DH ✦ Ch 22

✦ Chapter 22 ✦

“The morning dew was still on them when I picked them.”

Mrs. Eom beamed as she served breakfast: cucumber sandwiches and fresh green juice.

The sandwiches were filled with boiled eggs and bacon and cut into bite-sized pieces, making them both neat and easy to eat. The drink was fresh and full of that crisp green aroma.

“Since it’s been a while since you’ve eaten at home, should I have prepared something more substantial?”

“No. This is perfect.”

“I just hope it’s better than the breakfasts the executive office prepares for you.”

“There’s no comparison. Who could beat your cooking, Mrs. Eom?”

Listening to the warm exchange between Hyun-jae and Mrs. Eom, Ga-young lifted her cup.

She took a sip of the green juice and speared a piece of sandwich with her fork, but for some reason, she couldn’t bring herself to lift it.

Was this stress-induced gastritis?

She hadn’t even eaten yet, but her stomach already felt heavy.

It was probably because Hyun-jae had pulled out her chair for her and immediately taken the seat beside her.

She was also conscious of Mrs. Eom watching.

They were supposed to act like a happily married couple.

Should she feed Hyun-jae a piece of sandwich or something?

As that thought crossed her mind, she caught Mrs. Eom’s gaze and forced a smile.

Hyun-jae, who had glanced at her, spoke to Mrs. Eom.

“Mrs. Eom, are you planning to stand there the whole time?”

“Oh! Please, enjoy your meal.”

With that, Mrs. Eom quickly disappeared, leaving the dining room to the two of them.

But with even Mrs. Eom gone, Ga-young felt even more awkward.

She quenched her unnecessary thirst with another sip of green juice and set the cup down, only realizing afterward that Hyun-jae had been staring at her.

“Do you not like cucumbers?”

“What?”

“I heard there’s a DNA trait that makes cucumbers taste unpleasant to some people. I was wondering if you might have that.”

“No. I like cucumbers.”

Ga-young hurriedly stuffed a piece of sandwich into her mouth and began chewing.

Then, while Hyun-jae continued speaking, she forced another piece in.

“Want some more? I have twice as much sandwich as you do.”

“No. Mine is enough for breakfast too.”

Because her cheeks were stuffed with food, her words came out muffled.

Hyun-jae let out a small laugh.

Ah…

Ga-young sighed inwardly.

She already felt like she had become the object of his amusement first thing in the morning.

“Eat plenty.”

“Yes. Executive Director Shin, you should eat well too.”

At least this time, she swallowed the sandwich first before answering calmly.

For a while, they simply ate beneath the dazzling morning sunlight.

Hyun-jae told her to ask Mrs. Eom to make anything she liked, and Ga-young answered that she would.

That was about the extent of their conversation.

Eventually, Mrs. Eom returned and broke the awkward atmosphere.

She was in the middle of a phone call.

“I’ll check right now, so don’t hang up. Just wait.”

Ga-young turned toward the entrance as Mrs. Eom lowered the phone from her ear.

“I’m sorry, Madam, but there’s something urgent I need to ask you.”

“Yes? Go ahead.”

“I think you’re running low on underwear, so I placed an order with your personal shopper yesterday. They say the items are at the store now, but I forgot to give them your size, and they’re asking me to confirm it.”

Mrs. Eom looked at her.

“What size underwear do you wear?”

Ga-young had insisted on washing her own underwear by hand, refusing to leave even that to someone else.

That was why Mrs. Eom had never had the chance to find out her sizes.

Ga-young’s ears turned hot.

How was she supposed to say that with Hyun-jae sitting right there?

Mrs. Eom, completely unaware of her discomfort, continued.

“Seventy-five should be right, shouldn’t it?”

“Uh… yes.”

“And your cup size?”

“…”

“Should I order an A cup?”

Apparently, because Ga-young had a slim figure and always wore loose clothing, Mrs. Eom had assumed she was completely flat.

Ga-young hesitated, unable to say otherwise.

Mrs. Eom lifted the phone back to her ear.

“Manager Kim, the bra should be an A—”

“That doesn’t sound right.”

Hyun-jae’s voice suddenly cut in.

Mrs. Eom froze.

Ga-young slowly turned her head toward him.

Hyun-jae’s expression was completely indifferent.

As though he hadn’t just said anything outrageous, he simply picked up another sandwich.

A faint crease appeared between Ga-young’s brows.

He knows?

Does he remember my body from that time?

“There’s another size?”

Mrs. Eom’s question didn’t even give Ga-young time to drown in embarrassment.

At this point, trying to hide it seemed even more ridiculous.

So she forced herself to answer.

“Yes. C.”

“Oh!”

Understanding immediately, Mrs. Eom raised her voice into the phone.

“Underwear size seventy-five, and the bra is a C cup. Honestly, our Madam has such a lovely figure.”

Ah…

Ga-young wanted to dig a hole and crawl into it.

She lowered her head and shoved another sandwich into her mouth.

The cucumber felt like clay.

The bread felt like stones.

After Mrs. Eom ended the call, Hyun-jae spoke in an even tone.

“Mrs. Eom, you should ask things like that when I’m not around. My wife…”

Ga-young flinched when a man’s hand suddenly settled on her shoulder.

