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Join the ServerChae Ju-han rolled his hips against her.
Heat rushed through Yi-jae’s body.
“That won’t happen.”
“That’s a shame.”
He said it was a shame, and then slid his tongue into her ear.
A soft moan escaped her.
“Ah…”
“Want to change your mind?”
At some point, he’d started touching her from above and below. It had been so natural that she hadn’t even noticed at first.
She blocked one of his arms with her hand and pushed at his thigh with the other, but Chae Ju-han ignored her resistance and continued sucking at her ear. She felt as though she were melting.
“Stop. Stop.”
“I’m faithfully following the rules you made. Why?”
“Ah-”
He bit her ear and kneaded her b*east.
He was completely shameless.
A warning bell rang in her head that, at this rate, his hand would end up inside her clothes.
There was only one rule, and this man was clearly trying to make her break it herself.
“I heard you called me your sister-in-law.”
Chae Ju-han froze.
Yi-jae seized the opportunity and slipped out of his arms.
He wore an expression that said he’d been caught off guard, but it was already too late. Yi-jae hurriedly straightened her clothes and climbed out of the car.
The rear window rolled down again.
Chae Ju-han looked up at her.
“You’re leaving without hearing my explanation?”
“It’s fake anyway, so it doesn’t matter.”
“Why is it fake?”
“Are we dating?”
“Hm.”
Chae Ju-han studied her face as though savoring the question.
“I didn’t expect to hear that.”
“We’re not. That’s why it doesn’t matter…”
She cut him off as though making excuses.
She didn’t know why those words had come out of her mouth.
Yi-jae had never deluded herself into thinking she was dating him.
She could tell at a glance that the cold-faced man had no feelings for her.
And she knew what his face looked like when he did hold even a trace of affection.
‘Don’t expect anything.’
“See you tomorrow. If you come, that is.”
‘…Was I expecting something?’
‘Idiot.’
“Go Yi-jae.”
Chae Ju-han reached out through the window and plucked a crumb from her knit sweater.
It was a piece of macaron shell.
He placed it on his tongue and smiled softly, as though tasting something sweet.
“It’s sweet.”
“Does it… taste good?”
“Hm…”
“Does it remind you of anything?”
Yi-jae leaned toward the window.
As though trying to confirm whether the man she’d once known still remained somewhere inside Chae Ju-han.
She gripped the window frame like a futile hope.
She stared at his face, waiting for a gentle smile of recognition to appear.
“Lemon?”
But there was nothing.
She searched his face from top to bottom, yet Chae Ju-han merely raised an eyebrow, puzzled by her reaction.
“Wait.”
Unable to stop herself, Yi-jae ran back into the shop to grab the macarons Madam Yoon had left behind.
She came running back, breathing hard, and held out the box.
Chae Ju-han looked dubious.
“Try one. Please.”
“I don’t like sweets.”
Thud.
It felt as though her heart had fallen.
He was the man who had eaten six out of seven macarons in front of her.
How could he dislike sweets?
“Really? You really don’t like sweets?”
“Why do you look disappointed?”
“You’re not pretending because of pride or something?”
“Pride? Hahaha.”
Chae Ju-han laughed heartily, as though he’d heard the most ridiculous thing in the world.
He didn’t like sweets.
Then why?
Why had he eaten six macarons he didn’t even like?
“Just try one. Just one.”
She held the box through the window.
Chae Ju-han casually picked one up and bit into it.
His brows furrowed at the sweetness.
“It’s excessively sweet.”
“…I see.”
What had she expected?
That a man who had forgotten her would at least remember the taste of a macaron?
Even if he did, it wouldn’t mean he’d remember her.
She still couldn’t accept that she’d been forgotten.
The cold wind slipped beneath her sweater.
Her skin ached from the chill, and she curled inward.
“But that’s strange.”
“What is?”
“I shouldn’t have, but I feel like I’ve had this before.”
Without realizing it, she gripped the window frame tighter.
Her fingertips burned with cold, but she didn’t care.
Her heart was burning hotter than her body was freezing.
If Chae Ju-han’s tongue remembered that taste, then perhaps somewhere inside his mind, she remained too.
“When? When do you think you had it?”
“Where did this come from?”
“Madam Yoon brought it earlier. From the club.”
“Ah. I see.”
Chae Ju-han rubbed his lips with his fingertips.
He still looked dissatisfied with the sweetness as he gazed up at her.
As though lost in thought.
She had promised herself she wouldn’t expect him to remember her.
And yet that expression unsettled her.
