Kangjoon thought. Why was he sitting on the filthy emergency stairs holding yogurt he didn’t even like? It had all started with the advice his two friends had given him at the cafe.

‘Presentation is more important than sincerity, so just get appetizers from the Baekje Hotel BAR.’

‘If you show even 1% sincerity, there will be admiration and even emotion, so you could lightly make one.’

So, what they had recommended was canapés, finger food. They said he just needed to put the ingredients on, no cooking required. He had wondered if he really needed to go that far, and it wasn’t until he arrived at the parking lot that he made a decision. That was where he had seen his wife. This was definitely a coincidence, something that could never be intentionally staged.

“Drink slowly, while you breathe.”

His wife looked at Kangjoon, sucking on her yogurt with a straw. With soft eyes that seemed to say, ‘I’m breathing just fine, so don’t worry.’ Seeing those eyes that only appeared when she had something in her mouth made him feel strange. It was as if he was less significant to his wife than food. Ah, right, he was a trashy husband who couldn’t even be recycled.

“You said you don’t like yogurt.”

If she liked it that much, she should just stock it in the fridge and eat as much as she wanted. Why hide to eat it? It bothered him.

“I don’t like it.”

His wife, looking a bit sulky, quietly stared at Kangjoon’s untouched yogurt.

“But Kangjoon-ssi, you said you like yogurt.”

He didn’t like it. No, he hated it. In fact, Kangjoon detested sour and sweet tastes. But when his wife stared at him intently, he had no choice but to bring the yogurt to his lips. He rationalized that drinking yogurt was better than pretending to be a playboy, which didn’t suit his personality. As the taste he absolutely hated spread in his mouth, his eyebrows naturally rose. He couldn’t understand why she would hide to eat something that tasted like this, so Kangjoon turned his gaze away. Then he saw his wife quietly holding back laughter.

“I like yogurt.”

Kangjoon said firmly, thinking he knew why she was laughing.

“I believe you, that you like yogurt.”

A faint smile spread across his wife’s eyes as she replied softly. As if she knew he didn’t like yogurt. And yet, as if she was thankful that he lied for her sake.

“......”

“......”

A strange current flowed between them, and the two simultaneously avoided each other’s gaze. The sound of Taeryeong sucking on her yogurt echoed loudly in her eardrums. Why was her heart beating so fast? This wasn’t because of her husband, it was because she was happy because of the yogurt. Writing it off like that, Taeryeong now pondered the reason why her husband was trying to be nice to her. No matter how she looked at it, it was nothing but pity. Putting aside the braised short ribs. How pathetic must she have looked sitting on the emergency stairs drinking yogurt? But instead of feeling offended, she started thinking about using that pity as a shield against Madam Jo. It wasn’t like she was the real Yu Taeryeong anyway, so what did it matter? Just then, her husband stood up and held out his hand to Taeryeong.

“Let’s go home now.”

But why was he holding out his hand? When Taeryeong asked with her eyes, her husband cautiously asked,

“Do you perhaps dislike even holding my hand?”

They had sat on the emergency stairs and even shared yogurt.

“......”

Could she take this hand? Taeryeong hesitated. But if she was going to use her husband as a shield, it seemed okay to be a little nice to him. When Taeryeong raised her hand, her husband, as if he had been waiting, enclosed her small hand in his. Was it because his hand was big that it held the warmth so well? The warm heat spreading from her husband’s hand tickled her cold fingertips.

*** When Kangjoon came out after showering, the wine and appetizers he had ordered had arrived. The hotel staff moved the table in the living room to the terrace and then swiftly moved to set everything up.

“Have a good night.”

After the staff left, Kangjoon scanned the fully set table with his eyes. Looking at the appetizers with their extravagant presentation, he thought he probably didn’t need the canapés. Yeah, doing even that would be crazy. Just as he muttered to himself, a breeze carried a subtle fragrance. Turning around without thinking, he saw his wife just entering the terrace. Seeing his wife wearing makeup even after showering, a light sigh escaped him involuntarily. He had told her she looked much better without makeup, but she really didn’t listen.

“Is today a special day?”

A scent stronger than the one carried by the breeze emanated from his wife, who had approached him lightly. He suddenly recalled smelling this fragrance whenever he was close to his wife.

“Taeryeong-ssi, what kind of perfume do you use?”

