Chapter 37
37. Loving Night
Kangwoo pulled Naeun even tighter into his embrace. A faint moan escaped Naeun's lips.
"Today marks day one. Don't think about anything else."
"If one of us wants to break up, then we will."
Naeun looked at Kangwoo as she spoke to herself.
"That's obvious. Clinging on when one side wants to break up—that's not right."
Naeun nodded at Kangwoo's words.
"Right. So..."
"So don't talk about breaking up. Let's just be together in this moment."
Kangwoo kissed Naeun deeply. Her body burned with fever, refusing to settle. She wished this heat would burn even hotter,
until everything vanished in ashes. Right now, her passion for this man was overwhelmingly intense.
Kangwoo held Naeun through the night, embracing her again and again without letting go. Naeun grew a little afraid of growing too accustomed to this man's warm embrace. Days felt long and exhausting one by one, yet a week flew by in a flash. Tomorrow was the weekend, so the kids
might sleep in a bit later. Truthfully, it was Naeun who wanted to sleep longer. But the children, creatures of habit,
These days, she occasionally spent the night with Kangwoo and fell asleep on the second floor, but she was always tense, worrying if the kids downstairs
would come looking for her. So far, nothing had happened, which was a relief.
Today, Kangwoo was coming home late. After putting the kids to bed, Naeun stepped outside and stretched languidly. The stuffy
indoor air still carried the energy from the kids' lively play that evening. She opened the window, and December's cold air rushed in. It wasn't chilly so much as refreshing. The night sky
sparkled with Orion's Belt shining brightly—the only winter constellation she knew. Just then, opening the door dropped the room temperature by a full degree.
Naeun closed the door and stretched once more, shaking off her fatigue for a moment. Finishing the day in this quiet
time felt indescribably happy.
Naeun cautiously pulled out her tablet. She never took it out when the kids were around, as they'd rush over wanting to touch it.
The gallery greeted her with neatly arranged photos of cookies and kids' snacks she'd made so far.
The first to catch her eye were the walnut and almond cookies the kids loved. Those crispy, nutty cookies were Jiho's
all-time favorite that he always requested. They were also the ones Kangwoo had eaten four of, complaining absurdly about overeating while leaving none behind. Just looking at the cookie photos brought back fluffy memories.
Next to them was a photo of sweet pumpkin muffins. The soft pumpkin blended with fragrant cinnamon was a hit with Minho,
along with melt-in-your-mouth banana chocolate chip bread. The colorful snacks made with the kids' health in mind stood as proof of Naeun's efforts,
each one captured in photos.
Naeun smiled as she browsed the gallery. Building it bit by bit, she could create truly impressive teaching materials.
Naeun was preparing lecture content for the future. Recipes for kids' food that they loved and was healthy too—she worked on it in her spare time after the kids slept, as it seemed promising.
On the table sat the matcha white chocolate chip cookies she'd made for the kids' evening snack tonight. Proud yet
wishing they could sink away into ashes as they were. Free of worries or desires, she
was a little scared.
somehow Monday after the hectic weekend had slipped away, and Friday had arrived. With the weekend tomorrow, the kids
would wake up right on time, bouncing over to her.
She opened one file and delved in. The photos inside welcomed her.
She quickly arranged them prettily on a plate and was about to brew the lemon balm tea when Kangwoo's voice came from behind.
"What's all this? Amazing. You've been preparing so many food recipes?"
She'd left the tablet on the table, and he'd seen it.
"I haven't shown this to anyone."
Naeun set the cookies on the table and took the tablet away.
"Doesn't seem like a big secret."
"These are my own recipes. I'm planning to make lecture content later. Working at the kindergarten, you realize it. Parents are all interested in this stuff. No one raising kids isn't obsessed with what they eat."
"That explains your great skills. Do Wan stole two from me back then. I only brought three."
Naeun burst out laughing at that.
"He steals food like that?"
"He calls me CEO all the time, but in front of food, he grabs it whining about how his senior can't do that. Ridiculous."
- 3 -
"Yes."
As Naeun said, it was quite a tiring matter. Son Gukjang, who had been central to it all, had caused a problem. It had come to light that he'd siphoned off interests related to the newly acquired cable channel.
She was pondering how to handle it. Since he'd played a key role, should she wrap it up appropriately, or cut out the rotten part from the start? Lost in such dilemmas, time had grown late.
Kangwoo took a bite of the matcha cookie and whistled.
"You could open a shop with these."
"No shop. How could I run one while raising kids? I'm preparing video lectures to upload steadily—eventually, it could bring decent income. Once ready, it might help people,
and be manageable while raising Jiho."
Everything she said was spot-on and determined. Naeun's way of steadily preparing a modest future was beautiful. He couldn't recall the last time he'd felt someone's passion was beautiful. Kangwoo smiled faintly, but Naeun
changed the subject.
"By the way, doesn't Minho's dad ever come to Korea? Even after the divorce, usually they'd see the mom, but he doesn't seem to visit at all."
Kangwoo slowly sipped his lemon balm tea and set it down.
"I guess I haven't explained that properly to you, Naeun. Minho's mom remarried. She's pregnant now."
"Ah."
Naeun fell silent, unsure what to say to Kangwoo's words.
