Chapter 7.3

A few more days passed.  

“Mm…”  

She woke up to the morning sunlight. The moment she opened her eyes, she felt refreshed.  

Her body ached here and there, and there was soreness from the intense days of passion, but it seemed like she’d finally had a good night’s sleep.  

However, the refreshing feeling didn’t last long. Something felt off.  

If he had been beside her, there was no way he would have let her sleep so deeply through the night.  

She shot up from the bed.  

He really wasn’t there. She reached out with her hand to feel the empty space beside her. The sheets were cold.  

She climbed out of bed. She looked around, but he wasn’t in the bathroom attached to the bedroom, nor was he on the terrace.  

‘Is he in the kitchen?’  

She stepped out of the bedroom. But the living room and kitchen were both silent.  

‘Did he go to work?’  

Considering how workaholic Kwon Jeong-hyeok had stayed away from his job for nearly ten days, he might not have been able to bear the anxiety any longer and returned to the office.  

Eun-sol’s gaze naturally drifted toward the front door.  

The fact that he wasn’t in the mansion meant she was free from him.  

Though it wasn’t a physical confinement with locks on the doors, she hadn’t been able to do anything because of the man who stuck by her side all day, feeding her and sharing a bed with her.  

The morning sunlight pouring in through the windows beckoned her. She could almost feel the gentle early summer breeze in her mind.  

Still, she hesitated. 

Should I go out or not?  

‘Was this even something to hesitate about?’  

Though being stuck inside the mansion was suffocating, there wasn’t anywhere she particularly wanted to go or needed to be.  

More than that, she was curious about where he had gone without saying a word. Assuming he went to the company was just a wild guess.  

‘Could it be?’  

She headed down the western corridor toward his study. There was no rule that said he had to work only at the office. As she cracked open the study door, she found him there.  

He was in the middle of a video conference.  

‘Ah!’  

She tried to close the door, but she froze.  

His voice, smoothly leading the meeting, was unfamiliar to her. His words were concise and to the point, free of unnecessary details. He cut in at just the right moments and added comments that were so clear that even someone like Eun-sol, who knew nothing about the business, could understand.  

It was her first time seeing him work.  

‘Ah, this isn’t the time for this.’  

Belatedly, she tried to close the door, but it was too late.  

“……!”  

Their eyes met. For a moment, his expression shifted subtly. His cold gaze softened ever so slightly.  

It was such a slight change in his eyes, yet it clearly distinguished Kwon Jeong-hyeok, the CEO of Sowon Construction, from Kwon Jeong-hyeok, her husband.  

Her heart inexplicably grew warm.  

“Let’s take a 20-minute break and resume.”  

He paused the video conference and then rose from his desk. Even though he was at home, he was impeccably dressed in a full suit, complete with a tie.  

No, rather than saying he was dressed in a suit, it felt more accurate to say he was armored.  

He looked like a businessman ready for battle, as if he could grab a laptop instead of a weapon and head out on a campaign without missing a beat.  

“When did you wake up? Should I make you a croissant sandwich? Or perhaps mushroom rice?”  

The sight of him so perfectly dressed in a suit, yet still taking care of her breakfast, stirred something strange in her heart.  

Having spent every single day with him and discovering a new side of Kwon Jeong-hyeok daily, the memory of the cold and ruthless man who once crushed others underfoot had gradually faded. 

“No, I’m not really hungry….”  

She started to shake her head but ended up nodding instead.  

“I’m not hungry, but I feel like I should eat something. I’ll take the sandwich.”  

He had mentioned a 20-minute break in his video conference.  

If that time were left empty, it was obvious he’d pull her close and indulge in his carnal desires, so it seemed better to keep him busy with something else.  

He headed toward the kitchen. For a brief moment, she felt like following him.  

She had seen him prepare meals all week, but seeing him cook while dressed in a suit might make for quite the sight.  

Instead, she decided to explore his study. It was a mysterious space she had passed by a few times but never entered.  

The study carried a subtle scent of orchid flowers. If it were a person, it might evoke the image of a Confucian scholar from the Joseon era. It was a fragrance that didn’t suit a wild and primal man at all.  

On the desk, aside from the computer he had been using for the video conference, two additional laptops were open.  

The laptop screens were filled with various financial documents that made her head spin just from looking at them.  

On another laptop, the company messenger was constantly blinking as reports poured in.  

It didn’t seem like the kind of leisurely situation where someone could take a vacation and stay at home.  

“With all this work, why…?”  

Why would someone take a two-week vacation just to play the role of a l*st-driven idler? It was baffling.  