At his sudden question, his wife looked at Kangjoon. Were her eyes also capable of being washed? Her pupils seemed particularly clear and clean.

“It’s probably the scent of aroma. I’m a bit sensitive, so I often spray aroma spray. Perhaps...”

Seeing the slightly nervous look in her eyes, as if she had misunderstood, Kangjoon decided to be honest.

“I asked because you smell nice, Taeryeong-ssi.”

After an awkward silence, the two sat down side by side. While Kangjoon poured the wine, his wife quietly gazed beyond the terrace. The night view spread out below the terrace was like a painting. Perhaps that was why his wife cherished this place. In their luxurious and extravagant marital home, only the terrace was cozy and charming, meaning it had been touched by his wife’s hand.

“I prepared everything according to my taste today, is it alright?”

“Yes, I like wine too.”

Taeryeong, who replied smoothly, turned her gaze towards the elaborate and plentiful appetizers.

“But Kangjoon-ssi, perhaps it’s because you have big hands, but you also seem to have a big heart.”

“Surely it’s not just my hands that are big.”

As Kangjoon handed her a glass filled with the red liquid, his wife looked at him with surprised eyes. What kind of imagination had made her face turn so red? Barely holding back his desire to tease her, Kangjoon continued speaking annoyingly slowly.

“My height is also tall, and my feet are big too.”

Looking embarrassed, his wife smelled the wine and took a sip, her eyes widening.

“Wow. This is really delicious.”

Kangjoon’s gaze landed on his wife’s lips. Was it because her lips were wet with wine? Or because her subtly moving lips looked soft? Her lips seemed sweeter than the fragrant wine spreading in his mouth. Their touch would surely be soft too. Lost in his captivated gaze, Kangjoon didn’t even realize he was caressing his wife’s lips with his slowly extended hand.

“......Kangjoon-ssi?”

Snapping back to reality at her whispered voice, he saw his wife frozen with a bewildered expression. Kangjoon slightly furrowed his brow and lowered his hand.

“Sorry, your lips looked wet.”

You crazy bastard. He cursed himself inwardly. It wasn’t enough that his heart was wavering, but it seemed his body was too. This wasn’t what he had meant when he decided to be good to her.

“This looks like it would be very expensive.”

His wife changed the subject, as if trying to shift the awkward atmosphere.

“It’s not cheap.”

He replied nonchalantly, thinking she would be surprised if he told her the price of the Romanée-Conti they had just drunk. Drawing his gaze away from her lips, Kangjoon slowly opened his mouth.

“There was a guy I thought of like a younger brother.”

He had thought that thinking about Kyung-soo would make his heart firm again. But the wife before him wasn’t contemptible like before. Why on earth, what had changed?

“I wanted to raise him so well that I could take him all the way to Germany.”

“......”

“He was foolishly kind, to the point of pretending to die if I told him to, but he was also very smart.”

This was Kangjoon’s purpose for suggesting drinks tonight. Even if he was being nice to his wife, there was something he definitely wanted to confirm.

“His name is...”

His wife’s reaction to hearing that name.

“Heo Kyung-soo.”

His wife, who had been steadily looking at Kangjoon’s eyes, quietly lowered her gaze. The movement of picking up the wine glass and bringing it back to her lips was slow and delicate, as if she was buying time to think. Taeryeong, who swallowed the wine down her slender throat, replied calmly.

“I’ll remember. If he’s a younger brother Kangjoon-ssi cherishes that much, I might meet him soon.”

It was clear that she was giving the reaction her husband wanted. But Taeryeong had no idea what it was. Still, she thought she had given the best answer to his words about cherishing him like a younger brother. Her husband smiled coldly.

“Taeryeong-ssi will have no reason to see him.”

“......?”

“Because that guy is dead.”

Her husband, speaking of his cherished younger brother’s death, was terribly calm. But why didn’t he seem to be grieving? That calmness felt like a wound. Taeryeong’s mind became complicated.

“Let’s stop with the depressing stories and just drink our wine.”

