“You’ve wrapped up very tightly.”

Tracksuits were clothes Seo Yeon would never wear normally. It was because of her mother’s advice that if she didn’t want to be criticized by her in-laws after marriage, she should always dress properly even at home. Always live without letting your guard down, she said.

Yet here she was, wearing a tracksuit she had never even glanced at before, at this particular moment, when she had always dressed so formally that it was stifling, except when sleeping.

So it was perhaps natural for her husband to misunderstand her intentions. Since it wasn’t entirely a misunderstanding, Seo Yeon felt a twinge and said as if making an excuse.

“I just thought a tracksuit would be comfortable.”

“Oh, really?”

Tae Seong Jun snorted sarcastically, then replied with a look that said he’d pretend to believe her this once.

“Well, it looks good. Why don’t you dress comfortably like that at home from now on.”

Seo Yeon’s eyes widened in surprise.

Her husband was the type of man who dressed formally even on holidays, to the point of discomfort. As if not enduring such discomfort was proof of laziness.

Yet when a man so meticulous about self-management spoke words that seemed to consider her comfort first, Seo Yeon felt a warmth in a corner of her heart.

“Maybe I will.”

Seo Yeon looked down at her tracksuit as if pleased with it herself, then nodded. Watching her, a rare smile spread across Tae Seong Jun’s lips.

‘She’s cute.’

Truthfully, when Seo Yeon had appeared in the tracksuit as if to show off, he hadn’t felt particularly pleased. The things going through that small head of hers were obvious.

You’re treating me completely like an animal. Why come out all bundled up like that? Is someone going to eat you?

However, seeing his wife’s face smiling timidly as if pleased with the tracksuit she was wearing for the first time, those spiteful thoughts had already vanished from his mind in an instant, as if he had never had such feelings.

Just then, Seo Yeon, who had been smiling brightly as if in a good mood, picked up her phone. Tae Seong Jun asked her,

“Who are you calling?”

“I’m going to call and see if repairs are possible now. We need to fix the shower head now if we’re going to use the bathroom tomorrow anyway.”

At those words, Tae Seong Jun’s eyebrows raised slightly. Was he the strange one? Somehow, Tae Seong Jun didn’t like the whole situation. While wondering why, he soon realized the fundamental reason.

He didn’t want to show his wife’s face, still flushed from the shower she had just finished, to another man. Even her downcast eyes somehow seemed seductive today. He couldn’t show this face of his wife to anyone else.

“No need to call. I can fix a shower head myself.”

“You can, Tae Seong Jun?”

Ignoring Seo Yeon’s doubtful reaction, Tae Seong Jun turned away first. As Seo Yeon followed behind him, Tae Seong Jun took off his suit jacket, gathered some tools, and entered Seo Yeon’s room.

And the moment he stepped into the entrance of the room, he paused briefly. It was because the room was filled with the sweet scent that he had faintly sensed from her.

‘Did she spray some kind of perfume?’

Even the interior decor of the room, neatly and femininely arranged, gave off a unique atmosphere that was distinctly Seo Yeon’s. After looking around the room expressionlessly for a moment, Tae Seong Jun moved towards the bathroom.

“It was working fine just this morning. But when I tried to shower in the evening, the water wasn’t coming out well. I don’t know why.”

Tae Seong Jun skillfully disassembled the shower head. His expression was quite serious as he separated the nut.

Seo Yeon watched the scene with curiosity. She had thought he was just going to try, but it seemed he was serious. Seo Yeon marveled.

‘He looks like a complete young master, but this is unexpected…’

Just then, Tae Seong Jun began reassembling the nut he had separated. At that moment, the tendons in his taut forearm muscles bulged out. Watching that sight, she unconsciously swallowed.

So this is how he held me that night with those big, strong arms. That’s why I couldn’t break free no matter how hard I tried.

‘What am I thinking right now?’

It was pathetic that she was still recalling that night even though they had only spent one night together. Reproaching herself for her impure imagination, Seo Yeon quickly turned her gaze away from Tae Seong Jun. Just then, Tae Seong Jun’s voice was heard.

“Seo Yeon, hold the shower head for a moment.”

“…!”

And at that moment, she froze. Because in her previous life, her husband had never called her with such an affectionate term.

Just hearing that familiar term of address made her feel a tingling sensation throughout her body. As Seo Yeon took the shower head from her husband, she fell into thought again.

‘I wonder if he calls his girlfriend like that too? Does he call her by name? Or is there another term of endearment?’

Although she had been a very rude woman to herself, the image of that woman she had occasionally seen through advertisements or dramas was different from herself, bright and bubbly.

