“I’ll be right back, just need to take this call. Go ahead and start.”

Yunjoo stepped outside the restaurant and answered.

“Yes.”

“Where are you?”

“Out. What is it?”

“Do you have time for dinner together?”

“No, I have plans. I came out to eat.”

“Do I have to call ahead to have dinner with Cha Yunjoo?”

“Calling out of nowhere and expecting me to have dinner isn’t something I can do. And unless it’s something we both need to attend, I have my own things going on, so last-minute plans are difficult.”

“Understood.”

Yunjoo ended Kangwook’s call and stared blankly at her phone. She couldn’t believe he had called just to ask about dinner, with no other reason. The man she knew was not someone with that kind of free time.

‘Choi Kangwook called me himself? And with no particular reason. What is with this man.’

Kangwook had spent days waiting for a call that never came, picking up his phone and putting it back down again and again, before finally managing to call Yunjoo. He had called without any plan, and when she didn’t pick up right away he had actually felt a flicker of relief, only to be caught off guard when her voice came through. 

Even while the line was ringing he hadn’t known what to say, and when she answered and he had to say something, the only thing that came out was asking about dinner. He found himself absurd. He had no idea what he was doing.

When Yunjoo came back inside, the two men hadn’t started eating and were waiting for her. She felt bad and quickly sat down.

“Why are you waiting? Go ahead and eat. And Mr. Sihyeong, do you know what kind of gathering this is?”

“What kind is it?”

“It’s a chance to see Mr. Sangyun’s face since we might not see each other for a while.”

At Yunjoo’s words, Sihyeong looked at her in surprise. Not seeing each other for a while sounded like she was leaving the theater company.

“What’s going on? Where are you going, Ms. Yunjoo? Are you quitting?”

“Yes, I’m going somewhere.”

Yunjoo and Sangyun looked at each other and smiled, then looked at Sihyeong. Sihyeong’s expression grew increasingly frantic as he looked back and forth between them trying to figure it out, and Sangyun burst out laughing. Sangyun’s laughter only made Sihyeong more desperate to know. Sihyeong’s face was slowly stiffening as he realized they were teasing him, when Sangyun stopped laughing.

“Mr. Sihyeong, watching you get so worked up is really entertaining.”

“What is it? Where is Ms. Yunjoo going?”

“If I tease you any more you might actually cry, so I think Ms. Yunjoo had better tell you.”

At Sangyun’s words, Yunjoo, who had been watching quietly, spoke up.

“I won’t be able to come to the theater company for a while. I’ll be at the set construction site.”

“Oh, I thought Ms. Yunjoo was quitting. That’s why I was so startled.”

“Mr. Sihyeong, if anyone saw you they’d think you had feelings for Ms. Yunjoo. Wasn’t that a bit much?”

Yunjoo smiled lightly at Sangyun’s words. Joking around and laughing with the two of them felt like real friendship, and she liked that. She didn’t have many friends. And after getting married she had cut off contact with everyone entirely. Sihyeong went quiet at Sangyun’s teasing remark, and Yunjoo waved it off and stepped in.

“Even as a joke, don’t say things like that. If Mr. Sihyeong’s fans found out, I’d be finished.”

“Is that how it works?”

“Absolutely. Ugh……”

Yunjoo shrank her shoulders at the thought alone, and Sangyun laughed, but Sihyeong didn’t. And neither of them noticed.

While Sangyun and Yunjoo exchanged light conversation, Sihyeong sat in silence watching Yunjoo. She was always someone who kept a certain line. He wanted to get a little closer, but Yunjoo stopped people right at that point, making it clear that was as far as they could come. It wasn’t something she said out loud. It was something you could feel.

She laughed with Sangyun and seemed quite close to him, but that was the extent of the closeness Yunjoo allowed. Because of that, Sihyeong couldn’t show the feelings he had for Yunjoo and could only circle around her. That said, he hadn’t given up on watching her. It was the only thing he could do right now.

But the teasing had pulled out a genuine reaction he hadn’t meant to show. And yet the woman herself had received his gaze without a flicker, smiled, and was now happily enjoying the fact that she had fooled both of them over dinner.

