“Mrs. Boss…?”

“What?” I grunt without even looking at him.

Hyuk hesitates. He and Jae have been walking on tiptoes around me lately because I have become very snappish with them.

“What is it?” I grumble, lifting my head to glare at Hyuk.

He glances at Jae nervously. “Um… do you want to have dinner tonight? Jae and I are cooking.”

“At your place?” I ask even though my question comes out rude and snappy.

Jae nods. “We’re making noodles from scratch.”

“Is Baekhyun going?” I mutter, peeking a glance at my husband who is sitting at the high table close to us, working on the accounts for the café this month.

“Boss,” Hyuk shouts to Baekhyun, catching his attention.

My husband looks up from the papers and looks at me, his blank stare turning fond for as long as he sets his eyes on me. His lips tilt into a small smile before he slides his attention to Hyuk, where his gaze becomes tough again.

“Do you want to have dinner at our place?”

Baekhyun looks at me again. “Are you going?” I shrug. So he turns to Hyuk. “If Mrs. Boss goes.”

“You never go anywhere without her,” Jae teases playfully. Baekhyun snarls at him.

“Except when he does his mafia ,” I mumble a little loudly so all three of them hears.

My statement brings back the tension around us that was slowly going away already. I may be overly dramatic but I am still angry and upset about Baekhyun’s lie. It is like I had been dating and had gotten married to someone I don’t know at all. Every time I see Baekhyun now I just think of the lie that was being done to me right under my nose the whole time, of the fact that I don’t actually know who he is.

A customer comes up to the counter, so I slap on my customer service smile and take her order. I don’t notice Baekhyun’s eyes on me, his lips tilted in that mesmerised smile he always has when he watches me. But when the patron leaves to get a table, my eye catches a twinkle as I turn away to slip the receipt into the order tab. I find the source of the sparkle, which only turns out to be Baekhyun’s eyes. His smile widens.

In return, I roll my eyes and scoff as I look away.

I am sitting on the couch of Hyuk and Jae’s place with Baekhyun next to me, his arm stretched out behind me on the back of the sofa. He plays with my hair while I watch TV, not giving my husband any sort of acknowledgment. Hyuk and Jae are preparing our dinner in the kitchen, away from us.

“When will you stop being mad at me?”

I glance to the side at Baekhyun when he asks me the question so softly and seriously that it makes me curious as to what sort of expression he has on his face. He is staring at me, his eyes sad, his lips in a thin line.

“Maybe in three years,” I mutter, rolling my eyes. “To make up for the past three.”

Baekhyun sighs heavily. “Baby, I didn’t tell you because—”

“You didn’t want to lose me and you’re a big, fat liar. I know,” I say in a savage comment.

“Well, yes, and no.” He clucks his tongue. “If I told you and you didn’t mind it, you would somehow be roped into the trade, you know? And I don’t want that to happen to you.”

“Why not?” I snap, now fully turning to face him. “You’re a ing mafia leader for goodness sake, Baekhyun. And I’m not allowed to do what you do?”

“It’s because I am a mafia leader that’s why I don’t want you to do what I do,” he answers in frustration. When I keep glaring at him, he sighs and rests his hand on my knee. “Sweetheart, this is a tough line of job and I’ve seen some crazy . I don’t want you to go through what I have.”

“Lying to me isn’t a way of protecting me, Baekhyun,” I tell him softly, seriously.

He swallows. “I know,” he whispers. “I’m sorry. I just— I couldn’t do it. I wanted you to love me as the man that I am, and if you saw this side of me you would’ve thought differently about me.”

I roll my eyes. “I would love you all the same, stupid.” Baekhyun cracks a happy grin. But I douse his happiness with cold water when I shake my head. “But finding out now, after so long… I feel like I don’t even know you, Baekhyun.”

“I’m still the same person,” he tells me desperately, now holding my hand.

“You were a mafia leader before you were my boyfriend and husband,” I remind him with a frown. “But to me, you’ve always just been a café owner, the love of my life. And finding out what you are now is like… I don’t know. Like buying something and once you take the product out of the box, it’s not what you expected.”

