* * *

Oh my God, I must have talked in my sleep! I clamped my hand over Taeshin’s mouth, trying to stop him from spilling my dream without any filter.

I ended up pinning him down on the bed to prevent him from saying “honey” again.

Taeshin, who was pushed onto the bed by me, lightly tapped the back of my hand that was covering his mouth.

“Anyway, just call me by my name… Aagh! Don’t lick me, you idiot!”

“You always say not to call you ‘honey.'”

As I gasped and pulled my hand away from the moist, ticklish sensation of his tongue licking my palm, Taeshin started talking again.

Normally, he’s clueless and acts like an idiot, but in moments like these, he turns into a smooth talker!

Now he grabbed my wrist to stop me from covering his mouth and continued calling me “honey,” making my face burn up.

“Honey, you need to get used to it now. From now on, you should call me ‘honey’ too.”

“S-stop it, you idiot. Seriously….”

“You don’t like it?”

I trembled, my face flushed red, as Taeshin looked up at me with a smile and asked.

It was only then that I realized he was teasing me.

Anger surged through me, and as I wiped away the hot tears that had welled up, I answered.

“It’s just… it feels really strange. Ticklish and…”

“Embarrassed?”

Taeshin pinpointed the exact feeling. Yes, it felt strange, ticklish, and embarrassing.

Taeshin, who had been my friend for a very long time, continued to call me “Sunwoo, Sunwoo” even after we started dating.

So, even though our relationship had changed a bit, it was fine. But when he started using a different term of endearment, the unfamiliarity hit me hard.

The term “honey” made it clear that Taeshin was now truly more than just a friend; he was my partner, my companion, my spouse.

“…I…”

Even though we had proposed and decided to get married, I still preferred it when you called me by my name. I liked you as my friend too….

It was still awkward and embarrassing to call each other differently. I didn’t like it very much.

When I buried my face in Taeshin’s chest, I felt his gentle hand stroking my head.

“Oh, what should I do…”

“What do you mean, just call me as usual.”

“If I kiss you now, will you get mad?”

“What do you mean, call you what?”

As I tried to calm my blushing face and embarrassment, I suddenly lifted my head.

Taeshin was touching my face and smiling with his eyes.

“Sunwoo, should we kiss?”

“Hey! How can you think of that in this situation… huh?”

“You cried earlier, Sunwoo. I want to kiss you. Let’s kiss, okay?”

Taeshin, who had released my wrist, gently pushed me down while pleading.

His soft, spring breeze-like laughter and the fingertips that tickled my cheek made my chest ache with a sweet, prickling sensation.

I looked up at Taeshin, who had switched from calling me “honey” to “Sunwoo,” and slightly bit my lip as if swallowing it.

“Sunwoo.”

Taeshin called me in a soft, whispering voice as he caressed my waist. I rolled my eyes one more time and bit my lip, then let out a deep breath.

“…If you keep calling me that.”

Smooch!

“I’ll call you that forever.”

As I averted my eyes and nodded, Taeshin grinned and kissed me.

His lips landed like a butterfly and then fell away, only to return for a longer kiss.

Despite saying he just wanted to kiss, Taeshin slipped his tongue between my lips.

I opened my mouth and embraced him.

Sunwoo, Taeshin kept whispering.

---

We finally obtained our marriage certificate. It listed Taeshin as my spouse and my name, Moon Sunwoo, as Taeshin’s spouse.

Since entering the café and sitting down, I couldn’t stop marveling at it.

Taeshin stroked me and urged me to study like a diligent student. I knew I had finals in a few days too.

I pouted and picked up my pen.

“But maybe we shouldn’t have signed that lease for our house.”

“House?”

“Yeah. I wasn’t kicked out by my parents, and we’re actually living together now. Can we cancel the contract and get our money back? I should check it out.”

“Sunwoo.”

As I searched for information on canceling the lease, Taeshin lowered his gaze and tapped the textbook with his pen.

“Wouldn’t it be better to keep the house?”

“Huh? Why? We spent a lot of money on that.”

“Yeah, we spent a lot on furniture and signing the lease. That’s why I think we should keep it. If we cancel the lease now, we might not get back the money we spent on the house and could lose half of the contract amount.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Since we set a specific period for renting the house, the landlord isn’t obliged to refund us before that period ends. So, we might not get anything back.”

No way! That’s totally unfair! Isn’t that an unjust contract?

Finding a house is said to be the hardest thing in the world, and canceling the lease isn’t easy either.

Losing half or even all the money we spent?

That’s terrifying!

“And Sunwoo, you have to give birth to Haeju soon.”

“Yeah, why?”

“Wouldn’t it be hard to live with your parents after Haeju is born? Haeju is a baby and will cry every day, but your parents are working. They might not get any sleep because of Haeju and might not complain to us even if they’re uncomfortable.”

“Oh….”

“And Jinwoo hyung is sensitive; he might not like Haeju either.”

