[AN: Yay! Back to back updates! Also, if you don’t like who Jin-ah’s boyfriend is… don’t complain to me… and leave them alone too… no shipping wars here, if you please ;)]

--February 2021--

Our story flies through the early weeks of wedded bliss (the story of which should be told another time because it is too cute to be related here) and comes to a screeching halt on a beautiful day at the end of February.

Moving Day. 

Already Ji-hyun and Chang-wook were quietly living in his apartment—“It is good for you to have some space to yourselves, especially at the beginning of your marriage,” their parents pointed out. But today they were moving into the villa. It was also the first time that Geobug, who was currently living like a queen at the villa, would meet Ggoma. 

Everyone was on edge. Neither animal had ever spent time with a member of the opposite species before. Ggoma was the loveliest of dogs, and Geobug was the calmest of cats… but there isn’t the saying “Fighting like Cats and Dogs” for nothing.

Ji-hyun went to the villa first so that she could help direct the movers when they started to arrive. Meanwhile, Chang-wook followed his schedule, which included a recording session for his first album.

Chang-wook’s Eomma straightened a cushion. She looked anxiously at Geobug who was peacefully curled on the sofa. They had been living together for a month and a half already and she was already enthralled by the beautiful cat. 

“Ji-hyun-ah… Do you think… I just don’t want Geobug-i to be scared of Ggoma.”

“Eomeonim, I think it is more likely that it will be the other way around.”

“Stop that. I have told you so many times, to call me eomma.”

“Nope!” Ji-hyun smiled. “I like calling you eomeonim. Just like I like calling Chang-wook, Orabeoni. It is special to me.”

The old woman smiled. Her daughter-in-law always insisted on following her own path but it never seemed to offend anyone, least of all her. She was happy every time she saw Ji-hyun tease or nag her son. It made her feel at peace knowing that if anything were to ever happen to her, Ji-hyun would be there for him. It was also a pleasure watching him fuss Ji-hyun about her pregnancy. Most of all, these feelings made her the envy of all the celebrity mothers. They would complain that she always was showing off her beautiful and devoted daughter-in-law. And when Ji-hyun’s eomma joined in… they were a formidable pair of proud eommas with no shame in bragging about their precious children. 

“Eomeonim?”

“Hmmm?”

“Did you watch the video I sent you?”

“Oh yes! It was very helpful. I think that so long as Ggoma doesn’t bark we will be ok.”

It wasn’t too long after their discussion that they heard the door buzz open. Chang-wook’s eomma picked up Geobug and gently placed her on top of the folded towel on Ji-hyun’s lap. The cat was on high alert when she heard Ggoma running into the room. 

In an ideal world, Chang-wook would have had Ggoma under control. But he had not watched the video that his wife had sent him.

Ggoma was a clever dog and sniffed out Geobug with ease. Chang-wook’s eomma grabbed the terrier and started petting her and then showing her hand to Geobug to sniff. They worked on this for a bit and then the women nodded to each other and let the animals go. A swift hiss and Geobug booped Ggoma on the nose and took off. Ggoma followed with enthusiasm. Suddenly their game of chase stopped. The air was tense. 

“Do…”

“Are they…”

“Friends?”

The humans watched the animals. The stand-off between cat and dog… was broken when Ggoma acknowledged Geobug as the boss and fell dramatically on her back. A submissive gesture which Geobug ignored.

Chang-wook’s eomma smiled. 

“If only all arguments could be solved like that…” she said. 

That is how Ggoma and Geobug reached a truce. In the years to come, Ji-hyun would update Geobug’s instagram with picture of them sleeping together in perfect harmony. 

—March 2021--

A few weeks later, Ji Chang-wook’s and Nam Ji-hyun had their first fight as a married couple. It started over something as innocuous as a bouquet of flowers. 

These flowers arrived at SOOP in the morning and were brought to the villa that afternoon by Ji-hyun’s manager. 

The unlucky part was that the florist had made a mistake about the date. Instead of sending the flowers on the first weekend of March, she sent them on White Day. This would have been fine if the flowers were from Chang-wook to Ji-hyun, but they were not. It would have also been fine if Ji-hyun had come home first that day and had time to dispose of the card, but she was not.

Instead Chang-wook stuffed his feet into slippers and took his own special preparations for White Day into the kitchen. That is when he saw a bouquet, not as large or as beautiful as his own, sitting on the island counter.

