“It didn’t mean the chill had left her. After that incident, Seoyeon had been battling a fierce cold for several days.
“Are you catching a cold?” Jisoo asked Seoyeon, who had come to work after the weekend.
The weather was oddly warm for autumn.
Yet Seoyeon, wrapped in a twin cardigan and a scarf around her neck, seemed out of place.
Jisoo reached out and touched Seoyeon’s forehead.
“Do you have a fever?”
“Do I?” Seoyeon replied nonchalantly, looking at Jisoo’s concerned face.
“Maybe it’s a cold. I’ve been feeling chilly.”
Then she poured herself some coffee and sat down.
Jisoo followed her and continued the conversation.
“By the way, are you okay?”
“…About what?”
Seoyeon took a sip of coffee and looked at Jisoo with wide eyes.
“About Son Kyu-won. Heard he caused a scene at the office?”
Ah, Son Kyu-won.
Nodding, Seoyeon took another sip of her coffee.
“So, Memories had no choice but to give him your phone number. Didn’t he call?”
Why wouldn’t he?
“Yes, he did.”
His calls started from early Saturday morning.
“Kept calling annoyingly all weekend, right?”
His incessant calling was almost maddening.
“Blocked him, then he’d call from another number, and again.”
And all his calls eventually led to the topic of Chadoha.
[Seoyeon, what’s your relationship with Chadoha?] [You know Chadoha? Or, wait, did you… sleep with him?] [Be careful. That guy’s dangerous.]Eventually, she had to block every incoming number just to avoid hearing Chadoha’s name.
Son Kyu-won’s nonsense she could handle, but Chadoha’s name was unbearable.
What about Chadoha anyway?
What’s so special about that kiss?
Her thoughts circled back to him again.
In the quiet car, Chadoha’s smoldering black eyes.
The suffocating air, the burning palms, the painfully tight throat.
His languid voice and hot breath.
The overwhelming allure of Chadoha that enveloped her entire body.
The hot lips and the sensual kiss.
Could she really handle a man like Chadoha?
Her head heated up as if she had caught a fever.
Shaking her head to dissipate the heat, Seoyeon quickly returned to reality.
“Let’s hurry up with the meeting, senior. I need to go to the hospital for my mom. They’re making a fuss about paying the hospital bill.”
She didn’t have the luxury to dwell on a steamy kiss.
There were endless debts to pay.
“Arranged marriage?”
Chadoha snorted.
The bomb dropped by Chairman Cha upon his Monday return to work.
And of all people, Inwoo was the one delivering this bomb, adding to the humor.
Moreover, Inwoo even recommended the arranged marriage.
“ST Group, ranked eighth in the business world, should be a suitable match for Hanju Group’s Chadoha. It’s only fitting for your spouse’s family, isn’t it?”
“What are you talking about?”
“It means Kim Haeri can’t be considered as your marital partner. You don’t seem to take her seriously either.”
If Kim Haeri heard this, she’d be upset.
They praised Inwoo as the gentle and kind prince of Hanju Group, so unlike his cold and cruel half-brother Chadoha.
Inwoo was even credited for being unbelievably kind-hearted in the brutal world of chaebols.
What would Kim Haeri say if she knew Inwoo treated him this way?
She’d probably fly into a rage, not caring for consequences.
Chadoha chuckled and got up from his seat.
“Right. I’m not planning to marry. And it’s true I don’t take her seriously.”
Leaning against the window frame, Chadoha gazed leisurely at Inwoo.
“I don’t necessarily think I have to marry someone. As you know, I’m a hedonist.”
“Chadoha…”
“Enough,” Chadoha interrupted, raising his hand and staring intently at Inwoo. “Let’s not bother about anything else and focus on what our dear Chairman Cha Inwoo is thinking.”
He then asked more pointedly, “What are you thinking, being so blissfully carefree?”
Inwoo had always been more eager than anyone for the Hanju Group, compliantly following every wish of his grandfather, Chairman Cha Jiseob, to avoid falling out of favor in the succession battle.
That highlighted the importance of the successor position in Hanju Group to Inwoo.
So why would he be smiling so comfortably in such a situation?
Impossible.
“What are you thinking… to be so carefree?”
Inwoo casually looked up, having flicked a decorative item on the table with his finger. “Because if you accept grandfather’s will, your deceased father’s position will be restored.”
Ah, such a nonsensical argument.
Chadoha chuckled and walked slowly towards Inwoo.
Inwoo then stood up, looking directly at him. “So, you’re accepting the succession battle for my father?”
“Yes.”
Inwoo’s face, still smiling, showed no shadows. It was his poker face, a resolve to never reveal his true intentions.
Chadoha, observing him, let out a brief laugh.
“Really?”
Chadoha always thought Inwoo’s smile seemed like a mask. A mask worn when afraid, when hiding something significant, a clever person hiding behind fear, seeking an alternative path.
Such a beaming visit indicates he’s cornered, using Chadoha as a shield while finding a way out.
The Villainous Demon Lord Laid an Egg for Her (Female-Dominated)
Several months after transmigrating into a book, Yu Wu found herself facing the demon lord Li You, who could no longer conceal his dragon horns. With one hand on her aching waist and the other gripping a sharp sword, she stared at him.
The demon lord’s eyes were red with fury:
“This is all your doing! Today, I won’t rest until I kill you!”
Yu Wu rubbed her temples. Putting aside the taboo against bloodshed during pregnancy, wasn’t it this very man who willingly walked into her trap that day?!
Warnings:
- Male pregnancy.
- Height ratios are set to mirror typical male-female height proportions.
- Characters include a foot-loving demon lord and an eldest daughter from an immortal family’s concubine lineage.
