Chapter 2

The woman standing before the counter turned to look at Iheon and spoke.

As if she had been by his side yesterday and the day before, as if she had always been there—so utterly casually. She even smiled brightly.

Her crescent-shaped eyes and her lips curving into an arc were pure, without even a trace of guilt.

“Wait a little. Dinner is almost ready.”

The woman even wore an apron, though he had no idea where she had stuffed it away.

“There was nothing at all to eat in the fridge. If I hadn’t stopped by the mart on the way, we would have starved.”

With a face that had thrown all awkwardness to the dogs.

“I saw the news you were on. You’re so handsome by nature that you looked good on screen, but it made me feel bad because it seemed the screen couldn’t capture the real thing at all.”

She was chopping cherry tomatoes to put on the salad……

Not a hint of the awkwardness one might expect from someone who had vanished without contact for half a year could be felt from her.

It was not a month but six long months. Wasting time clinging to a problem whose questioner had disappeared.

During the time he wandered unable to find an answer, her absence had gnawed at him as if eating him away.

But like when she had left, again—suddenly.

Appearing out of nowhere, so calmly.

No—beyond calm, with a face so brazen it left him dumbfounded. What on earth was this supposed to be?

Iheon’s dark brows twisted abruptly. Ignited anger surged to the top of his head, and the back of his neck pulled with a sharp sting.

Even setting aside being dumbfounded because he could not grasp her intent, at least this kind of reunion was not proper.

“Jei.”

He called her in a voice that had dropped to the floor. It was a chilly tone that made it obvious to anyone listening that he was angry.

“It’s almost done. If you’re not going to change clothes, just wash your hands and come.”

“What are you trying to do with me right now?”

“Aren’t you hungry? I am.”

Iheon had never been cowed before even the most heinous criminals.

Having lived for a long time analyzing someone’s abyss, he was desperately cool even by nature.

Precisely because he was that kind of man, he had never once been swayed by anyone.

But before Jei—before her—his formidable composure became a thin sheet of paper and was cruelly crumpled.

Why on earth had she done that? Why had she left without a word, and why had she come back?

And on top of that, why was she so unaffected, unlike him?

He had thought there would be many things he wanted to ask if they met again, but looking at that sight, only one remained.

Unable to bear the humiliation, Iheon passed the kitchen island and walked straight to Jei.

Even as a man with a fierce aura charged toward her, the woman kept a placid face and was wholly absorbed in chopping cherry tomatoes to put over fresh greens.

Iheon grabbed Jei’s wrist holding the knife and spun her around toward him. In one breath, he snatched the knife from her hand and threw it into the sink with a thud.

“What if you got hurt? So dangerous!”

The words she said with her eyes wide as if startled were loathsome. Because she had no right to worry about him.

“Is it fun?”

Iheon trapped Jei between himself and the counter and lowered eyes blazing with menace. A sneer leaked through his twisted lips.

“I asked if it’s fun playing with me.”

“…….”

“I can’t even imagine how easy you must have thought I was to act like this.”

His large hand gripped Jei’s wrist hard. It was a terribly strong grip for such a slender wrist that looked ready to break at any moment.

“At least shouldn’t you say sorry to me? If you’re worried I’ll get hurt by that cheap knife.”

His teeth ground of their own accord. Jei did not answer the low, growling shot. Instead, she quietly looked at the man’s hand gripping her wrist. Even under the brutal force that drained her knuckles white, she showed no sign of pain.

He thought she would make some excuse, but she instead gave a faint smile.

“I’m hungry. Let’s eat first and then talk. I have things to say too.”

At her placid tone, no different from usual, he saw red again.

“Fuck.”

He released the grip that had been tight enough to leave red marks and seized the woman’s cheek with that hand.

“Wait, Iheon. The stew is boiling—”

“Shut that mouth.”

Iheon twisted his head and swallowed Jei’s lips.

There was no tenderness. The lips that pressed down as if crushing were rough and persistent, as if trying to steal her breath.

The tip of his tongue pushed between her parted lips and roughly stirred the small inside of her mouth. It was a kiss that pushed recklessly without even giving time for their breaths to melt together.

