Her eyes had shrunk from the swelling, and her face showed what looked like the faint beginnings of a bruise. She must have cried more in her room. And yet here she was, up and making breakfast in that state, saying there was nothing else she could give him. The sight of her made Kangwook’s brow furrow deeply. Yunjoo had no way of knowing what was going through his mind, and her voice was light.

“Thank you. Even if you didn’t mean it, having someone in my corner at that moment meant everything. So I’d like you to sit down and enjoy it.”

“Cha Yunjoo! Why do you assume I didn’t mean it?”

He said her name in a clipped, short burst, then let out a low breath and continued.

“Honestly, what do you know about me? We don’t know each other, and right now there’s even less reason to say otherwise.”

“So you’re doing this with that face?”

“My face is a bit of a mess, I know. If it bothers you to look at, I can step out.”

Not a single word he said reached her the way he meant it. She seemed to think his anger and his frown were both her fault. He pressed down the sound that was about to burst out of him from sheer frustration. He grabbed her as she moved to leave after setting out the food.

“Cha Yunjoo! That’s not what I meant.”

“Then…… why are you acting like this? There’s no reason to be angry, but you keep getting angry and frowning.”

Kangwook’s expression shifted into something helpless. Yunjoo didn’t know what he was feeling, so she could only look at him with confusion. Kangwook let out a small breath. He looked at her, her big eyes now half their usual size, and pressed down the words rising in his chest, the tightness there, and the thought that if it had been anyone other than her father who had done this, he would not have let it go so quietly.

“Hah. I’m not angry. Let’s eat together.”

At Kangwook’s low sigh, Yunjoo looked at him quietly for a moment, then sat down. What he had meant to do was tell her she didn’t have to push herself, but it had come out sounding like an outburst. And more than anything, what was making him angry was the unease of watching Yunjoo try to put distance between them.

“I’ll be late today.”

“You’re going out looking like that?”

“I can’t help it. It’s a busy day. There are things that need me there. I’m heading to the worksite and I’ll be late.”

“You’re going to the worksite? Like that?”

“It’s where they’re building the stage.”

“You gave them the design. Why not rest at home today.”

“If I’m not there, things might come out differently, and then we’d have to redo the work. There are often things that need adjusting on the spot, so I tend to go. And there’s someone I need to see.”

“Can’t you just hold off for today? Your face is a mess.”

“A face can be covered with makeup. Today calls for a disguise.”

“A disguise?”

“Yes. Transformation is innocent, but is disguise a crime?”

She was clearly trying to seem unbothered with her breezy words, and Kangwook said nothing back, just ate his bread. He was thinking he ought to look into Yunjoo’s family and do something to keep them from getting to her, and he was regretting having called off the guard who used to follow her.

He had pulled the guard because he didn’t want to deceive Yunjoo, but now he was considering putting one back. Lost in that thought, Yunjoo watched him quietly and ate without a word. He looked like he had a lot on his mind, so she didn’t interrupt.

Yunjoo was so grateful for what Kangwook had done yesterday. Going by the Kangwook she had known up until now, he would have been the type to get angry about being dragged into a nuisance, yet he had protected her from her father. What had happened with her father was something she had long stopped registering as violence, but it must have been quite a shock to Choi Kangwook.

Back at her family home, her older sister had never even tried, but Yunjoo was the one who kept poking at her father and pushing things to this point. Her mother and sister had accepted a life of compliance, but Yunjoo never could. That was why she had heard so often that she was strange, that she was stubborn to the bone.

In that moment, it had truly felt like he was really her husband, like they were really a couple. She had made up her mind and prepared breakfast out of genuine gratitude, and she couldn’t understand why Kangwook was sitting there with such a stiff expression, getting angry. It stung.

‘What is this? Yesterday he left me in a muddle, and today he’s acting in ways I can’t make sense of and getting angry on top of it. I have no idea why. See if I ever do this again.’

She glared at him silently, then shook her head and let the thought go with a small laugh. It wasn’t like it was going to happen again anyway, so what was she even saying? There was already so much to deal with, and Choi Kangwook could handle himself.

