“You said to ask your permission before doing anything, right?”

When Ki Joo looked at her with a questioning expression, she pressed harder against his chest.

“I’ll give you permission.”

“For what?”

Standing on tiptoe, she then closed her eyes.

For a moment, Ki Joo seemed to forget how to breathe, facing the woman offering a kiss. Her face seemed so pure and noble that he hesitated to approach her, as if touching broken glass.

It wasn’t like him to feel his heart trembling.

Ki Joo swallowed the self-mocking laughter that escaped his lips and lowered his face.

Soon after, their lips overlapped, mingling their breaths like dandelion seeds scattering in the wind.

It was the fragrance of flowers on a moonlit night.

In a provincial villa, the wooden three-story building felt like a prison where Han Seung Yoon was confined like an exile.

Unable to go to the resort for work and meeting only the villa’s caretaker, Seung Yoon increasingly felt like a criminal.

Moreover, with an anonymous tip-off joining in, a new scandalous article exploded, leaving him uneasy.

While he ignored everything else, confident it would resolve, the scandal was the most damaging. So, Seung Yoon scrutinized this interview article carefully. Although it mentioned an anonymous tipper, he could instantly tell who it was.
I knew he was complicated with women, but I thought it was real love… Every time he met a new woman, he saved her number distinctively… Even though he had someone to marry, he didn’t let go of the relationships…

“Ha, look at this.”

Seung Yoon threw the tablet PC he was looking at onto the bed and took out whiskey from the cabinet. Swear words involuntarily escaped his lips as he tried to contain his anger.

“Anonymous tip? He thinks I’ll just let it be?”

Except for Kim So Hee, there had been no issues when he ended relationships.

Like Song Eun Chae once said, was it just because of his background that everyone was with him, ending things cleanly without any trouble? Of course, he gave them a handful of money, except he didn’t do that with So Hee, but just told her verbally.

Because she also provoked Eun Chae and caused trouble.

But maybe he should have given her that handful of money because So Hee stabbed him in the back, wearing the mask of an anonymous tipper.

Seung Yoon, feeling incredulous, called his secretary.

“Today’s article, post it on the portal sites specifying Kim So Hee. Make it cunning so it won’t be sued for defamation.”

He only finished his say, turned off his phone, and threw it onto the bed. Hundreds of missed calls and messages made his head spin just by looking at the notifications. And the irony was, there was not a single contact from Eun Chae.

Doesn’t his future wife even care?

To prove his worth to his father, now he had to beg to be allowed to marry.

Seung Yoon felt uneasy. Even though the wedding hadn’t been completed, it was almost like it had been, and his heart was still unsettled.

He took a deep, heavy breath and poured whiskey into a glass that filled his hand.

Gulping down the drink, he stared blankly at the flowing alcohol, then suddenly clenched his eyes shut.

He should have sorted everything out sooner and hurried the marriage.

People like us.

Eun Chae had grouped Seung Yoon with herself in her words.

Remembering her calm voice, Seung Yoon lifted the filled glass. Even as the overflowing drink soaked the table and floor, he didn’t care.

After finishing practice and leaving the art hall, Eun Chae greeted her colleagues and headed towards the parking lot. There, she saw Ki Joo.

He was leaning against the wall, slightly slanted. His figure, in a cashmere coat over a suit, appeared even more prominent against the red wall.

Eun Chae stood still, looking at Ki Joo with a fluttering heart. His slightly parted lips let out a white breath. She remembered the time he had a cigarette in his mouth two years ago.

I think I’ve had this thought before.

As Eun Chae murmured, Ki Joo turned his head and noticed her.

He took his hands out of his pockets and walked towards her briskly.

“You finished earlier than I expected.”

Feeling as if she was caught peeking, Eun Chae checked her wristwatch. It was indeed earlier than usual. Now, with the graduation concert just around the corner, the practice was just enough to not strain her condition.

Her gaze turned towards Ki Joo walking beside her. He must have been waiting like this every day without a promise.

“I’ll let you know roughly when practice might end from now on.”

Ki Joo, slightly narrowing his eyes, leaned his upper body to look at her.

“Thank you.”

“For what? From now on…”

Until it’s buried in the ground, whether to wait or not isn’t a matter of concern anymore.
In fact, this was a natural thing, but Eun Chae couldn’t complete her sentence as she felt embarrassed. Ki Joo, who had been waiting for a while, asked again.

“Now?”

“…Because I don’t dislike it.”

Hearing her response, he paused and then smiled faintly.

“I don’t have any schedule in the afternoon.”

Eun Chae looked at him with a ‘so what?’ expression, and Ki Joo stood firmly in front of her.

“Let’s go on a date.”

Eun Chae, looking around to see if anyone was listening, whispered as she passed by him.

“Let’s move to the car first.”

“You’re doing it, right? I know all of Eun Chae’s schedule.”

Eun Chae turned around and replied with a bit of sarcasm.

“Are you bragging?”

As she looked forward again, she heard him chuckling behind her. The sound of his laughter wasn’t unpleasant to Eun Chae, who smiled secretly as she headed to the car.