Seeing her clearly embarrassed, Ji Pil and Jae Oh looked at her, with Ji Pil being the first to break the gaze.

“We’ve lost so much; we should at least be good at our jobs, right?”

He was asking Jae Oh, but Jae Oh didn’t respond.

He seemed quite shocked.

Ji Pil, sensing why Jae Oh looked that way, set down his teacup and said,

“Let’s leave now.”

Chae Yoon’s eyes widened in surprise. Already?

Just as her disappointment began to spread, Jae Oh’s voice alleviated it.

“I’m hungry, let’s eat lunch before leaving.”

Chae Yoon quickly nodded in agreement.

“Yes. Let’s do that. Ah, but the side dishes…”

“If it’s in the fridge, it should be enough.”

“But those are all tailored to my taste. There might not be much for grandfather.”

“Then order whatever.”

Finishing with a ‘what’s the problem’ tone, he looked at Ji Pil.

“Aren’t you going to sit?”

His gaze was always arrogantly calm, but Ji Pil quickly realized why Jae Oh was behaving this way.

Seeing Jae Oh being considerate of Chae Yoon, Ji Pil, liking the gesture, responded with his usual dismissive tone, trying to hide his satisfied smile.

“Don’t you ask for my opinion?”

“When have I ever asked you?”

“You haven’t till now, so ask. Now.”

“…….”

“Aren’t you going to ask?”

Pressured by Ji Pil’s insistence, Jae Oh asked,

“What do you want to eat?”

But his question was directed not at Ji Pil, but Chae Yoon.

Surprised that Jae Oh would ask her, Chae Yoon quickly turned to Ji Pil.

“What would you like to eat, grandfather?”
“No, not grandfather, what do you want to eat?”

“Okay. Chae Yoon, order what you want. And Han Jae Oh, aren’t you supposed to ask my opinion?”

“But don’t we need to install an app for delivery?”

Amid the chaotic conversation, Chae Yoon felt a brief confusion, but she wasn’t entirely displeased and simply observed Ji Pil and Jae Oh’s bickering.

After turning the previously quiet house into a noisy one, the two only left their seats after lunch.

Standing up to see off Ji Pil and Jae Oh, Chae Yoon gazed at Jae Oh walking ahead and soon approached him.

“Excuse me, brother.”

Jae Oh paused. As he turned to look down at Chae Yoon, she lightly pursed her lips and met his eyes.

Today, seeing me cry over Ji Pil, he had said:

[The boundaries grandfather set for you weren’t because of any resentment towards you. So stop crying.]

Though she wasn’t sure why he felt that way, she recognized that she was the one drawing the lines.

Chae Yoon had resolved to contact Ji Pil once she got used to living alone.

But living by oneself was tough. As the challenges piled up, her heart became increasingly lonely, and an unresolved frustration kept accumulating.

She felt clueless about how to alleviate this, but recent events brought clarity.

The underlying reason for her decision not to contact Ji Pil was her reluctance to think of Jae Oh.

To be more precise, she didn’t want to feel hurt by thinking of him.

In her conversations with Ji Pil, Chae Yoon often felt inadequate for not having affected Jae Oh’s feelings for three years.

Furthermore, after the divorce, she hesitated to call and express her struggles, but not anymore.

She realized it wasn’t her fault if he didn’t think of her.

[It’s like this because of me.] [I don’t belittle you.] [I’m sorry for making you feel that way.]

The saying, “A single word can repay a thousand debts,” wasn’t baseless.

There’s a vast difference between vaguely inferring from what’s seen and gaining clear confirmation through words.
Thinking back to his recent apology, Chae Yoon felt that she could finally move on from the past when she struggled with her unrequited love for him.

Although there was still a trace of lingering feelings, she believed she could easily shake them off soon.

Hence, Chae Yoon wanted to express her gratitude to him.

“Thank you for today.”

For considering me, even for a brief moment.

Thanks to you, I feel like I won’t feel hurt when talking to Ji Pil anymore.

Expressing her feelings with a slightly shy expression, Chae Yoon flashed a soft smile and bid him farewell.

“Take care.”

After saying her piece, Chae Yoon passed by Jae Oh.

Left alone with an empty gaze, Jae Oh stood still for a moment.

His eyes grew dark once again.

[Star icon]

Ji Pil, who had insisted on accompanying Chae Yoon to the car, climbed into the vehicle waiting outside the villa.

Since he arrived in the same car as Jae Oh, he naturally waited for Jae Oh. But Jae Oh didn’t get in.

Curious, Ji Pil looked outside the car window and saw Jae Oh walking in a different direction.

“What’s with him? Where’s he going?”

Ji Pil asked the driver to follow Jae Oh and opened the car window as they got closer.

“Where are you going? Aren’t you getting in?”

“Just go ahead without me.”

Ji Pil examined Jae Oh’s face as he spoke in a subdued tone.

It was a markedly different expression than the one Ji Pil saw at Chae Yoon’s house.

Then Ji Pil’s eyes landed on the bandage over a bruise Jae Oh had.

“You’re making a fuss over that small injury?”

“It’s not entirely baseless.”

“Why aren’t you getting in?”

“I have some things to think about. Just go.”

Seeing Jae Oh’s complicated expression, Ji Pil refrained from probing further and rolled up the window.

The car carrying Ji Pil drove away.

Left alone, Jae Oh began to walk in silence.

The next day.

Starting her day feeling refreshed for the first time in a while, Chae Yoon turned on her laptop.

It was to tackle the task assigned by Mr. Jung.

Though one might expect her to be slightly irritated working on a weekend, there wasn’t a trace of fatigue on Chae Yoon’s face.

In fact, she was humming a tune, working diligently, when suddenly, the doorbell rang.

“Huh? Who could that be?”

She wasn’t expecting anyone.
Moving over to the wall pad to check on the visitor, Chae Yoon saw him.

It was Jae Oh, who had come to visit again today after yesterday.