They were bound to become strangers again in a few months anyway. So, becoming an “inseparable” couple was also not her intention. Therefore, this man’s gaze, expression, and words held no reason for Taeryeong to keep them in her heart. As they exchanged the second glass, Taeryeong asked cautiously,

“How is it?”

“The flavor is rich and deep. The aroma and taste are all different when you first drink it, when you hold it in your mouth, and when you swallow it.”

The eyes that had been fixed on the glass slowly rose and turned to Taeryeong.

“It’s strong, but I like it.”

His eyes, swaying with the alcohol, were deep, and his gaze was soft.

“It’s a taste that’s intriguing, amusing, and makes you curious, just like Yu Taeryeong-ssi.”

Just as the tense atmosphere was about to relax again, an unordered dish was placed on their table.

“This is a complimentary appetizer.”

It was the owner of the bar who brought the appetizer, which had a lavish presentation for something complimentary. Taeryeong had briefly run into her in the restroom before sitting down.

‘I don’t think I’ve seen you here before. Is this your first time at my place?’

‘Yes, a friend recommended it.’

‘But the man you’re with, is he your boyfriend? How lovely.’

‘He’s just a colleague.’

Taeryeong’s casual conversation apparently meant something different to the beautiful female owner. Her blatant gaze, her kind tone, even the subtle angles of her body in that revealing dress. Just as Taeryeong was trying to enjoy the comfortable atmosphere, she saw the owner clearly making a move on Kangjoon, and she hesitated. Should she pretend not to notice and stay seated, or should she excuse herself?

“We didn’t ask for a complimentary dish, so please take it back. Or put it on the bill.”

Just as she was about to get up, thinking it would be better to leave, her husband’s cold voice reached her.

“I’d be disappointed if you said that. I wanted to offer it to our guest.”

“Are you interested in me?”

At his direct question, the owner seemed momentarily flustered, but as if well aware of her own charms, she smiled and asked back, “What if I am?”

Even at that moment, her husband’s gaze was fixed on Taeryeong. It had been that way since the owner had appeared.

“I’m not interested.”

In the end, the owner glared at Kangjoon once before taking the complimentary dish and disappearing. Unlike the composed Kangjoon, Taeryeong was the one who didn’t understand this situation. This was a man who was eager to torment her. When they were like strangers, he had ostentatiously shown himself with other women, even offering them his arm. But now, he was coldly rejecting a woman who was openly hitting on him. Did he want to maintain this softened atmosphere? Or was he testing if she would keep her promise?

“If you’re doing this because of me, you don’t have to. Please go ahead.”

After hesitating for a moment, Taeryeong spoke calmly.

“What do you mean by ‘go ahead’?”

Then Kangjoon also calmly asked back with unfathomable dark eyes.

“You can go over to that woman. She seemed quite hurt.”

Though her pride was probably more shattered.

“And Taeryeong-ssi is okay with that?”

The unexpected question drew Taeryeong’s gaze away from the glass.

“Of course, I should be okay with it. I keep my promises just like Kangjoon-ssi does.”

At Taeryeong’s honest reply, her husband’s gaze became subtle.

“What on earth do you think of me?”

It was Kangjoon who spoke again at Taeryeong’s silence.

“I’m not trash enough to hit on someone even when I’m with my wife. If I ever do, Taeryeong-ssi should stop me.”

As Kangjoon spoke, he felt quite unpleasant. When they were acting like strangers, he had intentionally allowed approaches from the opposite sex. But when they were together, it was a basic courtesy he should naturally observe. Especially when the person he was with was of the opposite sex. But why did he even have to explain something like this? Had he acted that trashy?

“Does Kangjoon-ssi want me to interfere when we’re together?”

Kangjoon muttered a small “Good heavens” like a sigh.

“Give me some more alcohol.”

Then he held out his glass in front of his wife.

“I think I know why people drink now.”

Kangjoon, looking at his wife who was pouring him a drink with a still bewildered expression, felt inexplicably suffocated. It was as if he had no idea what to do with his wife. Just then, his wife took out her phone from her handbag, checked the caller ID, and asked carefully,

“Excuse me, but could we end this here for today?”

Kangjoon nodded briefly in agreement.

“I need to use the restroom.”