“Baby, I’m still the same man from three years ago.”

I stare into his anxious eyes. I swallow and turn away, not saying anything about it. My disappointment in Baekhyun is too huge to bear. He still looks the same, yes. But to me, in my mind, he is someone new who has taken over my husband’s identity.

I slip my hand out from under his and stand up, walking away from him without another word. I don’t get a glimpse of Baekhyun’s crestfallen expression as his eyes trail after me going to the kitchen to help out. But it would be a lie to say that I don’t feel his heartbrokenness and sadness.

Dinner starts in the next hour. It is awkward because the three guys know that I am still upset and angry. But apart from the constant glances my way, they try to make conversation like we are not in the middle of a pesky situation.

“The noodles are a little bit thick,” Baekhyun comments, holding up a strand with his chopsticks.

Hyuk glances at me. “Mrs. Boss said she likes thick noodles.”

My husband hums and nods. “That, she does.” He turns to me with a smile. He sees me picking out the vegetables in my soup so he holds out his spoon to me as he turns to his men. “Why did you guys suddenly want to make noodle soup anyway?”

I don’t say anything but grab my husband’s spoon to put all my vegetables there like I always do. Baekhyun always eats what I hate.

“Hyuk was craving for it,” Jae mentions, watching me pick out my vegetables. “And the recipe’s easy, so we decided to do it. And we’ve never cooked for you guys before.”

Baekhyun hums. He doesn’t talk much with Jae and Hyuk, probably because they’re his underlings. I am always usually the one talking anyway. But this time, because I am hellbent on being petty, Baekhyun has to go out of his comfort zone and strike up conversations with the two guys. He seems to be struggling when there is a stretch of awkward silence. I return Baekhyun his spoon that is filled with vegetables without a word. He throws them into his soup and starts eating again.

“How is the food, Lady Boss?” Jae asks carefully.

“It’s okay,” I mumble, shrugging a shoulder nonchalantly.

The three guys glance at each other, knowing that they’re not going to much out of me. So that dinner ends with short, awkward conversations and longer, more awkward silences.

Two days after that, when the alarm goes off in the morning to wake me up to go to the café, Baekhyun wraps his arms around my waist tightly so I can’t leave. I groan and try to pry his hands away.

“Baekhyun, let go,” I scold in my tired, morning voice.

My husband simply snuggles his face into the crook of my neck. “Take a day off today. I want to bring you out,” he mumbles in a sandy voice.

“What for,” I grumble, falling back to bed because I could really use more sleep too. Waking up at five in the morning everyday is torturous.

I feel him shrug. “No reason.”

I decide not to ask anymore. Instead, I relax and go back to sleep, cradled in Baekhyun’s arms. I have been working so hard at the café in an effort to ignore Baekhyun, that I end up sleeping until late morning. It is already 10 when I wake up.

Baekhyun is sitting up against the headboard, watching the television while he plays with my locks, sometimes my hair. He glances down at me when he feels me move. Seeing that I am awake, his face brightens up with a loving smile.

“Hey, sleeping beauty,” he murmurs. I grunt as I rub my eyes. “Let’s go out whenever you’re ready.”

“Where are we going,” I grumble, now stretching my body with my face turned to press into the side of his stomach.

He hums. I look up and frown at him when he doesn’t say anything. He grins down at me and bops my nose with his finger. “Secret.”

I groan and roll my eyes. “Not the first time you’re hiding from me anyway,” I mutter grumpily under my breath as I get up.

Baekhyun sighs as he watches me leave the bed to get ready for our day out. By the time the both of us are ready, it is half past 11. We go to the car and Baekhyun drives off in silence because I am still petty and definitely still not talking to him.

“What do you feel like eating?” Baekhyun asks, glancing at me from the road. I shrug and look out the side window. “Black bean noodles?” I let out a soft groan. He chuckles under his breath. “Pizza?” Another groan. “Fried chicken?” Another groan. Baekhyun laughs. “Tell me what you want, baby.”

