“It can’t be dating. The symptoms are exactly those of someone in love, but you don’t do things like that, sir.”

Team Leader Moon muttered the words as he set the documents on the desk, and Kangwook tossed back a reply.

“That’s exactly what it is. Dating.”

“So that means it’s not possible—ly deniable.”

“Why, am I someone who isn’t allowed to do something like that?”

At Kangwook’s unexpected words, Team Leader Moon lowered his voice and stepped in close.

“You cannot cause a scandal, sir.”

“What?”

“I know the madam asked for a divorce, but please don’t forget that things haven’t been settled yet. You know how sensitive an owner’s scandal is to the company’s image.”

“Ha. Get out.”

“Sir…….”

“Get out.”

The absurdity of it made his words come out short. But Team Leader Moon hesitated and couldn’t bring himself to leave.

“I was hoping a scandal would break out, so get out.”

“Sir…….”

“I miss her. Should I give her a call?”

Kangwook watched Team Leader Moon’s face go stiff and reached for his phone, leaving him with no choice but to leave. Kangwook watched him walk out with a face full of worry and heavy steps, then set down his phone and picked up the documents.

Things weren’t all that different for Yunjoo. Every morning she woke up to coffee Kangwook had gotten up first to brew for her, and it would hit her again that she had become this man’s partner. 

Who was Choi Kangwook? He was someone who had always kept his face armored in ice, cold and sharp, someone whose presence made it hard to breathe if you got too close. The fact that a person like that was changing his face for her was something Yunjoo found endlessly remarkable. Even watching it happen, she couldn’t quite believe the way Kangwook was changing.

“Will you finish late today?”

“No. Nothing out of the ordinary yet.”

“Call me if you can make it for dinner.”

“Aren’t you busy?”

“I can make time for dinner. You’ll have to go home on your own afterward though—that’s alright?”

“Of course.”

“Cha Yunjoo.”

“Yes.”

“In a moment like that, shouldn’t you be throwing a little fit about not wanting to go home alone?”

“Wh, what are you saying?”

“Goodness…… what am I expecting?”

“I can’t do things like that.”

Just those round eyes of hers were enough to make him want to hold her—if she threw in some aegyo on top of that, he genuinely wasn’t sure he’d be able to hold himself back.

“A woman who…… is something to be proud of.”

“Well, if that’s how you—!”

Now that they were doing this thing called dating, she sometimes wanted to try it herself, but her body wouldn’t cooperate and it bothered her, and when Kangwook poked at exactly that, a pout nearly came flying out.

“Don’t say it! If you say another word I’m going to get angry!”

It was a forbidden word, something she shouldn’t say, but whenever Kangwook poked at her it tried to come out.

“Why do you have to tease me like that! First thing in the morning.”

“Ha…… and you were about to say that to your own man first thing in the morning?”

“What! I can’t do what you want, so I’m telling you to go look somewhere else—that’s all.”

Kangwook found Yunjoo pouting and grumbling unbearably cute. To his eyes, all of this was aegyo. He took the face of the woman with her red lips jutting out and kissed her.

Smack.

“I’m—I’m heading out. Call me.”

“Kang—.”

Kangwook kissed her in an instant and turned to leave, and Yunjoo’s face flushed slightly as she watched him go. She wondered if there had ever been a time she felt as content and happy as she did these days, and a smile spread across her face on its own. 

Kangwook always put Yunjoo first, and even when work kept him busy, he would call and take a moment to meet her eyes. The happiness of knowing she could live as someone precious to another person was almost too much to hold.

Now Kangwook stood as a solid windbreak for Yunjoo, and the cold wind that had filled her chest was seeping out, a little more each day. But as the happy, smiling days grew more frequent, so did the unease.

She felt like someone temporarily holding something that wasn’t hers to keep, and she was afraid of what would happen if Kangwook changed. Thoughts like does that man really…… and what if someone else comes along kept brushing through her mind uninvited. But she couldn’t say any of it out loud. She couldn’t let him see her unease.

The honest truth was that the question of how long Kangwook would keep looking at her and meeting her eyes never quite left her. That was why, that morning, if Kangwook hadn’t cut her off, she had nearly said exactly what was inside her.

She shook the thoughts from her head and headed to the auditorium instead of the office, and there was Sihyeong for the first time in a while. Since Yunjoo had returned from Hong Kong and the performances had started, Sihyeong had been too busy to see, and her face lit up with delight.