Getting up from her seat and giving a brief nod, his wife was saying goodbye. Cleanly, as if she had no regrets about the rather pleasant drinking session. This was why he felt restless. *** Madam Jo, who knew Taeryeong’s exact location, even issued a warning to arrive within 25 minutes. After ending the call and coming out of the restroom, Taeryeong saw the owner talking on the phone in the hallway.

“It was the first time I’d been rejected so embarrassingly! He seemed like a third-generation chaebol, so he probably ate his manners with his rice and his courtesy too. He was a complete jerk. Even when I offered a complimentary appetizer, he threw a fit... I’ll call you later.”

The owner, who happened to spot Taeryeong, quickly hung up. The click-clack of Taeryeong’s stilettos echoing in the hallway stopped right in front of the owner.

“The man I came with is not a jerk.”

Even as she asked herself why she couldn’t just walk by, her lips moved on their own.

“He didn’t eat his courtesy with his rice; he’s just honest, so his way of speaking is direct. And you’re the one who doesn’t know manners.”

She continued speaking calmly even as the owner glared at her with dagger-like eyes.

“He politely used honorifics, and he told you to put the appetizer on the bill if you were going to leave it. He firmly refused you because he didn’t think you were the right person. Isn’t that the ultimate in manners?”

Her husband keeping his manners towards an acquaintance wasn’t a reason to be criticized. Not because he was her husband, but just because.

“Or, are you upset because you openly flirted with him but couldn’t even get a single glance?”

At that moment, Taeryeong felt like she had been violently struck on the back of the head. She felt like she understood why her husband had acted and spoken that way. Good heavens, the question she had asked him was no different from treating him like trash.

“Then try harder. Next time, try to be more beautiful and charming so you don’t fail at seduction. And don’t badmouth decent customers behind their backs while blaming others.”

If you couldn’t even steal the gaze of a woman he despised, then you’re the one who failed to be appealing.

“Do you have proof that I badmouthed your companion?”

“Who do you think you’re fooling?”

At the owner’s denial, Taeryeong smiled sweetly and muttered softly, “Hey! What did you just say...?”

“Never mind.”

Turning away and walking away leisurely, cutting off the owner’s words, Taeryeong felt strange. It was as if she had discovered a new side of her husband that she hadn’t known before.

“He’s a truly strange man.”

Just as that perplexing thought crossed her mind—that he might not be such a bad guy after all—Taeryeong stumbled. The bar owner, who had approached from behind, had bumped her shoulder so hard that her ankle twisted sharply.

“......!”

Barely regaining her balance, Taeryeong looked up, but the owner was gone. She wanted to chase after her, but she was running out of time to get to Madam Jo. In the end, Taeryeong limped towards the parking lot. But just as she stepped onto the last step, her ankle twisted again.

“Ah!”

Just before she fell, an arm suddenly appeared from behind and swiftly caught her waist.

“You have to be careful.”

The low voice that resonated near her ear was her husband’s.

“......Aren’t you gone yet?”

Taeryeong let out a small sigh and said quietly.

“I should see Taeryeong-ssi off.”

The grip of the arm tightly wrapped around her waist grew stronger, and their bodies pressed closer together.

“Because I’m the ultimate in manners.”

At that one phrase, laced with a faint smile, Taeryeong’s heart sank. Could he have heard everything? The moment Taeryeong’s eyes, her face flushed, lost focus, her body was suddenly lifted.

“Kyaa!”

Her instinct to not fall made her wrap her slender arms around her husband’s neck.

“It looked like you hurt your ankle.”

She was already mortified that he had heard that conversation, and being held like this made Taeryeong feel like she was going crazy. She wanted to hide in a mouse hole if there was one.

“I just twisted it a bit, I can walk perfectly fine on my own...!”

“If you don’t like being held, I can just sling you over my shoulder.”

Knowing he was the type of man who would actually do that, Taeryeong stayed still in his arms. But because of her arms instinctively wrapped around his neck, their bodies were pressed tightly together. Her carelessly lowered left hand, becoming unnecessarily conscious, happened to brush against Kangjoon’s collarbone and then slide down his chest.

“It’s going to be a problem if you move your hand like that.”

It was a mistake to raise her head, drawn in by his slightly husky voice. She saw the seething dark eyes, as if they had been preheated by the whiskey’s potency.

Startled, Taeryeong quickly wrapped her arms around her husband’s neck again and lowered her long eyelashes. Her heart was pounding for no reason. *** It was when Taeryeong, barely making it on time, had just stepped into the entrance of Madam Jo’s mansion.