I turn to him, making him glance at me with a patient smile on his face. My heart jumps against my rib cage. Baekhyun has always been patient with me, whether it is in decision-making or when I am pissed off. He is always slow and careful with me.

I think about what I am craving for. Then I mumble, “Black bean noodles and fried chicken.”

“My greedy girl,” Baekhyun teases, earning a glare from me.

But my glares to him are like tickles. He told me before that he liked seeing me glare at him because it reminds him of a kitten getting angry. Right now, he simply laughs and reaches over to nudge my cheek with the back of his fingers. I slap his hand away angrily.

I would have thought that Baekhyun would take a while to decide on a restaurant we could go to since the combination of the two food I want to eat don’t really go together. Finding a restaurant that has both would be hard. But when Baekhyun drives into a car park, I realise that we’re not going to be eating at any restaurant at all.

He parks the car and goes to the carboot to get out some things. By the time I am out of the vehicle, Baekhyun comes to my side with a folded blanket between his arm and his body. He takes my hand as he locks the car. Slipping his key into his pocket, he exchanges it with his phone. We’re walking out of the car park and towards Han River when Baekhyun presses his phone to his ear.

“What flavour of chicken do you want?” He murmurs, glancing at me from the side.

He squeezes his hand and I instinctively tighten mine even though I actually made up my mind not to reciprocate any skinship. This is just a reflex that developed ever since Baekhyun and I started going out.

“Cheese,” I answer quietly.

He smiles back, his crescent eyes twinkling as he nods. After a bit more of silence, Baekhyun clears his throat and speaks. “Yes, can I get a whole fried chicken with cheese topping? No, nothing else. Han River, area B. Yup, thanks.”

He finishes the call just as we step onto the pavement that would lead to Han River. Baekhyun is scrolling through his phone as we walk down the strip of cement between two grass patches so that we are now on the walkway parallel to the river. I glance at my husband subtly, only to see him staring at me with his phone to his ear. His lips tilt into a small smile.

“Pick a spot, Darling,” he murmurs.

So I do. While he orders our noodles, I find a clearing on the grass patch, a little further away from the other couples. I pull the blanket out from between Baekhyun’s arm and his body, taking my hand away from his to lay down the towel. By then, Baekhyun is off the phone, already taking off his shoes like I am.

We settle down on the towel facing each other. I make it a point not to look at Baekhyun, but he leans forward and grabs my legs, pulling me towards him so that I slide a little on the towel. I am glowering at him when he rests my legs on his lap. He caresses my leg gently.

“Weather’s nice, huh, baby?”

I look up at the clear sky with white, almost cotton candy-like clouds. It isn’t too bright but it also isn’t too dreary. I agree with him, but I simply grunt and turn my head to the peaceful river. Baekhyun doesn’t say anything for a while, simply squeezing and massaging my tired calf muscles. A few minutes later, he murmurs my name softly. The quiet gravity of his calling makes me turn to him, curious and discreetly worried.

His face is blank, clear of all expression and cheeriness. My heart rate speeds up, afraid of what he might say. He swallows and clears his throat. He gives me a small smile but it doesn’t light up his eyes like it normally does.

“Do you have any question for me?” I frown at his question. He explains, “Don’t you want to know more about what I do?”

I actually do have a lot of questions.

“Do girls still sit on your lap?” I mumble, staring at him as expressionlessly as I can. I don’t want to seem too jealous even though I am. Sort of.

Baekhyun’s lips tilt into a tiny smile. He tilts his head and glances upwards as he shifts in his place. “Hm,” he hums. He flickers his eyes to meet my awaiting ones. “What if I said yes?” I don’t reply to that but my eyes narrow on him. He chuckles. “It’s inevitable, baby,” he tells me honestly. “I normally push them off but if another leader orders it when we go out for drinks, I can’t decline. Though I always make sure they find better seats five minutes later.” I give him a stink eye. He laughs, my shin. “It’s a form of respect. And also I don’t want them to realise that I have a weak spot that is my wife. They’re gonna use you as a bait and they know I’ll do anything for you.”

