That afternoon.

Having finished work a bit early, Sun Woo headed to his family home.

Sun Woo’s grandfather and CEO of Yeonlim Hospital, Yoon Seok Hee, placed great importance on family bonds.

So once a month, they always had dinner together at the family home. Everyone was expected to attend unless there was a special reason.

Thanks to his grandfather still being in good health, no one dared to defy his words, and everyone tried their utmost not to fall out of his favor.

The family home was a single-story mansion built with neat gray bricks.

Behind that building, two sets of stairs led to a garden as large as a playground. At the end were two three-story mansions.

These were essentially separate residences where Yoon Seok Hee’s two sons and their wives lived. It was a grand estate enclosed by one large wall connecting the three buildings.

The eldest son and Sun Woo’s father, Yoon Gang and his wife, used the building on the right, while the second son, Yoon Chung and his wife, used the one on the left. Though outwardly bound as one space, they were thoroughly independent areas.

Chairman Yoon Seok Hee, despite being well over 80 years old, had eyesight good enough to read books without glasses. He was also fit enough to go hiking every morning without difficulty.

And his perception was incredibly sharp.

Once, when Sun Woo and Tae Gyu had a slight disagreement at the hospital over a traffic accident emergency patient, he sensed the tension and excluded them from the family dinner, saying it would ruin his appetite.

That’s when Sun Woo realized.

That his grandfather was absolutely not to be trifled with. That no half-hearted deception could fool him.

Could that woman do it? Could she pretend to be affectionate, even if it was just an act? Could she fool even a grandfather like this?

“Haa…”

Sun Woo smoothed out his troubled expression as he recalled that day.

As he stepped into the dining room, he could see the entire room at a glance amidst the bustling housekeepers.

The imposing black volcanic stone dining table occupied more than half of the large dining room. Gold-framed chairs upholstered in black velvet were arranged neatly around it.

The numerous drop-shaped lights hanging from the high ceiling created an illusion as if shooting stars were falling.

On the lavishly set table, a centerpiece decorated with purple delphiniums, pink ranunculus, and long-lasting fragrant hyacinths showed off its presence in the center.

Song Eun Jung, Sun Woo’s mother, always bought and planted hyacinth bulbs, known as harbingers of spring, around this time of year.

With every breath, the scent of hyacinths tickled his nose.

“My son, it’s been a while!”

As soon as Sun Woo entered the dining room, Eun Jung smiled brightly as if she had been waiting for him.

“There was a keychain dropped at home, have you been there recently?”

“No. Didn’t I tell Mrs. Jung not to come for a while? Why?”

So it’s neither mother’s nor Mrs. Jung’s. Then it must be that woman’s.

As Sun Woo furrowed his brow, lost in thought for a moment, Eun Jung gestured for him to come and sit quickly. Sun Woo greeted his aunt, Su In, who was sitting across from him with a slight bow, and sat down in the chair Eun Jung had pulled out.

“Is something wrong? Why does your face look like that?”

Sun Woo asked before he had even taken off his jacket. Seeing her son’s rough face, Eun Jung fussed, unable to touch it.

“It’s nothing. I just haven’t slept for a few days.”

“Why?”

At that moment, Seok Hee entered the dining room, abruptly cutting off the mother-son conversation. Everyone sitting around the table, as well as everyone else in the room, bowed their heads towards Seok Hee in unison.

Sun Woo didn’t want to mention that he had just ruined his twenty-fifth blind date a few days ago.

He was secretly relieved by Seok Hee’s quick appearance.

Today’s menu was samgyetang.

The rich, milky broth was infused with the subtle aroma of wild ginseng. It was apparently 13-year-old wild cultivated ginseng. The scent of precious wild pine mushrooms and fragrant mushrooms blended to stimulate the senses.

Seated at the head of the table, Seok Hee picked up the ginseng with his bare hands and put it in his mouth, chewing for a long time. Following Seok Hee’s lead, Yoon Gang and his wife, and Yoon Chung and his wife took up their spoons in turn.

