Eun Jae was confused. She had a useless regret of wanting to go back to 5 minutes ago before hearing the story.

She closed her eyes tightly as if escaping reality, then opened them wide again as if resolved.

“So, you can’t have contact because of your obsessive-compulsive disorder. Is that what you’re saying?”

When she summarized the explanation in her own way, he nodded without answering.

“But when I touched… no, made contact with you, it was okay, is that right?”

Again, he just nodded without answering.

This is driving me crazy. Did he call me all the way here just to hold hands once?

“You said it was okay, right? Then why do you want to confirm it again? And of all places, here?”

Unlike Eun Jae, who was fiercely questioning with her eyes rolled back, the man was very calm. That made her even more furious.

“Because it’s not bad to make things certain. If it was a one-time thing, I need to take measures quickly too.”

As he finished speaking, the man’s finger pointed to a pill as small as a fingernail.

Learning the identity of the pill that had made her nervous, Eun Jae finally felt relieved.

Ah, so that’s the medicine that suppresses your OCD? Well, if there’s a problem, you’d need to swallow it as soon as possible.

It was when her gaze, which had briefly lingered on the pill, turned back to him.

His face, which she inadvertently met, shone with an inexplicable light. So she may have stared blankly for a moment.

Does that chandelier make people sparkle too?

Why is that man so handsome from the morning, bewitching people?

That man would be handsome even right after waking up in the morning.

No, Ji Eun Jae, are you crazy? What on earth are you thinking?

Eun Jae shook her head vigorously and returned to reality, away from his appearance that kept clouding her judgment.

“If it’s okay after checking? Why is this necessary for repaying the favor?”

“Because we can move on to the next step then?”

“The next step?”

Again, he just nodded without answering.

No, you frustrating person, when someone asks you something, say something in response. I didn’t ask to see you nod your head.

Eun Jae barely suppressed her anger and asked.

“…What is that?”

When Eun Jae asked through gritted teeth, the man moved the pill and water glass to the side with a faint smile on his face. Then he leaned back in his chair loosely and folded his arms.

“We’ll see about that after checking. It might not happen, so there’s no need to waste time explaining.”

What an attitude.

Eun Jae turned her head with a displeased expression.

“You said you’d repay the favor.”

He emphasized the purpose even more by breaking each syllable as he spoke.

That favor talk again… Isn’t he tired of it?

Meanwhile, his hand waved in front of her eyes again. The large white hand that looked soft just by looking at it seemed to keep urging her to hold it.

No, at this point, it seemed like he was tempting her to grab it. What would happen if she held that hand, would it be okay to hold it?

For a moment, the man’s hand that stretched out before her eyes sparkled. Perhaps that’s why it looked like a hand that came to save me.

Saying he would pull you out of that mouse hole, so grab it.

As if she was bewitched.

“I just need to give you my hand?”

The man nodded silently.

“H-how long? 2 seconds? 3 seconds?”

Eun Jae stammered, looking at him with suspicious eyes. The man’s answer fell without a moment’s hesitation to Eun Jae’s quickly asked questions.

“1 second is enough.”

Though not entirely convinced, Eun Jae swallowed dryly and carefully placed her hand on top of his.

“…Really, just 1 second.”

As if he had been waiting, the man’s fingers dug between Eun Jae’s overlapped fingers.

The man’s hand was softer and warmer than she had expected.

As she felt the man’s grip getting stronger, Eun Jae’s heart started beating faster.

It happened in an instant. The man’s warmth spread from her fingertips throughout her body. That heat soon turned Eun Jae’s cheeks red.

Realizing that heat, Eun Jae quickly pulled her hand away from the man’s.

“It’s been 1 second, you’re such a fraud!”

Eun Jae’s eyes, filled with bewilderment, wandered in the air. She absently fiddled with her right hand, which seemed to still have his warmth, with her left hand.

Clearly I was the one who held it, but it felt like I was being held.

When was the last time I held hands with someone like this?

It had been a really long time. Strangely, it felt like even the deepest part of my heart was getting warm.

Eun Jae, who had barely composed the complex emotions that suddenly swept over her, raised her head and glanced up at him.

His expression looks calm, and the pill is still there, so it seems okay…

Eun Jae slightly raised her eyes to gauge his reaction and asked.

“Was it… okay?”

“I wonder why, why is it only okay with you?”

The man asks back with a puzzled look, as if he doesn’t understand.

How would I know what you don’t know?

Don’t add such unnecessary words.

Just tell me.

What you want from me.

“What’s the next step?”

“There are things to prepare. Let’s meet again at this time tomorrow. We’ll talk again then.”

[This is the timeline separator]

Standing in front of his officetel door, Eun Jae glared at the entrance door while huffing.

“Aish! Repaying a favor is damn hard.”

Eun Jae grabbed her throbbing forehead in front of the man’s entrance door. She turned her body towards the elevator, then turned back towards the man’s entrance door in frustration.

“I shouldn’t keep going back and forth like this, right?”

She wanted to kick the entrance door, but instead punched the air. It seemed like that was the only way to vent her feelings.

“Who does he think he is to tell me to come and go?”

Then a tiny version of herself sat on Eun Jae’s shoulder and whispered mischievously.

‘What do you mean who? He’s the person you need to repay the favor to.’

That damn favor.

I’m grateful he saved me, but he’s annoying. Annoying, but grateful. It’s driving me crazy.

“I’ve registered you as a visitor, so you can come up directly tomorrow.”

Recalling what the man had said while seeing her off at the entrance, Eun Jae made a sour expression.

“Thank you, thanks. Th―ank you so much.”

Looking down at her hand that had diligently pocketed the 50,000 won bill the man had personally given her, she laughed hollowly. It was for taxi fare.

