A long sigh escaped Taecho’s lips.

Ever since that day, something seemed to have gone terribly wrong with him.

Otherwise……

“……Has this thing lost its mind?”

“Pardon?”

Secretary Park, who was seated in the front passenger seat, turned and asked what was wrong. Taecho ignored him and glared out the window.

This was all Lee Yeon-woo’s fault.

Several days had already passed since the incident, yet whenever he thought of her, his manhood rose without permission. The impulse to cut the troublesome thing off was becoming increasingly tempting.

Worse still, his body reacted violently whenever he saw the colors white and pink.

It was enough to drive him mad.

Even now, a pink building stood beyond the car window. The sight immediately brought back the image of Yeon-woo’s br*asts before his eyes, and his manhood began to swell once again.

“Ha…… F*ck. I’m losing my mind.”

Taecho roughly swept his hair back.

He had always prided himself on his self-control. This was why he had been able to speak to her so confidently. But how could he have known that something that had never reacted to her throughout their entire year of marriage would suddenly respond to nothing more than a pair of br*asts and a single pink n*pple?

Nothing like this had ever happened to him before. He was bewildered and irritated, and was rapidly becoming furious.

Why had she taken off her underwear and thrown herself at him, causing this disaster?

The memory of Yeon-woo avoiding and fleeing from him whenever they crossed paths after that day twisted his lips. She remained utterly oblivious to his state of mind.

It seemed she was capable of feeling embarrassed after all.

Whatever had happened to all that confidence when she had climbed on top of him so boldly?

No matter how much water he drank, his thirst refused to disappear.

……What would it taste like……

“You sick bastard.”

What on earth was he thinking?

Why was he curious to know what it would taste like?

The memory kept returning with unbearable clarity, rendering all his earlier confidence meaningless. Taecho opened the window and let the cold wind rush in and wrap around his body.

Yet the suffocating sensation remained. His thirst intensified and his chest felt tight.

“Is something wrong, sir?”

Apparently concerned, Secretary Park turned around and asked what was troubling him.

“It’s nothing.”

Even after tugging down his necktie, Taecho still could not breathe properly. At last, he unfastened the top buttons of his dress shirt.

***

“We’ve arrived, sir.”

Taecho left work earlier than usual. His condition had followed him there, distracting him so badly during a meeting that he made a mistake he would never usually have made.

It was the first time anything like that had happened, and he could not forget the shocked expressions on every employee’s face.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, sir.”

Taecho got out of the car and went into the building without acknowledging Secretary Park’s farewell.

He wanted to smell that floral fragrance again.

Now that he finally knew where it came from.

He curled his tingling fingers into a fist and shoved his hand deep into his pocket.

Then he suddenly remembered that the handkerchief had carried the same fragrance.

Taecho quickened his pace.

A short while later…

After showering and changing into comfortable clothes, he searched every corner of the house, but could not find a single handkerchief. He even opened the drawers, just in case, but there was no trace of one anywhere.

“Are you looking for something?”

Yeon-woo approached him.

She had spent the past several days hiding from him, yet now she had finally emerged. His restless wandering around the house must have made her curious.

“No.”

Before he could stop himself, he gave a cold answer.

She had looked so hurt when he told her that he had thrown away her handkerchief. Recalling her expression made it impossible for him to admit that he was looking for a replacement.

Pretending to focus on his tablet, Taecho sat down on the sofa.

Had she thrown them all away?

Considering how upset she had been that day, it was quite possible that she had.

He frowned, and his gaze fell upon the embroidery supplies in her hands.

As expected.

It seemed she hadn’t thrown them away after all.

Yeon-woo considered going back to her room, but then changed her mind.

There was no reason for her to avoid him.

As Taecho opened his email on the tablet, a faint floral fragrance drifted towards him. Without realizing it, he leaned his upper body towards Yeon-woo.

At that moment, she gathered her embroidery supplies and prepared to return to her room.

“Where are you going?”

Taecho had occasionally seen her embroidering in the living room. She had clearly come out to do the same tonight, yet now she was retreating simply because he was there.

“……I’m going to my room.”

She lowered her eyes, her expression revealing nothing of her thoughts.

“Do it here.”

“Pardon?”

Her unusually long eyelashes fluttered upward, revealing the eyes they had concealed. Her pupils were as black as freshly ground ink, forming a striking contrast against her pale skin.

“I said, do it here.”

“Oh…… No, I’ll do it in my room……”

“I can tell you’re avoiding me. It’s irritating.”

Her fingers, fidgeting with her embroidery supplies, were slender and delicate.

Taecho tilted his head to one side.

“Do it here.”

When he repeated the command in a firm, authoritative tone, her shoulders slumped. Nevertheless, she stuck out her bottom lip in a pout.

Taecho found himself staring at her.

Why did her lips have to be so red, constantly drawing his gaze?

Why had he never noticed them before?

The suffocating sensation returned, forcing a heavy breath from his lips.

Mistaking it for a sigh, Yeon-woo reluctantly sat down on the sofa. She deliberately chose the seat farthest from him, and the absurdity of it drew a quiet laugh from Taecho.

He had been reviewing the documents for tomorrow’s meeting. Determined not to repeat the mistake he had made earlier that day, he turned to the next page, but his finger froze.

His gaze drifted back to Yeon-woo, who was still bustling around instead of starting her embroidery.

He could not understand what was keeping her so busy. Her cheeks flushing, she hurried into the kitchen and then disappeared into her room, continuing to move restlessly between the two.

“……That woman.”

Was she doing this on purpose?

Did she really not remember anything?

He remembered the suspicious way she had looked at him, despite him clearly telling her that she had taken off her clothes and underwear herself.

Once she had apparently finished, she returned to the sofa. This time, Taecho regarded her with equally suspicious eyes.

