There were times when I couldn’t sleep more than four hours for three days during the busiest periods.

Stock price drop due to the Han Kyung corruption scandal. Reduced investment as a result. Even summoned by prosecutors.

To clean up all this mess, even 48 hours in a day would not have been enough.

That’s when I first learned to smoke, and lived with coffee in my mouth 24 hours a day.

To extend my waking hours even a little. Even when I did sleep, it was just napping in the car during travel time. Even now, I think it was a murderous schedule.

Fortunately, things had settled down somewhat a year ago, allowing me to live a bit more comfortably.

But for the past few days, Seong Jun has been moving around and cutting back on sleep as if he had gone back to a year ago. The phone rang again. Seong Jun answered with an expressionless face.

“Hey, Tae Seong Jun. What do you take me for! You clearly promised to invest, and now you’re saying something else?”

“If you have any complaints, resolve it legally. If you file a lawsuit, we’ll be happy to respond.”

“Hey, you bastard. What lawsuit between family members? Are you really doing this?”

“Two years ago, you were determined to block my path by giving investment funds to Sae Won, and now you’re talking about family?”

“……! You, you bastard, bringing up old stories now.”

“Don’t suddenly start talking about family now. If you’re unhappy, try leaking information to competitors or forming partnerships to keep us in check again. But this time, I won’t look the other way.”

As he hung up, Jin Sung, who was standing in front of Seong Jun, had an itchy expression. He seemed to hold back for a few seconds, but true to his impatient nature, he soon moved his mouth freely.

“Sir, that’s what they call personal revenge.”

Seong Jun quietly lowered his gaze.

“Mr. Park Jin Sung, I think I’ve told you hundreds of times to use honorifics in the company.”

“Mr. CEO, that’s what they call personal revenge.”

What did he care. He was originally a person who lived for himself.

He worked hard because he wanted to succeed, and didn’t live a single day carelessly because he didn’t want to lose to anyone. He lived that way because he couldn’t stand anyone being above him even for a moment.

But he disrespected his wife, his only family. It was something he couldn’t tolerate.

He was someone who could act even more petty than now, and he had shown that childish side to his family without restraint over the past few days.

“Mr. CEO, here’s your coffee.”

Due to lack of sleep, Seong Jun’s expression looked sharper than usual. However, it wasn’t enough to hide his handsome features.

Rather, the sharp image added to his attractiveness. After briefly admiring that appearance that naturally drew attention, Jin Sung reached for a cigarette in his inner pocket. When Seong Jun couldn’t sleep, he would chain smoke.

Seong Jun hesitated, when he would normally have taken the cigarette Jin Sung offered without much thought. Why? As Jin Sung looked at him strangely, he said something unexpected.

“I don’t smoke.”

“What? Why? You hardly slept today.”

“I quit.”

He remembered Seo Yeon’s image, wanting to have a healthy child and focusing on health management from now on.

Although they hadn’t even had a child yet, let alone done anything similar, he couldn’t let his wife struggle alone. He had been quite dependent on cigarettes until now, so quitting wouldn’t be easy, but he felt he should prepare too.

Seong Jun raised his wrist to check the time. He looked up at Jin Sung and said:

“I’ll drive, so you can leave work early too.”

“Where are you going?”

“A date.”

After saying that, Seong Jun slightly raised the corners of his mouth, then lowered them.

*

Arriving at the meeting place, Seong Jun lowered the window and drove slowly, looking for his wife. As he looked around the meeting place, he was able to find his wife across the street a moment later.

‘What is she doing?’

Seo Yeon was talking to a boy who looked about five years old, with her face close to his.

They both had smiling faces, as if they were having a pleasant conversation. After finding a place to park and approaching Seo Yeon, he saw two adults who appeared to be the parents holding the boy’s hand and leaving. Thanking Seo Yeon several times.

“Han Seo Yeon.”

Seo Yeon, who had been watching the disappearing child with apparent reluctance to part, turned around with a start.

“You’re here?”

Seo Yeon was wearing a white blouse and a fluttering flared skirt, with her hair down long.

It matched perfectly with Seo Yeon’s neat and feminine image. It had been a while since he’d seen her, as he had been too busy to go home for the past few days. But even after not seeing her for a while, she was still pretty. His wife.

“Who was that?”

“Oh, that child just now? He seemed to have lost his way, so I was with him for a moment. His name is Woo Chan. Oh, right.”

Seo Yeon proudly showed Seong Jun the candy bag in her hand.

“Do you want some?”

“What’s this?”

“It’s candy that Woo Chan gave me earlier.”