Through the window behind the study, she could see the Indian laurel tree in the yard. She had noticed it during her walks, but it looked different when viewed from the study.  

‘It’s turned quite red in just a few days.’  

When she first arrived at this mansion, the tree had been covered only in white blossoms….

Feeling the passage of time anew, she stepped out onto the terrace.  

“Eun-sol! Eun-sol!”  

“……?”  

A woman’s voice, whispering as if calling her secretly, reached her ears.  

Following the cautious voice calling her name, she moved to the left side of the terrace and saw a woman hanging onto the backyard fence. To her surprise, it was Tae Mari.  

“…T-Tae Mari?”  

Why on earth was Tae Mari, the heiress of the Taepyeong Group conglomerate, hanging onto someone else’s fence and calling for her?  

“Eun-sol! Ha, I finally found you.”  

Tae Mari seemed genuinely relieved. It appeared she had been circling the area, waiting for her.  

“I’ve been peeking around here for days. I was worried because I couldn’t even reach Hae-seong.”  

Tae Mari gestured, mimicking the act of making a phone call, as she spoke. Though her voice didn’t carry perfectly due to the distance, Eun-sol caught the general gist.  

‘Why is Tae Mari worried about me? Why has she been waiting for me?’  

Tae Mari glanced nervously around again, like someone being chased. She seemed cautious, likely worried that Kwon Jeong-hyeok might catch this encounter.  

Then, she cupped her hands around her mouth and said something.  

“…Take a look …inside.”  

“What?”  

Tae Mari repeated it with her lips, but it was still incomprehensible.  

Frustrated, Tae Mari hit her chest. Then, as if she had a brilliant idea, she fiddled with her phone and pulled up an electronic billboard application, showing it to her.  

[Check inside the feminine product. Without Jeong-hyeok knowing.]  

What kind of situation was this? Why was Tae Mari acting like this? And what was she talking about—checking inside a feminine product? And why should it be done without Kwon Jeong-hyeok knowing?  

Questions swirled in her mind, but there was no time to ask.  

Hearing the sound of the study door opening, Eun-sol quickly stepped back into the study.  

Jeong-hyeok entered, carrying a plate with a sandwich.  

“What are you doing? Here.”  

“Oh! I just thought I’d eat here.”  

“Here?”  

He looked at her closely. Her heart pounded nervously, as though she’d been caught stealing.  

“What were you doing in here?”  

His slightly lowered gaze caught her flushed expression, and he didn’t miss the chance to question her.  

‘Should I just tell him I saw Tae Mari on the terrace?’  

Keeping secrets felt uncomfortable. Besides, Tae Mari wasn’t someone trustworthy. She was a woman who had her eyes on her husband.  

“Well….”

The mention of feminine products and such—it might just be one of Tae Mari’s schemes.  

“I just… watched you work, Jeong-hyeok.”  

But even so, Tae Mari’s approach felt oddly out of place.  

‘For now, since she told me to check inside the feminine product, maybe I can decide what to do after looking at it.’  

She was also quite curious.  

“You watched me work?”  

“Yes. Since you’ve been staying home, I thought maybe you were done with your busy schedule, but it seems that’s not the case.”  

“I’m busy. I have to keep track of a wife who can run off anywhere at any time.”  

Eun-sol felt a pang of guilt for a moment. He was so good at making pointed jokes that she wondered if he had caught on to something again.  

However, his gaze was on the sandwich, so it seemed there wasn’t any deeper meaning behind his words. 

“I left out the cucumber.”  

He placed the croissant sandwich on the table as he spoke.  

“Oh, the cucumber….”  

It seemed he remembered. Not long ago, she had vented her frustration at him by nitpicking about cucumbers for no reason.  

“Eat.”  

As she sat on the sofa, he handed her the sandwich. She glanced at the clock. Ten minutes remained of the twenty he had set aside before resuming his video conference.  

‘Nothing else will happen in this short time, right?’  

As her anxious gaze flickered, he smiled leisurely. He brought the laptop he’d been using for the video conference over to the sofa and sat beside her.  

“I won’t bother you. I have to resume the meeting anyway.”  

“…….”  

“I’ll probably be busy with meetings all day today.”  

Hearing that he wouldn’t have time to torment her all day felt like a breath of fresh air.  

She took a bite of the sandwich. The buttery croissant and crisp vegetables blended perfectly in her mouth.  

‘While he’s working, I can figure out what Tae Mari meant by checking inside the feminine product.’  

If not today, who knows when she’d have time to herself again?