Still, Kangwook shutting her father down in one go had looked a little impressive. No one had ever held their head up and spoken that firmly to her father’s face and then turned away. A small laugh slipped out on its own. She couldn’t shake the image of her father’s startled face when Kangwook appeared, and the look of pure bewilderment when Kangwook told him not to lay a hand on her.

Something she couldn’t quite name had steadied her, and she hadn’t looked away from her father’s eyes. She watched Kangwook, still seemingly deep in thought, and decided to give him a light nudge.

“I’m grateful. I really am. But ease up on the face. I put effort into this, and isn’t it a bit much? If it tastes bad, just don’t eat it.”

“That’s not what this is……!”

The bread in front of Kangwook moved into Yunjoo’s hand.

“So it tastes bad enough to make you angry. If it tastes bad, don’t eat it.”

“Give me back my bread.”

“It’s my bread. I made it.”

“Give it back. If you don’t, I’ll eat something else.”

“Like what?”

“You. Cha Yunjoo.”

“……!”

Kangwook’s gaze burned into Yunjoo’s startled eyes. Was he joking? He had to be joking. But his expression wasn’t playful. And from that moment, her heart began pounding wildly.

“So give me back the bread.”

His voice had settled into something low and heavy, but it wasn’t angry. She couldn’t hold his gaze any longer and quickly set the bread down in front of him.

“There.”

Kangwook watched her put the bread down and pull her hand back fast, and a slow smile spread across his lips. Thud. The soundless smile hit her heart hard.

“Can’t even win.”

He was laughing at her, as though he had known all along she would get flustered like a fool. She was annoyed at herself for her heart dropping the way it did.

“Eat something other than me.”

“I don’t want to.”

She tossed the words out stubbornly and dropped her gaze, but then Kangwook’s hand lifted her chin. She had said it feeling safe with the table between them, but he had stood up, walked over, tilted her chin up, and met her eyes.

“I want you.”

“……!”

Her pupils spun wildly, her mouth went dry, her ears rang, and she had no idea whether her heart was still inside her or had already flown out. She lost her mind entirely.

He still had her chin, and as his other hand came closer, she closed her eyes. She couldn’t keep them open. But the hand that reached her only grazed her lips and pulled away, and the man in front of her suddenly felt far. She opened her eyes slowly.

“I’ll just have this for today.”

What Kangwook held in his hand was a small bread crumb he had lifted from her lips. Before she could say anything, eyes wide with shock, the crumb disappeared into his mouth.

“……!”

“That was good. Best thing I’ve eaten.”

* * *

Her head hadn’t come back to her during the drive, and it only returned when she arrived at the worksite. She walked in and heard Uncle Seok’s voice. She had felt bad about leaving early the day before and had rushed out to come in early, but it seemed she was still the late one.

“Uncle, you’re here?”

“Why don’t you move faster? You left earliest yesterday and you’re the last one in.”

“Old people don’t sleep much, everyone knows that. I’m young, so I still need a lot of sleep.”

“What did you say?”

“Hehe. Uncle, how did you manage to hold yourself back from working?”

“Don’t mock your elders.”

“Or did you come early because you missed me?”

“This girl, her manners…….”

“I’m just happy to see you, Uncle. You know that.”

“Getting more slippery by the day.”

“I don’t like snakes, they’re gross. Isn’t there something cuter you could call me?”

“You’d have to be cute for me to call you something cute. Enough noise, let’s get to work.”

“Yes. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for having me.”

Uncle Seok accepted her cheerful chatter, her way of apologizing for being sharp the day before, and once they got to work, Yunjoo called out a loud greeting to everyone else. The worksite stirred briefly at her booming hello, but everyone quickly settled back into their places. Uncle Seok didn’t let the unusually loud greeting pass without comment.

“Pull another stunt like yesterday and I’ll throw you out.”

“Come on, Uncle, it’s not like this is our first time. I won’t do it again.”

Yunjoo moved freely through every corner of the worksite. She went from one spot to the next, carefully checking the cuts and the frame work, and spent the day in a blur. The worksite was always full of noise and dust, but she loved it because it was a place where she could feel alive.