[If my wife takes me, I’m willing to act as your designated driver.]

Was it because of what Yeonsuk had told her? Her husband’s message seemed to carry the pride of a Seo family man. And for now, she wanted to accept that pride. Because when they were together, her husband had always put her consideration before his own privacy. Thinking about it, it had always been like that. At the bar when the manager had hit on her, at the Taesan founding anniversary party, and even now. Taeryeong unknowingly smiled and replied.

[It’s still three hours until 12, so have more fun.]

Half of her wanted to playfully resist, and half of her wanted to keep her promise not to interfere with his private life.

[Aren’t you managing your husband’s overnight stays? What if I become an animal of oblivion tonight?]

As she hesitated on how to reply, another message came from her husband.

[If I get drunk, I might unknowingly go to the main family house.]

Now he was openly threatening her.

“Seo Kangjoon-ssi, you could have just said let’s go in together.”

It wasn’t even a declaration of love. What was so difficult about it that he had to beat around the bush, Mr. Seo family husband?

[Come to B-14 on the first basement floor.]

After sending her location via message, Taeryeong leaned against the car and pondered. Since when had her husband become this comfortable with her? It seemed to have started when he lied about liking yogurt. That day they sat together on the emergency stairs, making disgusted faces as they drank yogurt. Since then, her husband had become kinder, and Taeryeong seemed to have gradually let down her guard.

“The culprit was yogurt.”

The moment she chuckled, realizing the cause of all this, her husband appeared. He approached her leisurely with his characteristic elegant gait and stood before her. Whenever they faced each other like this, she was newly aware. How tall this man was and how ridiculously small she was, making her 9cm high heels seem insignificant.

“Whose car are we taking...!”

The moment her husband leaned down, Taeryeong closed her eyes, feeling dizzy.

“You must have drunk a lot of wine.”

Because his soft breath touched her exposed nape. Because the sensation of that breath spreading across her delicate skin was strange.

“Taeryeong-ssi, you have a scent I like.”

Was it her natural scent he liked, or the wine scent she didn’t even know? Feeling her heart pound for no reason, Taeryeong barely managed to open her mouth.

“You seem too close, could you step back a bit?”

“Why? Are you saying your heart is racing because I’m too close?”

Her husband asked, truly being annoying.

“......Absolutely not.”

“Then why would you close your eyes?”

“......!”

“As if hoping for a kiss.”

This man, really! When an indignant Taeryeong opened her eyes and glared sharply, her husband chuckled.

“Calm down, can’t I even joke?”

She almost asked if they were even in a relationship where they exchanged jokes, but stopped herself. Why did this man keep confusing her? If he smiled at her like that, acted like that, and took care of her like that, she might really misunderstand. That he had started to like her a little. Or maybe he had feelings for her from the beginning. That all of this was just an act to provoke her jealousy. And that in the end, he would always come to her. He was making her want to believe that. When Taeryeong looked at him resentfully, only then did Kangjoon wipe away his smile.

“Let’s go in my car.”

When Taeryeong got into the car, Kangjoon handed her a drink.

“They said this is a really effective hangover cure, so I snatched Kyungjin’s.”

When she hesitated, unable to bring herself to take it, her husband placed the drink directly in Taeryeong’s hand. That alone made her feel strange, and then he even took off his jacket and draped it over her legs. When she asked with her eyes why he was doing this, her husband met her gaze with his deep eyes.

“Your skirt is short, and Taeryeong-ssi’s legs are beautiful enough to attract attention.”

Taeryeong’s eyes widened.

“But I need to drive safely, and I want my wife to be comfortable.”

What was this man even saying?

“Let’s just say that’s the reason.”

Taeryeong turned her bewildered gaze out the window. She didn’t want him to see her face, which had turned inexplicably red. *** They arrived home. After passing through the entrance lobby, Taeryeong scanned the living room with a slightly unfamiliar gaze. Every time she entered this house, she had always thought it was desolate and empty. But why didn’t she feel that way these days? Wondering, Taeryeong’s gaze turned to her husband. A man whose movements were quiet despite his large build. But just his presence alone changed the flow of air. Warmth settled in the cold air, and her husband’s scent slowly spread through the dry house. So that this space they filled together wouldn’t be lonely and desolate. The thought that maybe this was why people got married crossed her mind, and Taeryeong swallowed a bitter smile. She would be leaving in six months, so what was the point of knowing?