“Are you both still not?”

Though the subject was missing, everyone sitting there understood the meaning of grandfather’s words.

The table fell silent as if a mouse had died.

He had barely put the ginseng in his mouth before the flavor could spread. Unable to answer as he was already chewing on some meat, Tae Gyu didn’t respond, so Sun Woo answered first.

“No, not yet.”

“Still not, after going on so many blind dates?”

Seok Hee slowly raised his spoon. He sipped the milky broth in which expensive ingredients had melted after long simmering.

“Too much is as bad as too little.”

Watching this, Yoon Tae Gyu finally couldn’t hold back his laughter and let out a snort.

A moment of silence fell over the room.

Seok Hee’s sharp gaze, which had been fixed on Tae Gyu, was withdrawn. Clicking his tongue, Seok Hee stripped a chicken leg with his bare hands.

Soon, the uncomfortable atmosphere dissipated as the clinking of cutlery against dishes resumed and conversations about recent happenings were exchanged.

As seasonal fruits were being served for dessert, Sun Woo stood up, saying he had something to do, and put on his jacket. Eun Jung hurriedly popped an orange into her mouth and followed after him.

Eun Jung clung close to Sun Woo, needlessly brushing off non-existent dust from his back.

“I met Hye Ji at the hospital the other day.”

“Dr. Joo?”

Responding indifferently while hurrying on his way, Sun Woo was smacked on his broad back by Eun Jung.

“How long are you going to call her Dr. Joo?”

“If I don’t call Dr. Joo ‘Dr. Joo’, what should I call her?”

Listening intently to Sun Woo’s words, Eun Jung quickly glanced around both sides as soon as they exited the entrance. Then, as if sharing a secret, she whispered to Sun Woo.

“I heard Hye Ji doesn’t have a boyfriend yet either.”

“…”

“It seems Hye Ji’s grandmother is looking for a son-in-law. Hye Ji’s been going on a lot of blind dates lately too.”

“What are you trying to say?”

Sun Woo, seemingly annoyed by Eun Jung’s persistence, merely hurried his steps, stepping on each basalt stepping stone laid in the garden.

“The girl has no rough edges and is very sweet. Hye Ji’s family is good too, isn’t it?”

“Ah…”

As if understanding what Eun Jung was trying to say, Sun Woo, who had been walking, stopped abruptly in the middle of the garden covered with lush grass.

“That’s just your opinion, mother. To me, Dr. Joo is nothing more or less than Dr. Joo.”

Sun Woo smiled, gently patting Eun Jung’s shoulders as if to say not to worry, as if to say he’d take care of it.

Watching her son’s receding back as he strode away, Eun Jung let out a deep sigh tinged with disappointment.

The sky was already painted with an orange sunset.

Two days had passed since then.

Sun Woo went on his twenty-sixth blind date as scheduled.

From the moment they first greeted each other and shook hands, the outcome of this blind date was predetermined.

Boredom was spreading across Sun Woo’s face.

As the meal was nearing its end, the woman who had been nibbling throughout the dinner barely took one bite of the Hallabong sorbet served for dessert before gently setting down her spoon.

This sorbet was so delicious that people said they came to the hotel just to eat it.

He remembered the face of the woman who had cleaned her plate, saying she loved how the Hallabong flavor spread in her mouth.

That image of her eating everything served without complaint, enjoying it all.

“Sun Woo, I had a pleasant time today. Next time-”

“Was the meal not to your liking?”

“Pardon?”

There was irritation mixed in Sun Woo’s voice. A wrinkle formed between the eyebrows of the woman who had been smiling all along.

“Or are you usually a small eater?”

“Oh, the food was really delicious.”

“Can you actually taste it, eating like that?”

Sun Woo put down the napkin he had been holding and began buttoning up his jacket from the top, which he had loosened earlier.

