“Were you eating?”

Seo Yeon was shocked by the voice coming from behind her. It was her husband.

Seo Yeon quickly wiped away her tears and turned around.

“You’re home?”

How long has he been here? How much did he see? Surely he didn’t see everything? Seo Yeon anxiously studied Seong Jun’s expression. For some reason, she didn’t want him to know that she had been sitting alone at the dining table, foolishly crying.

He’ll definitely think I’m pathetic. Or frustrating.

Fortunately, Seong Jun didn’t make any particular comments. He briefly glanced at the table, then fixed his gaze on Seo Yeon and nodded.

“If you haven’t eaten yet, let’s have dinner together.”

Phew, he didn’t see. Seo Yeon let out a sigh of relief. In that time, she composed herself and took a calm breath. Then she smiled and replied.

“Let’s do that.”

After answering, Seo Yeon glanced at Seong Jun.

From his neatly styled pomade hair revealing his forehead, to his handsome features, down to the custom-tailored suit worth tens of millions of won.

Usually, people’s appearance becomes a bit disheveled by the end of the workday, but her husband looked as fresh as if he had just finished getting ready for work.

It was typical of her husband, who believed that dressing properly was the start of business.

He possessed an extraordinary aura that made it almost unfair to compare him to ordinary people.

She could understand why so many women vied for the position beside him, even though he wasn’t single.

So, she rationalized that her inability to take her eyes off her husband wasn’t for any particularly special reason. Seo Yeon asked in a calm voice.

“You’re home early today?”

Come to think of it, it was strange.

Her husband was a man who never came home before late at night. For him, overtime and all-nighters were routine, and during long overseas business trips, she couldn’t see his face at all, so even seeing him late at night was fortunate.

The more she thought about it, the more unfamiliar this situation felt.

Why is he home at this hour today? I didn’t even ask him to come home early today. Seong Jun, who briefly looked troubled by Seo Yeon’s question, answered.

“Work finished early today.”

Does that mean he deliberately came home late even on days when work finished early? No way, no way, did he intentionally come home late all this time? I tried my best to act in a way that wouldn’t bother him. How could he.

Disorganized thoughts flooded her mind.

Wait. Did he come home late because he was uncomfortable with me, and then treated me so poorly?

As soon as that conclusion was reached in her mind, Seo Yeon couldn’t hide her sulky feelings.

She felt extremely unfair that she couldn’t confront her husband in the same way.

Seong Jun, who had been closely observing Seo Yeon’s changing expressions, turned his gaze back to the dining table and asked.

“What’s with the lunchbox?”

Seo Yeon hesitated at those words. She was reluctant to tell Seong Jun that it was a lunchbox sent by Ae Suk. She worried that just mentioning her family might make her husband feel uncomfortable or angry.

In her previous life, her husband had found it unpleasant even when she merely mentioned her family’s names. It wouldn’t be any different this time. But was it right to lie to her husband?

“……”

After hesitating, Seo Yeon carefully opened her mouth.

“…Mother sent it just now.”

“Your mother?”

Contrary to Seo Yeon’s worries, Seong Jun showed no particular change in expression. Moreover, ‘your mother’? Do our family members deserve such a title?

Unable to find answers to the numerous questions that popped into her mind, Seo Yeon was staring at Seong Jun with a dazed expression when she suddenly heard her indifferent husband’s voice.

“It seems to have gone cold.”

“It has, but I can heat it up.”

“Let’s just order something new instead.”

“Pardon?”

Seo Yeon replied with a troubled face.

“It’s just cold, it would be a waste to throw it away. I’ll eat it now.”

But Seong Jun, as if he hadn’t heard Seo Yeon’s words, carelessly closed the lid of the lunchbox and put it away in an unseen corner.

“…!”

Seo Yeon watched blankly.

The lunchbox worth hundreds of thousands of won, delivered wrapped in a fine silk cloth, was tucked away in a corner like trash by Seong Jun’s actions.

Not only that, Seong Jun took out his phone, called someone, and immediately instructed them to prepare and bring a new meal.

She was too dumbfounded to speak. She had known it before, but he was a man with a somewhat arbitrary and forceful side.

He really does whatever he wants.

While glaring at Seong Jun with eyes that weren’t entirely unkind, subtly expressing her dissatisfaction through her expression, Seo Yeon remembered the conversation she had overheard and asked with a curious face.

“Wasn’t Jin Sung on leave today?”

