I understand.

SUMMERINE GOT TO READING as soon as she found her way back to her library. Apple pies were no longer the priority. What she needed right now was any manga , manhwa , and webcomics with a mob boss as the protagonist, and the more titles she could get her hands on, the better.

Let's see.

Summerine used to think she'd be on her phone just like everyone else...if she ever had the chance to own one. Which she didn't while she was still living in her parents' home.

But on the day after her wedding, Ryu had gifted Summerine her own iPhone, and, well...

Social media just didn't have the same hold on her the way it did with other people her age. She wanted to post photos of herself like others did. She just wished she could give herself a reason why.

But until then...

Thank goodness for search engines!

Mere seconds were all it took for Google to spew out the necessary results, and so far, the blurbs Summerine had skimmed were pretty uniform when it came to describing the male protagonist.

A fictional (naturally) mob boss who was handsome (just like Ryu), wealthy (also just like Ryu), and secretive (was this his secret biography or what?).

But as she went on reading, and descriptions of their respective heroines were then provided...

Oh.

Okay.

Really?

The type of woman they typically fell in love with was feisty (unlike her), resourceful (also unlike her), and huh.

Summerine tried reading a few more blurbs, but they were all the same!

It was always the mob boss falling for the girl first and not the other way around.

Which meant...

She just needed to research more titles until she found something that matched her own characteristics.

Right?

Summerine was still busy scrolling on her phone as she came down for dinner, and—- eep!

Her steps crashed to an unexpected halt when she saw her husband already waiting for her in the dining room, and she immediately hid her phone behind her back. She knew she had done nothing wrong. She hadn't meant to stumble into his secret armory. So why was she feeling guilty?

Ryu looked at her curiously. "Everything okay?"

"Y-You're...w-work?" Summerine tried but failed to be coherent in her shock.

"My work finished earlier than expected if that's what you're asking."

"Oh."

"Is something wrong?"

She hastily shook her head. "N-Nothing?"

"And yet you're stammering again."

Summerine knew he had her there, and so she blurted the first excuse that came to mind, which was...

"B-Because I m-miss it?"

Oh, bleep.

Summerine was sure he was on to her now, but then she saw his lips twitch, so...maybe not?

Ryu pulled her chair out, and Summerine sighed in relief. Oh, thank goodness. She hurried forward and thanked him as he helped her to his seat.

"How was your day?"

He always asked this.

So why was she suddenly having a hard time answering it?

"I—-"

Ryu started slicing into his steak.

"—-am thinking of going to law school?"

As soon as the words were out, Summerine realized then and there that was exactly what she wanted to do.

She might be meek and sheltered, which were not what one would expect from a mob boss's wife...but what she lacked in courage and experience, Summerine was confident she could make up with her sincere desire to be of help to her husband. And the more she thought of herself as Ryu's future legal protector, the more excited she became.

Yes, this is really it!

As his lawyer, she could help ensure that the wheels of justice would turn in the right di—-

"Summerine?"

"Yes?

"Forgive me for saying this—-"

Ryu seemed to be picking his words with care.

"But law school requires a lot of reading to start with—-"

Summerine nodded. "Yes, that's true."

"And don't you only enjoy reading manga ?"

"Which still counts as reading, right?"

" Ah ."

"I really think I can do it," she assured him, "because I'm properly motivated."

"Is that so?"

She looked at him meaningfully, saying, "I want to be of help to you."

...

...

...

"Summerine?"

She brightened. "Yes?"

"I have no idea what you're trying to say with that look."

Oh.

Okay.

Maybe her face was only expressive when she wasn't deliberately communicating with him through non-verbal means?

"Why don't you just say it?"

Summerine immediately shook her head at his suggestion. "I don't think I'm supposed to."

Ryu frowned. "Why not?"

Hoping her expressive face would cooperate this time around, she gave her husband another meaningful look. Because it's not safe!

"I still don't know what you're—-" A ringing sound cut him off, and Ryu's handsome face turned impassive as he glanced at his phone.

"Will you excuse me? I'll need to take this outside."

Oh, so it was that kind of call.

Summerine gave him a thumbs-up, and Ryu, in the act of rising to his feet, went absolutely still at this.

"Are you truly ...alright?"

"Absolutely." She gave him another meaningful look. I got this.

Ryu looked as if he was on the verge of saying something, but then his phone rang again, and her husband swore under his breath.

"I'm sorry. I really have to take this call—-"

"I totally understand." I'll act like everything's normal, I promise.

Ryu gave her one last look before leaving, and Summerine made a mental note to research nonverbal cues. As his wife, she had to do what she could to protect him. Marriages had to be a two-way street, and this was finally her chance to do something for Ryu instead of always being on the receiving end of her husband's kindness.

"I'm sorry," Ryu apologized as he came back to the dining room. "We have another emergency at work, and I'll need to leave again."

""

Ryu looked at her gravely. "That's what's worrying me."

Her husband truly was a dream. Wasn't that his way of saying he wanted to apologize for not being completely honest about his past?

"We'll talk when I get back, alright?"

Summerine was appalled at what she had pushed him to do. "We don't have to, I swear." The police could have their place bugged, and she didn't want to be the reason for her husband to say something incriminating in their hearing.

Ryu looked as if he wanted to call a doctor this time, but she pretended not to notice this either.

I'll make you proud, Ryu. You'll see.

She would do everything she could to show him he could trust her, and so with that in mind...