When Jaehyun steps his feet inside his apartment, the whole place smelled like freshly cooked food.

“Oh, you’re home? Want something to drink?” Jaehyun looked up to see Yerim, standing in front of the stove stirring something in the pot, clad in a floral apron he didn’t remember owning. But then again, he didn’t know what he even own since he rarely spent time living in this unit.

Yeri glanced at him, and Jaehyun didn’t reply. Instead he walked to the fridge to fetch himself a bottle of water. Yerim smiled before turning back to her cooking.

“I cooked galbitang since I don’t know what you liked,” Yerim spoke.

Spending years in the US, he already forgot how galbitang looks like. Jaehyun approached her to see the pot, it definitely looked delicious he could feel himself salivating.

“Judging by the smell alone, I think I’m going to like it,” Jaehyun commented.

Yerim laughs, slapping his shoulder playfully, and Jaehyun was stunned. This is probably the first time in months he heard her laugh. “I’m just worried your taste bud is not well adapted to Korean cooking. I mean, you lived in the States for years. Anyway, I just have to let this simmer for a few minutes while I worked on a few side dishes. Go take a shower and change into something comfortable. I’ll call you when dinner’s ready,” Yerim patted his arm and somehow he did what he was told to.

15 minutes later he emerged in t shirt and sweatpants, just as Yerim finished setting the table. He took a seat in front of her as she passed him his plate and cutleries absentmindedly.

“Oh, you’re done. I was just about to call you,” she blinked.

“Jal-meokgesseumnida,” he said softly and she smiled before saying the same thing.

She looked at him expectantly as he takes in a spoonful of the galbitang broth. He hummed in delight immediately. This is the most delicious stew he had ever tasted!

“How was it?” Yerim asks, her eyes blinking warily. To be honest, Jaehyun found her cute. He nodded before taking a bite of the meat, nearly crying at how tender and juicy the beef was. “Seriously, you could be a chef,” he commented.

She lets out a breath of relieve before she starts digging in. “It’s a common dish, it’s nothing,” she replied shyly.

After dinner, he watched her wash the dishes as she hummed by the sink, making sure all plates and cookware were shining and clean. He was bored so he just followed her to the living room.

“You’re not working?” Yerim asks as she plopped herself at the couch while turning on the TV.

“I have settled down everything in the States so I can work comfortably in Seoul. It’s a low week. There will be less overseas trips for me,” he explained and she nodded.

“What did you do actually? I’m curious,” Yerim spoke up to cut the silence between them.

“Uh, I was the managing director for Hyundai Automotive in the States. But now I’m back in Korea, still with the same title,” he explained.

“Sounds boring,” she muttered, but upon realizing her voice is loud enough for him to hear, she retaliates quickly. “Uhm, I mean, for me! I guess you’re good at business and stuffs, um, yeah, you know, no offense,” Yerim corrected her sentence immediately.

Jaehyun smiles at the younger girl, “None taken. You’re not wrong. It is indeed boring. I was interested in engineering, I’d rather work for the production team. But well, you know how things work for kids like us,” he shrugged. “Well, how about you?”

“Me? I work as Lotte Ent. Creative director,” she shrugged.

“So, you planned like, concepts?” he asked, completely new and clueless to the whole showbiz.

“Well, yeah. I also made some songs, and on rare days even helped with the choreo. I mean, please don’t tell anyone, especially my parents about this. They won’t be pleased,” she said.

“Why won’t they be pleased? I mean, you’re doing these creative thingies like your title...” he said, moving his arms trying to illustrate his words which came out weirdly.

“Well, Jaehyun-sshi, as the managing director of Hyundai, how would your parents feel if you’re secretly involved in building the car yourself in the factory?” she asked, a brow raising.

OH.

“Oh… yeah. Right. I get it.”

“I’ve always wanted to become a performer. I love singing, playing music, and dancing. But my parents were strongly against it. Thankfully, my brother who used to share the same dream as me is now the CEO for our entertainment business. He convinced my parents to let me work under him. He’s been covering me for years,” she said with a sad smile.

“So, you wrote songs too?” Jaehyun asked, trying to steer away from the parent topic because clearly it was making her uncomfortable.

“Uh uh. But since you’re not familiar with current singers I guess you wouldn’t know the song,” she chuckled.

“Try me,” he said, raising a brow challengingly. She laughed. “Okay. Do you know NCT then?” she asked.

“NCT? Look, I knew some songs but I definitely don’t know names. Just play the song,” he shrugged.

