A lie. An obvious lie, making her frown, but Yi-hyun’s presence had momentarily made her forget another presence, whose voice now struck her eardrums.
“Yu… Manager Jin.”
Sejin, about to call her familiarly, quickly corrected to a formal title upon seeing the unfamiliar man. However, his jaw tightened involuntarily at the sight of the man enveloping Yura.
As Yi-hyun raised his head and recognized Sejin, his whole body seemed to stiffen, statue-like, rooted to the spot.
“Shouldn’t you be off duty by now? Leave.”
Yi-hyun’s icy and sharp gaze pierced Sejin. His dominating presence, as if born with the traits of a ruler, caused a suffocating illusion, even with the smallest movement.
Continuing with a commanding tone, a confused Yura was pulled away by Yi-hyun.
“Huh? Oh. Then, see you next time, Pianist Oh Sejin.”
Even amidst this, Yura maintained her polite demeanor towards Sejin, true to her character.
She always valued manners and acted logically and rationally. That was her charm, and while Sejin loved even that aspect of her, at that moment, it only felt cruel.
“Ah, I need to get my ca…”
“I’ll have someone bring it to your place. Get in.”
After a brief argument about the car, Yura ended up following Yi-hyun’s decision and got into the vehicle. His actions were uncharacteristic, causing a sense of unfamiliarity.
As Yi-hyun, with his cool gaze still fixed on Sejin, walked around the bonnet to the driver’s side, Sejin could only avoid his intimidating stare.
Soon, the car carrying Yura roared away.
Sejin, still processing Yi-hyun’s piercing gaze, contorted his face in frustration and clenched his fists in anger.
“Ugh, Baek Yi-hyun.”
With fury ready to explode, he cursed Yi-hyun’s name and violently pounded the piano keys with his fists, filling the practice room with a noisy clamor. Hearing this, Jinwoo rushed in from the backyard.
Inside the car speeding towards central Seoul, Yura continually sighed.
Though the situation was abrupt, she couldn’t shake the feeling of being swept up in Yi-hyun’s jest. His words kept uncomfortably circling in her mind, overshadowing Sejin’s sudden behavior.
“Babe? To me?”
“Yeah. Babe.”
What was meant to be a clarifying question was met with an unbelievable response from Yi-hyun, who continued to smile and repeat his earlier statement. Yura let out another sigh.
Determined not to let Yi-hyun’s playful behavior slide, Yura sternly lowered her voice.
“Look here, Vice President Baek Yi-hyun.”
“This isn’t CH headquarters.”
Yura, usually sardonic, was so taken aback by his unfamiliar behavior and felt a mounting irritation in her neck.
Rather than haphazardly confronting him, she decided to systematically address her questions, starting with how he knew her location.
“How did you know I was here? No one from the staff knew.”
“I knew.”
Yi-hyun’s curt reply left Yura deflated.
His refusal to explain further indicated he either found it difficult to explain or simply didn’t want to. Either way, it meant her curiosity wouldn’t be satisfied. Dealing with the fox-like Baek Yi-hyun was proving to be a headache.
Though she believed no one knew of her whereabouts, Yi-hyun, capable of any method, was unsurprisingly informed. Yura concluded that he must have come looking for her at Yu-gun’s request.
“If you don’t want to talk, then don’t. But explain this.”
“What?”
His playful tone and the reason behind seeking her out were passable. His quirky nature and puzzling tendencies made it easy to dismiss the incident as a mere happening.
But the use of ‘babe’ was unsettling, leaving a lingering discomfort.
“Why babe? Why am I your babe? Why did you suddenly say that?”
“To help you out of a tight spot.”
Yura shivered at the revelation of Yi-hyun’s intuition.
He had always been responsive to subtle expressions and gestures. He brought painkillers when she had menstrual cramps and offered his card when she lost her wallet, all without her asking or showing visible distress. His knack for discerning Yura’s situations was almost uncanny.
Perhaps she had recognized Yi-hyun’s extraordinary perception from those moments. When she heard he joined CH, she had no doubt he would quickly reach his desired destination.
Yi-hyun, as always, had maximized his strengths and led every planned business to success, earning admiration from those around him for his innate business acumen.
Even now, in this moment, Yi-hyun was demonstrating his almost animalistic intuition regarding the situation that had befallen her.
While she respected his exceptional abilities, she was reluctant to have them focused on herself, especially in such an unfortunate circumstance. The idea of Yi-hyun being aware of this distasteful incident was something her pride couldn’t tolerate.
An Indifferent Woman is the One Men Desire the Most
One-line summary: The female lead is actually cold-hearted and extremely rational. She has stage-by-stage relationships and won’t two-time, but there will always be someone who secretly likes her.
This novel has the following triggers, so if you’re sensitive to these, please don’t read:
1. The female lead has had many relationships, but she treated each one seriously and broke up properly.
It’s just that the men unilaterally pestered her incessantly. For the female lead, when she doesn’t like someone anymore, she simply doesn’t like them.
(This applies to her relationships with Male Lead 1, 2, 3, and 4 as well, but she’s loyal in each 1-on-1 relationship!)
2. In this novel, Male Lead 2 and the female lead kiss in a car, and Male Lead 1 sees it and beats up Male Lead 2.
The female lead calls the police and sends both Male Lead 1 and 2 to the police station! Male Lead 1 begs the female lead not to break up with him.
3. Male Lead 1 has a gentle appearance but an obsessive personality.
Male Lead 2 has a delicate and soft appearance, slightly green tea-like (two-faced).
Male Lead 3 is a youthful college student and a smart person who has secretly liked the female lead for a long time.
Male Lead 4 is the female lead’s father’s special assistant, a business elite with deep, hidden thoughts.
4. At the beginning of this novel, the female lead has already broken up with Male Lead 1 (Chapter 4) and gotten back together with Male Lead 2 (ex-boyfriend).
5. Enter with caution if you have triggers!!!
