He pushed open the door on the left.  “This is the main living room. We don’t really use it often.”

Boyoung could see why. It was a beautifully proportioned room, with high ceilings and plenty of light, but it was like something from a magazine advertisement. It made a strong statement, with bold, clear lines and dramatic accent colours, but it was a room without personality.  It was tasteful design, but she knew no more about the man she’d promised to marry from seeing this room than she had before.

What she was certain of was that she was unlikely to use the room much herself either. She could never imagine herself curling up in one of the sofas with a good book and a cup of coffee. It was too neat, too tidy. Too sterile.

“Through here,” Junmyeon continued as he led the way through double doors, “is a dining room. It’s useful for entertaining.”

The room was decorated in a similar palette of neutral shades, with the same slashes of aubergine. “Do you entertain often?” she asked, feeling slightly nervous. Anyone who expected to be entertained in this kind of style wasn’t going to be her type of person at all. No one she knew would expect anything other than steaming kimchi stew, washed down with juice or soju and accompanied by warm laughter and giggling children.

“Not often,” he said, unaware of the relief his words sent coursing through her before he dashed them. “Probably once a month, on average.”

“Is that for business or pleasure?”

He hesitated before answering. “Work and home overlap. I’d say it’s for both.”

Worse and worse, Boyoung thought. If he imagined she’d be able to act as a hostess to this kind of dinner party this room demanded he was going to be very disappointed. “What’s through there?” she asked, pointing to another door.

“The conservatory.  It goes along the entire back of the house. Through here—“ Junmyeon opened the single door nearest to them, “—is the kitchen. The conservatory leads off this too.”

The kitchen was hideous. Of all the rooms she’d seen so far it was the one she hated most intensely. The overwhelming impression was of functional steel. How anyone with a child could live in such a house was beyond her.

Her own kitchen was painted in warm colours and the cheap cupboards were disguised with a clever paint effect. Ahra’s pictures and swimming certificates decorated the walls and it felt homely. This could have been something in a restaurant for all the personality it showed.

“It’s very well designed,” she said carefully.

Junmyeon smiled, pausing to study her face. “Do you hate it?”

“It’s a little overwhelming.”

He walked over to the stainless steel kettle and filled it with water from the tap. “It was designed by Huang Zitao.”

“Oh.” Was she supposed to know who he was? If so she was failing miserably, because she’d never heard of him.

“My late wife were friends with him. When he heard we were planning to get a house together he offered to help us with it.” He set the kettle on to boil. “The house is a complete concept. He designed everything and even chose the furniture.”

She might have guessed the person who had to live in it hadn’t designed it. “Isn’t it very hard to keep clean? Doesn’t all this stainless steel show every fingerprint?”

He looked at her blankly, as though that question had never occurred to him before. “Mrs Han deals with all that.”

“Mrs Han?”

“Haven’t I mentioned her? Mrs Han was employed shortly after Naeun was born. I’ll introduce you to her tomorrow. She sees to all the cleaning, and much of the day-to-day cooking, but she’s more like family now.”

Boyoung twisted the strap on her shoulder bag nervously. “Will she mind me suddenly arriving on her patch?”

“Why should she? You won’t want to be bothered with the house if you’re painting, will you? While the kettle’s boiling I’ll show you the annexe I thought you could use as a st