It was surprising and wondrous. That was the look in Kangjoon’s eyes as he watched Taeryeong focus on her meal. Where on earth did all that food go in that small body? Surely that wasn’t an act too. For most people, eating deliciously meant this: food piled high, eaten greedily, with exaggerated reactions. But Taeryeong was the opposite. Small portions, eaten slowly, with minimal reaction. Yet, she ate so deliciously that it made one curious about the taste of the food. It made him understand why people watched mukbang YouTube videos. At this point, he decided to cleanly admit it. He was enjoying watching his wife enjoy her meal. After finishing three bowls with ease and refreshing her palate with fragrant sujeonggwa, Taeryeong flinched. Perhaps embarrassed by Kangjoon’s intense gaze, she offered a smile for the first time.

“Sorry, did I eat too much?”

The smile, with a deep dimple on one side and her cat-like large eyes curving like a crescent moon, was lovely. It was like a shyly bursting flower bud in the spring sunlight. That smile made him realize something he had never considered before. Whether she revealed her fiery temper or put on a pretense of being a virtuous wife, Yu Taeryeong was a very beautiful woman. He didn’t like that his wife had finally made him recognize that. Why now, when she could have kept it hidden until the end?

“I thought I was watching a mukbang show.”

At Kangjoon’s nonchalant reply, Taeryeong asked very carefully, “Was it very unsightly?”

He wished it had been unsightly. Because it was the opposite, Kangjoon refrained from answering.

“I’ve been fasting after 4 PM all week because of my diet. So, I ate a bit more today, but I usually eat very little.”

Taeryeong, mistaking his silence, offered a quiet explanation.

“I see.”

He wasn’t curious about his wife’s eating habits, nor were they important. So, it was a casual reply, but his wife was shaken. The woman who had remained composed even when her husband was with other women.

“......It’s true.”

As she whispered the words, her lowered eyes were hidden by her long eyelashes. But Kangjoon could feel it. The faint ripple of unease from his wife, who was shaken for the first time.

“I believe you, Taeryeong-ssi, when you say you eat little.”

While giving his wife the nonchalant answer she wanted, Kangjoon carefully thought back. What had made his wife, who had even counterattacked him with wit, uneasy? Dinner, braised short ribs, diet, weight management, being aware of others, unease. The only point of contact existing amidst the constantly repeating disorder.

“In return, I’d like Taeryeong-ssi to trust me a little too.”

He had a hunch, so he decided to probe.

“What should I trust Kangjoon-ssi about?”

“I don’t have the distasteful habit of divulging matters between us to others. For example, my mother-in-law.”

He had expected her to be surprised.

“Kangjoon-ssi is the type to always keep his word.”

Her eyes, as she spoke not as a question but as a confirmation, were smooth without a hint of wavering.

“I will trust you.”

The moment Kangjoon saw his wife looking at him innocently with that gaze and a soft smile, he realized.

“Thank you for understanding my desire to be a well-behaved and obedient daughter.”

He had fallen neatly into his wife’s trap.

“As much as I trust Kangjoon-ssi, I will try harder. To be a well-behaved and obedient wife.”

From Kangjoon’s perspective, he had just made an official promise to his wife. To Madam Jo, who might be his wife’s only Achilles’ heel, that he would never reveal anything between them, no matter what happened.

“But Kangjoon-ssi didn’t eat anything at all?”

Kangjoon’s eyes narrowed as he watched Taeryeong take what she wanted and smoothly change the subject. Had he ever been curious about someone’s inner thoughts?

“Just watching my wife eat makes me feel full.”

No, he hadn’t. Barely suppressing a hollow laugh, Kangjoon replied slowly. Well, it wasn’t a bad bit of wordplay. Thanks to it, Kangjoon had also learned something new. That the already poor relationship between the mother and daughter had worsened, and that his wife was most concerned about and wary of her mother-in-law.

“But could you please stop using the term ‘wife’?”

“It seems better than ‘dear’ or ‘honey’.”

“Still, it feels a bit ticklish. I’d prefer it if you called me by my name, like I do with you.”

One more thing added. Always making eye contact when insisting on something. That was a new habit of his wife that Kangjoon had identified today.