“How will they use me as a bait?” I grumble, glancing down at his calloused fingers massaging the back of my foot.

“Kidnap you, probably,” he mumbles. “Mobsters like doing that kind of thing.” He rolls his eyes. “That’s why I always have at least one of the guys with you when I’m gone.” He looks up at me with a loving smile and reaches out to flick the underside of my chin. “Can’t lose the love of my life, can I?”

I roll my eyes at his cheesy comment. “So you’ve never cheated on me?”

Baekhyun shakes his head. “I wouldn’t even think about it. Every time I’m surrounded with girls all I think about is you and how I would rather do nothing at home and just cuddle with you. You know it’s my favourite past time.”

I ignore that statement even though the blush still creeps up my neck anyway. “What about the pretty girl you met before me?” His eyebrows dip into a frown now as he looks at me with a big, neon question mark over his head. “You said you met a pretty girl before you met me. After Ruby and Mr. Park left.”

He takes a few seconds to think about it. “Oh,” he exclaims, chuckling a little. He shakes his head. “I was only joking, sweetheart. I’ve never seen anyone as pretty as you. In real life, of course. Megan Fox is—” He grunts when I dig my toe into his ribcage. “Joking!”

I scoff. “What about Ruby, then? How did her lipstick stain your shirt?”

He rolls his eyes at the memory and groans loudly. “She tried to seduce me. Tried to kiss me but I turned away, so she started kissing my chest. I’ve heard about her and what she does to get her way. I managed to drug her before that so she knocked out before she got anywhere further than the third button on my shirt.”

“Must be nice, huh? To have girls grinding on you and kissing your chest?” I tch.

I would have expected him to laugh and tease me about my jealousy. But he only groans and rolls his eyes, shaking his head. “I would trade all that in for even just five minutes of sitting next to you doing absolutely nothing.”

The tightness in my chest eases up at his confession. It still bugs me that he would continue to have girls being close to him for as long as he is in this line of job. But knowing that Baekhyun will always be mine makes me feel relieved and somehow more powerful. Because I have his heart and his soul, and I will always be the apple of his eyes.

I try not to look too happy. I change topics and ask now, “Were you ever going to tell me about it? About you being a gang leader?”

He thinks for a bit. “I think sooner or later you would have found out.” He gives me a tender smile, his eyes soft. “You’ve always been a smart girl.”

“What happens now that I’ve found out, then?”

He shrugs. “Nothing changes.”

I sigh in frustration. “Am I considered a part of your gang, Baekhyun?”

“You’ve always been a part of White Tigers, baby. The top tier, even higher up in position than I am.” I frown at that, wondering what on earth he even means when I hadn’t even known about the existence of the gang until a few days earlier. “I always make sure you’re protected,” he explains patiently, eyes on me. “I always remind my men that your safety comes before mine. You remember Johui?”

I bob my head. He was a new employee who joined Nexon a few months after I did. He was about my age and we had very similar sense of humour. We became really good friends really quick.

“He’s one of my men.” I look at Baekhyun in surprise. He nods. “I told him to go to Nexon to watch over you. Every time you left the building I had people follow you from a distance to make sure you’re safe.”

“So you were stalking me.”

He makes a face. “I wouldn’t say it like that.” When I narrow my eyes at him, he chuckles. “I guess.”

“Is Johui still working at Nexon?”

He shakes his head. “Left when you did.”

“Is he still in your gang?” He nods as he looks down, focusing on rubbing the back of my foot. “Why did he stop texting me?”

“Probably felt bad because you’re his boss’ wife,” Baekhyun mumbles, shrugging. “He wouldn’t want to offend me.”

I sigh. I really liked Johui. But it is heart fluttering to hear that Baekhyun has always been taking care of me even when he isn’t around. I guess even though he has always been a mafia leader, he has also always been the caring, overly concerned, and probably too loving Baekhyun that I know.