After making a fuss in front of the door, the bear keychain hanging on her fanny pack fell to the floor with a thud. The ring seemed to have loosened.

“What on earth does he want from me?”

At this point, I wish he’d ask me to clean, do laundry, or wash dishes.

Thinking it might be better that way, Eun Jae picked up the keychain irritably and turned on her heel, huffing.

[This is the timeline separator]

In the dim study.

When he pulled open the curtains, the entrance to the officetel was clearly visible. Sun Woo stared down at that entrance for a long time, as if waiting for someone.

As time passed, a familiar black figure passed through the entrance, walking quickly while looking around cautiously. Seeing that sight, a deflated laugh escaped him.

Seen from the 31st floor, she looked as small as an ant passing by on the street. Yet she was as clear as if he was looking at her right in front of him.

Those eyes that grow twice as big when surprised, those cheeks that turn peach-colored when flustered.

Her insignificant expressions strangely tickled his heart.

It was an emotion he felt for the first time while looking at someone. Sun Woo pressed and rubbed his stiffening chest in circles.

“Does she believe that?”

How would I know where those people’s office is?

Remembering how she had run into the officetel, turning pale at the mention of the loan shark’s office being nearby, laughter unconsciously escaped him.

When they first met that day, when the woman’s touch didn’t bother him, Sun Woo thought.

That he wanted to test it.

That he wanted to confirm if the woman’s touch would be okay even without taking the medicine.

So he wanted to talk safely inside the house. That’s why he told that lie.

He didn’t expect her to believe it so easily though.

“Or is she just gullible by nature.”

If so, that’s a problem. I might keep wanting to tease her.

Sun Woo spread out his hand where her hand had touched. The orange light of the setting sun seeped through between his fingers.

As she completely disappeared around the corner, Sun Woo drew the curtains without lingering.

The study was once again shrouded in darkness.

Sun Woo fiddled with his hand where her hand had touched and frowned.

Looking back, he couldn’t understand his somewhat impulsive actions.

What made him let his guard down so easily with this woman?

He stared down blankly at the slippers he was wearing.

He couldn’t believe that he, who had been reluctant to let even close friends into his house, had personally invited a woman he just met into his home.

“Ridiculous.”

He becomes curious about the woman who brings out this unfamiliar side of himself that is both bewildering and strange.

Why is it only okay with that woman?

As he became curious about the reason, he felt drawn to her.

As he recalled the woman’s eyes that shone brightly even within her wary gaze, the corners of Sun Woo’s mouth slightly turned up.

It still feels like her warmth remains on his hand.

Will the woman come tomorrow?

“I want to hold it again.”

That sweet and warm hand that had a faint floral scent.

[This is the timeline separator]

Déjà vu?

This feeling of the same thing repeating as yesterday.

Standing in front of his officetel door, Eun Jae burst into laughter. It was laughter that erupted from how absurd it all was.

The person telling her to come repay the favor, and the person coming because she was told to.

“Ah… Should I just run away?”

The loan sharks already know where I’m staying, and running away is no big deal for me.

“If you ran away, would I just sit still?”

“I have quite a knack for hide-and-seek, you know.”

“I’m also quite talented at being ‘it’.”

After briefly recalling what the man had said, Eun Jae looked down at the phone in her hand and smiled faintly, murmuring softly.

“I won’t run away, I won’t.”

It was definitely an odd situation.

Where is there someone who buys you a phone to repay a favor?

Eun Jae took a deep breath and stepped closer to the doorbell.

Maybe because she heard that the loan shark’s office was nearby, she came by taxi today due to her anxiety.

I shouldn’t be going around like this so often, but how long do I have to keep running away? Won’t I get caught eventually? And if I do get caught? What will happen then?

As the image of them chasing her desperately not long ago came to mind, Eun Jae bit her thin lips hard.

She closed her eyes tightly for a moment to gather her thoughts. Then she immediately reached out and pressed the doorbell.

There was no sign of movement even though it had been a while since she rang the doorbell.

The house is big, so it takes time to walk to the door. He’s not the type to come running either…

Even so, this is taking too long?

As she reached out to press the doorbell again, the door suddenly swung open.

He opens it so quickly.

Thinking that, she started to greet him.

“Hello―”

The greeting was left unfinished.

Before she could bow her head, his moist eyes met hers in mid-air.

A water droplet that had been clinging weakly to his wet hair fell to the floor in slow motion.

Along with the falling water droplet, Eun Jae’s gaze fell to the man’s feet. That gaze traveled up his lower body precariously covered by just a towel, to his tightly built upper body.

Faced with the man’s fully exposed body that was like a work of art, Eun Jae stepped back with a frightened face.

The man leaned languidly against the entrance door and smiled lightly.

“Yes, hello.”

As the man greeted her when their eyes met, she felt her face heating up instantly.

Perhaps wanting to pretend she hadn’t seen despite having seen everything, Eun Jae quickly turned around, covering her face that had surely turned red with both hands.

Sun Woo briefly looked himself over at the woman’s unnatural behavior.

He let out a snort of laughter.

What was so urgent that he rushed out like this?

He could almost see the expression on the woman who had turned around. She was surely blushing with both cheeks red. It made him want to keep teasing her.

Sun Woo raised the corner of his mouth slightly and slowly brushed up his hair.

“I was in the shower.”

Thump thump thump thump.

Eun Jae’s heart raced uncontrollably at the man’s voice.

“I also have a habit of rushing unnecessarily.”

At the man’s languid voice, Eun Jae shouted urgently while still turned away.

“I-I’ll wait outside. Take your time getting dressed and come out.”

The afterimage of the man’s body she had just seen flickered, making the back of her neck feel hot.

“Why, are you trying to run away again?”