“Then, let’s use it depending on the situation.”

Watching his wife make a face that showed she didn’t like his answer, Kangjoon nonchalantly continued, “Dinner’s over, so let’s go for drinks.”

“Please let me buy the drinks. I earn quite well too, though not as much as Kangjoon-ssi.”

At his wife’s stubbornness, as if she wouldn’t yield on this, Kangjoon nodded briefly. He disliked arguing, and winning over something trivial wouldn’t benefit him anyway.

“Thank you, then I’ll guide you to the second location.”

Kangjoon looked at his wife, who shyly blossomed into a flower-bud-like smile, with unfamiliar eyes.

‘Your smile is the prettiest. Like a fully bloomed red rose.’

He remembered the kid’s words with a dreamy expression. But why a fully bloomed red rose? In Kangjoon’s eyes, she was closer to a shyly bowing pure white lily of the valley. Could she even control her smile? Kangjoon watched his wife, who was leading the way with light steps, with a rather perplexed expression. Not only her eyes but now even her smile seemed to be hitting his preferences. This was quite dangerous.

*** A single malt whiskey bar located on the outskirts of Itaewon.

“How did you find out about a place like this?”

At Kangjoon’s question, Taeryeong shrugged as if it were nothing.

“I’m more of a solo drinker, so I don’t know these places well. That’s why I asked Secretary Kim.”

The reason she had offered to buy drinks today was because she felt a little guilty. It was a bit petty, but she had gotten what she wanted from her husband by playing the pitiful act. But Taeryeong had no choice. Now that even her only sanctuary, her home, was about to be invaded, if her husband even told Madam Jo the smallest details... Of course, there was also something she needed to confirm. It hadn’t mattered until now, but now that her husband was back, she needed to know if Secretary Kim was Madam Jo’s person or not. A staff member approached and gave them the menu along with water.

“What kind of alcohol would you like to order?”

“Since Taeryeong-ssi is buying, please order whatever you like.”

Taeryeong’s fingertips, which had been scanning the menu Kangjoon handed her with a serious gaze, stopped intermittently. According to Secretary Kim’s recommendation that it was a great place for appetizers, all the photos of the dishes looked delicious. She wanted to order everything if she could, but thinking of Madam Jo’s daughter, who had a small appetite, she gave up.

“Please order whatever appetizers Kangjoon-ssi wants.”

Before Taeryeong, who had only ordered drinks, could close the menu, Kangjoon smoothly ordered appetizers. Specifically, the appetizers where Taeryeong’s fingertips had briefly paused. After the staff left, Taeryeong curled her hands, which were on her lap, into fists with an unknown tremor. Her husband’s attentiveness, the fact that everything about her was within her husband’s sight, gave her a subtle feeling.

“Now that we’ve indulged, let’s eat all the things you’ve been wanting and make today our cheat day.”

As if reading Taeryeong’s thoughts, her husband spoke nonchalantly. She really couldn’t figure this man out. Was this consideration, or another one of his schemes?

“I’ll keep it a secret from Mother-in-law.”

Still, when Taeryeong didn’t let her guard down, he chuckled softly.

“I keep my promises.”

He even raised his long fingers and made a zipping motion across his mouth. She had to hold it in somehow. At her husband’s playfulness, which she was seeing for the first time, Taeryeong laughed along. She quickly composed her expression, but there was no way her husband hadn’t seen that smile. Yet, strangely, she didn’t feel any unease or fear. Because no matter what Taeryeong did, this man wouldn’t tell Madam Jo. Her husband, who had said so at the dinner table, was a man who kept his promises. It was a contradictory trust towards the husband she should be most wary of and careful around. Perhaps because of that trust, the atmosphere felt much softer and more comfortable. Taeryeong felt that way, though she didn’t know about Kangjoon. Both the dinner and this drinking session. She had to admit that her wariness towards her husband, who seemed to have ulterior motives, had eased a bit. Just then, the staff appeared and set the drinks and appetizers on the table. Only then did Kangjoon ask slowly,

“How do you drink single malt?”

Looking at him as if asking what he meant, Kangjoon said nonchalantly, “I’ve never drunk anything but wine.”

