Gyeong-eun had stayed up, waiting for Seong-ho instead of sleeping.

"Why are you home so late?"

"You were still awake?"

Warmly embracing Gyeong-eun, a shawl draped over her shoulders, Seong-ho explained why he'd come home late.

"I was a bit delayed talking with the eldest brother at the company about how to respond to the election results."

"With my eldest brother?"

Gyeong-eun looked up at Seong-ho with a surprised gaze and said,

"So you and my brother leaving early was to talk together?"

"Yes."

Seong-ho gave a light laugh and, an arm around Gyeong-eun's shoulders, went inside.

Hearing this, Gyeong-eun nodded and said,

"No wonder—I thought you and my brother left awfully early."

Thinking there'd been a reason behind everything at Pyeongchang-dong, Gyeong-eun looked up at Seong-ho.

"If my sister finds out about this, she'll be hurt, won't she?"

"She will, I imagine."

Seong-ho smiled quietly at Gyeong-eun's words and turned on the TV.

—Even now, with 63 percent of the vote counted, it's still unclear who has won. Because the gap between the two candidates is so slim that it could overturn at any moment. At this rate, a definite result isn't expected until the early-morning hours, once more than 90 percent has been counted.

Gyeong-eun looked at the TV and asked Seong-ho,

"The result won't change, will it?"

"It won't change."

Seong-ho let out a confident remark and turned off the TV.

Then he gazed down at Gyeong-eun for a moment.

At Seong-ho's wordless gaze upon her, Gyeong-eun ran a palm over her face and said,

"What is it? Is there something on my face?"

"Gyeong-eun. I'm sorry."

"Sorry? For what?"

Gyeong-eun looked up at Seong-ho, who'd suddenly said he was sorry, with strange eyes.

Then she smiled with an expression that said she thought she knew why he'd said it.

"It's because you came home so late, isn't it? It's all right."

Gyeong-eun pushed at Seong-ho's back and said,

"You've got to get to bed a little sooner if you're going to work tomorrow, so hurry and wash up. I'll get the bed ready."

Walking forward, pushed…