A Gentle Intruder (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 5
Jae Ho couldn’t take his eyes off the laptop screen for a long while.
Although his schedule required him to be away for an entire month—meaning he had many things to confirm, like packing and appointments—nothing registered in his mind.
Excitement and fear hit him all at once.
He closed his eyes briefly, then opened them firmly and stared back at the screen. His gaze dropped abruptly to the sticky note beneath the display.
His long, slender fingers tapped lightly on the desk beside the note.
May this place bring you happiness.
It had been a long wait. Right after returning from studying abroad in the U.S., Jae Ho had gone to great lengths to find Da Jung, but she was nowhere to be found—not even veteran Manager Jeong had succeeded, and had nearly given up. Then, out of the blue, Da Jung appeared before Jae Ho herself. It was the day despair turned into hope. Jae Ho would never forget the smile Da Jung gave him that day.
Yet Jae Ho, having resolved not to pry into the past, couldn’t bring himself to step forward readily in front of her. He agonized over how to approach her naturally—and before he knew it, two whole years had slipped by.
His thoughts kept spiraling back into the past, digging ever deeper. Eventually, Jae Ho faintly smiled, lightly scratching the corner of his eye.
“Guess I won’t be sleeping tonight. I’m too excited…”
[This is the timeline separator]After driving for hours, they finally arrived on a long bridge flanked by sea on both sides. The ocean stretched endlessly to the furthest horizon. Da Jung took a deep breath, feeling as if her chest had cracked open with liberation. The briny scent of seaweed hit her nose sharply.
“I’ll come once a week.”
Kyung Jun muttered grumpily while driving.
“Are you my guardian now? Don’t be ridiculous.”
Da Jung shot back, even more sharply.
“Hey. You’re a girl—what’s with having zero fear, staying alone in such a remote place for a whole month?”
“Lee Kyung Jun. Enough. You’ve been nagging the entire way here.”
Kyung Jun sighed inwardly. He’d lost count of how many times he’d sighed already—if sighing could make the ground collapse, it would’ve caved in long ago.
When he’d heard from Kyung Mi that his sister had suggested this seaside trip to Da Jung, his heart turned black with anger.
Has my sister finally lost it? If she weren’t his actual older sister, he might’ve shouted at her. She’d already endured so many hardships and was naturally sensitive—how could anyone possibly leave her alone in some isolated coastal spot?
‘Not only did you fail to stop her—you actually encouraged her!’
His trust in his sister had plummeted because of this.
He frantically looked into taking time off, but as a mere salaried employee, there was no way he could take a whole month’s vacation. His brave attempt ended in nothing but frustration.
“I’m coming once a week. That’s non-negotiable, Yoon Da Jung.”
“Even if you come, I won’t let you stay overnight in my room.”
“Why not?”
“Duh. You’re a guy.”
Pfft.
Kyung Jun replied in a deflated tone.
“Do I even look like a guy to you? Since when have we been married, anyway?”
He moistened his dry lips. He knew full well this question always brought silly answers—but still, every time, his heart clenched with tension. Couldn’t he just once hear something like, “Of course. To me, you’re a man…”?
“Well… you *are* a guy.”
The dreamlike answer struck him like a bolt. Kyung Jun nearly dropped the steering wheel as his grip momentarily loosened.
Unaware of his feelings, Da Jung continued calmly.
“Anyone can see you’re a man. Are *you* saying you’re a woman? I specifically booked this pension for a woman staying alone—if some unrelated man sleeps over, what will the owner think?”
Ah. *That’s* what she meant by “man.”
Damn it.
Kyung Jun gave a hollow laugh. Even though he fully understood Da Jung’s heart, he couldn’t fathom why the tiniest hope always made his pulse race like this.
“The owner doesn’t even stay on-site. How would they even know?”
“You never know with people. We might bump into them by chance. The owner said they drop by every other day.”
Back in the summer of their first year of middle school—when they were still the same height—Da Jung had brushed the dirt off Kyung Jun’s messy hair and scolded him: “What a mess! Is this how you behave?”
