Please be my wife for just one year.

EP.15

The next morning.

Usually by then, the smell of coffee would be drifting from the kitchen, and Seongho would be preparing breakfast.

But today was different.

The kitchen was empty.

Seongho sat at the table with a face that showed he had barely slept all night.

A while later, footsteps came from upstairs.

Yeoju came down.

Their eyes met briefly.

But Yeoju looked away first.

Yeoju "...Good morning."

She greeted him as usual, but her voice had no strength in it.

Seongho "...Good morning."

After that, no more words were exchanged.

Yeoju drank only a glass of milk before gathering her bag.

Seongho "...Aren't you eating breakfast?"

Yeoju "I don't have much of an appetite."

Seongho "At least some bread..."

Yeoju"It's okay."

It's okay.

It was something Seongho often said.

Today, it was Yeoju saying it.

The front door closed, and the house fell silent again.

Seongho stared at the toast on the table for a long time, but in the end he couldn't even touch it.


---

For several days, the two of them lived in the same house and barely spoke to each other.

Their work hours had changed, and they even started deliberately missing each other on the way home.

There were fewer and fewer chances to run into each other.

Manager Kim noticed the change too.

The manager's office.

Kim "...President."

Seongho "Yes."

Kim "Did something happen with Yeoju?"

Seongho said nothing for a long while.

Then he said quietly.

Seongho "...A misunderstanding came up."

Kim "Why not clear it up?"

"..."

Seongho "It's not that easy. I can't bring myself to say it."

Kim let out a small sigh.

Kim "President."

"..."

"Timing is important in life."

"..."

"Love is the same."

Seongho couldn't answer.


---

That evening.

Yeoju stopped by her father's hospital room.

The surgery had ended safely, and his recovery was going smoothly.

Father "Has something been going on lately?"

Yeoju "...Why?"

Father "You're not smiling."

Yeoju forced a smile.

Yeoju "I'm just tired."

Her father looked at his daughter for a moment, then said quietly,

"Did you fight with your husband?"

For an instant, Yeoju's eyes wavered.

Yeoju "...No."

Father "Liar."

"..."

"No one knows your face better than Dad does."

The moment she heard that.

The feelings she'd been holding back welled up all at once.

But in the end, she smiled and said,

Yeoju "...A little."

"We had a disagreement."

Her father smiled gently.

Father "People who like each other are bound to fight sometimes."

At that, Yeoju couldn't say anything.

'People who like each other...'

Now she could no longer deny those words.


---

At the same time.

On his way home from work, Seongho stopped by the small bakery Yeoju liked.

Seongho "One loaf of bread and..."

After hesitating for a moment, he went on.

"...and a strawberry cake, please."

He planned to apologize as soon as he got home.

He was going to tell her everything he hadn't been able to say to the end.

'What I meant when I said I wanted to end the contract...'

'...was that I wanted to become your real husband.'

Steeling his resolve like that, he headed home.


---

But the moment he arrived at the newlywed house.

Seongho stopped in his tracks.

There was a suitcase in the living room.

And beside it stood Yeoju.

Seongho's face hardened.

Seongho "...What's this."

Yeoju tried to keep her expression calm.

Yeoju "...I'm just going to stay out of the house for a while."

"..."

Seongho "How long are you planning to stay out?"

Yeoju "...I need some time to sort out my thoughts."

Seongho stepped forward.

Seongho "...No."

"..."

"It's dangerous."

"..."

"Wunhak is still after us."

Yeoju gave a bitter smile.

Yeoju "...President."

"..."

"It's a contract that's ending soon anyway."

At those words, Seongho's expression stiffened.

He wanted to tell her everything right then and there.

But once again, the words caught in his throat.

Yeoju took that brief silence as something else.

'So that's it.'

'You weren't even thinking of holding me back.'

Yeoju gripped the suitcase handle.

Yeoju "...I'll be back in a bit."

The front door opened.

Just as it was about to close.

Seongho instinctively grabbed her wrist.

Seongho "...Don't go."

A low, trembling voice.

It was a plea she'd never heard from him before.

Yeoju slowly turned back.

In Seongho's hand was a small cake box he had bought for her.

Seeing that, the corners of Yeoju's eyes turned red.

But she carefully pulled his hand away.

Yeoju "...I'm sorry."

The door closed.

Click.

The house fell silent in an instant.

Seongho stood there in front of the door for a long time.

He was still holding the cake box in his hand.

Slowly, he looked down at the box.

And for the first time.

He began to regret how late he'd been to say what he felt.