“Welcome, welcome~ Did you have a good visit to your parents’ house?”

Yeonju, her face full of smiles, warmly greeted Minhyuk and Danjung.

“Yes, Mother. Here’s the food my father sent.”

Danjung handed Yeonju the food her father had given them.

“Alright, I’ll enjoy it. Tell your parents I said thank you.”

“Yes.”

“Aren’t you hungry? Let’s eat first.”

Yeonju affectionately put her arm around Danjung’s shoulder and led her to the dining room.

It felt like a dream to her that her son had married the woman he loved and was happy.

Also, she had suffered from guilt for a long time because of Minhyuk’s illness, and now she finally felt like she had lifted a weight off her heart.

So, for her, her daughter-in-law was more precious than anyone else.

“Oppa~ you look good.”

Minhee, coming down the stairs from the second floor, frowned as if the sight of her mother and sister-in-law was displeasing.

Minhee was still upset with her mother after finding out that her mother had bought her sister-in-law a more expensive car than the one she had.

“Here, a present.”

Minhyuk, quickly catching Minhee’s jealous gaze, handed his younger sister a gift.

Having watched his sister for a long time, he knew that no matter how upset Minhee was, she would quickly cheer up if he bought her jewelry or a designer bag.

“Thanks.”

Minhee subtly peeked inside the shopping bag to check the contents.

“Let’s, let’s eat.”

Minhyuk, thinking he didn’t need to pay any more attention to Minhee, headed to the dining room.

But then, Minhee, remembering Hyemi, called him to stop.

“Um... Oppa!”

“What?”

“Do you know about Hyemi’s situation?”

“Yeah, I know.”

Minhyuk said nonchalantly and walked away as if he wasn’t interested.

Actually, he hadn’t looked at his phone while in the Maldives unless it was an urgent call from Korea.

It was a long-awaited break for him too, and just looking at Danjung made the days fly by.

But once Minhyuk boarded the plane back to Korea, he couldn’t help but see Hyemi’s face in various newspapers.

However, he no longer wanted to care about Hyemi, who had ruined herself.

He had a wife who deserved all his attention and more.

“Did you really get your illness cured? You’re reacting the same as before?”

Minhee tilted her head, following Minhyuk.

She couldn’t read any emotion like worry or pity on her brother’s face.

So, she wondered if she had been mistaken in thinking her brother could feel emotions.

But Minhee realized she was wrong when she saw Minhyuk’s behavior during the meal.

Wasn’t her brother putting meat directly on her sister-in-law’s rice!

‘Gasp.’

Minhee blinked her eyes as if she couldn’t believe the scene unfolding before her.

“I can eat on my own.”

Danjung, feeling quite burdened by Minhee’s surprised gaze and Yeonju’s teary-eyed emotion, whispered to stop Minhyuk.

But this time, Minhyuk simply brought the plate of bulgogi right in front of Danjung.

“Eat a lot.”

Moreover, as if that wasn’t enough, he brought all the delicious and good dishes in front of Danjung’s rice bowl.

“Oppa, what are you doing?”

Minhee asked, her eyes wide in disbelief.

“What?”

“......”

As Minhee’s gaze went to the fancy side dishes in front of Danjung’s rice, Minhyuk casually added an explanation.

“Ah~ it’s because Danjung-ssi eats well.”

“I eat well too. Bulgogi!”

Minhee was dumbfounded by Minhyuk’s infatuated attitude.

“Eat more. Have some japchae too.”

Yeonju went a step further and brought a plate of japchae in front of Danjung.

“Mom!”

Minhee flared up when even her favorite side dish was taken away for Danjung.

“Whaaat?”

“Hoo~ never mind. What’s the point of talking. Enjoy your meal a lot~ Sister-in-law.”

“Yes, you too, Miss.”

Danjung’s heart welled up because she had never had a family care for her this much before.

Even though Minhee was grumbling, that sight was also within a happy frame.

How did she end up with such a warm family...? Danjung was just grateful.

‘What? So you’re saying you only react to my woman?’

Minhee couldn’t believe that the brother who had looked so indifferent when talking about Hyemi was the same brother who was now looking at her sister-in-law with honey dripping from his eyes.

***

“Did I make too much?”

Jinhee sighed deeply, looking at the large amount of spaghetti.

It was too much for her to eat alone, and it probably wouldn’t taste good if she left it and ate it tomorrow.

“What should I do...”

Just then, Jinhee suddenly thought of her next-door neighbor.

He had been patient with her baby’s crying and had even given her delicious chocolates, but when she thought about it, she hadn’t treated her next-door neighbor to anything.

Jinhee arranged the spaghetti nicely on a pretty plate, put Hayeon in a baby carrier, and headed to her next-door neighbor’s house.

Ding-dong, ding-dong. As the doorbell rang, Jiwook, who had just finished showering, opened the door with his wet hair not even properly dried.

“Who is it?”

“It’s your neighbor. I made spaghetti for dinner, but I made too much. I brought some for you to eat.”