“I’m going to take a shower.”

It was an implicitly established rule. Kangjoon would shower in the first-floor bedroom bathroom, and Taeryeong would shower in the second-floor bathroom. After showering and going to the bedroom, Kangjoon was shirtless again today. She always felt this, but why was she the one feeling embarrassed when he was the one who was undressed? Exchanging messages, entering the house together, sleeping in the same bed. She seemed to be gradually getting used to it, but she couldn’t get used to her husband’s naked body. Not wanting him to see her flushed cheeks, Taeryeong quickly lay down on the left side of the bed.

“Taeryeong-ssi, do you wear makeup even when you sleep?”

Taeryeong wasn’t flustered by her husband’s question. She had expected this question to come up eventually. When she turned her head, her husband, lying on the right side of the bed, had turned sideways and was staring intently at Taeryeong.

“My mother said that women should wear makeup until they go into their coffins, especially in front of their husbands.”

“......”

“Just like Kangjoon-ssi has a sleeping habit of taking off his clothes, at least his top, I would appreciate it if you would respect this as one of my sleeping habits.”

You take off your top, I wear makeup. He must have understood well enough.

“What Yu Taeryeong-ssi is saying is that you want to look pretty to your husband, me?”

At the sudden, unexpected question, Taeryeong was momentarily stunned. Did it sound like that? She needed to make some kind of excuse, but her mouth wouldn’t open. Objecting that it wasn’t like that at all would mean that she would stop wearing makeup. Choosing to remain silent even if it meant being misunderstood, her husband persistently asked.

“Is that right?”

“......”

“It is right.”

“......”

“You want to look pretty to me.”

When Taeryeong finally invoked her right to remain silent, her husband chuckled again, as if he found it amusing. Why was this man acting so mischievous? No, it seemed like he had recently found it fun to tease Taeryeong.

“Sleep well.”

In the end, Taeryeong, trying to calm her boiling insides, turned her body sharply. She hoped it was just her imagination that she could feel her husband smiling even in the darkness. *** The next evening. The trio, having finished their workout at the Baekje Hotel fitness club, gathered at the lounge cafe again. But Kyungjin and Jaewoo went into observation mode at Kangjoon’s unusual demeanor.

“Jaewoo-ya, did that guy eat something wrong today? Why is he grinning like that?”

“You see it too?”

His expression was clearly blank, but should I say he looked somewhat softer? The corners of his lips were slightly raised too. He had been like that throughout the workout, and he was still like that now.

“Seo Kangjoon, want to share a laugh? They say sorrow shared is halved, and joy shared is doubled.”

“......”

“If you keep this up, we’ll be so upset, will we even cooperate with your plan, friend?”

These two men had found their 24 hours far from boring lately because of Seo Kangjoon. A healthy life was good, but playing so wholesomely had made them feel like the joy of their day had disappeared.

“I’m about to go find Taeryeong-ssi and spill the beans. That you’re trying to provoke jealousy...!”

At his sharply glaring, cold eyes, Kyungjin quickly shut his mouth. Only then did Kangjoon say in a low voice.

“I think the being nice strategy is working.”

It had only been a little over a week since Kangjoon had declared he would be nice to his wife. But it was already working?

“I think she’s opened up to me a little.”

Kyungjin and Jaewoo couldn’t believe it. Women weren’t that easily swayed, especially when the wife was someone like Yu Taeryeong.

“Tell us how it’s working.”

“First, she smiles at me a lot, and she smiles beautifully.”

Surely, it was just a polite smile. The two men thought simultaneously.

“She even cooked dinner for me once. And it hasn’t even been a month since we started living together.”

“Isn’t that just natural as a wife?”

At Kyungjin’s words, Kangjoon’s eyes sank coldly.

“Why is that natural? My mother and grandmother never cooked a single meal in their entire lives.”

“Well, that’s...”

Because your grandfather and father had such peculiar personalities. They loved their wives so exceptionally that they wouldn’t even let them touch housework. But what good was it if they didn’t make them suffer physically, when they made them suffer so much emotionally? Unable to bring themselves to say that, the two men looked away.

