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Hye-joo shook the soju bottle and smiled brightly like a commercial model.
“Do you like alcohol?”
“Mom... Isn’t it better to ask that kind of question before pouring drinks?”
Joo-eun whispered, trying to hint subtly, but Hye-joo shot back with a glare.
“If you’re not drinking, I’ll just drink by myself. What’s the big deal?”
Joo-eun had only intended to make a brief introduction, but somehow a bottle of alcohol had made its way into the scene, leaving her dizzy with confusion.
Min-hyuk, who had been watching her flustered state with an amused smile, answered the question.
“I can handle a few glasses. Please pour me some, Madam.”
At that moment, a short silence fell.
Joo-eun was equally shocked.
“Madam...?”
Hye-joo repeated, as if doubting her own ears.
Joo-eun glared at Min-hyuk with wide eyes.
She had told him to just put on a light act and leave, but it seemed he had come fully prepared to charm her mother and sweep her off her feet.
Her head spun even more as she watched her mother, already completely entranced.
“This is awesome! I’m so happy. Oh ho ho!”
The brief silence was shattered by Hye-joo’s hearty laughter.
“Let me pour you a glass as well.”
Min-hyuk took the bottle and elegantly filled Hye-joo’s glass.
Even the angle of his hand looked stylish.
As Hye-joo stared at him, mesmerized, her eyes suddenly welled up with tears.
“Goodness, why are tears coming out now?”
Both Min-hyuk, who had been pouring the drink, and Joo-eun, who had been watching, were taken aback.
Hye-joo wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.
“She’s still just my little girl in my eyes… but here she is, bringing home a boyfriend and sharing drinks. It feels strange.”
“Mom...”
This call wasn’t the same as the one she’d used earlier to calm her overexcited mother.
Joo-eun’s voice was tinged with emotion.
“When you have kids of your own, you’ll understand.”
Joo-eun couldn’t say anything more.
Even without children of her own, she felt she could understand her mother’s feelings—at least partially.
“Aren’t you going to give me any?”
“Huh?”
“The drink. I want some too, from Mom.”
“Of course! No matter what anyone says, my daughter comes first!”
Why did those words make Joo-eun’s eyes water as well?
Though they were a mother and daughter who often clashed—Hye-joo pushing for blind dates and Joo-eun resisting with lies—they were still each other’s most precious people in the world.
It was a kind of family bond Min-hyuk had never experienced.
Watching the mother and daughter clinking glasses, their eyes glistening with tears and laughter, a warm smile spread across his face.
If playing the role of a fake boyfriend for a month could bring this kind of peace to this beautiful mother-daughter pair, perhaps it wouldn’t feel so lonely after all.
“Ah, I should stop embarrassing myself in front of our guest. Let’s make a toast!”
“Please speak casually, Madam.”
“Oh ho ho! Once I get a bit more tipsy. Alright, cheers!”
The sound of clinking glasses rang out pleasantly over the small dining table.
Joo-eun, who had seemed quite tense at first, was now smiling occasionally as she looked at her mother.
But it was a fragile peace, one that wouldn’t last long.
“Are your parents… both in good health?”
At Hye-joo’s cautious question, Joo-eun gulped down a large sip of alcohol.
She stiffened instinctively, knowing exactly where the conversation was headed next.
“Yes, they’re healthy.”
“Is that so? Joo-eun’s father passed away from liver cancer when she was in high school.”
Instead of asking about what her parents did for a living, as Joo-eun had expected, her mother surprised her with this unexpected family revelation.
Joo-eun hesitated slightly, then quietly set down her chopsticks.
Nearly a decade had passed, yet she still hadn’t grown numb enough to talk about her father casually.
He was still so deeply missed.
If he were here today, he would’ve been ten times more excited than Mom…
Thinking this, Joo-eun’s eyes welled up again, despite her earlier efforts to compose herself.
“After our pension business failed, he drowned himself in alcohol. No one could’ve imagined such a healthy man would leave so suddenly. I wanted to give up everything, but I kept going because of our daughter.”
The bittersweet memories that resurfaced left both mother and daughter solemn.
“Joo-eun went through so much. She gave up better universities to attend one with a scholarship, working part-time jobs and barely scraping by for four years. My daughter… please make her smile more from now on. That’s all I wish for…”
“I promise, Madam.”
His unwavering response strangely stirred something deep within Joo-eun.
It wasn’t real.
She knew his words were just lines in this act… but she couldn’t help the flutter in her heart.
Just as she couldn’t control her racing heartbeat, she couldn’t suppress the excitement either.
“Our family doesn’t have much to boast about, but I’m confident in my daughter no matter where she goes. If your parents dislike the idea of her living alone with a sick mother, tell them not to worry—I can manage on my own.”
“Mom…”
“No one could dislike Joo-eun. Once they get to know her, no one could resist falling for her.”
His gaze, filled with pure sincerity, burned into Joo-eun’s soul.
“It might be a bit early to talk about marriage…”
The word “marriage” made Joo-eun’s eyes twitch involuntarily.
“But even if it’s later, when you do marry, please live together. If she’s someone I love, her parents are like my own.”
Overwhelmed, Hye-joo burst into tears once again.
She probably wouldn’t agree to living together even if offered, but the mere suggestion brought tears of joy streaming down her face.