Jinhee awkwardly handed Jiwook the spaghetti she was holding.

“Thank you. I really love spaghetti. I’ll enjoy this.”

Jiwook, who happened to be hungry, smiled happily at the delicious-looking spaghetti.

‘Wow, what a refreshing smile.’

Jinhee’s heart fluttered at Jiwook’s smile.

She was embarrassed that her heart was racing for a bachelor even though she was a mother, but she didn’t pay much mind since it was a feeling she would keep to herself anyway.

“What’s the name of this little crying princess?”

Jiwook asked, looking at Hayeon in Jinhee’s arms.

“Hayeon. Kim Hayeon.”

“Hello, Hayeon. I’m Jiwook Ajussi. Nice to meet you.”

Jiwook brought his face close to Hayeon’s and raised the corners of his mouth.

“Then please enjoy your meal.”

Feeling inexplicably awkward, Jinhee was about to turn around when she heard her name called from behind.

“Jinhee-ya!”

Jinhee turned her head and saw her disheveled ex-husband, Taejoon, standing there.

“Why are you here, Oppa?”

“Jinhee-ya, I was wrong. Let’s start over.”

“Start over what?”

Jinhee was flustered by Taejoon’s sudden appearance and the fact that her next-door neighbor was still standing nearby.

“I have nothing to say to you, so go back.”

Wanting to get out of this embarrassing situation as quickly as possible, Jinhee turned to go back home.

But Taejoon ran up and grabbed Jinhee’s arm, preventing her from going in.

“Jinhee-ya, please forgive me just once, even if it’s for Hayeon’s sake.”

“What about that woman?”

“It’s over.”

“Why? You said you couldn’t live without her! You begged me for a divorce!”

Jinhee snapped at Taejoon, who was shamelessly trying to come back.

“I was out of my mind back then because of money. I must have been crazy. I was definitely out of my mind.”

“Don’t tell me that woman went bankrupt?”

“Yeah, that stupid woman got scammed by some con artist and lost all her investments.”

“Ha! That’s unbelievable. So you’re saying you want to come back to me now?”

“Jin, Jinhee-ya. I’ll even kneel and beg. Please, just once, forgive me just once.”

As Taejoon knelt down, Jiwook quietly closed his door.

It felt like a scene he shouldn’t be watching.

“So, a guy with a kid cheated, and now that his mistress is ruined, he wants to get back together? Wow~ what a piece of trash.”

Jiwook, who had gone back inside, muttered to himself, seething with anger.

Even though it was someone else’s family matter, it felt like this guy was bringing shame to all men.

Then, looking at the spaghetti in his hand, Jiwook’s heart ached as he remembered Jinhee crying sadly all night.

“How on earth did you find out I was here?”

Jinhee asked, looking down at the kneeling Taejoon.

“Your mother-in-law told me. She said you’d be at Danjung’s.”

“Hoo~ as I said before, I have no intention of getting back together with you, Oppa. My wounds are too deep for that. Please, don’t come looking for me anymore.”

Jinhee was upset because her mother, not understanding her feelings, only wanted her to reconcile.

In this day and age, divorce wasn’t such a big deal, so why was her mother trying to trap her like this?

Jinhee didn’t want to continue an unhappy marriage, even for her daughter’s sake.

“You have to think about our Hayeon. Are you going to raise her without a father?”

“No, why would I raise her without a father? I’m going to meet someone good too.”

“Who? That guy from before?”

Taejoon, who had suddenly stood up, became enraged to the point of his eyes flipping when he saw Jinhee standing in front of Jiwook’s house.

How long had it been since they broke up, and she was already seeing another man... He felt betrayed by Jinhee.

“Ha! I’m so speechless, I can’t even talk.”

Jinhee felt sorry for herself for having cried because of Taejoon all this time.

She had loved such a pathetic man for a whole seven years.

It was the moment her love truly ended.

“If you remarry, I won’t pay child support. Why would I pay child support for someone else’s benefit? I absolutely won’t.”

“So, you can meet other women, but I can’t meet other men?”

“Yeah, otherwise, I’ll raise Hayeon.”

Taejoon suddenly tried to take Hayeon.

He knew how much Jinhee cherished Hayeon, so he was trying to win back Jinhee’s heart by using their daughter as a hostage.

“Let go of her! Who do you think you are, taking Hayeon!”

“Then get back together with me.”

“No. Go, just go.”

Jinhee, unable to overpower Taejoon physically, screamed at the top of her lungs.

Then, Hayeon, startled by Jinhee’s shouting and her mother’s cries, began to wail.

“What’s going on?”

Jiwook, startled by Jinhee’s shouting and Hayeon’s crying, rushed outside.

“Please help me.”

Jinhee, sobbing, asked Jiwook for help.

“Stay out of this! Why are you interfering in other people’s family matters!”

Taejoon, becoming sharp due to Jiwook’s reappearance, raised his voice.

“How can I help you?”

But Jiwook, ignoring Taejoon, stepped closer to Jinhee.