Chapter 5
“Did you get my message yesterday?”
On a quiet and uneventful morning, just like any other day, Dayun asked Jaehoon as he was about to leave for work. Jaehoon hesitated for a moment before reluctantly nodding.
“I know you don’t really want to, but your parents were the ones who brought it up, so I hope you can come home early today. As you said, we need to at least pretend to be a loving couple in front of the elders.”
“Yeah, I’ll come early.”
“No, you don’t need to come home. Just go straight to your parents’ house after work. I should go ahead and help with the food preparation.”
“Ah…”
Jaehoon felt that Dayun was acting strangely today. He didn’t say anything, but inwardly, he was completely taken aback. Usually, she was quiet, hesitant to speak, and even when she did, she would stammer with a flushed face. But today, she was completely different. It felt as if every word she spoke was laced with thorns.
“But do you even know the address? I don’t think you’ve been there before.”
“Ah… the address…”
Dayun suddenly felt embarrassed. Seeing Jaehoon, she was reminded of his conversation with Junseok from the night before, and she had been acting spitefully out of pure jealousy. When Jaehoon noticed her flustered expression, he let out an almost imperceptible smile before quickly returning to his usual indifferent face.
“Never mind. I’ll come home first, and we can go together. I doubt you’d be much help even if you went early.”
“No, just send me the address by text. And by the way, you’ve never tasted my cooking before, so you wouldn’t know, but I’m actually pretty good at it.”
Dayun found herself snapping back, unable to hide her irritation at his dismissive comment. In response, Jaehoon let out a soft chuckle—whether it was a scoff or genuine amusement, she couldn’t tell. Then, as if realizing his own reaction, he quickly covered his mouth and looked a little embarrassed.
“Well, do whatever you want.”
And with that, he hurried out of the house. Left alone, Dayun pouted and muttered to herself.
“What the heck, why is he laughing…? Does he think I’m funny? Ugh, and why does he have to look so good even when he’s smirking? So annoying!”
As Jaehoon entered the office, employees greeted him one by one.
“Good morning, Team Leader.”
His eyes met Hyeyun’s, who was smiling at him. He gave her a brief, subtle nod before acting as if nothing had happened.
“The meeting will start in 30 minutes. Be prepared.”
“Yes, sir.”
After giving instructions, Jaehoon quickly entered his office and sat down. He pulled out his phone and sent Dayun the address. Shortly after, his phone buzzed with a reply from her.
[Gatwu gohaseyo.]
“Gat… gohaseyo?”
Puzzled by the strange text, he thought about it for a moment before suddenly bursting into laughter.
It was obvious that Dayun had struggled with what to write and had ended up sending a jumbled message. The way she had gotten flustered earlier in the morning also came to mind. Seeing this different side of her, Jaehoon found her unexpectedly intriguing. He had thought she was always timid, but now, little by little, her true personality was showing.
Of course, he had already heard from Junseok that she acted very differently with people she was comfortable with compared to those she wasn’t. But seeing it with his own eyes felt entirely new.
“She’s still just a kid.”
Though they were only four years apart, at that moment, those four years felt like a significant gap. The fact that he found her somewhat cute… was surprising even to himself.
“Cute, huh…?”
Jaehoon suddenly froze, shocked at his own thoughts. He shook his head firmly.
“No way. She’s not just a kid. Get a grip, Jaehoon.”
He dismissed the thought as ridiculous and tried to clear his mind.
“Ugh, what did I just send?!”
On the other hand, Dayun was in despair, clutching her head. If it had been a text to a friend, it wouldn’t have mattered. But because it was him, she felt mortified beyond belief.
“I should’ve just not replied…”
When she received his message with only the address, she had hesitated. Should she reply, or just ignore it? Since she had asked for the address first, she felt like she should at least thank him. After much deliberation, she initially typed “Thank you.” But after thinking about it more, she changed it to “Take care.” In her rush to send it, she hadn’t noticed the typo.
“My first text to him…”
It was literally the first time she had ever sent him a message. She had never contacted him first, nor sent him any texts before. She had always just waited for him to come to her, over and over again.
“Ugh, whatever. What’s done is done. I should just get back to work.”
With that, she quickly changed her clothes and left the house. She was heading to the small studio apartment she had rented with her friends, where she could focus on writing. It wasn’t far from where she lived, and it was a nice, quiet place.
As she entered, she paused for a moment and looked at the door of the apartment next to hers.
‘I heard a drama writer lives next door. It should be a quiet environment for working.’
‘A drama writer?’
‘Yeah. I don’t know his name, but he’s a good-looking guy. Like you, he only comes here to work.’
She suddenly recalled what the real estate agent had told her before she signed the lease.
“A drama writer… What kind of work has he written?”
Dayun was curious. She was writing novels now, but her ultimate goal was to become a drama writer. One of the reasons she had chosen this apartment was because of her neighbor. She wanted to meet him, and if possible, learn from him.
“It’d be nice if I could get close to him…”
Realizing how random her thoughts were, she scratched her head in embarrassment before heading inside.
“Mother, hello.”
Before she knew it, it was already past 5 PM. Dayun had arrived early at the main house to play the role of a dutiful wife, just as Jaehoon had hoped.
“Oh my, why are you here so early? You could have come with Jaehoon later.”
“Haha, it’s fine. As your daughter-in-law, I should come early to help.”
“Oh my, how sweet. My daughter-in-law is so considerate.”
Jaehoon’s mother looked at her fondly, clearly pleased. She seemed to think she had lucked out in getting such a thoughtful daughter-in-law.
“By the way, where’s Father?”
“He’s not home yet. He should be back around six.”
“I see. Well then, Mother, what can I help you with?”
Though Dayun insisted on helping, Jaehoon’s mother told her the house staff would take care of everything and urged her to explore the house instead. Eventually, she found herself heading to Jaehoon’s room.
Back at the office, Jaehoon let out a deep sigh and picked up his office phone.
“Tell Song Hyeyun to come to my office immediately.”
Moments later, there was a knock at the door.
“Come in.”
As soon as the words left his mouth, Hyeyun entered.
“What’s up?”
“I have something to tell you.”
