The days were gradually lengthening, it was after work, but outside was still bright. Along the street where cherry blossoms were beginning to bud, the two of them strolled, hand in hand, for the first time in a while.

Si Hyun had been in high spirits, even managing to momentarily forget about Tae Ha’s situation, until the point they sat across from each other in a cozy café and restaurant, enjoying the warm evening sunlight.

“You know, Si Hyun,”
It was shortly after the food arrived that Woo Jin, careful not to ruin the mood, broached the topic.

“About our wedding expenses. Could you possibly prepare an additional 30 million won?”
“30 million won?”
What Si Hyun had saved from working so far was roughly 150 million. Woo Jin had saved roughly the same amount. It had been decided they would pool their money, amounting to 300 million, and add a jeonse loan to secure their newlywed home.

“So this was why you were being extra sweet, to ask this?”
Even as she glanced skeptically at Woo Jin, Si Hyun was running the numbers in her head.

Assuming they’d have the wedding in the fall, and the money they’d earn until then was set aside for the wedding ceremony and honeymoon expenses. Suddenly needing an additional 30 million won, no matter how she calculated, it didn’t seem possible.

“But why all of a sudden? Is it because the jeonse prices have risen so much recently?”
“No, I think we’ll need to provide a dowry for my family.”
“A dowry?”
Si Hyun hardened her face.

“What are you talking about? We agreed to skip things like a dowry in return for splitting the house price equally, didn’t we?”
“No, I wanted that too, but when I think about it, my sistersinlaw both brought dowries when they got married. If you come emptyhanded, it might be uncomfortable for you.”
“But our situation is different. When your brothers got married, didn’t your parents help with the house price?”
“They did, but I have a better job than my brothers. They both work in small and mediumsized enterprises, so my parents helped them.”
Si Hyun was lost for words at his confident reply.

“Think about it. Even if our parents are great people, if they can’t receive even a suit and a bag when sending their son to get married, will they think highly of their daughterinlaw?”
Woo Jin spoke as if he were persuading her.

“Even yesterday, you made a mistake. My parents didn’t say anything, but they are keeping it in mind.”
“A mistake?”
Si Hyun, genuinely perplexed, asked again.

She went as far as to dress up at the salon, took gifts in both hands to go and see them, greeted everyone from the parents to the young nephews individually, even helped to set up the ancestral rites table with bare hands. And that was a mistake.

“What did I do wrong?”

Her voice inevitably grew sharp.

“You didn’t put your spoon down in front of my parents before dinner yesterday. They were a bit worried, thinking maybe you lack home education because you were raised in a relative’s house.”
As if scolding a clueless child, Woo Jin spoke.

“It might be because it was your first time and you were nervous. I told them I’d talk to you about it. Still, they seemed a bit bothered, so I reconsidered the dowry issue. It would be better if you could be a daughterinlaw who is wellreceived. Don’t you think so?”
Si Hyun put down the fork she had been holding, her words stuck in her throat.

Had she done something wrong by not putting the spoon down for them, after making sure that not only his parents but even his younger sisterinlaw started eating?

“Didn’t you see, oppa? I was busy bringing things from the kitchen. I didn’t even have a moment to put down the spoon.”
She had come to the table last, busy even taking care of the water cups. What was this about a spoon?

“No, it’s basic manners for the younger ones to put the spoons down. Your younger sisterinlaw had to do it because you didn’t. How embarrassing must it have been for my parents?”
Si Hyun stared at Woo Jin, taken aback.

Was this really the man she had dated for six years?

What’s so important about a spoon? Even if it is, is it worth going on about home education?

She was more angry with Woo Jin than with her prospective inlaws who picked on her from behind. Even if his parents pointed it out, shouldn’t he have defended me? At the very least, he shouldn’t have told me about it.

Moreover, he started talking about the dowry that was not even planned.

“……”
Holding back something that surged up her throat, Si Hyun silently extended her hands. Thanks to the ointment Tae Ha meticulously applied yesterday, she no longer felt pain, but they were still noticeably red.

Woo Jin looked at Si Hyun’s hands as if wondering what was going on and frowned.

“Your hands look like this again. Aren’t you applying the hand cream I bought you?”
And then he even scolded her.

“What’s this, your hands look like an old woman’s. I don’t care, but you’re getting married soon, you need to do your nails and stuff. You should take care of it.”

Si Hyun sighed, eyes closed. This man knew nothing. He didn’t even try to understand.

“I’m going to head out for today.”
Si Hyun rose from her seat, clutching her bag.

“What’s going on? Why are you leaving in the middle of a meal?”
Woo Jin, startled, stood up too, but Si Hyun paid no heed to him and left the restaurant.

By then, it was pitch black outside. The temperature dropped sharply after sunset. The cold wind seeped mercilessly through her thin trench coat.

[“Have you ever seriously asked yourself.”] Why was it that Tae Ha’s words from the morning meeting surfaced in her mind at this moment?

[“Are you mistaking something that you can’t let go of as something you can’t discard?”] To let go… Woo Jin?

Startled by her own thought, something she had never considered before, Si Hyun hastily buttoned up her coat and quickened her pace.

((()))

Si Hyun returned home, both physically and mentally exhausted. She wanted nothing more than to collapse and sleep, but of all days, today was trash day.

Having missed it last week due to being busy, the trash was already piled up and she couldn’t afford to wait another week. Si Hyun, struggling under the weight of the hefty trash bags, made her way towards the elevator.

A hand reached out from behind her to press the elevator button. It was a large man’s hand.

“Thank you.”
As she thanked him, the man snatched her trash bags and got into the elevator.

“Oh, no, it’s fine! I can handle it…”
As she tried to decline his help, she got a good look at his face and couldn’t believe her eyes.

“Tae Ha?”
Startled, she looked at him as the elevator arrived at the first floor. Tae Ha, with a nonchalant expression, placed the trash in its designated spot and got back into the elevator.

“How do you know where I live?”
But Tae Ha didn’t answer. When the elevator stopped at the floor Si Hyun lived on, he walked out with large strides.

“I asked how you knew where I live…”
Seeing Tae Ha unlocking the door to the apartment next door and stepping inside, Si Hyun stopped dead in her tracks.

Only then did Tae Ha look at Si Hyun and speak.

“It’s my place.”