What would she want?
Just the thought of going to buy a gift for the child filled him with joy. He could already imagine how adorable Angela would look, beaming with delight as she received it.
And…
Thinking that Yu-jin, too, might soften at the sight of such a child made it feel like a profoundly important mission. It almost gave rise to the fantasy that, through these small steps of growing closer, all the bitterness between them would simply melt away.
Of course, Winston already knew all too well that reality was never so generous.
But wasn’t it okay to indulge in a brief moment of fantasy? For once, Winston chose the sweetness of illusion over the harshness of truth. And finally, he pulled out the letter and spread it open before him.
To his surprise, despite the wide, long sheet of paper, there wasn’t much written on it. Winston frowned slightly at the absurdly short content and turned his eyes to the first line.
Dear Santa Claus.
The clumsy, uneven handwriting was etched deep with effort, each word pressed hard into the paper with sincere intent—and it caught Winston’s eye. Slowly, he tracked the letters with his gaze, rereading the same line over and over again, but nothing changed.
“Huh…”
A short sigh escaped his lips. He couldn’t even tell whether he was dumbfounded, troubled, or simply lost for words. Even when the butler returned with the tea, Winston was still in the same posture, staring at the letter.
“Um, Mr. Campbell.”
The butler cautiously spoke as he set the teacup down in front of him. Only then did Winston lower the letter and lift his gaze. The butler, looking a little awkward, continued.
“Mr. Yu-jin says he has something to talk about. Shall I bring him here?”
For a brief moment, Winston froze. His thoughts were still a tangled mess, far from sorted. But there was no reason to avoid Yu-jin either.
“Bring him in ten minutes.”
With that, Winston raised the cup to his lips. As the hot, bitter tea flowed down his throat, it was as if his reason returned to him. He glanced over the letter one last time before slipping it into a drawer.
It was time to prepare to meet Yu-jin.
***
Yu-jin was walking toward the study with longer strides than usual, his face slightly flushed with tension. All day, he’d been mentally running through simulations, trying to figure out how best to approach Winston and persuade him. Ever since he found out that Angela had been to the post office, he’d been simmering with anger. This time, he was determined to get an answer—no matter what.
Hoo… He stopped in front of the study door, rolled his shoulders back, and took a deep breath. After exhaling and smoothing down his chest, he steeled his expression and knocked firmly—knock knock. From within, the same disinterested voice as always drifted out.
“Come in.”
Without a moment’s pause, Yu-jin grabbed the doorknob, twisted it, and opened the door. Winston was standing by the desk, straight-backed, watching him. Yu-jin stepped forward with purpose, a challenge in his stride.
In that instant, Yu-jin was struck by a realization—this was the very study where the will had been announced. It was also the place where they had made their deal.
As memories of all the cruel and humiliating things this man had said to him so casually from the very first meeting surged back, his anger flared even hotter. Marching boldly into the center of the room, Yu-jin deliberately kept his distance before speaking.
“So Angie gets to go out, but I don’t? That’s not fair.”
He was trying his best to keep his emotions in check, but even to his own ears, his voice sounded visibly angry. Wanting to make sure Winston didn’t think he’d lost all reason, Yu-jin quickly added,
“Nowhere in our contract did it say you could restrict my freedom. So this ridiculous confinement has to stop. I’m going back to Delight.”
“That’s not possible.”
“What?”
Yu-jin blinked, momentarily unable to grasp what he meant. What wasn’t possible? That he couldn’t go out? Or that he couldn’t go back to Delight?
As if picking up on the question behind his silence, Winston continued.
“Delight is currently undergoing renovations. It won’t be usable for a few months.”
He wasn’t lying. Though, of course, he had no intention of telling Yu-jin the real reason for those renovations.
“Renovations? Out of nowhere?”
Yu-jin’s confusion was plain on his face, but Winston responded smoothly.
“They’ve been saying for a while that it needed maintenance. Some experts said the structure was beginning to sag. The timing just worked out.”