Sihyeong had been watching Yunjoo when his eyes met Sangyun’s. In that moment he put on a different face, the way an actor would, and smiled. Sangyun turned his head without a word. Dinner ended, and when Sangyun said he needed to get back to the theater company, Sihyeong stepped forward and offered to drive Yunjoo home.

Yunjoo’s expression was complicated at the thought of having to go through another standoff. She didn’t want him to know where she lived, but turning down his kindness every time felt unkind.

“Will you get angry if I say no again?”

“Yes, I think I might.”

“Ha……”

He watched her sigh deeply with a thoroughly conflicted expression. He knew she worked at the theater company, that she was a stage designer, and that she had said herself she wasn’t married. Beyond that, he knew nothing. And no one else seemed to know anything about Yunjoo either.

“Should I sign a confidentiality agreement or something?”

“What?”

“You look so conflicted. I was wondering if I need to write something promising not to tell anyone where you live.”

With Sihyeong going that far, she couldn’t refuse anymore. Right, what would it change if he knew where she lived?

“Don’t feel pressured. It’s not like we’re going alone.”

Sihyeong always came to the theater company with his manager. When they walked to the car, the familiar manager greeted her warmly. And so they arrived at the house.

“Wow, Ms. Yunjoo, your place is incredible.”

“I’m almost embarrassed to say it’s not mine. I’m just staying at someone’s place.”

“Is that so? Go on in.”

Yunjoo saw Sihyeong off and went inside. She confirmed Kangwook hadn’t come home yet, went up to the second floor, and stepped into the bathroom. Sangyun felt easy and simply friendly, but Sihyeong had a way of watching her steadily even in the middle of laughing, and that gaze weighed on her a little.

Kangwook had arrived in front of the house and was watching from inside his car as Yunjoo stepped out of Sihyeong’s car. Even after Yunjoo went inside and Sihyeong’s car disappeared, Kangwook sat in the car for a moment before getting out and going in. He looked through the living room, kitchen, and dining area, but Yunjoo was nowhere to be found.

Kangwook looked up at the stairs leading to the second floor, then climbed them with heavy steps. For some reason, going up to the second floor was never something he could do in a single stride. Watching Yunjoo step out of Sihyeong’s car, he thought of the time he had pulled her into his own car. The woman who had said his car was uncomfortable and made a fuss about getting in had ridden in Sihyeong’s car without any trouble. It irritated him.

It had only been a mild annoyance until he got out of the car, but sitting there, something had come to him. He began to think that the reason she had turned down his call was Sihyeong. The moment he realized her plans had been with Sihyeong, he felt a flare of anger.

Kangwook had come upstairs without thinking and knocked on Yunjoo’s door, but there was no answer, so he opened it slightly. She wasn’t there. He thought if she wasn’t in her room she might be in the studio, and turned to go, only to walk straight into Yunjoo coming out of the bathroom. Both of them stopped dead, not even blinking. The woman stepping out of the bathroom had moisture on her skin and bare pale shoulders, covering herself with just a towel. Kangwook drew in a sharp, audible breath without meaning to.

“Ha……”

“Mr. Kangwook!”

The two of them had frozen as though the world had stopped, and at Kangwook’s sharp intake of breath, Yunjoo’s voice shot up in surprise. The sound of her voice snapped them both back, and Yunjoo was flustered and at a complete loss while Kangwook turned his gaze away in front of her.

“You weren’t in your room, so……”

“……!”

“It wasn’t intentional.”

Kangwook’s words didn’t even reach Yunjoo’s ears. She only wanted to get out of this moment as fast as possible. Kangwook stood there with a blank expression watching Yunjoo disappear into her room before he could say another word. Left alone in the spot where she had vanished, he pulled his gaze away from her door and composed his startled face.

Truthfully, he was no less startled than she was. The moment he saw Yunjoo, his heart had dropped. Running into her like that, completely unguarded, was a blow he couldn’t handle either. He had even forgotten why he had come. Then he spoke toward the door Yunjoo had gone through.