Baek Sa-eon raised his eyebrows.

"Whether it was someone she dated in the past or her current lover..."

When the blackmailer sneered, accusing him of having a jealous husband complex and questioning why he jumped to such conclusions... Sa-eon got a reality check.

This unsettling feeling made him irrationally think that he might lose Hong Heeju to someone else.

Why did he... Why did he have such thoughts? And it was so natural.

The shock that Baek Sa-eon felt now was like the force of a building collapsing.

At that moment, Assistant Park clapped his hands and added, "Keep an eye on your fishbowl so that no one dares to play with it again.
"......"

The feeling that someone was messing with their relationship wouldn't go away.

What if the 2 billion won the blackmailer demanded somehow ended up in Heeju's hands? What if someone offered her a deal? In that case, who would be the culprit?

Sa-eon wondered who had been more ruthless in their relationship.

The answer was obvious, and a faint feeling of displeasure began to cloud the man's face.

"About the voice modulation," he coldly instructed Assistant Park, "see if it can be filtered.

One must strike while the iron is hot.

 

***

 

"Ah... so that's why there was a fishy smell."

This was the first thing 12-year-old Heeju had to translate.

"Ignoring the fact that I hate water. Dealing with two goldfish at the same time is ridiculous.1"

There was no emotion in his flat tone. After putting down the notebook, he said in a strangely flippant tone.

"How is it that Chairman Hong's daughters are somehow damaged?"

Her sister nudged Heeju to convey the words. Even as a child, Heeju hesitated, unsure if she should translate such thoughtless words exactly as they were.

Baek Sa-eon, the grandson of the congressman who lived next door, had been chosen to help In-ah with her studies.

The arrangement was something the adults had orchestrated, but at least the two students in school uniforms seemed indifferent to it.

Baek Sa-eon was polite and well-behaved in front of the adults, but once the children were alone, he showed his true self, resting his chin on his hand.

At eighteen, he already had a mature air about him. He looked at Heeju from time to time as he leafed through the books.

"So you're Hong In-ah's ears. Right?"

His pitch-black hair fell in neat strands, his sharply defined features cast shadows even when still, and his enigmatic eyes seemed to draw in everything they grazed. His alabaster skin was even smoother than her sister's. His face was strikingly handsome any way you looked at it.

"Where do you want to use your stupid ears2?"

Clicking his pen, Baek Sa-eon frowned slightly.

"If you make a mistake, you'll be punished."

In-ah poked Heeju again. With no other choice, Heeju started to write. Her sign language was still clumsy, but after the accident, she was the only one her sister could turn to. There was no room for anyone else.

The child gripped her pencil properly and wrote neatly,

<He wants to eat...tofu...>

Baek Sa-eon turned his head abruptly. His graceful profile subtly twisted as he muttered, "Children and their translations..."

His pronunciation was so precise that even the faintest sounds rang out clearly.

As Heeju listened in silence, her sister nudged her again.

An eighteen-year-old boy, a sixteen-year-old girl and a twelve-year-old child sat together.

Baek Sa-eon's gaze shifted to Heeju, who sat there blankly. In-ah instinctively put her arm around her younger sister's shoulder.

It was the first time her normally reserved sister had shown such physical affection.

From then on, Baek Sa-eon fulfilled his role with an impassive face.

"If you mess up the calculations again, I'll pour cold water on your head."
<In-ah, you can do better!>

"Seeing your test results, it won't be hard to break off this engagement."
<I feel shy!>

"Even that little kid is staying awake, so why are you nodding off?"
<Is it making you tired ?>

At some point, Heeju wasn't translating anymore - she was mistranslating Sa-eon's words.

The tutoring continued until Baek Sa-eon suddenly went abroad. Heeju couldn't even reach his shoulder.

Between the two of them, who were steadily approaching adulthood, Heeju was always one step behind, unable to close the overwhelming growth gap. It wasn't just physical; as time went on, the distance between them grew.

I can't remember the last time we talked about it.

Why do you hate water?

Overcome by a strange impulse, Heeju had scribbled this question.

Baek Sa-eon, in the middle of solving a maths problem, stared at the scribble for a moment.

Now a grown man in his twenties, he tore off the page with the solution and handed it to Hong In-ah. But his cold murmur was directed at Heeju.

"Because every night I dream of drowning in the river."

 

***

 

After finishing the call, she couldn't remember how she got to her room and fell asleep.

When she opened her eyes, it was morning. Heeju woke up and tried to figure out what had happened.

