A somber atmosphere flowed over the table where they sat facing each other.

Was it just his mood?

It seemed that grandfather’s expression had been more relaxed when he was with Eun Jae.

Although he should have been used to the constant tension of private meetings with grandfather since childhood, Sun Woo found this moment particularly difficult to endure.

After a long silence, Seok Hee put down his teacup and opened his lips.

“A promise is a promise, so I’ll call you to Attorney Shin’s house tomorrow evening.”

Attorney Shin was like a right-hand man who took care of all of grandfather’s affairs. He had been by grandfather’s side when he wrote the will, and when he suddenly decided to change the will.

“What? Attorney Shin?”

Is this matter being resolved so easily? Sun Woo’s tense expression changed to one of bewilderment.

It was clearly a moment he had been hoping for, but strangely, he didn’t feel happy at all. He was just confused and dazed by the situation.

For a fleeting moment, Eun Jae’s voice flashed through Sun Woo’s mind.

“You have to keep your promise.”

“You said you’d let me go earlier than the contract period once things were settled.”

Last night. He thought that perhaps this marriage, which had started as fake, might end as a real one.

Whether Eun Jae would cooperate… he wasn’t sure.

Last night she had been clinging to his shirt, ready to bite his lips, but come morning, she was cold as ice.

She said I was confusing her, but in reality, it was Eun Jae who was confusing me.

Did she misunderstand something in her drunken state? Yes, there were some sudden aspects, to be sure.

She said there was someone she liked…

‘Could she have confused me with that guy?’

As various thoughts piled up, Sun Woo became even more anxious. If the will was changed like this and things progressed smoothly, he might face the tragedy of her leaving him mercilessly, weighing various factors.

‘Of all things, why did my drinking habit have to be a blackout…’

Seeing Sun Woo tapping the table with a serious expression, Seok Hee clicked his tongue.

“Why are you reacting like that? Is the position of hospital director not satisfying enough?”

Awakened from his reverie by Seok Hee’s words, Sun Woo quickly replied.

“Ah… No, grandfather.”

Sun Woo’s gaze fell on the marriage registration receipt on the table as he continued speaking. He quickly organized the receipt in front of his grandfather’s eyes and added:

“We’ve only filed. It hasn’t been processed yet, and we haven’t had the wedding ceremony… And… well…”

“Why are you so restless?”

Seok Hee glared at Sun Woo with his brows deeply furrowed. Sun Woo stood up, quickly folding the receipt and stuffing it into his pocket.

“Anyway, take your time, grandfather. Take your time. You can take it slow.”

“After rushing so much, why suddenly ‘take it slow’?”

“I’m telling you, it’s not because I rushed… Let’s talk about this after the ceremony, grandfather. It’s not long until then anyway. Then I’ll go down first.”

With that, Sun Woo left the place hurriedly without looking back.

“How many times are you going to say ‘take it slow’?”

And what’s with that unusually flustered attitude today?

“So you’re saying it wasn’t a rushed marriage?”

Tsk― Seok Hee’s gaze lingered for a long time on Sun Woo’s lightly moving footsteps.

Eun Jae belatedly toured the room on the third floor. It was less than half the size of the officetel she had been staying in, but it gave a cozy and comfortable feeling.

This is exactly the kind of house I wanted.

For a long time, I had dreamed of living in such a warm house with my mother, just the two of us, without worrying about money.

Eun Jae slowly looked around the living room with her hands behind her back.

Judging by the two doors, it seems the master bedroom has an attached bathroom, and one is probably an empty room… That room will probably be mine.

Eun Jae sighed in relief and moved her steps again.

He said it was where he spent his childhood, and traces remained here and there. Following those traces with her eyes, she stopped at a frame placed on one side of the living room.

It was a photo of Sun Woo from when he was young. Eun Jae bent down to look at Sun Woo’s photo placed on top of the display cabinet.

Round eyes, sharp jawline, high nose.