“She said my body is perfectly her type.”

The two men exclaimed, “Oh my god.” He had said that since he started being nice, he had been working out even more intensely.

“So, she wants to look pretty to me.”

His face, handsome to the point of being annoying, was deadly serious.

“She said she absolutely has to wear makeup when she sleeps.”

You idiot, that means your wife is still uncomfortable around you!

“So I’m thinking about how to be even nicer to her.”

But this time too, the two men barely suppressed their bursting laughter.

“So that my wife will smile at me more often and open her heart more.”

Just then, Kangjoon’s phone rang.

“I have a schedule, so I’ll head out first.”

As soon as Kangjoon disappeared, the two men simultaneously burst into the laughter they had been holding back.

“Pwahahaha!”

“Ughahaha, my stomach hurts!”

He wanted to open that woman’s heart, and he wanted to see her smile more. For Seo Kangjoon, it was natural that he wouldn’t know what that meant. Kyungjin opened his mouth with an admiring expression.

“Yu Taeryeong-ssi is indeed no ordinary woman.”

“To make a robot-like guy like that act like this, I admit it.”

Countless women had approached Kangjoon, and their styles were diverse. But he had never shown interest in anyone. For him to act so foolish now, there was only one reason. The two men looked at each other and simultaneously began to sing loudly.

“Love comes without a sound, making my heart flutter~.”

Because instead of the fun they had lost at night due to Seo Kangjoon, they had gained another amusing spectacle to watch. *** They only shared their schedules through their secretaries; all other personal contact was directly between the two of them.

[I’ll be very late for work today, so go to sleep first.]

[I’ll be home even if it’s in the early morning, so don’t worry about me staying out.]

The moment Taeryeong received her husband’s message, she decided to leave work early today. She wanted to enjoy some rare freedom on her own. Arriving home, Taeryeong took a leisurely shower and even enjoyed a relaxing glass of whiskey on the terrace. Even though she had done everything she wanted to do, a faint sigh escaped her lips before midnight.

“I left work too early, it seems.”

Those who had enjoyed it knew how to enjoy it. Having lived a busy life since childhood, this current leisure was overwhelming for Taeryeong.

“Let’s just go to sleep quickly.”

But as soon as she entered the bedroom, her gaze fell on the right side of the bed. A space always filled by her husband, but now completely empty.

“I can sleep comfortably today.”

She didn’t have to be nervous because of anyone, and she didn’t have to see the naked body that made her face flush. She tried to fall asleep lying on the left side of the bed as usual, but sleep wouldn’t come. Why was the bedroom so cold today of all days? Even pulling the blanket up to her neck, her hands and feet felt numb with cold. Huddling against the cold, Taeryeong had no choice but to admit it. It wasn’t because it was the master bedroom that it was warm; it was her husband who filled this space with warmth. Reaching that conclusion, she suddenly missed her husband. More precisely, she missed the warmth of her husband that filled this space warmly.

“Could he have fallen asleep already?”

Thinking about it, she seemed to have slept deeply without whiskey after sharing a bed with him. Before falling asleep, she couldn’t let her guard down, but at some point, she would quickly fall asleep and wake up to morning. And she would wake up feeling very refreshed. There was another difference. In the past, she would wake up curled up like a shrimp with the blanket wrapped around her body. But these days, perhaps because she slept warmly, she would wake up lying straight. She had never imagined that one person’s warmth could have such an effect.

“Kangjoon-ssi did have a bit of a fever.”

Taeryeong recalled the times she had been held in her husband’s arms. His embrace was always cozy, and his firm body was warm. Eventually giving up on sleeping, Taeryeong left the bedroom. After making herself a warm cup of jujube tea, she took a book and a blanket. She planned to wait for her husband while reading a book on the living room sofa. Her husband had been quite nice to her lately, so Taeryeong also wanted to be a little nice to him.

“It’s natural to wait for a late husband.”

So, telling herself that it was definitely not because she missed her husband. Taeryeong covered her legs with the blanket, drank her jujube tea, and read her book. How much time had passed? The rate at which she blinked slowly decreased until the hand holding the book fell onto the sofa with a thud. Curling her small body up as much as possible, Taeryeong fell asleep just like that.