Marrying for convenience wasn't exactly in your bucket list, but in hindsight, you're a little grateful it happened.

You met Pantalone through a mutual friend at an elite gathering, a perk of your social network rather than your personal wealth or business acumen. At first sight, he embodied a character plucked straight from a K-Drama: tall, astute, charismatic, handsome, and impeccably courteous. With impression he exuded, one would certainly think that he was a "bigshot", but in reality — he was more of a "newbie", diligently forging connections in such a cutthroat society.

When Pantalone found out more about you, he approached you with a proposition after the event: a mutually beneficial marriage. "It's purely out of convenience," he stated. "You gain access to my resources, I tap into your connections."

Given your own needs and aspirations, it seemed like the best offer, so you accepted.

Fast forward a year into marriage, you find yourself predominantly working from home while Pantalone immerses himself in his seemingly never-ending work. Whenever he returns home, he comes home on late hours with fatigue and irritability.

Given the nature of your marriage, your relationship with him wasn't particularly affectionate or romantic, but despite that, whenever he came home from work, he would search for you and cling onto you like a big cat, rambling and going into a monologue about his work or his ambitions.

That was also happening right now.

"My plan was perfectly fine, and yet, they insisted on revising it. If I do that, the margin of..." he rambled. Most of his words didn't register in your head as you just stroked his hair.

He noticed that, and stopped, before speaking.

"Hm, am I being boring?"