“She gets embarrassed talking about things like that.”

She instinctively looked up at him.

Hyun-jae wore a faint smile.

“What’s there to be embarrassed about between husband and wife? Ah, yes, of course.”

Mrs. Eom’s half-hearted protest brushed past Ga-young’s ears and disappeared.

Light streamed through the room, making Hyun-jae’s eyes look almost transparent as he calmly studied her face.

Caught in that gaze, Ga-young felt even more embarrassed than she had when revealing her bra size.

Her flushed cheeks reflected in his brown eyes.

The stiffness she couldn’t hide.

The strange excitement that made her feel as though she had somehow bared her chest before him.

All of it.

With her mind still completely muddled, breakfast ended soon afterward.

When Ga-young went to the entrance to see Hyun-jae off, Mrs. Eom stood behind her, ready to send her employer off with the proper courtesy of a household employee.

Ga-young thought she should act like a wife helping her husband get dressed.

But Hyun-jae efficiently slipped his arms into his jacket and put on his shoes by himself.

Then Ga-young noticed something.

His tie was slightly crooked at the knot.

After Hyun-jae finished putting on his shoes and straightened up, Ga-young reached for his neck and timidly adjusted it.

Hyun-jae gave her a faint smile.

This man seemed to find everything Yoon Ga-young did amusing.

She felt as though, in his eyes, she was an inexperienced child being watched over by an adult standing far above her.

Ga-young forced the corners of her lips upward.

“Have a good day. I’ll be waiting for you.”

“I’ll try to come home early.”

Smack.

Before she could blink, his lips landed on her cheek.

Hyun-jae let out a quiet laugh at the sight of her amber eyes going completely blank with shock, then turned away.

The moment the front door clicked shut, Ga-young’s cold hand flew to her cheek.

It was only a goodbye kiss.

A simple gesture, probably meant to keep up appearances in front of Mrs. Eom—like something out of a children’s song about giving a kiss before heading off to work.

And yet, the spot where his lips had touched her felt as though it had been struck by sparks.

Sitting at his desk in his office, Hyun-jae began with the documents that needed approval before noon.

His routine left no room for idle thoughts.

The moment he arrived at work, he was busy without even a chance to catch his breath.

While he was working, Secretary Gil Byung-soo joined him.

As they reviewed reports together, Byung-soo seemed unable to concentrate for some reason.

He kept muttering half-formed curses under his breath.

Byung-soo looked like something had gotten seriously tangled in his head.

It was kind of cute.

At the very least, he provided a small source of entertainment during an otherwise boring workday.

Then, while opening a proposal sent up from the Future Planning Office, Byung-soo suddenly turned serious.

“This is a proposal I just collected. You need to review it and attach your comments by today. May I offer my opinion first?”

Hyun-jae finally looked up from the documents.

Byung-soo ground his teeth.

“Mark every page with a big red X and send it back.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m offended.”

“Why?”

“The female employees in that department were whispering behind my back.”

He paused.

“They said I was cute.”

That was true, though.

Hyun-jae raised an eyebrow as if to ask what the problem was.

Byung-soo’s face immediately twisted.

“It’s because of you! I’m always glued to Executive Director Shin’s side. Hey! I’m one hundred eighty centimeters tall. Does it make any sense for people to call me cute?”

“No, it doesn’t.”

Hyun-jae answered with deliberate seriousness.

“Calling the sexiest man I know cute? What kind of nonsense is that?”

“Right?”

“If their taste is that terrible, their work ability is probably just as bad. I can’t work with employees that incompetent. We should fire them all.”

“What?”

“Find every employee who called you cute and collect their resignation letters. That’s your special assignment for today, Secretary Gil.”

“Hah!”

Byung-soo let out a breathless laugh before bursting into loud laughter.

Hyun-jae maintained a perfectly serious expression, as though he meant every word.

Before long, Byung-soo stopped laughing.

A fond look appeared in his eyes.

“Look at that skill. You make me tuck my tail and pledge my loyalty every single time.”

Hyun-jae ignored him and looked back down at his documents.

“I expect all those resignation letters by the end of today.”

“Fine. You win.”

I shouldn’t have said anything.

Grumbling with a laugh, Byung-soo pushed the stack of documents he had practically thrown onto the desk closer to Hyun-jae.

More than anyone, Byung-soo knew just how much work they had to do, and he finally switched into work mode.

Still, he couldn’t resist adding one last comment.

“You seem to be in a particularly good mood today.”

“Me?”

“Yes. If I had to guess, I’d say married life is treating you well.”

Hyun-jae snorted softly and brought the pen in his hand to his mouth, biting lightly on the end.

Byung-soo’s remark disrupted his concentration even more than the secretary’s earlier complaints.

It was pretty entertaining.

How could it not be?

He was living under the same roof as a woman who turned red just from meeting his eyes.

Those five minutes they spent together each day were enjoyable.

This morning, he had spent thirty straight minutes silently amused.

Every day, he found himself looking forward to going home.

And whenever he entered the detached house in Seongbuk-dong, dopamine surged through him.

There was just one problem.

The nights were unbearably long.