Uncle Seok’s face showed clear surprise when Yunjoo said nobody knew she was married. And understandably so. It made no sense that Yunjoo, who had married into a family of considerable standing, would hide that fact and go to work.

“There are circumstances. I’ll tell you about it later.”

Yunjoo said it casually as she watched Uncle Seok’s reaction, then went back to her work. She had been moving around for a while when someone told her she had a visitor. She looked up and spotted Sihyeong standing in the distance. Yunjoo stopped what she was doing and walked over to him.

“Mr. Lee, what brings you here?”

At Yunjoo’s call, Sihyeong came closer and looked at her, then glanced around. The site was unfamiliar to him, but Yunjoo fit right into it. Everyone moving around was a man, and the whole place felt foreign to him, yet Yunjoo looked completely at ease.

“I wanted to see you.”

“Come on, you want to crack a joke that flat? It’s freezing.”

“Yunjoo.”

She turned everything he said into a joke before it could land, keeping it light without letting it go too far.

“Mr. Lee, no rehearsal today? And you can’t show up to a place like this empty-handed. Did you bring anything?”

Sihyeong had to smile watching Yunjoo look down at his hands as she said it. He watched her for a moment, smiling without a trace of self-consciousness, then gave a small laugh and kept his tone easy.

“Is that so? I came because I was bored. Wanted to see what it looked like here.”

“So you really did come empty-handed?”

“No. It’s in the car. I’ll go get it. But if you’re way more excited about the food than about me, I’m going to sulk.”

“Wow, that’s terrifying. I’ll let it slide though, since I think you’d be cute even when you sulk.”

“You called me cute? Ha, that’s brutal.”

“I meant it as a compliment.”

“Calling a man cute is an insult. It’s even worse coming from a woman he wants to impress.”

“You’re not a man, you’re a friend. Friends don’t get divided into male and female.”

Sihyeong’s smile came to an awkward stop. Saying he wasn’t a man meant she didn’t see him as one. It sounded like a warning to someone who had been trying his best to get closer: stop.

“Is that really how you see it?”

“Weren’t we friends? That’s what we agreed on. Did I decide that on my own? Because if so, things are going to get very uncomfortable with you, Mr. Lee.”

“Uncomfortable if not?”

“Of course. Then I’d have to see you as just a famous actor. Is this where it ends? I thought I was finally going to have a famous friend.”

Sihyeong had to smile bitterly watching Yunjoo’s face fill with what looked like genuine disappointment. It was time to take a step back.

“If you’re going to sulk, at least bring the food from the car first.”

“Ha, you’re something else, Yunjoo.”

Sihyeong shook his head watching Yunjoo laugh, then headed to the car. Yunjoo followed along. Seeing this side of Yunjoo, louder and more free with her laughter and jokes than she was at the theater company, Sihyeong felt glad he had come. He learned that this place made Yunjoo happy.

Uncle Seok had been watching Yunjoo joke around with Sihyeong, and now he stared hard at the young man. His eyes caught what Yunjoo couldn’t see.

‘Does this girl know how that boy feels and still smile at him like that? What a fool.’

Yunjoo brought in the snacks Sihyeong had bought, called everyone over, and spread everything out wherever they could find a spot to sit. She kept up a cheerful stream of chatter, keeping the older workers in good spirits and setting the mood. Sihyeong’s eyes stayed fixed on Yunjoo and wouldn’t leave her. Uncle Seok, watching it all, nudged Yunjoo.

“Hey, you little rascal. Did you come here to work or to flirt?”

“Uncle! Flirting? Don’t say things like that!”

“Watch yourself.”

“Uncle, are you really going to do this?”

Yunjoo clamped her mouth shut and dropped her voice so only Uncle Seok could hear. Uncle Seok looked at her and gave a barely visible shake of his head. Flustered by his reaction, Yunjoo’s voice jumped up.

“Our Uncle must be scared I’ll abandon him for a romance. Don’t worry, Mr. Lee. He’s just teasing. What would Mr. Lee be lacking that he’d want to date someone like me? Right?”

Embarrassed and caught off guard, Yunjoo laughed louder on purpose. Sihyeong watched her laugh that deliberately big laugh in his direction and found himself with a lot to think about. He had been trying to inch closer, carefully, little by little, but maybe that wasn’t the right approach after all. His eyes, full of thought, stayed bright as he watched her.

