“You don’t need to prepare such a grand breakfast.”
Jae Ha, who had been concentrating on driving while staring straight ahead, broke the long and awkward silence.

“…It’s something I always did at home. Even if not as much as today.”
“If it’s not something you absolutely need to eat, you should sleep more. I prefer something light in the morning.”
Even though he ate quite well.

Yes. Eun Jo tossed a short, emotionless answer and continued to look obliquely out of the car window.

…The reason why an adult man and woman lived in the same house.

To her, then and now, the word ‘marriage’ naturally came to mind.

21yearold Eun Jo had not easily accepted Jae Ha’s words to move into his house.

It was a decision made after careful consideration and repeated deliberation, just as he had said.

She thought Kwon Jae Ha was a trustworthy person.

Because the memories of him taking care of her a long time ago remained warmly.

Moreover, not long after living in the same house, she even thought that it was a good decision to accept his proposal.

From her perspective, who had struggled to make ends meet after turning 18, it could have been obvious.

She was able to rest in a warm and safe place,

and for the first time, she had to contemplate what to eat while looking inside the fridge.

There were moments when an unknown tension and excitement stabbed and passed through her heart.

She merely guessed it was because she had never lived under the same roof with a man, except on the Sunflower Hill.

Whether he teased her mischievously, interfered in small matters like a brother,

or unnecessarily flaunted his good looks, making the atmosphere awkward.

Except for those instances, Jae Ha was a decent roommate.

Still, the idea of clinging to him like a parasite was not exactly easy for the prideful Eun Jo.

At that moment, she had the good fortune to receive an introduction to a better tutoring position from her professor.

[Cha Ha Yoon, she’s a female student who aspires to be in the design department. Her father is a wellknown politician. Have you heard of Cha Dae Sung? Oh, and her brother is a thirdyear law student at our university and he wants to meet you briefly, is that okay?] [Yes, of course.] [The phone number it’s here. Contact her even today and meet comfortably. It’s not an interview, he just asked for a favor. He seems to want to greet you.]

Despite her pretentiousness, 21yearold Eun Jo was naive.

She didn’t question why such luck had come her way again.

Cha Sang Yoon.

That was the cause of her first meeting with him.

Contrary to his cool first impression, he showed warm and tender manners.

[I just wanted to have a cup of tea together. I was curious about what kind of person would be teaching Ha Yoon.]

Eun Jo barely managed to put on a faint smile.

Consciously, she had to draw lines from the beginning in relations intertwined with work to avoid trouble later.

Come to think of it, the only time she laughed out loud was when Kwon Jae Ha made silly jokes.

There were awkward moments, but they also had meals or tea together when the time was right.

During those times, he would observe Eun Jo’s mood and make her laugh by all means, either with old stories or nonsense.

When she lifted her head after laughing for a while, he would look at her intently with such a strange expression.

It was a truly unknown event.

Sometimes, he felt like a real brother, but at other times, he was very unfamiliar, causing a strange throbbing that was even a little scary.

Two conflicting emotions that couldn’t be precisely defined.

[……] [Eun Jo, can you start from next week?] [Excuse me? Ah, yes.] [Our Ha Yoon is in a hurry. I’ll set the appointment with the parents and contact you again.] [Understood.] [Give me your phone.] [Excuse me?] [I’m going to input my number.] [Your number? I already have it.] [Not that one, my real number. The one I only give to close people.] [……?]

Taking the phone from the hesitant Eun Jo, Sang Yoon glanced at her and asked.

[Do you have a boyfriend?]

Eun Jo, who didn’t respond, brought her teacup to her lips.

Ha Yoon was an introverted but diligent student, and thanks to her, Eun Jo earned almost as much as her previous tutoring job.

Naturally, Eun Jo held out an envelope to Jae Ha.

[What’s this? A love letter?] [Stop kidding around. It’s money for food. It’s not much.] [I’m going to refuse it.] [Does this look like charity to you?] [So, how big is your pride?]

Jae Ha, who snagged and opened the envelope, handed it back to her without any expression.

[Buy that book. The one you were looking at online. You added it to the cart.] [Huh? How did you know?] [I saw it when you went to the bathroom.] [What? Kwon Jae Ha!] [What’s the big deal about looking at your shopping cart? So, it’s okay to look at other places?] [Again!] [What’s again? Speak clearly.]

From some point, a dangerous and precarious atmosphere began to circulate between the two.

Their gazes at each other.

They were waiting for something unknown.