His looks were already complete from this age.

He looked not much different from now. A child who appeared to be five or six years old was staring at the lens with a world-weary expression.

Look at that expression, how cute.

“Still the same.”

Eun Jae, who had laughed out loud, leaned against the sofa opposite, eyeing the living room.

Hah… The day is too long.

Since meeting Sun Woo, it seems I haven’t wasted a single hour of the 24 hours in a day. The problem is I’m using them too productively.

Eun Jae decided to open the gift box she received from Eun Jung while waiting for the man.

She carefully pulled the white ribbon knot on the box placed on the sofa table.

As the box opened and Eun Jae confirmed its contents, her face instantly turned red.

“Eek? How can I wear something like this…?”

The gift turned out to be underwear and a slip covered in white lace.

The palm-sized underwear seemed too small to serve its intended function, and the silk slip was too short and thin. Her hand placed inside the slip was clearly visible through it.

Eun Jae’s face turned red again as she carefully picked up the underwear top.

“By the way, mother-in-law and father-in-law are not home today.”

Knowing that she said this because she didn’t know the details of the relationship between the man and herself, Eun Jae’s face still flushed unnecessarily.

That aside, what grandfather had said earlier kept bothering her.

What the man had been talking about all along was clearly not the position of hospital director. It was the hospital.

When she widened her eyes in surprise at grandfather’s words, she recalled the man looking at her with a relaxed expression.

What did that look mean? Was it something like, this is our plan for the future?

We didn’t talk about anything like that, did we?

Suddenly anxious about whether that vaguely written clause in the contract included a marital relationship, Eun Jae hurriedly took out the contract from her carrier and examined it.

Come to think of it, that part wasn’t clearly addressed. It was a part she had never even thought about.

―Article 2 Party A must maintain a smooth marital relationship until Party B receives the hospital as a gift, and must do their best in the role of wife or husband while the marital relationship is maintained.

Eun Jae’s finger, which had been tracing along as she read Article 2, stopped at a certain point.

“Must maintain a smooth marital relationship… marital relationship?”

Good heavens. Damn you, Yoon Sun Woo, you fraud! How could you sneak this in so cunningly?

Right, I should have known when he so readily offered to repay such a large sum. Eun Jae looked around the empty room and fanned her face with her hand.

“Whew, it’s hot.”

“What are you doing there?”

Startled as her eyes met Sun Woo’s, who was coming up the stairs, Eun Jae hastily shoved the underwear strewn on the table into the box and closed it. She quickly crumpled up the wrapping paper and ribbon that had come out of the box and finished tidying up the surroundings.

The box was relatively large, so she couldn’t hide it anywhere, but she firmly tucked it by her side to prevent the man from opening it.

As expected, Sun Woo’s gaze naturally turned to the box.

“What’s that?”

“It’s a gift from your mother.”

“Oh? What is it?”

As Sun Woo asked with a face full of curiosity, Eun Jae blocked his gaze and answered.

“It’s my gift, do I have to tell you?”

“So, whatever it is, do you like it?”

“Of course, it’s from your mother. Of course I like it.”

“She has good sense.”

Fortunately, Sun Woo didn’t ask any more about the box after that. Eun Jae felt relieved. She placed the box on top of her carrier and asked Sun Woo:

“I’d like to rest a bit. Which room should I use?”

“Which room?”

Sun Woo tilted his head in confusion at Eun Jae’s question and asked back.

“The room I’ll be using.”

“There’s only one room here.”

“What?”

In fact, when Sun Woo came up to this room earlier, he had put his hand to his forehead at the sight of the bed replaced with a king-size one and the interior that was clearly boasting ‘We’re newlyweds’.

“I told them to leave it as it was…”

“Sun Woo, you really don’t understand a woman’s heart.”

Saying they couldn’t create a newlywed atmosphere in such a gloomy place, they had made the entire room white.