* * *

Kangwook was growing more and more reluctant to come home to the empty house without Yunjoo. He would walk into the dark house, switch on all the lights on the first floor, wander around the living room, stare up at the second-floor staircase, and for days now he hadn’t managed to cross paths with Yunjoo even once.

He was beginning to feel, in a real and concrete way, what the house would be like without her. If Yunjoo truly disappeared, would he even be able to go on living alone in this house? Kangwook followed the sounds of Yunjoo that only he could hear, opening the cabinet in the kitchen where the teas were kept and listening to the echo of her voice explaining them to him, then climbing to the second floor and sitting there for a long while before coming back down.

While Kangwook kept watch over the house, Yunjoo was wrestling with the work at the site. Once she started working, the joking, laughing version of her vanished entirely. She checked everything one by one, and if something didn’t come out right, she let nothing slide. The easygoing warmth she showed when she wasn’t working was a completely different person. Her pickiness was enough to make anyone click their tongue.

That meant things occasionally got a little heated, but she knew that if the air wasn’t cleared by the end of the day, they couldn’t work together again the next morning. So passing a bottle of makgeolli¹rice wine. around with the crew after work had become part of the daily routine. That day too, she ended up in a dispute with one of the workers over something that had gone wrong. She smoothed things over and turned to leave, and a clicking sound followed her.

“Tsk tsk tsk.”

“Uncle, don’t.”

“You’re perfectly normal the rest of the time. Why does your temper turn foul the moment you start working? You’ve got two personalities.”

“I know. I can’t figure it out either.”

“Keep it in check. You won’t last long like that.”

“Maybe I picked it up from you, Uncle.”

“What!”

“You were my mentor. Of course I learned from you first.”

Uncle Seok stood there with his mouth open at her grumbling retort, then let out a long breath that sounded almost like a sigh. He knew it himself. But when the work wasn’t up to his standard, the sharpness was just something he couldn’t help.

When Uncle Seok said to call it a day, Yunjoo stopped what she was doing and got up.

“Uncle, where’s your car?”

“Called a designated driver. They’ll be here soon. You head home too. You look worn out.”

“I will. We’re getting close to done though, right?”

“The work we do once it’s up isn’t going to be easy either, so you need to save your energy.”

“Got it. Take care, Uncle.”

Yunjoo walked toward where her car was parked and found Sihyeong standing in front of it with a smile. Her eyes went wide. She wasn’t entirely glad to see him showing up without any notice. She was too exhausted. She just wanted to go home and collapse.

“Mr. Lee, what are you doing here?”

“Just. I wanted to see you.”

“How long have you been here? You should have called.”

“Get in. I’ll drive you.”

“No, Mr. Lee…….”

“Get in and we can talk. You look exhausted.”

“You’ll really drive me?”

She didn’t know. She was tired enough that even lifting a finger felt like too much. She wanted to get home fast rather than stand here going back and forth. But she felt bad making someone drive her when she didn’t even know how long he’d been waiting.

“Should I just take you home?”

“If I just send you off like that, I’d feel terrible. Let’s go somewhere and get a coffee.”

“Are you sure you’re okay with that?”

“Yes. Wherever you’re comfortable.”

Not long after they set off, the seat beside him went quiet. He glanced over and Yunjoo was already asleep. He turned around and headed toward her house. Looking at her sleeping, Sihyeong felt sorry for having waited without a word, thinking only of himself.

She needed sleep, not coffee. Sihyeong pulled up in front of Yunjoo’s house and looked at her face, still deep in sleep without so much as stirring. He had finished rehearsal at the theater company that day and, while talking with Sangyun about Yunjoo, felt the urge to see her and acted on it without thinking.

Even without that, every other thing she said put a perfect distance between them, with remarks about him being a star or getting malicious comments online. He wanted to get closer but couldn’t, and just watching from a distance was eating him up inside.

Sihyeong couldn’t bring himself to wake her. He wanted to look at her sleeping face a little longer, taking her in with his eyes. Time seemed to stand still. Then, deciding he couldn’t stay any longer, Sihyeong gently shook her awake.

“Ms. Yunjoo. Ms. Yunjoo.”