I feel my heart blooming as I watch Baekhyun working the muscles of my foot like he always does when we’re sharing a bath or when we’re watching TV from either sides of the couch. The calmness his aura exudes as though this is what he would rather do daily, the slight smile on his face like he is simply contented with being in my presence even if I am mad at him, the gentle but perfect amount of strength he puts into the rub because he knows just how I like it. This is the same Baekhyun I fell in love with, the same Baekhyun a second before I found out about him being a gangster, the same Baekhyun after the secret has been leaked.

Even when Baekhyun’s phone rings and he stops the massage to answer it, my heart thuds against the inside of my chest as he looks around and raises his hand to call the delivery man to attention. He hangs up the call and leans back a little to get his wallet out of his pocket. I am only staring at Baekhyun when the delivery man comes. My husband accepts the food, pays, and sends the man away. He glances up at me as he unwraps the plastic around the black bean noodles bowl.

“Hungry?” he asks with a quirk of his eyebrow.

I swallow and bob my head. He grins. Instead of giving me the bowl right away, he takes the chopsticks and mixes the noodles for me. He takes awhile to do it because he knows that I don’t like it when my food is patchy with gravy. And when he is done, he pokes the chopsticks into the noodles and holds the bowl out to me. I am still staring at him as I take my food from him. He simply smiles at me before going to mix his bowl of noodles.

In the midst of doing that, his phone rings again and he directs the other delivery man to our spot. I am still holding the bowl of noodles in my hands as I watch him pay the guy. Baekhyun opens the box of chicken when the delivery man leaves, and pushes it closer towards me. Then he picks up a packet of wet tissue and opens it. He holds his hand out to me while his other one is shaking the wet wipe to unfold it. I put down my bowl and give him his hands, letting him clean my hands thoroughly.

“Okay, eat,” Baekhyun says after that, putting away the used wipe after roughly cleaning his hands.

I keep my eyes on him, who is unaware of me watching him the entire time. He doesn’t mix his noodles as much as he did with mine. When he lifts his head, I quickly look away and pick up my bowl of noodles, pretending that I haven’t just been staring at him. We’re both slurping on our noodles for a moment before Baekhyun speaks with his mouth full.

“Any more questions?”

I nod, quickly chewing and swallowing my noodles. His lips quirk in an amused smile. “That time when you came back injured — did you lie to me about the robbery?”

He cringes and nods. “We were ambushed that day.”

“You weren’t that injured except for the stab in the stomach,” I mention.

He nods again. “I have really quick reflexes so I know how to avoid getting hit in the face. And I usually bear cuts and wounds really well. I can’t have you worry over me.” I make a face. His soft chuckle sounds like a song to me. “And your husband’s a really good fighter, you know.”

I roll my eyes, which only makes him laugh more. “Will you ever teach me to fight?”

He frowns now. “What for?”

I shrug, looking down at my noodles. “So I can protect myself, or something,” I mumble.

Baekhyun shakes his head as he picks up a piece of chicken to start eating. “Jae and Hyuk will protect you.” I look at him questioningly and his eyes crinkle into crescents as he takes a bite of his chicken. “And of course I’ll protect you too, my love,” he assures me as he chews on the meat.

I huff and reach forward to take the drumstick because Baekhyun always makes me have it or he would threaten to throw it away. I guess I don’t have to learn how to fight. Baekhyun’s a good fighter and I know I am in good hands if I have been safe for all these years. I take a bite of the drumstick as I think of my next question. Baekhyun is already staring at me when I flick my eyes to him.

“What about our children?”

“We have children? Was it during that time last year when you gained a bit of weight?” I whine and kick my heel into his thigh, making him cackle in laughter. “I’m joking, baby. What about them?”

I am still glaring at him when I ask, “Will they be in the gang too?”

“Just like you, Darling, they’ll be born into it,” he mumbles. “They’ll be in the highest position with you.”

“Not that,” I sigh. “I mean, will our son inherit White Tigers too?”