Yeon-woo lowered her head and started embroidering.

“……”

Staring at the long, pale curve of her neck, Taecho swallowed dryly.

The floral fragrance, stronger than it had been moments earlier, filled his nose.

“Why? Is there something you want to say?”

She must have felt his gaze, because she questioned him with a slightly haughty expression.

“……Ha. No.”

Startled like someone caught secretly staring, Taecho quickly turned his attention back to the tablet. He was clearly reading the screen, yet none of the words registered in his mind.

Glance.

His head turned toward Yeon-woo again of its own accord. She remained completely focused on her embroidery.

‘……Well, look at that.’

Apparently, she had a habit of pursing her lips whenever she concentrated.

Taecho’s brow furrowed as his gaze lingered intently on them.

For a long while, he simply sat there watching her.

Perhaps her eyes had grown dry, for she rubbed them briefly before suddenly glancing in his direction. The moment their gazes met, Yeon-woo froze. Her expression stiffened as though she had turned to stone, making her discomfort painfully obvious.

As she rose to her feet, the handkerchief slipped from her grasp. She bent down to retrieve it—and Taecho shot abruptly to his feet.

The neckline of her T-shirt had fallen loose as she leaned forward, offering him a fleeting glimpse of her cleavage.

Staying in the same room with her any longer would be dangerous.

Ignoring the *rection already stirring beneath his clothes, Taecho hurried into his room and threw himself onto the bed.

He wished he could simply fall asleep, but sleep stubbornly refused to come.

He stared blankly at the spotless white ceiling, yet his *rection showed no sign of subsiding.

With a frustrated sigh, Taecho curled onto his side and squeezed his eyes shut.

‘You cursed bastard. In the end, you devoured us too. I knew this would happen, you wretched little monster!’

The last words his birth parents had spoken to him echoed in his ears.

From the moment he was born, he had been considered a cursed bastard.

An unwanted child, conceived by mistake.

When his parents could no longer bear his existence, they set out to abandon him, but were killed in an accident before his very eyes.

He was forced to watch them draw their final breaths. The memory of his mother cursing him until the end brought a hollow laugh to his lips.

He was adopted and then abandoned several times before finally being taken in by his current parents.

Yet even with his new family, he had never known true happiness. Not long after his adoption, Ma Taehyun was born.

He had never expected anything from them in the first place.

After all, he was a cursed child who brought misfortune wherever he went.

His life had been nothing but misery. Never knowing when he might be cast aside again, he worked tirelessly.

He lived every day with grim, relentless determination.

He had even married according to his father’s wishes.

Yet, whenever he saw Yeon-woo smiling innocently or foolishly, he felt a bitter twisting inside him.

He wanted to ruin her.

He wanted to shatter her radiant smile into a million pieces.

“……This is so f*cking miserable.”

The memory of his despised childhood left him craving alcohol. Sighing, Taecho rose and left the room to get a drink.

All he had to do was walk to the kitchen.

Yet his feet unconsciously followed a narrow beam of light cutting through the darkness.

He stopped in front of Yeon-woo’s room.

The door had been left slightly ajar, allowing light to spill into the hallway.

He was about to turn away and continue towards the kitchen when he tilted his head.

A strange sound was coming from inside.

‘What was that?’

Under normal circumstances, he would have ignored it and walked away. However, it sounded as though someone was in pain, so he carefully pushed the door open and stepped inside.

Following the faint sound, he moved further into the room. The moment he rounded the wall, his eyes widened to the point of almost splitting apart.

“Mm…… Hng…… Sob……”

Lee Yeon-woo was crying.

Seeing her clutching the gayageum and sobbing hit him like a violent blow to the back of the head.

“Hng…… Sob……”

It was the first time he had ever seen her like that.

Yeon-woo was always so cheerful and had a constant smile on her face. Seeing her silently shed tears hit him with unexpected force.

Tae-cho’s eyes trembled faintly.

Without making a sound, he turned and walked out of the room.

His mood plunged even further.

It was bad enough already, but now he desperately needed a drink.

He poured liquor into a crystal glass and watched the amber liquid rise within the transparent vessel.

More driven by frustration than thirst, he downed it in one gulp. As though trying to force the anger back down into his chest, he raised the glass once more.

The alcohol seared through him, scorching his insides, yet his expression remained unchanged.

He was breathing heavily and pouring himself another drink when he sensed someone standing behind him.

He turned to find Yeon-woo there, her hair still damp as though she had just stepped out of the shower.

“……You startled me.”

His presence in the kitchen seemed to have surprised her.

Her stiff expression relaxed for a moment before the corners of her lips rose brightly toward the sky.

“I didn’t realize you were here.”

In stark contrast to Yeon-woo’s radiant smile, Taecho’s face contorted.

Moments earlier, she had been crying bitterly.

Now, however, she was smiling as though nothing had happened. Somehow, that smile seemed unbearably unfamiliar to him.

Did she really think it could hide her swollen eyes?

A crushing weight settled on Taecho’s chest. This suffocating ache was unlike anything he had ever experienced before, leaving him utterly miserable.

Seeing that his frown showed no sign of easing, Yeon-woo turned away.

Was she going back to her room to cry silently again?

“Starting tonight…”

The words slipped from his lips before he could stop them.

Yeon-woo came to an abrupt halt, her eyes filling with confusion. Perhaps she was bewildered because the man who usually avoided speaking to her had suddenly become so talkative that night.

“Starting tonight, what?”

Taecho watched her tuck her damp hair behind her ear before placing his glass on the counter.

Since he had already begun, he decided to say what was on his mind.

“Starting tonight, we’re sharing a room.”

Silence settled between them for a moment.

“……What?”

Tsk.

Her eyes widened so dramatically that they looked ready to fall from their sockets.