Now, dear reader, as the author, I have never inserted myself into the narrative. But today I must. Why? Because otherwise it would be hard to do justice to the wrath of jealous Ji Chang-wook. 

He picked up the card, with the understandable impression that it was from her father or family only to read a name he barely remembered: Tae-hwan… Where had he heard that name before? You, dear reader, might be thinking the same. Where have you read that name? And then you might remember, as Ji Chang-wook did, that there was a young soldier called Tae-hwan… a handsome, chaebol soldier who had gotten in a fight to defend Nam Ji-hyun’s honour while Ji Chang-wook had had to standby and watch (Chapter 7). A handsome, chaebol soldier who was also at the same university as Ji-hyun. A Tae-hwan who was also lucky enough to run into Ji-hyun on Jeju when she had been visiting her aunt (Chapter 11). Tae-hwan who had taken a picture with her. Tae-hwan who had posted that picture and said how pretty his Jiji was—both her face and her personality. 

Chang-wook was not happy that a strange man would send his wife flowers on White Day. It was unacceptable in all circumstances but it was particularly unacceptable when they came from a man that Ji Chang-wook had, even for a moment, felt jealous of. And Tae-hwan was on that list. It was a short list but Tae-hwan was on it. Enemy number one. 

What happened next would make an excellent scene in a movie. Everything would slow down. There would be classical music playing. Glass would artistically smash against the floor; pillows would be ripped and their feathers would fly, and the rage of the leading man would be expunged.

And so it happened. But an added detail was that the bouquet that had before been resting so innocently on the counter was being… beheaded. Petals flew through the air. The stems were strewn across the floor. Water was spilt. 

Frankly, it was a catastrophic scene. 

And when everything sped up to a normal pace, Ji Chang-wook was breathing hard. He had a few scratches on his hand from roses that hadn’t been de-thorned and was slowly realising that he had made a really, really big mess. One that needed to be cleaned up—fast. He also might need to find a way to apologise to Ji-hyun as well. These thoughts and possible solutions ran through his mind with a speed that frightened him. But a loud, gasp brought all of that to a halt.

“JI CHANG-WOOK. WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?”

“Ummm… flowers. Not from me! Here on the counter. I… maybe… I ripped their heads off?” he ended with a question.

“And managed to destroy a glass coffee table, tear apart some very nice cushions, and… did you, by any chance, rip your shirt?”

He looked down. His button-down shirt was ripped… he must have grabbed it while amid his Hulk-like rampage. He had the grace to blush when he spied his toned body peaking through.

“What caused this?”

“Flowers from Tae-hwan! On WHITE DAY! Jiji, I just won’t put up with it.”

“Who is Tae-hwan?” she asked with terrifying calm. 

“Who is Tae-hwan? I would like to know that as well!”

“Honestly. Why would I want to receive flowers… if this is you demonstrating your jealousy again… I am more than happy to ask for… for…” she narrowed her eyes. They both knew she would never ask him to massage her feet since he found them adorable. “for… I’ll shave my head!”

Now that is something he would refuse. Ji Chang-wook loved Ji-hyun’s hair but more importantly the inferences people would make if she suddenly shaved her head could be catastrophic for both of them.

“Now, Ji-hyun. That… is there really a need to go that far?”

“Ji Chang-wook-ssi. We have been through this countless times. Your tantrums!” 

“It wasn’t a tantrum… I was genuinely angry. Who would… how is it ever appropriate to send a woman you are not married to flowers on White Day?” he shouted back.

“So… sooooo…” Ji-hyun’s voice became dangerously quiet. “You’ll start returning all the gifts you received from your fans today? How disrespectful would that be? Can you imagine the backlash?”

“They were delivered to the house!” he protested.

“By SOOP probably. They normally bring my flowers here… or have you not been paying attention?” she pointed to the various vases dotted around the sitting room. “And the one in the study, your eomma’s room, our room… the babies’ room. There are flowers everywhere all the time because one or other of us are given them!”

“But these came from Tae-hwan,” he defended his outburst.

“Who is Tae-hwan? And what is so bad about his sending…”

“Enemy Number One,” Chang-wook jutted his chin out.

“What? And who is he? Do you know him? Because I don’t.” 

Chang-wook stopped. They were fighting. On White Day. About some random man she didn’t even remember.

“I’m sorry. I lost my cool. I just… he was… when we were in the army he got into a fight, defending your name from a thug. And I… I could only watch. I couldn’t get caught up in a scandal. It would have been bad for both of us and…”

Something changed in her face.