Her voice thumped straight into his heart. In that moment, Yoon Da Jung’s ever-familiar smile suddenly seemed unbearably beautiful.
Kyung Jun, then shorter than her, had desperately wished to grow taller than Da Jung. True to that wish, he drank so much milk afterward he nearly turned into a cow—but thanks to that, he eventually grew over 180 cm and could finally look down on her from above.
Now, it was his turn to gently ruffle her hair.
Yes. You really never know about people—or about the relationship between you and me. Kyung Jun gave a small nod.
“Yeah. You never know about people.”
[This is the timeline separator]They still had quite a way to go. Da Jung had assumed a seaside town would be filled only with fishing boats and yachts, but surprisingly, there were many rice paddies and fields.
‘Is there really a pension here? Where’s the ocean?’
Just as she began to wonder this, the road narrowed sharply and turned unpaved. Da Jung felt secretly flustered.
She’d heard it was remote, but not *this* remote. They’d called it an “ocean-view pension,” yet she couldn’t even glimpse a sliver of sea. Was there even really a pension here? Anxiety lined up in her mind, but she bit her lip tight—voicing it would only restart Kyung Jun’s nagging.
……It’ll be fine.
She gazed at what looked like a vast sweet potato field. There were many other fields too, but she had no idea what was being grown. Perhaps because it was autumn, many plots were already empty.
The road narrowed further until barely one car could pass. Da Jung couldn’t hide her unease anymore. Kyung Jun glanced over and said calmly,
“600 meters left. The sea’s ahead too—according to the GPS, at least.”
He was always the one who reassured her at critical moments. Da Jung simply nodded silently.
500 meters, 400, then 300—the distance shrank until suddenly, the view exploded open. An impossibly vast ocean stretched before them, filling their entire field of vision. Relief and awe washed over her as her tension melted away. It was the ocean—an utterly quiet, secret sea known to no one.
Shhhwoooosh. The waves crashed, offering their greeting.
“Wow. The view’s insane.”
Even Kyung Jun, as if spellbound, murmured under his breath.
It was a view that drew out spontaneous admiration: a wide sandy beach stretched out, with jagged coastal rocks visible at the far right.
Tied to the far end was a fishing boat. As late afternoon deepened, the sky slowly took on a pink hue, and the sea—mirroring the sky—shimmered with an ethereal glow.
“The sea… it’s beautiful.”
“There’s the pension.”
Snapping back to reality, Kyung Jun first verified their location. Da Jung followed his pointing finger with her eyes and spotted two identical white standalone pension buildings standing side by side against the ocean.
They were twin structures—exactly as described on the website: two units with identical layouts. Da Jung quickly checked her phone messages and continued,
“Hmm… I booked Room 102. Looks like it’s the second building.”
Kyung Jun parked in front of Room 102 and hopped out lightly to unload the luggage. Da Jung followed and called the pension owner.
“Hello, I’m the one who reserved Room 102. Oh, you’re already here? Yes, yes.”
Just as the call ended, an elderly woman emerged from a shed behind the building, carrying cleaning supplies. Seeing Da Jung, she smiled warmly. Da Jung returned the greeting cheerfully.
“Ms. Yoon Da Jung? So glad to meet you! My husband bought a few things, worried you might not have anything to eat on your first day—help yourself if you need anything. Nothing fancy—just some instant noodles.”
“Thank you so much.”
“Your friend here? Will you two be staying together?”
“No, he’s just dropping me off. By the way, sir—does a bus come out here?”
Kyung Jun, having decided to leave his car behind, asked the question that had been on his mind. Given the narrow road, it seemed utterly impossible—but maybe there was another route? As expected, he was told he’d have to walk for at least thirty minutes. He was about to use that as an excuse to stay overnight, but the elder quickly offered a solution.
“Take our car out. We’ll drop you off at the terminal since we pass by anyway.”
“Hey. Why leave your car behind? Just take it.”
