.  * * *

  Being left together alone in the room again, we stayed put in silence for another while. Eun Jiho then broke the ice.

  “Are you really ashamed of me?”


  I replied without hesitation, “I said I’ll pretend to be your birthday, not your girlfriend.”


  When I spoke like that, Eun Jiho put a look of unfairness on his face like a customer who received a defective order.

  ‘Come on, strictly speaking, isn’t it me who should have that face right now? What’s all about the matching outfits as a couple like a bolt out of the blue?’ The moment I had those thoughts in mind, Eun Jiho, staring at me, detached his lips.

  He then uttered, “Just… um… Oh! Just consider it as playing house.”


  “What?”


  I asked, raising my voice with a furrow. Eun Jiho, disheveling his hair in annoyance, however, continued in a subsided tone.

  “Don’t you know playing house? Taking on some roles and stuff…? Just regard this situation like that.”


  “Who doesn’t know what playing house is? I’m asking you, why are we supposed to do such a thing today, especially when we’re having this serious event?”


  Eun Jiho then dropped a remark.

  “… Today seems to be the only day for it.”


  “Huh?”


  What he just said was too unbelievable to escape from his mouth that I grimaced again. At that moment, like a girl in the old ghost story, I came near to asking him, ‘Are you the Eun Jiho I’ve known?’ while throwing my gaze at his face next to me.

  However, I just kept the words to myself and stared at his jet-black eyes directing on me.

  To be honest, I thought that I knew him well than others from the time we spent over the last three years.

  Most of the people assumed that having been born with a silver spoon in his mouth, life would have been easier for Eun Jiho. Unlike what they see, however, he was a very hard worker. Except for the wealthy background and his appearance, he acquired everything with his effort.

  He always pushed himself to the limit. Things like ‘today is not a good day to study’ or ‘I don’t feel doing anything today’ meant nothing to him. Thinking further to that point, I frowned my brows.

  But that Eun Jiho was saying, ‘Today seems to be the only day for it…’ What does that mean?

  Then the door opened and Ms. Kwon Hye Young stepped into the space, holding a catalog. I turned my head needlessly in embarrassment. Eun Jiho threw a glance at me for a while but diverted his gaze onto the gorgeous lady who came closer to us.

  She might have swiftly sensed the frozen air hanging between us. With a quiet grin, she took a seat across us and put the catalog on the table.

  “Would you like to see a full style including accessories?” She asked, opening the catalog.

  While I wondered in hesitance, Eun Jiho responded abruptly.

  “Yes, but only modest ones.”


  “Lovely, so why don’t we go to this page…”


  Her hand, boasting her well-polished nails, came toward and flipped through a few pages. Sitting next to Eun Jiho, I glanced at that direction then stiffened my face.

  Having got to be in a relationship with him, I was about to get some suggestions of white outfits that matched the color of Eun Jiho’s suit. The styles she was browsing were all something in pure white.

  Putting aside the color, what the heck was that?

  As Eun Jiho requested her to find some modest ones, what Kwon Hye Young brought up was a hairpin decorated with platinum and diamond. Regardless of my anxious look, they continued their conversations in a tone as serene as the spring air.

  “Looks quite simple enough, right? And goes well for a student?”


  “Indeed…”


  The lady lifted her head to cast a glance at me then kept on her words.

  “From what she’s wearing, I believe white will also look very splendid to her.”


  “Then let’s go for this one and this one.”


  “Absolutely, as we also have to do the hairs on time. Then, my dear, may I have you to this side…?”


  Hold on! Being unaware of what was going on at all, I quickly grabbed Eun Jiho; however, since we had quarreled just until now, he would not respond amiably to my desperate hands, saying, ‘What are you so concerned about?’


  Waving his hand as if bidding a farewell, Eun Jiho smiled naughtily. Before I tried to inquire about the overall situation, he suddenly lowered his head and whispered in my ear.

  “You said you want to break up with me, huh?”


  “When… did I say that…?!”


  Oh geez, that was too loud. I covered my mouth with my hand, holding in my breath.

  Ms. Kwon Hye Young paused her step and sent me a doubtful gaze. As I also sensed a weird glance at my side face, I turned my head to find Eun Jiho looking at me in wonder.

  My face seemed to be on fire. I stopped myself striding forward Eun Jiho then turned back to exclaim, “I’m sorry, but just a second please!” to the lady. Thankfully, she sent me a bright smile as if expressing her understandings of my reaction. Running back to Eun Jiho, I yelled at him who was still revealing a sign of wonder on his face.

  “I wasn’t asking you about a breakup or end of our relationship, just… why was it supposed to be today? Oh, but… never mind.”


  As I uttered those words, disheveling my hair, Eun Jiho blinked his eyes slowly then asked back, still, in wonder.

  ‘Never mind?’


  I replied with a sigh, “Anyway, I’m here to help you today, so… if this also makes it easier for you to do something, I will. I will do what you want.”


  Eun Jiho, again, opened and closed his eyes.

  “What I want?” he asked.

  I don’t think this bastard already forgot what he just said.

  While I gave a dumbfounded look at him, Eun Jiho didn’t seem to be joking with me. For a moment, I looked up at the ceiling then dropped my gaze at the floor; however, I couldn’t help but break the ice.

  “Pretending that we are… in… a relationship.”


  “…”


  As if witnessing something unanticipated, Eun Jiho’s eyes grew bigger. I, staring at his face for quite a while, soon added before I turned around.

  “Only for today.”


  And like a person who just accomplished a mission, I fetched a sigh heroically then walked across the hallway at a fast pace, thinking, ‘Yeah, so, that’s my conclusion eventually.’


  As I realized in the morning, our relationship was, after all, something like myself playing hard to get. I wasn’t aware of that; however, I was constantly pushing him away, whereas Eun Jiho jokingly taking a step toward me regardless. Why did it go this way? I came up with that question, but as things had already been like this, the contemplation was useless at this point.

  If I can give it a guess, I’d say that relationships are bound to be fixed only in similar directions. For instance, we may usually get upset and act childish to particularly someone, whereas we keep hearing hard truths from someone else. These relationships may hardly change or switch when they are fixed in those ways.

  And in my case, the fact that Eun Jiho and I belonged to completely different worlds would be the reason why I pushed him away habitually.

  With those inside my head, I slowly looked down at my hand that Eun Jiho had been grabbing until now. Anyway, now that I realized the truth about our relationship, wouldn’t this be a way to make up for his one-sided effort? Instead of keeping Eun Jiho out of my league like a habit, shouldn’t I try to put some equal effort into him as a return?

  And for the sake of it, I ought to successfully accomplish the mission, playing the role of Eun Jiho’s partner, at Hanwool Group’s 15th-anniversary party held tonight.

  Rambling those thoughts, I got surprised by a white hand suddenly holding mine that my gaze was at. As I lifted my head to throw a glance, it was Eun Jiho as expected. He stood so close to me that his body cast a shadow over my face.

  When our eyes met, he grinned and said, “Thanks.”


  Thanks? When was the last time to hear such a word of gratitude from Eun Jiho? I mean, not the sarcastic ‘thanks~’ that he blurted out when being with Ban Yeo Ryung.

  Anyway… looking up at his face for a while, I frowned my brows.

  Was Eun Jiho this much handsome?