“Ji Chang-wook-ssi,” she approached him and put a hand on his cheek. He met her eyes.

“Yes,” he felt a bit sheepish now.

“Did you destroy those flowers because they were sent to me and happened to arrive on White Day?” her voice was calm.

“Yes.”

“Now, think very, very carefully.”

Chang-wook wet his lips. They had that “Jiji” look. A look where he couldn’t tell if she was going to hit him or kiss him. So he listened to her question very, very carefully.

“Would you have created this mess if those flowers had arrived on any other day?”

He thought about it, looked around, and surveyed the damage. 

“Yes, except I would probably have spared the coffee table and cushions, I’m…” he didn’t have time to apologise because she pulled him in for a kiss. The kiss she was giving him was, he realised, somehow meaningful. Like she was trying to soothe him. It inflamed his passion but it also soothed him. She pulled away and searched his face.

“We will have words about this… mess… later. But right now I need to take you to our bedroom and show you, demonstrate to the best of my abilities why I find you so y right now.”

She was too pregnant for piggybacks so he had to do the next best thing. He took her face in his hands and kissed her. Deeply, passionately, and with a determination to seduce her so much that she would forget all the things that he had done to their home an hour previously. But she was right there with him, equally seductive.

“Orabeoni…”

“Jiji…”

“Bed…”

“Hmmm… good idea…”

“Wait! Orabeoni. You need to pay attention! Stop.”

He paused. 

“Glass! Just… be careful. We can’t back up the stairs and into our bedroom and onto our bed if there is glass on the floor.”

“Should we…”

“I’ll call a cleaning service tomorrow. We’ll say that Geobug and Ggoma got into a fight.”

“Hey. Careful,” Chang-wook grabbed her hand and carefully led her across the floor. At the stairs he made sure to check that her slippers had no glass in them. 

“Yeobo?”

“Hmm. I think there is a piece,” he replied focusing on her slipper.

“Is there anything we need to put away?”

“Oh. No. Don’t worry. Well… maybe I should put MY flowers in a vase…”

“You mean you didn’t plan a meal?”

“I was going to order the spiciest chicken in Seoul for you.”

“Right. That’s it. Seriously. I mean… This is totally unfair to the rest of the women in the world. I don’t think… What did I do? To deserve… I have a husband who destroys bouquets in a jealous temper tantrum… and then he…” she smashed his cheeks together and covered his face with little kisses.“I… You are… the best husband.”

Chang-wook smirked at the mess he had created. They would have a serious conversation about it. He knew Ji-hyun and if she wanted a serious conversation they would have one. But he also knew that she understood that he loved her. And that was the most important. 

“Let’s go to bed,” they laughed realising they had spoken simultaneously.

—

Ji-hyun stretched when she woke up the next morning. She groaned into her pillow when she remembered the mess downstairs. It hadn’t been her intention to get so angry last night but the fear that he didn’t trust her had momentarily wiggled its way back into her heart. But his distress, the knowledge that it wasn’t distrust but a desire to be the one who gave her flowers, who made her world that much more special, and the one who protected her. That he wanted to be and do all those things for her had filled her with a deep longing to be in his arms and show her appreciation for his very existence on this earth. 

She knew that Tae-hwan, whoever Tae-hwan was, would always be a boogyman for him. Just like she knew that there were thousands of women who believed that she had done something horrible to their oppa. That she had gotten pregnant on purpose so that he would have to marry her. Which is why SOOP and Glorious worked so hard to protect them from the crazier fans. What Chang-wook didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him. Like the fact that extra CCTV cameras were pointing to their house. That a private security firm rented a rooftop room down the hill and was always on standby. 

Still, Ji-hyun was not going to let thoughts like that stop her from living her life. Some people had it worse. Eun-ji was constantly bombarded with hate from Tae-hyung’s crazier fans. And Ji-hyun knew that Jin-ah was about to be on the receiving end of some very nasty comments now that the first episode of her new drama had premiered last night.

With those thoughts running around inside her head she headed downstairs. The living room was spotless. 

“Yeobo?”

“Jiji, I’ll be there in a second,” she heard him speak to someone out of her line of sight. “Thank you so much. Yes. Thank you.”

She came down the stairs just as he was coming back into the sitting room. 

“When…?”

“I got up extra early. They were amazingly quick.”