Seo Yeon put a piece of candy in her mouth, smiling proudly. Seong Jun couldn’t help but smile at how innocent and cute she looked. Though he quickly erased his expression, not wanting to appear frivolous.

“It’s lemon flavor.”

“Give me one too.”

Seo Yeon nodded, looking somehow excited.

“Alright. Yours is apple flavor.”

Saying that, she put a piece of candy in Seong Jun’s mouth. Suddenly feeling playful, Seong Jun pressed his lips against Seo Yeon’s finger as it touched his lips.

Then he briefly held her finger as if it were the sweet candy. Surprised, Seo Yeon pulled her finger away with a start.

“Wh-what are you doing! In the street.”

Having successfully pulled off his prank, Seong Jun raised the corners of his mouth. Seeing that expression, Seo Yeon’s eyes narrowed. She opened her mouth with an expression that seemed to say he was hopeless.

“You’re just teasing again, aren’t you? Do you always want to tease me when you see me? Why are you so mischievous?”

“You get caught when you let your guard down. If you feel wronged, you should have been more careful.”

“How can you be so shameless? I wonder why I didn’t know you were this kind of person before.”

“What kind of person did you think I was before?”

“An expressionless person who always looks serious. A person who shoots lasers with his eyes. A person who only says mean things when he opens his mouth.”

Seong Jun made an expression as if he felt wronged.

“May I ask when I’ll hear a good evaluation of me?”

“There are still a lot of negative evaluations left, so it might come out tomorrow if you wait. Shall we continue?”

“Stop. I think I’ll get hurt if I hear more.”

“I didn’t know you were a man who gets hurt so easily.”

“I didn’t know you were such a talkative person either.”

At Seong Jun’s words, Seo Yeon’s eyes widened.

“…Am I talkative?”

Seong Jun was silent for a moment. Soon, a low voice flowed from him.

“I’m saying I like how you are now. Before, it was hard to hear your voice.”

After saying that, Seong Jun gazed at Seo Yeon with serious eyes. It was such an intense gaze that it was hard to believe he was the same man who had just been teasing her and making her flustered. Seo Yeon’s eyelashes fluttered.

Maybe because it had been a while since she’d seen him, her heart fluttered unnecessarily at that gaze. Even though they weren’t talking about any grand topic, just conversing with him itself was enjoyable.

To feel flutters for a married man who had a separate lover. Seo Yeon was flustered, but at the same time, she had become somewhat used to herself being like this now.

In the past and now, Seong Jun was the person who made her pour out the most emotions. Whether they were negative or positive.

“It sounds like you’re saying you were deliberately mean all this time because you wanted to hear my voice.”

Finding that funny, Seong Jun burst out laughing. Fortunately, the awkward atmosphere seemed to have disappeared thanks to the joke.

Seong Jun looked at his watch and said:

“It’s still before dinner, right? Let’s eat something and then move.”

“Do you have a place reserved?”

“I have a place in mind, but if you want something else, we can go there.”

“I do have something, but it might not suit your taste.”

“I’ll manage.”

Hearing Seong Jun’s answer, Seo Yeon pointed to a store with her finger.

“Then let’s go to a pub.”

“A pub?”

“I want chimaek.”

Watching Seo Yeon explain that chimaek was short for chicken and beer, Seong Jun raised the corner of his mouth as if amused. As if he wouldn’t know even that much.

“Ah, so chimaek was short for chicken and beer. I didn’t know that.”

Afraid she might be embarrassed if he said he already knew that much, he went along saying it was the first time he learned it, and Seo Yeon made a proud expression. Finding that cute, Seong Jun burst out laughing.

Seated across from Seo Yeon, Seong Jun looked around.

“Are you uncomfortable?”

“No. It just seems like a place where a lot of college students come, so I was looking around.”

“Actually, you’re right. I was going to go where you suggested, but when we arrived, I noticed this pub I used to go to often in college.”

If her memory was correct, the owner of the store would be closing the business and emigrating abroad soon, so if not today, there would be no chance to come. That’s why she specially requested it. Seong Jun nodded as if listening intently to her words, then said as if cautioning:

“Don’t drink too much today. You don’t have to prove how well you can drink.”

Seo Yeon’s face turned red in an instant.

“Ah….. That’s right. Back then….. I overestimated my alcohol tolerance. Since you have to drive, I’ll just eat chicken.”

“We can call a driver. Just don’t drink too much.”

Seong Jun said that because he wasn’t confident he could play the role of a well-behaved husband with a drunk wife.

He sometimes felt the limits of his patience specifically with Seo Yeon, and it had been a while since he’d seen his wife’s face. Unaware of Seong Jun’s inner thoughts, Seo Yeon resolved to be careful not to get drunk today.