Min-hyuk handed Joo-eun a tissue from the corner of the table.
With a subtle nod, he gestured for her to wipe her mother’s tears.
Joo-eun accepted the tissue, hiding the fact that she herself was on the verge of tears.
When Hye-joo felt Joo-eun’s careful touch on her cheek, she laughed awkwardly—”Oh ho ho!”—to lighten the mood.
“I knew I’d have good luck this year, and here it is! I’m so happy! Let’s have another round, Joo-eun, and one more for your boyfriend too. Come on, hurry!”
The somber atmosphere flipped instantly with Hye-joo’s cheerful words.
The quiet house buzzed with life for the first time in ages.
Glasses were refilled and emptied again.
Seeing her mother’s rare smile after years of hardship, Joo-eun felt a wave of happiness wash over her.
She was endlessly grateful to Min-hyuk, who listened attentively to her mother’s stories and responded sincerely, fully committing to his role.
---
Lately, Joo-eun had been worried about how much weight her mother had been losing, but tonight, drunk and relaxed, Hye-joo felt surprisingly heavy.
Thankfully, with Min-hyuk’s help, they managed to carry her to the bedroom easily.
“Phew… Thank you.”
Though Min-hyuk had done most of the work, Joo-eun was the one panting harder.
“Rest well. I called a designated driver, so I’ll leave once they arrive.”
“No, let’s go out together. I want some fresh air too.”
The bigger reason was that she felt guilty sending him off with just a simple goodbye after he’d gone through all this trouble because of her.
Despite his advice to bundle up warmly, Joo-eun insisted she was fine and stepped outside.
The chilly night air hit her immediately, and she shivered, pulling her collar tighter.
“I’ll be right back. Go inside.”
“I’ll watch you leave.”
“At least grab a jacket or something.”
“It’s not that cold.”
She didn’t realize her lips had turned blue.
Min-hyuk furrowed his brows slightly before spreading his jacket wide and pulling her into an embrace from behind.
“I-I’m fine...”
Startled, she squirmed, but he only held her tighter.
“Stop wriggling. The more you move, the more I react.”
Shocked, she froze immediately.
Each of her movements was unbearably adorable. Min-hyuk couldn’t help but let out a small laugh.
The sound of his laughter seemed to carry the rhythm of his heartbeat, piercing through her back.
“Did I do well today?”
His low voice tickled her ear.
“Yes… Even though I know it wasn’t real, you did so well it made my heart flutter a little.”
“So it did make you flutter, huh?”
“Just once or twice.”
“Why do you think it wasn’t sincere? Didn’t I tell you? Not a single moment of what I said was insincere.”
What had they even talked about today?
From the promise to make her smile, to living together with her mother after marriage…
It didn’t make sense for any of it to be real.
Her eyes trembled faintly.
His chin rested gently on her delicate shoulders.
The warmth of alcohol seemed to rise within him as his breaths grew heavier, heating up her earlobe.
This man—sexy even in the way he breathed—was just as nerve-wracking whether facing her or standing behind her.
Her insides burned at the feel of his solid, unyielding body, without a trace of softness.
But unlike his hard, wall-like frame, the voice that caressed her ears was impossibly sweet.
“Haa... You’ve been through so much, our Joo-eun...”
Suddenly, what was this?
Her head instinctively tilted toward him, but startled by the closeness of his breath, she quickly turned back to face forward.
“This dirty world... You’ve worked so hard to survive, Song Joo-eun.”
A surge of emotion welled up deep in Joo-eun’s chest.
This man couldn’t possibly fathom the dirty world she had survived. She knew his words were just polite gestures...
So why did this comfort feel so warm?
Her eyes, staring aimlessly into the dim alleyway, began to glisten with tears.
“I’m starting to regret this.”
“What... do you mean?”
“That I should’ve just left when you told me to.”
“...”
“How heartbroken you’ll be when we part ways in a month... It already hurts to think about it.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll explain everything properly so you won’t feel too sad. No need to worry.”
“To think you don’t want this to become real even after seeing how happy she is... Do you dislike me that much?”
Joo-eun softly bit down on the tender flesh inside her mouth.
She wanted to scream: Do you have any idea how hard it is to dislike you?
“We’ve already made two promises, you and I. The promise to protect you, and the promise to make you smile.”
One was with her, and the other had just been made with her mother moments ago.
“I’m not the kind of man who breaks his word, so watch closely. If you start to like what you see, give me a sign.”
“Have you... had too much to drink?”
“Do you think this is just drunken rambling?”
Though not entirely nonsense, she guessed his emotions were exaggerated due to the alcohol.
When Joo-eun didn’t respond, he pouted his lower lip slightly.
“I hate drunken talk as much as you do. Do you know how hard I’ve been holding back what I really want to say? And for nothing, since you treat me like this anyway.”
“What is it you’ve been holding back? Go ahead and say it. I’ll listen and forget it later, grateful as I am.”
No sooner had Joo-eun spoken those teasing words than his hands spun her body around.
At the sight of his stern expression and deep, intense gaze, the smile she had been holding onto slowly faded from her lips.
His sultry voice spread thickly through the night air.
“Every night, I’m going crazy wanting to have you.”
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