“I want a daughter though.” He tilts his head to smile dreamily at me. “She’d be pretty like you, I bet.”

I flush at his words. “We can’t choose our baby’s gender, Baekhyun,” I mumble as I look away. “Hypothetically speaking, though?”

He hums thoughtfully. In the meantime, I start eating again. “I don’t know…” He darts his eyes to me, looking quite pensive. “What do you think? Do you want him to?”

I chew slowly on my food as I think about it. I swallow and bob my shoulder. “I don’t want my family to be in this dangerous line of work.”

“It’s actually not as dangerous as you think, baby,” Baekhyun assures me. My eyebrows raise in question. “I don’t do crazy like human trafficking or killing people. We don’t even fight that much. We just sell drugs and guns, loan money to people with really high interest rate, and torture them if they don’t pay up.”

“Just?” I hiss, horrified by what he just told me.

He grins. “It’s not that bad, really.”

“I think we have very different definition of ‘not that bad’, Baekhyun.”

He laughs. “Do you want me to stop?”

I look at him seriously. “You can?” He nods. I hesitate before asking quietly, “Would you?”

He smiles serenely. “If you want me to.”

I open my mouth to tell him that I do, but then I stop myself, realising that this is probably his pride and passion. I nibble on my bottom lip as I shake my head. “Maybe in the future,” I mumble. Baekhyun is grinning widely at me, happy that I am starting to warm up to the fact that my husband is actually a mafia leader. I twirl my noodles around my chopsticks as I say, “Maybe then you can meet your parents again.”

He lets go a breath so big that the grass around us rustle. “Not sure I want to see them.”

I look up at him, watching him for a moment as he eats his noodles. I guess I understand why. I don’t blame him for that. He has never liked talking about his parents, so I decide to just drop the subject then. I don’t have any other question to ask, so I simply eat and say nothing. Baekhyun must have wondered why I am taking so long to think of another question because he pauses several minutes later and raises his eyebrows at me.

“No more questions?” I glance at him and shake my head. He blinks a few times before murmuring, “Then can I ask you some instead?” My eyebrow lifts in curiosity. Baekhyun clears his throat. “Are you okay with me being a gang leader?”

I my lips and put down my bowl. He mirrors me, giving me his full attention. “It’s in your blood, Baekhyun. Even if I’m not okay with it, asking you to drop White Tigers would be too cruel. It would be like me telling you to rip your arm out.”

“I would rip my arm out for you.”

I give him a playfully disgusted look. “That’s gross.”

He grins, his eyes twinkling even brighter than ever when he sees the teasing look on my face. “Wrap it up and give it to you for your birthday.”

I hum. “I guess it’ll come in handy someday.”

Baekhyun lets out a low whistle before letting out his very obnoxious but very endearing laughter. “That’s a good one,” he acknowledges, nodding his head at me with a bright smile on his face.

I beam back at him. The sight of my first smile to Baekhyun in the past few days makes him stop and gape at me, captivated and unblinking. His grin dies down into intensity until his lips fuse to form a spellbound, tender smile.

“Do you still love me?” he whispers.

I stare at him, not because I have to think about the answer but because I can’t believe he had to ask me the question. “Of course, Baekhyun. I love you as much as I did before.”

“So you’re not mad at me anymore?”

I sigh and shake my head. “It’s no use, is it?”

He breaks out into a huge, blinding smile now. I might even be able to feel his happiness from here. Looking at him this happy, forgetting for a moment that my husband is a gang leader, it reminds me that Baekhyun was right. He is still the same man. He is still the same Baekhyun who takes care of me before himself; he is still the same Baekhyun who makes my heart skip a beat; he is still the same Baekhyun who makes me feel like I am the prettiest, luckiest, most loved woman in the world.

I take in a big breath and give him a small smile. “You’ll always be the Baekhyun I know.”