Yerim laughed before fishing out her phone. “This is their latest hit, I think you should at least know this one,” she said as she hit the play button on the music app. Jaehyun recognized the song right away because he often the radio when he drove. It’s kind of weird listening to it knowing his wife helped made the song. It’s a little bit uncanny because the song had many rap verses with heavy bassline and synth. Yerim clearly doesn’t exude the rapper vibes and he clearly didn’t dub her as the type to write hip hop tracks.

“You made this?” Jaehyun asks again. She nodded. “Yeah. Didn’t seem like it huh?” He grinned sheepishly, “I just never thought you’d go for EDM stuffs.”

“Well, I rarely did. I mostly made acoustic tracks, or the ones with softer tones. But even though it doesn’t seem like it, I actually love dubstep music,” she added.

“Really? So, you wrote like rap and stuffs?!”

She laughs and shakes her head. “No, sadly I don’t have talents in rapping. But I made the melodies and several layers of the beat. That’s the least that I can do.”

“Won’t your parents know that you wrote this song? This song is pretty popular. And I’m pretty sure you have written other hits too,” he asked as he scrolled through her playlist, finding several songs he knew roughly.

“I’m not stupid enough to write Kim Yerim as my identitiy. I used another name. I used Katie K as my alias. So far, only my brothers, my artists, and some of my cousins know my other identity,” she said. He nodded understandingly.

♦♦♦

They ended up chatting about their work life before deciding to end the day and go to sleep. She paused in front of the bedroom before turning to face him.

“Uh, should I sleep in the couch or..?” Jaehyun realized that even though they are technically married, they never slept together. This is the first time he was home in months. “I mean, I’m the male one I think I should be the one to take the couch,” he offered.

She eyed him and he gave her a smile to reassure her that it’s alright. She entered the bathroom first to prep up and he went to their shared closet, finally noticing how the big closet consisted of both their clothes. He really never noticed that. He pulled out a spare blanket and spread it into the couch near the big window, before taking a pillow from the bed. She appeared out of the bathroom and sat on the bed as he went in. Just as he initially thought, the vanity inside the bathroom is filled with assorted female products he never bothered to know about. His things were neatly arranged on the left side, which was only a facewash, a shaving cream, an aftershave gel, his sunblock, and his razor. The glass was filled with 2 toothbrushes and a toothpaste. On her side of the vanity there were several creams and toners he’s not familiar with. Jaehyun shook his head before brushing his teeth. When he exited the bathroom, his wife was putting the blanket back into their closet.

“Why are you returning it?” he asked in confusion.

“The bed is big enough for two people. We’re married. I trust that you will not do anything dangerous to me. We can share the bed,” She said as she slipped under the cover.

“Is that okay l with you? I might kick you, or snore,” he said as he stood beside the bed awkwardly.

She laughs, “Even if you insisted to sleep on the couch, I can still hear your snore. It’s fine with me.” He finally agreed and slipped under the cover next to her. There was some space between them thanks to their big bed.

“I might still kick you, you know,” he muttered and she laughed. “I’ll kick you back if that’ll make you feel better. Come on, it’s late. Let’s get some sleep. Good night,” she said before turning off her bedside lamp.

“Good night,” he said before doing the same thing.

♦♦♦

It took Yerim an hour before she finally could go to sleep. She was used to sleeping alone but now there’s another human being lying beside her. Despite having enough space between them, she still feels nervous. He made no movements and sounds when he slept. She can hear the sound of his even breaths though. And that sound sends her to sleep.

Contrary to her belief, he was actually having a harder time to sleep. He grew up with an older brother, and he only have 2 female cousins, and he wasn’t even that close with them. The last time he dated someone was during college and that thing between them only last a few months. To sum it up, he’s awkward with woman. He spent an hour trying to lay as still as possible before feeling his arm getting numb from maintaining the position. Trying to make as little sound as possible, he turned his body to lay at his back. He looked to his right and as if on cue, she turned herself so she was facing him. He immediately holds his breath. He lets out the breath he’s been holding when he observed that the woman beside him is really asleep. She mumbled something that sounds like ‘warm’, ‘soft’, and somehow ‘fur’ she must’ve been dreaming about dogs or something. He his side to watch her sleep. He felt like a creep but her features are interesting to look at. She had some resemblance to her brothers, but her features are softer. He watched her shoulder rise and fall, and after listening the sound of her breath he finally went to dreamland.

byuntaefangull here. thank you for reading the second chapter! please do comment if you have any suggestions or if you found any mistakes! see you on future chapters^^