“He kept begging for leave for months, but he showed up at the office this morning. He was making detailed plans and getting excited about going on a trip a month ago, but things didn’t work out with the girl he was interested in.”

“Oh dear……”

“He was whining that he’d be depressed if he stayed home alone, so I told him he could come to work if he wanted. He came right away. The shock must have been big.”

“Is that so?”

Seo Yeon nodded in understanding and asked.

“But why is he still on standby and not going home?”

Seong Jun answered as if it wasn’t a big deal.

“Despite his appearance, he has a surprisingly old-fashioned side. He said he couldn’t leave during working hours. Something about wanting to earn his salary. So when I told him to wait in the car this time too, he said okay and agreed.”

As far as Seo Yeon knew, Jin Sung remained single not just this time but for several years to come, and ultimately never managed to get a girlfriend. It wasn’t by choice, but due to circumstances.

‘He seemed like a diligent and good person…’

Perhaps she could introduce him to a good match in this life?

As Seo Yeon was privately concerning herself with Jin Sung’s repeatedly failing love life and meddling alone in her mind, that’s when it happened.

“So why were you crying?”

“…!”

Seo Yeon’s brown eyes suddenly widened at Seong Jun’s sudden question.

Don’t tell me, you’ve been pretending not to know all this time? No. If you were going to pretend not to know, why suddenly act like you know now? How embarrassing.

“……”

Glaring at Seong Jun with reproachful eyes, Seo Yeon hastily opened her mouth.

“I wasn’t crying.”

“You were.”

Seong Jun’s long fingers moved towards Seo Yeon’s eyes. At the same time, Seo Yeon’s shoulders trembled slightly. It was too peculiar a sensation to simply call it ticklish. She felt a chill run down her spine. Seong Jun, fixing his gaze on Seo Yeon, said.

“You were crying.”

Contrary to Seo Yeon’s expectations, he didn’t seem to have any intention of letting it go.

“Why were you crying?”

Seong Jun asked again, not removing his hand from Seo Yeon’s eyes.

In her experience, when her husband insisted with such a serious face, there was no one in the world who could win against him. He was the type of person who wouldn’t back down until he got an answer he could accept.

“……”

Flustered by the unwavering black eyes staring at her, Seo Yeon avoided Seong Jun’s gaze and carefully answered.

“…I just missed my family.”

She missed them endlessly and longed for them.

To be precise, she had been crying while remembering the warm times of her family who gave her unconditional love, the happy moments of the past. Not the current family, but the memories of that time, but she had to omit the detailed explanation.

Then, as an uneasy assumption crossed her mind, Seo Yeon paused.

‘Is it right to bring up family to Seong Jun?’

Her husband had made great sacrifices because of her family. That was an undeniable fact.

Knowing all those problems, she couldn’t shake off the thought that it was reckless of her to bring up family in front of Seong Jun.

Looking at Seong Jun with a worried heart, a gruff voice flowed from him.

“Are you a child? Crying because you miss someone. If you miss your family, just meet them. Is that so difficult?”

“……”

“Your face looks terrible. Even a frog wouldn’t want to be friends with you.”

“……”

It seems she had been crying without realizing it herself.

Seeing her husband click his tongue and say he couldn’t bear to look at her, comparing her to a frog.

Of course, she knew that her husband’s personality was far from being gentle or warm. Although they couldn’t be said to have a good relationship, he was the person who had been closest to her for a long time.

She thought she wouldn’t be disappointed since she knew his personality well, but strangely, today his indifferent words and actions made her feel upset.

I’m not asking for much from you. I just want you to pretend not to notice if I’m crying. Seo Yeon’s eyes sharpened.

“How can you speak like that…”

Just as Seo Yeon opened her mouth to protest with tears hanging from the corners of her eyes, Seong Jun, who had been staring at her intently with his deep black eyes, lowered his lips.

“!”

Seo Yeon’s tears stopped right there. No, she herself froze. As Seong Jun, who had simply been pressing his lips against hers, began to slowly envelop her lips, her heart started to beat as if it would jump out of her mouth.

What… is this?

It seemed true that when a person is too shocked, their mind goes blank.

Seo Yeon couldn’t even think of how to respond, just silently blinked her eyelashes. As if there was nothing else she could do.

What is this person doing to me right now?

A moment later, when she became capable of thinking, Seo Yeon was shocked.

No way, did he just kiss me?