“My only pleasure is having dinner at this hotel. Seeing the person I’m with put down their spoon after just one bite makes me lose my appetite completely.”

“Excuse me?”

“Excessive dieting is not good for your health. If you don’t want to suffer when you’re older, start by fixing your eating habits.”

As expected of a doctor.

The woman felt as if she had become a patient receiving a consultation at a hospital rather than being on a blind date.

No, she felt uncomfortable, as if she was being treated even worse than a patient.

“Since you barely ate anything, I’ll take care of the bill.”

The woman briefly meditated as she watched Sun Woo’s perfect backside disappearing with long strides, then let out a hollow laugh at her own behavior.

“What’s with that weirdo?”

As he was heading towards the front desk with the bill, a familiar figure came walking from afar.

He looked again, thinking he might have seen wrong, but sure enough, it was Yoon Tae Gyu.

“Why is that bastard crawling out from there again.”

Sun Woo muttered to himself through gritted teeth, just loud enough for him to hear.

As always, he was accompanied by an unfamiliar woman. Sun Woo’s face contorted in displeasure as their eyes met.

Always in such a hurry, even in broad daylight.

He wanted to pretend he hadn’t seen him, even though he probably had, and just go on his way without acknowledging him.

Sun Woo, who wanted to act as if he hadn’t seen him despite probably having been spotted, slightly covered his face with his large hand and turned around.

“Couldn’t meet your destined woman today either, huh?”

You never just pass by, do you?

“Mind your own business.”

Finding Sun Woo’s reaction amusing, Tae Gyu’s lips curled up into a smirk.

“Brother, how many rooms does this hotel have? Aren’t you tired of just coming here to eat?”

“What about you? Are you going to conquer every room in this hotel soon?”

Tae Gyu’s expression froze in surprise at the unexpected choice of words. Sun Woo, who had given him a hard pat on the shoulder with a loaded snap, returned the sardonic smile he had received earlier.

“Take it easy, you’ll wear yourself out.”

“I’ll help you with the payment.”

Sun Woo handed his card to the employee standing at the front desk.

While waiting for the payment to process, his grandfather’s voice kept ringing in his ears.

“I’ll give it to whichever of you gets married first.”

It was like a recorder that had been playing non-stop almost every day for months.

At first, he thought it was just talk to quell the commotion. So he didn’t pay much attention to it.

But it was exactly three days later, wasn’t it?

At a family dinner with everyone present, he rewrote his will without a single word of warning, accompanied by a lawyer.

“I’m thinking of handing over everything I own, not just the hospital, to whichever of you shows me a chubby grandchild first, so keep that in mind.”

He drove the point home as if to say he wasn’t just talking. What he said next was even more outrageous.

“You come with nothing, you leave with nothing. I’m going empty-handed anyway, so I might as well give it back to society. What hospital for those good-for-nothing boys who can’t even get married at their age.”

After grandfather’s thunderous declaration, it was actually Sun Woo who found himself in hot water.

Yoon Tae Gyu, who could meet women whenever he wanted, was rather relaxed.

The problem was that women changed as often as he ate meals.

After the will was written, Tae Gyu sat on the sofa with his legs crossed, looking up at Sun Woo with one corner of his mouth raised in a smile. The sight was infuriatingly annoying.

As if the position of the next hospital director and Yeonlim were already his, he openly mocked Sun Woo, knowing his weakness exactly, like a cunning snake.

‘I’ll never give it to you.’

Whether it was because things had turned out this way, Sun Woo’s mind was completely filled with her face.

“Sir, here’s your card.”

No, to be precise, there hadn’t been a day he hadn’t thought of her since the day he met that woman.

“Sir?”

The woman who looked as if her very existence was precarious.

The woman who reached out her slender hand to me, asking for help.

Her eyes were cold, but her hand was so fever-hot.

“This is driving me crazy.”