Jei, whom he expected to push him away, obediently opened her mouth and sweetly swallowed Iheon’s breath.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

Beneath his throat, as he greedily sucked and swallowed his wife’s lips that were dizzying, curses he could not spit out piled up.

It was revolting that the woman’s lips were still familiar to him. Nevertheless, he could hardly pull away, because he had missed these lips so much.

Damn it.

Iheon added strength to the hand gripping Jei’s cheek. Holding her so she could not turn her head away, he delved into the gap between her parted lips.

Hot breaths tangled, and wet lips locked as if twisting. He swallowed once, and without letting go, bit again. He rubbed the edges of her lips roughly and then bit her lower lip hard enough to draw blood.

When pushed this far, she might have pushed him away saying it hurt, but she only quietly clutched the cuff of the man’s sleeve.

Iheon’s distorted brows narrowed further.

If she had twisted her head saying she hated it and slapped his cheek, he might have snapped to his senses. If she had, he might have been able to give this anger a clear name.

As if gritting his teeth, he bit Jei’s lips again. More roughly than before, he crushed and crushed them until her lips swelled.

Jei did not reject Iheon in the end. The only thing escaping between her lips was a thin moan that slipped out as she swallowed her rough breathing.

He wanted to lash out, but he felt played again.

Jei. To this damned woman.

Iheon tore his lips away roughly. One step away from Jei, he irritably swept his hair back.

On the lips where their breaths had tangled until moments ago, a sweetish warmth remained.

As if displeased, Iheon rubbed his lips hard with the back of his hand.

Between the air that had turned cold in an instant as if cold water had been thrown over it, a heavy silence settled.

He glared at Jei with eyes sharp enough to cut.

There was no way she did not know what she had done. She had returned knowing, and she had greeted him calmly knowing.

Jei, who had met his gaze for a while, suddenly turned her back. Then she turned off the gas burner that had been glowing red. The stew that had been boiling alone for a long time had reduced so much it was showing the bottom.

“What do we do? We can’t eat the stew.”

“Is that all you have to say?”

Iheon, flabbergasted, let out a cold sneer. The words that he was truly sick of it now naturally hung on the tip of his tongue.

With a face hardened stiff, he turned away sharply.

He could not tell whether this emotion seething in his pounding heart was hatred or a sense of betrayal.

Whether it was anger at the woman standing as if nothing had happened after ruining half a year of his time, or disgust at himself for still being shaken by such a woman.

Either way, he had no confidence to face her any longer.

“I missed you.”

It was the moment he was about to leave the kitchen. At the unexpected words that flowed from Jei’s mouth, his steps stopped dead.

“I wasn’t playing with you.”

Iheon did not turn around. Because if he did, the reason he had barely held onto seemed like it would snap again.

“It wasn’t fun either.”

“…….”

“I just needed time.”

Her flat tone was neither brazen nor playful as before. It was simply calm. Perhaps because of that, it sounded all the more cruel.

Iheon’s head dropped toward the floor. He thought even a hollow laugh might come out, but not even a laugh came.

She said she missed him.

“Don’t make me laugh.”

He muttered while grinding his teeth.

“Someone like that doesn’t answer a single call and sends divorce papers?”

“…….”

“What was I supposed to make of that?”

His head lifted slowly. His eyes were cold. What remained after the hot anger swept through once was desolate and barren.

“Did you die? Were you in an accident? Or did you get another man without me knowing?”

If she had at least died or been in an accident, at least he, her husband, would have been contacted first.

He had even thought that.

His lips twisted with a dry laugh caught on them.

“Now you say you missed me? That you weren’t playing with me?”

“I’m sorry. I was wrong.”

“Ha!”

Those were the words he had wanted to hear so badly for half a year. But now that he actually heard them, nothing improved.

The anger did not disappear, and the wound did not shrink. Rather, they became clearer.

“What can I do to make you feel better?”

Jei, who had come closer to Iheon, asked as she wrapped both hands around his fist, on which veins stood out vividly.