Though Da Jung tried to stop Kyung Jun from insisting on leaving his car, she failed.
“What if an emergency happens out here? You can’t be stranded without a car.”
“What emergency could possibly happen?”
“Just listen to me.”
Seeing the stubborn glint in his eyes, Da Jung finally surrendered.
“I should’ve brought my own car, even if it’s small, Kyung Jun.”
“How would we fit all this luggage in a compact car?”
Slightly scolding her, Kyung Jun swiftly moved the bags. Inside, everything was spotless and tidy, as expected of a newly built pension.
“Pretty decent.”
After a quick tidy-up, they stepped outside. The elderly woman, tidying up the yard, turned toward Da Jung.
“Is Room 101 empty?”
Da Jung, glancing around, thought she’d glimpsed a shadow earlier on the terrace of the neighboring building. It might’ve just been a tree’s reflection, but just in case, she asked.
“Oh.”
The woman turned around while putting away her cleaning tools.
“Someone’s staying there, but you won’t run into them. Well then, we should be off now. Come along, young man.”
Though the conversation ended rather abruptly, there was no time to question it—Kyung Jun needed to leave soon if he wanted to make it back on time. Da Jung saw him off, and Kyung Jun kept repeating his nagging warnings until he disappeared from view.
“Hey! Don’t open the door for just anyone—”
“I know, I know! Go already!”
“And look up the police station’s location ahead of time!”
[This is the timeline separator]The sunset ripened crimson.
West Sea sunsets were beautiful, but often blurred by fog—truly vivid ones were rare. Da Jung was quite fortunate; on her very first day, she witnessed a nearly perfect, blazing red orb sinking into the horizon.
Her heart pounded at the breathtaking view. Standing still in the yard, gazing at the sea, she finally gave in and walked toward the beach.
After just a few steps, sand touched her toes. Only then did the ocean feel real. Da Jung stood in the center of the sandy shore, quietly watching the sunset descend.
That’s when she sensed someone nearby.
A tall, broad-shouldered man was approaching. For a moment, Da Jung thought Kyung Jun had returned—but on closer look, the man was even taller. And his footsteps, striding toward her not over sand but straight across her heart, weren’t Kyung Jun’s.
And yet—she knew exactly who it was.
Her heart raced. Surely it was just the sunset’s effect. And yet…
The man strode forward without hesitation and stopped five paces in front of Da Jung. When he halted, did he sense that her heart had stopped too?
‘No… this can’t be real.’
Maybe she was seeing things.
His indifferent gaze lingered briefly in Da Jung’s eyes before sliding down to her feet—landing on the slippers imprinted with the “Sea Forest” logo.
“So you’re the neighbor.”
Could this really be happening? It was Lee Jae Ho.
When scheming men desperately battle for her favor in the male harem
This one’s also on my reread list! The rivalry, scheming between the men in the imperial harem are just as intense and thrilling as in classic palace drama novels, where concubines fight to the death. Give it a read, girls! I promise you won’t be disappointed.
Synopsis:
“I am not worthy of her… but I still want to be by her side, even if only as a loyal dog…”
Those were the painful whispers of Yue Guanyi – the proud Crown Prince of the Great Qi, who was torn between deep love and a guilty conscience. Despite holding the supreme power of the Imperial Guard, he still could not forget the dark past when he was sold into a brothel.
Fate played a cruel twist when Qiu Shuzhi – a young female official who had just passed the imperial examinations with top honors – stepped into his life. She did not know that she was the one who had saved him from a tragic fate many years ago. And now, her heart was the target of pursuit for both Yue Guanyi and the powerful Empress Dowager Qin Qing.
While Yue Guanyi only dared to silently care for and protect the one he loved from afar, the Empress Dowager Qin Qing openly expressed his feelings and did not hesitate to take advantage of his power to approach Qiu Shuzhi. The covert struggle between the two most powerful forces in the imperial court began…
Trigger warning: All men in this novel are yandere style.
_____
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