Kangjoon, who changed the subject and raised his glass, was also complicated in his mind. He hoped that his wife’s lack of reaction to the name Heo Kyung-soo wasn’t an act. He even wished that his wife wasn’t that guy’s Alicia. That contradictory wish kept bothering him. *** Her husband had looked at her with eyes that seemed to want to say something, but in the end, he said nothing. With a look eager to be affectionate, he didn’t cross the invisible barrier he had erected. Why had he looked at her with those eyes, with that expression? In the end, Taeryeong, who had a restless night, didn’t feel well from the morning. But despite Secretary Kim’s concern, she stubbornly went through her schedule. Because when she focused on work, she didn’t have distracting thoughts. She wished Seo Kangjoon would just get out of her head. The last schedule was what broke Taeryeong, who had been holding on fiercely. 9 PM, FOXY BAR in Gangnam. The heavy doors of the VIP room opened to both sides. Taeryeong walked out with a stiff posture, along with the hazy smoke that leaked out. But as soon as the doors closed, she immediately staggered and leaned against the wall.

“I’m dizzy.”

Inside, there were stubborn old men for whom the ‘no indoor smoking’ rule didn’t apply. Thanks to them, Taeryeong had inhaled a lifetime’s worth of cigarette smoke, as if her lungs were rotting away. But she didn’t even frown and endured the cough that rose up her throat. As always, unshaken and calm, to get what she wanted. A space where other people came to enjoy themselves. But for Taeryeong, it was another workplace where she could more easily secure the deals she wanted.

“Well, at least I got what I wanted.”

Today’s target was the executive director of Taesan Home Shopping. Using the exclusive launch with Taesan as leverage, Taeryeong had haggled over the commission rate and won what she wanted. The commission rate was lowered by 5%, and the drinking session ended sooner than expected. Although it was probably just beginning inside.

“I need to get some fresh air.”

Taeryeong walked down the hallway, staggering. The terrible smell of cigarettes and the alcohol that exceeded her limit spread like poison inside her body. Just as she regretted sending Secretary Kim ahead, she bumped into someone at the parking lot entrance. It was none other than her husband, Seo Kangjoon.

“How did you get here...”

She didn’t want to show her weak side, but she didn’t even have the strength to continue speaking. Her stomach churned, her head throbbed, and even standing straight was difficult.

“I asked Secretary Kim.”

...So why? When Taeryeong asked with her powerless eyes, he readily answered.

“Let’s just say my pride wouldn’t let me ask my wife’s contact information from her secretary.”

Instead of arguing about why he was suddenly so fixated on her contact information, Taeryeong tightly closed her eyes. It was terrible timing. As if being pitied over food wasn’t enough. Now, her husband had appeared like a prince on a white horse right before she collapsed. Truly, Yu Taeryeong was going through a lot. With powerless resentment, Taeryeong pushed her husband’s chest with her hand. Please just disappear. But it was Taeryeong who was pushed back, not her husband.

“Your face is pale, are you alright?”

The childish concern in her husband’s low voice grated on her nerves. Who was to blame for all this! Giving her poison and then medicine. It was all because of his fickle behavior! Why was he suddenly being nice! Why had he sat with her on the emergency stairs and drunk yogurt he didn’t even like! Why had he acted like a wounded person while drinking wine! ...It was bothering her. She felt resentful, wronged, and embarrassed. Why was this person always there when she was having the hardest and most painful time? Yet, in a corner of her heart, she felt relieved that it was him. The moment Taeryeong, her eyes welling up, lowered her head, a large hand covered her forehead.

“You don’t have a fever.”

But oh my god, the cool sensation that seeped into her hot forehead felt unbelievably good. Why was this man’s hand like this? Warm when Taeryeong was cold, and cool when she was hot. Even the cool yet intense scent emanating from her husband’s embrace felt good. It was as if it was driving away the terrible smell of cigarettes that lingered around her nose.

“Seo Kangjoon-ssi, what kind of perfume do you use?”

She wasn’t asking for an answer.

“I’m sorry.”

She wanted his cool hand to touch her forehead a little longer, she wanted her husband’s scent to erase the smell of cigarettes, she needed a solid embrace to lean on. She was simply being led by her instinct to survive.

“Could you lend me your embrace just once, as if you’re doing a charity?”

Taeryeong, who had murmured to herself, hunched her fragile shoulders and burrowed into her husband’s embrace.

“I’ll repay you later.”

She felt his solid muscles stiffen, but she didn’t even have the room to care about that.

“......Haa.”

Pressing her cheek against his chest, where she could feel his strong heartbeat, she tightly wrapped her arms around his waist.

“I feel a little better now.”

It felt like finding an oasis in the desert.