He lets out an excited, almost girly screech. Baekhyun pushes my legs off his lap and crawls forward so hurriedly that he lands his hand into his bowl of noodles, the wet splat making me gasp. But he doesn’t care. My husband catches my chin in his hand and pulls me forward to press his pink lips to mine, molding our lips so perfectly like always. He gives me a firm and passionate kiss, so sweet that my stomach flips. Baekhyun pulls away from the kiss and I flutter my eyes open. He grins at me, his eyes shining even brighter than the sun.

“Baekhyun, your noodles,” I mumble, my lips in a tiny smile.

“I’m not that hungry anyway,” he chirps, leaning in for a quick peck before going back to sit in his spot again. He takes his hand out from the bowl slowly and shows it to me. I laugh softly, shaking my head. Baekhyun’s grin widens. “God, I feel like I just won a presidential election, or something.”

I make a face as I reach out for a new wet tissue. “Like you’re gonna puke?” I tease.

He giggles softly shaking his head. He gives me his dirty hand when I hold my palm out, and I clean the sauce off. “You’re so…” I quirk an eyebrow when Baekhyun trails off here. He again shakes his head before throwing his head back and groaning aloud with a big smile on his face. “God, how did I get this lucky?”

I laugh and slap his hand when it is clean. I fling it back to him playfully, laughing. “Shut up, Baekhyun.”

Baekhyun looks down at me panting on his chest, still reeling from the ual high. He chuckles breathlessly as he throws his head back onto the pillow, his hand resting on the small of my back.

“Make up is always the best kind of ,” he says in a breezy comment. I don’t say anything but simply rub my cheek against his chest. “I’m starting to feel a bit hungry,” he grumbles, his other hand caressing the back of my arm tenderly.

I groan and nod. “Me too.”

He looks down at me, double chin and all. He’s still so handsome. I reach my hand up to cup his jaw, my thumb his chin. “What do you want to eat?” he murmurs, tilting his head down slightly to kiss the pad of my thumb.

I hum. “I don’t know,” I mumble. “Something soupy.”

“Ramyun?”

“Good idea.”

We’re both laughing when we get down the bed. I grab Baekhyun’s shirt to wear while he simply wears his boxers. He pastes himself to my back as he follows behind me to leave the room. His arms are around my waist, his cheek resting on the top of my head. We have to waddle to the kitchen but I’m not entirely fussed by it.

While we wait for the water to boil, Baekhyun sneaks his hand under my shirt and cups my mound. And acting as if he hadn’t just done that, he leans down and rests his chin on my shoulder. “Have you actually ever thought for a moment that I might have been involved in a gang or something?” he asks, truly curious.

I pause in opening the ramyun packet as I think about his question. “Not really, actually.” I glance to the side to see his staring at me with a soft smile on his face. “I’m probably too blinded by your good looks.”

Baekhyun laughs, nuzzling his nose into my shoulder. “You really trust me, huh?”

I cluck my tongue and nudge him with my . “Not after I found out about the three-year lie you kept from me.”

“But you still trust me?”

I eye him expressionlessly but he only reciprocates with a big grin. I shake my head as I tear open the ramyun packaging. “You’re going to have to earn it back, Byun Baekhyun.”

“Of course, my queen,” he coos, sliding his hand down my stomach. He rests his hands on the sides of my hips now. “Tell me how.”

I turn my head to look at him doubtfully. He smiles and nods his head encouragingly, wordlessly telling me to go ahead and speak my mind. “I want you to show me your life as a mafia leader.”

At that, Baekhyun’s face turns blank, his brown eyes lighting up with shock, probably not expecting me to say that. After all, I had spent almost a week of getting mad at him for being a mafia leader.

“Seriously?” he breathes in disbelief.

I bob my head. “I don’t want to be clueless anymore,” I murmur. “I want to be able to say that I know my husband inside and out.”

Baekhyun stares at me, taking in the resolution and the somber look in my eyes. He eventually sighs and nods. “I’ll show you,” he promises softly.

I break out into an excited smile. “Really?”

His eyes twinkle with love as the corner of his lips tilt upwards. “Yeah,” he whispers. “Really.”