by one plunged Eun Jae further into despair.

If she got caught remembering everything at this rate, she might become a super underdog. The thought of possibly being swayed at will by the already willful man made her dizzy.

“Oh no, absolutely not.”

Determined to deny it to the end, Eun Jae focused on packing again. As she put in neatly folded clothes one by one, the large suitcase filled up.

When she first entered this house, she had nothing, but when did she accumulate so many belongings?

Suddenly thinking of the day she first met him, Eun Jae laughed.

Those times when they bickered and tried not to get involved with each other.

It was a memory she could now recall with a smile.

Eun Jae’s hand stopped as she was packing the last of her cosmetics. And that hand moved to her lips.

What did that kiss mean to the man?

It was too intense to just be indulging my drunken behavior.

“I’m going crazy not being able to ask.”

Maybe the mister has developed different feelings for me too.

She couldn’t erase the inevitable hope in her heart.

[This is the timeline separator]

It seemed like spring had just arrived and cherry blossoms had started fluttering, but already lush green leaves had sprouted in place of the fallen petals.

Though the temperature difference between day and night was still quite large, it felt like summer would come soon. As he turned the steering wheel, feeling the slightly hot and humid air, a pretty smile hung on Sun Woo’s lips.

He felt like laughing. He just kept wanting to laugh.

The reason was clear. Because of Ji Eun Jae.

Though he had made the excuse of going to the hospital for urgent business, the place Sun Woo headed was not the hospital.

Sun Woo entered a luxury jewelry store.

Originally, he had planned to tell Eun Jae to buy whatever she wanted as a commemoration of their marriage registration day.

That was then, but now he wanted to choose something himself. He wanted it to feel like giving a gift. And he thought it would be even better to see Eun Jae’s pleased face one more time.

Sun Woo slowly scanned the glittering display cases. Perhaps because there were so many types and he lacked experience, everything looked the same to Sun Woo’s eyes. A smiling employee kindly asked as she approached Sun Woo.

“Is there anything in particular you’re looking for?”

“Could you recommend something?”

“Who are you buying a gift for?”

After pondering for a moment, only one person came to Sun Woo’s mind. His lips naturally curved into a smile at the image of Eun Jae beaming brightly.

“It’s a gift for my wife.”

The employee smiled along and placed a few necklaces on top of the display case. Among them, one necklace particularly caught Sun Woo’s eye. Noticing Sun Woo’s gaze, the employee explained with a smile.

“This is a new product from G company, the design is a bit unique, isn’t it? It’s a padlock pendant made with a 3-carat diamond.”

The employee separated the necklace from the box and demonstrated in person.

“This chain acts as the locking mechanism. See how it locks into the padlock like this? They may all look the same, but it’s custom so each key is different. What makes this product especially unique is…”

As Sun Woo stared intently at the necklace, listening carefully to the employee’s explanation, he answered without hesitation at her final words.

“I’ll take that one.”

[This is the timeline separator]

Sun Woo’s car loaded with Eun Jae’s luggage headed to the family home. Though the sunset had been visible before departing, it quickly grew dark outside.

Perhaps because the house was located in a somewhat remote area, the road leading to the family home became pitch black to the point where they could barely see ahead.

After driving like that for quite a while.

A bright light started to appear in the distance. It was clearly the light pouring out from the large mansion they would soon arrive at.

As they got closer and closer to the family home, Eun Jae took a deep breath. Seeing this, Sun Woo glanced at her and chuckled softly.

“There’s no need to be nervous.”

“It would’ve been nice if you told me in advance?”

“It was decided so suddenly, there wasn’t time to tell you.”

“Liar. This is what you were going to talk about when we ate the other day, right?”

“Yes.”

Yes? Hearing such a straightforward answer to her casual remark, Eun Jae looked at Sun Woo in disbelief.

“See, if you had told me then, I wouldn’t be this flustered now.”

“Whether I told you then or today, the result would be the same anyway.”

“Mister, the process is more important than the result for anything.”

“I’ll try to do that from now on.”

If I can’t even say that. As Eun Jae was expressing her complaints, Sun Woo’s car entered the garden of the family home. The building seen at night boasted even more grandeur than when viewed during the day.

The light pouring out of the large windows and the garden illuminations placed like stars created a spectacular scene.

Sun Woo’s car, which had been slowly decelerating, came to an abrupt stop in the middle of the garden.

As Eun Jae looked at Sun Woo as if to ask why he parked the car here, the man unbuckled his seatbelt and reached towards the glove compartment in front of the passenger seat.

Startled for a moment, Eun Jae leaned back. Sun Woo casually handed her a red box he took out from there.

“What is it?”

“To commemorate becoming a real married couple.”

“…”

“It’s a gift, open it.”

A gift…

Eun Jae slowly opened the box with trembling hands. The pendant reflected the garden lights, sparkling brilliantly.

“Ah…”

She let out an involuntary gasp at the dazzling sight. Eun Jae stared down at the necklace for a long time.

Suddenly, as she looked down at that necklace, the tip of her nose stung.

“Why. You don’t like it?”

“Ah, no… That’s not it.”

“Want me to put it on you?”

Though he asked, it seemed Sun Woo didn’t really care about Eun Jae’s answer from the start. His hand was already extended after unbuckling his seatbelt with a click. Holding the necklace separated from the box in one hand, he said quietly.

“Come closer.”

Eun Jae also unbuckled her seatbelt with a click. As she leaned her body slightly towards Sun Woo, she could clearly see him slowly approaching her.

Slowly, slowly.

As if in slow motion, all of the man’s movements were vividly captured in her eyes.

Eun Jae couldn’t come to her senses at the sound of the man’s breath touching her neck and the feeling of Sun Woo’s hands wrapping around her neck.

The chain slowly wrapped around her neck and came to the front. When she heard something lock with a click, Eun Jae lowered her head.

A necklace with a heart-shaped padlock was fastened around Eun Jae’s white and pretty neck. The diamonds densely set inside the heart sparkled beautifully combined with the lighting.

The man’s lips, which had been observing Eun Jae, moved softly as he spoke.

“Beautiful, Ji Eun Jae.”