Chae Ju-han picked up another macaron and pressed it to her lips.
Startled, she accepted it anyway.
He smiled.
For a moment, he looked exactly like the man from years ago.
The man who had pretended to enjoy macarons he didn’t even like and had handed her the last one.
“That’s better. Maybe this is what I wanted to see.”
His low voice was so sweet that Yi-jae couldn’t bring herself to swallow the macaron.
She watched the car disappear for a very long time.
****
“Does Boss Go have anything scheduled this afternoon?”
“No.”
“Then why do you keep looking at the clock? Waiting for a delivery?”
Customers dropping by just to chat wasn’t unusual.
But nobody had ever asked her that before.
Had she really been checking the clock that often?
“Oh my, there’s something on your clock. Want me to clean it?”
Before Yi-jae could answer, the customer stood up and licked her thumb.
“Please don’t. I’ll do it. Oh, your coffee’s empty. Want another cup?”
Just as the customer had interrupted her, Yi-jae interrupted right back and refilled the mug.
Fortunately, it worked.
The customer laughed and changed the subject.
Yi-jae fought to keep herself from looking back at the clock.
Tick. Tick.
The customer was telling an entertaining story, but Yi-jae couldn’t focus.
Was it about her daughter?
Her son?
Her husband?
Everything blurred together.
“I should go make dinner. I’ll come back for flowers next time, Boss Go.”
“Please get home safely.”
She managed to see the customer off without revealing she’d missed half the conversation.
Then she sank into a chair and stared blankly at the lipstick stain left on the mug.
The customer had been right.
She kept checking the time because today was the day the seventy-two hours ended.
She had intended to make him wait.
Instead, she’d spent the entire day startling at the sound of the second hand ticking.
She glanced across the empty street again.
Chae Ju-han hadn’t returned since that day.
There were only a few hours left.
And because his car hadn’t appeared, she couldn’t stop thinking about it.
What if he’d grown tired of waiting and given up?
There were plenty of women at the club who would run into his arms with a single glance.
And Chae Ju-han didn’t need Go Yi-jae.
Unlike Go Yi-jae.
She shook her head and put the mug away.
Standing at the worktable, she retied her apron and resumed making a bouquet she’d been commissioned to create.
The order note read:
“For the most beautiful woman in the world.”
Was it for a lover?
She generously combined lisianthus, stock, carnations, and ranunculus.
The pastel bouquet turned out lovely.
She’d used more flowers than the customer had paid for, but she couldn’t bear to remove a single one.
It was perfect.
Ding.
The newly installed bell rang brightly.
“Welcome.”
“Go Yi-jae.”
The moment the voice she’d been waiting for echoed through the shop, goosebumps raced down her spine.
Even the back of her neck prickled.
His voice was different.
Lately, Chae Ju-han had spoken with the lazy, languid tone of someone half-asleep.
Today, his voice was huskier.
Heavy with excitement.
The meaning behind it reached her in a single instant.
Her body grew hot.
“You came.”
Yi-jae forced herself to sound calm.
Fortunately, her voice didn’t shake.
Snip.
She cut the stem of a rose.
The severed green stalk fell onto the worktable.
She kept trimming leaves.
She had to finish her work.
She was making a bouquet for someone in love.
But the man at the edge of her vision was distracting.
Like before, Chae Ju-han wore a dark navy robe, black trousers, and black slippers.
He looked as though he belonged in a bed, not a flower shop.
If that were all, Yi-jae wouldn’t have lost her composure.
But his half-lidded eyes were fixed on her.
Her body trembled.
Snip.
She cut empty air.
Chae Ju-han strode over and wrapped an arm around her waist.
Despite how little he wore, warmth radiated from him.
His heat made her forget it was winter.
Her back shivered.
“I’m holding scissors. Stay back.”
“How cute. What are you going to cut with those?”
“They’re sharper than they look.”
Yi-jae raised the flower shears and snapped them shut.
They were small, but dangerously sharp.
Sharp enough to cut through flower stems.
“Yeah. They suit you.”
“…Me?”
“But they’re too small to cut my d*ck, aren’t they?”
“Are you crazy?”
He laughed quietly.
He still had no intention of letting go.
She glanced at the clock.
There was still time left.
She couldn’t break the rules on the first day.
“You came too early. Wait.”
“I don’t make mistakes.”
“Then call it an accident.”
“I don’t have accidents either.”
“Can’t you just wait?”
She raised her voice slightly.
Chae Ju-han leaned in and whispered:
“Want me to show it to you? You’ll get wet in no time.”
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