“Also… I was wondering… where is Ggoma? Geobug was sleeping on your eomma’s bed but I haven’t the other half of the terrible two.”

“Oh. Ggoma is with my Eomma. They went hiking. There was a note on the table when I got back…before…” he gestured to the now clean living are.

“Aish. Sometimes I feel like she doesn’t want to live with us!”

“I think she wants to give us space. Plus the hiking was with the Celebrity Eomma Association, or whatever they call themselves.”

Ji-hyun giggled. This group of celebrity eommas even had t-shirts printed out for them to wear when they went on holiday together. There were even rumours of giving them their own variety show.

“Oh! Can we watch last night’s episode of “My boss the Gumiho”? I promised Jin-ah…”

“YES!” he said. “I am really, really curious. And then we watch the BTS?”

“Omo… Oppa is excited for this isn’t he?”

“Very.”

They curled up on the sofa and found the first episode.

“Wait. Let’s watch the teaser first. I want to see how much they gave away…” Ji-hyun stole the remote and clicked on the trailer…

Plot description: A lawyer, who is a 900-year-old gumiho, is out for revenge against the family who killed the man she loved. She hires a reporter to help her dig up dirt on them and in turn he figures out she is a Gumiho. They make a deal. Take down the company and she will give him her fox marble which consists of all the knowledge she has accumulated. If he fails, then she gets to eat his heart—she also uses eating his heart as a threat every time he annoys her, which is a lot.

[Begin Scene]

Office Building, Seoul

BO-YOUNG [played by Won Jin-ah] walks into the building. She is sharply dressed and we can see a lawyer’s pin on her lapel. She stops when she runs into MAN-SIK [played by Park Seo-joon]. He is carrying a box and has the look of a man who was recently fired. They share a glance. She smiles wickedly.

BO-YOUNG

Are you sure you still won’t work for me?

MAN-SIK 

[voiceover]

When I got fired, this woman took over my life… My new boss, the Gumiho Lawyer…

Shot returns to Bo-young, nine tails wave behind her and her eyes shine blue. She her lips hungrily.

[End Scene]

“Oh… seriously. They’ve given it all away already,” Ji-hyun grinned.

“Do you think so?”

“Yes… Just you wait.”

The episode proved Ji-hyun right. The tension that was already building between Jin-ah and Seo-Joon was obvious. Every time Bo-young’s character stared hungrily at Man-sik’s heart the lust emanating from Jin-ah’s eyes was palpable. Meanwhile Seo-joon wasn’t doing a particularly good job at letting her go anytime they bumped into each other.

“BTS!” Chang-wook shouted.

They found the clip online and it was everything they could have hoped for. The outtakes for the first scene where Jin-ah has to her lips ended in hilarity when Seo-joon asked if she needed any help them. More deadly, the BTS for the trailer ended with Seo-joon wrapping an arm around her shoulders and asking her if she thought his heart would be tasty—“Oppa! Aish. I like sweet things”. Clearly no one had told the PD or production staff that the leads were secretly dating. So they were excited by how quickly they had bonded and created “electric chemistry”.

“Oh… he is bad… She will have a hard time keeping them under wraps now,” Ji-hyun chuckled.

“Why did she accept the role then?”

“Oppa… She was offered and signed on before he did! Don’t you read the papers? Mysteriously Ji Soo dropped out and then Hong Jong-hyun… I have no idea what strings he pulled or offers he made but Park Seo-joon, romantic mastermind, got the part…”

Their eyes met and they burst out laughing. 

“Poor, poor them…”

“Hours and hours of BTS…”

“Oppa… did you take today off?” Ji-hyun suddenly asked. She grabbed his wrist and looked at the time.

“NO? What time? Aish… I’m going to be late…”

“Run! GO!”

“Jiji… Saranghae.”

“GO! I am already in so much trouble with your boss!”

“I’m in more trouble with yours!”

She threw a cushion at him which he dodged. 

They had fought, they had made up, and they were getting to enjoy the brilliance of schadenfreude as their friends—who for so long had teased and lectured them about keeping relationships secret—had their own relationship play out on national television. And all this meant that Chang-wook was late for a CF. A CF for laundry detergent… one that was particularly good for babies and those with sensitive skin.

And so ended the tale of Nam Ji-hyun and Ji Chang-wook’s first fight as a married couple.

[AN: Like I said, will try and finish this before JCW's new drama starts. Fingers crossed, my dear readers!]