She thought that if she was a woman with such a bright image, the two of them might have a special pet name.

For example, like ‘honey’ or ‘darling’.

As she let her imagination run wild, her excited mood from earlier vanished like a lie, and her mood plummeted rapidly.

She had considered just openly telling him that she knew he had a woman. But each time, she concluded that it was better to pretend not to know until she had a child.

Because if she spoke up out of frustration and her husband ended up asking for a divorce first, she would be the one in trouble.

Seo Yeon wanted not another child, but the child she hadn’t been able to protect then. For that, no matter how she thought about it, pretending not to know about her husband’s lover seemed like the right decision.

It was while Seo Yeon was thinking such thoughts and quietly staring at Tae Seong Jun.

Suddenly, there was a whooshing sound, and water began to pour out of the shower head Seo Yeon was holding.

The problem was that the shower head was pointed towards Tae Seong Jun. Thanks to that, Tae Seong Jun’s entire upper body was instantly soaked by the stream of water.

“Oh, oh no. Are you alright?”

Flustered, Seo Yeon put down the shower head and approached him with a towel.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know the water would come out like that so suddenly.”

Seo Yeon apologized with a worried face as she began wiping his wet shirt with the towel.

She could feel his firm chest muscles through the pristine white shirt. His chest was as hard as stone, showing how diligently he must have exercised. Her fingers curled inward for a moment.

“Stop.”

As Seo Yeon hesitated, Tae Seong Jun urgently grabbed her arm. After staring at Seo Yeon’s face with a hardened expression, Tae Seong Jun answered in a low voice after a moment.

“It’s fine. I’ll wipe it myself.”

Meeting his deep gaze, her cheeks flushed of their own accord.

“…Alright. You wipe it, Tae Seong Jun.”

Seo Yeon nodded and quickly handed the towel over to him.

Tae Seong Jun began wiping his body while keeping his gaze fixed on Seo Yeon. Seo Yeon wore an expression as if she didn’t know where to look.

This was because his muscular body, which had been hidden by his suit until now, was fully revealed as it got wet.

As if to prove that the firm sensation she had felt with her hands earlier wasn’t her imagination, the abs and chest visible through the thin shirt were armored with taut muscles. Seo Yeon’s face heated up with a whoosh.

In the meantime, her gaze briefly met Tae Seong Jun’s. When those dark, deep eyes looked directly at her, Seo Yeon felt a tingling sensation down to her toes.

‘Why is he looking at me like that.’

Seo Yeon stared at his inexplicable expression for a moment, then quickly turned her head away. A deep silence fell over the bathroom.

Even though it was a brief moment, Seo Yeon couldn’t bear the awkwardness.

As she looked around the bathroom trying to find a topic to change the atmosphere, Seo Yeon discovered the large mirror in front of her and moved towards it. And when her eyes saw her reflection in the mirror, they widened in surprise.

“…Ah.”

It was because her appearance in the gray tracksuit made her look much younger than her actual age. She looked just like a young student who hadn’t even graduated from university yet. A wry smile came out at that awkward sight.

“So this is how I look.”

After staring at herself in the mirror for a moment with a dumbfounded expression, Seo Yeon turned her gaze back to Tae Seong Jun.

“It’s comfortable, but I think I shouldn’t wear clothes like tracksuits from now on.”

Then Tae Seong Jun, who had been staring at her with an unreadable gaze until just now, replied.

“Why? If it’s comfortable, keep wearing it like that.”

Seo Yeon, inwardly sighing in relief at the atmosphere that had become more natural, shook her head.

“It makes me look too young, it’s strange.”

“You don’t like looking young?”

Tae Seong Jun raised one eyebrow as if displeased. Then he immediately refuted Seo Yeon’s words.

“In an era where other people want to look younger to the point of getting surgery, looking young isn’t a flaw. You’re complaining about being full when you’re hungry.”

“I meant it looks awkward, not young, if I’m being nice. It feels like it’s not me. How do you think it looks, Tae Seong Jun?”

Tae Seong Jun put on quite a serious expression at Seo Yeon’s question.

“It suits you well.”

His answer was disappointingly simple compared to his serious expression, but Seo Yeon’s heart felt lighter.

“Really?”

Is that so? Maybe it’s not as awkward as I thought? As Seo Yeon turned back to face the mirror and examined herself from various angles, it was then.

“And what does it matter what you wear? You’re beautiful no matter what you wear anyway.”

“…!”

Seo Yeon’s heart leapt in surprise at Tae Seong Jun’s voice coming from behind her.