Question about the pause menu of Minecraft Windows 10?

If I start a new single player world and I want to take a break in the course of the game, I can switch to the pause menu, but the game still continues in the background… So I mean:

the daily cycle continues without interruption
the mobs are running around
which also becomes a problem when night falls, I'm attacked

(I deactivated multiplayer mode before starting)

Do I really have to go to "Save & Exit" every time I pause and reload the world to continue playing or is there another way for Minecraft to continue in real time in the pause menu?

As far as I know, it is not possible (except maybe with a mod) to pause everything with Escape.