“Did you grow a nerve? Or is it because I’ve been treating you too well lately?”

Madam Jo, sitting on the sofa, was glaring at her with eyes that looked like they wanted to tear her apart.

“If you meet with Seo-seobang alone, you should report it immediately! Do you think I wouldn’t know if you were scheming like that?”

Taeryeong quickly knelt down in front of Madam Jo.

“Kangjoon-ssi made the initial suggestion, so I couldn’t refuse. I didn’t know his intentions, so I wanted to confirm them before reporting everything at once.”

Even though the suspicion didn’t disappear from Madam Jo’s eyes, Taeryeong continued calmly, “Everything I do is in your hands, Mother. What could I possibly do? You know I don’t have the guts or the ability to do anything against you.”

A fool who only knew work and was good at it, but was soft and clueless in every other aspect. Falling for that act once again, Madam Jo’s expression softened slightly, and Taeryeong quickly reported the events of the day.

“Once Seo-seobang comes home, you can go in late while doing all that work you like so much. I spoke well at the dinner today, so he won’t be suspicious.”

Only then did Madam Jo speak coldly with a face devoid of suspicion.

“Mother, could you please let me meet my sister just once?”

“Why would you want to see my daughter? To gloat about how well you’re living, all plump and happy? Now that you’ve got the best husband, are a daughter of a chaebol family, and playing the boss, can’t you let go of this life?”

“It’s not like that. I think Kangjoon-ssi’s feelings towards me aren’t very good.”

“You expect me to believe you after you just spent a cozy time with Seo-seobang until just now?”

Taeryeong could feel Madam Jo’s irritation rising again.

“It’s not like that when we’re alone. Actually, I felt it the day I went to pick him up, but I wasn’t sure then, so I didn’t say anything. But I definitely felt it this time. I need to know what it is so I can be careful, and I think it will also be helpful when my sister returns later.”

At Taeryeong’s calm and soft explanation, Madam Jo slightly frowned.

“Well, it was a bit strange. I was relieved back then, but isn’t it odd that he neglected a woman he fell for at first sight for three years? No matter how busy he was with work.”

Muttering to herself, Madam Jo looked at Taeryeong again.

“Let me think about it. Looking at you makes me feel on edge and tired. Go now.”

Still with a look of utter dislike.

“Then I’ll be going, Aunt.”

“Didn’t I tell you to watch your words! Do you think I want you calling me that?”

“I’m sorry, it was unintentional.”

Shrinking her shoulders and lowering her gaze as if frightened, it was actually a deliberate act. She knew Madam Jo loathed that term. “Mother” was a lie, but “Aunt,” a term no one else knew, was the truth. *** Wednesday evening, the day her husband was supposed to come home. After a refreshing shower, Taeryeong reapplied her makeup and tied her hair up high. From this moment on, she would have to keep doing this even at home. She would have to endure even if it was stifling. Looking at her reflection in the mirror, Taeryeong recalled Madam Jo’s words and let out a soft, mocking laugh.

‘Now that you’ve got the best husband, are a daughter of a chaebol family, and playing the boss, can’t you let go of this life?’

She said such things because she knew nothing. At 19, the athleisure look shopping mall “Dora,” which she had founded, had become a huge success. Of course, Madam Jo believed that Jin-kyung was the owner of Dora and that her friend Taeryeong was just an employee. Unable to bear even that, Madam Jo had come to Jin-kyung and threatened her, but Taeryeong had dismissed her with a single sentence.

‘Even a cornered mouse will bite a cat.’

If you try to starve me, I might just expose the relationship between you and me. Because she had shown a moderately compliant attitude since then, Madam Jo still didn’t know. How successful she, the real owner of Dora, had become and how successful she would continue to be. To achieve that, she had to have Ino Fashion.

“What should I do, Aunt? Ino Fashion is mine.”

The moment she signed this contract, for the sake of her meticulously prepared final goal. Surviving the company’s near-fatal crisis and groveling as if she had no pride were all acts to avoid Madam Jo’s suspicion and make her lower her guard. Slowly opening her eyes, Taeryeong rose from her chair. Her eyes, half-hidden by long eyelashes, were clear and determined. There was no trace of the fear and obedience she always showed Madam Jo.

“It’s time to go pick him up.”

It was 7:30 PM, the time her husband was supposed to arrive.