By the time Woohyun had placed Hayoung’s cosmetics and some of her clothes in his bedroom while Hayoung finished cooking some dishes for lunch later, the doorbell rang. Woohyun took the initiative to open the door to greet his mother while Hayoung quickly cleared up the quite messy kitchen.

“Hi, Mom!” Woohyun went to hug his mother to welcome her before he noticed Mrs. Nam bringing quite a large red bag in. “Mom, why are you bringing a bag along?”

“I’m going to stay here for a few days since your father was away for a business trip, you don’t mind right?” It really took Woohyun by surprise when his mother said that as Woohyun stay rooted to the floor. Fortunately, Hayoung was fast enough to help Mrs. Nam in carrying her bag as she ushered the woman in.

“Of course! It’s great to have you around sometimes. Maybe we should also make a visit too! Right, Darling?” Hayoung quickly nudged her husband, on which he soon came back to reality.

“Definitely, Sweetheart!” He then had his arm placed at her back as he pulled her closer to him in order to make their relationship more convincing. Mrs. Nam, obviously, smiled upon seeing the subtle action. Hayoung then brought Mrs. Nam’s bag to the guest room, which was initially her room. She didn’t realise that Mrs. Nam followed her along until she heard the doors of the closet being opened.

“Why are your clothes over here? Shouldn’t it be in your room? Or are you guys sleeping separately?” Hayoung was stunned by her sudden interrogation such that she had shut, not knowing what to answer. Thankfully, Woohyun came to the rescue by answering to his mother’s question.

“We’re definitely sleeping together! She just had her clothes there because the wardrobe in our room couldn’t fit all of our clothes. How could we possibly be sleeping separately when I can’t even survive a day without her?” Woohyun swiftly peck Hayoung’s cheek as he held her close to his side. It would be a lie to say that she didn’t feel the butterflies in her stomach. Hayoung wasn’t the only one enjoying this, as Mrs. Nam once again smiled at the interaction.

“I noticed that you had prepared some meals. Let’s tuck in before it turned cold.” Mrs. Nam remarked before she headed to the dining table which was situated between the kitchen and the living room. Although her back was facing the couple, Woohyun still had his right arm resting on Hayoung’s shoulders as they followed behind.

Even when they were dining at the table, Woohyun continued his convincing act by taking some of the meat with his chopsticks and placing it on Hayoung’s plate. Of course, Hayoung had to play along by serving him some vegetables. Although she knew very well that he didn’t really prefer greens on his plate, she intentionally did it which garnered a questioning look from him. She even dared to glare at him when he raised his eyebrow. Mrs. Nam didn’t let this go unnoticed.

“As far as I know, Woohyun didn’t really like veggies. Why are you giving him that?” Mrs. Nam asked.

“It’s for his health, Mom. I’m sure he wouldn’t reject it, right Darling?” Hayoung gazed innocently at Woohyun as she waited for his answer.

“Of course not! Because my wife made it personally for me!” He then grabbed some spinach and forced it inside his mouth. He even faked a satisfactory smile as he tried to savour the flavour.

“Hayoung’s definitely a good influence to my son!” Mrs. Nam exclaimed.

As Hayoung washed the dishes diligently, Woohyun s his arms from behind to hold her in his embrace which caught her by surprise. She couldn’t even concentrate on her work as his hug felt warm and soothing to her. However, his voice portrayed a different feeling as he whispered to her ear.

“What was that for earlier on?” His voice was low, as if she had just made a grave mistake.

“What are you talking about?” She feigned ignorance as she inquired in a playful tone, even though she knew what he was referring to.

“You know very well that I don’t eat vegetables, so why did you still serve me that?”

“You’re being excessively affectionate in front of Mom. I just want you to give a warning not to go overboard.” That only spurred Woohyun to hold her tighter in his arms.

“Why? You don’t like it? But I love it.” His breath was dangerously close to her ear, and it caused to squirm a little as she found it ticklish.

“Woohyun-ah, don’t disturb her while she’s doing her job. You’re going to distract her if you’re going to keep doing that?” Mrs. Nam remarked, and thankfully, Woohyun released his hug before he went to sit beside his mother who was sitting at the couch comfortably as she watched a romantic comedy drama which happened to be airing at that time.

After finishing her chore, Hayoung eventually joined them as she took a seat beside Woohyun. As Woohyun had his left hand holding firmly on his mother’s right hand, he pulled Hayoung even closer with his right arm and let her head rest on his shoulder. Both Woohyun and his mother were clearly laughing and enjoying the show but Hayoung couldn’t keep her attention on the television as she still felt affected by her husband’s display of affection. Even her heart pounded at a faster rate at the moment despite his constant patting on her right shoulder.

When it was night time already, the couple wished good night to Mrs. Nam before they went to their room. Hayoung could feel the room was being heated even though the air conditioner was switched on at 23 ̊C. She partially blamed the summer heat, but she knew exactly why the room was stuffy. This would be the first time she will be sleeping with Woohyun on the same bed, and she felt nervous for some reason. She lied down on the mattress first, before Woohyun followed soon after. At first, she felt a bit at ease when Woohyun left a bit of space between the both of them. However, he suddenly hugged her from behind. She was shocked by his abrupt move as she called his name when she turned her head to face him.

“She’s coming.” Woohyun simply said with his eyes closed. With such an ambiguous answer, she was left confused for a while before she heard the door clicked open. She immediately shut her eyes when she saw Mrs. Nam standing by the door. Hayoung risked a peek and noticed that the woman was smiling to herself before she left the room quietly.

“Woohyun, she’s gone now.” She stated softly when she saw Mrs. Nam’s shadow fading away, as seen from the bottom of the door. However, Woohyun didn’t make a single movement so she looked back to only see him sleeping soundly. She then let her hands rest on top of his hands that was wrapping her waist, relishing every moment for now.

Up till now, she couldn’t differentiate whether it was all a pretence or not as her heart continued to palpitate wildly due to his affectionate acts. And she didn’t want it to stop.

“Ungrateful brat!” Mr. Lee slammed his soju bottle on the table as he watched the rest of the people gambling their stakes away. The night was still young, but he couldn’t join his friends along as he was lacking money. Apparently, all the jewelleries in the house had been taken along with Hayoung when she moved in with her husband. And he only knew about her marriage when Hoya bailed him out a few days after the wedding. Mr. Lee also wasn’t informed of where she was currently living. If he knew, he wouldn’t hesitate to barge in her house and take her valuables along after teaching her a lesson she would never forget.

“Who are you referring to, Hojun-ah?” His drinking partner, Daehan, was concerned with the way Mr. Lee was acting. Mr. Lee had been drinking three bottles straight and he showed no sign of stopping at all.

“I’ll make sure you’ll pay for this, Lee Hayoung.” Mr. Lee muttered under his breath, not bothering to answer his friend’s question.