The party her husband had attended after returning to Korea, Taeryeong knew of dozens. And the countless rumors about her husband. Should she believe this statement that he had enjoyed parties without drinking?

“Let’s have Taeryeong-ssi teach me how to drink this time.”

Kangjoon tilted his glass towards her, their eyes meeting.

“They say alcohol is the best way to get closer.”

“What would we do by getting closer?”

Slowly filling the tilted glass with dark liquid, Taeryeong asked again in a whisper, “Then what are we not going to get closer about?”

At her husband’s casually spoken words, Taeryeong suddenly realized one more thing. That the thought she always had whenever she saw Seo Kangjoon might have been wrong. Handing Kangjoon the bottle, Taeryeong asked nonchalantly, as if just checking, “But you must have had many social gatherings. Were you okay not drinking?”

The higher the position, the more social gatherings there were. Dealing with people and expanding and maintaining networks was business itself.

“Because I didn’t want to drink.”

So what?

“What about now?”

“Because I want to drink.”

Her husband’s simple answers, clearly unfiltered, shook Taeryeong’s mind. Hidden beneath a polite mask, her husband was saying, moving, and acting as he pleased. A man who had held everything in his hands since birth and around whom things had always revolved. Born in such an environment, her husband was treating Taeryeong as he felt like. Tormenting her if he wanted to, ignoring her if he was annoyed, worrying about her a little if she seemed pitiful, and so on. In fact, Taeryeong had thought of her husband as a hypocritical man with a different inside and outside. Just a smooth exterior, but with a nasty disposition and the arrogance of a third-generation chaebol. She had been certain that the manners and consideration her husband showed, even while despising her, were all thoroughly calculated. But realizing that it was a misunderstanding made her suddenly want to laugh. It wasn’t calculated, and there were no hidden intentions; he was simply being honest with his emotions. Perhaps this was why they said delusion was a choice. Once her delusion was shattered, the husband in front of her looked like a large, picky, handsome 31-year-old adult.

“Then I’ll get you some ice.”

The voice that flowed from between Taeryeong’s lips had become much softer. The husband who had been the most difficult and uncomfortable person in the world now felt a bit more comfortable and easier to deal with. It felt like if she coaxed and soothed him well, her husband would somehow listen to her. Just like how he had made the promise Taeryeong wanted right away when she had acted a little pitiful at the dinner table.

“Does Taeryeong-ssi drink it with ice?”

“No, I enjoy it slowly, neat.”

“Then I’ll have it neat too, the same way.”

Even in their short conversation, Taeryeong barely suppressed another laugh at her husband’s smooth way of speaking, mixing honorifics and casual language. Even a child wouldn’t be this fickle.

“Don’t laugh alone; laugh with me.”

Taeryeong, who had barely managed to compose her expression, was pouring liquor into a Glencairn glass when he suddenly tossed out a remark.

“I wasn’t laughing.”

“Twice.”

Feigning ignorance, Taeryeong raised her eyes as if asking what he meant.

“I saw you holding back a laugh.”

He had been watching her face the whole time? In that instant, Taeryeong’s hand holding the bottle slipped. Kangjoon’s upper body quickly leaned across the table and swiftly caught the bottle.

“You’re surprisingly clumsy.”

His hand was overlapping Taeryeong’s hand holding the bottle. Perhaps that was why her husband’s hand looked bigger and stronger.

“You keep making me want to touch you.” Her husband’s low voice was soft, and a faint playfulness lingered in his deep eyes. Just as Taeryeong seemed to have softened a bit, so did her husband. Perhaps it was because the comfort she was feeling for the first time was both pleasant and awkward. In the moment when a strange and subtle silence hung between them, her husband broke the silence first.

“Since this is our meaningful first time drinking together, Taeryeong-ssi, say something.”

Her husband, who had already sat down, had a nonchalant expression as if nothing had happened. It was as if he was drawing a line, saying that the two of them shouldn’t be like that. When Taeryeong quietly shook her head, Kangjoon raised his glass.

“To an inextricable marital bond.”

Then Taeryeong also clinked her glass against his.

“To an inextricable marital bond.”

Casually repeating the words that somehow sounded meaningful.