“Mr. Sihyeong, it’s been a while.”

“Ms. Yunjoo! I was actually going to call you today and here you are.”

“Why, is something the matter?”

“It’s been so long I just wanted to see you.”

“Come on, stop joking around.”

“Ms. Yunjoo, why do you think it’s a joke?”

“I told you before, didn’t I? I don’t like that kind of joke. I was curious about you too, Mr. Sihyeong.”

“Because we’re friends?”

“Yes, of course.”

Watching Yunjoo say it so plainly, Sihyeong found himself resenting the performance that had already begun. Something about Yunjoo seemed different, and it left him unsettled. The Yunjoo he saw now gave off an air that was more at ease and softer than before, and that unsettled him in a way he couldn’t quite explain.

“Ms. Yunjoo, did something good happen?”

“Why do you ask?”

“Well, that’s just how it looks, I’ll say that much.”

“Really, Mr. Sihyeong. The show has been getting good reviews. Good audiences too. Congratulations.”

“I thought you’d say it was thanks to you.”

“I’m not that shameless.”

Sihyeong watched Yunjoo laugh out loud with a clear, bright sound, and he couldn’t hold back the feeling inside him that kept growing. Even at the theater company, whenever he heard Yunjoo’s voice his head would turn, and if he went days without seeing her he would find himself looking for her, and being tied down by two performances a day made him restless.

Sihyeong was just waiting for this run of performances to end. Yunjoo’s phone rang in the middle of their smiling conversation, cutting it short, and Sihyeong watched her answer it, holding her inside his gaze.

She always showed him exactly where the line was. Yunjoo kept drawing his eyes, and because of her, his steps felt light as he left the theater company, and yet seeing how she treated him left his heart heavy.

“Hello?”

— Yunjoo?

“Who is……?”

— It’s me, Jeongeun!

“Jeongeun!”

— Yeah, Lee Jeongeun!

“Jeongeun! Lee Jeongeun! Is it really you?”

— It’s me, Cha Yunjoo—you’re alive!

“Yeah, I’m alive. But how did you get my number?”

— I went to your foundation yesterday to ask for some help with something, and I ran into Director Han Sangyun. We were talking and I said the stage was great, and your name came up. I asked him to give me your number. But why does that person protect you so much?

“What do you mean?”

— When I asked for your number he held out saying he couldn’t give it without checking with you first. I barely got it out of him.

“Right, Mr. Sangyun is a little fond of me.”

— What do you mean by that?

“Hahaha, just kidding. That’s just how serious Mr. Sangyun is.”

— Honestly, the nonsense.

“Where are you? Actually, forget it—let’s meet today.”

— Yes, let’s do, Yunjoo. I’ll come to you.

“Okay, call me when you’re here.”

Jeongeun’s call brought Yunjoo’s college days flooding back. She and Jeongeun had been close friends, but when Yunjoo got married she had cut off all contact. She hadn’t wanted to show anyone, not even a friend, the marriage she hadn’t wanted and Kangwook’s home and everything that came with it.

And the hardest part of all had been Choi Kangwook. More precisely, it was Choi Kangwook’s Juon that had weighed down on Yunjoo. The way other people’s eyes would look at her when they heard she was Juon’s daughter-in-law, the way they would look at her when they found out she was in that position.

And then when everything fell apart, what those eyes would look like—all of it was weight she would have to carry, so she had wanted to minimize the number of people who knew. Even close friends, she hadn’t wanted them to see. Back then, everything about Yunjoo was a mess. 

She had hated the looks that came with everyone envying her while waiting to see how long it would last. Not eyes that genuinely wished her well, but eyes waiting for the day she would be unhappy. It was easier to live without anyone knowing than to endure those gazes.

But hearing her friend’s voice once was enough to make her wait for Jeongeun with an anxious, eager heart. Jeongeun had always been bright and spirited, and she had been a friend to Yunjoo through the grueling years of her double major and had helped her through so much. Yunjoo had envied Jeongeun for being able to study whatever she wanted freely.

She would probably get an earful of curses and scolding when she saw Jeongeun today, but her heart trembled at the thought. She had been living without even letting herself think that she missed her. And now, having heard Jeongeun’s voice, her heart was pounding.