Although she had a connection to Baek Sa-eon since her childhood, the distance between them never ended.

The man was always out of reach, both as a tutor and as a husband. No matter how much time passed, she could never catch up with him.

The fact remained unchanged.

I was always stuck between the two of them...

Did she meet Baek Sa-eon the day before she disappeared?

Suddenly, the moments she had intruded on in the past felt like they were still unfolding in the present.

I need to know more about Sister.

Her mood sank inexplicably. Heeju wiped the sleep from her eyes and headed for the kitchen.

Her and Baek Sa-eon's routines never matched. He came home after midnight and left for work early, while she went to bed earlier and woke up later.

The feeling of never being side by side weighed on her like fatigue.

As usual, she filled the quiet house with the loud noise of the television and opened the fridge.

"Why do you change the channel?"
"Pff...!"

Heeju spat out the water she had been drinking. She was too shocked to notice that her pyjamas were completely wet.

The man sitting calmly at the dining table frowned slightly.

"Are you still half asleep?"

He grabbed the remote again and switched back to the news channel he had been watching.

"Why is he here...?

Was it because of the dream? The sense of reality felt faint and distorted.

"There's no need to look at me like that. I'm going to work this afternoon," he said absentmindedly.

Baek Sa-eon's hair was slightly damp, probably from a morning shower.

Loose jogging pants, a simple short-sleeved t-shirt, and his hair hanging down to completely cover his forehead.

He rested one arm lazily on the edge of the chair in a relaxed and unguarded posture.

With one ankle resting on the opposite thigh, he leaned back as he watched the news. His side profile, so casual and different from the usual, drew Heeju's curious gaze.

"Go eat something first," he ordered in his usual indifferent tone.

But ironically, Baek Sa-eon himself was drinking an Americano on an empty stomach.

Is he okay?

She distinctly remembered smelling some medicine on him. Has he been treated properly?

As she frowned, trying to suppress her concern, their eyes suddenly met.

He narrowed his gaze and set his coffee cup down on the table with a clink.

"Coffee on an empty stomach is a no."
"Huh?
"Even if you keep staring at it, I won't give you any. Eat breakfast first."

He motioned towards the kitchen with a slight tilt of his chin.

"No, that's not what I meant...

Heeju approached the rice cooker reluctantly, scratching her head.

Maybe it was because she felt his watchful eyes on her, but her hands kept fumbling.

The hardened rice wouldn't come out easily, and as she stood on tiptoes trying to force it out, a distinct presence loomed behind her.

"Can't you even do that, Heeju?"

His voice came from directly behind her as he grabbed the paddle from her hands.

"I thought you could at least feed yourself."

He frowned slightly as he assessed the state of the rice cooker.

With practiced ease, he took it apart and placed it in the sink before pulling out a frying pan.

Soon eggs, sausages, tomatoes and asparagus were making their way to the work surface.

The morning had a strangely peaceful feel to it.

Something feels wrong...

Heeju pinched her cheek.

This wasn't an ordinary morning for a married couple. If anything, the fact that Baek Sa-eon wasn't at work yet and was standing in the kitchen instead felt... unsettling.

This is like a horror film.

He cracked eggs with a grip that seemed a little too firm, sliced sausages with sharp, deliberate movements and grilled asparagus with almost mechanical precision.

His thick forearm flexed as he pressed down on the lid of the juicer, squeezing out the juice in powerful bursts.

Watching him - destroying, no, making something with such rough movements - made Heeju nervous.

Technically, he was cooking... but for some reason it made her nervous.

Finally, a finished brunch was placed on a large plate and placed in front of her.

"Eat every last bite."

Baek Sa-eon sat across from her. Heeju felt pressured by his gaze.

"You've been picky about egg yolks since you were a child, so I made it into an omelette on purpose."

The bright yellow lump of egg looked as intimidating as a yellow card.

"And you never drink milk, do you?"
"..."
"Drink."

He poured milk into a glass and pushed it towards her.

This... this was a new form of torture.

Heeju picked up her chopsticks mechanically.

"And by the way, I'm not divorcing you."
"Cough, cough...!"

She choked as she stuffed the dry eggs into her mouth, coughing violently. Desperately, she reached for the milk and gulped it down.

"I'm just saying this in case someone tries to put strange ideas into your head."

Baek Sa-eon's usual indifferent expression didn't change as he watched her. The only one who blushed and struggled to clear her throat was Heeju.