There were no holes in his explanation. Yu-jin looked dazed for a moment before snapping back to himself. What did that have to do with him? Whatever condition Delight was in had nothing to do with this.
“Fine, whatever. But that has nothing to do with whether I go out or not. I don’t need your permission anymore. I’m going to do whatever I want.”
It wasn’t exactly the most mature way to go about it, but this wasn’t the time for careful diplomacy. He’d already tried—again and again—to reason with this man, to be the “adult” in the conversation. And every time, it had been a failure. Maybe this blunt, reckless approach was closer to what Winston had always assumed about him anyway. That thought oddly emboldened him.
As expected, Winston frowned slightly at Yu-jin’s defiance.
“Is money what you want that badly?”
“Damn right. I’m going to spend it like water. I’ll bleed your accounts dry.”
Yu-jin threw his chest out and declared it boldly.
“What, didn’t you know? That’s why I married you—to waste all your money. So now you have to give me what I want.”
There wasn’t a single stutter in his voice. He sounded like someone truly on edge, desperate to the point of madness. The intensity of his declaration even seemed to back up his words and posture… but Winston didn’t respond right away.
Why does he look so stiff?
Winston’s brow furrowed slightly as he stared hard at Yu-jin. It felt like watching a painfully bad performance from an actor on stage—someone with no real talent, relying only on looks to carry the role. Yu-jin’s flushed cheeks and sparkling eyes clearly showed he was more worked up than usual, but his speech and mannerisms were clumsy, unnatural.
Suddenly, Winston got the distinct feeling that Yu-jin’s anger had little to do with the words he was actually saying.
What the hell is it, then?
But unfortunately, Winston’s thoughts stopped right there. Yu-jin, glaring at him with flushed cheeks and heaving shoulders, was so mesmerizing it nearly made him lose his mind. The very person who had once completely bewitched him was now standing right in front of him. All those promises Winston had made to himself—that he would never make the same mistake again—suddenly felt meaningless. He was wavering. Badly.
…Haa…
An unintentional, breathless sigh slipped from his lips. In an instant, the air between them became taut with tension. And Yu-jin noticed it, too. Suddenly, his heart began to pound like it had lost all control.
***
His mouth went dry, parched like something inside him was burning. Yu-jin instinctively ran his tongue over his lips. The moment Winston narrowed his eyes at the motion, Yu-jin realized—too late—that he’d made a mistake.
“D-Don’t… don’t get any weird ideas.”
And there it was—another misstep. Speaking only heightened the tension between them. His voice came out rough, cracked, and what he said was just plain awful. As if to confirm that, Winston’s lips curled into a crooked smile.
“Weird ideas? What do you mean by that?”
Acting clueless when he obviously knew damn well—Yu-jin scowled at him, furious. He’d stepped right into the trap, and now there was no choice but to dive into the flames with him.
“It’s obvious. If you’re going to play innocent, at least try to hide it.”
If Winston played coy one more time, Yu-jin swore he might actually kick that bulging thigh of his. Of course, it was just a fantasy—he knew damn well he didn’t have the guts to act on it. While Yu-jin bristled with tension, Winston suddenly let out a quiet chuckle.
“Oops. You caught me?”
“Ha…”
Yu-jin’s shoulders slumped in defeat. That man clearly had no intention of hiding his desire. Did he not realize the person he was getting worked up over was the same Yu-jin he’d always scorned and despised? Or was there some other reason?
“You get turned on watching someone yell at you? Are you insane? Or do you just think I’m that much of a joke?”
Yu-jin snapped, demanding an answer. But Winston only smiled—openly, unabashedly—as he replied,
“Why would I think you’re a joke? If I did… I wouldn’t be this hard right now.”
The deliberate word choice made Yu-jin falter in embarrassment. Caught off guard, he hesitated, unable to form a response, and then Winston spoke again.
“Baby… do you remember the day the will was read?”