He couldn’t show his true feelings in front of Eun Jung. He thought he could give the bedroom to Eun Jae and stay in the study himself since it wasn’t a place his parents frequented, but when he checked the study, Sun Woo’s brows furrowed.

The many belongings that had occupied the room were now crammed into the study, leaving no room even to set foot.

Eun Jae, with a pale face, pointed to the study room that had become a storage room and said:

“Th-then, what about that room?”

“It’s the study. It’s full of books with no room to even set foot. You can go in and look if you’re curious.”

“Mister.”

“I’ve never heard of newlyweds using separate rooms right after getting married.”

Given grandfather’s words, the underwear gift from her mother-in-law, and all those things combined, Sun Woo’s words felt very threatening to Eun Jae.

Sun Woo misunderstood Eun Jae’s expression. He thought she looked unwell because she was tired.

Thinking it would be strange if she wasn’t tired after drinking so much yesterday.

“You must be tired, go in and sleep.”

“Go in, you say?”

Eun Jae not only misinterpreted an innocent statement but also reacted oversensitively. Sun Woo looked at her with an incredulous expression.

“No…”

Go in and sleep. Swallowing the rest of his words, Sun Woo frowned and gestured for her to go into the room.

Sun Woo was just as tired. He felt fatigue accumulating, perhaps because of the many things that had happened since dawn. Not getting enough sleep because of this woman standing in front of him also played a part.

It must be unfamiliar and uncomfortable. So Sun Woo thought he should let Eun Jae rest first.

Then he recalled the space beyond the door in his mind.

Only one bathroom, only one room, only one bed… This is going to be so uncomfortable.

“Take a shower first.”

“What? Now?”

“Are you going to lie on the bed without showering?”

“I still have things to do.”

“What things? Do them tomorrow.”

Sun Woo personally opened the door and pushed Eun Jae’s carrier into the room.

Eun Jae, who had been pulled in inadvertently, entered the room in a fluster. Sun Woo, who followed her in, pointed to the dresser opposite the bed.

“Use the right drawer. It’s bigger.”

Sun Woo handed Eun Jae the robe and towel that were on the bed, and after saying those words, went back out to the living room.

Looking at the clock that had passed 10 o’clock, Eun Jae sighed and headed to the bathroom with clothes to change into and the robe.

Between the room and the bathroom, in front of the mirror placed in the powder room, Eun Jae fumbled with her necklace, trying to find the clasp.

“How do you take this off?”

After struggling for a while, finding no good solution, she decided to think about it later and entered the bathroom.

She couldn’t remember what she had been thinking about while showering.

She dried her wet body with a towel and put on the robe over her underwear. Even while drying her hair, her mind was filled with thoughts about what would happen today.

Not today, right?

No, he might think there’s nothing to worry about since we’ve already registered our marriage.

After biting her nails for a while and lingering in front of the door, she left the bathroom.

Seeing Eun Jae come out in her robe, Sun Woo, who was sitting in front of the dresser putting away his clothes, quickly averted his gaze.

“You know, mister…”

“I didn’t finish organizing my stuff earlier. Just this―”

“Since this is my first experience with this kind of thing, does it have to be today? If you could just give me a little time…”

Sun Woo’s eyebrows curved at Eun Jae’s words.

“What kind of experience?”

“Well, the marital… relationship…”

As Eun Jae clutched the front of her robe with one hand and lowered her head as if embarrassed, Sun Woo, who had been organizing his belongings, laughed incredulously and stood up.

Ha, he made a short sound and looked Eun Jae up and down from her feet up as she came out of the bathroom.

“Ji Eun Jae, do you want to sleep with me?”

“What?”

As a surprised Eun Jae raised her head, Sun Woo took a step forward. The man’s lips, curved in a subtle arc, moved.

“There’s no need to be this diligent.”

Another step,

“If Ji Eun Jae wants to go that far.”

And another step.

Sun Woo, who had come right up to her, looked down at Eun Jae obliquely and said:

“I wouldn’t be able to refuse either.”