Right, Moon Jinwoo was so sensitive. He’d throw a fit if I just walked by. No way he’d tolerate our baby Haeju crying and fussing.

Even last night, Jinwoo had shown up late, looking disheveled, and complained to Taeshin.

I got into a fight and left. I had stuck my tongue out at my Crazy Brother’s back, who had made some nonsensical curses about the Taesan Group going bankrupt, while packing a few clothes and heading back to work.

He was relentless in tormenting Taeshin, constantly picking fights over the strangest things.

“Let’s keep the house. It’s for the best.”

“Okay, Sunwoo.”

Thinking about my parents’ situation and the persistent, annoying Moon Jinwoo, I nodded. If it weren’t for Taeshin, I would have lost money and faced a backlash from Moon Ji-ral multiple times over. The thought of Moon Jinwoo causing even more trouble sent shivers down my spine.

Although I stayed in a different room from Taeshin, we spent most of our time and even slept in my room.

Reflecting on how lenient I had been with Moon Jinwoo, I tried to get back to studying but got hungry, so I poked Taeshin and closed my book.

After eating a hearty dinner and returning home, I felt exhausted.

Recently, sitting for long periods made my body swell, so I lay on the bed and had Taeshin massage me.

His gentle hands, combined with his pheromones, lulled me to sleep, but when I woke up, the spot next to me was empty.

“Huh, where did he go…?”

I rubbed my bleary eyes, seeing only his laptop left behind, and snapped to attention. Seeing Taeshin’s laptop reminded me of the house discussion.

He had spent a lot on the house and said there wasn’t much money left. I wished he would tell me how much was left, but he never did, leaving me clueless.

He never tells me these things. I need to know so I can tell my mom and get some help. I hope he doesn’t keep everything to himself if we run into problems in the future.

I turned on the laptop and after a bit of searching, found a familiar file and opened it. It was the first time I was looking at it properly, and something seemed off.

“Huh? Wait a minute. One, ten, hundred…”

The numbers in the ledger were endless. The basic units were large, and the recorded numbers were long.

After calculating, the amount was no joke.

My sharp intuition told me it had increased since the last time I saw it.

Taeshin had said there wasn’t much money left after buying the house, so what was this…?

“…This liar!”

I checked other ledgers to be sure, and they were the same. The claim that there wasn’t much money left after buying the house was a total lie. Taeshin, you’re dead!

I was going to leave our pet behind based on your words! Just as I stood up to confront the scammer, he walked in.

“Sunwoo,”

“You liar!”

I grabbed the collar of the handsome liar approaching me.

As I tightened my grip, something fell to the floor with a thud. It was a yellow maternity handbook, interrupting my anger.

“…Why is this here?”

I blinked at the sudden appearance of the maternity handbook, which I always forgot after organizing. Letting go of Taeshin’s collar, I picked up the handbook.

The usual fluttering bits of paper sticking out were gone.

“Did you organize this?”

“Sunwoo can’t organize things.”

“I organize just fine, thank you!”

Opening the handbook, I saw the ultrasound pictures of Haeju, neatly trimmed and in order. As I turned the pages, I saw the growth of Haeju.

Comparing the recent picture with the first one, I noticed the first one was barely hanging on.

“This one isn’t properly attached. I need to secure it better…”

As I fiddled with the first ultrasound picture, I noticed writing on the back.

[Sunwoo, surprised by Haeju’s heartbeat.]

The neat handwriting was Taeshin’s. When had he written this? I reread it several times in surprise.

“I remembered how surprised you were when we first heard Haeju’s heartbeat, so I wrote it down.”

“Your expression was hilarious too, you know?”

Taeshin’s expression was just as funny that day, yet he only pointed out mine. Annoyed, I checked the other ultrasound pictures. Each one had a small note on the back.

“Those are notes I added recently.”

“What a waste of talent, Taeshin.”

“Calling memories with you and Haeju a waste of talent is a bit harsh.”

Taeshin’s voice had a hint of laughter as he pretended to be hurt. He led me to sit on the bed, and we read the notes in the maternity handbook together. When my memory was fuzzy, Taeshin helped me recall it.

[Taeshin, dazed by Haeju’s heartbeat~ lol]

“Was my expression really that funny?”

“Yes, it was.”

Taeshin looked puzzled as he read my note. I nodded affirmatively, and we laughed as we read the short notes we had written on the back of Haeju’s ultrasound pictures.

[Sunwoo, delighted by Haeju. “Oh my, oh my.”]

[Taeshin, grinning at Haeju!]

[Haeju’s prenatal education (starred)]

[Haeju, mommy and daddy have exams ㅠㅠ]

[Haeju is healthy.]

[Haeju, let’s be born healthy ○▽○9]

…

[Sunwoo, Haeju, mothers, mothers.]

[Grandmothers love Haeju a lot!]

Reading the affectionate records Taeshin and I had written, my heart felt warm.

I’m in trouble. I intended to shake down this liar, but I ended up getting charmed instead.

* * *